Validation of the Barkley Deficits of Executive Functioning Scale-Short Form

The Barkley Deficits of Executive Functioning-Short Form (BDEFS-SF) is a short rating scale measuring executive functioning in adults. The BDEFS-SF was developed using the 5 highest loading questions from the BDEFS-LF. Consequently, the psychometric qualities of the BDEFS-SF were not investigated using formal methods. In this study, the psychometric attributes of the BDEFS-SF were examined using two separate but similar groups. The first group of 264 men and women aged 18-35 years old completed the BDEFS-SF via an internet survey. The second group of 36 men and women aged 18-35 years old completed the BDEFS-SF and individualized assessments of executive functioning and cognition individually with this researcher. Examination of the internal reliability of BDEFS-SF was found to be a more than robust .87. Factor analytic processes uncovered three latent traits in the BDEFS-SF and results also found cognition to be a separate construct from executive functioning. Lastly, measures of executive functioning and ratings from the BDEFS-SF yielded significant relationships. Limitations of this study and recommendations were explained. This study provides some initial evidence for the validity and reliability of the BDEFS-SF

Macro-level Diffusion of a Methodological Knowledge Innovation: Research Synthesis Methods, 1972-2011

Use of research synthesis methods has contributed to changes in research practices. In disciplinary literatures, authors indicate motivations to use the methods include needs to (a) translate research-based knowledge to inform practice and policy decisions, and (b) integrate relatively large and diverse knowledge bases to increase the generality of results and yield novel insights or explanations. This review presents two histories of the diffusion of research synthesis methods: a narrative history based primarily in the health and social sciences; and a bibliometric overview across science broadly. Engagement with research synthesis was strongly correlated with evidence-based practice (EBP), and moderately with review prevalence. The social sciences were most diverse in terms of when research synthesis was adopted. Technology, physical sciences, and math appear to be relatively resistant though fields such as physics may be considered to have used similar methods long ago. Additional research is needed to assess the consequences of adoption within fields, including changes in how researchers engage with knowledge resources. This review demonstrates that particularistic histories of science and technology may be fruitfully augmented with informetrics to examine how disciplinary diffusion narratives coincide with patterns across science more broadly, thereby opening up disciplinary knowledge to inform future research

Diffusion of Meta-Analysis, Systematic Review, and Related Research Synthesis Methods: Patterns, Contexts, and Impact

Like collaboration and interdisciplinary scholarship, research synthesis methods are used to integrate science knowledge. Unlike collaboration and interdisciplinary scholarship, research synthesis is a scientific method researchers apply to systematically and explicitly integrate knowledge from primary research studies to estimate the best answer to a specific question based on accumulated research findings. This study investigates the diffusion and impact of research synthesis methods at the macro- and meso-levels. At the macro-level, diffusion from 1972-2011 is described using bibliometric methods. Relatively modest engagement with the methods in the 1970s and 1980s was followed by increased engagement across a greater diversity of fields in the 1990s. Engagement with the methods continued to increase and spread across fields through the first decade of the 2000s. Engagement with research synthesis methods was strongly correlated with engagement with evidence-based practice (ρ=0.893, p < 0.001) and the number of years a field engaged with the methods (ρ = 0.706, p < 0.001), moderately correlated with engagement with past research (ρ = 0.403, p < 0.001); and modestly correlated with Biglan class (ρ = 0.279, p = 0.011). Five fields, Evolutionary Biology, Conservation Biology, Social Work, Women’s Studies, and Information and Library Science were selected for investigation at the meso-level. Content analysis, topic modeling, and qualitative summaries of literature at the intersections of these fields and research synthesis contextualize the diffusion process and reveal differences and similarities across field contexts. Bibliometric evaluation indicates that adoption of research synthesis contributes to changes in collaboration patterns: a greater number of authors contribute to research syntheses than research reviews in fields where collaboration on research reviews is low. This study provides some evidence that use of the methods has refined rather than replaced roles of traditional research reviews in Social Work; and illustrates interactions between innovations and use contexts. Innovations and their contexts are modified through adaptations influenced by historical contexts, values, and goals that intersect with the innovation use context.Doctor of Philosoph

How was your day? : exploring a day in the life of probation workers across Europe using practice diaries

This paper presents a reflection upon the preliminary analysis of diary research conducted during the period 2014-2015 in five European countries (England and Wales, France, Norway, Romania and Slovakia). The authors gathered and analysed data from a pilot project which used semi-structured diaries to generate data on probation workers’ daily lives with a view to understanding ‘a day in the life’ of probation officers across jurisdictions. The findings open up questions in relation to diary research in probation practice (diary format, follow-up interview etc.) and we use this article to discuss the relative advantages and benefits of using diary research in this area. We conclude with the argument that diaries as a method of social research hold considerable potential for conducting research in the context of probation but acknowledge that the method we employed requires some development and greater clarification in terms of the aims of the research

COVID-19 : psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies among community members across the United Arab Emirates

Background The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the psychosocial well-being of the United Arab Emirates [UAE] population like other communities internationally. Objectives We aimed to identify the factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping amongst community members across the UAE. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional online survey across the UAE during November 2020. Adults age

Thermal Performance of Exposed Composed Roofs in Very Hot Dry Desert Region in Egypt (Toshky)

