1,721,117 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Confronting the Status Quo: Raising the Age of Juvenile Jurisdiction in North Carolina
No full textPOLICY QUESTION (p.1)
How can the case for increasing juvenile-status age in North Carolina be presented most effectively in the political arena?
I. INTRODUCTION (p.1)
North Carolina is one of two states (the other being New York) that end juvenile jurisdiction at age sixteen. This means that all sixteen and seventeen-year olds are processed as adults in the criminal justice system. Trying and sentencing youth as adults in the criminal system has serious and broad consequences for the offenders, their families, the criminal justice systems, and society at large. Youth in adult facilities are more prone to abuse; are less likely to receive health treatment and educational services; are more likely to join gangs and engage in violent behavior, and are more likely to recidivate. Further, adult convictions hinder access to employment and educational opportunities—two key sources that reduce the tendency to engage in criminal behavior.
II. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT (p.4)
The age of juvenile court jurisdiction in North Carolina is an old and contentious issue with much at stake. North Carolina set the maximum age of juvenile jurisdiction at age sixteen in 1919, over 90 years ago. The juvenile-status age has been looked at a number of times; however, all proposals to increase the status age have failed (See Figure 2, pg. 16 for synopsis). Most recently, proposals in 2007 and 2009 faced opposition from district attorneys, sheriffs and police chiefs, and the Retail Merchant Association. Opponents cited the high financial costs to transition the 16 and 17-year-old cohort to the juvenile system, arguing that the juvenile system is already overcrowded, underfunded, and understaffed. Although the two separate cost-benefit-analyses conducted indicated a substantial long-term net gain from increasing the juvenile-status age, no change was made.
The policymaking process is adversarial, where competing agendas and conflicting interests and perspectives can transcend rational or objective solutions to particular problems. Influential actors and interest groups often oppose policy initiatives irrespective of what evidence and policy research indicates. Opposition to raising the age in North Carolina is indeed still significant and presents a legitimate barrier to successful legislative action.
III. POLITICAL ANALYSIS (p.17)
A Political Analysis involves looking closely at the actors in the policy environment, disaggregating them, identifying how they exert influence towards or against policy initiatives, and developing strategies to effectively communicate and interact with them. Thus, by examining the primary actors in the policy environment (through in-depth targeted stakeholder interviews) and disaggregating and identifying their values, concerns, and the interests that motivate their positions, I gained insight into the kinds of compromises and political bargaining that can be made to effectively present the case for increasing the juvenile status-age in the political arena.
The primary stakeholders and influential actors identified are district attorneys, sheriffs and police chiefs, and the Retail Merchant Association. The conclusions derived from the political analysis are organized into three categories: (1) Resources & Hollow Promises, (2) Different Perspectives: Different Realities, and (3) Access to Records
Resources & Hollow Promises (p.18)
A resource-constraint has been a consistent barrier to legislative action in regards to raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction. Shifting sixteen and seventeen year olds to the juvenile system from the adult system will indeed cost a lot of money. This was detailed in the CBAs from 2009 and 2011, and proponents certainly acknowledge the cost issue. Despite this acknowledgement however, interview data reveals a stringent skepticism toward the General Assembly in regards to providing necessary funding and resources. This skepticism is based on multiple previous experiences where the legislature failed to follow through with their agreements.
Indeed, opponent skepticism toward the General Assembly in this light is a legitimate issue that proponents need to address appropriately and effectively in order to gain support from key influential stakeholders.
Different Perspectives: Different Realities (p.20)
In addition to citing an underfunded juvenile system, opponents also referred to the system as too lenient, alluding also to its poor performance in rehabilitating young offenders. There is a strong perception that being in a youth facility and in the custody of the juvenile system is “easier” than being in an adult prison—which, accordingly, encourage criminal behavior for young offenders. This could indeed be a matter of perception, and more research should be conducted in regards to claims and counterclaims about the actual “toughness” of the juvenile system.
