Extent of Positive Youth-Adult Relationships in a 4-H After-School Program

It is widely recognized that relationships with caring adults are essential for youth to achieve their fullest potential. The study described here explored youths\u27 relationships with adults in a 4-H after-school program setting. Methods used included a youth survey and observations of youth-adult interactions. All youth were found to be experiencing highly positive relationships with adults at the after-school program. Two major factors were found to contribute to such relationships: attendance and positive adult behaviors. Relationships with adults at the after-school program were significantly more positive than those with teachers or neighborhood adults. Implications for practice are discussed

Choice and judgement in developing models for health technology assessment; a qualitative study

Introduction: The role of models in supporting health policy decisions is reliant on model credibility. Credibility is fundamentally determined by the choices and judgements that people make in the process of developing a model. However, the method of uncovering choices and making judgements in model development is largely unreported and is not addressed by modelling methods guidance. Methods: This qualitative study was part of a project examining errors in health technology assessment models. In-depth interviews with academic and commercial modellers were used to obtain descriptions of the model development process. Data were analysed using framework analysis and interpreted in the context of the methodological literature. Results: The activities involved in developing models were characterised according to the themes; understanding the decision problem, conceptual modelling, model implementation, model checking, and engaging with the decision maker. Finding and using evidence was frequently mentioned across these themes. There was marked variation between practitioners in the extent to which conceptual modelling was recognised as an activity distinct from model implementation. Discussion: Methodological approaches to addressing model credibility described in the wider modelling literature highlight the necessity to disentangle the conceptual modelling and implementation activities. Whilst interviewees talked of judgements and choice making throughout model development, discussion indicated that these were based upon skills and experience with no discussion of formal approaches. Methods are required that provide for a systematic approach to uncovering choices, to generating a shared view of consensus and divergence, and for making judgements and choices in model development

The Role of Science Institutions in Our Civilization

This booklet prints the Founders\u27 Day address delivered by Dr. William D. Coolidge at Ursinus College on October 13, 1942, as well as a speech by Dr. George E. Pfahler and others.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/founders_programs/1067/thumbnail.jp

The Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has brought dramatic changes to how organizations operate and employees behave, prompting both parties to engage in additional efforts and cope with these stark adjustments. Organizations, for example, might engage in more COVID-specific corporate social responsibility (CSR), while employees might engage in more COVID-related organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). However, it is unclear whether and how employees’ COVID-related OCBs can be triggered by their organizations’ COVID-specific CSR. Building on existing research on the relationship between CSR and OCBs, this study examined the effects of internal and external COVID-specific CSR on employees’ COVID-related OCBs toward their coworkers (OCB-Is) and organizations (OCB-Os). The mediating role of organizational identification and pride was also tested through the social identity theory perspective. A 2 (high vs. low external CSR) by 2 (high vs. low internal CSR) between-subjects design was adopted, in which participants read vignettes describing hypothetical companies displaying different levels of COVID-specific internal and external CSR, rated their identification and pride towards the companies, and reported their likelihood of engaging in OCB-Is and OCB-Os. Data were collected from 186 participants recruited from Baruch College’s SONA participant pool, who were randomly assigned to one of the 4 experimental groups. Results indicated that only external COVID-specific CSR had a significant positive effect on participants’ likelihood to engage in COVID-related OCB-Is and OCB-Os. External and internal COVID-specific CSR significantly affected participants’ identification and pride, and identification and pride were significantly related to both COVID-related OCB-Is and OCB-Os. These findings elucidate the need for more research to understand how CSR during crises impacts workers’ OCBs and if companies would benefit more from enhancing their workforce’s identification and pride

Roundtable: Affordances, Diversity, and Inclusion on Dating Apps - A Dialogue between Sociologists and Media Studies Researchers about ‘Hinge’

This roundtable paper is part of the project ‘Digitized Love and Intimacy on Hinge.’ It aims to investigate how digital dating apps reconfigure cultural attitudes to love and intimacy and, conversely, how said attitudes influence digital dating practices. The conversation is informed by (n)ethnographic usage of the app. As algorithms and affordances of dating applications can implicitly or explicitly privilege certain groups of users and exclude others, this conversation mainly aims to make sense of how Hinge’s interface – or ‘affordances’– facilitates the dating process and how inclusive and diverse the application’s affordances are. We discuss that there is a contradiction between what Hinge portrays itself to be and what it practically ends up being, partly because of its affordances. This roundtable highlights the need to study affordances as relational technologies and to take the perceptions, ideas, and interpretations of users seriously alongside the actual features and designs offered by applications

