Prior knowledge is one of the strongest contributors to comprehension, but there is little specificity about different aspects of prior knowledge and how they impact comprehension. This article ...introduces the Multidimensional Knowledge in Text Comprehension framework, which conceptualizes prior knowledge along four intersecting dimensions: amount, accuracy, specificity, and coherence. Amount refers to how many relevant concepts the reader knows. Accuracy refers to the extent to which the reader's knowledge is correct. Specificity refers the degree to which the knowledge is related to information in the target text. Coherence refers to the interconnectedness of prior knowledge. Conceptualizing prior content knowledge along these dimensions deepens understanding of the construct and lends to more specific predictions about how learners process information. Considering knowledge across multiple dimensions is crucially important to the development and selection of prior knowledge assessments and, in turn, educators' ability to capitalize on learners' strengths across various comprehension tasks.
Blends of barley flour and tomato pomace were processed in a co-rotating twin-screw extruder. Experimental design with die temperature (140–160
°C), screw speed (150–200
rpm) and tomato pomace level ...(2–10%) as independent variables produced 20 different combinations that were studied using response surface methodology to investigate the effect of these variables on system parameters (SME, die melt temperature and die pressure) and product responses (expansion, bulk density, water absorption and solubility indices, texture and color). Extrudate from five experiments within 20 samples was selected for sensory evaluation in terms of color, texture, taste, off-odor and overall acceptability. Regression equations describing the effect of each variable on the system parameters and product responses were obtained. The system parameters and product responses were most affected by changes in temperature, pomace level and to a lesser extent by screw speed. Extrudates with 2% and 10% tomato pomace levels extruded at 160
°C and 200
rpm had higher preference levels for parameters of color, texture, taste and overall acceptability. The results suggest that tomato pomace can be extruded with barley flour into an acceptable and nutritional snack.
This review sets out to assess the efficacy of pre-operative chemoradiation when compared to radiotherapy alone before surgery in the treatment of advanced non metastatic rectal surgery.
To determine ...the efficacy of pre-operative chemoradiation (CRT) compared with radiation (RT) alone, in locally advanced rectal cancer with respect to overall survival, local recurrence and 30 day mortality, sphincter preservation and toxicity of treatment (both acute and late).
In September 2011, we searched clinical trial registers, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, EMBASE and MEDLINE and reviewed reference lists. Further hand searches were conducted of relevant journal proceedings. No language constraints were applied.The following search terms were used: colorectal, rectal, rectum, cancer, carcinoma, tumour, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, chemoradiation, 5-Fluorouracil, 5-FU, neo-adjuvant, preoperative, surgery, anterior resection, abdominoperineal resection, total mesorectal excision.
Male and female patients aged over 18 years undergoing preoperative chemoradiation or radiotherapy followed by surgery for locally advanced non-metastatic rectal cancer. There was no upper age limit for participants. Locally advanced non-metastatic cancer was defined as stage 3 rectal tumours. These are tumours of any T stage with nodal involvement, without evidence of distant metastases.
Primary outcome parameters included overall survival and local recurrence rate. Secondary outcome parameters included 30 day mortality, sphincter preservation, pathological response of tumour, acute and late toxicity of treatment. The outcome parameters were summarized using the odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
There were 6 randomised controlled trials eligible for inclusion. A reduction in local recurrence was seen in the CRT group in comparison to the RT group (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.42-0.75, P<0.0001). The results for overall survival were (OR=1.01 95%CI 0.85-1.20, P=0.88).The 30 day mortality was the same for both groups, CRT vs RT (OR 1.73, 95% CI 0.88-3.38). Sphincter preservation (stoma rate) was also similar for the two interventions (OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.85-1.21, P=0.64). An increase in acute grade 3/4 treatment related toxicity was seen in the CRT group versus the RT group (OR 3.96, 95% CI 3.03, 5.17, P<0.00001), although this result did display heterogeneity P=0.0005. Late toxicity events were similar between the two groups (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.50, 1.54, P=0.65).
