Pilot Sample Research Articles

(025) DEVELOPING AND TESTING AN ONLINE PRIMARY CARE TOOLKIT FOR COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT OF VULVODYNIA

Abstract Introduction Vulvodynia is a chronic vulvar pain condition that affects 8-10% of women and people with vulvas. Despite its prevalence, healthcare providers (HCPs) often lack awareness, knowledge, and confidence in managing vulvodynia. This knowledge gap can lead to diagnostic delays, misdiagnoses, and reflex referrals to specialists. Moreover, research shows that patients feel invalidated in healthcare settings and perceive that their HCPs’ lack of vulvodynia awareness negatively impacts their care. Thus, there is a need for educational resources about vulvodynia that can be applied in healthcare settings. Specifically, community-based primary care providers could greatly benefit from vulvodynia resources because they are often a point of entry into the healthcare system. Objective To develop and test a new, online toolkit tailored to supporting community-based primary care providers with the assessment, diagnosis, and management of vulvodynia. In this pilot study, we sought to evaluate the adoption, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the vulvodynia toolkit in a pilot sample of community-based family physicians. Methods A working group of HCPs (family physicians, gynecologists, physiotherapist, psychologists) and patient partners with vulvodynia expertise developed the toolkit. The toolkit was designed in an online, modular format that could be integrated into short healthcare visits. A sample of 19 family physicians completed online surveys before and after piloting the toolkit in their community practice for 6 months. Adoption was measured in the post-toolkit survey by assessing the frequency and timing of toolkit use during the pilot period. Acceptability was measured in the post-toolkit survey by assessing physicians’ satisfaction with the toolkit content and quality. Preliminary efficacy was assessed by comparing physicians’ self-reported level of confidence with diagnosing, treating, and supporting patients with vulvodynia before and after the pilot period. Results Adoption. During the pilot period, physicians used the toolkit in advance of patient appointments (52.6%), during patient appointments (5.3%), or used a combination of both timepoints (42.1%). Over the 6-month pilot period, physicians used the toolkit an average of 2.61 times (SD = 1.50) in advance of seeing patients and 1.63 times (SD = 2.19) during patient appointments. Acceptability. Most physicians reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the toolkit overall (79.0%) and that it contained the right amount of information (68.4%). On average, the physicians rated their likelihood of recommending the toolkit to a colleague as 8/10 (SD = 1.75). Preliminary efficacy. Using repeated-measures MANOVAs, we found significant pre-toolkit to post-toolkit increases in physician’s confidence for diagnosing vulvodynia, p = .003, ηp 2 = .59, treating vulvodynia, p < .001, ηp2 = .72, and supporting patients with vulvodynia, p < .001, ηp2 = .73. Conclusions In this pilot study, we developed and tested an online vulvodynia toolkit tailored to educating community-based primary care providers. The toolkit demonstrated high acceptability and preliminary efficacy amongst a pilot group of family physicians, with large effect sizes. The results of this study exemplify the value of tailored education for improving physicians’ confidence with managing vulvodynia in community practice and lay the foundation for upscaling this tool to a wider population of HCPs. Disclosure No.

Pilot evaluation of allostatic load and breast cancer characteristics in a predominantly Han Chinese population.

e12570 Background: To determine the effects of allostatic load (AL), a measure of cumulative physiological effects of chronic stress due to adverse social determinants of health, on breast cancer (BC) characteristics in Chinese individuals. Methods: A pilot sample of185 women with newly diagnosed BC at Sichuan People’s hospital from 2018 to 2023 and complete AL data were included. AL used 10 markers (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, albumin, glomerular filtration rate, white blood cell count, C-reactive protein, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index and heart rate). AL was assigned 1 point for each marker value in the worst quartile. The sum of the points represented the AL composite measure. Using linear and logistic regression, we determined the association of AL with age and educational attainment and with tumor ER+ and PR+ status. Results: Participants were 98.37% Han Chinese, mean age 51 (range 27-78). 23.24% attained college-level education or above. Higher AL trended to correlate with less than college-level educational attainment (coefficient=-0.60, p=0.058). In a univariable model, AL correlated with ER+ (OR=0.80, P=0.039) and PR+ (OR=0.81, P<0.001) BC. Adjusting for age and educational attainment, AL trends remained positive but not significant with ER+ BC (OR =0.82, P=0.092). Conclusions: Similar to US patients, AL may represent a physiologic correlate of adverse social conditions and worse BC characteristics. Results remain to be confirmed in a larger population.

