Clean and Contain: Initial Development of a Measure of Infection Prevention Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer behavioral guidance to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19. Cleaning (e.g., cleaning surfaces, washing and sanitizing hands) and containing (e.g., covering coughs, keeping distance from others, especially sick people) behaviors are recommended. Purpose To develop the Clean and Contain Measure, a brief measure of compliance with CDC recommendations for prevention of infectious disease, and validate the measure in individuals experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and social media. Results In Study 1 (N = 97), exploratory factor analysis revealed two scales: (a) five items assessing cleaning behaviors and (b) four items assessing containing behaviors. Simple structure was obtained and alpha coefficients for both scales were >.83. In Studies 2 (N = 204) and 3 (N = 527), confirmatory factor analysis verified the identical factor structure found in Study 1. All loadings were statistically significant at p < .001. Alpha coefficients for both scales were >.84 for Studies 2 and 3. Conclusions Our measure is a reliable and valid indicator of compliance with cleaning and containing health behaviors that help to prevent the spread of diseases like COVID-19. Future research should replicate construct validity in more diverse samples and continue to refine items, examine construct validity, including predictive and discriminant validity, and improve the measure for future use. With continued use and refinement, this measure could allow health officials and researchers to accurately assess compliance with important infection prevention behavior guidelines.

Design of Automated Moving Stage with Adaptive Focus System to Support Microscopy Image Stitching

Image stitching is a method to obtain high-resolution images through compositing several image elements using invariant pattern recognizing and matching between each image elements involved. This method can remove resolution restriction in digital microscopy imaging. This study aims to design automated stitching with adaptive focus mechanism to achieve high-quality final stitched image. We attach three-axis microscopic actuator into Olympus CX-21 light microscope. The actuator has been programmed to support image elements capture with adaptive focus ability to compensate focus plane changes due to unevenness object surface, inhomogeneous slide thickness and imperfection of preparation holder. Testing results show automated moving stage has horizontal step resolution 0.198±0.001 μm/step with hysteresis 5.99±1.09 μm and vertical step resolution 0.197±0.004 μm/step with hysteresis 2.36±1.28 μm at maximum speed 3,675μm/sec in 16 sub-division microstep setting value. Automated moving stage has also linear response with R2=0.999. Adaptive focus testing show satisfied optimum objective height locking stability using identical factor ε=95% for every objective application below 100x. Adaptive focus success stabilizes Zopt for every image element to generate final stitched image with homogenous focus value.

Making Choices: The Development of an Assessment Procedure

1 The present manuscript is based on the MA thesis of the second author. We would like to express our gratitude to two anonymous reviewers for the comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for the assessment of children's understanding of processes involved in the formulation of goals, making choices, and the role of own responsibility in making choices (i. e., planning components). In the first study, a list of concepts consisting of 54 items was presented to 83 children (mean ages 10.9 and 13.9 years). Principal component analyses resulted in a list - called “Cost and Profit Concepts List” - consisting of 22 items with a three-factor structure. The factors referred to children's understanding of processes involved in making choices between goals and alternative strategies to attaining goals and their own responsibility in making choices. In the second study, the instrument was presented to 174 children divided into three age groups (mean ages 8.7, 10.8, and 13.7 years). An identical factor structure for the 22 items was found. Internal consistency reached .68. Significant age differences were present for each factorial dimension. Girls evidenced an earlier understanding than boys of the role of their own responsibility in making choices. These findings indicate that the “Cost and Profit Concepts List” is an adequate assessment instrument for children's understanding of components of planning and discriminates sufficiently between age groups.

Construct validity and generalizability of the Kirton Adaption–Innovation Inventory

The factor structure of the Kirton (1976) Adaption–Innovation inventory was examined by use of confirmatory factor analysis. A three‐factor structure was found, characterized by distinct, yet positively associated, facets, thereby challenging the oft‐assumed unidimensional conceptualization of adaption–innovation. The measures were found to achieve satisfactory levels of reliability for the separate facets and to exhibit strong evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. This was demonstrated for the full 32‐item inventory, as well as 20‐item and 13‐item abridgments. Subjects were postgraduate students from the United Kingdom (N = 149), Australia (N = 142), and the United States (N = 131). The three‐factor solution was found to generalize across all three samples in the sense of yielding identical factor loadings, error variances, and correlations among facets. Differences in the means of factors were found across samples.

Haplotype Analysis of Identical Factor IX Mutants Using PCR

SummaryWe have detected the mutations in the factor IX genes from all of the haemophilia B patients registered at Malmo haemophilia centre (45) and are currently examining the entire UK haemophilia B population. From these studies we have found 13 base substitutions which have recurred in 1-6 other, presumably unrelated, patients. In order to determine the minimum number of independent repeats of each mutation we have used PCR to examine the five factor IX polymorphisms forming the most informative combinations and we have characterised the haplotype of each patient. Patients with different haplotypes are assumed to be unrelated and thus to carry independent mutations. All but one of the 13 mutations occur in at least 2 haplotypes thus pinpointing 12 mutational hotspots and mutations that can be clearly considered detrimental. Two of the 13 substitutions occur at non-CpG sites.

A Factor Analysis of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory Using an Alcoholic Population

The present study reports a factor analysis of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory using 103 alcoholic men. Kirton in 1976 and we in an unpublished work in 1986 noted identical factor structures when responses from nonalcoholic populations to the inventory were factor analyzed. Recent reviews regarding personality characteristics of alcoholics suggest characteristics similar to the adaption-innovation concepts of Kirton. This factor analysis for an alcoholic sample supports the validity of the inventory as a measure of problem-solving style of alcoholics.

On a Bernoulli shift with non-identical factor measures

There exists a Bernoulli shift with non-identical factor measures for which no invariant σ-finite equivalent measure exists.

Norms for the Computer-Scored Holtzman Inkblot Technique

A computer scoring system has been validated for scoring 17 Holtzman Inkblot Technique variables: Location, Rejection, Form Definiteness, Color, Shading, Movement, Integration, Human, Animal, Anatomy, Sex, Abstract, Anxiety, Hostility, Barrier, Penetration, and Popular. The basic sample was composed of 145 college students to whom the HIT was group administered. An expert scorer's values were the criteria for validating computer scores. Validity of computer scoring was attested by comparability of means and standard deviations, by acceptable correlations between the two methods, and by identical factor structure among 8 rotated factors. The correlation of the computer with the mean of 3 hand scorers equaled or approached the interscorer reliability of the scorers. This report presents norms for over 5,000 Ss. Normal Ss include high school and college students and U. S. Navy enlistees. Clinical Ss include Veterans Administration and state hospital schizophrenics, depressives, psychoneurotics, alcoholics, and chronic brain-syndrome patients. Cultural samples include university students from Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Turkey, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia.