Writing assessment relies closely on scoring the excellence of a subject's thoughts. This creates a faceted measurement structure regarding rubrics, tasks, and raters. Nevertheless, most studies did not consider the differences among raters systematically. This study examines the raters' differences in association with the reliability and validity of writing rubrics using the Many-Facet Rasch measurement model (MFRM) to model these differences. A set of standards for evaluating the quality of rating based on writing assessment was examined. Rating quality was tested within four writing domains from an analytic rubric using a scale of one to three. The writing domains explored were vocabulary, grammar, language, use, and organization; whereas the data were obtained from 15 Arabic essays gathered from religious secondary school students under the supervision of the Malaysia Ministry of Education. Five raters in the field of practice were selected to evaluate all the essays. As a result, (a) raters range considerably on the lenient-severity dimension, so rater variations ought to be modeled; (b) the combination of findings between raters avoids the doubt of scores, thereby reducing the measurement error which could lower the criterion validity with the external variable; and (c) MFRM adjustments effectively increased the correlations of the scores obtained from partial and full data. Predominant findings revealed that rating quality varies across analytic rubric domains. This also depicts that MFRM is an effective way to model rater differences and evaluate the validity and reliability of writing rubrics.
A morphine-like spasmolytic action (not naloxone reversible; involving the inhibition of acetylcholine release) and also effects on the transmural transport of electrolytes (Na(+) and K(+)) and water have been reported as possible modes of the antidiarrhoeal action of polar fractions of Psidium guajava leaf extractives. The objective for this study was to verify if the reported modes of the antidiarrhoeal action should be broadened to include direct antimicrobial actions on some of the more common bacteria known to cause toxin-induced acute diarrhoea. Serial dilutions of a water-soluble, freeze-dried methanolic extract were tested on 10 such organisms, grown separately on nutrient agar plates, to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for each of these bacteria. These included the causative agents for (i) enteric fever (Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi A, Salmonella paratyphi B and Salmonella paratyphi C), (ii) food poisoning (Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus), (iii) dysentery (Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri and Shigella sonnei), and (iv) cholera (Vibrio cholerae). The growth of all these organisms was inhibited at the MIC of 10mg/ml of the extract, which is equivalent to 2.5μg/ml of active extractable flavonoids. The most sensitive organisms (MIC = 1mg/ml) were Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae and Shigella flexneri.
Violence against healthcare workers recently became a growing public health concern and has been intensively investigated, particularly in the tertiary setting. Nevertheless, little is known of workplace violence against healthcare workers in the primary setting. Given the nature of primary healthcare, which delivers essential healthcare services to the community, many primary healthcare workers are vulnerable to violent events. Since the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978, the number of epidemiological studies on workplace violence against primary healthcare workers has increased globally. Nevertheless, a comprehensive review summarising the significant results from previous studies has not been published. Thus, this systematic review was conducted to collect and analyse recent evidence from previous workplace violence studies in primary healthcare settings. Eligible articles published in 2013-2023 were searched from the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed literature databases. Of 23 included studies, 16 were quantitative, four were qualitative, and three were mixed method. The extracted information was analysed and grouped into four main themes: prevalence and typology, predisposing factors, implications, and coping mechanisms or preventive measures. The prevalence of violence ranged from 45.6% to 90%. The most commonly reported form of violence was verbal abuse (46.9-90.3%), while the least commonly reported was sexual assault (2-17%). Most primary healthcare workers were at higher risk of patient- and family-perpetrated violence (Type II). Three sub-themes of predisposing factors were identified: individual factors (victims' and perpetrators' characteristics), community or geographical factors, and workplace factors. There were considerable negative consequences of violence on both the victims and organisations. Under-reporting remained the key issue, which was mainly due to the negative perception of the effectiveness of existing workplace policies for managing violence. Workplace violence is a complex issue that indicates a need for more serious consideration of a resolution on par with that in other healthcare settings. Several research gaps and limitations require additional rigorous analytical and interventional research. Information pertaining to violent events must be comprehensively collected to delineate the complete scope of the issue and formulate prevention strategies based on potentially modifiable risk factors to minimise the negative implications caused by workplace violence.