1,721,087 research outputs found
Arts for everyone? The distribution of arts lottery funds by region and genre 1995-98
No full textSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN040604 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
Active travel to work and cardiovascular risk factors in the United Kingdom
No full textBackground: increasing active travel (walking, cycling, public transport) is increasingly seen as integral to strategies to raise physical activity levels.Purpose: this study examined (1) sociodemographic correlates of active travel to work and (2) associations between active travel and cardiovascular risk factors in the United Kingdom (UK).Methods: data come from Understanding Society, a nationally representative survey of UK residents in 2009/2011, analyzed in 2012. Multinomial logistic regression assessed associations between sociodemographic factors and mode of transport to work. Linear and logistic regression was used to examine associations between mode of travel and overweight/obesity, and having hypertension or diabetes.Results: a total of 69% of participants traveled to work using private transport, with public transport, walking, and cycling used by 16%, 12%, and 3%, respectively. Use of any active travel was more likely in participants living in London. Black participants were more likely to walk (AOR=1.41, 95% CI=1.08, 1.84) or take public transport (AOR=2.34, 95% CI=1.88, 2.90) to work than whites. Using public transport, walking, or cycling to work was associated with a lower likelihood of being overweight (AOR=0.80, 95% CI=0.54, 0.88 for walking). Walking or cycling was associated with a lower likelihood of having diabetes, and walking was associated with a lower likelihood of having hypertension than private transport (AOR=0.83, 95% CI=0.71, 0.97).Conclusions: there are wide variations in the mode of travel to work across regions and sociodemographic groups in the UK. The protective association between active travel and cardiovascular risk demonstrated in this nationally representative study adds to growing evidence that concerted policy focus in this area may benefit population health
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
The role of sports clubs in helping older people to stay active and prevent frailty: a longitudinal mediation analysis
Full text linkBackground
Frailty is a common syndrome in older adults characterised by increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes as a result of decline in functional and physiological measures. Frailty predicts a range of poor health and social outcomes and is associated with increased risk of hospital admission. The health benefits of sport and physical activity and the health risks of inactivity are well known. However, less is known about the role of sports clubs and physical activity in preventing and managing frailty in older adults. The objective of this study is to examine the role of membership of sports clubs in promoting physical activity and reducing levels of frailty in older adults.
Methods
We used data from waves 1 to 7 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Survey items on physical activity were combined to produce a measure of moderate or vigorous physical activity for each wave. Frailty was measured using an index of accumulated deficits. A total of sixty deficits, including symptoms, disabilities and diseases were recorded through self-report and tests. Direct and indirect relationships between sports club membership, levels of physical activity and frailty were examined using a cross-lagged panel model.
Results
We found evidence for an indirect relationship between sports club membership and frailty, mediated by physical activity. This finding was observed when examining time-specific indirect pathways and the total of all indirect pathways across seven waves of survey data (Est = −0.097 [95% CI = −0.124,-0.070], p = <0.001).
Conclusions
These analyses provide evidence to suggest that sports clubs may be useful in preventing and managing frailty in older adults, both directly and indirectly through increased physical activity levels. Sports clubs accessible to older people may improve health in this demographic by increasing activity levels and reducing frailty and associated comorbidities. There is a need for investment in these organisations to provide opportunities for older people to achieve the levels of physical activity necessary to prevent health problems associated with inactivity
Does public transport use prevent declines in walking speed among older adults living in England? A prospective cohort study
Full text linkObjectives: Although there is some evidence that public transport use confers public health benefits, the evidence is limited by cross-sectional study designs and health-related confounding factors. This study examines the effect of public transport use on changes in walking speed among older adults living in England, comparing frequent users of public transport to their peers who did not use public transport because of structural barriers (poor public transport infrastructure), or through choice. Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: England.Participants: Older adults aged 60 or older eligible for the walking speed test. 6,246 individuals at wave 2 (2004-5); 5,909 individuals at wave 3 (2006-7); 7,321 individuals at wave 4 (2008-9); 7,535 individuals at wave 5 (2010-11); and 7.664 individuals at wave 6 (2012-13) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.Main outcome measure: The walking speed was estimated from the time taken to walk 2.4 metres. Fixed effects models and growth curve models were used to examine the associations between public transport use and walking speed.Results: Older adults who did not sue public transport through choice or because of structural reasons had slower walking speeds [-0.02m/s (95%CI -0.03,-0.003) and -0.02m/s (95%CI -0.03,0.01), respectively] and took an extra 0.07 seconds to walk 2.4 metres compared to their peers who used public transport frequently. The age-related trajectories of decline in walking speed were slower for frequent users of public transport compared to non-users.Conclusions: Frequent use of public transport man prevent age-related decline in physical capability by promoting physical activity among older adults. The association between public transport use and slower decline in walking speed among older adults is unlikely to be confounded by health related selection factors. Improving access to good quality public transport could improve the health of older adults
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