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Homework is a common instructional practice that is used to motivate students, develop students' studying skills and habits, inform parents about student learning, and increase student achievement. Homework provides an opportunity for students to revisit daily topics, and improve students' understanding of math concepts and problem-solving skills, helps students learn from their mistakes, and prepare for tests. One of the primary goals of this study was to find the trends of homework frequency. This study used TIMSS [Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study] 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015 data for Singapore, United States, Slovenia, and Turkey. The study used hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine the relationship between homework frequency and student achievement in fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics in Slovenia, Singapore, Turkey, and US. The study also sought optimal homework frequencies in those countries. The study found that homework frequency significantly effects student achievement in 8th grade but not in 4th grade. The study also found that trend of the assigning homework from 2003 to 2015 is negative both in 4th and 8th grades in all selected countries, except in Turkey.

This paper presents a large scale study of online MLIS students (n = 910), who completed at least one online course and were enrolled in 36 of the 58 ALA-accredited MLIS programs in Canada and the United States. The results indicate that the typical student is female, White, lives in an urban setting, and is in her mid-30s. Online students were found to be quite diverse, with statistically significant differences in their preferences and satisfaction across five demographic variables: "age" (generational cohort)," "employment status," "urban status," "commute distance," and "program modality." Three motivations emerged: "accommodation," "predisposition," and "selectivity", which influenced the respondents to choose online learning. The prevalent issues online MLIS students experienced were a sense of isolation from peers and instructors, and a lack of professional development and networking opportunities with peers. The findings have implications for enhancing MLIS online education including marketing, course offerings, and student support services.

Public libraries are often regarded as having the potential to support healthy aging. Past work has shown that public librarians increasingly endeavor to offer programs and services for those aging in place. However, research about the effects that public library services and spaces have on the lives of older adults and the affordances they bring is limited. This article presents the results of a nationwide study in which 49 public libraries participated—most from rural and small towns across the United States. More than 535 older adults engaged in a 12-week strength-training program in these libraries. Results of the study indicate that health outcomes for participants can be grouped into three interconnected categories: physical health, mental health, and social health. Results also suggest that the program influenced the participants' perception of the public library as a social space. Implications for research on aging in place and public librarianship are highlighted and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender discrimination (sexual harassment and use of gender in job decisions--gender evaluation) was compared using data from 583 working women in the United States, China, and Hong Kong. Discrimination negatively affected job satisfaction, commitment, and stress. Harassment was more significant in the United States, unwanted attention in China, and gender evaluation in Hong Kong. (Contains 86 references.) (SK)

Introduction In a randomised controlled study, the use of ceramide-infused skin barriers (CIB) resulted in lower costs of care over 12 weeks versus using a standard of care (SoC) skin barrier. However, the degree to which this information may influence prescribing patterns of ostomy products, and its corresponding impact on payers' budgets, has not been examined. Purpose To examine expected budget impact of CIB among recent ostomates in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Sweden, Australia, Italy and Norway. Design A decision-analytic budget impact model. Methods Total ostomy-related costs (i.e., skin barriers, ostomy accessories, care of peristomal skin complications [PSC]) were forecasted over 1 year for hypothetical cohorts of recent ostomates in each country of interest. Costs were assessed under two alternative scenarios -- one in which all patients were assumed to use barriers other than CIB (the SoC scenario), and one in which 20% of patients were assumed to use CIB in lieu of SoC (the CIB scenario). The budget impact was assumed equal to the difference in these two scenarios. Findings The use of CIB was expected to result in annual savings of US$6.6m in the US, £0.4m in the UK, SEK1.8m in Sweden, A$0.4m in Australia, €0.2m in Italy and NOK1.5m in Norway. Findings were consistent in sensitivity analyses. Conclusions The use of CIB versus other barriers results in expected lower costs to the payers in each evaluated country. Further research is needed to better understand the complete clinical and economic benefits associated with the use of CIB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a large-scale study of public library services to older adults in the United States. A random sampling method was used to identify public libraries (n=226) for the study. Results suggest that libraries serve their aging communities in multiple ways. Some libraries provide a plethora of specialized programs focused on the specific needs of older adults. Others extend core library services to ensure they are accessible to older adults. Others invest in infrastructure and staff development to prepare for an aging society. Some do not provide any specialized programs or services for older adults. There is great unevenness in terms of library services for older adults across the nation. The discussion suggests additional work needed to better understand this unevenness, and to address it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: African American children are more than twice as likely to die after surgery compared with white children. In this study, we evaluated whether risk factors for death after surgery differ for African American and white children, and we also assessed whether race-specific risk stratification models perform better than non-race-specific models. METHODS: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric Participant Use Data File contains clinical data on operations performed on children at participating institutions in the United States. Variables predictive of death within 30 days of surgery were analyzed for differences in prevalence and strength of association with death for both African American and white children. Classification tree and network analysis were used. RESULTS: Network analyses revealed that the prevalence of preoperative risk factors associated with death after surgery was significantly higher for African American than for white children. In addition, many of the risk factors associated with death after surgery carried a higher risk when they occurred in African American children. Race-specific risk models provided high accuracy, with a specificity of 94% and a sensitivity of 83% for African American children and a specificity of 96% and a sensitivity of 77% for white children, and yet these 2 models were significantly different from each other. CONCLUSIONS: Race-specific models predict outcomes after surgery more accurately compared with non-race-specific models. Identification of race-specific modifiable risk factors may help reduce racial disparities in surgery outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the level of scientific collaboration and interaction in different subject fields using a novel social network analysis (SNA) on a data set provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technologic Information (OSTI) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This paper not only determines the level of scientific collaboration between different disciplines, but it also analyzes the trends among the subject fields considered. The results in this paper show clear pattern recognition discovery on the social network model among key subject fields using weighted networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores whether the temperature dependence of whale blood flow behavior might show adaptation for maintaining peripheral blood flow in these animals. Benefits of such an adaptation for the animal's temperature regulation; Apparent viscosity versus shear rate properties of bowhead whale blood over a range of temperatures known to be present in their tail thermal exchange circulation; Study conducted at the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium facility, Barrow, Alaska, during the spring subsistence whaling season.

