A search in the COS-B data base for correlated time variability in regions containing objects of interest

As is well known, association of the gamma-ray sources with celestial objects is, in general, difficult on a pure positional basis, while correlated time variability could obviously provide such proof. This technique can be employed on regions of the gamma-ray sky containing interesting objects of known variability at some wavelength even in the absence of a recognized gamma-ray excess with the aim to extract a weak but predictable signal from the surrounding noise. This technique is applied here on a longer variability time scale, generally of the order of days. Photons coming from the sky regions centered on the various celestial objects considered were selected with energies 100 MeV and with arrival directions within an energy-dependent area of radius of approx 6 deg at 100 MeV. In order to construct a time profile of such photons, their arrival times were grouped in bins of dimensions defined by the available photons number and by the value of the period searched for

Motivation, Optimal Experience and Flow in First Year Computing Science

We examine the concept of motivation from the perspective of Self Determination Theory and give a brief overview of relevant results. We also consider the optimal state known as "Flow" and give an account of its conceptualisation in the theory due to Csikszentmihalyi. After discussion of ways in which these concepts can be measured, we describe a set of preliminary studies that investigate motivation and flow in the context of a first year computing class. We analyse student responses to enquiries about perceptions of motivation and flow experiences and look at links between them. We also discuss intrinsic motivation within the subject

Sexual Coercion and Sexual Violence at First Intercourse Associated with Sexually Transmitted Infections

BACKGROUND: Violence against women has been associated with subsequent risky sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We explored whether sexual coercion or violence at first intercourse was associated with self-reported STIs. METHODS: Using nationally representative data from the 2006 to 2010 National Survey of Family Growth, we analyzed female respondents aged 18 to 44 (n = 9466) who answered questions on coercion at first intercourse (wantedness, voluntariness, and types of force used) and STIs using logistic regression analyses. We explored degrees of coercion, which we label as neither, sexual coercion (unwanted or nonphysical force), or sexual violence (involuntary or physical force). RESULTS: Eighteen percent of US women reported sexual coercion, and 8.4% experienced sexual violence at first intercourse. Compared with women who experienced neither, the odds of reporting an STI was significantly greater for women who experienced sexual coercion (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.60), after controlling for all variables. The association between sexual violence at first intercourse and STIs (odds ratio, 1.20; 95% confidence interval, 0.91-1.57) seemed to be attenuated by subsequent sexual violence. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding that women who reported a variety of coercive sexual experiences are more likely to have contracted an STI may indicate a need to focus on the broader continuum of sexual violence to fully understand the impact of even subtle forms of violence on women\u27s health. In addition, focusing on subsequent sexual behaviors and other negative consequences remains important to improve the sexual health of women who have experienced coercive sexual intercourse

Mentoring Multi-College Bystander Efficacy Evaluation – an Approach to Growing the Next Generation of Gender-Based Interpersonal Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) Researchers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided funding (U01 CE002668) to evaluate bystander program efficacy to reduce gender-based violence on college campuses (Aim 1) and to create a mentoring network (Aim 2) for young campus-based researchers interested in violence intervention or prevention (VIP). While an evaluation of this mentoring program is ongoing, our purpose here was to document the strategies used to create, implement, and begin evaluation of this national multi-college mentoring network. As each public college was recruited into this evaluation named multi-college Bystander Efficacy Evaluation (mcBEE), each college was invited to nominate a researcher interested in receiving mentorship as a mcBEE fellow. Senior faculty with active VIP research careers were recruited as mentors. Mentorship occurred through annual meetings over time (2015–2019), weekly to bimonthly calls or video conferencing with 2–3 other fellows, and a mentor forming a group with 3–4 mentees, termed a hive. The initial focus of hive meetings was 1) creating and maintaining an active daily writing practice and 2) developing productivity plans, to include research, personal, and professional goals. Manuscript and grant writing feedback was provided throughout the network electronically or ‘live’ workshops. Annual surveys were implemented to investigate program efficacy. Our mcBEE team was able to successfully assemble a national network of VIP fellows and provide small group and individualized mentoring. Our ultimate goal was that of supporting our fellows’ own trajectories in gender-based VIP research, teaching, administration, or service. Evaluation of our fellow and mentor cohort is ongoing (2015–2019)

