bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Calculation of the Hubble Constant, the Minimum Mass, and the Proton Charge Radius Using the Dirac’s Hypothesis on the Ratio of the Electrostatic Force to the Gravitational Force
Authors: Talbot Paul
Published: February 2022

This publication suggests that some physical values could be calculated using the Dirac’s hypothesis on the observed ratio of the electrostatic force to the gravitational force. The calculated value of the Hubble constant is H ≈ 72.013 km s^-1 Mpc^-1 and that of the minimum mass, Mmin ≈ 1.720 6 × 10^-68 kg. Recent observations suggest that the proton charge radius could also be calculated using an additional but related assumption: rp ≈ 0.826 4 fm.
The Credibility of Party Policy Rhetoric: Survey Experimental Evidence
Authors: Fernandez-Vazquez Pablo
Published: February 2022

This article analyzes how a party’s policy statements affect voters’ perceptions of where the party stands on a given issue. I argue that voters do not take a party’s statements at face value because these messages can be a strategic tool to win elections. Voters discount popular statements because they may respond to vote-seeking incentives rather than reflect the party’s sincere views. Espousing unpopular policies has less instrumental value in obtaining more votes and therefore is more credible. I have tested this argument with a survey experiment fielded in the United Kingdom that exposes respondents to Conservative and Labour Party statements on immigration and the National Health Service. I report evidence that popular statements tend to have a weaker effect on voter perceptions than unpopular ones. This finding suggests a paradox: the more a party needs to change its reputation in order to gain votes, the stronger the voters’ skepticism.
Voter Discounting of Party Campaign Manifestos. An Analysis of Mainstream and Niche Parties in Western Europe, 1971-2011
Authors: Fernandez-Vazquez Pablo
Published: February 2022

Election campaigns are supposed to inform voters about where parties stand on policy issues. Yet campaign promises are not binding, since parties may advocate some policies in the campaign and implement others in office. This article thus analyzes the conditions in which voters believe party platforms. I argue that voters find platforms that can help the party obtain more votes to be less informative about the party’s ideology. This hypothesis is tested with both mainstream and niche parties in Western Europe. The analysis also distinguishes between governing and opposition parties. Empirical evidence for parties in opposition fully supports the argument: For mainstream parties, which have vote-seeking incentives to appear ideologically moderate, voters discount centrist manifestos. With respect to niche parties, which tend to lose support if they moderate, voters discount extreme platforms. Regarding governing parties, this article confirms previous work suggesting that voters disregard the platforms of incumbent parties. These findings have implications for democratic representation, party competition, and electoral volatility.
Promoting Motivation and Well-Being at School: the effect of a teacher training combining a self-determination theory-based intervention and positive psychology interventions
Authors: tessier Damien , Ginoux Clément , Shankland Rebecca
Published: February 2022

Promoting students' well-being and motivation at school is of critical importance to address developmental declines in student motivation and rising prevalence of adolescents’ mental health issues. The present study examined the effects of a multicomponent professional development training course for teachers combining self-determination theory-based intervention and positive psychology intervention on both teachers’ and students’ outcomes. The efficacy of the intervention was assessed using a two-armed parallel cluster randomized controlled trial involving 45 secondary school teachers and their 819 students. Teachers in the intervention condition followed a two-days training on students' motivation and well-being and on ways of adopting facilitating behaviors, while those in the control condition did not benefit from the training. At both pre- and post-intervention, as well as at follow-up (i.e., 2 months post-intervention), teachers and students completed self-report questionnaires measuring work/school satisfaction, motivation for work/school, perceived motivating style, work engagement for teachers and emotional regulation skills for students. Linear mixed models revealed that the intervention is effective both at the teacher level, leading to an improvement in motivating style, motivation, work engagement and job satisfaction, and at the student level, leading to improvements in students’ perceived teacher’s autonomy supportive motivating style, school motivation, and school satisfaction. The present findings indicate that a short training course combining these two approaches can be effective both for promoting teachers’ and students’ motivation and satisfaction, and thus provides a useful cost-effcetive intervention.
Assessing the Influence of Land-Use Changes on Water Quality Using Remote Sensing and GIS: A Study in Cirata Reservoir, Indonesia
Authors: Dede Moh.
Published: February 2022

Environmental Changes in a round of reservoir have dramatic influences on the sedimentation and deterioration of water quality. A significant land-use change in Cibalagung sub-watershed has impact on the water quality in the Cirata reservoir. In this study, we used remote sensing and GIS to investigate the influence of land-use changes on water quality in Cibalagung sub-watershed, Cirata reservoir in 2004–2014. The influence of land-use changes on total suspended solids (TSS), as a main parameter of water quality, was determined by path analysis. This study indicated that 92.50 % of land-use changes through increasing mixed plantations, cropland, settlements, and grassland could affect the TSS content in the reservoir.
Exploring the Stories of Parents’ Experiences with Infant Hearing-Loss Screening and Diagnosis in the United States
Authors: Robinson Tanner L. , Bowman Emma B. , Barker Brittan Ann
Published: February 2022

Objectives. For the past 20 years, birthing hospitals in the United States have required newborns to undergo a hearing loss screening prior to leaving the hospital. Since the initial newborn hearing screening mandates, there has been much outcome research documenting the successes and barriers of the program. However, we know little about the experiences of their parents during the time between screening and diagnosis. We propose that elucidating the parents’ experiences with newborn hearing loss screening and diagnosis—via their own stories—is a first step toward understanding their varied experiences and has the potential to ultimately improve hearing healthcare for both children and their families. Thus, to better understand the early hearing screening and detection experience from hearing parents’ perspectives, we asked the following research question: what are parents’ experiences with the early hearing loss screening and diagnosis of their infants in the US?Design. The current study employed a prospective, cross-sectional qualitative design. Specifically, we gathered stories from 13 hearing parents who each have a child born in the United States and diagnosed with hearing loss no later than 14 months of age between the years of 2016 to 2020. We used thematic analysis to uncover common themes across parent narratives. Saturation was reached at Interview #4; thus no further sampling was needed.Findings. Two major themes emerged from the data: (1) hearing healthcare experiences and (2) parents’ early experiences during the period between their child’s newborn hearing loss screening and diagnosis. Subthemes were also uncovered. Three emergent subthemes related to healthcare experiences included: (1) downplayed newborn hearing screening referrals, (2) clinician-centered care, and (3) medical expenses and health coverage. The three subthemes of the second theme were: (1) parent-to-parent support, (2) “mom guilt”, and (3) a new reality.Conclusion. The present study’s narrative accounts from parents about their infants’ early hearing detection experiences revealed several, different subthemes that emerged from the same, mandated newborn experience in US families. These finding highlight important moments throughout the hearing loss screening and detection process that could benefit from more effective, family-centered hearing healthcare. This knowledge also facilitates the field’s move toward improved education of future and current providers and a family-centered approach that could address concerns and expectations of new parents at the very start of their newborns’ hearing loss journeys.
Two measures are better than one: Combining iconicity ratings and guessing experiments for a more nuanced picture of iconicity in the lexicon
Authors: McLean Bonnie , Dunn Michael , Dingemanse Mark
Published: February 2022

Iconicity in language is receiving increased attention from many fields, but our understanding of iconicity is only as good as the measures we use to quantify it. We collected iconicity measures for 304 Japanese words from English-speaking participants, using rating and guessing tasks. The words included ideophones (structurally marked depictive words) along with regular lexical items from similar semantic domains (e.g. fuwafuwa ‘fluffy’, jawarakai ‘soft’). The two measures correlated, speaking to their validity. However, ideophones received consistently higher iconicity ratings than other items, even when guessed at the same accuracies, suggesting the rating task is more sensitive to cues like structural markedness that frame words as iconic. These cues did not always guide participants to the meanings of ideophones in the guessing task, but they did make them more confident in their guesses, even when they were wrong. Consistently poor guessing results reflect the role different experiences play in shaping construals of iconicity. Using multiple measures in tandem allows us to explore the interplay between iconicity and these external factors. To facilitate this, we introduce a reproducible workflow for creating rating and guessing tasks from standardised wordlists, while also making improvements to the robustness, sensitivity and discriminability of previous approaches.
The policy mood in Spain: The thermostat in a warm climate, 1978-2017
Authors: Bartle John , Bosch Agustí , Orriols Lluis
Published: February 2022

Representative democracies are supposed to be uniquely virtuous in that they ensure that public preferences drive public policy. Dynamic representation is the outcome of a recurring interaction between electorate and parties that can be observed at the macro level. Preferences can shape government policy via two possible mechanisms. ‘Policy accomodation’ suggests that governments respond directly to the electorate’s preferences. ‘Electoral turnover’, on the other hand, assumes that preferences shape policy indirectly. Parties pursue their ideological goals, and public preferences respond ‘thermostatically’ by moving in the opposite direction to policy. This causes voters to switch votes and eventually leads to a turnover of power from one ‘side’ to ‘the other’. In this paper, we estimate preferences for government activity (‘the policy mood’) in Spain between 1978 and 2017. We show that mood responds ‘thermostatically’ to policy. Variations in mood are associated with support for parties. Policy is driven by party control but is not thermostatically responsive to mood. It appears that in Spain – like Britain – dynamic representation can only be achieved by electoral turnover. We consider the implications of this for our understanding of how representation works
Intention to adhere to test, trace, and isolate during the COVID-19 pandemic (the COVID-19 Rapid Survey of Adherence to Interventions and Responses [CORSAIR] study)
Authors: Smith Louise E , Potts Henry , Amlôt Richard , Fear Nicola T. , Michie Susan , Rubin James
Published: February 2022

