Sound general and sports nutrition knowledge in athletes is essential for making appropriate dietary choices. Assessment of nutrition knowledge enables evaluation and tailoring of nutrition education. However, few well-validated tools are available to assess nutrition knowledge in athletes. The objective of the present study was to establish the validity of the Platform to Evaluate Athlete Knowledge Sports – Nutrition Questionnaire (PEAKS-NQ) for use in the United Kingdom and Irish (UK-I) athletes. To confirm content validity, twenty-three sports nutritionists (SNs) from elite, UK-I sports institutes provided feedback on the PEAKS-NQ via a modified Delphi method. After minor changes, the UK-I version of the PEAKS-NQ was administered to UK-I SN from the British Dietetic Association Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register, and elite athletes (EA) training at elite sports institutes in the UK and Ireland. Independent samples t-test and independent samples median tests were used to compare PEAKS-NQ total and subsection scores between EA and SN (to assess construct validity). Cronbach's alpha (good ≥ 0⋅7) was used to establish internal consistency. The SN achieved greater overall [SN (n 23) 92⋅3 (9⋅3) v. EA (n 154): 71⋅4 (10⋅0)%; P < 0⋅001] and individual section scores (P < 0⋅001) except Section B, Identification of Food Groups (P = 0⋅07). Largest knowledge differences between SN and EA were in Section D, Applied Sports Nutrition [SN: 88⋅5 (8⋅9) v. EA: 56⋅7 (14⋅5)%; P < 0⋅00]. Overall ES was large (2⋅1), with subsections ranging from 0⋅6 to 2⋅3. Cronbach's alpha was good (0⋅83). The PEAKS-NQ had good content and construct validity, supporting its use to assess nutrition knowledge of UK-I athletes.

The Welfare Quality® (WQ) on-farm welfare assessment protocols for fattening pigs (n = 95 farms) and sows, as well as suckling piglets (n = 103 farms), were applied on Finnish farms. In order to identify distinct types of welfare problems (WPTs) Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to the pooled animal-based items within both categories of animals. Measures describing suckling piglets did not contribute to the WPTs. The main WPTs (seemingly) reflected fighting in fattening pigs and lack of bedding in both fattening pigs and sows. The results imply that WQ includes biologically plausible shortlists of animal-based measures with decent to good internal consistency describing distinct types of welfare problems in growing pigs and in sows. The 20 descriptors of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment were analysed similarly to identify distinct mood types, which were named active positive, passive positive and passive positive behaviours. The different mood types had close to identical build-up in both fattening pigs and in sows and suckling piglets.

Thermodynamic data are constrained by the interrelated thermodynamic equations in addition to the observational measurements and their uncertainties. The consequence is a network of thermodynamic properties that can be evaluated for their internal consistency. In this study, three fluoride minerals that can cause high fluoride concentrations in groundwaters are evaluated for their solubilities and their internal thermodynamic consistency with calorimetric, isopiestic and electrochemical measurements: fluorite, CaF2, cryolite, Na3AlF6, and villiaumite, NaF. This evaluation involves the three solids and 13 aqueous species, the free ions of Ca2+, Na+, Al3+ and F–, and the hydroxido and fluorido complexes of Al3+, and the CaF+ ion pair. For the fluorite–cryolite–villiaumite–aqueous species network, the number of components is minimal, and the solubility studies are mostly of high quality. Re-evaluations of original data using PHREEQC helps to broaden the quantitative evaluation of thermodynamic properties and to resolve apparent discrepancies. A check on this thermodynamic network shows that through a careful appraisal of the literature, a highly consistent set of values can be derived. The resultant infinite-dilution solubility-product constants at 25°C and 1 bar are: for fluorite solubility, logKsp = –10.57 ± 0.08; for cryolite solubility, logKsp = –33.9 ± 0.2; and for villiaumite solubility, logKsp = –0.4981 ± 0.003.

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS). 57 stable severe mental disorder patients (42 men, 73.7%, and 15 women, 26.3%), ranging in age between 23 and 64 years, (M = 46.25; SD = 7.52) answered to the BRCS and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL-BREF). Descriptive analyses, estimations of internal consistency, and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted, and correlations between the BRCS and the WHOQOL-BREF were calculated. The factorial validity of the scale was tested using confirmatory factor analysis, with a single dimension of resilience. The BRCS showed acceptable internal consistency (alpha of .69). Correlations between the BRCS and WHOQOL-BREF were positive, r(PhH-R) = .42, r(PsH-R) = .40, r(SR-R) = .33, r(E-R) = .35, and significant (p < .01). In conclusion, the Spanish adaptation of the BRCS seems to be a reliable and valid measure of resilience in stable severe mental disorder patients.

