scholarly journals Forensic Facial Comparison: Current Status, Limitations, and Future Directions

Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1269
Author(s):  
Nicholas Bacci ◽  
Joshua G. Davimes ◽  
Maryna Steyn ◽  
Nanette Briers
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Human Observer ◽  
Angle Of Incidence ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Feature List ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Iteration Analysis

Global escalation of crime has necessitated the use of digital imagery to aid the identification of perpetrators. Forensic facial comparison (FFC) is increasingly employed, often relying on poor-quality images. In the absence of standardized criteria, especially in terms of video recordings, verification of the methodology is needed. This paper addresses aspects of FFC, discussing relevant terminology, investigating the validity and reliability of the FISWG morphological feature list using a new South African database, and advising on standards for CCTV equipment. Suboptimal conditions, including poor resolution, unfavorable angle of incidence, color, and lighting, affected the accuracy of FFC. Morphological analysis of photographs, standard CCTV, and eye-level CCTV showed improved performance in a strict iteration analysis, but not when using analogue CCTV images. Therefore, both strict and lenient iterations should be conducted, but FFC must be abandoned when a strict iteration performs worse than a lenient one. This threshold ought to be applied to the specific CCTV equipment to determine its utility. Chance-corrected accuracy was the most representative measure of accuracy, as opposed to the commonly used hit rate. While the use of automated systems is increasing, trained human observer-based morphological analysis, using the FISWG feature list and an Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification (ACE-V) approach, should be the primary method of facial comparison.

Psychometric Review of Language and Articulation Tests for Preschool Children

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. McCauley ◽  
Linda Swisher
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Validity And Reliability

Thirty language and articulation tests developed for use with preschool children were reviewed using ten psychometric criteria appropriate to norm-referenced tests. Half of the reviewed tests met no more than two criteria, and only three tests met over four criteria. Most frequently unmet criteria were those requiring empirical evidence of validity and reliability. Implications are drawn regarding the current status of norm-referenced language and articulation tests for preschool children.

scholarly journals How to do (or not to do)… Measuring health worker motivation in surveys in low- and middle-income countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Borghi ◽  
J Lohmann ◽  
E Dale ◽  
F Meheus ◽  
J Goudge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Worker ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
High Quality Research ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Health Worker Motivation ◽  
Worker Motivation

Abstract A health system’s ability to deliver quality health care depends on the availability of motivated health workers, which are insufficient in many low income settings. Increasing policy and researcher attention is directed towards understanding what drives health worker motivation and how different policy interventions affect motivation, as motivation is key to performance and quality of care outcomes. As a result, there is growing interest among researchers in measuring motivation within health worker surveys. However, there is currently limited guidance on how to conceptualize and approach measurement and how to validate or analyse motivation data collected from health worker surveys, resulting in inconsistent and sometimes poor quality measures. This paper begins by discussing how motivation can be conceptualized, then sets out the steps in developing questions to measure motivation within health worker surveys and in ensuring data quality through validity and reliability tests. The paper also discusses analysis of the resulting motivation measure/s. This paper aims to promote high quality research that will generate policy relevant and useful evidence.

scholarly journals Construct validity and reliability of the generalised anxiety disorder-7 scale in a sample of tuberculosis patients in the Free State Province, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gladys Kigozi
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Free State ◽  
Generalised Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Emotional Symptoms ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Fit Index