Objectives: (i) To investigate factors associated with intention to self-isolate, request a test, and share details of close contacts when required. (ii) To determine whether associations were stronger during periods when less stringent national restrictions were in place.Design: Series of cross-sectional nationally representative surveys. We selected waves where different national restrictions were in place in England (first lockdown, summer release, second lockdown, third lockdown).Methods: We investigated whether psychological factors and increased out-of-home activity in the last week were associated with intention to self-isolate and request a test if you were to develop COVID-19 symptoms, and intention to share details of contacts if you were to test positive. We also investigated whether the strength of associations differed by timepoint in the pandemic.Results: Intention to self-isolate, request a test and share details of contacts were associated with greater perceived risk of COVID-19 to people in the UK, knowing that COVID-19 transmission can be asymptomatic, and agreeing that personal behaviour has an impact on COVID-19 transmission. There were few differences in strength of associations by timepoint suggesting these effects are broadly stable over time.Conclusions: Psychological factors were associated with intention to adhere to key components of the contact tracing system; there was no evidence for an association with increased out-of-home activity. Messages that increase knowledge that COVID-19 can be transmitted even if someone does not have symptoms and that an individual’s actions can contribute to the spread of the virus, may promote engagement with test, trace, and isolate.
Correlation Between Islamic Boarding School with Morals Characterisation of Students Ma'had Tahfidh Quran Al Amien Prenduan 2005
Authors: Maspul Kurniawan Arif
Published: February 2022

It is an irrefutable fact that the world's hope of an ideal generation seems like a blurred portrait; still very far from its reality. Student brawls, drugs, rape, illegal drinking, promiscuity, and so on, is an acts of physical and moral damage to students today. Today, this lifestyle has been considered a trend in itself.Ishaq Ahmad Farhan (2002: 77) predicts that Islamic education will run parallel with the establishment of an Islamic personality of students because Islam itself emphasizes greatly the formation of a noble character for the people. Due to this, Indonesia has found a variety of the latest innovations in education such as schools running from morning to night, Islamic schools for junior high and senior high, and so forth (Bustomi in Luqman, 2004: 49), not surprisingly Islamic educational institutions have a combined formal system and programs based on the Quran and Sunnah.With this concept in mind we shall observe carefully and examine it, using the title "Correlation between Islamic Boarding School and Moral Characterization of Students in Ma'had Tahfidh Quran (MTA) Al Amien Prenduan", with the formulation of the problem as follows:1. Is there any influence on the formation of an Islamic Boarding School towards student character in ‘Ma'had Tahfidh Quran (MTA) Al Amien Prenduan'?2. How extensive is the influence of an Islamic Boarding School on the formation of student character in ‘Ma'had Tahfidh Quran (MTA) Al Amien Prenduan’? To find out the problems the author used a correlation study with the questionnaire method, method of observation and interview methods as well as methods of documentation. While the author's data analysis uses the product-moment correlation technique.The results of the analysis are as follows:1. Islamic Boarding School Education affects the moral formation of students Ma'had Tahfidh Quran (MTA) Al Amien Prenduan.2. From the calculation of product moment correlation states that Islamic education is highly correlated to the character and personality of the students of Ma'had Tahfidh Quran (MTA) Al Amien Prenduan.In the last section, the author has explained the conclusions and some suggestions as well as information input for the development in implementing education-oriented Islamic education.
Collaborative learning of new information in older age: a systematic review
Authors: Wolfe Kelly , Crompton Catherine J , Hoffman Paul , MacPherson Sarah E.
Published: February 2022

Aging is accompanied by a multitude of changes in cognitive abilities such as processing speed and memory, which in turn affect learning. Learning collaboratively may benefit older adults by negating some of these age-related changes. Collaborative learning, especially in older age, has not been extensively studied but is experiencing a resurgence. However, studies in the literature differ in both their methodology and findings and a comprehensive overview of research conducted on collaborative learning does not exist. As such, this manuscript proposes a systematic review of the current research on collaborative learning in older age, exploring under which circumstances collaborative learning can be more beneficial compared to learning individually. The proposed project will provide insight into learning in later life, as well as identify gaps in current knowledge and outstanding issues to address in future research.
Semantic priming supports infants’ ability to represent and name unseen objects
Authors: Luchkina Elena , waxman sandra
Published: February 2022

Human language permits us to call to mind objects, events, and ideas that we cannot witness directly. This capacity requires that one links words not only to their referents, but to mental representations of those referents. Together with the recognition that words are used intentionally for communication, this link constitutes ‘verbal reference.’ Although the development of verbal reference is a pivotal achievement, questions concerning its origins remain. To address this gap, we investigate infants’ ability to establish a representation of an object that is hidden from view based on language input and to learn its name.
The COVID-19 Outbreak as a Trigger Event for Sinophobic Hate Crimes in the United Kingdom
Authors: Schumann Sandy , Moore Ysanne
Published: February 2022

