Developing the Positional Characteristics of a Dance-Specific Star Excursion Balance Test (dsSEBT)

Current dynamic balance tests do not sufficiently test all aspects of balance required for dancers in everyday training and performances. The aim of this study was to examine alterations to the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) to ensure a more dance-specific protocol. Twenty-four healthy ballet and contemporary dancers (age: 22.21 ± 6.47 years) participated in completing five different variations of the SEBT. This research implemented upper-body restrictions commonly used in dance settings and tested the effects of two different foot positions, parallel and turned out, as well as two alternate balance surfaces, a foam balance pad and a firm yoga block. Reach distances (percent of limb length), center of pressure (COP, cm2), error scores, and time to completion were measured. Overall, the dance-specific upper body restrictions did not affect the dancer’s ability to reach maximally and achieve a successful trial as there were no significant differences between the original SEBT and the dance-specific SEBT parallel condition (p = 1.00). The foam and block conditions were found to be significantly more difficult due to lower reach distance values, higher COP values, and higher error score values when compared to the original, parallel, and turnout positions (p < 0.05). Lastly, it was discovered that 62.61% of all errors made were in the crossed side and crossed front spokes, suggesting these are the most difficult reach directions to accomplish. The variations used in the study will aid in developing a reliable dance-specific dynamic balance test.

Polish Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Lower Limb Functional Index (LLFI) demonstrates a Valid Outcome Measure for the Lower Limb Region and Joints

Background: Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are recommended to enable the standardization of collected data and provide accurate representation of the patients’ subjective opinions of their functional capabilities. The purpose of this study was to perform linguistic and cross-cultural adaptation to establish a Polish version of the Lower Limb Functional Index (LLFI), and to evaluate the psychometric properties of internal consistency, reliability, error score, validity, and factor structure with standardized criteria PROMs in a population with lower limb problems.Methods: Linguistic and cultural adaptation complied with the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) guidelines to produce the Lower Limb Functional Index - Polish version (LLFI-PL). This was a two-stage, cross-sectional study with repeated measures on two variables during retest examination. The study recruited n=125 subjects (age =52.86±19.53 years, range 20-87, 56% female, injury duration =17.69±18.39 weeks, range 5-71). Baseline reliability and construct validity included the LLFI-PL, Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Euroqol Health Questionnaire 5-Dimensions (EQ-5D-5L), and an 11-point pain Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), with retest at 3-7 days. Practicality for readability was considered within the face and content validity. Completion and scoring time were also calculated. Results: Statistical analysis showed high internal consistency (α=0.94) that is below the 0.95 threshold limit, and excellent test-retest reliability (ICC2.1=0.96). The error score found the SEM=4.85% with MDC90=11.3%. Validity analysis showed strong correlations between the LLFI-PL with the WOMAC (r=-0.81) and moderate with the EQ-5D-5L (r=-0.63). Exploratory factor analysis confirmed a single-factor structure. Times for completion (172±33 seconds) and scoring (20±9 seconds) were determined.Conclusions: The LLFI-PL is a psychometrically sound questionnaire for Polish-speaking patients with lower limb musculoskeletal conditions. The results support the findings of previous original-English, Spanish, and Turkish versions for internal consistency, validity, reliability, error score, and factor structure.

Adult Perfomance on the Sustained Auditory Attention Skill Test

Introduction The Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test (SAAAT) is an instrument used to assess sustained auditory attention in children. Difficulties related to this ability are not unique to children alone, as adults have been observed to present with the same deficits. Therefore, there is a need to adapt instruments like the SAAAT and provide reference values for adults. Objective To assess adult performance on the SAAAT. Methods Approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee under n° 034/2011. The sample consisted of 30 participants aged between 18 and 30 years old (average age = 24.2 years old), female and male. The inclusion criteria were: peripheral hearing within normal limits, type A tympanometric curve, and no attention-related complaints. The participants were submitted to Tonal Audiometry, Logoaudiometry, Immitanciometry and to the SAAAT. Results The following mean values and standard deviations (SD) were observed: inattention = 1.7 (SD = 2.2) and impulsivity = 0.8 (SD = 0.9) error types. For the SAAAT, the mean value for the total error score was 2.4 (SD = 2.6), and for the decrease in vigilance, it was 0.3 (SD = 0.5). When comparing the performance of adults and children, a statistically significant difference was observed for inattention (p = 0.000) and impulsivity (p = 0.001) error types, as well as in the total error score (p = 0.000) and in decreased vigilance (p = 0.0003). Conclusion The performance of adults in the SAAAT differed from the children's parameters, since adults showed lower scores in all variables of the instrument.

