Differential Item Functioning Among English Language Learners on a Large-Scale Mathematics Assessment.

The current study research showed the nature and potential sources of the gaps in mathematics achievement between English language learners (ELLs) and non-English language learners (non-ELLs). The nature of achievement gap was examined using three DIF methodologies: including Mantel-Haenszel procedure, Rasch model, and Hierarchical Generalized Linear Model (HGLM). These were conducted at the item level in contrast to total test level.

Care homes education: what can we learn?

Medical care received by care home residents can be variable. Initiatives, such as matron-led community teams, ensure a timely response to alerts about unwell residents. But early recognition of deterioration is vital in accessing this help.

The Theory of Planned Behavior and the USDA Summer Food Service Program.

Objective: Examine the impact of the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) on the intentions to positively change fruit and vegetable consumption in a rural, low-income adolescent population using the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Design: Quantitative data collected via a pre-post intervention survey to determine predictors of positive nutrition behaviors and changes in self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption.

Setting: A mid-sized university.

Applying the Many-Facet Rasch Measurement Model to Explore Reviewer Ratings of Conference Proposals.

For academic conferences, when proposals are submit they are often judged using a rating scale on identified criterion by reviewers who have a shared interest and expertise in the area under consideration. Given the multiple and varied reviewers, an analysis of psychometric properties like rater severity and consistency are important. However, many of the problems that plague the conference proposal selection process are the same issues that plague survey research: rater bias/severity, misuse of rating scale, and the use of raw scores as measures.

Assessing the Validity of a Continuum-of-care Survey: A Rasch Measurement Approach.

Satisfied patients are more likely to be compliant, have better outcomes, and are more likely to return to the same provider or institution for future care. The Satisfaction with a Continuum of Care survey (SCC) was designed to improve patient care using measures of patient satisfaction and facilitate a cultural shift from a "silos-of-care" to a "continuum-of-care" mentality by fostering inter-departmental communication as patients moved between environments of care at a Midwestern rehabilitation hospital. This study provides a Rasch measurement framework for investigating issues related to survey reliability and validity.

Ultrasound evaluation of urachal abscess in a young infant.

The urachus is a tubular structure extending from the dome of the bladder to the umbilicus. Normally, this allantoic and cloacal remnant obliterates into a fibrous band by late fetal development. Urachal abnormalities include a patent urachus, urachal cyst, umbilical urachal sinus, and a vesicourachal diverticulum.

The effects of carbohydrate intake and muscle glycogen content on self-paced intermittent-sprint exercise despite no knowledge of carbohydrate manipulation.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion and muscle glycogen content, without the influence of knowledge of CHO consumption, on intermittent-sprint performance. Ten males completed two conditions on two consecutive days. Day 1 involved 2 × 40 min of leg cycling separated by 15 min of arm cycling, followed by an overnight diet consuming either a high [HCHO; 7 g/kg body weight (bw)] or low (LCHO; 2 g/kg bw) CHO diet.

A new BIA equation estimating the body composition of young children.

Bioelectric impedance analyses (BIA) provides a valid and reliable measure of body composition in field, clinical, and research settings if standard protocol procedures are followed, and population-specific equations are available and utilized. The objective of this study was to create and cross-validate a new BIA body composition equation with representative healthy weight (HW), overweight (OW), and obese (OB) young children. Participants were 436 children who were 5-11 years of age.

Defining delayed consequences as reinforcers: some do, some don't, and nothing changes.

Results of a survey sent to members of the editorial boards of five behavior-analytic journals in 1990 indicated that there was no consensus among respondents with respect to whether delayed events can function as reinforcers (Schlinger, Blakely, Fillhard, & Poling, 1991). Since that time, several studies with nonhuman animals have demonstrated that events delayed by at least several seconds can increase the probability of occurrence of the responses that produce them. To determine the relative number of contemporary behavior analysts who nonetheless believe that reinforcers must immediately follow the responses that produce them, the present study replicated the procedures used by Schlinger et al.

Cocaine and automaintained responding in pigeons: rate-reducing effects and tolerance thereto with different durations of food delivery.

Pigeons were exposed to an automaintenance procedure in which 6-s key illuminations in one color (red or white) were immediately followed by 3-s food deliveries and key illuminations in the other color were followed by 9-s food deliveries. Both conditions engendered consistent responding. With both durations of food delivery, acute and chronic cocaine administrations (1.

Females' participation in psychopharmacology research as authors, editors, and subjects.

This study determined the involvement of women as first authors and other authors for every article published in Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, and Psychopharmacology in 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006. Their involvement as editors also was determined. Women's participation as authors, but not as editors, slightly increased over time.

The differential effect of epilepsy labels on employer perceptions: report of a pilot study.

A multimethod pilot study is described in which employers' and human resource professionals' perceptions of three labels used for epilepsy -- epilepsy, seizure disorder, and seizure condition -- were explored. Ninety-three participants were presented with a list of 10 chronic conditions or disabilities, including one of these epilepsy labels, and asked to rank-order the likelihood that a person with each condition would be hired for an assembly/production position. The participants also ranked cover letters from fictional applicants for a customer service representative position.

Surgical technique for permanent intracoelomic radiotransmitter placement in Anegada iguanas (Cyclura pinguis).

Twenty-four juvenile to subadult Anegada iguanas (Cyclura pinguis), captive-reared in a propagation facility, were designated by a coordinated recovery program for release in the summer of 2003. To facilitate postrelease monitoring, a radiotransmitter device was placed within the coelomic cavity of each animal under general anesthesia before release. The equipment sterilization technique and the method of attachment of the transmitters to the coelomic body wall resulted in functional transmitters and acceptably low rates of mortality associated with the procedure.