Development of the Individual and Peer Study Skills Scale

Learners can demonstrate the performance expected of them in study skills individually or with peers. The literature shows that there is no customization of study skills, such as working individually or with peers. Therefore, there is a need for measurement tools that can identify the needs of learners while determining their study skills for both individual and peer activities. This study aims to develop a scale to measure university students' individual and peer study skills. The research was conducted using an exploratory correlational design, and data was collected from two different samples for pilot and validation applications. The pilot and validation application sample comprised 470 and 323 teacher candidates. Item analysis for item validity and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for construct validity were conducted on the pilot study data. Before the EFA, optimal parallel analysis was used to examine the scale's dimensionality. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the validation data to gather evidence for construct validity. The optimal parallel analysis suggested a two-dimensional structure for the scale. As a result of the EFA, a two-dimensional construct with 28 items, consisting of 16 and 12 items in each dimension, explained 58.8% of the variance. The first dimension of the scale was named peer study skills, and the second was named individual study skills. Item analysis revealed that the discrimination of the items in both dimensions was sufficient. The CFA results confirmed the two-factor construct of the scale. The trial and validation studies data showed that the reliability coefficients, considering both dimensions individually and the overall scale, indicated that the scores are reliable.

Translation, adaptation, and validation of a Chinese version of the Hypertension Self-Care Activity Level effects (H-SCALE) for patients with hypertension.

Lifestyle modification is an essential component of prevention and management of hypertension. Existing instruments in Taiwan focus on assessing lifestyle modifications by evaluating medication adherence or confidence in controlling blood pressure. However, other self-care activities, such as diet, physical activity, weight management, smoking, and alcohol consumption are also important. The Hypertension Self-Care Activity Level Effects (H-SCALE) is one such instrument, but there are no similar tools available in Taiwan. This study aimed to translate the H-SCALE into Chinese and test its validity, and reliability in a sample of adults with hypertension. The English version of the 31-item H-SCALE was translated into Chinese using the forward-backward method. The content validity index (CVI) of the translated scale was determined by five experts in hypertension. Item analysis was conducted with a pilot sample of 20 patients with hypertension. Cronbach's α was used to establish the internal consistency reliability for the Chinese version of the H-SCALE (H-SCALE-C). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) explored the structure of the H-SCALE-C. Additionally, construct validity was examined with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Patients with hypertension were recruited by convenience sampling from a cardiovascular outpatient clinic of a medical center in northern Taiwan. A total of 318 patients met the inclusion criteria and participated in factor analysis in the study. Pilot testing of the scale items indicated most patients could not accurately estimate the number of days of alcohol consumption for the previous week. Therefore, three alcohol-related items were removed. The adaptation resulted in a 28-item H-SCALE-C. EFA revealed a 4-factor solution with 13 items that explained 63.93% of the total variance. CFA indicated a good fit for a 4-factor model and construct validity was acceptable. Internal consistency reliability was acceptable (Cronbach's alpha for the four subscales ranged from 0.65 to 0.94). Convergent validity was acceptable, and discriminant validity was significant. The H-SCALE-C is a valid, reliable tool for promptly assessing life-style activities for patients with hypertension in Taiwan. The instrument is suitable for assisting healthcare providers in evaluating self-care activities, which could be used to facilitate lifestyle modifications for patients with hypertension.

