Diagnostic Classification Models for a Mixture of Ordered and Non-ordered Response Options in Rating Scales

When developing ordinal rating scales, we may include potentially unordered response options such as “Neither Agree nor Disagree,” “Neutral,” “Don’t Know,” “No Opinion,” or “Hard to Say.” To handle responses to a mixture of ordered and unordered options, Huggins-Manley et al. (2018) proposed a class of semi-ordered models under the unidimensional item response theory framework. This study extends the concept of semi-ordered models into the area of diagnostic classification models. Specifically, we propose a flexible framework of semi-ordered DCMs that accommodates most earlier DCMs and allows for analyzing the relationship between those potentially unordered responses and the measured traits. Results from an operational study and two simulation studies show that the proposed framework can incorporate both ordered and non-ordered responses into the estimation of the latent traits and thus provide useful information about both the items and the respondents.     

论“二三九四”中西医结合慢性病管理模式

慢性非传染性疾病的急剧增加, 亚健康状态的出现, 不良生活方式的广泛存在, 对人们的健康产生了越来越显著的影响。研究认为, 科学的慢性病管理应当包括亚健康和不良生活方式在内的全人群的慢性病预防。从两种体检、三个状态、九种体质、四种干预方法出发, 提出以健康帮扶、健康促进、体质调理为特色的“二三九四”中西医结合慢性病管理模式。进一步联合企业和社区的初步实践证明, 该模式有利于降低亚健康的现患率, 可提高健康人群的比例, 为中西医结合防治慢性病提供了一定的参考。     

基于社会资本理论的社区慢性病防治管理策略浅析

慢性非传染性疾病对居民健康的威胁与日俱增。预防和控制慢性病的蔓延是卫生工作者和公共卫生系统面临的挑战, 也关系到国家社会经济能否持续健康的发展。在社会资本理论这一全新视角下, 分析如何构建社区慢性病防治体系, 整合社会资源, 改善人际网络关系。社区慢性病防治体系的建立将为社会资本的重组和再生形成助推器, 并有助于实现二者的相互促进, 同时, 对提高医疗资源的使用效率, 减轻患者及其家属的经济负担, 建立互信互利的社区慢性病防治平台具有重要的现实指导意义。     

大脑两半球功能不对称性与儿童学业成绩

本研究调查了 3 1 8名小学一至三年级学生大脑两半球优势情况 ,然后对不同优势半球学生的语文和数学成绩进行了比较。结果发现优势半球为右半球的学生人数较少 ,只有 3 .8% ,明显少于优势半球为左半球的学生 (χ2 =2 3 9.83 0 ,p<0 .0 0 1 )。对不同优势半球学生的语文和数学成绩的比较 ,未发现两者有显著差异 (语文 :F=1 .1 3 0 ,p>0 .0 5 ;数学 :F=0 .5 75 ,p>0 .0 5 )。     

Are All Kids Alike? The Magnitude of Individual Differences in Personality Characteristics Tends to Increase from Early Childhood to Early Adolescence

Do individual differences in personality traits become more or less pronounced over childhood and adolescence? The present research examined age differences in the variance of a range of personality traits, using parent reports of two large samples of children from predominantly the USA and Russia, respectively. Results indicate (i) that individual differences in most traits tend to increase with age from early childhood into early adolescence and then plateau, (ii) that this general pattern of greater personality variance at older childhood age is consistent across the two countries, and (iii) that this pattern is not an artefact of age differences in means or floor/ceiling effects. These findings are consistent with several (noncontradictory) developmental mechanisms, including youths' expanding behavioural capacities and person–environment transactions (corresponsive principle). However, these mechanisms may predominantly characterize periods before adolescence, or they may be offset by countervailing processes, such as socialization pressure towards a mature personality profile, in late adolescence and adulthood. Finally, the findings also suggest that interpreting age trajectories in mean trait scores as pertaining to age differences in a typical person may sometimes be misleading. Investigating variance should become an integral part of studying personality development. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Alteration of cingulate long-term plasticity and behavioral sensitization to inflammation by environmental enrichment