We assessed whether the COVID-19 outbreak in the United Kingdom was associated with a rise in sinophobic hate crimes as well as the temporal distribution of victimisation rates. A victimisation survey (N = 393) showed that following the first known case of COVID-19 in the UK, Chinese/East Asian persons had a higher likelihood of being hate crime or incident victims than members of other ethnic minority groups. Specifically, victimisation reported by Chinese/East Asian participants reached its highest level in March 2020 (before lockdown); it then dropped significantly after an initial relaxation of restrictions in May 2020. Overall, we documented a temporary, potentially slightly delayed hate crime trigger effect of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Tiered restrictions for COVID-19 in England: knowledge, motivation to adhere and self-reported behaviour
Authors: Smith Louise E , Potts Henry , Amlôt Richard , Fear Nicola T. , Michie Susan , Rubin James
Published: February 2022

Objectives: To test whether public knowledge and confidence in one’s understanding of the local restrictions, motivation to adhere, and self-reported behaviour differed according to tier level.Design: Cross-sectional nationally representative online survey of 1728 participants living in England (data collection: 26 to 28 October 2020). Methods: We conducted logistic regression analyses to investigate whether knowledge of restrictions, confidence in knowledge of restrictions, motivation to adhere to restrictions, and self-reported behaviour were associated with personal characteristics and tier.Results: Between 81% (tier 2) and 89% (tier 3) of participants correctly identified which tier they lived in. Knowledge of specific restrictions was variable. 73% were confident they understood which tier was in place in their local area, while 71% were confident they understood the guidance in their local area. Confidence was associated with being older and living in a less deprived area. 73% were motivated to adhere to restrictions imposed for their local area. Motivation was associated with being female and older. People living in tiers with greater restrictions were less likely to report going out to meet people from another household; reported rates of going out for exercise and for work did not differ. Conclusions: While recognition of local tier level was high, knowledge of specific guidance for tiers was variable. There was some indication that nuanced guidance (e.g. behaviour allowed in some settings but not others) was more poorly understood than guidance which was absolute (i.e. behaviour is either allowed or not allowed).
Holding a stigmatising attitude at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak (the COVID-19 Rapid Survey of Adherence to Interventions and Responses [CORSAIR] study)
Authors: Smith Louise E , Potts Henry , Amlôt Richard , Fear Nicola T. , Michie Susan , Rubin James
Published: February 2022

Objectives: To identify the prevalence of a stigmatising attitude towards people of Chinese origin at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK population and investigate factors associated with holding the stigmatising attitude.Design: Online cross-sectional survey conducted 10 to 13 February 2020 (n=2006, people aged 16 years or over and living in the UK).Methods: We asked participants to what extent they agreed it was best to avoid areas heavily populated by Chinese people because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Survey materials also asked about: worry, perceived risk, knowledge, information receipt, and perception of government response to COVID-19, and personal characteristics. We ran binary logistic regressions to investigate associations between holding a stigmatising attitude, personal characteristics, and psychological and contextual factors.Results: 26.1% people (95% CI 24.2% to 28.0%, n=524/2006) agreed it was best to avoid areas heavily populated by Chinese people. Holding a stigmatising attitude was associated with greater worry about COVID-19, greater perceived risk of COVID-19, and poorer knowledge about COVID-19.Conclusions: At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large percentage of the UK public endorsed avoiding areas in the UK heavily populated by people of Chinese origin. This attitude was associated with greater worry about, and perceived risk of, the COVID-19 outbreak as well as poorer knowledge about COVID-19. At the start of future novel infectious disease outbreaks, proactive communications from official sources should provide context and facts to reduce uncertainty and challenge stigmatising attitudes, to minimise harms to affected communities.
Attachment and school completion: Understanding young people who have dropped out of high school and important factors in their re-enrolment
Authors: Ramsdal Gro , Wynn Rolf
Published: February 2022

When students drop out of high school this is often negative for their development as well as for society, as those who drop out have an increased risk of unemployment, health problems, and social problems. There is a need for more synthesised knowledge regarding processes related to school drop out and school re-enrolment. We performed a narrative review of the literature pertaining to high-school drop out and re-enrolment, and discussed the findings in relation to attachment theory and our own research on the topic. We identified five main challenges to upholding education-related goals in long-term dropout processes: lack of relatedness, overchallenged self-regulation capacity, compensating for a history of failure, wounded learner identities, and coping with prolonged stress. The challenges converged on the importance of belonging and social support. The prerequisite for addressing the challenges seemed to be the establishment of a trustful relationship between the students who have dropped out and at least one teacher, and preferably also with other supportive adults. These relationships may provide sufficient social support and aid the students’ motivation.
Re-Analysis: New York City 2019 Measles Outbreak Happened in Sufficiently Vaccinated Population
Authors: Goldstein Leo
Published: February 2022