Perceived Influence of Self-Perception on Self-Esteem among Undergraduate Students of Kabarak University in Nakuru County, Kenya

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived influence of self-perception on self-esteem among undergraduate students of Kabarak University, Nakuru County, Kenya. The researcher used questionnaire for undergraduate students, FGD guide for peer counsellors and interview schedule for university counsellors. Validation of research instruments was done through peer and expert review and through pilot testing, which was done at Kabarak City Campus. The pilot sample consisted of 10 undergraduate students, 5 peer counsellors and 1 student counsellor. The reliability and validity of items was established using Cronbach Alpha Coefficient. The pilot results of the variable self- esteem yielded 0.705 while body image yielded 0.937. The response rate was 96.39%. The data collected was analysed using frequencies, percentages and means (descriptive statistics). The data analysis used the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The researcher considered ethics of confidentiality and informed consent. The outcome indicated that most of the sampled students and staffs jointly agreed that self-perception influence self-esteem among undergraduate students of Kabarak University. The study concluded that self-perception has statistically significant perceived influence on self-esteem among undergraduate students of Kabarak University. Therefore, the study recommends that the key stakeholders in counselling department include in the policies and strategies ways on how to address concerns about self-perception and self-esteem. Such policies and strategies would help in improving the efficiency of interventions to address the adverse effects associated with negative self-perception for example depression, low self-esteem and eating disorders.

Peripapillary Hyperreflective Ovoid Mass-Like Structures in Stickler Syndrome

To report a previously undescribed finding of peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structures (PHOMS) in Stickler syndrome. Noncomparative case series. Twenty-two eyes with anomalous optic disc from 11 Stickler syndrome patients were identified and imaged. Peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structures were graded using enhanced-depth imaging OCT (EDI-OCT) according to the consensus recommendations of the Optic Disc Drusen Studies Consortium. All EDI-OCT scans were obtained using the Heidelberg Spectralis (Heidelberg Engineering) with a dense horizontal raster (15 × 10°, 97 sections) centered on the optic nerve head and graded by 2 independent assessors. In case of disagreement, the image was graded by a third assessor. The presence of any coexisting optic disc drusen was also assessed using EDI-OCT and autofluorescence. The presence of PHOMS, clinical characteristics and genetic mutations. A pilot sample of 22 eyes with phenotypic optic disc abnormalities from 11 Stickler syndrome patients were identified and imaged. Eight patients were female and 3 were male. The mean age was 31 years (13-58 years). Peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structures were present in 91% (n= 20) of imaged eyes. Seventy percent (n= 14) were type 1 Stickler syndrome and 30% (n= 6) were type 2 Stickler syndrome. All eyes were myopic and the degree of myopia did not seem to affect whether or not PHOMS was present in this cohort. One eye with PHOMS had retinal detachment, and 77.3% (n = 17) of eyes had undergone 360o prophylactic retinopexy. Thirty-two percent (n= 7) of eyes with PHOMS were present in patients with coexisting hearing loss and 22.7% (n= 5) had orofacial manifestation of Stickler syndrome in the form of a cleft palate. Seventy-seven percent (n= 15) of eyes with PHOMS were present in patients who reported joint laxity or symptoms of arthritis. No coexisting optic disc drusen were identified and raised intracranial pressure was also excluded after neurological investigation. These data suggest that PHOMS are a novel finding in Stickler syndrome patients and should be considered when evaluating the optic nerves of these patients. Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Dietary Inflammatory Potential and its Association with Sleep Complaints in Institutionalized Older Adults: A Pilot Study

Abstract Objective To evaluate the inflammatory potential of diets, the specific dietary contributors to said inflammatory potential, the nutritional adequacy of these diets, and the association between the dietary inflammatory potential and sleep complaints among residents of long-term care facilities. Materials and Methods The present is a cross-sectional, quantitative, and exploratory study, with a convenience pilot sample from two long-term care facilities. To assess sleep complaints, the sleep domain of the Nottingham Health Profile was applied, as well as a question about daytime napping. To evaluate the inflammatory potential of the diet, the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) was calculated. Results The participants presented energy and protein intakes below the recommendation. The intake of saturated fatty acids, omega 6, dietary fiber, vitamins D, E, B6, and magnesium were inadequate in some of the participants. The mean score on the DII was of 1.6, representing a more proinflammatory potential, due to insufficient intake of anti-inflammatory components. The foods with the most significant inflammatory effect consumed were whole milk and butter. On the other hand, those with less inflammatory potential were beans, beets, coffee, and sweet potatoes. No significant association was observed between the sleep complaints and the DII. Conclusion The data showed inadequacy of many nutrients and a proinflammatory potential regarding the diet in the long-term care facilities. However, the DII was not significantly associated with sleep complaints in our sample. The present study highlights the need for greater attention to meal planning in these institutions.

