The use of Bayesian methodology in the development and validation of a tiered assessment approach towards prediction of rat acute oral toxicity

There exists consensus that the traditional means by which safety of chemicals is assessed—namely through reliance upon apical outcomes obtained following in vivo testing—is increasingly unfit for purpose. Whilst efforts in development of suitable alternatives continue, few have achieved levels of robustness required for regulatory acceptance. An array of “new approach methodologies” (NAM) for determining toxic effect, spanning in vitro and in silico spheres, have by now emerged. It has been suggested, intuitively, that combining data obtained from across these sources might serve to enhance overall confidence in derived judgment. This concept may be formalised in the “tiered assessment” approach, whereby evidence gathered through a sequential NAM testing strategy is exploited so to infer the properties of a compound of interest. Our intention has been to provide an illustration of how such a scheme might be developed and applied within a practical setting—adopting for this purpose the endpoint of rat acute oral lethality. Bayesian statistical inference is drawn upon to enable quantification of degree of confidence that a substance might ultimately belong to one of five LD50-associated toxicity categories. Informing this is evidence acquired both from existing in silico and in vitro resources, alongside a purposely-constructed random forest model and structural alert set. Results indicate that the combination of in silico methodologies provides moderately conservative estimations of hazard, conducive for application in safety assessment, and for which levels of certainty are defined. Accordingly, scope for potential extension of approach to further toxicological endpoints is demonstrated.

Regional Development and Interregional Migration Decisions in Jakarta

Purpose: this study aims to examine the community's decision to migrate between regions in the Jabodetabek area using the KRL Commuterline public transportation and analyse regional criteria based on regional development based on Oriented Development Transit, where these criteria become integration with community movements in migrating to an area.Methods: secondary data is used to fnd the number of people in migrating obtained from pt. Kai Indonesia. While to complete and explain each variable to be studied using primary data with several questions through a questionnaire submitted to 398 people who migrate between regions using logistic regression analysis techniques in their measurements. While to analyze the criteria for regional development in each region using an assessment approach from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. With qualitative analysis techniques and to assist in this research, a spatial approach is used which is used to display a picture of the distribution of migration.Results: (1) Regional development in each part of the Jabodetabek area is in the silver standard category which indicates that the regional development project has almost met the performance targets that have been conceptualized by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. (2) People in making decisions to migrate between regions will be affected by the variables of distance, travel costs, gender, travel time, migration destination and regional development, while age and transit distance cannot provide a large enough influence on people's movements in migrating.Conclusions and Relevance: the results of the study prove that regional development in the Jabodetabek area tends to be a non-metropolitan area where people who move prefer areas that are integrated with public facilities that lead to the destination rather than towards the metropolitan area, this is evidenced by the standard silver criteria obtained in the area in Jabodetabek.

Standing, Transition, and Walking Ability in Older Adults: The Case for Independently Evaluating Different Domains of Mobility Function

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Independent mobility is a complex behavior that relies on the ability to walk, maintain stability, and transition between postures. However, guidelines for assessment that details <i>what</i> elements of mobility to evaluate and <i>how</i> they should be measured remain unclear. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Performance on tests of standing, sit-to-stand, and walking were evaluated in a cohort of 135 complex, comorbid, and older adults (mean age 87 ± 5.5 years). Correlational analysis was conducted to examine the degree of association for measures within and between mobility domains on a subset of participants (<i>n</i> = 83) able to complete all tasks unaided. Participants were also grouped by the presence of risk markers for frailty (gait speed and grip strength) to determine if the level of overall impairment impacted performance scores and if among those with risk markers, the degree of association was greater. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Within-domain relationships for sit-to-stand and walking were modest (rho = 0.01–0.60). Associations either did not exist or relationships were weak for measures reflecting different domains (rho = −0.35 to 0.25, <i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05). As expected, gait speed differed between those with and without frailty risk markers (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001); however, balance and sit-to-stand measures did not (<i>p</i> ≥ 0.05). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> This study highlights the need to independently evaluate different mobility domains within an individual as a standard assessment approach. Modest within-domain relationships emphasize the need to account for multiple, unique control challenges within more complex domains. These findings have important implications for standardized mobility assessment and targeted rehabilitation strategies for older adults.

