Comparison of methods for estimating premorbid intelligence

To evaluate impact of neurological injury on cognitive performance it is typically necessary to derive a baseline (or ‘premorbid’) estimate of a patient’s general cognitive ability prior to the onset of impairment. In this paper, we consider a range of common methods for producing this estimate, including those based on current best performance, embedded ‘hold/no hold’ tests, demographic information, and word reading ability. Ninety-two neurologically healthy adult participants were assessed on the full Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV; Wechsler, 2008) and on two widely used word reading tests: National Adult Reading Test (NART; Nelson, 1982; Nelson & Willison, 1991) and Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR; Wechsler, 2001). Our findings indicate that reading tests provide the most reliable and precise estimates of WAIS-IV full-scale IQ, although the addition of demographic data provides modest improvement. Nevertheless, we observed considerable variability in correlations between NART/WTAR scores and individual WAIS-IV indices, which indicated particular usefulness in estimating more crystallised premorbid abilities (as represented by the verbal comprehension and general ability indices) relative to fluid abilities (working memory and perceptual reasoning indices). We discuss and encourage the development of new methods for improving premorbid estimates of cognitive abilities in neurological patients

The no-defect conjecture in cosmic crystallography

The topology of space is usually assumed simply connected, but could be multi-connected. We review in the latter case the possibility that topological defects arising at high energy phase transitions might still be present and find that either they are very unlikely to form at all, or space is effectively simply connected on scales up to the horizon size.Comment: LaTeX-REVTeX, 5 pages and 2 figures uuencoded, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Підвищення ефективності теплопостачання при врахуванні температурно-погодних факторів

In this paper we will address the questions of what and where the value of open access to research data might be and how libraries and related stakeholders can contribute to achieve the benefits of freely sharing data. In particular, the emphasis is on how libraries need to acquire the competence for collaboration to train and encourage researchers and library staff to work with open data. The paper is based on the early results of the RECODE project, an EU FP7 project that addresses the drivers and barriers in developing open access to research data in Europe (http://www.recodeproject.eu)

Parallellpublicering av vetenskapliga artiklar. Slutrapport PAVAprojektet

Projektrapport till Kungl. biblioteket, Programmet OpenAccess.s

A genetic algorithm to find optimal reading test word subsets for estimating full-scale IQ

In clinical neuropsychology the cognitive abilities of neurological patients are commonly estimated using well-established paper-based tests. Typically, scores on some tests remain relatively well preserved, whilst others exhibit a significant and disproportionate decline. Scores on those tests that measure preserved cognitive functions (so-called ‘hold’ tests) may be used to estimate premorbid abilities, including scores in non-hold tests that would have been expected prior to the onset of cognitive impairment. Many hold tests entail word reading, with each word being graded as correctly or incorrectly pronounced. Inevitably, such tests are likely to contain words that provide little or no diagnostic power (i.e., can be eliminated without negatively affecting prediction accuracy). In this paper, a genetic algorithm is developed and demonstrated, using n=92 neurologically healthy participants, to identify optimal word subsets from the National Adult Reading Test that minimize the mean error in predicting the most widely used clinical measure of IQ and cognitive ability, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Fourth Edition IQ. In addition to requiring only 17-20 of the original 50 words (suggesting that this test could be revised to be up to 66% shorter) and minimizing mean prediction error, the algorithm increases the proportion of the variance in the predicted variable explained in comparison to using all words (from r^2 = 0.46 to r^2 = 0.61). In a clinical setting this would improve estimates of premorbid cognitive function and, if an abbreviated revision to this test were to be adopted, reduce the arduousness of the test for patients. The proposed method is evaluated with jackknifing and leave one out cross validation. The general approach may be used to optimize the relationship between any two psychological tests by finding the question subset in one test that minimizes the prediction error in a second test by training the genetic algorithm using data collected from participants upon whom both tests have been administered. This approach may also be used to develop new predictive tests, since it provides a method to identify an optimal subset of a set of candidate questions (for which empirical data have been collected) that maximizes prediction accuracy and the proportion of variance in the predicted variable that can be explained

Origin Of The Far Off-Axis GRB171205A

We show that observed properties of the low luminosity GRB171205A and its afterglow, like those of most other low-luminosity (LL) gamma ray bursts (GRBs) associate with a supernova (SN), indicate that it is an ordinary SN-GRB, which was produced by inverse Compton scattering of glory light by a highly relativistic narrowly collimated jet ejected in a supernova explosion and viewed from a far off-axis angle. As such, VLA/VLBI follow-up radio observations of a superluminal displacement of its bright radio afterglow from its parent supernova, will be able to test clearly whether it is an ordinary SN-GRB viewed from far off-axis or it belongs to a distinct class of GRBs, which are different from ordinary GRBs, and cannot be explained by standard fireball models of GRBs as ordinary GRBsComment: 5 pages, 6 figures, updated data in Fig. 3, Corrected GRB angular distance used in Fig.

Double Inflation in Supergravity and the Large Scale Structure

The cosmological implication of a double inflation model with hybrid + new inflations in supergravity is studied. The hybrid inflation drives an inflaton for new inflation close to the origin through supergravity effects and new inflation naturally occurs. If the total e-fold number of new inflation is smaller than $\sim 60$, both inflations produce cosmologically relevant density fluctuations. Both cluster abundances and galaxy distributions provide strong constraints on the parameters in the double inflation model assuming $\Omega_0=1$ standard cold dark matter scenario. The future satellite experiments to measure the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background will make a precise determination of the model parameters possible.Comment: 19 pages (RevTeX file

Social shaping of digital publishing: exploring the interplay between culture and technology

The processes and forms of electronic publishing have been changing since the advent of the Web. In recent years, the open access movement has been a major driver of scholarly communication, and change is also evident in other fields such as e-government and e-learning. Whilst many changes are driven by technological advances, an altered social reality is also pushing the boundaries of digital publishing. With 23 articles and 10 posters, Elpub 2012 focuses on the social shaping of digital publishing and explores the interplay between culture and technology. This book contains the proceedings of the conference, consisting of 11 accepted full articles and 12 articles accepted as extended abstracts. The articles are presented in groups, and cover the topics: digital scholarship and publishing; special archives; libraries and repositories; digital texts and readings; and future solutions and innovations. Offering an overview of the current situation and exploring the trends of the future, this book will be of interest to all those whose work involves digital publishing