Sample Group Size Research Articles

Indicators of Good Governance for Administrators of the Primary Educational Service Area Office

This research aimed at accomplishing the following: (1) to build theoretical model, then to test its fitness with the empirical data; and (2) to investigate the factor loading of the main factors and sub-factors, as well as those indicators, which were compared to the determined criteria. The research applied descriptive research methodology to collect the data using a 5-scale questionnaire. The population consisted of 1,100 administrators in the Primary Educational Service Area Office (PEASO). The determination of the sample group size was established by applying the rule of population sample parameter proportion of 20:1, which was equal to 820 participants. From the 795 questionnaires, which were returned, the results of the data analysis were concluded by analyzing confirmatory factors using the AMOS program. It was determined that the theoretical model and empirical data were relevant given the following criteria: a Relative Chi-Square > 3.00 and a Root Mean Square Error of Approximation > 0.0. In addition, the Goodness-of-Fit Index, Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index, Comparative Fit Index, and Normed Fit Index were found to be between 0.90 – 1.00. Moreover, the factor loading of the main factors was from 0.86 – 1.06, which is higher than the determined criteria (0.70), while the factor loading of the sub-factors and the indicators ranged from 0.73 – 0.95 and 0.30 – 1.00, respectively. These numbers were also higher than the determined criteria of 0.30, indicating that as a result of the research, the theoretical model could be used as a guideline to improve better governance for the administrators of PEASO with construct and content validity.

Problematic elements in the graphomotor skills of pupils in the early adolescence

Graphomotor skills (handwriting) are obviously required for full participation in school activities since students spend up to half of their classroom time engaged in paper and pencil tasks daily. The objective of the presented paper is to quantify the prevalence of graphomotor problems of early adolescent pupils, based on their graphomotor skills coding during the primary school attendance. The research was designed as a quantitative cross-sectional study. As the basic research method was used, the assessment scale and the assessment record sheet. The research sample included pupils in the early adolescence period, namely, ninth grade pupils (14–16 years old), sample group size n = 22. The results of the research showed that the problem with the visual–motor memory prevails in the sample group of pupils. This problem can be solved, for example, by presenting relevant models to pupils, who are diagnosed with a graphomotor disorder.
 Keywords: Graphomotor skills, graphomotor problems, early adolescence, visual-motor memory

5.28 Role of Metal Ion Dyshomeostasis in ASD: Evaluation of Copper, Zinc, and Selenium Levels in the North American ASD Population

The importance of environmental factors and the extent of their role in the development of ASD are poorly understood. Zinc is a nutrient that may serve as a cofactor for 8 to 10% of currently identified autism risk genes. Previous studies have suggested that people on the autism spectrum have lower zinc and higher copper levels than control subjects. However, these studies were small and were performed in the Middle East or Asia. This study aims to determine whether the relationship between zinc/copper levels and ASD exists in a North American population and in a larger sample group size.

The internal system for quality assessment of education results at a medical university