There is also the concern of violent young offenders avoiding adult court if the status age is increased. The current legislation that is to be heard however, does not suggest this to be the case. Violent offenses can still be transferred to the adult system. This demonstrates, in part, that opponents do not fully understand the Raise the Age bill, which addresses misdemeanors and low-level felonies. Judge Morey suggested that despite all the education that has taken place over the last decade, law enforcement and district attorneys still do not all realize that violent offenders can still be automatically tried and sentenced as adults. In turn, this signals a failure by proponents to adequately communicate and educate opposing stakeholders on the bill and what it entails.
Access To Records (p.22)
The Retail Merchant Association is an influential player in the political arena regarding this particular issue. The Association’s opposition to increasing the juvenile-status age is based on a legitimate issue, representing a particularly unique challenge in gaining their support to raise the age. The North Carolina business community is accustomed to having access to the criminal histories of the 16 and 17-year-old cohort. If the juvenile-status age were increased to 18, business entities would not have access to 16 and 17 year olds’ criminal histories—an age group that many businesses in North Carolina rely on—because under the law, juvenile records are sealed.
Another component to issue involves tort law. Juries have previously held businesses liable for not screening their employees appropriately. Thus, having the ability to conduct background checks and screen potential employees is of paramount importance to the business community in North Carolina.
IV. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS (pp.24-26)
There have been a series of proposals to change the age of juvenile jurisdiction over the last century. Opposition to changing the juvenile-status age has varied by group across time, but the lack of resources—funding, facilities, facility capacity and capabilities, personnel and related workforce, or any combination of these—has routinely formed the basis for excluding sixteen and seventeen year olds from the juvenile justice system. A resource-constraint issue is still at the heart of the debate today and there is a strong skepticism toward lawmakers among district attorneys and members of the law enforcement community in particular, based on past funding abandonments by the legislature. Perceptions of a lenient, underfunded and ineffective juvenile system among opposing stakeholders are also prevalent. District attorneys and the Retail Merchant Association are two of the strongest opponents to raising the age. Both coalitions have legitimate concerns regarding the bill to raise the age; however, their opposition can be neutralized using strategies of modification—a process that involves altering the policy proposal to align with stakeholder interests and preferences as a way to build support and neutralize opposition. This can occur through compromises and political bargaining.
To present the most effective case for increasing the juvenile-status age in North Carolina, I recommend Ms. Katzenelson and the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission do the following:
(1) Tie legislation to an Appropriation
Without the proper funding, increasing the juvenile-status age will not succeed in achieving its purpose. Shifting 16 and 17 year olds to the juvenile system to receive treatment and have access to educational opportunities will reduce recidivism and save taxpayers millions of dollars. However, the programs need to be implemented and supervised accordingly in order to make the impact they are designed to have. Requiring the “raise the age” bill to be tied to an appropriation will help satisfy legitimate concerns about inadequate resources.
(2) Utilize Prosecutorial Waivers
Modify the bill to appeal to prosecutors—a strong and influential coalition that currently opposes the bill. Enhancing DA discretion in their prosecutorial duties will give them more flexibility and control, satisfying their primary concerns. Gaining DA support will also help the implementation process. This recommendation should be considered carefully and the Committee should investigate the states that use this waiver.
(3) Negotiate Terms & Conditions for Access to Criminal Histories for the Business Community
Providing employer access to juvenile records under certain terms and conditions would substantially reduce opposition from the Retail Merchant Association. Access to records is their only and primary concern. Negotiating a practice that gives employers access while also protecting the privacy of the offender will not only eliminate this particular opposition, but it may also create buy-in and support. This modification represents a significant concession on the part of proponents and if not considered carefully, it could represent a pyrrhic victory where the fundamental purpose of raising the age is jeopardized.
(4) Communicate & Educate
Advocacy efforts must continue to educate all stakeholders, with special attention geared toward law enforcement. There are still a number of misperceptions, such as the leniency of the juvenile system and its ability to help rehabilitate young offenders. Stakeholders need to be convinced that these programs work when implemented and executed properly.