Distributed non-convex regularization for generalized linear regression

Distributed penalized generalized linear regression algorithms have been widely studied in recent years. However, they all assume that the data should be randomly distributed. In real applications, this assumption is not necessarily true, since the whole data are often stored in a non-random manner. To tackle this issue, a non-convex penalized distributed pilot sample surrogate negative log-likelihood learning procedure is developed, which can realize distributed high-dimensional variable selection for generalized linear models, and be adaptive to the non-random situations. The established theoretical results and numerical studies all validate the proposed method.

Effects of Some Physical Exercises with a Diet using artificial intelligence on Some Morphological Variables Related to Health in Obese Persons

The current research aims to identify the effects of physical exercises accompanied by a diet on some health-related body morphology variables and weight loss among obese persons. The researcher used the experimental approach (one-group design) with pre- and post-measurements. The researcher purposefully chose (16) obese persons, (12) of them were recruited as a main sample while (4) were recruited as a pilot sample. Results indicated that: The recommended exercise program with diet had positive effects on health-related physical fitness variables (speed – endurance – agility – power – strength – cardiorespiratory strength) among obese persons. The recommended exercise program with diet had positive effects on weight reduction variables (body weight – BMI – Fat percentage) among obese persons. Exercise with diet helped decrease weight among obese persons. There are statistically significant differences between the pre-and post-measurements of health-related physical fitness variables (among obese persons in favor of post-measurements. There are statistically significant differences between the pre-and post-measurements of weight decrease among obese persons in favor of post-measurements.

Precision Assessment of Real-World Associations Between Stress and Sleep Duration Using Actigraphy Data Collected Continuously for an Academic Year: Individual-Level Modeling Study.

Heightened stress and insufficient sleep are common in the transition to college, often co-occur, and have both been linked to negative health outcomes. A challenge concerns disentangling whether perceived stress precedes or succeeds changes in sleep. These day-to-day associations may vary across individuals, but short study periods and group-level analyses in prior research may have obscured person-specific phenotypes. This study aims to obtain stable estimates of lead-lag associations between perceived stress and objective sleep duration in the individual, unbiased by the group, by developing an individual-level linear model that can leverage intensive longitudinal data while remaining parsimonious. In total, 55 college students (n=6, 11% second-year students and n=49, 89% first-year students) volunteered to provide daily self-reports of perceived stress via a smartphone app and wore an actigraphy wristband for the estimation of daily sleep duration continuously throughout the academic year (median usable daily observations per participant: 178, IQR 65.5). The individual-level linear model, developed in a Bayesian framework, included the predictor and outcome of interest and a covariate for the day of the week to account for weekly patterns. We validated the model on the cohort of second-year students (n=6, used as a pilot sample) by applying it to variables expected to correlate positively within individuals: objective sleep duration and self-reported sleep quality. The model was then applied to the fully independent target sample of first-year students (n=49) for the examination of bidirectional associations between daily stress levels and sleep duration. Proof-of-concept analyses captured expected associations between objective sleep duration and subjective sleep quality in every pilot participant. Target analyses revealed negative associations between sleep duration and perceived stress in most of the participants (45/49, 92%), but their temporal association varied. Of the 49 participants, 19 (39%) showed a significant association (probability of direction>0.975): 8 (16%) showed elevated stress in the day associated with shorter sleep later that night, 5 (10%) showed shorter sleep associated with elevated stress the next day, and 6 (12%) showed both directions of association. Of note, when analyzed using a group-based multilevel model, individual estimates were systematically attenuated, and some even reversed sign. The dynamic interplay of stress and sleep in daily life is likely person specific. Paired with intensive longitudinal data, our individual-level linear model provides a precision framework for the estimation of stable real-world behavioral and psychological dynamics and may support the personalized prioritization of intervention targets for health and well-being.

