Radon Testing Status in Schools by Radon Zone and School Location and Demographic Characteristics: United States, 2014

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 442-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry Everett Jones ◽  
Stephanie Foster ◽  
Andrew S. Berens
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Indoor Radon ◽  
The United States ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Radon Testing ◽  
Radon Survey

Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive, colorless, odorless gas, and the second leading cause of lung cancer. The 1990–1991 National School Radon Survey estimated that more than 70,000 schoolrooms nationwide had “high short-term radon levels.” Using data from a nationally representative survey of schools in the United States ( N = 568; response rate = 69%), we examined the location and demographic characteristics of U.S. schools that had ever been tested for radon and whether having been tested varied by radon zone, which predicts average indoor radon levels in U.S. counties. Overall, 46.0% (95% confidence interval [39.8%, 52.4%]) of schools reported that they had ever been tested for radon. Testing significantly varied by region, percentage of minority students, and radon zone. These findings highlight the need for improved awareness of radon testing in schools, as testing is the only way to identify when remediation is needed.

Is Music Teacher Professional Development Becoming More Effective? Evaluating Practice and Policy in the United States, 1993–2012

2020 ◽  
pp. 002242942098252
Author(s):  
Justin J. West
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
United States ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Using Data

The purpose of this study was to evaluate music teacher professional development (PD) practice and policy in the United States between 1993 and 2012. Using data from the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) spanning these 20 years, I examined music teacher PD participation by topic, intensity, relevance, and format; music teachers’ top PD priorities; and the reach of certain PD-supportive policies. I assessed these descriptive results against a set of broadly agreed-on criteria for “effective” PD: content specificity, relevance, voluntariness/autonomy, social interaction, and sustained duration. Findings revealed a mixed record. Commendable improvements in content-specific PD access were undercut by deficiencies in social interaction, voluntariness/autonomy, sustained duration, and relevance. School policy, as reported by teachers, was grossly inadequate, with only one of the nine PD-supportive measures appearing on SASS reaching a majority of teachers in any given survey year. Implications for policy, practice, and scholarship are presented.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptability and Inequity in the United States: Results from a nationally representative survey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin Gibson ◽  
Smisha Agarwal ◽  
Ankita Meghani ◽  
Rupali J. Limaye ◽  
Alain Labrique
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Influenza Vaccine ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Racial Ethnic

AbstractBackgroundAt the time of this survey, September 1st, there were roughly 6 million COVID-19 cases and 176,771 deaths in the United States and no federally approved vaccine. The objective of this study was to explore the willingness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States and describe variability in this acceptability by key racial, ethnic and socio-demographic characteristics.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional digital survey that sampled participants from a nationally-representative panel maintained by a third party, Dynata. Dynata randomly sampled their database and emailed web-based surveys to United States residents ensuring the sample was matched to US Census estimates for age, race, gender, income, and Census region. Participants were asked how willing or unwilling they would be to: 1) receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it was made publicly available, and 2) receive the influenza vaccine for the upcoming influenza season. Participants could respond with extremely willing, willing, unwilling, or extremely unwilling. For those who reported being unwilling to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, reasons for this hesitancy were captured. All participants were asked about where they obtain vaccine-related information, and which sources they trust most. Univariable and multivariable logistic regressions were conducted to examine the association of all demographic characteristics with willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine.FindingsFrom September 1st to September 7, 2020, 1592 respondents completed the online survey. Overall, weighted analyses found that only 58.9% of the sample population were either willing or extremely willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it was made publicly available. In comparison, 67.7% of the respondents were willing or extremely willing to take the influenza vaccine. By gender, 66.1% of males and 51.5% of females were willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Males were significantly more willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.98, 95% CI: 1.56, 2.53; p<0.001) than females. Blacks were the least willing racial/ethnic group (48.8%) Blacks, (aOR=0.59, 95%CI: 0.43, 0.80; p<0.001) were significantly less willing, than whites, to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. There were numerous reasons provided for being unwilling to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The most common reason was concern about the vaccine’s safety (36.9%), followed by concerns over its efficacy (19.1%).InterpretationIn conclusion, we found that a substantial proportion (41%) of United States residents are unwilling to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as one is made publicly available. We found that vaccine acceptance differs by sub-populations. In addition to sub-group differences in willingness to receive the vaccine, respondents provided a variety of reasons for being unwilling to receive the vaccine, driven by various sources of vaccine information (and misinformation). This compounds the challenge of delivering a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine at a population level to achieve herd immunity. A multi-pronged and targeted communications and outreach effort is likely needed to achieve a high level of immunization coverage.

