Mixed Model Study Research Articles

Examining the Dynamic Nature of Pupils’ Educational Aspirations: A Longitudinal Mixed-model Study

This paper describes the results from a fully integrated longitudinal mixed model study examining the nature of, changes in, and interaction between the upper secondary and higher education aspirations of Croatian pupils. The research was carried out over two academic years in which pupils approached the transition from single-structure elementary (primary and lower secondary) education to differentiated upper secondary education. The qualitative part of the study centred on an in-depth exploration of the educational aspirations of 30 pupils from five schools using a series of 118 semi-structured interviews. The quantitative part consisted of repeated questionnaire administration (N=823) while pupils progressed to the final year of elementary education. Generalised Estimating Equations for Repeated Measures Outcome and Latent Curve Growth Modelling procedures indicate significant changes in upper secondary aspirations and stable higher education aspirations over time. Qualitative analyses indicate five patterns of upper secondary education aspirations and three patterns of higher education aspirations. Analysis of the interaction between aspirations at different educational levels suggests that upper secondary aspiration mediates a pupil’s aspiration for higher education. These results suggest that special effort is necessary in order to inform pupils about their educational options at both the upper secondary and higher education levels.

New Zealand’s creative economy: in search of research

The activity of researching is a customary part of creative work, often for understanding the wider territory of an assignment, resolving issues of production, or optimising creative outcomes. Creatives do not always appreciate or even recognise the commercial value of their research, i.e. in the form of novel processes, unique applications of technology, or ground-breaking creative solutions. A mixed-model study into on-the-job research practices in New Zealand’s creative industries evidenced a profound disconnection between research input in creative labour and output of economically deployable innovation. It was observed that although many originations effectively resulted from creative research practice, these were not normally leveraged beyond the immediate task. Against the backdrop of New Zealand’s aspiration to become a leading innovation economy, the article proposes the development of a knowledge-sharing innovation ecosystem that absorbs the manifold casual research outcomes from creative production work and develops pathways for New Zealand’s creative professionals to convert imaginative specialist solutions into sustainable innovation capital.

Timely initiation of breastfeeding and its associated factors among Turkish mothers: a mixed model research.

Exploring the determinants of timely initiation of breastfeeding is necessary for planning efficient breastfeeding promotion programmes. The present study aimed to investigate the frequency and related factors of timely initiation of breastfeeding among Turkish mothers. This study was a cross-sectional, descriptive, mixed model study, which was carried out on mothers with healthy children up to 3 years old who presented to the paediatric clinic between 01 November 2019 and 30 December 2019 in a university hospital. Of the 307 participant mothers, the mean age was 28.3 ± 3.9 years. The frequency of timely initiation of breastfeeding was 70.7%. Significant associations were found between timely initiation of breastfeeding status and residence, type of delivery, type of anaesthesia, birth weight of babies, counselling on timely initiation of breastfeeding during antenatal care and consultant medical staff. In order to increase the breastfeeding rate in the first hour, spontaneous vaginal delivery should be supported and spinal/epidural anaesthesia method should be preferred in cases where caesarean delivery is indicated. Other important steps to increase the ratio of timely initiation of breastfeeding are strengthening breastfeeding counselling services and the midwifery system.

Mental representations of daily activities throughout the course of dementia.

Since dementia is a result of cognitive rather than physical impairment, cognitive aspects are important for care planning. This mixed-model study aims to understand how the loss of cognitive functioning affects mental representations of daily activities. Mental representations were assessed via the script generation task of daily activities (grocery shopping, dentist appointment, doing laundry, leaving the house, car accident) and a qualitative semi-structured interview from 25 people (age (mean: 67.64; SD: 23.625), gender (f: 14 (56%); m: 17 (68%)). Cognitive status was assessed via the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Mental representations of daily activities loose content and get inaccurate throughout the disease (i.e. number of actions, abstractions, unemotional content) with poorer cognitive status. People with mild dementia report the most strategies and extend their mental representation by including strategies to circumvent experienced problems. Overall, mental representations of daily activities seem to be largely intact throughout the course of dementia (i.e. sequencing, personalisations, intrusions, examples, emotional content). This study outlines that even though the content of mental representations decreases with dementia, the mental representations themselves remain in good order. Performance of daily activities throughout dementia may be hampered by the loss of content of the generated actions.

The perceptions of physical therapists about facilitators and challenges in the use of different tools for resistance training in COPD patients: a mixed-method study

ABSTRACT This study sought to quantify and qualitatively analyze the perception of physical therapists about facilitators and the challenges in the use of different types of tools for resistance training in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. This was a mixed-model study with qualitative analysis developed in a rehabilitation center. Six physical therapists who performed a randomized clinical trial were interviewed. The protocol consisted of the evaluation of three types of resistance training: elastic tubes, elastic bands, and training with conventional weight machines. After completion of the randomized trial, therapists were invited to participate in a focus group to collect qualitative data. Physical therapists also answered a quantitative questionnaire containing closed questions. The main outcome measures were the opinion of physical therapists about the advantages and disadvantages in clinical practice of each of the analyzed tools. The focus group analysis resulted in eight themes: Insecurities regarding load and handling tools, implementation of home-based treatment, improvements of tools, advantages and disadvantages of tools, incidence of injuries with elastic tools, patient’s preferences, and particularities of the tools. Physical therapists pointed out different challenges and facilitators for resistance training. Characteristics of the tools such as costs, portability, handling and practicality were cited as factors that influence clinical practice. In the quantitative analysis, no differences were observed when comparing the scores of each instrument. The three tools analyzed are applicable and feasible in the clinical practice of physical therapists; moreover, they present different characteristics and particularities that should be considered, such as cost, clinical applicability, portability and perception of the patient and therapists.

Both the Observer's Expertise and the Subject's Facial Symmetry Can Affect Anatomical Position of the Head

It is easier to judge facial deformity when the patient's head is in anatomic position. The purposes of this study were to determine 1) whether a group of expert observers would agree more than a group of nonexperts on what is the correct anatomic position of the head, 2) whether there would be more variation in the alignment of an asymmetrical face compared with a symmetrical one, and 3) whether the alignments of experts would be more repeatable than those of nonexperts. Thirty-one orthodontists (experts) and 31 dental students (nonexperts) were recruited for this mixed-model study. They were shown randomly oriented 3-dimensional head photographs of an adult with a symmetrical face and an adolescent with an asymmetrical face. In viewing software, the observers oriented the images into anatomic position. They repeated the orientations 4weeks later. Data were analyzed using a generalized linear model and Bland-Altman plots. The primary predictor variables were experience and symmetry status. The outcome variable was the anatomic position of the head. The other variables of interest included time and orientation direction. There was a statistically significant difference between measurements completed by experts and nonexperts (F1,60=14.83; P<.01). The interaction between expertise and symmetrical status showed a statistically significant difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical faces in the expert and nonexpert groups (F1,60=9.93; P=.003). The interaction between expertise and time showed a statistically significant difference in measurement over time in the expert and nonexpert groups (F1,60=4.66; P=.03). The study shows that experts can set a head into anatomic position better than nonexperts. In addition, facial asymmetry has a profound effect on the ability of an observer toalign a head in the correct anatomic position. Moreover, observer-guided alignment is not reproducible.

The 21st-Century Classroom Gamer

The 21st century has given rise to gaming industry technologies that drive a new type of learner in the classroom. This article draws data from four case studies that were conducted as part of a sequential mixed-model study. The study explored the 21st-century skills students reported learning through their video game consumption and creation of intellectual property. The qualitative data analysis led to the development of five major findings: (1) the strategist: accomplishing the mission, (2) the creator: the art of gameplay, (3) the communicator: building relationships and communities, (4) the hero: to be the hero of a great adventure, and (5) I am an “elite”: a digital native. These findings attempt to create a profile of the 21st-century classroom gamer based on the data. They represent and support research trends that explore the gaming phenomenon, gamer traits, and 21st-century skills learned through playing video games.

Sway regularity and sway activity in older adults’ upright stance are differentially affected by dual task