RT was compared to the more intensive CRT in the treatment of T3-4, node positive (locally advanced) rectal cancer. While there was no difference in overall survival between RT and CRT, CRT was associated with less local recurrence.
During reading, students construct mental models of what they read. Summaries can be used to evaluate the latent knowledge structure of these mental models. We used indices from Student Mental Model ...Analyzer for Research and Teaching (SMART) to explore the potential of a global index, Graph Centrality (GC), as a measure to describe mental model structure and its relation to the quality of student summaries (e.g., the amount of content-coverage). Students (
n
= 73) in an online graduate-level course wrote and revised summaries of their course readings. Data preview left the total count of 32 cases to evaluate how students’ mental representations changed from initial to final version. These summaries were analyzed using indices derived from the 3S model (surface, structure, semantic) as well as a measure of GC. The results of this initial investigation are promising, demonstrating that Graph Centrality captures important differences in students’ summaries, including revision behaviors to the wholistic structure of mental models, modification trajectories toward a cohesive and solid mental representation that is semantically similar to the expert model.
Summary writing is a useful instructional tool for learning. However, summary writing is a challenge to many students. This mixed‐method study examined the potential of the Student Mental Model ...Analyzer for Research and Teaching (SMART) system to help students produce summaries that reflect key concepts and relations in a text. SMART uses the students' summary to generate a multi‐dimensional 3S (surface, structure, semantic) evaluation of the students' mental model. This model is then used to drive feedback to help students revise their summary. The current study is an initial investigation examining whether writing and revising in SMART improves students' summary quality. Students (n = 38) in a graduate‐level online course used SMART for seven reading assignments. The 38 students submitted a total of 357 summaries in response to the seven readings. In 47 cases, students produced both an initial draft and a modified revision. These 47 cases were selected for analysis. In the quantitative phase, MANOVA results indicated that students' summaries improved along the 3S dimensions from initial draft to revision. In the qualitative phase, inspection of exemplar cases revealed how students' mental models changed towards more robust and cohesive knowledge structure for texts.
Lay Description
Lay Description
What is already known about this topic
Texts are the main means of acquiring new information.
Writing a summary is frequently used as a tool for learning from text.
Even proficient readers often struggle to learn from text due to insufficient support.
Automated summary evaluation (ASE) can help students revise their summaries.
What this paper adds
We introduce the Student Mental Model Analyzer for Research and Teaching (SMART) system.
SMART uses a written summary to evaluate the quality of the learner's mental models.
SMART analyses a student's mental model in surface, structural and semantic dimensions.
SMART helps students improve content‐coverage and overall quality of their summaries.
Implications for practice
SMART can be a supplement in classrooms to help students learn from complex texts.
Teachers can use SMART to provide real‐time, personalized, formative feedback at a scale.
Students can use SMART to comprehend the text to prepare for meaningful class discussion.
Scholars can use SMART to investigate expertise development in summary via instruction.
Abstract One barrier to participating in clinical research is that patients with low literacy skills (1 in 5 US adults) may struggle to understand the informed consent document (ICD). Writing ...consents using health literacy and plain language guidelines including simplified syntax and semantics can increase understandability and facilitate inclusivity of research populations with literacy challenges. Our study aim was to evaluate a simplified ICD for understandability while considering factors known to relate to comprehension (reading skills and working memory). We performed an on-line survey of 192 adults ages 18–77 in Georgia. Participants performed significantly better on the simplified ICD test. We built an additional model with all version x measure interactions (i.e., age, sex, race, urbanicity, GMVT, WM). This model did not significantly improve model fit, F < 1.00, suggesting that individual differences did not moderate the effect of simplification. Our findings suggest that using plain language and simplified syntax and semantics in ICD as a universal precaution may reduce cognitive reading burden for adults regardless of differences in reading skill or working memory. Increasing understandability in ICD may help improve targets for clinical trial enrollment.