Out-of-Pocket Health-Care Expenditures among Older Americans with Cancer

Objective:  There is currently limited information regarding the out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE) for medical care made by elderly individuals with cancer. We sought to quantify OOPE for community-dwelling individuals age 70 or older with: 1) no cancer (No CA), 2) a history of cancer, not undergoing current treatment (CA/No Tx), and 3) a history of cancer, undergoing current treatment (CA/Tx). Methods:  We used data from the 1995 Asset and Health Dynamics Study, a nationally representative survey of community-dwelling elderly individuals. Respondents identified their cancer status and reported OOPE for the prior 2 years for: 1) hospital and nursing home stays, 2) outpatient services, 3) home care, and 4) prescription medications. Using a multivariable two-part regression model to control for differences in sociodemographics, living situation, functional limitations, comorbid chronic conditions, and insurance coverage, the additional cancer-related OOPE were estimated. Results:  Of the 6370 respondents, 5382 (84%) reported No CA, 812 (13%) reported CA/No Tx, and 176 (3%) reported CA/Tx. The adjusted mean annual OOPE for the No CA, CA/No Tx, and CA/Tx groups were $1210,$1450, and $1880, respectively ( P  < .01). Prescription medications ($1120 per year) and home care services ($250) accounted for most of the additional OOPE associated with cancer treatment. Low-income individuals undergoing cancer treatment spent about 27% of their yearly income on OOPE compared to only 5% of yearly income for high-income individuals with no cancer history ( P  < .01). Conclusions:  Cancer treatment in older individuals results in significant OOPE, mainly for prescription medications and home care services. Economic evaluations and public policies aimed at cancer prevention and treatment should take note of the significant OOPE made by older Americans with cancer.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73612/1/j.1524-4733.2004.72334.x.pd

A survey of phytoestrogenic activity in Kansas flint hills pastures

The botanical composition and basal cover of three Kansas Flint Hills pastures located in Butler and Chase counties was surveyed to estimate the incidence of plant species that contain appreciable levels of estrogenic activity. Many-flowered scurfpea and Ladino clover were the only plant species classified as high in estrogenic activity. Although significant estrogenic activity existed in specific species, the willingness of livestock to consume those species is unclear

Phase Changes in Ni-Ti Under Laser Shock Loading

Near-equiatomic Ni-Ti, known for its shape memory behavior, can decompose to martensitic phases and/or second phase compounds. This phase competition is investigated in NixTi100-x (494Ti3 but no martensite in the AQ state, consistent with resistivity and dilatometry results which showed no hysteresis indicative of first order phase changes over 1.9 K4Ti3 amounts (present in the AQ state) did change upon loading, indicating the importance of shock-induced heating. A thermodynamically complete equation of state (EOS) for NiTi in its B2 (CsCl) structure was generated by ab initio quantum mechanical calculations. This was tested by performing laser-launched flyer experiments, which showed consistency with the theoretical EOS, validating its use in the prediction of dynamic loading histories in the samples during direct drive loading

Improving search efficiency for systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy: an exploratory study to assess the viability of limiting to MEDLINE, EMBASE and reference checking.

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of systematic reviews evaluating the diagnostic test accuracy of technologies are being published. Currently, review teams tend to apply conventional systematic review standards to identify relevant studies for inclusion, for example sensitive searches of multiple bibliographic databases. There has been little evaluation of the efficiency of searching only one or two such databases for this type of review. The aim of this study was to assess the viability of an approach that restricted searches to MEDLINE, EMBASE and the reference lists of included studies. METHODS: A convenience sample of nine Health Technology Assessment (HTA) systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy, with 302 included citations, was analysed to determine the number and proportion of included citations that were indexed in and retrieved from MEDLINE and EMBASE. An assessment was also made of the number and proportion of citations not retrieved from these databases but that could have been identified from the reference lists of included citations. RESULTS: 287/302 (95 %) of the included citations in the nine reviews were indexed across MEDLINE and EMBASE. The reviews' searches of MEDLINE and EMBASE accounted for 85 % of the included citations (256/302). Of the forty-six (15 %) included citations not retrieved by the published searches, 24 (8 %) could be found in the reference lists of included citations. Only 22/302 (7 %) of the included citations were not found by the proposed, more efficient approach. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed approach would have accounted for 280/302 (93 %) of included citations in this sample of nine systematic reviews. This exploratory study suggests that there might be a case for restricting searches for systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy studies to MEDLINE, EMBASE and the reference lists of included citations. The conduct of such reviews might be rendered more efficient by using this approach