Interaction Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Emerging Literacy and Literacy Skills among Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children: A Comparison Study

Socioeconomic differences in children’s reading and educational outcomes have been thoroughly documented throughout literature. Bobalik, Scarber, and Toon (2017) examined the link between socioeconomic status (SES) and classroom instruction on emerging literacy skills in pre-kindergarten children. The results supported the theory that children identified as belonging to a low socioeconomic status enter school with lower emerging literacy skills and benefit most from academic instruction; these children’s literacy skills substantially increased throughout the academic year, growing closer to those of their peers who were identified with a high socioeconomic status. The aim of the present study was to expand our understanding of the interaction effects of socioeconomic status and curriculum on emerging literacy and literacy skills by continuing the research into kindergarten. This study examined whether 1) differences in groups continued to grow closer to the mean or 2) the differences in groups became greater with the introduction of reading skills in kindergarten. Children (N=33) were recruited from a private school and a public school. The children from the public school who qualified for the Federal Poverty Guidelines for free/reduced lunch were assigned as having a low socioeconomic status, and children from the private school were assigned as having a high socioeconomic status. The Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening – K (PALS-K) was used to measure the literacy skills in the kindergarten children. Results of the study indicated that literacy scores between the socioeconomic groups were not significantly different at the kindergarten level, however differences between the mean scores of the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten groups were found to be significant

Asymptotically good homological error correcting codes

Let $\Delta$ be an abstract simplicial complex. We study classical homological error correcting codes associated to $\Delta$, which generalize the cycle codes of simple graphs. It is well-known that cycle codes of graphs do not yield asymptotically good families of codes. We show that asymptotically good families of codes do exist for homological codes associated to simplicial complexes of dimension at least $2$. We also prove general bounds and formulas for (co-)cycle and (co-)boundary codes for arbitrary simplicial complexes over arbitrary fields

Online kk-Median with Consistent Clusters

We consider the online $k$-median clustering problem in which $n$ points arrive online and must be irrevocably assigned to a cluster on arrival. As there are lower bound instances that show that an online algorithm cannot achieve a competitive ratio that is a function of $n$ and $k$, we consider a beyond worst-case analysis model in which the algorithm is provided a priori with a predicted budget $B$ that upper bounds the optimal objective value. We give an algorithm that achieves a competitive ratio that is exponential in the the number $k$ of clusters, and show that the competitive ratio of every algorithm must be linear in $k$. To the best of our knowledge this is the first investigation in the literature that considers cluster consistency using competitive analysis.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figure

Special Issue: 2020 Research Data Access and Preservation Summit

The Journal of eScience Librarianship has partnered with the Research Data Access & Preservation (RDAP) Association for a third year to publish selected conference proceedings. This issue highlights the research presented at the RDAP 2020 Summit and the community it has fostered

Efficacy and Safety of Vibegron for the Treatment of Overactive Bladder in Women: A Subgroup Analysis From the Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled EMPOWUR Trial

Importance The international phase 3 EMPOWUR trial demonstrated efficacy and safety of vibegron, a newer b3-adrenergic receptor agonist, in adults with overactive bladder (OAB). Women are disproportionately affected by OAB, especially those with bothersome symptoms, such as urge urinary incontinence (UUI). Objective This subgroup analysis from EMPOWUR assessed efficacy and safety of vibegron in women. Study Design In EMPOWUR, patients with OAB were randomized 5:5:4 to 12 weeks of treatment with once-daily vibegron 75 mg, placebo, or tolterodine 4-mg extended release. Efficacy end points included change from baseline at week 12 in mean daily number of micturitions, UUI episodes, and urgency episodes. Safety was assessed through adverse events (AEs). Results Of the patients included in the analysis, 1286 (84.9%) were women (vibegron, n = 463; placebo, n = 459; tolterodine, n = 364). At week 12, women receiving vibegron showed significant reductions (95% confidence intervals of least squares mean differences does not include 0) from baseline versus placebo in mean daily micturitions, UUI episodes, and urgency episodes, with least squares mean differences (95% confidence intervals) of −0.5 (−0.8 to −0.2), −0.7 (−1.0 to −0.4), and −0.8 (−1.3 to −0.4), respectively. Treatment-emergent AE incidence was similar with vibegron (39%) and placebo (35%); the most common AE with incidence higher with vibegron (4.3%) than placebo (2.6%) was headache. Conclusions In this subgroup analysis, women receiving vibegron showed significant reductions in key efficacy end points versus placebo and favorable safety profile, consistent with the overall results from EMPOWUR, suggesting that vibegron is efficacious and safe for the treatment of OAB in this patient population