Perceptions of Family Engagement Between African American Families and Schools: A Review of Literature

The purpose of this review of parental involvement scholarship was to examine epistemologies and existent research pertaining to family engagement in the African American community. Particular attention is paid to the discrepancies between how African American families typically engage versus what teachers have been socialized to recognize and value as engagement. These discrepancies are evaluated and solutions to rectify this disconnect are discussed. Searches of major electronic databases were used yielding over a thousand results, yet only 20 pieces of literature proved substantive due to their specific focus on how African American families show involvement in their child’s education. Findings included similar ways in which African American parents participate, how teachers and schools view parental engagement through an exclusive, White, middle-class lens, and solutions to bridge the gaps in knowledge about these practices for educators. Findings also showed that utilizing a community cultural wealth framework in assessing parental engagement is helpful for educators in reversing deficit-orientations about diverse families and seeing them through a strengths-based lens. One invaluable solution will focus on the need for more culturally responsive education amongst teachers to help in understanding family engagement for African American families to help create more collaborative family-school partnerships between them and the school

Directing scientists away from potentially biased publications:the role of systematic reviews in health care

Despite increasing concerns about the validity of published research, the issue of how the scientific community can maintain a high-quality body of research is not well understood. We consider the case of systematic reviews in health care, and explore whether risk of bias ratings communicated within these reviews may help shift scientists’ attention towards published research that is at a low risk of bias. We focus on publications deemed at risk of bias due to selective reporting; that is, scientific articles with high chances of systematic errors in the published research findings due to flaws in the reporting. Using a matched-sample control group we find that, after potential bias is signalled in systematic reviews, publications at high risk of bias attract less attention – as indicated by fewer follow-on citations – when compared to a control group of low risk of bias publications. We extend our analysis by considering those cases where risk of bias is unclear, and by examining how different features of the rating system may affect the magnitude of the main effect. The findings provide evidence about whether systematic reviews can play a role in signalling biases in the scientific literature, over and above their established role of synthesising prior research

Understanding the adoption of voluntary environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards in the real estate sector

The environmental performance of the real estate sector has been subject to growing scrutiny in recent years, with the United Nations estimating that the sector accounts for a substantial share of global energy consumption and energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. In turn, environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are becoming increasingly significant investment considerations for real estate investors. In this context, voluntary ESG standards are becoming central in promoting sustainable and responsible practices among real estate players, and in helping them to address global challenges. Thus, this report is of importance in three respects: first, we review the academic literature in relation to the drivers of organizational adoption of voluntary ESG standards; second, we analyse GRESB’s Real Estate Benchmark, the de facto industry standard for ESG activities in the real estate industry; and finally, we provide recommendations for industry professionals and future researchers interested in the adoption of voluntary ESG standards in the real estate industry

At what point do academics forego citations for journal status?

The limitations of journal based citation metrics for assessing individual researchers are well known. However, the way in which these assessment systems differentially shape research practices within disciplines is less well understood. Presenting evidence from a new analysis of business and management academics, Rossella Salandra and Ammon Salter and James Walker¸ explore how journal status is valued by these academics and the point at which journal status becomes more prized than academic influence

Film-induced, steps for a Real Exploitation in Europe

One of the possible ways to enhance Europe visibility, its entirety rather than a set of destinations, is implementing cooperation between the Member States especially in creating and developing trans-border thematic tourist products and experiences. One of them could be the film-induced tourism. In looking back over the past two cycles of European programming it is possible to find some examples, described in the article, in which the theme of audiovisual productions in their shooting phase in European locations has been the subject of EU attention.This article refers to some previous research results reminding how movie-induced tourism seems to be used just through sporadic attempts and therefore not developed and exploited in a strategic way. Whether from demand-side is clear what potential is inherent in the relationship between movie and tourism, on the supply side there is still much to do.As the current EC funding period (2014-2020) is favouring, at least in the first calls for proposal that came out, SMEs projects and being aware of the apparent lack of such activities developed by private businesses, the article explores new opportunities to be gathered suggesting a new exploitation path.Una delle modalità attraverso le quali migliorare la visibilità turistica dell'Europa, nella sua interezza piuttosto che quale insieme di destinazioni, è quella di sviluppare ed implementare progetti di cooperazione tra gli stati membri. Questo è avvenuto ed avviene in particolare creando e sviluppando esperienze e prodotti turistici tematici transfrontalieri. Alcuni di essi possono essere caratterizzati sul c.d. film-induced tourism. In tal senso, tornando indietro ai due precedenti cicli di programmazione Europea, è già possibile individuare alcuni esempi, descritti nell'articolo, nei quali il tema delle produzioni audiovisive, ed in particolare la fase di girato in location Europee, è stato già oggetto dell'attenzione della UE.L'articolo, a partire da risultati di precedenti lavori di ricerca, evidenzia quanto il fenomeno sembra sia stato sino ad ora utilizzato solo tramite tentativi sporadici e dunque non sviluppato e sfruttato in una modalità strategica. Se dal punto di vista della domanda è ormai chiaro quanto potenziale ci sia nella relazione tra produzioni cinematografiche e turismo, è dal punto di vista dell'offerta che sembra esserci ancora molto da fare. Poiché l'attuale periodo di finanziamenti europei (2014-2020) favorisce, almeno secondo quanto presente nei primi bandi usciti in questi mesi, i progetti sviluppati e promossi dalle piccole e medie imprese, e nella consapevolezza di quanto ancora siano rare queste attività da parte delle aziende private, l'articolo esplora nuove opportunità da cogliere suggerendo un nuovo percorso di sfruttamento della relazione tra produzioni audiovisive cinematografiche, territori e turismo

Conception of a 3D Metamaterial-Based Foundation for Static and Seismic Protection of Fuel Storage Tanks

Fluid-filled tanks in tank farms of industrial plants can experience severe damage and trigger cascading effects in neighboring tanks due to large vibrations induced by strong earthquakes. In order to reduce these tank vibrations, we have explored an innovative type of foundation based on metamaterial concepts. Metamaterials are generally regarded as manmade structures that exhibit unusual responses not readily observed in natural materials. If properly designed, they are able to stop or attenuate wave propagation. Recent studies have shown that if locally resonant structures are periodically placed in a matrix material, the resulting metamaterial forms a phononic lattice that creates a stop band able to forbid elastic wave propagation within a selected band gap frequency range. Conventional phononic lattice structures need huge unit cells for low-frequency vibration shielding, while locally resonant metamaterials can rely on lattice constants much smaller than the longitudinal wavelengths of propagating waves. Along this line, we have investigated 3D structured foundations with effective attenuation zones conceived as vibration isolation systems for storage tanks. In particular, the three-component periodic foundation cell has been developed using two common construction materials, namely concrete and rubber. Relevant frequency band gaps, computed using the Floquet–Bloch theorem, have been found to be wide and in the low-frequency region. Based on the designed unit cell, a finite foundation has been conceived, checked under static loads and numerically tested on its wave attenuation properties. Then, by means of a parametric study we found a favorable correlation between the shear stiffness of foundation walls and wave attenuation. On this basis, to show the potential improvements of this foundation, we investigated an optimized design by means of analytical models and numerical analyses. In addition, we investigated the influence of cracks in the matrix material on the elastic wave propagation, and by comparing the dispersion curves of the cracked and uncracked materials we found that small cracks have a negligible influence on dispersive properties. Finally, harmonic analysis results displayed that the conceived smart foundations can effectively isolate storage tanks