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The use of brief dyslexia rating scales is increasing given current dyslexia legislation efforts across the United States. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the historical context of the use of brief dyslexia rating scales, strengths, and limitations of using these measures, criteria for selecting these measures, and a review of three commonly used brief dyslexia rating scales in the United States. A discussion of how brief dyslexia rating scales can be used in conjunction with other forms of assessment is also provided. Implications for practice on using brief dyslexia rating scales are addressed in the context of both assessment and intervention. Practitioner points: Dyslexia screeners are intended to identify students who are at risk of not meeting reading performance standards and consist of both performance‐based measures and brief dyslexia rating scales.Caution should be taken when using brief dyslexia rating scale screeners due to low sample sizes for certain populations, limited numbers of students with dyslexia in the standardization sample of some measures, and variable specificity and sensitivity levels.Practitioners are encouraged to utilize performance‐based screeners if scores on a brief dyslexia rating scale screener fall below a cut score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Quality Rating and Improvement Systems use indicators to define early care and education quality. • Indicators often offer evidence-informed guidance to support and monitor development and foster mental health. • Development and mental health promotion often applies to center-based and family child care. • Opportunities exist to offer more specific guidance in quality indicators. • Future research can assess equity of child development and mental health promotion indicators. In the United States (U.S.), quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) are used by many states to incentivize quality in ECE and may be a viable lever for promoting early childhood development and mental health on a population level. We conducted a qualitative review of publicly available data on state QRIS indicators to better understand how states incorporate evidence-informed early childhood development and mental health promotion standards in QRIS. We systematically compared QRIS indicators for 41 U.S. states with child development and mental health promotion quality standards from Caring for Our Children National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 3rd Edition , as of March/April 2020. Of those, 39 states included at least one indicator consistent with child development or mental health promotion standards, including practices that can lead to early detection of developmental delays such as developmental monitoring, activities or curriculum addressing developmental domains, and regular communication and resource-sharing with parents/guardians. Opportunities exist within states for incorporating more specific guidance within indicators, such as use of childcare health consultants and advocates, validated screening tools, parent/guardian participation or input in developmental monitoring and screening, and staff training on family engagement. We found that in most states QRIS indicators offer guidance for ECE systems to support and monitor early development and foster mental health, with opportunities to enhance guidance. Findings point to QRIS as a viable opportunity for promotion of early childhood development and mental health standards in ECE systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Validity of performance standards is a key element for the defensibility of standard setting results, and validating performance standards requires collecting multiple pieces of evidence at every step during the standard setting process. This study employs a statistical procedure, latent class analysis, to set performance standards and compares latent class analysis results with previously established performance standards via the modified‐Angoff method for cross‐validation. The context of the study is an operational large‐scale science assessment administered in one of the southern states in the United States. Results show that the number of classes that emerged in the latent class analysis concurs with the number of existing performance levels. In addition, there is a substantial level of agreement between latent class analysis results and modified‐Angoff method in terms of classifying students into the same performance levels. Overall, the findings establish evidence for the validity of the performance standards identified via the modified‐Angoff method. Practical implications of the study findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Chronic pain patients frequently report cognitive problems including learning and memory. However, recent research involving induced pain has demonstrated an absence of reliably detectable decrements on several standard cognitive measures, suggesting that factors other than pain likely explain perceived cognitive deficits in chronic pain patients. This study examined potential effects of induced pain on verbal learning and memory as measured by the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-2). Potential effects of self-reported pain intensity were also evaluated. Method: Participants (111 non-clinical undergraduate students in the Southwestern United States) completed one version (Standard or Alternate) of the CVLT-2 under normal conditions, and then were administered the other version (Alternate or Standard) either while experiencing cold pressor-induced pain (Pain condition) or non-painful warm water immersion (Control condition). Results: For the Pain condition decrements in performance across most CVLT-2 variables were observed, including a mean T-score decrease of 10.98 (SD = 10.99) for Trials 1-5, whereas the comparable decrease in the Control condition was an average of 1.5 words (SD = 8.27). Self-reported pain intensity was significantly correlated with the degree of Time 1 to Time 2 performance decrement for Short-Delay Free Recall (r = −.51, p <.050), but not for Trials 1-5 (r = −.37, p =.160). Conclusion: Induced pain produces detectable decrements in performance on a standard clinical measure of verbal learning and memory performance, suggesting that pain in clinical populations may contribute to learning and memory deficits apart from potential neurological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present a novel methodology, referenced as ORFEO (Ordinal classifier and Regressor Fusion for Estimating an Ordinal categorical target), to enhance the performance in ordinal classification problems for which the latent variable is observable. ORFEO is an artificial neural network model incorporating two outputs, one for ordinal classification, using the cumulative link model, and one for regression, using a linear model. Both outputs are simultaneously optimised considering a loss function that linearly combines both classification and regression losses. The main motivation behind developing the proposed approach is to enhance the performance of a standard ordinal classifier. This improvement is facilitated by considering the regression output, which allows the model to differentiate between patterns within the same category. The ORFEO model is applied to two problems in the field of marine and ocean engineering: short-term prediction of both significant wave height and flux of energy. Both problems are addressed considering four different coastal zones of the United States of America, using 13 datasets formed by buoys measurements and reanalysis data. A comprehensive comparison against 20 methodologies, including regression and nominal/ordinal classification approaches is performed, by using