The measles outbreak, which started in New York city in 2018, with most cases occurring February – May 2019, is usually described as the consequence of insufficient vaccination in the affected community, mainly among “ultra”-Orthodox Jews of Williamsburg and Borough Park, Brooklyn, NYC.However, the vaccination rates in this community were very high, and increased from 93.5-96% in the yeshivas (Jewish religious schools) at the beginning of the outbreak, to ~97-99% after the vaccination campaign in October – December of 2018. These vaccination rates were more than sufficient to quickly suppress an outbreak, especially when using basic countermeasures such as early isolation of the sick.Re-analyzing the data, re-creating the timeline of the events, and comparing this outbreak with the past vaccination rates and outbreaks, leads to the conclusion: the outbreak’s persistence and growth were driven by the orders and mandates imposed by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH). Possibly the most harmful DOHMH action was the exclusion order issued on December 6, 2018, excluding all unvaccinated children from all yeshivas, even in the absence of measles cases. This order effectively concentrated unvaccinated children together, defeating herd immunity. Unvaccinated children had to spend an unusually large fraction of daytime at home. Excluded kids with measles infected infants, who were too young for vaccination. Additionally, immunoglobulin (IG), a highly effective post-exposure prophylaxis, was removed from recommendations for the affected communities, perhaps to encourage additional vaccination. Some documents recommended IG only for infants below six months. The definition of “vaccinated” changed in February - April 2019, when NYC DOHMH mandated an additional MMR vaccination for infants (6-11 months) in the affected communities, contrary to accepted scientific findings. The discontent with these heavy-handed mandates and other harassment were mistaken for anti-vaccination attitude and blamed on anti-vax propaganda and “misinformation”.Comparing the government’s reactions during this measles outbreak to their reactions during the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, we find some parallels. Many of the same NYC government officials, who mishandled the measles outbreak in 2018-19, also handled the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. New York became the COVID-19 epicenter in 2020. Some of the same harmful measures, practiced by the NYC DOHMH during the measles outbreak, were also implemented by it and CDC during the COVID-19 crisis, including heavy-handed mandates, over-emphasis on vaccination, and withdrawal of post-exposure prophylaxis and treatment.
PEMBINGKAIAN BERITA TENTANG HUTAN NTB (ANALISIS FRAMING BERITA PADA PORTAL SUARANTB)
Authors: Rahmat Al Fauzi
Published: February 2022

Artikel ini membahas tentang kondisi lingkungan hutan dan lahan yang dibingkai oleh berita online. Penelitian yang berfokus pada kondisi hutan dan lahan di provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat-NTB, Indonesia ini untuk mengidentifikasi bingkai pada konten artikel dari berita online. Analisis isi berita online didasarkan pada koding yang telah ditentukan sebelumnya. Studi empiris kualitatif dilakukan berdasarkan pada 31 berita di SuaraNTB.com yang membahas masalah kondisi hutan di NTB. Konten dianalisis dengan menggunakan software NVIVO 12 plus sebagai alat analisis data kualitatif, dengan beberapa tampilan query dan menggunakan model framing Robert M. Entman (1993) sebagai pisau analisanya dengan beberapa elemen kunci seperti mendefinisikan masalah, mendiagnosis penyebab, membuat penilaian moral, dan rekomendasi. Secara keseluruhan, berita online yang disiarkan oleh berita online SuaraNTB menyiratkan perlu adanya kebijakan pemerintah untuk menangani hutan yang semakin kritis. Ditemukan Motif ekonomi dibalik masalah lingkungan hutan dan lahan tersebut. Artikel ini berkontribusi untuk menemukan penyebab kompleksitas latar belakang hutan yang tidak lestari di provinsi NTB dan sebagai bahan utama untuk penelitian lebih lanjut.
What is the impact of COVID-19 pandemic years on Deliveries and Home Based New Born Care in India?
Authors: Kumar Dr Piyush
Published: February 2022