scholarly journals Prevalence, Magnitude, and Genotype Distribution of Urinary Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Shedding Among CMV-Seropositive Children and Adolescents in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodie L White ◽  
Eshan U Patel ◽  
Alison G Abraham ◽  
Mary Kate Grabowski ◽  
Ravit Arav-Boger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Genotype Distribution ◽  
Viral Loads ◽  
Glycoprotein H ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Using Data ◽  
General Populations

Abstract Background There are limited nationally representative data on correlates of cytomegalovirus (CMV) shedding among children and adolescents. In addition, the genotype distribution of CMV infections has not been well characterized among general populations in the United States Methods This study characterized urinary CMV shedding among CMV immunoglobulin G-positive 6- to 19-year-olds in the US household population using data from the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Multivariable Poisson regression was used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Analyses were weighted and multiple imputation was performed to handle missing data (with the exception of CMV genotypes). Results Prevalence of urinary CMV shedding was significantly lower among 9- to 11-year-olds (20.6%; aPR = 0.61; 95% CI, 0.44–0.83) and 12- to 19-year-olds (7.0%; aPR = 0.21; 95% CI, 0.14–0.30) compared with 6- to 8-year-olds (34.4%). Among CMV shedders, the youngest age group also had the highest urinary CMV viral loads. The prevalence of urinary CMV shedding among obese individuals was significantly lower compared with lean individuals (aPR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.47–0.99). Among CMV shedders, glycoprotein B (gB)1 (51%) was the most prevalent gB variant, followed by gB2 (29%), gB3 (21%), and gB4 (13%); glycoprotein H (gH)2 (60%) was more prevalent than gH1 (48%). Multiple (≥2) gB (14%) and multiple gH (7%) infections were detected among CMV shedders. Conclusions This study underscores the importance of young children even above the age of 5 years as a potential source of CMV transmission. The detection of multiple CMV strains among CMV shedders may have implications for the transmission of viral diversity as well as vaccine development.

Cultural Awareness of Students in Communication Sciences and Disorders: A Mixed-Methods Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1231-1242
Author(s):  
Celeste Domsch ◽  
Lori Stiritz ◽  
Jay Huff
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Global Awareness ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Short Term Study

Purpose This study used a mixed-methods design to assess changes in students' cultural awareness during and following a short-term study abroad. Method Thirty-six undergraduate and graduate students participated in a 2-week study abroad to England during the summers of 2016 and 2017. Quantitative data were collected using standardized self-report measures administered prior to departure and after returning to the United States and were analyzed using paired-samples t tests. Qualitative data were collected in the form of daily journal reflections during the trip and interviews after returning to the United States and analyzed using phenomenological methods. Results No statistically significant changes were evident on any standardized self-report measures once corrections for multiple t tests were applied. In addition, a ceiling effect was found on one measure. On the qualitative measures, themes from student transcripts included increased global awareness and a sense of personal growth. Conclusions Measuring cultural awareness poses many challenges. One is that social desirability bias may influence responses. A second is that current measures of cultural competence may exhibit ceiling or floor effects. Analysis of qualitative data may be more useful in examining effects of participation in a short-term study abroad, which appears to result in decreased ethnocentrism and increased global awareness in communication sciences and disorders students. Future work may wish to consider the long-term effects of participation in a study abroad for emerging professionals in the field.

