Internal consistency and validity of the Stroke Impact Scale 2.0 (SIS 2.0) and SIS - 16 in an Australian sample

Background and Purpose: The impact of stroke is multidimensional however standard stroke measures do not discriminate well when stroke patients are less physically impaired. The Stroke Impact Scale 2.0 (SIS 2.0) is a multidimensional measure of the impact of stroke but its'' psychometric properties require further testing. The SIS-16 is a measure of physical functioning designed to be more sensitive to differences in physical functioning than current stroke outcome measures but there is only preliminary information detailing its'' reliability and validity. The current study examined the internal consistency and validity of the SIS 2.0 and SIS-16 in an Australian sample of stroke patients. Methods: The SIS 2.0, SIS-16, World Health Organization Bref-Scale (WHOQOL-BREF) and Zung''s Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were completed by 74 stroke patients in rural Victoria, Australia.
Results: The item convergent validity index indicated good item convergence of the SIS-16 and SIS 2.0 domains. The item discriminant validity index had only adequate divergence for most SIS 2.0 domains. Internal consistencies of the SIS-16 and SIS 2.0 domains were acceptable (agr = 0.87–0.95). Correlations between the SIS-16 and SIS 2.0 and the WHOQOL-BREF and SDS supported the convergent and discriminant validity of the SIS-16 and all the dimensions of the SIS 2.0 except lsquoParticipationrsquo which lacked discriminant validity. Conclusions: The SIS 2.0 and SIS-16 had good psychometric properties with support for the internal consistency and validity of both measures.

Dimensions of financial competence

Whether or not someone has the ability to look after his or her own financial affairs is one of the most common problems brought before courts and tribunals in Australia. At present, there is no agreed-upon objective standard for assessing financial competency. The aims of this study were twofold: (1) to clarify which financial skills and tasks are considered important to adults in the Australian community when assessing financial competence; and (2) to evaluate a model of financial competence proposed by Webber, Reeve, Kershaw and Charlton. Professional service providers and students judged the importance of 61 skills, tasks and characteristics related to financial competence. The results supported a 6-factor model of financial competence. The findings suggest that it is possible to identify agreed-upon criteria for financial competency and provide a first step towards the development of a valid scale of financial competency.

Sense of community in science fiction fandom, part 2: comparing neighborhood and interest group sense of community

There is much debate in community psychology literature as to the dimensions underlying the construct psychological sense of community (PSOC). One of the few theoretical discussions is that of McMillan and Chavis (1986), who hypothesized four dimensions: Belonging; Fulfillment of Needs; Influence; and Shared Emotional Connection. Debate has also emerged regarding the role of identification within PSOC. However, few studies have explored the place of identification in PSOC. In addition, while PSOC has been applied to both communities of interest and geographical communities, to date little research has compared a single group’s PSOC with a community of interest to their PSOC with their geographical communities. The current study explored PSOC with participants’ interest and geographical communities in a sample (N = 359) of members of science fiction fandom, a community of interest with membership from all over the world. Support emerged for McMillan and Chavis' (1986) four dimensions of PSOC, both within participants’ PSOC with their geographical communities and with their community of interest, with the addition of a fifth dimension, that of Conscious Identification. All dimensions emerged as significant predictors of overall sense of community in both community types. Participants reported higher levels of global PSOC with fandom than with their geographical communities, a pattern that also emerged across all factors separately. These results, and implications for PSOC research, are discussed.

Femoral neck dimensions are unlikely to be associated with age at menarche

Hip axis length (HAL) has been reported as an independent risk factor for hip fracture. Later puberty may increase bone size because of delayed epiphyseal fusion. We sought to identify associations between bone size at the proximal femur with age at menarche and other indices of growth such as stature. Femoral neck dimensions were measured from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans of the proximal femur in a random sample of 203 premenopausal Caucasian women (age 20–30 years). There were no associations between age at menarche and HAL, femoral axis length (FAL) or femoral neck width (FNW). Age at menarche was associated with height (r= 0.2, p= 0.02). Variations in HAL, FAL and FNW do not appear to be related to age at menarche.