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has led to disruption of health services globally. I assessed the effect of the ongoing pandemic on the Deliveries and Home Based New Born Care (HBNC) in India. The author is curious and suspects a rise in maternal and neonatal mortality due to possible negative effects of COVID-19 on maternal institutional delivery and HBNC. Hence author decided to find out answer to the research question mentioned as title above. Methods:I conducted a retrospective cross-sectional comparative study among total numbers of women and newborn who have received delivery and HBNC care at different health facilities in 36 states and union territories across India during the pandemic years with pre-pandemic years (comparing 2020 and 2021(up to May) with previous two years of pre-pandemic era i.e. 2018-2019). The data for the research study is extracted from electronic records of HMIS (health management information system) of MoHFW (ministry of health and family welfare), Govt. of India and analysed with stata and Microsoft office.Results: The mean number of home deliveries attended by SBA [(Skill Birth Attendant) (Doctor/Nurse/ANM/ Midwife)] during the pandemic year 2021 with total number of observation of 5 months across India was 15491, for years 2020, 2019,2018 it was 16429.25 ,19006.58 , 21317.83 respectively with total number of observation of 12 months across India for these three years. This research study revealed that pandemic years have negative impact on number of home deliveries attended by SBA [(Skill Birth Attendant) (Doctor/Nurse/ANM/ Midwife)]. This research study revealed that pandemic years have negative impact on number of home deliveries attended by SBA [(Skill Birth Attendant) (Doctor/Nurse/ANM/ Midwife)]. There is a decrease of 27.33 % in mean number of home deliveries attended by SBA in 2021 as compared to 2018. Conclusions: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had negative effects on Deliveries and Home Based New Born Care (HBNC) in India. More research is required to investigate the direct and indirect consequence of the pandemic on birth and provision of HBNC as well as the health facility type which are not performing well in providing respectful maternity care and newborn services during pandemic period. The facility based research analysis is under process by the author which will be available in next version of this article.Keywords: Home delivery, Institutional delivery, newborn, care, pandemic year, covid-19
The prejudices of expert evidence
Authors: Chin Jason , Cullen Hayley Joanne , Clarke Beth
Published: February 2022

The rules and procedures regulating the admission of potentially unreliable expert evidence have been substantially weakened over the past several years. We respond to this trend by focusing on one aspect of the rules that has not been explicitly curtailed: unfair prejudice. Unfair prejudice is an important component of trial judges’ authority to exclude evidence, which they may do when that unfair prejudice outweighs the evidence’s probative value. We develop the concept of unfair prejudice by first examining how it has been interpreted by judges and then relating that to the relevant social scientific research on the characteristics of expertise that can make it prejudicial. In doing so, we also discuss the research behind a common reason that judges admit expert evidence despite its prejudice, which is that judicial directions help jurors understand and weigh it. As a result, this article provides two main contributions. First, it advances knowledge about unfair prejudice, which is an important part of expert evidence law that has received relatively little attention from legal researchers. Second, it provides guidance to practitioners for challenging expert evidence under one of the few avenues left to do so.
Statistical guidance to authors at top-ranked journals across scientific disciplines
Authors: Hardwicke Tom Elis , Salholz-Hillel Maia , Malički Mario , Szűcs Dénes , Bendixen Theiss , Ioannidis John P.A.
Published: February 2022

Scientific journals may counter the misuse, misreporting, and misinterpretation of statistics by providing guidance to authors. We assessed the nature and prevalence of statistical guidance at 15 journals (top-ranked by Impact Factor) in each of 22 scientific disciplines across five high-level domains (N = 330 journals). The frequency of statistical guidance varied across domains (Health & Life Sciences: 122/165 journals, 74%; Multidisciplinary: 9/15 journals, 60%; Social Sciences: 8/30 journals, 27%; Physical Sciences: 21/90 journals, 23%; Formal Sciences: 0/30 journals, 0%). In one discipline (Clinical Medicine), statistical guidance was provided by all journals and in two disciplines (Mathematics and Computer Science) no journals provided statistical guidance. Of the 160 journals providing statistical guidance, 93 had a dedicated statistics section in their author instructions. The most frequently mentioned topics were confidence intervals (90 journals) and p-values (88 journals). For six ‘hotly debated’ topics (statistical significance, p-values, Bayesian statistics, effect sizes, confidence intervals, and sample size planning/justification) journals typically offered implicit or explicit endorsement and rarely provided opposition. The heterogeneity of statistical guidance provided by top-ranked journals within and between disciplines highlights a need for further research and debate about the role journals can play in improving statistical practice.
Beyond CSI: Calibrating public beliefs about the reliability of forensic science through openness and transparency
Authors: Ibaviosa Carlos , Chin Jason
Published: February 2022

What drives public beliefs about the credibility of a scientific field? This question is increasingly important, with recent discussion of a “reproducibility crisis” affecting many fields. Such discussions are vital in forensic science, a discipline that has experienced severe scrutiny from both the media and large oversight bodies. In this paper, we make three contributions to this discussion. First, we bring together and compare several studies in which laypeople were asked about the reliability of forensic science practices. This review suggests that forensic practices do not enjoy uniformly high reliability ratings from the public and these ratings are not calibrated with the scientific consensus. We then review three empirically-tested ways that other fields are dealing with their own crises, all centred around transparency and openness. Finally, we make recommendations for how forensic science can leverage transparency and openness to improve and maintain its long-term credibility. As part of these recommendations, we find that empirical research supports the Houston Forensic Science Center’s recent claims that it has improved its credibility through openness and transparency.
Naturalising Agent Causation
Authors: Potter Henry D. , Mitchell Kevin J.
Published: February 2022