Background: Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) frequently occurs amongst patients with tuberculosis (TB) and contributes to poor quality of life and treatment outcomes. This study evaluated the construct validity and reliability of the GAD-7 scale in a sample of patients with TB in the Free State Province.Methods: A pilot study was conducted amongst a convenience sample of 208 adult patients newly diagnosed with drug-susceptible TB attending primary healthcare (PHC) facilities in the Lejweleputswa District in the Free State. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire comprising social demographic questions and the GAD-7 scale was used. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the construct validity of the GAD-7 scale. The reliability of the scale was assessed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha.Results: The analysis showed that a modified two-factor (somatic symptoms and cognitive -emotional symptoms) model, in which the items ‘Not being able to stop or control worrying’ and ‘Worrying too much about different things’ were allowed to covary (Comparative Fit Index: 0.996, Tucker–Lewis Index: 0.993, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation: 0.070, 90% confidence interval: 0.032–0.089), fitted the data better than a unidimensional (generalised anxiety) or an unmodified two-factor model. The indicators all showed significant positive factor loadings, with standardised coefficients ranging from 0.719 to 0.873. The Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was 0.86.Conclusion: The modified two-factor structure and high internal consistency respectively provide evidence for construct validity and reliability of the GAD-7 scale for assessing GAD amongst patients with TB. Studies are necessary to assess the performance of this brief scale under routine TB programme conditions in the Free State.

scholarly journals Treatment of spinal cord injury with mesenchymal stem cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Ling Liau ◽  
Qi Hao Looi ◽  
Wui Chuen Chia ◽  
Thayaalini Subramaniam ◽  
Min Hwei Ng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Nerve Tissue ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Biological Therapies ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Cord Injury

Abstract Background Spinal cord injury (SCI) is the damage to the spinal cord that can lead to temporary or permanent loss of function due to injury to the nerve. The SCI patients are often associated with poor quality of life. Results This review discusses the current status of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy for SCI, criteria to considering for the application of MSC therapy and novel biological therapies that can be applied together with MSCs to enhance its efficacy. Bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs), umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UC-MSCs) and adipose tissue-derived MSCs (ADSCs) have been trialed for the treatment of SCI. Application of MSCs may minimize secondary injury to the spinal cord and protect the neural elements that survived the initial mechanical insult by suppressing the inflammation. Additionally, MSCs have been shown to differentiate into neuron-like cells and stimulate neural stem cell proliferation to rebuild the damaged nerve tissue. Conclusion These characteristics are crucial for the restoration of spinal cord function upon SCI as damaged cord has limited regenerative capacity and it is also something that cannot be achieved by pharmacological and physiotherapy interventions. New biological therapies including stem cell secretome therapy, immunotherapy and scaffolds can be combined with MSC therapy to enhance its therapeutic effects.

scholarly journals Drug Approval Process for Pediatric Patients

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-83
Author(s):  
Osvaldo D. Castelán Martínez ◽  
Victoria E. Barrios López
Keyword(s):  
Pediatric Population ◽  
Drug Approval ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Administration Routes ◽  
Adherence To Medication ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Drug Approval Process ◽  
Preclinical And Clinical Studies

Before placing a drug on the market for human use, it must be comprehensively studied in preclinical and clinical studies to ensure it is safe, high-quality and effective to be used in the target population. Nevertheless, there are not enough studies carried out for the pediatric population. Many of the medications currently used to treat the pediatric population have not been authorized for such use. Problems resulting from inadequate adaptation of adult medications for children include inadequate dosing which leads to increased risk of adverse reactions including death, ineffective treatment, non-availability to the pediatric population of therapeutic advances, non-suitable formulations, lack of formulations and inadequate administration routes, as well as use of magistral or officinal formulations to treat the pediatric population which may be of poor quality. The development of pediatric medicines will lead to safe and accurate administration, reducing the risk of medication errors, improving adherence to medication and improving therapeutic outcomes in children. For these reasons, it is necessary that the regulatory authorities in each country encourage the research and development of pediatric medicines. The objective of this article was reviewing the pharmacological and regulatory aspects involved in the development of pediatric medications, as well as describing the current status of pediatric drug development in Mexico.