Compares public relations (PR) personnel and journalists working for daily newspapers in the U.S. Indications that PR person are more educated and better paid than newspaper persons; Examination on the degree of job satisfaction between the PR personnel and print journalists; Development of a reliable basis for the comparison of professional developments between the journalists and public relations personnel.

Objectives: Estimates on the distribution of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) by line of therapy (LOT) are scarce and get outdated quickly as new treatments become available. The objective of this study was to estimate the number of patients with MM by LOT and the number of patients who have received at least 4 previous LOTs including proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents, and anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).Methods: A compartmental model was developed to calculate the number of patients by LOT. Two pathways were considered based on stem cell transplant eligibility, and at each pathway, treatments were stratified in 2 types: anti-CD38 mAbs or other. The model population was stratified into 4 subgroups based on age and cytogenetic risk. Model inputs were informed from real-world evidence.Results: The model estimated that, in 2020, 126 869 patients were living with MM in the United States. Of these, 105 701 received treatment in any LOT, with 56 959, 27 252, 11 258, and 5217 in lines 1 to 4, respectively, and 5015 in line 5 or beyond. The model estimated that 3497 patients received at least 4 previous LOTs including proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents, and anti-CD38 mAbs. The model overall prevalence predictions aligned well with publicly available estimates.Conclusions: This study proposes a novel framework to estimate MM prevalence. It can assist clinicians to understand future trends in MM epidemiology, healthcare systems to plan for future resource use allocation, and payers to quantify the budget impact of new treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thyroid cancer is one of the most common cancers and is especially common in young patients. Therefore, effective recognition and treatment of thyroid cancer are essential for patient survival., Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of standard guidelines for predicting thyroid malignancy. To do so, thyroid nodules were classified according to the categories of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) and Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) guidelines, and compared with fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) results., Material and Methods: The study included 1741 thyroid nodules with a final diagnosis in 1121 consecutive patients. The FNAB was recommended for all patients according to ATA guidelines and subsequently performed. The nodules were reclassified according to TI-RADS guidelines., Results: Comparing nodules classified according to ATA and TI-RADS in terms of ultrasonography (US) features with the Bethesda cytological diagnosis classification System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology, 37.6% of the nodules classified in the high-risk category according to the ATA classification were found to be malignant cytology, 10.4% suspicious for malignancy, 4% non-diagnostic, 9.6% indeterminant cytology, and 38.4% benign. According to the TI-RADS risk category, 50% of those with high suspicion were malignant, 13.3% suspicious for malignancy cytology and 36.7% were benign. For the TI-RADS guidelines, the best cutoff value for differentiating benign and malignant nodules was found to be 4.5 (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.962, 95% CI = 0.943-0.981, p < 0.001). For the ATA guidelines, the best cutoff value for separating benign and malignant nodules was 4.5 (AUC = 0.917, 95% CI = 0.875-0.959, p < 0.001). The diagnostic performances of the TI-RADS and ATA score systems were evaluated using highly suspicious nodules. The sensitivity and specificity of highly suspicious nodules, according to both TI-RADS and ATA guidelines, were both high. Sensitivity and specificity of ATA classification were 80% and 96.3%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of TI-RADS classification were 76% and 97.5%, respectively, but positive predictive value was low (63.3% compared to 55.5%)., Conclusions: Both, the ATA and TI-RADS classifications can effectively predict malignancy risk of thyroid nodules and may thus decrease unnecessary FNAB.