HousEEC: Day-Ahead Household Electrical Energy Consumption Forecasting Using Deep Learning

Short-term load forecasting is integral to the energy planning sector. Various techniques have been employed to achieve effective operation of power systems and efficient market management. We present a scalable system for day-ahead household electrical energy consumption forecasting, named HousEEC. The proposed forecasting method is based on a deep residual neural network, and integrates multiple sources of information by extracting features from (i) contextual data (weather, calendar), and (ii) the historical load of the particular household and all households present in the dataset. Additionally, we compute novel domain-specific time-series features that allow the system to better model the pattern of energy consumption of the household. The experimental analysis and evaluation were performed on one of the most extensive datasets for household electrical energy consumption, Pecan Street, containing almost four years of data. Multiple test cases show that the proposed model provides accurate load forecasting results, achieving a root-mean-square error score of 0.44 kWh and mean absolute error score of 0.23 kWh, for short-term load forecasting for 300 households. The analysis showed that, for hourly forecasting, our model had 8% error (22 kWh), which is 4 percentage points better than the benchmark model. The daily analysis showed that our model had 2% error (131 kWh), which is significantly less compared to the benchmark model, with 6% error (360 kWh).

Polish Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Lower Limb Functional Index (LLFI) Demonstrates a Valid Outcome Measure for the Lower Limb Region and Joints

Background: Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are recommended to enable the standardization of collected data and provide accurate representation of the patients’ subjective opinions of their functional capabilities. The purpose of this study was to perform linguistic and cross-cultural adaptation to establish a Polish version of the Lower Limb Functional Index (LLFI), and to evaluate the psychometric properties of internal consistency, reliability, error score, validity, and factor structure with standardized criteria PROMs in a population with lower limb problems.Methods: Linguistic and cultural adaptation complied with the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) guidelines to produce the Lower Limb Functional Index - Polish version (LLFI-PL). The study recruited subjects (n = 125, age = 52.86 ± 19.53 years, range 20–87, 56% female, injury duration = 17.69 ± 18.39 weeks, range 5–71). Baseline reliability and criterion validity included the LLFI-PL, Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Euroqol Health Questionnaire 5-Dimensions (EQ-5D-5L), and an 11-point pain Numerical Rating Scale, with retest at 3–7 days. Practicality for readability was considered within the face and content validity. Completion and scoring time were also calculated.Results: Statistical analysis showed excellent internal consistency (α = 0.94) and high test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.96). The error score found the SEM = 3.49% with MDC90 = 8.11%. Validity analysis showed strong correlations between the LLFI-PL with the WOMAC (r=-0.81) and moderate with the EQ-5D-5L (r=-0.63). Exploratory factor analysis confirmed a single-factor structure. Times for completion (172 ± 33 seconds) and scoring (20 ± 9 seconds) were determined.Conclusions: The LLFI-PL is a psychometrically sound questionnaire for Polish-speaking patients with lower limb musculoskeletal conditions. The results support the findings of previous original-English, Spanish, and Turkish versions for internal consistency, validity, reliability, error score, and factor structure.

Reliability of test battery

After a brief review of methods for assessing the reliability of individual test, the article presents a method of obtaining reliability of a battery of tests where battery score could be defined as sum of weighted or unweighted scores of the component tests. Such battery reliability can be influenced significantly by method of selection of weights to arrive at the battery scores and methods of estimating reliability of component tests. Test reliability as per theoretical definition in terms of length of score vectors of two parallel tests and angle between such vectors in N-dimensional space also helps to find values of error score variance of the test fits well in estimation of battery reliability. Relationship between theoretically defined reliability rtt and split-half correlation rgh was established. For weighted battery score, a Lagrange multiplier-based solution for determination of weights is recommended with the use of reliability as per the theoretical definition. Weights found as above have the advantage that the battery score (Y) has minimum variance. Also, covariance between the battery score and the score of an individual test is a constant. Condition of battery score being equi-correlated with the standardized score of each constituent test was derived.