Constant attention should be paid to the way advocacy groups in North Carolina discuss and frame this issue. In Connecticut, the campaign to raise the age faced similar opposition with members from the law enforcement community. One of their strategies was framing the issue in terms of public safety and investing in kids. While adolescent brain development is an important issue that supports increasing the status age, it is an argument that appeals to some, but not all stakeholders. Interview data suggests that this argument is not compelling for members of law enforcement and DA’s because it does not directly coincide with their primary concerns and daily activities
Childhood Obesity, Development, and Self-Regulation in Girls: Three Essays
No full textThis dissertation encompasses three essays which examine the development of obesity in black and white girls and its responses to interventions. The first chapter asks the question, how does obesity develop in girls? Using the National Growth and Health Study (NGHS), a longitudinal study of 2400 girls from age 9 to age 18, this chapter aims to address gaps in knowledge about the development and persistence of obesity in girls. Analyses using multivariate regression and growth-mixture modeling describe trajectories of body mass change in children and their correlates. Results suggest that obesity in children begins early and persists in most cases--BMI at age 17 is, on average, 1.3 times BMI at age 9. However, change does occur; 0.8 percent of the sample move from being obese at age 9 to healthy weight at age 17, and 2.2 percent of the sample make the reverse journey from healthy weight to obese. Where change occurs, it is most commonly seen among those who socio-demographically were anomalies among their body mass cohort at age 9. These results emphasize the importance of early interventions as well as the need for more study into body mass mutability in population subsamples. The second chapter investigates 1) what motivates children to pursue weight loss; and 2) what aspects of interventions may most effectively support healthy child motivations and program success. These questions are qualitatively studied among a sample of 45 obese girls aged 9 to 13 girls participating in a behavior modification intervention. In total, 106 interviews were conducted. All of the girls in the study were interested in losing weight, most commonly in order to fit in (n=11), reduce teasing (n=10), or express particular social identities (n=6). However, not all of the girls were able to translate this desire to lose weight into a healthy and effective lifestyle change motivation. Several factors were associated with adopting healthy motivation and behavior, including familial involvement, self-regulation skills, non-social weight desires, realistic weight loss goals, and clear messages about body ideals. Other program protocols also supported motivation during difficult periods for those who adopted healthy motivation, including nutrition information, incentives, lack of physician judgment, and patient autonomy. Finally, two other potential program protocols were mentioned by girls in the study as useful aids. More support services, particularly during the summer, and more information on the expected course of weight loss could, these girls argued, help sustain motivation. Together, these findings suggest a role for self-regulation theory in the design of lifestyle change motivation and for more directly addressing expectations in weight loss treatment.The third chapter investigates the relationship between self-worth and obesity among girls, again using the National Growth and Health Study. Results indicate a negative relationship between self-worth and obesity across all participants. However, this relationship only has predictive power from early body mass to later self-worth and self-worth trajectories. That is, higher body mass at age 9 predicts lower self-worth at age 17 and decreases in self-worth from age 9 to age 17. The effect is larger for Caucasians and for those in young adolescence but persists across the sample. Mechanisms for this relationship are also investigated, and some support found for stigma. Analyses using self-worth components suggest most of the self-worth effects are driven by social concerns, while mediational analyses suggest social body image pressures explain the relationship between global self-worth and body mass. Overall, the findings suggest a complex interrelation between self-worth and body mass in girls, meriting further investigation as well as a more nuanced discussion in the public realm.</p
Reducing Unintentional Prescription Drug Overdose Deaths in North Carolina: Policy Implications based on Current Public Health Surveillance Systems and Law Enforcement Records
No full textExecutive Summary
Background
In North Carolina, the number of deaths from unintentional drug overdoses has increased more than 300 percent in just over a decade, from 279 in 1999 to 1,140 in 2011. An increasing proportion of these deaths come from prescription drugs as opposed to illicit drugs. In particular, prescription opioids are involved in a majority of unintentional drug overdose deaths.
