To ensure test security and fairness, alternative forms of the same test are administered in practice. However, alternative forms of the same test generally do not have the same test difficulty level, even though alternative test forms are designed to be as parallel as possible. Equating adjusts for differences in difficulties among forms of the test. Six traditional equating methods are consid...

Controlled exposure experiments or CEEs are an important technique for determining the responses of animals to signals that are not part of their own communicative repertoire. CEEs are useful for establishing the relationship between acoustic dosage and behavioral response, a critical element of risk assessment, similar to dose:response studies for exposure to chemicals. CEEs share some propert...

The potential of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to discriminate biological and chemical threat simulant residues prepared on multiple substrates and in the presence of interferents has been explored. The simulant samples tested include Bacillus atrophaeus spores, Escherichia coli, MS-2 bacteriophage, α-hemolysin from Staphylococcus aureus, 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide, and dimethyl ...

BACKGROUND Estrogen increases C-reactive protein (CRP) in postmenopausal women. Estrogen also decreases cell adhesion molecules, whereas elevated CRP stimulates the expression of cell adhesion molecules. Because androgens have antiinflammatory effects, androgenic progestins such as medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) may inhibit proinflammatory effects of estrogen. We investigated the effects of ...

Willem G. van Dockum, Folkert J. ten Cate, MD, PhD, Jurrien M. ten Berg, MD, PhD, Aernout M. Beek, MD, Jos W. R. Twisk, PhD, Mark B. M. Hofman, PhD, Cees A. Visser, MD, PhD, Albert C. van Rossum, MD, PhD. Cardiology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Cardiology, Thoraxcenter Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, Nether...

In order to investigate the mechanisms of cellular damage by alkylating agents, human fibroblasts and tumor cell strains having different sensitivities to killing by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine [and different abilities to repair O6-methylguanine ( O6mGua ) in their DNA] were treated with other alkylating agents. Methyl methanesulfonate, 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU), 1-(2...

IMPORTANCE Postmenopausal hormone therapy with conjugated equine estrogens (CEEs) may adversely affect older women’s cognitive function. It is not known whether this extends to younger women. OBJECTIVE To test whether prescribing CEE-based hormone therapy to postmenopausal women aged 50 to 55 years has longer-term effects on cognitive function. DESIGN Trained, masked staff assessed particip...

The Centre for the Economics of Education is an independent research centre funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The views expressed in this work are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the DCSF. All errors and omissions remain the authors. Executive Summary Researchers in economics of education conventionally assume that parents choose schools for their ...

This paper addresses labour market aspects of new immigrants in host countries with a specific emphasis on the Netherlands. In general, it can be stated that in the Netherlands immigrant groups have not been absorbed very wel1 in the labour market and that to some extent the dual labour market approach is applicable to the Dutch situation. Furthermore, future labour market developments in weste...

OBJECTIVE Estrogen seems to contribute to glucose homeostasis in women. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on HbA(1c) levels in Japanese postmenopausal women and to determine whether the effects varied with age. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We studied 99 postmenopausal women taking HRT (mean +/- SD age 56.5 +/- 6.9 years, BMI 21.5 +/- 2....