Age-related changes in postural control are attributed to visual, vestibular and proprioceptive dysfunctions, muscle weakness, and reduced availability of neural resources required for efficient balance control. Concurrent performance of complex cognitive tasks while standing or walking is expected to increase balance instability due to under-recruitment of brain resources and insufficient allocation of attention to the postural task. Both balance instability and attentional control of movements can, nonetheless, be determined from the center of pressure (CoP) measurements by examining the effects of dual-task on the amount of sway activity (as measured by CoP velocity − Vcop) and the statistical regularity of the CoP trajectory (the wavelet entropy of the signal − WEcop). The abovementioned characteristics were examined in the present study in a group of 13 healthy older adults. The task involved maintaining Romberg stance for 25 s with or without performing an attention demanding cognitive tasks (word memorization or mathematical counting). A linear mixed-model study was designed to analyze the extent to which sway activity can predict sway regularity. Findings from the present study showed that, on average, Vcop and WEcop were positively correlated (p = 0.014), suggesting that older individuals who exhibited greater amounts of sway (i.e., higher Vcop) also increased sway irregularity of the posturogram – as evidenced by a higher level of wavelet entropy of the CoP trajectory. Nevertheless, results of the linear mixed model showed that significant positive associations between Vcop and WEcop were found only in dual task (R ≥ 0.67, p ≤ 0.012). Furthermore, dual-task effects (% change in performance) on both sway characteristics were not significant (p > 0.1), suggesting that none of the attention demanding cognitive tasks used in the present study was sufficient to divert a critical amount of attentional resources from the postural task. Finally, performance of the mathematical counting (but not the word memorization) task was deteriorated from sitting to standing, however this effect was marginal (p = 0.075). Taken together, we proposed that while dual task could hinder balance control, postural stability may still be maintained by allocating more attentional resources to the postural task and reducing automatized control.

0891 Genome-wide efficient mixed-model study for meat quality in Nellore cattle

0891 Genome-wide efficient mixed-model study for meat quality in Nellore cattle

A mixed-model study assessing orthodontic tooth extrusion for the reestablishment of biologic width. A systematic review and exploratory randomized trial.

This study assessed the use of orthodontic extrusion (OE) for biologic width reestablishment (BWR) and compared two protocols for BWR: periodontal flap surgery (FS) performed either before (FS + OE) or after (OE + FS) extrusion. Databases were screened up to March 2013 for studies on OE, and outcomes from 13 patients treated by OE + FS or FS + OE were assessed. The results of the literature showed that OE + fiberotomy led to a greater amount of root extrusion than OE alone. The clinical/radiographic assessment demonstrated no significant differences between groups (P > .05). Within groups, there was an improvement in the keratinized tissue (P = .034) and in probing depth (P = .025) for OE + FS.

Formulation of and adherence to a care plan for potentially frail community-dwelling older people by practice nurses in the Netherlands

Background: In the Netherlands, p ractice nurses within general practices increasingly deliver proactive care to older people. As part of a home visitation programme, they assess older people’s health status during a home visit, followed by formulating a care plan and monitoring follow-up care. Insight into the latter two steps is limited, whereas previous research shows signs of inadequate follow-up, threatening the achievement of optimal patient outcomes. The objectives of the current study are to investigate practice nurses’ actions and views regarding (1) the formulation of a care plan for potentially frail community-dwelling older people following a comprehensive geriatric assessment during a home visit and (2) their adherence to the care plan and monitoring during follow-up of older people in whom health and/or well-being problems have been detected. Methods: A cross-sectional mixed-model study was conducted. Results of the comprehensive geriatric assessment were compared to the care plans to reveal the percentage of problems included. Semi-structured interviews were performed with 12 practice nurses who visited older people at home. Per practice nurse, care plans of 10 older people (total n = 120) were purposefully selected and discussed to identify reasons for not registering problems in the care plan and to determine whether and how problems were monitored. Results: Of the problems identified through comprehensive geriatric assessment, 27.8% ( n = 275) were included in a care plan of which 62.9% ( n = 173) were addressed using follow-up actions. Patient-related and problem-specific factors influenced the formulation of care plans. Insufficient time challenged practice nurses in monitoring older people over time. Conclusions: The formulation of care plans and monitoring older people over time offers room for improvement. Once problems are included into the plans, practice nurses mostly adhere to the care plans.

Challenging racism, sexism, and social injustice: Support for urban adolescents' critical consciousness development.

This mixed-model study examined the relationship between urban adolescents' perceived support for challenging racism, sexism, and social injustice from peers, family, and community members and their critical consciousness development. These relationships were examined by relating participants' qualitative perceptions of support for challenging racism, sexism, and social injustice to quantitative data obtained from Likert-type measures of the reflection and action components of critical consciousness. Perceived support for challenging racism, sexism, and social injustice had a significant impact upon the reflection component of critical consciousness; the significance criterion was supported by effect size estimates. Support for challenging racism, sexism, and social injustice was not significantly related to the action component of critical consciousness. Participants perceived the most support for challenging racism, moderate support for challenging social injustice, and the least support for challenging sexism. Additionally, female participants perceived more support for challenging sexism than male participants. These results suggest that the informal interactions of urban adolescents play a role in shaping their critical consciousness, and hold implications for psychosocial interventions and research with marginalized populations.