The idea of agent causation - that a system like a living organism can be a cause of things in the world - is often seen as mysterious and deemed to be at odds with the physicalist thesis that is now commonly embraced in science and philosophy. Instead, the causal power of organisms is attributed to mechanistic components within the system or derived from the causal activity at the lowest level of physical description. In either case, the ‘agent’ itself (i.e., the system as a whole) is left out of the picture entirely, and agent causation is explained away. We argue that this is not the right way to think about causation in biology, or in systems more generally. We present a framework of eight criteria that we argue, collectively, describe a system that overcomes the challenges concerning agent causality, in an entirely naturalistic and non-mysterious way. They are: 1) Thermodynamic Autonomy, 2) Persistence, 3) Endogenous Activity, 4) Holistic Integration, 5) Low-Level Indeterminacy, 6) Multiple Realisability, 7) Historicity, 8) Agent-Level Normativity. Each criterion is taken to be dimensional rather than categorical, and thus we conclude with a short discussion on how researchers working on quantifying agency may use this multi-dimensional framework to situate and guide their research.
Predictive modeling of optimism bias using gray matter cortical thickness
Authors: Kotikalapudi Raviteja , Moser Dominik Andreas , Dricu Mihai , Spisak Tamas , Aue Tatjana
Published: February 2022

Optimism bias (OB) is an expectancy bias, where people expect irrationally good future outcomes for themselves. Predictive modeling for OB would open new opportunities for estimating an overall state of well-being and understanding clinical conditions such as depression. To our knowledge, this is the first study attempting to address OB implementing a dedicated machine-learning based predictive modeling. We calculate people’s OB via a soccer paradigm, where participants rate their comparative chances for a successful outcome against their rival (i.e., personal OB) and a rival team (social OB). Later, using gray matter cortical thickness (CT) in a machine-learning framework, we predict both POB and SOB. Our results reveal a significant brain structure-based predictive model for experimentally assessed POB (Pearson’s r = 0.41, p = 0.007). Strongest predictors include left rostral and caudal ACC, right pars orbitalis and entorhinal cortex, all shown to have a role in OB before. Our confounder analysis suggests that the predictions are predominantly driven by CT measures and are not corrupted by demographic data (e.g., age and sex). There were no predictors recognized for estimating SOB. More of such predictive models on a large-scale data platform are needed, to help us understand positive psychology and individual well-being.
Employee Green Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Katz Ian M. , Rauvola Rachel Sisu , Rudolph Cort , Zacher Hannes
Published: February 2022

Due to climate change, the need to protect biodiversity and reduce pollution, and governmental regulations, many organizations are aiming to become more environmentally sustainable. In this context, researchers and practitioners are increasingly interested in the construct of employee green behavior (EGB). EGB has been considered by numerous empirical studies over the last two decades and its associations with demographic characteristics, individual differences, work-related perceptions, and job attitudes. To systematically synthesize the rapidly growing literature on EGB, we conducted a meta-analysis (k = 135 independent samples; total N = 47,442 employees). Results showed positive associations between EGB and, for example, pro-environmental attitudes, corporate social responsibility, and green psychological climate. We further report the results of a meta-analytic path model based on the theory of planned behavior, which showed that pro-environmental attitude, norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions positively predicted EGB.
Mental Jenga: A counterfactual simulation model of causal judgments about physical support
Authors: Zhou Liang , Smith Kevin , Tenenbaum Joshua , Gerstenberg Tobias
Published: February 2022

From building towers to picking an orange from a stack of fruit, assessing support is critical for successfully interacting with the physical world. But how do people determine whether one object supports another? In this paper, we develop the Counterfactual Simulation Model (CSM) of causal judgments about physical support. The CSM predicts that people judge physical support by mentally simulating what would happen to a scene if the object of interest were removed. Three experiments test the model by asking one group of participants to judge what would happen to a tower if one of the blocks were removed, and another group of participants how responsible that block was for the tower's stability. The CSM accurately captures participants' predictions by running noisy simulations that incorporate different sources of uncertainty. Participants' responsibility judgments are closely related to counterfactual predictions: a block is more responsible when many other blocks would fall if it were removed. By construing physical support as preventing from falling, the CSM provides a unified account of how causal judgments in dynamic and static physical scenes arise from the process of counterfactual simulation.
Lights, Cameras (on), Action! Camera Usage During Zoom Classes Facilitates Student Engagement Without Increasing Fatigue
Authors: Kushlev Kostadin , Epstein-Shuman Adam
Published: February 2022

Abstract. Video conferencing software such as Zoom has facilitated the recent explosion in online learning. As online learning becomes ever more widespread, video conferencing software such as Zoom. In two field experiments, we explored how students having their cameras on versus off affected their engagement during, and their fatigue after, a large, lecture-based class. In an affective forecasting experiment (Study 1), we asked 81 students across two university classes to predict how they would feel if they had their cameras on versus off during a particular class session. Consistent with popular concerns about “Zoom fatigue,” students expected to feel both more engaged and more fatigued when their cameras were on than when they were off. A subsequent longitudinal, experience-based study (Study 2) with 319 observations across 65 students, however, only bore out one of these expectations. As anticipated, students felt more engaged during class when they were assigned to have their camera on, but they were no more fatigued afterward. Our findings suggest that at least in the context of large online lectures, asking students to have their cameras on can increase engagement without increasing fatigue.
The UBC State Social Connection Scale: Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity
Authors: Lok Iris , Dunn Elizabeth Warren
Published: February 2022