There has been a growing interest in the quality of life (QoL) of the mentally ill, subsequently a number of instruments to measure QoL have been developed. One of the measures of QoL which has received considerable attention is the Lancashire QoL Profile (LQOLP). The present study investigated test-retest reliability and internal consistency in the Swedish translation of the LQOLP using a cross-sectional sample of 29 inpatients. The results showed that test-retest reliability of subjective life satisfaction in the nine life domains covered by the LQOLP was satisfactory in seven of the domains, and acceptable in two (social relations and religion). Test-retest reliability for total subjective satisfaction score, global well-being, and an interviewer rated QoL were all on a satisfactory level (r > 0.80). The internal consistency and homogeneity of the total subjective QoL scale and the nine life domain subscales was satisfactory except for the social relations scale, where it was somewhat low.

As a pre-test validity study, a French version of the 28-item general health questionnaire was carried out on 158 general psychiatric patients, without any selection on diagnosis. These patients were concomitantly assessed by psychiatrists with a list of DSM III-R criteria for affective and anxiety disorders. Internal consistency of the questionnaire proved to be excellent. Principal component analysis provided a 4-factor solution, including a ‘depressive’ factor, close to that originally proposed by Goldberg and Hilllier (1979), but with some differences in the loading of insomnia. Although there were some differences in case distribution between the centres, this study confirms internal validity of the GHQ-28 as a screening instrument for psychiatric research.

The Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale (BSDS) is widely validated and used as a screening tool for bipolar disorder. However, there is no BSDS validated version for its use in Mexican population. The aim of the present study was to examine the BSDS diagnostic capacity, and to evaluate its criterion validity and internal consistency for its use in Mexican psychiatric patients. We recruited 200 patients who attended the psychiatric outpatient service of a Mental Health Specialized Hospital and were screened for bipolar disorder using BSDS. To determine the cut-off point, sensitivity and specificity, we used the SCID–I diagnosis as the gold standard in 100 participants with bipolar disorder and 100 with major depression. Internal consistency according to Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was .81. The area under ROC curve for the overall discriminability of BSDS against the criterion of SCID–I for bipolar disorder was .90. Finally, a cut-off value of 12 reached the most stable sensitivity and specificity, with predictive powers higher than .80. In conclusion, the properties of the scale including internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity, make of BSDS a valuable instrument for screening bipolar disorder in Mexican psychiatric population.

Background: Two-phase diagnostic surveys are popular in psychiatric epidemiology. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) are commonly used to screen in older and younger populations, respectively.

Method: In Phase I, in this Brazilian population-based study, we screened 392 participants aged ≥ 75 years. In Phase II, half of those scoring ≥ 11 in the GDS and ≥ 4 in the GHQ and 20% of others were selected for detailed evaluation with ICD-10 diagnoses assessed by the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) (n = 126).

Results: Internal consistencies were good for all scales. At the optimal cut-off points GDS-30 (14/15) yielded 73% sensitivity and 65% specificity, while classical GHQ (4/5), Likert (15/16) and c-GHQ (5/6) yielded 66–75% sensitivity and 57–62% specificity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis against SCAN indicated only moderate screening potential [area under the ROC curve (AUROC): GDS = 0.76; classical GHQ = 0.74; Likert = 0.76; c-GHQ = 0.73], with no statistically significant differences. All measures were biased by disability and self-reported health.

Conclusions: In this study, neither screen was sufficiently predictive of SCAN ICD-10 diagnosis to recommend their use in two-phase surveys. Despite its theoretical advantages, the GDS-30 performed no better than the GHQ-12, and was biased in similar ways.

Background: The present study aims to develop and validate a Chinese version of the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) for use with Chinese populations in psychogeriatric settings.

Methods: The DRS was translated into Chinese and its content validity was evaluated by an 11-member expert panel. To assess reliability and concurrent validity, 52 subjects with dementia were recruited from medical and psycho-geriatric settings using purposive sampling.

Results: With percentage of agreement as an indicator, 28 out of 36 items (78%) had satisfactory content validity. Items with a percentage of agreement below 70% were reviewed and modified, based on the comments of the experts. The CDRS had excellent test-retest and inter-rater reliability, with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) at 0.94 and 0.93 respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged between 0.75 and 0.89 for the subscales. The internal consistency of the CDRS subscale, as measured by Cronbach's α, ranged from 0.57 to 0.82. The CDRS had high correlations with the Chinese Mini-mental State Examination (r=0.80 for total score, r=0.58 to 0.84 for subscales.

Conclusions: The CDRS is a valid instrument for the assessment of dementia in Chinese–speaking subjects.