Prescription drug overdose deaths are preventable, yet the death toll continues to increase. This dramatic increase is a relatively new phenomenon and the regulatory structure around prescription drugs differs in important ways from the one around illicit drugs. With that in mind, the goal of this paper is to examine and evaluate the current public health surveillance systems and law enforcement records with regard to unintentional prescription drug overdoses in North Carolina. In particular, it looks at the extent to which these systems record information about the source of the drugs involved in the overdose. Before we can design effective interventions to reduce unintentional overdoses, we need to know how victims obtain the drugs that contribute to their deaths, as well as whether and where that information exists.
Policy Options
There are many paths through which those at risk of a fatal prescription drug overdose may obtain the drugs that contribute to their deaths, including through legitimate prescriptions; doctor shopping; non-legitimate prescriptions (“pill mills”); receiving, purchasing, or stealing from family or friends; and purchasing on the street. Each path requires a different type of intervention; therefore, determining the relative importance of each path will guide recommendations for improving existing policies or implementing new ones.
Several programs have already been implemented in North Carolina, each primarily addressing one source. These include Project Lazarus (legitimate prescriptions), the North Carolina Controlled Substances Reporting System (CSRS) (doctor shopping), the State Bureau of Investigation’s Diversion and Environmental Crimes Unit (non-legitimate prescriptions and purchasing on the street), and Operation Medicine Cabinet (receiving or stealing from family or friends).
Data and Methods
Using a data set compiled by the North Carolina Division of Public Health’s Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, I analyzed the characteristics of the unintentional pharmaceutical-related overdose deaths in North Carolina from 2010. This data set included information from death certificates, medical examiner files, and controlled substance prescription records. The analysis included categorizing cases according to the number and currency of controlled substance prescriptions as well as according to the types of drugs contributing to death. I also looked for evidence of diversion among the cases. This included identifying doctor shopping using three different criteria as well as identifying other types of diversion from information available in the medical examiner narratives. Finally, I evaluated how providers, pharmacists, and the State Bureau of Investigation are using the North Carolina Controlled Substance Reporting System.
Results
Of the 707 cases that were analyzed, unintentional prescription overdose victims were more likely to be male, white, and/or between the ages of 35 and 54. Over half of the cases (57 percent) had at least one current prescription for a controlled substance at the time of death. Additionally, of those who did have at least one current prescription, 72 percent had a current prescription for a drug that also contributed to their deaths.
Opioids were by far the most common type of drug to contribute to death. Overall, opioids contributed to 94 percent of deaths, followed by benzodiazepines at 28 percent. In fact, all of the top ten specific drugs (e.g., oxycodone, alprazolam) to contribute to death were either an opioid or a benzodiazepine. Opioids and benzodiazepines were also more likely to contribute to death for those cases who had at least one current prescription for a contributory drug than for those who did not.
The three doctor shopping criteria produced widely varying estimates, from a low of 16 cases using medical examiner narratives to a high of 252 cases using a criterion of filling prescriptions from at least five different prescribers in one year. The medical examiner narratives contained information about diversion sources for 78 cases, the most common source mentioned being receiving or stealing from family or friends.
Fewer than half of the cases were looked up in the CSRS by anyone in the year before their deaths, which may have contributed to excessive prescriptions.
Conclusions and Policy Implications
Although North Carolina currently has a system in place that is intended to ensure that controlled substances are prescribed and used safely, unintentional overdoses from these drugs continue to increase. Though they are not definitive, these results provide at least preliminary evidence about where the system is failing, which can in turn guide potential policy changes.
The following recommendations are based on my evaluation of the current public health surveillance system and law enforcement records:
• Promote and evaluate increased use of the CSRS among prescribers and pharmacists when prescribing or dispensing an opioid or benzodiazepine.
• Develop criteria to identify unusual or suspicious patterns of prescribing by providers.
• Develop police investigation guidelines for collecting consistent information related to intent and to the source of the contributing drug(s).
• Create a comprehensive surveillance system to monitor and analyze prescription drug overdose trends over time.
However, any policy to reduce overdose deaths should minimize a “chilling effect,” which would unnecessarily restrict access to these drugs for those who have a legitimate need for them. Additionally, a comprehensive strategy to reduce overdose deaths should also attempt to reduce spillover from prescription drug overdoses to heroin overdoses, as well as address the demand side of prescription drug abuse
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