1,721,053 research outputs found
Large socio-economic, geographic, and demographic disparities exist in exposure to school closures
No full textThe coronovirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted many school districts to turn to distance or at-home learning. Studies are emerging on the negative effects of distance learning on educational performance, but less is known about the socio-economic, geographic and demographic characteristics of students exposed to distance learning. We introduce a U.S. School Closure and Distance Learning Database that tracks in-person visits across more than 100,000 schools throughout 2020. The database, which we make publicly accessible and update monthly, describes year-over-year change in in-person visits to each school throughout 2020 to estimate whether the school is engaged in distance learning. Our findings reveal that school closures from September to December 2020 were more common in schools with lower third-grade math scores and higher shares of students from racial/ethnic minorities, who experience homelessness, have limited English proficiency and are eligible for free/reduced-price school lunches. The findings portend rising inequalities in learning outcomes
Understanding the experience of anxiety in young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
No full textA systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to explore the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), in comparison to their typically developing (TD) peers. The CAR, characterised by an increase in cortisol in the 30-60 minutes after waking, is widely becoming used as a physiological marker of stress in the general population. Given the prevalence of anxiety and stress reported in people with ASD, this review aimed to explore whether children with ASD show the expected pattern of CAR seen in the general population, and therefore, whether this would be a useful way of measuring stress in this population. Results from the meta-analysis indicated no significant differences in CAR demonstrated by children with or without ASD. However, the review highlighted limitations in the current research; a lack of adherence to recommended CAR sampling protocol, few studies with a matched control group, and poor control of potentially confounding variables. The review highlighted wide variability in results shown by ASD groups across studies, indicating the need for further exploration of the CAR in this population to be confident of its use as a reliable marker of physiological stress in this group.The subsequent empirical paper extended the current literature regarding the CAR in children with ASD, and contributes to the understanding of the experience of anxiety in this population. Using a mixed methods design incorporating questionnaires, interviews, physiological data (cortisol) and experience sampling data, the study explored the experience of anxiety and CAR compared to a matched control group. Results indicate a significantly smaller CAR in ASD group compared to TD, but overall comparable daily levels of cortisol (AUC). Results also show discrepancies between informants for both groups. ASD adolescents self-reported significantly fewer symptoms of anxiety than their TD peers, whilst parents and teachers of ASD adolescents reported significantly more symptoms in this group compared with the TD group. Self-reported day-to-day anxiety was also lower in the ASD group. TD adolescents self-reported higher attentional control than ASD peers. Experience sampling data indicated no significant association between cortisol levels and rated emotions at each time point. For both groups, experience sampling data indicated higher cortisol levels were associated with lower noise, unstructured activity and large group sizes. The study highlights the need for further, controlled exploration of the CAR in ASD to understand the differences in patterns shown, and further exploration of appropriate ways of assessing anxiety in this population
The role of poverty and racial discrimination in exacerbating the health consequences of COVID-19
Get PDFThere were more than 800,000 confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths in the United States (U.S) by the end of 2021. The health consequences of COVID-19, however, have not affected all residents equally. In this review, we synthesize recent evidence suggesting that high levels of poverty in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries, as well as historic and ongoing racial/ethnic discrimination, have exacerbated the health consequences of COVID-19, particularly for racial/ethnic minorities. We discuss four mechanisms through which poverty and discrimination affect COVID-19-related health consequences: greater pre-existing health challenges, reduced access to healthcare, lower-quality neighbourhood and housing conditions, and unequal exposure to high-risk occupations. Evidence suggests that economic and policy institutions that contributed to higher pre-pandemic poverty rates in the U.S., particularly among racial/ethnic minorities, have been central determinants of unequal health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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
The care burden during COVID-19: a national database of child care closures in the United States
No full textAccess to child care centers reduces the care burden of parents, promotes child development, and creates employment opportunities. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, however, many child care centers closed or reduced capacity because of restrictions and declining demand for in-person care. The authors use anonymized and aggregated mobile phone data to track year-over-year changes in visits to child care centers across most counties in the United States during each month of the pandemic. The findings reveal that two-thirds of child care centers closed in April 2020, while one-third remained closed in April 2021. Moreover, non-White families are more likely to be exposed to child care closures than White families. The findings point to widening inequalities in access to child care and potential inequalities in the pace of labor market recovery after the pandemic subsides. The authors make their monthly updated database on child care closures publicly available
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