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Even though 95% of children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), live in low- and middle-income countries, there is a dearth of studies from these countries, including the Republic of Georgia. Several ASD screening tools are available, but few are validated for use in Georgian or other smaller countries. This study aims to adapt and validate the autism spectrum screening questionnaire (ASSQ) for use in Georgia.

The ASSQ was administered for all third-grade students in 402 schools in the five main Georgian cities, n = 27,336. Prior to use, the 27-item ASSQ was translated, back-translated and adapted for use in Georgia. A total of 16,556 students (approximately 61%) were assessed by a parent and/or teacher. Optimal cutoff scores were estimated. Randomly chosen children who screened positive (n = 173) and negative (n = 127) were offered comprehensive assessment using standardized diagnostic procedures.

Data from 15,510 parents- and 13,517 teachers-administered ASSQ revealed statistically significant differences in median and cutoff scores between parents and teachers: 7 versus 4 and 9 versus 6, respectively. Cutoff score = 14, on either parent or teacher ASSQ, had sensitivity of 0.94, indicating that it can be used in school settings.

The Georgian adaptation of the ASSQ creates opportunity for further ASD research, while also providing a valid screening tool for clinicians. Data from Georgia will add to the growing understanding of the broader ASD phenotype.

Heart Failure (HF) is one of the leading mortality causes in elderly people. The purpose of this study is to assess readmission rates and reasons in elderly patients with HF.

The authors explored medical records of elderly patients with HF (75 years and more) at Chapidze Emergency Cardiology Center (Georgia) from 2015 to 2019. The authors analyzed the structure of the cardiovascular diseases and readmission rates of hospitalized patients with HF (I50, I50.0 I50.1). A multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify factors, associated with readmission for any reason during 6–9 months after the initial hospitalization for HF.

The major complication of cardiovascular diseases in elderly patients is HF (68.6%). Hospitalization rates due to HF in elderly patients have increased in recent years, which is associated with the population aging process. This trend will be most likely continue. Despite significant improvements in HF treatment, readmission rates are still high. HF is the most commonly revealed cause of readmission (48% of all readmissions). About 6–9 months after the primary hospitalization due to HF, readmission for any reason was 60%. Patients had concomitant diseases, including hypertension (43%), myocardial infarction (14%), diabetes (36%) and stroke (8%), affecting the readmission rate.

HF remains an important problem in public health. During HF-associated hospitalizations, both cardiac and non-cardiac conditions should be addressed, which has the potential for health problems and disease progression. Some readmissions may be prevented by the proper selection of medicines and monitoring.

This article argues that existing research poorly specifies the link between planning and performance because of omitted variable bias. Researchers agree planning is a critical part of creating any new venture. Many researchers assess planning by whether a small firm has a written business plan. Unfortunately, efforts empirically to validate this relationship have been inconclusive. This article proposes that researchers should assess business plans both on the quality of the plan (and the planning process that produced it), and on the quality of the underlying business opportunity. Failure to account for both aspects of a business plan amounts to omitted variable bias, frustrating attempts to accurately estimate the true relationship.

A primary goal of the Collaboration and Resources for Encouraging and Supporting Transformations in Education (CREST-Ed) program was to increase the number of highly qualified, minoritized teachers committed to teaching in minority-serving, high-need school districts. This study's purpose was to evaluate the CREST-Ed program's impact on teacher residency outcomes using multiple sources of program evaluation data collected during the five-year grant.

This study of a federal Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant at Georgia State University (GSU), a minority-serving institution (MSI) and research university, shows teacher residency programs can improve the diverse teacher pipeline. The grant, CREST-Ed, provided professional development schools (PDS) support for four urban and 23 rural school districts through partnerships with GSU, Albany State University (ASU) and Columbus State University (CSU).

The study findings suggest that teacher preparation grants can be leveraged to recruit traditionally minoritized teachers of color to increase the diverse teacher pipeline and strengthen PDS partnerships.

Both urban and rural PDSs could benefit from teacher residency programs like the CREST-Ed model that catered to the unique needs of each school and partnership district.