Exposure to an enriched environment (EE) has been shown to induce cortical plasticity. Considerable amount of research is focused on the effects of EE in the hippocampus; however, effects of EE on other brain regions and the mechanisms involved are not well known. To investigate this, we induced cortical plasticity by placing mice in an EE for one month and measured the effects of EE in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Here, we show that EE enhanced the expression of the plasticity gene, egr-1, in the ACC of EE animals accompanied by enhanced cingulate long-term potentiation (LTP) and decreased cingulate long-term depression (LTD). The increased NMDA receptor NR2B/NR2A subunits current ratio is associated with the plasticity seen in the ACC while total protein levels remain unchanged. Furthermore, behavioral experiments show that these mice exposed to EE demonstrate enhanced responses to acute and long-term inflammation. Our findings suggest that exposure to EE alters physiological properties within the ACC which results in enhanced responses to inflammation.     

Electrolytic lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex do not interfere with long-term memory of extinction of conditioned fear

Lesion studies indicate that rats without the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) have difficulty recalling fear extinction acquired the previous day. Several electrophysiological studies have also supported this observation by demonstrating that extinction-related increases in neuronal activity in the mPFC participate in expression of fear extinction. However, a more recent study has shown that fear extinction can be recalled, in certain circumstances, without mPFC potentiation, suggesting contribution of other circuits. Here, we examined this possibility in rats that were subjected to auditory fear conditioning, extinction training, and extinction retention test 7 d later. Electrolytic lesions were made in the mPFC, the motor cortex (MO), the dorsal septum (SEP), or the mediodorsal thalamus (MD), because of their potential participation in conditioned fear inhibition; combined lesions including the mPFC with the MO, SEP, or MD were also made. The lesions were made either 1 wk before conditioning or 1 d after extinction training. All rats normally extinguished their conditioned freezing behavior during extinction training and did not display any return of this behavior during the retention test. These data reveal that the mPFC is not required for the acquisition, the expression, or the retrieval of extinction memories but do not exclude the possibility that the mPFC normally participates in these processes.     

A Recess Evaluation with the Players: Taking Steps Toward Participatory Action Research

This qualitative study, part of a Canadian national study of fathers’ involvement, opened up First Nations and Métis fathering as a new area of inquiry. Conversational interviews with 80 Indigenous fathers illuminated the socio-historical conditions that have shaped Indigenous men’s experiences of learning to be a father and becoming a man in the context of changing gender relationships and the regeneration of circles of care. Indigenous fathers’ experiences unfold in a socio-historical context fraught with difficulties. However, the study findings suggest cultural strengths and sources of resilience unseen in research and community programs driven by Euro-western perspectives. This research can inform efforts to reduce systemic barriers and reconstitute positive father involvement following disrupted intergenerational transmission of fathering in Canada and elsewhere.     

Serious,Minor, and Non-Delinquents in Early Adolescence: The Impact of Cumulative Risk and Promotive Factors. The TRAILS Study

This study uses a social-ecological approach to the development of delinquency. The authors emphasize that a balance between eliminating risk and enhancing protection across domains is essential in reducing problems and promoting competence. The cumulative risk and promotive effects of temperament, family and school factors in preadolescence were examined on different groups of delinquents (based on self-report) in early adolescence. Data from the first two waves of the TRAILS study (N = 2,230) were used. The results provide evidence for a compensatory model that assumes main effects of risk and promotive factors on problem behavior. Accumulation of risks in preadolescence promoted being a serious delinquent in early adolescence, with the strongest effects for temperament. Accumulation of promotive effects decreased being a delinquent and supported being a non-delinquent. Furthermore, evidence is found for a counter-balancing effect of cumulative promotive and risk factors. Exposure to more promotive domains in the relative absence of risk domains decreased the percentage of serious delinquents. Our results did not support a protective model. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.