Bystander Program Effectiveness to Reduce Violence Acceptance: RCT in High Schools

Bystander-based violence prevention interventions have shown efficacy to reduce dating violence and sexual violence acceptance at the individual level yet no large randomized controlled trial (RCT) has evaluated this effect at the high-school level and over time. This rigorous cluster-randomized controlled trial addresses this gap by evaluating intervention effectiveness at both school and individual levels. Kentucky high schools were randomized to intervention or control conditions. In intervention schools educators provided school-wide ‘Green Dot’ presentations and bystander training with student popular opinion leaders. Each spring from 2010 to 2014; 73,044 students completed anonymous surveys with no missing data on relevant outcomes. Dating violence and sexual violence acceptance were the primary outcomes for this analysis. At the school level, slopes from linear mixed models using averaged school-level dating violence acceptance (condition–time, p \u3c 0.001) and sexual violence acceptance (condition–time interaction, p \u3c 0.001) differed indicating a significant reduction in the violence acceptance in the intervention relative to control schools over time and specifically in years 3 and 4 when ‘Green Dot’ was fully implemented. Analyses based on student’s self-reported receipt of ‘Green Dot’ training by condition confirmed the school level finding of significant reductions in both dating violence and sexual violence acceptance in years 3 and 4 for both males and females. In this RCT we find evidence that the bystander-based violence prevention intervention ‘Green Dot’ works, as hypothesized and as implemented, to reduce acceptance of dating violence and sexual violence at the school and individual levels

Motivation, optimal experience and flow in first year computing science.

We examine the concept of motivation from the perspective of Self Determination Theory and give a brief overview of relevant results. We also consider the optimal state known as Flow and give an account of its conceptualisation in the theory due to Csikszentmihalyi. After discussion of ways in which these concepts can be measured, we describe a set of preliminary studies that investigate motivation and flow in the context of a first year computing class. We analyse student responses to enquiries about perceptions of motivation and flow experiences and look at links between them. We also discuss intrinsic motivation within the subject

Reliably Classifying Novice Programmer Exam Responses using the SOLO Taxonomy

Abstract: Past papers of the BRACElet project have described an approach to teaching and assessing students where the students are presented with short pieces of code, and are instructed to explain, in plain English, what the code does. The student responses to these types of questions can be analysed according to the SOLO taxonomy. Some students display an understanding of the code as a single, functional whole, while other students cannot âsee the forest for the treesâ . However, classifying student responses into the taxonomy is not always straightforward. This paper analyses the reliability of the SOLO taxonomy as a means of categorising student responses. The paper derives an augmented set of SOLO categories for application to the programming domain, and proposes a set of guidelines for researchers to use

Association Between Community Social Vulnerability and Preventable Hospitalizations

Preventable hospitalizations are common and costly events that burden patients and our health care system. While research suggests that these events are strongly linked to ambulatory care access, emerging evidence suggests they may also be sensitive to a patient’s social, environmental, and economic conditions. This study examines the association between variations in social vulnerability and preventable hospitalization rates. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of county-level preventable hospitalization rates for 33 states linked with data from the 2020 Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Preventable hospitalizations were 40% higher in the most vulnerable counties compared with the least vulnerable. Adjusted regression results confirm the strong relationship between social vulnerability and preventable hospitalizations. Our results suggest wide variation in community-level preventable hospitalization rates, with robust evidence that variation is strongly related to a community’s social vulnerability. The human toll, societal cost, and preventability of these hospitalizations make understanding and mitigating these inequities a national priority

New constraints on Planck-scale Lorentz Violation in QED from the Crab Nebula

We set constraints on O(E/M) Lorentz Violation in QED in an effective field theory framework. A major consequence of such assumptions is the modification of the dispersion relations for electrons/positrons and photons, which in turn can affect the electromagnetic output of astrophysical objects. We compare the information provided by multiwavelength observations with a full and self-consistent computation of the broad-band spectrum of the Crab Nebula. We cast constraints of order 10^{-5} at 95% confidence level on the lepton Lorentz Violation parameters.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures. v2: added comments and references, matches version accepted by JCA