Defining delayed consequences as reinforcers: some do, some don't, and nothing changes

Results of a survey sent to members of the editorial boards of five behavior-analytic journals in 1990 indicated that there was no consensus among respondents with respect to whether delayed events can function as reinforcers (Schlinger, Blakely, Fillhard, & Poling, 1991). Since that time, several studies with nonhuman animals have demonstrated that events delayed by at least several seconds can increase the probability of occurrence of the responses that produce them. To determine the relative number of contemporary behavior analysts who nonetheless believe that reinforcers must immediately follow the responses that produce them, the present study replicated the procedures used by Schlinger et al., with similar results. That is, respondents did not agree with respect to whether delayed events could be reinforcers.     

Addressing common forms of child maltreatment: evidence‐informed interventions and gaps in current knowledge

This paper reviews interventions for preventing the occurrence and recurrence of major types of child maltreatment. We begin with an overview of the challenges of establishing evidence‐based interventions to prevent child abuse and neglect in many countries, and underscore the importance of this need with child maltreatment incidence rates in the USA, and how much each type and subtype contribute to child out‐of‐home placement. Next, we identify the well‐supported, supported and promising interventions for each child maltreatment type and subtype, according to their level of research evidence using an evidence‐based clearing house. The paper closes with a discussion of the implications for practice, evaluation, policy and agency management, including intervention knowledge gaps that showcase areas that need additional practice research.     

A Smooth Bootstrap Procedure towards Deriving Confidence Intervals for the Relative Risk

Given a pair of sample estimators of two independent proportions, bootstrap methods are a common strategy towards deriving the associated confidence interval for the relative risk. We develop a new smooth bootstrap procedure, which generates pseudo-samples from a continuous quantile function. Under a variety of settings, our simulation studies show that our method possesses a better or equal performance in comparison with asymptotic theory based and existing bootstrap methods, particularly for heavily unbalanced data in terms of coverage probability and power. We illustrate our procedure as applied to several published data sets.     

Geographically Weighted Negative Binomial Regression—incorporating overdispersion

Global regression assumes that a single model adequately describes all parts of a study region. However, the heterogeneity in the data may be sufficiently strong that relationships between variables can not be spatially constant. In addition, the factors involved are often sufficiently complex that it is difficult to identify them in the form of explanatory variables. As a result Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was introduced as a tool for the modeling of non-stationary spatial data. Using kernel functions, the GWR methodology allows the model parameters to vary spatially and produces non-parametric surfaces of their estimates. To model count data with overdispersion, it is more appropriate to use a negative binomial distribution instead of a Poisson distribution. Therefore, we propose the Geographically Weighted Negative Binomial Regression (GWNBR) method for the modeling of data with overdispersion. The results obtained using simulated and real data show the superiority of this method for the modeling of non-stationary count data with overdispersion compared with competing models, such as global regressions, e.g., Poisson and negative binomial and Geographically Weighted Poisson Regression (GWPR). Moreover, we illustrate that these competing models are special cases of the more robust model GWNBR.     

Analysis and Implications of Retraction Period and Coauthorship of Fraudulent Publications

Studies have indicated that the number and frequency of fraudulent publications being retracted are not subsiding even with greater awareness of such incidents in the recent decades. In this study, the trends of retraction period, number of citations and coauthors of 5 selected researchers who had ≥ 15 fraudulent publications retracted were analyzed. The obtained results shows that the retraction period is 48.96 ± 32.16 months for the 113 publications affiliated to the 5 studied researchers. There are a total of 180 coauthors with 6.40 ± 3.26 coauthors per researcher's retracted publication. The linear regression analysis indicates that there is limited correlation (R² = .008) between the citation counts and retraction period. The p value for multiple F-tests to assess the number of coauthors to a fraudulent publication on an interresearcher basis is found to be ranging from < .001 to .458. It is also found that a better correlation (R² = .592) exists between the likelihood of a researcher to involve different individuals for isolated fraudulent publications while only selecting very few to be their frequent coauthors of their mischievous acts. With this study, the possible use of coauthors as a strategy for publishing fraudulent work and a potential approach to tighten coauthorship are discussed.     

Model‐based Prediction In Ecological Surveys Including Those with Incomplete Detection

This paper explores and develops model‐based predictors for surveys of plants and wildlife including those with incomplete detection. The methodology allows for estimating a detection function to account for objects which were not detected at the time of the survey. The model‐based theory utilises generalized linear models (GLMs) and is either new or adapted from other areas of sampling. A simulation study is used to validate the estimators and comparisons are made with an integrated likelihood approach. An aerial survey of kangaroos in western New South Wales is used to illustrate the theory. The area within 50m of the aircraft is treated as a strip transect and mark‐recapture methods are used to estimate the detection function.     

一个早期的世界网络:欧亚宗教

横亘欧亚大陆大部分地区的宗教在公元前4000年到公元200年间得到了创造性的蓬勃发展,这一时期的思想、艺术、实践得以集中共享。由于历史原因,存在于西方文化长廊末端的基督教与东方佛教之间的联系在大约5-15世纪间开始大量减少,15世纪以后,这种关系进入了重建期。基督教和佛教这两种彼此“分离”的宗教看起来十分不同。尽管每种宗教都有其自身的历史,但就其本质而言,诸宗教之间则存在着许许多多的关联。信仰间的对话不是必须的,但欧亚宗教最好被视为一个错综复杂的网络,在这个网络里,制度化的“宗教”是这个复杂网络的服务器。宗教的“象征符号”可被视为某种类似于DNA解码序列的东西。     

Women's perceptions of their healthcare experience when they choose not to breastfeed

Research questionHow do women who choose not to breastfeed perceive their healthcare experience?MethodThis qualitative research study used a phenomenographic approach to explore the healthcare experience of women who do not breastfeed. Seven women were interviewed about their healthcare experience relating to their choice of feeding, approximately 4 weeks after giving birth. Six conceptions were identified and an outcome space was developed to demonstrate the relationships and meaning of the conceptions in a visual format.FindingsThere were five unmet needs identified by the participants during this study. These needs included equity, self sufficiency, support, education and the need not to feel pressured.ConclusionWomen in this study who chose not to breastfeed identified important areas where they felt that their needs were not met. In keeping with the Code of Ethics for Nurses and Midwives, the identified needs of women who do not breastfeed must be addressed in a caring, compassionate and just manner. The care and education of women who formula feed should be of the highest standard possible, even if the choice not to breastfeed is not the preferred choice of healthcare professionals.     

Epidemic Potential of Measles and Rubella

Abstract

Although there have been major declines in the incidence of measles and rubella in the United States since licensure of vaccines, the incidence of disease in adolescents and young adults has not declined nearly as markedly as that in younger children. As a result, an increasing proportion of cases have occurred in adolescents and young adults. In 1978, 26% of all reported measles cases in which age was known occurred in those 15 years of age and older, and 76% reported rubella cases occurred in this age group. Outbreaks of both diseases have been reported from high schools, military bases, colleges, and universities. During a recent outbreak of measles involving a university, a 22-year-old university employee contracted measles and died of measles encephalitis. In addition to the direct effects of these diseases, the implications of the current pattern of occurrence of two infections known to have adverse effects on the developing fetus are obvious.

Improvements in immunization levels and declines in disease incidence have been brought about effectively by the enactment and enforcement of immunization requirements for school-age children and military recruits. Colleges and universities should also institute immunization requirements as a condition of enrollment.