323,842 research outputs found
A Study of the Concurrent Validity between the Boxall Profile and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
No full textThe aim of the study is to establish the level of concurrent validity between the Boxall Profile, a diagnostic instrument used by teachers and teaching assistants in nurture groups, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, a widely used screening instrument in the fields of education, mental health and social work. 202 children and adolescents attending nurture groups in England, aged 3-14 years, participated in the study. . These consisted of142 boys and 60 girls and came from 25 schools in 8 LEAs. School staff completed the Boxall Profile and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for all pupils. . The results show a high degree of concordance between the two instruments, with both measures appearing to identify similar behavioural characteristics in the same children. Scores in specific domains of the Boxall Profile are shown to predict performance on particular sub-scales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. These preliminary findings support the validity claims of the Boxall Profile, indicating that it is a reliable tool for both diagnostic and research purposes
Time for Time Series
No full textIn this issue of Oceanography, Holliday and Cunningham (2013) extol the significance of long-term data sets in understanding the marine environment and, in particular, climate change. The 1950s were the years of exploration, dividing the ocean up into bite-sized chunks to explore as part of the International Geophysical Year(s). The 1960s and '70s were the technological years, or at least the period when we moved from mercury thermometers and clockwork current meters to advanced electronics in the ocean. The 1980s and '90s were the big program years, tackling everything from world ocean circulation to the North Sea, though not necessarily fully resolving them. Throughout this long line of programs there have been few long time series. As Holliday and Cunningham point out, the 1990s were nearly the end of the line—quite literally—for the Ellett Line, which only survived through dogged determination and support from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). There are several other long-term measurement campaigns that rely heavily on individuals keeping them alive, often by fitting in with other higher-profile programs. The Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT), the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) tracks of the Sir Alistar Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS), and the moorings of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation are but a few of them. The first two of these programs make use of existing research ship programs or commercial routes to gather valuable data
Assessing the exposure risk and impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment on individuals and ecosystems
No full textCopyright @ 2013 The authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.The use of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals is increasing. Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of research into potential environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment. A Royal Society-supported seminar brought together experts from diverse scientific fields to discuss the risks posed by pharmaceuticals to wildlife. Recent analytical advances have revealed that pharmaceuticals are entering habitats via water, sewage, manure and animal carcases, and dispersing through food chains. Pharmaceuticals are designed to alter physiology at low doses and so can be particularly potent contaminants. The near extinction of Asian vultures following exposure to diclofenac is the key example where exposure to a pharmaceutical caused a population-level impact on non-target wildlife. However, more subtle changes to behaviour and physiology are rarely studied and poorly understood. Grand challenges for the future include developing more realistic exposure assessments for wildlife, assessing the impacts of mixtures of pharmaceuticals in combination with other environmental stressors and estimating the risks from pharmaceutical manufacturing and usage in developing countries. We concluded that an integration of diverse approaches is required to predict 'unexpected' risks; specifically, ecologically relevant, often long-term and non-lethal, consequences of pharmaceuticals in the environment for wildlife and ecosystems
Propriétés psychométriques de la version française du Boxall Profile
No full textThe Boxall Profile (BP) aims at assessing the quality of adaptation of primary school pupils along with their particular difficulties of adaptation, in order to guide teacher interventions in classroom. At this time, the BP's psychometric proprieties have not been studied much. 169 boys and 23 girls ( N = 192) ranging from 6 to 13 years old (M = 9.24 years old, SD = 1.83) were assessed by their teacher using the French versions of the Boxall Profile, the Strenghts and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis (CFA/EFA) and area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were all performed. The results support the fit of the first level of factorial structure and a good concurrent validity. These results suggest the effectiveness of BP in properly identifying pupils in a problematic situation. However, one has to be cautious when it comes to interpreting given scale's scores to guide the intervention
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