diverse nominal and ordinal performance metrics. Ranks achieved indicate that ORFEO outperforms all the compared methodologies in terms of all the performance measures, demonstrating the efficacy and robustness of the proposal. Finally, a statistical analysis is conducted, concluding that there are statistically significant differences across ordinal and nominal performance metrics in favour of the proposed ORFEO model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children -- Fifth Edition is the most recent update to this scale, launched originally in 2014 in the United Stated. WISC-V includes several improvements from previous versions, such as an updated factorial structure that includes more indexes, new process scores and new procedures for norming. These improvements are particularly relevant in the Chilean context, since the previous version available in the country was the WISC-IIIv.ch, whose factorial structure dates from 1991, although it was standardized for Chilean population in 2007. This article presents the standardization process for the WISC-V, which includes the translation, adaptation and norming procedures for the Chilean population. It includes evidence for reliability and validity, and also results for various special groups samples, such as intellectual disability (24), attentional deficit disorder with hyperactivity (27), autism spectrum disorder (26), specific language disorder (56) and rural population (47). The Chilean data shows excellent reliability results and an excellent adjustment to the factorial model used in the North American version. This research provides evidence for convergent validity between WISC-V and other versions of these scales, such as the WAIS-IV and the WISC-IIIv.ch. Finally, we perform a comparison between private, voucher and public schools using this scale and a comparison between male and female performance in this scale. The main finding of this research is that the Chilean standardization of the WISC-V has excellent psychometric properties that allow recommending the use of this instrument in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current solar forecast verification processes place much attention on performance comparison of a group of competing methods. However, forecast verification ought to further answer how the best method within the group performs relative to the best-possible performance which one can attain under that forecasting situation, which makes the quantification of predictability and forecast skill immediately relevant. Unfortunately, the literature on the quantification of relative performance of solar irradiance has hitherto been lacking, and very few studies have focused on the spatial distributions of predictability and forecast skill of solar irradiance. The predictability and forecast skill of an atmospheric process depend on two concepts: (1) the growth of initial error in unresolved scale of motion, and (2) the forecast performance of the standard of reference. Based upon this formalism, predictability and forecast skill of solar irradiance in the United States are quantified and mapped. Through this study, a couple of common misconceptions in regard to irradiance predictability are refuted, and the original formulation of skill score revived. • A formal discussion on predictability of solar irradiance is presented. • A rigorous way of computing the forecast skill score is emphasized. • Predictability of solar irradiance in the United States is estimated. • Bounds of mean square error of ECMWF irradiance forecasts in the United States are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of run-of-river hydropower is to produce cost-competitive renewable electricity with minimal disruption of the natural riverine ecosystem. Modeling and feasibility analysis of alternative design options are crucial for developing new run-of-river hydropower projects. Our review shows that existing run-of-river hydropower design models focus on maximizing economic potential at high-head diversion schemes with limited consideration of environmental outcomes. Since nearly three-quarters of new hydropower potential in the United States is found at low-head sites and environmental performance standards are imperative to project success, new models are needed to address the multi-dimensional design challenges at these sites. To aid in formulating holistic models, we synthesize the performance objectives and design variables related to early-stage run-of-river facility design. The objectives span six potential impact areas, including hydrologic alteration, sediment continuity, water quality, aquatic species passage, social, and economic. Based on these reviews, we identify three key areas to enhance the capabilities of run-of-river hydropower design models. These are 1) expanded model formulations, 2) assessment of barrier effects, and 3) explicit environmental objectives. The resulting modeling improvements would accelerate the identification of run-of-river hydropower designs that minimize environmental impacts, promote economic competitiveness, and incorporate the value of non-power benefits. • Current hydropower design models focus on economic potential of high-head projects. • New hydropower plants in the US will likely be low-head, instream, and run-of-river. • Flow allocation, technology selection, and headpond design are critical decisions. • Barrier effects on fish, sediment, and recreation should be modeled. • Win-win designs are possible when non-power benefits are explicitly optimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Termites are structurally destructive pests that can infest a consumer's most important investment, their home. The evolution of termite control is complex, involving people's understanding of termite biology and behavior, building construction, the use of soil termiticides, baits, wood treatments, and physical barriers, as well as regulations from different industries (pest control and building construction). Soil termiticides have been the standard method of treatment for decades, but the concern for human and environmental health has driven the development of alternatives. This article discusses the evolution of termite control methods that were alternatives to the standard of the time and the regulatory structure that provides a level of consumer protection for some products. The global economic impact of termites is estimated to be approximately USD 40 billion annually, and subterranean termites are responsible for about 80% of the total impact. Twenty-eight species of termites have been described as invasive, and these termites are spreading, partially due to global trade, making effective control methods essential. Termite control is complex, as is the biology and behavior of this social insect group. In the U.S., termite prevention and control (with claims of structural protection) is regulated by more than one industry (pest control and building construction), and at the federal and state levels. Termite prevention has historically relied on building construction practices that do not create conducive conditions for termite infestations, but as soil termiticides developed, heavy reliance on pesticides became the standard for termite control. The concern for human and environmental health has driven the development of termite control alternatives and regulation for products claiming structural protection. Product development has also provided unprecedented opportunities to study the biology and behavior of cryptobiotic termites. Technological advances have allowed for the re-examination of questions about termite behavior. Advances in communications via social media provide unrestricted access to information, creating a conundrum for consumers and science educators alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]