Item Sum: A New Technique for Asking Quantitative Sensitive Questions

This article contributes to an ongoing debate about how to measure sensitive topics in population surveys. We propose a novel technique that can be applied to the measurement of quantitative sensitive variables: the item sum technique (IST). This method is closely related to the item count technique, which was developed for the measurement of dichotomous sensitive items. First, we provide a description of our new technique and discuss how data collected by the IST can be analyzed. Second, we present the results of a CATI survey on undeclared work in Germany, in which the IST has been applied. Using an experimental design, we compare the IST to direct questioning. Our empirical results indicate that the IST is a promising data-collection technique for sensitive questions. We conclude by discussing the limitations of the new technique and outlining possible improvements for future studies.

The Frontal Eye Field Is Involved in Visual Vector Inversion in Humans – A Theta Burst Stimulation Study

In the antisaccade task, subjects are requested to suppress a reflexive saccade towards a visual target and to perform a saccade towards the opposite side. In addition, in order to reproduce an accurate saccadic amplitude, the visual saccade vector (i.e., the distance between a central fixation point and the peripheral target) must be exactly inverted from one visual hemifield to the other. Results from recent studies using a correlational approach (i.e., fMRI, MEG) suggest that not only the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) but also the frontal eye field (FEF) might play an important role in such a visual vector inversion process. In order to assess whether the FEF contributes to visual vector inversion, we applied an interference approach with continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) during a memory-guided antisaccade task. In 10 healthy subjects, one train of cTBS was applied over the right FEF prior to a memory-guided antisaccade task. In comparison to the performance without stimulation or with sham stimulation, cTBS over the right FEF induced a hypometric gain for rightward but not leftward antisaccades. These results obtained with an interference approach confirm that the FEF is also involved in the process of visual vector inversion.

Use of contrast-enhanced fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequence to detect brain lesions in dogs and cats.

BACKGROUND The diagnostic value of a contrast-enhanced T2-weighted FLAIR sequence (ceFLAIR) in brain imaging is unclear. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES That the number of brain lesions detected with ceFLAIR would be no greater than the sum of lesions detected with nFLAIR and ceT1W sequence. ANIMALS One hundred and twenty-nine animals (108 dogs and 21 cats) undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head between July 2010 and October 2011 were included in the study. METHODS A transverse ceFLAIR was added to a standard brain MRI protocol. Presence and number of lesions were determined based on all available MRI sequences by 3 examiners in consensus and lesion visibility was evaluated for nFLAIR, ceFLAIR, and ceT1W sequences. RESULTS Eighty-three lesions (58 intra-axial and 25 extra-axial) were identified in 51 patients. Five lesions were detected with nFLAIR alone, 2 with ceT1W alone, and 1 with ceFLAIR alone. Significantly higher numbers of lesions were detected using ceFLAIR than nFLAIR (76 versus 67 lesions; P = 0.04), in particular for lesions also detected with ceT1W images (53 versus 40; P =.01). There was no significant difference between the number of lesions detected with combined nFLAIR and ceT1W sequences compared to those detected with ceFLAIR (82 versus 76; P =.25). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE Use of ceFLAIR as a complementary sequence to nFLAIR and ceT1W sequences did not improve the detection of brain lesions and cannot be recommended as part of a routine brain MRI protocol in dogs and cats with suspected brain lesions.

Johannis Buxtorfii De abbreviaturis Hebraicis liber novus et copiosus : cui acc. operis Talmudici brevis recensio ... item Bibliotheca rabbinica nova, ordine alph. disposita

Text teilw. in hebr. Schr. und Sprache

Introductio in Orientem, sive Synopsis quaestionum nobiliorum de origine, natura, usu et adminiculis linguarum orientalium etplerarumque extra Europam : Ebraicae, Chaldaicae, Syriacae, Samaritanae ...; Item de Genuina Antiqvitate Punctorum Vocalium & Accentuum Ebraeorum ...

Wittenbergae, Univ., Diss., 1672

Entwicklung der Fünf-Item-Kurzskala STAI-SKD zur Messung von Zustandsangst

Das State-Trait-Angstinventar (STAI) ist eines der am häufigsten eingesetzten Erhebungsinstrumente im Bereich der Angstdiagnostik. Die STAI-Skala zur Erfassung von Zustandsangst umfasst 20 Items. Unter bestimmten Erhebungsbedingungen erweist es sich als relativ schwierig, eine große Menge an Items zu bearbeiten oder aber es steht nicht ausreichend Testzeit zur Verfügung. Daher war es das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie, eine Kurzform der State-Version des STAI zu entwickeln. An einer Stichprobe von N = 65 Studierenden wurde aufgrund inhaltlicher und statistischer Kriterien eine Kurzform der State-Version des STAI, das STAI-SKD, mit fünf Items generiert. Eine konfirmatorische Faktorenanalyse an einer zweiten Stichprobe von N = 191 Studierenden zeigte, dass das STAI-SKD die Angstkomponenten Emotionality und Worry abbildet. Die Beziehungen des STAI-SKD zu positivem und negativem Affekt sowie dessen Veränderungssensitivität fielen in einer dritten Stichprobe (N = 80 Studierende) erwartungsgemäß aus. Die neue Kurzform der State-Version des STAI erlaubt eine ökonomische Erfassung der Zustandsangst.