Objective:The problem of devising an education quality assessment system at a medical higher educational institution has been analyzed in the article. The authors compare the views on the interpretation of the concept of “quality of education”, as well as examine the principles and criteria for the quality of education. A new approach to the internal system for assessing the quality of education at a medical higher education is offered in the article on the basis of the integration of all the components of the pedagogical system. The following components of the internal system of education quality assessment are considered: the conceptual component (forecasting, planning the strategic areas of the educational process development to achieve the quality of education, the mission and objectives), the procedural content component (monitoring at the initial and final stages of the education quality assessment), the self-analysis component (the analysis of students, teachers, department chairs’ activity); the analytical component (visualization of information obtained on the basis of transparency, informational openness of learning and upbringing results, the analysis and elimination of identified shortcomings, the introduction of advanced pedagogical experience into the educational process).Method:The study was conducted at the FSAEI HE I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation (Sechenov University) in the period from February 2011 to March 2017. The sample group size was determined with the use of a special formula. Based on the sample size, 450 respondents were included in the study, and the number of people who would drop out was determined in the sample (n = 429), so the sample was representative in terms of quality and quantity. The students from 1 to 6 years were involved in the study in five training programs of the university who were randomly selected. An original questionnaire was devised. The questionnaire contained some standard questions and special questions on the research topic.Results:The main contingent of students is satisfied with the quality of education at Sechenov University and the level assessment of the quality of education is higher in comparison to other universities, but among the final-year students the assessment of the quality of education compared with other universities does not differ significantly. To attract applicants to FSAEI HE I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University the significant factors were: preserving a good reputation of the university (64.7%), prestige (53%) and the quality of education (50.7%). The most popular competencies among students of all the faculties and courses were the following: willingness to work with modern medical equipment (45% ± 2,3%), knowledge of innovative medical technologies (31,9% ± 2,2%). Almost every second student (55% ± 2.3%) believes that the quality of education at Sechenov University corresponds to the requirements of the current labor market.Conclusion:The conclusion has been drawn on the basis of the conducted research, that the internal system of assessing the quality of education is directed to increasing prestige of Russian higher medical education, its integration into the international educational space.

Classification of Radar Pulses in a Naval Warfare Context Using Bézier Curve Modeling of the Instantaneous Frequency Law

The classification of radar emitters in a naval electronic-warfare (EW) context is a challenging problem. Furthermore, over the last few years, new technologies and the reduction of the fabrication costs have led to an increase in the number of radars. Thus, EW systems need to improve their capabilities of radar identification. The common operational methods, which consist of clustering pulses with similar parameters, are no longer able to solve the classification task efficiently. The main challenges of this data clustering of unknown radar emitters from passive measurements are the high dimension of the received radar pulse samples, the small sample group size, and closely located radar pulse clusters. In this paper, we propose modeling the instantaneous frequency law of the recorded pulses using Bezier curves. The spatial distribution of the control points of the Bezier curves is used as a new feature for the classification process based on the common density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise algorithms. Real data recorded near Brest, France, are used to highlight the interest in using the proposed approach. We also show the potential of the approach for specific emitter identification.

Validity and Reliability Analysis of Turkish Version of Childhood Autism Rating Scale

The purpose of this study is to expand validity and reliability analysis of Turkish Version of Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), whose internal consistency,content validity and discriminant validity for a limited size of sample group were examined by Sucuoğlu et al. 96 children and adolescents aged between 4-18, (48 diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and 48 diagnosed with mental disability (MD) and developmental delay based on DSM-IV-TR criteria,) were included in the study. Regarding reliability analysis of Turkish Version of the scale; Cronbach's alpha values as internal consistency indicator, inter-rater reliability, and test-retest reliability were calculated. Principal components analysis and Varimax rotation were used in order to determine factors. The scale was compared with Autism Behavior Checklist and Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Illness. The most appropriate cut-off point was determined for CARS by conducting ROC analysis. As a result of principal components analysis and Varimax rotation, one component factor was obtained. Correlations between CARS and the other scales were statistically significant. The Cronbach's alpha value of total score of the scale was determined as 0,95. Test-retest reliability (r=0,98, p<0,01), and inter-rater reliability (r=0,98, p<0,01) were determined for total score of the scale. The cut-off point of the scale was 29,5. All of these results support that the scale adapted into Turkish is a valid and reliable assessment instrument.

Trend of BS 8900: 2006 Guidance for Managing Sustainable Development Application in Thai Logistics Service Providers

The research aimed to study 1) the opinions of Thai logistics provider towards BS8900:2006 Guidance for Managing Sustainable Development and 2) the trend of Thai logistics providers towards the application of BS8900:2006 Guidance for Managing Sustainable Development. Populations were Freight Forwarding service providers on the list of Thailand’s logistics service providers for freight forwarding service and TIFFA including international logistics company i.e. UPS, DHL, TNT and FedEX. The sample groups were random by multi stage sampling. The size of sample group was 168 persons. The research methods were questionnaires which were analyzed by percentage, Mean, Standard Deviation, and inferential statistics perfuming by Logistic Regression. The research found that 1) the opinions of Thai logistics providers towards BS8900:2006 Guidance for Managing Sustainable Development was strongly agreement 2) The probability of application of BS8900:2006 Guidance for Managing Sustainable Development was increased 2.134 times and the accuracy of forecast was 84.5%

