Forecasting performance of grey prediction for education expenditure and school enrollment

GM(1,1) and GM(1,1) rolling models derived from grey system theory were estimated using time-series data from projection studies by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). An out-of-sample forecasting competition between the two grey prediction models and exponential smoothing used by NCES was conducted for education expenditure and school enrollment under the assumption that grey prediction was as promising as NCES's forecasting technique in dealing with univariate time-series data while some other determinants of the variables under examination were excluded. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to verify that the GM(1,1), and GM(1,1) rolling models would provide forecasts that were at least as accurate as the NCES's approach to extrapolating education expenditure and school enrollment. The findings revealed that the forecasting efficiency of GM(1,1) rolling model was superior to exponential smoothing and GM(1,1) model. The results can offer valuable insights and provide a basis for further research in model building for short-term estimation on educational statistics.     

The impact of friendship on synchronous collaborative retrieval tasks in the primary school

Two experiments aim at describing the impact of friendship during a synchronous collaborative information retrieval (SCIR) with young pupils (recruited in Grade 3). In the first study, 68 pupils were asked to look for 13 answers in one of the three following conditions: on an individual basis (condition “Single”), as part of a designed duo with social friendship (condition “Affinity +”), or as part of a designed duo without social friendship (condition “Affinity ?”). In the second experiment, we investigated more precisely the impact of friendship on verbal interactions between partners. Main results obtained in these two experiments are the following: (1) pairs retrieved effectively more answers, more correct answers and were more efficient than singles; (2) pairs composed of pupils without social friendship retrieved more answers, more correct answers and were more efficient than pairs composed by friends; (3) pairs composed of friends produced significantly more irrelevant queries; and (4) pairs composed of friends produced more verbalisations related to conflicts, while pairs composed of pupils without social friendship are engaged in a great deal of consensus seeking. Finally, educational implications are discussed.     

Decisions Hispanic families make after the identification of deafness

This study examines the decision-making process for Hispanic families living in the United States who have a child with a hearing loss. Twenty-nine families in four geographical areas shared their experiences in searching for appropriate interventions and making choices regarding communication and education. We explored the impact of language, culture, minority status, and access to information and services on the decision-making process. The results indicate that the deliberations of Hispanic parents are often complicated by language and cultural barriers and by limited access to information, resources, and a full range of options. The communication method chosen tended to be the one recommended by professionals, usually a combination of spoken English and sign language. Parents frequently expressed the hope that their child would learn Spanish as well. These subjects displayed a higher degree of assertiveness in obtaining services for their children than other studies have suggested.     

Family interdependence and academic adjustment in college: youth from immigrant and U.S.-born families

This study is an examination of family interdependence and its implications for academic adjustment among late adolescents and young adults in college (18 to 25 years). Survey data and university records were collected on 998 American youth with Asian Pacific, Latino, African/Afro-Caribbean, and European backgrounds. Results indicate that Asian Pacific Americans placed more importance on family interdependence than did European Americans. Across all panethnic groups, youth with immigrant parents placed greater emphasis on family interdependence than did youth with U.S.-born parents. The study distinguished between family interdependence attitudes and behaviors and found that they had counteracting influences on academic adjustment: Family obligation attitudes contributed to greater academic motivation among youth from immigrant as compared with U.S.-born families, but greater behavioral demands detracted from achievement.     

How can gender affect psychopathology in Lebanese school‐age children?

This study investigated the extent to which gender differences in coping, school and family environments could account for variation in psychopathology among school‐age children. Participants were 665 middle school students. Results showed no gender differences for PTSD. Females scored higher on emotional problems and prosocial behavior whereas males scored higher on conduct problems. ADHD was higher among children with LD, whereas emotional and conduct problems were higher in females with LD. Emotional and conduct problems increased more by age in females. Gender differences were found in various patterns of predictor–outcome relations. While emotion‐focused coping was associated with emotional and peer problems in both genders, it was associated with conduct problems in females only. Problem‐focused coping was positively associated with prosocial behaviors in females whereas it was negatively associated with peer problems in males. In addition, family environment was negatively associated with emotional problems and PTSD symptomatology in females, whereas school environment was negatively associated with emotional problems in males. Clinical and research implications were discussed.     

A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis of the development of turn taking in adult–child vocal interactions

Fluent conversation requires temporal organization between conversational exchanges. By performing a systematic review and Bayesian multi-level meta-analysis, we map the trajectory of infants’ turn-taking abilities over the course of early development (0 to 70 months). We synthesize the evidence from 26 studies (78 estimates from 429 unique infants, of which at least 152 are female) reporting response latencies in infant–adult dyadic interactions. The data were collected between 1975 and 2019, exclusively in North America and Europe. Infants took on average circa 1 s to respond, and the evidence of changes in response over time was inconclusive. Infants’ response latencies are related to those of their adult conversational partners: an increase of 1 s in adult response latency (e.g., 400 to 1400 ms) would be related to an increase of over 1 s in infant response latency (from 600 to 1857 ms). These results highlight the dynamic reciprocity involved in the temporal organization of turn-taking. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for future avenues of enquiry: studies should analyze how turn-by-turn exchanges develop on a longitudinal timescale, with rich assessment of infants’ linguistic and social development.     

Acid Phosphatase as a Marker in Malaria

The serum acid phosphatase (ACP) activity and Hemoglobin (Hb) levels were measured in malaria patients and nonmalarial fever patients. The results were compared with normal healthy control subjects. ACP was significantly increased (P < 0.001) in all the malaria patients. ACP was significantly higher in Plasmodium falcifarum malaria and mixed malaria when compared to Plasmodium vivax malaria. Hb levels were significantly decreased in all the malaria patients which indicates that malaria parasite uses host erythrocyte Hb as a major nutrient source. There is negative correlation(r = −0.478) between ACP and Hb in malaria patients, which is highly significant. These results suggest that the measurement of ACP could be used as a marker for malaria.