Validation of the Academic School Climate Scale for Students

This study sought to develop an Academic School Climate Scale measuring students’ perceptions of the learning environments at their schools. With a pilot sample of 1,265 students and validation sample of 14,773 students in Grades 4–12 in schools across the U.S., results of EFA and CFA supported a bifactor model with a general factor and three subscales: High Standards, Teacher Support of Student Learning, and Peer Support of Learning. We found scalar invariance by gender and race, and metric invariance by grade band. Correlations of the Academic School Climate Scale with open classroom climate and school climate indicated concurrent validity.

Cross-Cultural Comparison of Older Adults' Emotional Responses Toward Death: A Pilot Study.

The current study reports preliminary findings from a pilot sample that sought to compare the emotional responses of older adults toward death in Egyptian and Spanish cultures. A cohort of 90 eligible older adults from Egypt and Spain were recruited using a cross-sectional descriptive design. Egyptian participants recorded a significantly higher score in approaching acceptance of death compared to their Spanish counterparts (mean = 21.57, SD = 9.4 and mean = 13.51, SD = 7.11, respectively). Post-hoc test showed there were differences in levels of valence (F[1,86] = 23.88, p < 0.001), indicating that older adults in Spain perceived such images as more unpleasant compared to Egyptian older adults. A significant difference related to death attitude profile scale was noted between Egyptian and Spanish older adults. Egyptian and Spanish older adults demonstrated different attitudes toward death in addition to differences in death anxiety and depression. This preliminary study validates the importance of developing effective nursing strategies to lessen anxiety and fear about death. [Research in Gerontological Nursing, 17(3), 112-120.].

Psychometric properties of the cannabis abuse screening test (CAST) in a sample of Moroccans with cannabis use

BackgroundThe Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) is a widely used screening tool for identifying patterns of cannabis use that have negative health or social consequences for both the user and others involved. This brief screening instrument has been translated into multiple languages, and several studies examining its psychometric properties have been published. However, studies on the factorial validity and psychometric properties of a Moroccan version of the CAST are not yet available. The objective of this study is to validate the CAST, translated, and adapted to the Moroccan Arabic dialect among persons with cannabis use.MethodsA total of 370 participants from an addictology center in Fez City, were selected over two phases to form the study sample. First, in phase I, exploratory factor analysis was employed to evaluate the factor structure in the pilot sample (n1 = 150). Subsequently, in the second phase (Phase II), confirmatory factor analysis was utilized to confirm this structure in the validation sample (n2 = 220). All statistical analyses were carried out using the R program.ResultsThe CFA unveiled a three-factor structure that showed a good overall fit (χ2/df = 2.23, RMSEA = 0.07, SRMR = 0.02, CFI = 0.99, NFI = 0.98) and satisfactory local parameters (standardized factor loadings between 0.72 and 0.88). The model demonstrates satisfactory reliability and convergent validity, as evidenced by the acceptable values of composite reliability (CR) (0.76–0.88) and average variance extracted (AVE) (0.62–0.78), respectively. The square roots of the AVE exceeded the correlations of the factor pairs, and the heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of the correlation values was below 0.85, indicating acceptable discriminant validity.ConclusionThe reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity tests all demonstrated that the Moroccan version of the CAST performed well and can be considered a valid tool for screening of problematic cannabis use.

Breathing Right… or Left! The Effects of Unilateral Nostril Breathing on Psychological and Cognitive Wellbeing: A Pilot Study.