Migration and the Internet

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas John Cooke ◽  
Ian Shuttleworth
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Unobserved Heterogeneity ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Using Data ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Dynamics Models

It is widely presumed that information and communication technologies, or ICTs, enable migration in several ways; primarily by reducing the costs of migration. However, a reconsideration of the relationship between ICTs and migration suggests that ICTs may just as well hinder migration; primarily by reducing the costs of not moving.  Using data from the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics, models that control for sources of observed and unobserved heterogeneity indicate a strong negative effect of ICT use on inter-state migration within the United States. These results help to explain the long-term decline in internal migration within the United States.

The Future of Muslim Education in the United States: An Agenda for Research

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 46-82
Author(s):  
Fathi Malkawi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Education ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Future ◽  
Muslim Education ◽  
Future Plans

This paper addresses some of the Muslim community’s concerns regarding its children’s education and reflects upon how education has shaped the position of other communities in American history. It argues that the future of Muslim education will be influenced directly by the present realities and future trends within American education in general, and, more importantly, by the well-calculated and informed short-term and long-term decisions and future plans taken by the Muslim community. The paper identifies some areas in which a wellestablished knowledge base is critical to making decisions, and calls for serious research to be undertaken to furnish this base.

“Of Sound Mind and Body”

2019 ◽  
pp. 64-86
Author(s):  
Frank E. Vandervort ◽  
Vincent J. Palusci
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Drug Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Prenatally Exposed ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Sound Mind

Substance abuse is a major medical and social problem. Estimates suggest that each year some 15 percent of the 4 million babies born in the United States are exposed to drugs or alcohol. Research demonstrates that exposure to these substances is harmful to the children in both the short term and across their developmental trajectory. This chapter summarizes the harms that might result from such prenatal exposure and considers the ways that both federal and state law respond to this. The chapter argues for universal drug testing of newborns in an effort to ascertain whether they have been prenatally exposed to such substances so that treatment and other services can be provided.

scholarly journals Challenges in Bridge Health Monitoring: A Review

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4336
Author(s):  
Piervincenzo Rizzo ◽  
Alireza Enshaeian
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Monitoring ◽  
Highway Bridges ◽  
The United States ◽  
Anomalous Behavior ◽  
Existing Structures ◽  
Bridge Health Monitoring ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Many ◽  
Major Factors

Bridge health monitoring is increasingly relevant for the maintenance of existing structures or new structures with innovative concepts that require validation of design predictions. In the United States there are more than 600,000 highway bridges. Nearly half of them (46.4%) are rated as fair while about 1 out of 13 (7.6%) is rated in poor condition. As such, the United States is one of those countries in which bridge health monitoring systems are installed in order to complement conventional periodic nondestructive inspections. This paper reviews the challenges associated with bridge health monitoring related to the detection of specific bridge characteristics that may be indicators of anomalous behavior. The methods used to detect loss of stiffness, time-dependent and temperature-dependent deformations, fatigue, corrosion, and scour are discussed. Owing to the extent of the existing scientific literature, this review focuses on systems installed in U.S. bridges over the last 20 years. These are all major factors that contribute to long-term degradation of bridges. Issues related to wireless sensor drifts are discussed as well. The scope of the paper is to help newcomers, practitioners, and researchers at navigating the many methodologies that have been proposed and developed in order to identify damage using data collected from sensors installed in real structures.

scholarly journals Decline in Marriage Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 237802312098032
Author(s):  
Brandon G. Wagner ◽  
Kate H. Choi ◽  
Philip N. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reporting Delays ◽  
Social Upheaval ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Do So

In the social upheaval arising from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we do not yet know how union formation, particularly marriage, has been affected. Using administration records—marriage certificates and applications—gathered from settings representing a variety of COVID-19 experiences in the United States, the authors compare counts of recorded marriages in 2020 against those from the same period in 2019. There is a dramatic decrease in year-to-date cumulative marriages in 2020 compared with 2019 in each case. Similar patterns are observed for the Seattle metropolitan area when analyzing the cumulative number of marriage applications, a leading indicator of marriages in the near future. Year-to-date declines in marriage are unlikely to be due solely to closure of government agencies that administer marriage certification or reporting delays. Together, these findings suggest that marriage has declined during the COVID-19 outbreak and may continue to do so, at least in the short term.

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