Development of Category‐Based Induction and Semantic Knowledge

Category‐based induction is a hallmark of mature cognition; however, little is known about its origins. This study evaluated the hypothesis that category‐based induction is related to semantic development. Computational studies suggest that early on there is little differentiation among concepts, but learning and development lead to increased differentiation based on taxonomic relatedness. This study reports findings from a new task aimed to (a) examine this putative increase in semantic differentiation and (b) test whether individual differences in semantic differentiation are related to category‐based induction in 4‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 85). The results provide the first empirical evidence of an age‐related increase in differentiation of representations of animal concepts and suggest that category‐based induction is related to increased semantic differentiation.     

What's trust got to do with it? The ‘washback effect’ of engagement in the 2020 calculated grades process on teachers' trust and future senior cycle reform in Ireland

In Ireland, the high-stakes Leaving Certificate Examination at the end of upper secondary education was abruptly cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, calculated grades were introduced, necessitating for the first time the involvement of secondary school teachers in the assessment of their own students for certification. This article reports on analysis of responses to an online survey with 713 respondents conducted in the autumn of 2020, focusing on teacher experiences of engagement in the process of calculated grades in their schools and how this might inform perceptions of their future roles as assessors. Among the key findings to emerge from re-analyses of these data are inter alia that, for some teachers, (1) negotiation of student grades with colleagues—particularly those at grade boundaries—caused them to question the professional judgements of peers; (2) release by the Department of Education and Skills of student ranks, in addition to grades, constituted a breach of trust because it ran contrary to what they understood had been agreed initially; and (3) living and working in small towns or rural communities in Ireland left them very vulnerable to disgruntled students and their families—resulting in the perception that trust in their professional judgements had been undermined. Hence, the conclusion that the success of Senior Cycle reform efforts is contingent on both rebuilding teachers' trust over time while also working, in the immediate term, with teachers interested in exploring further their roles in school-based assessment for certification purposes.     

The disease burden of childhood adversities in adults: a population-based study

Objectives

There is much evidence showing that childhood adversities have considerable effects on the mental and physical health of adults. It could be assumed therefore, that the disease burden of childhood adversities is high. It has not yet been examined, however, whether this is true.

Method

We used data of a large representative sample (N = 7,076) of the general population in the Netherlands. We calculated the disability weight (DW) for each respondent. The DW is a weight factor that reflects the severity of a disease or condition on a scale from 0 (perfect health) to 1 (equivalent to death). We used an algorithm based on the SF-6D to estimate DW. Because the DW indicates the proportion of a healthy life year that is reduced by the specific health state of the individual, it also possible to calculate the total number of years lost due to disability (YLD) in the population. We calculated the years lived with disability (YLD) for 9 different childhood adversities (in the areas of parental psychopathology; abuse and neglect; major life events), as well as for major categories of mental disorders and general medical disorders.

Results

All 9 adversities resulted in a significantly increased DW, except death of a parent before the age of 16. Adversities in the category of abuse and neglect are associated with the highest DWs (0.057), followed by parental psychopathology (0.031) and life events during childhood (0.012). All adversities (46.4% of the population reports one or more adversity) are associated with 20.7 YLD/1,000, which is more than all mental disorders together (12.9 YLD/1,000). The category of abuse/neglect has the highest YLD/1,000 (15.8), which is also higher than all mental disorders together. Adjustment for the presence of mental and general medical disorders resulted in comparable outcomes.

Conclusions

Childhood adversities are more important from a public health point of view than all common mental disorders together, and should be a priority for public health interventions.     

Laboratory medicine education in Lithuania

In Lithuania there are two types of specialists working in medical laboratories and having a university degree: laboratory medicine physicians and medical biologists. Both types of specialists are officially being recognized and regulated by the Ministry of Health of Lithuania. Laboratory medicine physicians become specialists in laboratory medicine after an accredited 4-year multidisciplinary residency study program in Laboratory Medicine. The residency program curriculum for laboratory medicine physicians is presented. On December 9, 2009 the Equivalence of Standards for medical specialists was accepted and Lithuanian medical specialists in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine can now apply for EC4 registration. Medical biologists become specialists in laboratory medicine after an accredited 2-year master degree multidisciplinary study program in Medical Biology, consisting of 80 credits. Various postgraduate advanced training courses for the continuous education of specialists in laboratory medicine were first introduced in 1966. Today it covers 1-2-week courses in different subspecialties of laboratory medicine. They are obligatory for laboratory medicine physicians for the renewal of their license. It is not compulsory for medical biologists to participate in these courses. The Centre of Laboratory Diagnostics represents a place for the synthesis and application of the basic sciences, the performance of research in various fields of laboratory medicine, as well as performance of thousands of procedures daily and provision of specific teaching programs.     