The barley flour–grape pomace blends were extruded in a 30
mm APV co-rotating twin-screw extruder. Response surface methodology using a central composite design was used to evaluate the effects of ...independent variables, namely die temperature (140–160
°C), screw speed (150–200
rpm) and pomace level (2–10%, db) on product responses (expansion, bulk density, texture and color). Sensory analysis was carried out for selected extrudates for appearance (color, porosity), taste (bran flavor, bitterness and sweetness), off-odor, texture (hardness, crispness and brittleness) and overall acceptability. Multiple regression equations were obtained to describe the effects of each variable on product responses. The product responses were most affected by changes in temperature, pomace level and to a lesser extent by screw speed. Blends of 2% grape pomace extruded at 160
°C, 200
rpm and 10% grape pomace extruded at 160
°C, 150
rpm had higher preference levels for parameters of appearance, taste, texture and overall acceptability. However, graphical optimization studies resulted in 155–160
°C, 4.47–6.57% pomace level and 150–187
rpm screw speed as optimum variables to produce acceptable extrudates. The results suggest that grape pomace can be extruded with barley flour into an acceptable snack food.
Virtual experiments offer opportunities for students to engage in the scientific process and observe scientific phenomena. However, virtual experiments are not always effective for learning. The ...current study examined how two small manipulations might support better learning from virtual experiments and the extent to which this varied across learners. Undergraduates in an introductory biology class (n = 415) were randomly assigned to a 2(agency: active, passive)
$ \times $
×
2(strategy instruction: control condition, control of variables CVS strategy instruction) between-subjects design and completed two prior knowledge tests (topic, general science). Comprehension tests results indicated that the students had relatively good comprehension of the experiment content, but that performance was driven by prior knowledge. Although there were no significant effects of the agency or strategy instruction manipulations, exploratory interactions suggest a need to further investigate which types of virtual experiment supports might be most beneficial for different learners.
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a non-specific acute phase reactant elevated in infection or inflammation. Higher levels indicate more severe infection and have been used as an indicator of COVID-19 ...disease severity. However, the evidence for CRP as a prognostic marker is yet to be determined. The aim of this study is to examine the CRP response in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and to determine the utility of CRP on admission for predicting inpatient mortality.
Data were collected between 27 February and 10 June 2020, incorporating two cohorts: the COPE (COVID-19 in Older People) study of 1564 adult patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted to 11 hospital sites (test cohort) and a later validation cohort of 271 patients. Admission CRP was investigated, and finite mixture models were fit to assess the likely underlying distribution. Further, different prognostic thresholds of CRP were analysed in a time-to-mortality Cox regression to determine a cut-off. Bootstrapping was used to compare model performance Harrell's C statistic and Akaike information criterion (AIC).
The test and validation cohort distribution of CRP was not affected by age, and mixture models indicated a bimodal distribution. A threshold cut-off of CRP ≥40 mg/L performed well to predict mortality (and performed similarly to treating CRP as a linear variable).
The distributional characteristics of CRP indicated an optimal cut-off of ≥40 mg/L was associated with mortality. This threshold may assist clinicians in using CRP as an early trigger for enhanced observation, treatment decisions and advanced care planning.
Static mixers are implemented across many industries and are used for mixing, heating and reacting processes. This paper reports the combined use of positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) and ...magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess mixing in the industrially important SMX static mixer geometry. The focus of this study was distributive mixing for a Newtonian fluid, glycerol, flowing in the laminar regime in the standard SMX static mixer. By implementing PEPT and MRI techniques, the work elucidated mixing indices that incorporate both local velocities and concentration fields within the structure of the mixer element at 0.5mm intervals over a length of nine 1.0L/D SMX elements. The experimental results are placed in context with previously published computational studies for this geometry.
•Two experimental techniques are combined for quantitative measure of mixedness.•Mixing is more effective in the initial elements of the SMX than predicted from CFD.•Combination of MRI and PEPT techniques opens a range of complementary studies.
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