Accounting for the multidimensional nature of the relationship between adult obesity and socio-economic status : the French second National Individual Survey on Food Consumption (INCA 2) dietary survey (2006–07)

The objective was to study the multidimensional nature of the relationship between adult obesity (OB) and socio-economic status (SES),
using comprehensive indices of SES taken separately or synthesised in an overall index. A nationally representative sample of adults aged
18–79 years was taken from the French second National Individual Survey on Food Consumption (INCA 2) dietary survey (2006–07).
Weight and height were measured and OB defined as BMI $ 30 kg/m². SES variables were reported in questionnaires and included
occupation, education and characteristics of household wealth. Composite indices of SES (household wealth and overall SES indices)
were computed by correspondence analysis, and relationships with OB were investigated with logistic regression analysis. In total, 11·8
(95% CI 10·1, 13·4) % of French adults were obese, without significant difference by sex. While no significant relationship was observed
in men, all SES indicators were inversely correlated to OB in women. Both education and the household wealth index were retained in the
stepwise multivariate model, confirming that different socio-economic variables are not necessarily proxies of each other regarding the OB
issue. On the other hand, ‘controlling for SES’ while including several measures of SES in multivariate models may lead to collinearity, and
thus over-adjustment. A more integrative approach may be to derive a synthetic index by including the SES factors available in a given
study. Beyond this methodological perspective, understanding how OB is related to the different dimensions of SES should help to
target the more vulnerable groups and increase the effectiveness of prevention.

Effect of cellulose nanofiber dimensions on sheet forming through filtration

Four different cellulose nanofibers samples were prepared from northern bleached softwood kraft fibers. Fiber diameter distributions were measured from SEM images. Fiber aspect ratios ranging from 84 to 146 were estimated from fiber suspension sedimentation measurements. Three samples had heterogeneous distributions of fiber diameters, while one sample was more homogeneous. Sheet forming experiments using filters with pores ranging from 150 to 5 μm showed that the samples with a heterogeneous distribution of fiber dimensions could be easily formed into sheets at 0. 2% initial solids concentration with all filter openings. On the other hand, sheets could only be formed from the homogenous sample by using 0. 5% or more initial solids content and a lower applied vacuum and smaller filter openings. The forming data and estimated aspect ratios show reasonable agreement with the predictions of the crowding number and percolation theories for the connectivity and rigidity thresholds for fiber suspensions.

Cultural intelligence (CQ) in virtual, cross-cultural interactions: generalizability of measure and links to personality dimensions and task performance

Previous studies have focused on investigating CQ in face-to-face contexts but very few have assessed CQ in virtual, cross-cultural interactions. This study highlights the relevance of cultural intelligence (CQ) as an intercultural capability in cross-cultural communications that are virtual. This two-study research (study 1: n = 274; study 2: n = 223) conducted in call centers in the Philippines (a) assesses the generalizability of the four-factor CQ model (i.e., cognitive, metacognitive, motivational and behavioral CQ) as applied in the virtual context and (b) tests the relationship between CQ, personality dimensions (i.e., openness to experience and extraversion) and supervisor’s ratings of task performance. Study 1 results show that the structural validity of the four-factor CQ model was supported with minor issues in some ofthe items indicating the need to modify the CQ measure when utilized in the virtual context. Study 2 results show that CQ is positively and significantly related to openness to experience and extraversion. In addition, results show that CQ predicts task performance highlighting the importance of developing CQ among call center representatives and other working professionals who virtually engage and interact with clients and customers from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Rethinking the food security debate in Asia: Some missing ecological and health dimensions and solutions

Food security is a global and regional concern of rapidly increasing consequence. It is at risk of inattention because of competing crises, because of its theoretical amenability to previously effective, if temporary measures, most impressively with the so-called Green Revolution and because of the recourse to the global trade paradigm as a putative solution. We identify some missing or under-emphasised dimensions in this analysis, with particular reference to Asia, which in spite of recent growth-or in some cases because of it-faces particularly daunting food problems. Greater emphasis needs to be given to population size and distribution through more concerted family planning and enlightened migration policy; public policy to retain or encourage plant-based diets; integration of food, health and environmental approaches to create resilient regional food systems; and the incorporation of food into the broader human security agenda. While regional organisations, along with their NGO counterparts and nation states, have an over-arching role to strategise in this way, substantial progress could still be made at the community and household levels, especially with current technologies which can marshal their collective and coherent action.