LONG-TERM INHIBITION OF Na~ /H~ EXCHANGE ATTENUATES CARDIAC REMODELING AFTER MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN RATS

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＴｈｅＮａ /Ｈ ｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅｒ (ＮＨＥ)ｉｓａｐＨ ｒｅｇｕｌａｔｏｒｙｐｒｏｔｅｉｎｐｒｅｓｅｎｔｉｎｔｈｅｐｌａｓｍａｍｅｍ ｂｒａｎｃｅｏｆｃａｒｄｉｏｍｙｏｃｙｔｅｓａｎｄｏｔｈｅｒｃｅｌｌｔｙｐｅｓ.ＡｌｔｈｏｕｇｈｓｅｖｅｒａｌｉｓｏｆｏｒｍｓｏｆＮＨＥｈａｖｅｂｅｅｎｄｅ ｃｒｉｂｅｄ,ｔｈｅｐｒｅｄｏｍｉｎａｎｔｉｓｏｆｏｒｍｉｎｔｈｅｈｅａｒｔｉｓｔｈｅｕｂｉｑｕｉｔｏｕｓＮＨＥ 1 ,ｗｈｉｃｈｕｎｄｅｒｃｅｎｔａｉｎｐｈｙｓｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｃｏｎｄｉｔｉ…     

Methodik und Ergebnisse einer Experimentreihe über Entwurfsmuster

Zusammenfassung.   Software-Entwurfsmuster sind eine intuitiv einleuchtende Idee, die viele Befürworter hat. Als Forscher dürfen wir die behaupteten Wirkungen von Entwurfsmustern jedoch nicht einfach glauben, sondern müssen sie gründlich prüfen. Dieser Artikel beschreibt die wichtigsten Behauptungen und entwickelt daraus zugeh?rige Forschungsfragen. Wir diskutieren die Methodik für ein Forschungsprogramm, das die Fragen beantworten soll, und skizzieren praktische Beschr?nkungen, unter denen diese Forschung ablaufen mu?. Es folgt eine kurze Beschreibung von drei kontrollierten Experimenten und den Hauptfolgerungen aus ihren Ergebnissen. So sollte man zum Beispiel die Benutzung von Entwurfsmustern in einem Entwurf genau dokumentieren und Entwurfsmuster nicht einsetzen, ohne alternative Entwürfe zu prüfen. Abschlie?end diskutieren wir ein im Rahmen des Forschungsprogramms geplantes viertes Experiment. Der Beitrag dieses Artikels liegt vorrangig in einer Beschreibung und Diskussion wichtiger methodischer Aspekte kontrollierter Experimente in der Softwaretechnik. Eingegangen am 27. Oktober 1998 / Angenommen am 13. M?rz 1999     

Dynamic Transition Patterns in Acculturation Among Hispanic Adolescents

Acculturation consists of multiple domains (i.e., cultural practices, identifications, and values). However, less is known about how acculturation processes influence each other across multiple domains of acculturation. This study was designed to investigate transition patterns of acculturative processes within and across domains in a sample of 302 recent-immigrant Hispanic adolescents, M_age (SD) = 14.51 years (0.88) at baseline; male = 53%). Adolescents were assessed six times over a 3-year period. Latent profile analyses identified two profiles (high [or increasing] vs. low) for each domain at each timepoint. We found largely stable transition patterns in each domain over six timepoints. Importantly, sequential associations among profiles in acculturation domains were also detected. Implication for acculturation theory and research are discussed.     

Using Student Journals for Course Evaluation

The evaluation of courses has become more important than ever in the higher education sector. Information is commonly collected from students on their perceptions of a course using questionnaires, discussions or interviews. This paper discusses the use of a student learning journal as a means of collecting data on the effectiveness of a course. Students in a graduate diploma course at the University of Technology, Sydney use learning journals to record and reflect on their development as a teacher/trainer over one semester. The evaluator of the course obtains qualitative data from the journals regarding students’ perceptions of the course content, structure, activities and assessment. The main advantages of this technique include the longitudinal perspective it gives on students perceptions of a course and also that it provides information on the whole course, particularly on whether whole course outcomes are being met. Collecting information from student journals also has the advantage that the data were not written specifically for course evaluation. Issues regarding validity, confidentiality and data analysis using student journals are addressed in this paper as is the place of this technique in a quality assurance scheme for a course.