Cross-cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Polish Version of the Lower Limb Functional Index

Background: Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are recommended to enable the standardization of collected data and provide accurate representation of the patients’ subjective opinions of their functional capabilities. The purpose of this study was to perform linguistic and cross-cultural adaptation to establish a Polish version of the Lower Limb Functional Index (LLFI), and to evaluate the psychometric properties of internal consistency, reliability, error score, validity, and factor structure with standardized criteria PROMs in a population with lower limb problems. Methods: Linguistic and cultural adaptation complied with the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) guidelines to produce the Lower Limb Functional Index-Polish version (LLFI-PL). The study recruited subjects (n=125, age =52.86±19.53 years, range 20-87, 56% female, injury duration =17.69±18.39 weeks, range 5-71). Baseline reliability and criterion validity included the LLFI-PL, Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Euroqol Health Questionnaire 5-Dimensions (EQ-5D-5L), and an 11-point pain Numerical Rating Scale, with retest at 3-7 days. Practicality for readability was considered within the face and content validity. Completion and scoring time were also calculated. Results: Statistical analysis showed excellent internal consistency ( α =0.94) and high test-retest reliability (ICC=0.96). The error score found the SEM=3.49% with MDC 90 =8.11%. Validity analysis showed strong correlations between the LLFI-PL with the WOMAC (r=-0.81) and moderate with the EQ-5D-5L (r=-0.63). Exploratory factor analysis confirmed a single-factor structure. Times for completion (172±33 seconds) and scoring (20±9 seconds) were determined. Conclusions: The LLFI-PL is a psychometrically sound questionnaire for Polish-speaking patients with lower limb musculoskeletal conditions. The results support the findings of previous original-English, Spanish, and Turkish versions for internal consistency, validity, reliability, error score, and factor structure.

Wait, There’s a Baby in this Bath Water! Update on Quantitative and Qualitative Cut-Offs for Rey 15-Item Recall and Recognition

Objective Evaluate the effectiveness of Rey 15-item plus recognition data in a large neuropsychological sample. Method Rey 15-item plus recognition scores were compared in credible (n = 138) and noncredible (n = 353) neuropsychology referrals. Results Noncredible patients scored significantly worse than credible patients on all Rey 15-item plus recognition scores. When cut-offs were selected to maintain at least 89.9% specificity, cut-offs could be made more stringent, with the highest sensitivity found for recognition correct (cut-off ≤11; 62.6% sensitivity) and the combination score (recall + recognition – false positives; cut-off ≤22; 60.6% sensitivity), followed by recall correct (cut-off ≤11; 49.3% sensitivity), and recognition false positive errors (≥3; 17.9% sensitivity). A cut-off of ≥4 applied to a summed qualitative error score for the recall trial resulted in 19.4% sensitivity. Approximately 10% of credible subjects failed either recall correct or recognition correct, whereas two-thirds of noncredible patients (67.7%) showed this pattern. Thirteen percent of credible patients failed either recall correct, recognition correct, or the recall qualitative error score, whereas nearly 70% of noncredible patients failed at least one of the three. Some individual qualitative recognition errors had low false positive rates (&lt;2%) indicating that their presence was virtually pathognomonic for noncredible performance. Older age (&gt;50) and IQ &lt; 80 were associated with increased false positive rates in credible patients. Conclusions Data on a larger sample than that available in the 2002 validation study show that Rey 15-item plus recognition cut-offs can be made more stringent, and thereby detect up to 70% of noncredible test takers, but the test should be used cautiously in older individuals and in individuals with lowered IQ.

Implementing Hidden Markov Model to Predict Foreign Exchange Movement

Investment refers to personal bussiness. So many people have got profit from investment both real and non real sectors. Foreign Exchange (FOREX) is the example of non real sector. The currency fluctuation of FOREX usually occurs and this causes many investors fooled by the pattern of currency fluctuation. Finally, they get lost and even lost capital. Hidden Markov Model was implemented in this research to predict the movement of FOREX of 8 currencies. The data were trained by Baum-Welch algorithm and predicted by Forward algorithm. The trial obtained the average MAPE (Mean Absolute Precentage Error) of 8 currencies which was relatively small (0.0038082% belongs to high and 0.0040706% belongs to low), less than 1%. The currency of USD/IDR has the smallest error score among the other tested currencies. Its average MAPE was 0.0032624% and the average deviation was 42. Thus, this system is well proven to predict the movement of currency.