The impact of controlled breathing on cognitive and affective processing has been recognized since ancient times, giving rise to multiple practices aimed at achieving different psychophysical states, mostly related to mental clarity and focus, stress reduction, and relaxation. Previous scientific research explored the effects of forced unilateral nostril breathing (UNB) on brain activity and emotional and cognitive functions. Some evidence concluded that it had a contralateral effect, while other studies presented controversial results, making it difficult to come to an unambiguous interpretation. Also, a few studies specifically addressed wellbeing. In the present study, we invited a pilot sample of 20 participants to take part in an 8-day training program for breathing, and each person was assigned to either a unilateral right nostril (URNB) or left nostril breathing condition (ULNB). Then, each day, we assessed the participants' wellbeing indices using their moods and mind wandering scales. The results revealed that, after the daily practice, both groups reported improved wellbeing perception. However, the effect was specifically related to the nostril involved. URNB produced more benefits in terms of stress reduction and relaxation, while ULNB significantly and increasingly reduced mind-wandering occurrences over time. Our results suggest that UNB can be effectively used to increase wellbeing in the general population. Additionally, they support the idea that understanding the effects of unilateral breathing on wellbeing and cognition requires a complex interpretive model with multiple brain networks to address bottom-up and top-down processes.

Children's perception of food parenting practices: adaptation and validation of the comprehensive feeding practices questionnaire in Chilean adolescents.

Assessment of the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire in adolescents (CFPQ-Teen) is still limited, with no evaluation of the measurement invariance. The participants comprised 473 Chilean adolescents of both sexes from dual-income nuclear families. The aims of this study were: (1) to adapt to Spanish and validate a model of five-factor version the CFPQ-Teen; (2) to examine the psychometric properties, (3) to evaluate the measurement invariance according to the adolescents' gender; and (4) to compare the scores of each factor between female and male adolescents. The instrument was translated, back-translated, and adapted from the CFPQ-Teen, confirming the equivalence, conceptual, and face validity in a pilot sample of 40 adolescents. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on the five-factor model of the CFPQ-Teen: Monitoring, Adolescent Control, Restriction for weight control, Parental Modeling, and Environment. The Environment factor was eliminated as a result. The confirmatory factor analysis presented good reliability, convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity values. In addition, medium to high goodness-of-fit levels were obtained by eliminating an item from the Adolescent Control factor. These results confirm a final 20-item model representing four factors. The multigroup invariance analysis of the measurement model verified configural, metric, scalar, and partial strict invariance. No significant differences were found between females and males in the scores on the four factors. These results enable comparisons by sex on the perceptions of Food Parenting Practices from the analyzed factors, primarily within the context of the Chilean sample.

Same sleep disorder but different sleep patterns: individual differences in sleep health and depressive symptomatology in veterans with obstructive sleep apnea.

Poor sleep health, a composite measure of key sleep characteristics, may relate to increased depressive symptoms among individuals treated for obstructive sleep apnea. The current investigation examined the association between sleep health and depressive symptomatology. In a pilot sample of 13 symptomatic OSA military Veterans with adequate CPAP adherence (mean age = 54.8, 76.9% male, 100% White), empirically validated cutoffs were applied to actigraphy-derived sleep variables: duration, efficiency, timing, and regularity. Participants with zero optimal sleep scores had significantly higher depressive scores (M = 19.0, SD = 3.0) than participants with 1 or 2 (M = 9.8. SD = 4.3, p = .016) and 3 or more optimal sleep scores (M = 11.3, SD = 4.9, p = .038). These preliminary findings suggest that better sleep health was associated with lower depressive symptomatology. Future work should replicate these preliminary findings in a larger sample.

Cross-cultural differences through subjective cognition: illustration in translatology with the SSTIC-E in the UAE.