The Issues and Prospects for E-Governance in Eastern Africa

2015 ◽  
pp. 130-142
Author(s):  
Wilson Okaka
Keyword(s):  
Primary Education ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Universal Primary Education ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
Education Service ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Digital Gap

This chapter discusses the issues, prospects, and challenges of e-governance in Africa with a focus on the progress of universal primary education in east Africa. It uses Uganda to showcase the need for e-governance of primary school education. The objectives are to describe the current status of the universal primary education, the key issues encountered in an effort to achieve MDG 2, and highlight the prospects of e-governance in achieving education. In this chapter, the authors collate published evidence on the performance of Uganda in implementing the MDG 2. There is a wide rural-urban digital gap, weak ICT infrastructures, and low awareness at the expense of quality UPE. There is limited access to ICT, ICT illiteracy, poor quality education, lack of e-books or ICT instructional materials to cut the costs of school administration like communication. E-governance has yet to achieve full deployment in education service delivery.

scholarly journals Neuromodulation for the treatment of eating disorders and obesity

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrin J. Lee ◽  
Gavin J.B. Elias ◽  
Andres M. Lozano
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Morbid Obesity ◽  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Brain Stimulation ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Potential Treatment ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Deep Brain

Eating disorders and obesity adversely affect individuals both medically and psychologically, leading to reduced life expectancy and poor quality of life. While there exist a number of treatments for anorexia, morbid obesity and bulimia, many patients do not respond favorably to current behavioral, medical or bariatric surgical management. Neuromodulation has been postulated as a potential treatment for eating disorders and obesity. In particular, deep brain stimulation and transcranial non-invasive brain stimulation have been studied for these indications across a variety of brain targets. Here, we review the neurobiology behind eating and eating disorders as well as the current status of preclinical and clinical neuromodulation trials for eating disorders and obesity.

scholarly journals Validity and reliability of grade scoring in the diagnosis of exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 00070-2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emil Schwarz Walsted ◽  
James H. Hull ◽  
Jeppe Hvedstrup ◽  
Robert Christiaan Maat ◽  
Vibeke Backer
Keyword(s):  
Scoring System ◽  
Time To Exhaustion ◽  
Rater Agreement ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Visual Grade ◽  
Gold Standard Method ◽  
Laryngeal Obstruction ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Exercise Induced ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

The current gold-standard method for diagnosing exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO) is continuous laryngoscopy during exercise (CLE), with severity classified by a visual grade scoring system. We evaluated the precision of this approach, by evaluating test–retest reliability of CLE and both inter- and intra-rater variability.In this prospective case–control study, subjects completed four consecutive treadmill CLE tests under identical conditions. Laryngoscopic video recordings were anonymised and graded by three expert raters. 2 months following initial scoring, videos were re-randomised and rating repeated to assess intra-rater agreement.20 subjects (16 cases and four controls) completed four CLE tests. The time to exhaustion increased by 30 s (95% CI 0.02–57.8, p<0.05) in the second CLE compared with the first test, but remained identical in the subsequent tests. Only one-third of subjects retained their initial diagnosis in the subsequent three tests. Inter-rater agreement on grade scores (weighted Cohen's ϰ) was 0.16–0.45, while intra-rater agreement ranged from 0.30 to 0.67.The CLE test is key in the diagnostic assessment of patients with EILO. However, the widely adopted visual grade scoring system does not appear to be a robust means for reliably classifying severity of EILO.

The Iowa Pegboard Fine-Motor Task: Normative Performance and Research Applications

1987 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 995-1002
Author(s):  
Janet N. Melby ◽  
Damaris Pease ◽  
Kimberly A. Kleckner
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Current Status ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
School Age ◽  
Individual Child ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Prediction Formula ◽  
Reliability Performance

The Iowa Pegboard Fine-motor Task is a 60-sec. peg-placement task for use with preschool and school-age children. The instrument has demonstrated validity and reliability. Performance norms by age (means, standard deviations, and range) are presented for 865 observations (420 boys, 445 girls) of 510 Iowa children ranging in age from 33 to 138 mo. Regression analysis yielded the prediction formula: Ŷ = −8.205 + 0.619(age in mo.) − 0.002 (age in mo.)2. Moderate stability, based on 513 comparisons of repeated measures, is evident. Correlations of pegboard and PPVT scores, based on 541 observations of children 33 to 71 mo. of age, are positive and significant. The present findings enhance the use of the instrument in assessing current status of an individual child and/or in comparison within and between individuals.

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