Thermal performance for any building in hot dry region depend on the external climatic factor, the ability of the construction materials used in gained heat through day time and loss this heat through night time through the nocturnal radiation. Roof is considered the major part of the building envelop which exposed to high thermal load due to the high solar intensity and high outdoor air temperature through summer season which reach to 6 months. In Egypt the thermal effect of roof is increased as one go towards from north to south. This study evaluate the thermal performance of different test rooms with different roofs construction; uninsulated concrete, insulated concrete, double, plant, and active concrete roofs, constructed under the effect of external climatic condition of very hot and dry region in Egypt (Toshky region). The external climatic conditions and the temperature distribution inside the roof construction and the indoor air temperature were measured. The results of this study recognized that the thermal transmittance (UValue) has a major role in chosen the constructed materials. Also the thermal insulation considered the suitable manner for damping the thermal stresses through day time and makes the interior environment of the building near the comfort zone during most months of the year. Natural night and forced ventilation are more important in improving the internal conditions. The construction roof systems show that the indoor air temperature thermal damping reach to 96%, 90%, 89%, and 76% for insulated concrete, double, planted and uninsulated concrete roofs. The results also investigate the importance of using the earth as a cooling source through the active concrete system. Evaporative cooling and movable shading which are an integrated part of the guidelines for building design in hot dry region must be using

Thermal Performance of Building Envelope in Very Hot Dry Desert Region in Egypt (Toshky)

Toshky region is a desert region located in the south east of Egyptian western desert at the Tropical Cancer (23.5 N). The following features characterized this region during the summer season; aridity, high summer day time temperatures reaches to above 40 C for about 6 hours, large diurnal temperature variation, low relative humidity, and high solar radiation reaches to about 1100W/m2 on horizontal surfaces. In such climate thermal human comfort is crucial to provide the reasonable environment for the people. As the building envelop has a major role in saving comfort for people and improve the consumption of energy in building. So this study is interested in studying the thermal performance for some building constructed from different building materials as; Nobaa sandstone, hollow clay brick, light sand block, and hollow and insulated bazelt blocks. The external climatic conditions and the temperature distribution inside the wall construction and the indoor air temperature were measured. The result shows that using Nobaa sandstone alone in building is not adequate with the external climatic conditions of this region. But using building materials with specific thermal characteristics, and using thermal insulation led to reduce the heat flow through the walls and help the building to be suitable with its external environment conditions. The study also show that hollow clay brick and light sand block valid the lowest indoor air temperature, and the thermal performance of hollow bazelt blocks can be improved by using thermal insulation, Natural and forced night ventilation help the indoor environment to be within the thermal comfort

Do synthesis centers synthesize? A semantic analysis of topical diversity in research

Synthesis centers are a form of scientific organization that catalyzes and supports research that integrates diverse theories, methods and data across spatial or temporal scales to increase the generality, parsimony, applicability, or empirical soundness of scientific explanations. Synthesis working groups are a distinctive form of scientific collaboration that produce consequential, high-impact publications. But no one has asked if synthesis working groups synthesize: are their publications substantially more diverse than others, and if so, in what ways and with what effect? We investigate these questions by using Latent Dirichlet Analysis to compare the topical diversity of papers published by synthesis center collaborations with that of papers in a reference corpus. Topical diversity was operationalized and measured in several ways, both to reflect aggregate diversity and to emphasize particular aspects of diversity (such as variety, evenness, and balance). Synthesis center publications have greater topical variety and evenness, but less disparity, than do papers in the reference corpus. The influence of synthesis center origins on aspects of diversity is only partly mediated by the size and heterogeneity of collaborations: when taking into account the numbers of authors, distinct institutions, and references, synthesis center origins retain a significant direct effect on diversity measures. Controlling for the size and heterogeneity of collaborative groups, synthesis center origins and diversity measures significantly influence the visibility of publications, as indicated by citation measures. We conclude by suggesting social processes within collaborations that might account for the observed effects, by inviting further exploration of what this novel textual analysis approach might reveal about interdisciplinary research, and by offering some practical implications of our results.publishedVersio

Impact of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network: Accelerating the Translation of Research Into Practice

The Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) is a thematic network dedicated to accelerating the adoption of evidence-based cancer prevention and control practices in communities by advancing dissemination and implementation science. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute, CPCRN has operated at two levels: Each participating Network Center conducts research projects with primarily local partners as well as multicenter collaborative research projects with state and national partners. Through multicenter collaboration, thematic networks leverage the expertise, resources, and partnerships of participating centers to conduct research projects collectively that might not be feasible individually. Although multicenter collaboration often is advocated, it is challenging to promote and assess. Using bibliometric network analysis and other graphical methods, this paper describes CPCRN’s multicenter publication progression from 2004 to 2014. Searching PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science in 2014 identified 249 peer-reviewed CPCRN publications involving two or more centers out of 6,534 total. The research and public health impact of these multicenter collaborative projects initiated by CPCRN during that 10-year period were then examined. CPCRN established numerous workgroups around topics such as: 2-1-1, training and technical assistance, colorectal cancer control, federally qualified health centers, cancer survivorship, and human papillomavirus. The paper discusses the challenges that arise in promoting multicenter collaboration and the strategies that CPCRN uses to address those challenges. The lessons learned should broadly interest those seeking to promote multisite collaboration to address public health problems, such as cancer prevention and control