The development of appropriate and valid multicultural and multilingual instruments research is necessary due to a growing multicultural and multilingual society in the 21st century. We explored the use of a cognitive scale related to subjective complaints, focusing on the first step: a cross-cultural and semantic validation. This study presents the translation and cross-validation process of the "Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia" (SSTICS) for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) region via different languages used in Dubaï/Abu Dhabi. This scale measures cognitive complaints and has been validated with psychosis and used in 20 clinical trials worldwide. It evaluates areas of the illness related to self-awareness focusing on memory dysfunction and deficits of attention, language, and praxis. We described the method of cross-cultural validation, with back-translation, semantic steps, and societal contexts. The use of the Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Emirates (SSTIC-E) was explored with different samples of UAE Arabic-speaking subjects. First, a pilot sample mean SSTICS total score was 16.5 (SD:16.9); (p < 0.001). The SSTIC-E was then administered to 126 patients and 84 healthy control participants. The healthy group has a lower mean score of 22.55 (SD = 12.04) vs. 34.06 (SD = 15.19). The method was extended to nine other languages, namely, Pakistani/Urdu, Hindi, Marathi, Lithuanian, Serbian, German, Romanian, Sinhala, and Russian. The scales are provided in the article. The overall aim of the translation process should be to stay close to the original version of the instrument so that it is meaningful and easily understood by the target language population. However, for construct validity, some items must be adapted at the time of translation to ensure that the questioned cognitive domain is respected. For example, cooking, an executive function, does not have the same occurrence for an Emirati male, or remembering a prime minister's name, semantic memory, requires an electoral system to appoint the leader of a country. Translation methods and processes present many challenges but applying relevant and creative strategies to reduce errors is essential to achieve semantic validation. This study aims to measure personally experienced knowledge or attitudes; such language effects can be a thorny problem.

Educational Needs of Form Teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools in Slovakia: Pilot survey results

An innovative approach to delivering pre-service teacher training to student teachers in individual areas is considered crucial in the smooth digital transformation of education in Slovakia. One of the major shortcomings of the current pre-service training of student teachers is the fact that not all higher education institutions involved in the teacher trainee preparation have incorporated into the relevant part of the curricula the area of acquisition of specific competences of the form teachers with such accent as the requirements of practice would require. The authors present the conceptual and methodological background of a pilot sample survey focused on self-assessment of the educational needs of form teachers at the secondary level of education in Slovakia. The specification of the assessment areas was based on extensive research of available literature, as well as on personal discussions led by different experts.

Evaporation ages: A new dating method for young star clusters

Context. The ages of young star clusters are fundamental clocks to constrain the formation and evolution of pre-main-sequence stars and their protoplanetary disks and exoplanets. However, dating methods for very young clusters often disagree, casting doubts on the accuracy of the derived ages. Aims. We propose a new method to derive the kinematic age of star clusters based on the evaporation ages of their stars. Methods. The method was validated and calibrated using hundreds of clusters identified in a supernova-driven simulation of the interstellar medium forming stars for approximately 40 Myr within a 250 pc region. Results. We demonstrate that the clusters’ evaporation-age uncertainty can be as small as about 10% for clusters with a large enough number of evaporated stars and small but with realistic observational errors. We have obtained evaporation ages for a pilot sample of ten clusters, finding a good agreement with their published isochronal ages. Conclusions. The evaporation ages will provide important constraints for modeling the pre-main-sequence evolution of low-mass stars, as well as allow for the star formation and gas-evaporation history of young clusters to be investigated. These ages can be more accurate than isochronal ages for very young clusters, for which observations and models are more uncertain.

Including personal boundaries scale: development and psychometric properties of a measurement for nurses' self-efficacy toward intimate and sexual behavior in dementia care.

Person-centered nursing home care recognizes the intimate and sexual needs of residents with dementia but lacks guidance for nurses to address them while effectively respecting their personal boundaries. The Including Personal Boundaries (IPB) scale was developed to complement clinical and scientific efforts to support both nurse and resident wellbeing. Through a co-creative process, theoretical principles, day-to-day experiences, and expert knowledge were integrated into an initial nineteen-item version of the IPB scale. The pilot sample comprised 297 Dutch (vocational) nurses in dementia nursing care. After Principal Component Analysis, nine items with strong factor loadings (>0.6) were retained. Internal reliability measures supported the item selection, such as high internal consistency (α = 0.866) and adequate corrected item-total correlations (0.532-0.781). The presented IPB scale, a nine-item scale, is a short, robust measure to assess nurses' self-efficacy in their capabilities to include personal boundaries (physical and emotional) when confronted with the intimate and sexual behaviors of residents with dementia. Further validation is recommended. The IPB scale could provide valuable insights for research, clinical practice, and education.