A new procedure for monitoring the range and standard deviation of a quality characteristic

The Shewhart and the Bonferroni-adjustment R and S chart are usually applied to monitor the range and the standard deviation of a quality characteristic. These charts are used to recognize the process variability of a quality characteristic. The control limits of these charts are constructed on the assumption that the population follows approximately the normal distribution with the standard deviation parameter known or unknown. In this article, we establish two new charts based approximately on the normal distribution. The constant values needed to construct the new control limits are dependent on the sample group size (k) and the sample subgroup size (n). Additionally, the unknown standard deviation for the proposed approaches is estimated by a uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator (UMVUE). This estimator has variance less than that of the estimator used in the Shewhart and Bonferroni approach. The proposed approaches in the case of the unknown standard deviation, give out-of-control average run length slightly less than the Shewhart approach and considerably less than the Bonferroni-adjustment approach.

Online clustering algorithms for radar emitter classification

Radar emitter classification is a special application of data clustering for classifying unknown radar emitters from received radar pulse samples. The main challenges of this task are the high dimensionality of radar pulse samples, small sample group size, and closely located radar pulse clusters. In this paper, two new online clustering algorithms are developed for radar emitter classification: One is model-based using the Minimum Description Length (MDL) criterion and the other is based on competitive learning. Computational complexity is analyzed for each algorithm and then compared. Simulation results show the superior performance of the model-based algorithm over competitive learning in terms of better classification accuracy, flexibility, and stability.

Studies in diet, nutrition, and fertility among a group of Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana

To clarify the nature of the existence of the Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana it is necessary to build on the foundation that has been laid in forager studies by turning to controlled systematically collected data. The effort made has been directed to this purpose. A guiding point of departure in this research has been Walkers admonition in 1958 that the greatest need is to elucidate the relations among patterns of diet consumed of metabolism imposed and of physiology occurring in a social context. A fundamental proposition underlying the work is that physique and physiology their realization and maintenance are in significant part functions of situational contexts and they are subject to considerably flux. Thus the motivation of the research has been to investigate ongoing processes on a long-term basis rather than to describe isolated events. The research plan combines well-established methods of ethnography with some developed recently by field naturalists. Specifically the following statements are addressed: 1) body size of sample group varies in relationship to quantitative and qualitative fluctuations in food availability; 2) body composition varies in relation to dietary quality; 3) fertility in the sample groups varies in relation to body composition; and 4) social factors by differentiating access to both wild and domestic food products affect body composition and hence fertility. There are no locations in Botswana or elsewhere that are free of outside influence on forager traditions but /ai/ai is among those locations least overwhelmed by other Africans and European influence was until 1976 less pervasive than in most of Botswana. The Bushmen at /ai/ai call themselves zu/oasi and this term is used when referring to /ai/ai people. Bushmen is used when referring to the foraging click-language peoples of southern Africa. Field work was carried out in 3 periods: August 1973-January 1974; January 1975-June 1976; and May 1979-August 1980. The average number of zu/oasi in residence at /ai/ai during the study periods was about 160; there were also about 35 Herero. All of the data presented--lower weight in seasons of dietary stress along with lowered cholesterol and in some subjects raised triacylglycerosis are consistent with data reported by Truswell and Hansen (1976) and Bronte-Steward et al. (1960) which show seasonally lowered serum albumin and variable subscapular skinfold thickness. These point to fluctuations in nutritional status as a regular part of zu/oasi life. Losses of serum albumin are accompanied by proportional gains in extra-cellular water and it is possible that part of the weight and skinfold thickness observed in seasons of stress are because of edema. Births to zu/oasi women tend to cluster in association with these variations in biochemistry but at this time causal relationships among investigated variables cannot be documented.