Enhancing the effectiveness of flipped classroom in health science education: a state-of-the-art review

Background In a flipped classroom, students acquire knowledge before class and deepen and apply this knowledge during class. This way, lower-order learning goals are achieved before class and higher-order skills are reached during class. This study aims to provide an overview of the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of the flipped classroom and how these factors can be stimulated. The effectiveness of the flipped classroom is conceptualized in this study as test scores, the achievement of higher learning goals, and student perceptions. Methods A state-of-the-art review was conducted. The databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were consulted. The timeframe is 2016 till 2020. The studies were qualitatively analyzed according to the grounded theory method. Results After screening the studies based on the inclusion-and exclusion criteria, 88 studies were included in this review. The qualitative analysis of these studies revealed six main factors that affect the effectiveness of the flipped classroom: student characteristics, teacher characteristics, implementation, task characteristics, out-of-class activities, and in-class activities. Mediating factors are, amongst other factors, the learner’s level of self-regulated learning, teacher’s role and motivation, assessment approach, and guidance during self-study by means of prompts or feedback. These factors can be positively stimulated by structuring the learning process and focusing the teacher training on competencies and learning-and teaching approaches that are essential for the flipped classroom. Conclusion This paper provides insight into the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of the flipped classroom and how these factors could be stimulated. In order to stimulate the effectiveness of the flipped classroom, the positively and negatively affecting factors and mediating factors should be taken into account in the design of the flipped classroom. The interventions mentioned in this paper could also be used to enhance the effectiveness.

Questionnaire Measures of Empathy in Children: A Scoping Review

Children’s unique developmental and contextual needs make it challenging to measure empathy validly and reliably. This scoping review is the first to collate currently available information about self-report, other-report, and performance-based questionnaire measures of empathy for children aged up to 11 years. Following the guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR; Tricco et al., 2018), a literature search using PsycINFO, Scopus, and Google Scholar identified 24 relevant measures of empathy in children, with publication years spanning 1958 to 2019. Questionnaires could broadly be classified into four groups, according to the extent to which they were developed with children’s developmental needs and contexts in mind, and were based on contemporary theory and research findings. There was a distinction between performance-based measures, which elicited children’s empathy-related responses to novel content and therefore assessed situational state empathy, and self- and other-report measures, which rated children’s general empathic tendencies and thus assessed dispositional trait empathy. Results highlighted the importance of researchers having clarity on their definition of empathy and choosing measures consistent with this, and the merit of utilizing a multimodal assessment approach.

Layers of Meaning and Evolution of Cultural Identity: The Case of Wind Towers in Dubai

Place identity is an important constituent of general cultural identity, in that it provides its share of continuity, sustainability, and character to the built environment. The image of cultural heritage is stored knowledge that reflects the identity of a specific culture. In the formation of a place, some features gain identity with the environment. This study aims to explore the evolving image formation of wind towers in Dubai, and how this image is related to the concept of meaning and cultural identity of the place. This study focuses on the process of place identity formation and its relation to the evolving cultural values of society, as well as how it is applied to the changing meaning of cultural heritage objects. Based on the value assessment approach, different examples of wind towers, taken from either traditional houses or contemporary buildings influenced by the local architecture in Dubai, the author attempted to study how the interpretation and meaning of wind towers has evolved through time, thus influencing the cultural identity of Dubai city. This study is based on qualitative research. It concludes that a wind tower, as a cooling device, represents a unique example of an evolving creative process of architectural expression, resulting from the social and cultural complexity of the Persian Gulf in the early twentieth century. They were introduced through commercial exchange, adapted by the mercantile community, and integrated into local cultural systems—thus creating new architectural features and urban character—and reintroduced as a modern symbol of cultural identity for Dubai and the UAE.