Social connection plays a central role in people’s everyday lives. Although researchers have traditionally focused on the benefits of experiencing an enduring sense of social connection, recent research has also begun to explore the contextual factors that shape momentary feeling of social connection. To date, however, no psychological scales have been developed to measure social connection at the state level. To address this gap, we developed and validated the 10-item UBC State Social Connection Scale. In Study 1, we generated and refined our initial pool of items and confirmed our hypothesized factor structure in a large university sample. In Studies 2 and 3, we established several forms of validity and demonstrated that state social connection is related to but distinct from trait social connection. Taken together, we provide foundational evidence that the UBC State Social Connection Scale is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing momentary feelings of social connection.
I humanize, therefore I understand? Effects of explanations and humanization of intelligent systems on perceived and objective user understanding
Authors: Ngo Thao , Krämer Nicole
Published: February 2022

The functioning of intelligent systems can be opaque to users. Yet, users need to make informed choices about them. This work compares two knowledge mechanisms, i.e., ways for users to achieve an understanding of intelligent systems: explanation and humanization. In online experiment (N = 416), we compared the effects of a control condition without any explanation against a) aneutral and b) a humanized how-explanations as well as c) active humanization on (perceived and objective) user understanding and systems perceptions (trust, transparency, satisfaction, perceived usefulness). Our main finding: Explanations increased transparency and perceived understanding but not objective understanding. Active humanization, surprisingly, decreased objective understanding compared to the control condition suggesting inhibition of knowledge retrieval. Humanized how-explanation increased the perceived usefulness. We found no effects for trust and satisfaction. We conclude that explanations lead to a deceptive feeling of understanding. Explanations shouldconsider the prior understanding to affect objective understanding.
Musical groove shapes children's free dancing
Authors: Kragness Haley Elisabeth , Anderseon Lucy , Chow Ester , Schmuckler Mark , Cirelli Laura
Published: February 2022

The drive to move to music is evident across a variety of contexts, from the simple urge to tap our toe to a song on the radio, to massive crowds dancing in time at a rock concert. Though seemingly effortless, beat synchronization is difficult to master and children are often poor beat synchronizers. Nevertheless, auditory-motor integration is fundamental for many daily processes, such as speech. A topic that has been relatively understudied concerns how stimulus properties affect young children’s movement in responses to auditory stimuli. In the present study, we examined how musical groove (adult-rated desire to move) affected 3.0- to 6.9-year-old children’s free dancing in the comfort of their home (n = 78). In the high groove conditions, children danced more often and with more energy compared to the low groove conditions. Moreover, in the high groove condition, children’s movement tempos corresponded better with the tempos of the music. Results point to early childhood sensitivity to the musical features that motivate adults to move to music. High groove music may therefore prove especially effective at facilitating early auditory-motor integration.
Distance perception in virtual reality: A meta-analysis of the effect of head-mounted display characteristics
Authors: Kelly Jonathan
Published: February 2022

Distances are commonly underperceived in virtual reality (VR), and this finding has been documented repeatedly over more than two decades of research. Yet, there is evidence that perceived distance is more accurate in modern compared to older head-mounted displays (HMDs). This meta-analysis of 131 studies describes egocentric distance perception across 20 HMDs, and also examines the relationship between perceived distance and technical HMD characteristics. Judged distance was positively associated with HMD field of view (FOV), positively associated with HMD resolution, and negatively associated with HMD weight. The effects of FOV and resolution were more pronounced among heavier HMDs. These findings suggest that future improvements in these technical characteristics may be central to resolving the problem of distance underperception in VR.
The temporal context in Bayesian models of interval timing: Recent advances and future directions
Authors: Sadibolova Renata , Terhune Devin B
Published: February 2022

Sensory perception, motor control, and cognition necessitate reliable timing in the range of milliseconds to seconds, which implies the existence of a highly accurate timing system. Yet, partly owing to the fact that temporal processing is modulated by contextual factors, perceived time is not isomorphic to physical time. Temporal estimates exhibit regression to the mean of an interval distribution (global context) and are also affected by preceding trials (local context). Recent Bayesian models of interval timing have provided important insights regarding these observations, but questions remain as to how exposure to past intervals shapes perceived time. In this article, we provide a brief overview of Bayesian models of interval timing and their contribution to current understanding of context effects. We then proceed to highlight recent developments in the field concerning precision weighting of Bayesian evidence in both healthy timing and disease, and the neurophysiological and neurochemical signatures of timing prediction errors. We further aim to bring attention to current outstanding questions for Bayesian models of interval timing, such as the likelihood conceptualization.