1,721,235 research outputs found
Validation of a Perceived Invincibility Survey Instrument
Get PDFPerceived invincibility is an understudied concept in an adult population. The aim of this paper was to pilot test one survey, the Adolescent Invincibility Test (AIT), which was intended to measure perceived invincibility in an adolescent population, in an adult population. In a sample of 373 students, staff, and faculty at the University of North Carolina, the AIT was found to measure one domain and have sufficient internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). The AIT did not correlate with demographic variables nor a survey assessing propensity for taking risks. However, a statistically significant difference in means was found between men and women and between those who are ages 30 and older and those younger than 30. More research is needed in a more diverse population to evaluate the performance of the AIT in an adult civilian population.Master of Science in Public Healt
Association between Patient-Reported and Performance-Based Measurements of Physical Function in an Arthritis Sample
Get PDFPatient-reported data, specifically patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measurement, has
grown in relevance to patient-centeredness in healthcare delivery as well as in clinical
outcomes research. Nonetheless, the uptake of PRO measurement tools, although
many have been validated and approved for use in research settings, has been slow on
the part of clinical outcomes researchers due to their preference for more objective,
performance-based outcomes measurement. Consequently, there is a need for
confirming the value of PROs in patient-centered research and assessing the role
dynamic of PROs versus performance-based tests in outcomes research. In an effort to
fill investigators’ knowledge gap in this area, the following secondary data analysis,
conducted upon baseline and follow-up data from the 2011 Walk With Ease program (a
community walking program for arthritis patients), evaluated the validity and value of
PRO measures as compared to performance-based measures of physical functioning.
Primary results found that patient-reported and performance-based measures were
poorly correlated with one another, indicating that they measure physical function
differently from one another. Furthermore, both measures detected significant changes
in physical functioning over time, indicating that they may be equivalently effective in
assessing an intervention centered on improving physical functioning. Finally, the
patient-reported measures were more strongly inversely correlated with other key
arthritis symptoms than performance-based measures, meaning they may have been
more effective in measuring physical function in the context of arthritis. There findings
will ideally provide an impetus for researchers to recognize the validity and value-added
of patient-reported data and incorporate it more widely into outcomes research.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt
The Relationship Between Perceptions of the Food Retail Environment and Health
Get PDFAs literature of the factors contributing to obesity continue to increase, it is critical to take a closer look at the role of the environment, and specifically the food retail environment. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to analyze the relationship between perceptions of the food retail environment and food-seeking behavior and health. In conducting our review, we searched the MEDLINE database for relevant research and found nine papers to include in the review. Our analysis of the current literature showed mixed results of the relationship between perceptions of the food retail environment and health and food-seeking behavior. The mixed results were likely due to large differences among the studies in the measures used to assess perceptions and outcomes. Because some studies did show significant associations, we conclude that at least some perceptions can indeed affect food-seeking behavior and health. Unfortunately, the current literature does clearly describe the relationship. In order to better understand this relationship, it will be important for future studies to use standardized measures to assess perceptions and outcomes. Most of the papers included in our review analyzed the relationship between perceptions and food-seeking behavior. Every paper we found used secondary data to analyze the relationships. The lack of studies conducted with primary data on the relationship between perceptions of the food retail environment and weight status lead to our original research study. In this study, we aimed to identify and determine the extent of influence that perceived indicators of the food retail environment can have on obesity and body mass index (BMI). We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered internet-based survey that we designed. The survey collected information about perceptions of the food retail environment and demographic information. BMI and obesity status was calculated using self-reported height and weight from the survey items. The study sample consisted of employees and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 191 survey respondent were included in our final analysis of the data. We assessed the relationship between perceptions and weight status using linear and logistic regression models. The models were adjusted for the sociodemographic variables race, age, sex, income and education. In our analysis of perceptions of neighborhood characteristics and weight status, no relationship was found. However, we did find significant associations between perceptions of food product characteristics and weight status. Availability of a variety of fruits and vegetables and high quality of fruits and vegetables were associated with the decreased odds of being obese and with having a lower BMI. Perceiving that food at respondents' primary food store was rotten was associated with higher BMI. Lastly, Availability of low-fat dairy products was associated with lower odds of being obese. The systematic review and original research paper add to the current literature of association between the food retail environment and obesity. Increased knowledge of the factors contributing to the obesity epidemic will help to reverse the trend of growing obesity rates.Master of Public Healt
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
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
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