Parental (STEM) Occupations, the Home Numeracy Environment, and Kindergarten Children’s Numerical Competencies

Children’s early numerical competencies are of great importance for later academic achievement. Young children gain these competencies in the context of the home numeracy environment (HNE). Additionally, child characteristics and families’ socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with children’s competencies. In this study, we investigated parents’ occupations (i.e., STEM or non-STEM occupation) as a specific aspect of the SES to understand whether parental occupations are associated with children’s numerical competencies and whether such an association may depend on the HNE. We analysed data from a sample of N = 190 children (Mage = 63.58 months; SD = 4.41) at two measurement points. Correlational analyses and crossed-lagged models were conducted to predict children’s numerical competencies by a global measure of the HNE and parental STEM vs. non-STEM occupations. We found significant associations between parents’ learned and current occupations and the HNE. Further, significant associations between parents’ learned occupations and children’s numerical competencies were observed. However, parents’ current occupations were not significantly associated with children’s numerical competencies. Consequently, more specific facets of the SES instead of a global measure seem to be associated with children’s numerical competencies. A greater focus on specific differences between family characteristics and their potential impact on children’s HNE and the development of their numerical competencies seems expedient.

Characterizing attitudinal network graphs through frustration cloud

Attitudinal network graphs are signed graphs where edges capture an expressed opinion; two vertices connected by an edge can be agreeable (positive) or antagonistic (negative). A signed graph is called balanced if each of its cycles includes an even number of negative edges. Balance is often characterized by the frustration index or by finding a single convergent balanced state of network consensus. In this paper, we propose to expand the measures of consensus from a single balanced state associated with the frustration index to the set of nearest balanced states. We introduce the frustration cloud as a set of all nearest balanced states and use a graph-balancing algorithm to find all nearest balanced states in a deterministic way. Computational concerns are addressed by measuring consensus probabilistically, and we introduce new vertex and edge metrics to quantify status, agreement, and influence. We also introduce a new global measure of controversy for a given signed graph and show that vertex status is a zero-sum game in the signed network. We propose an efficient scalable algorithm for calculating frustration cloud-based measures in social network and survey data of up to 80,000 vertices and half-a-million edges. We also demonstrate the power of the proposed approach to provide discriminant features for community discovery when compared to spectral clustering and to automatically identify dominant vertices and anomalous decisions in the network.

Investasi dalam Bingkai Politik Luar Negeri Pemerintahan Jokowi Jilid Satu dan Dampaknya bagi Masyarakat Indonesia

In the framework of international politics, the economic dimension has a central role in relations between countries. The economic dimension, particularly investment, is a determinant factor and often becomes a global measure in achieving national development. This has also become President Jokowi's big ambition since he came to power in Indonesia. Various investments were brought in in the framework of national development and the implementation of the Nawa Cita ideals. The foreign policy which is very inclined to attract investors continues. Deregulation of domestic policies was also carried out in order to welcome investment. However, in fact, the investment that Jokowi brought and carried out did not change the lives of Indonesian people. Economic growth predicted to skyrocket has actually stagnated in the 5 years of his reign. The absorption of labor has also decreased. Not to mention other problems caused by the investment made.

Measuring intra-generational redistribution in PAYG pension schemes

Voters in ageing societies expect pension reforms to be both inter-generationally and intra-generationally fair. In this paper, we propose a global measure of intra-generational redistribution in pay-as-you-go pension schemes as a basis for voters’ evaluations of reforms. Our novel index only requires information on contributions by and pension benefits paid to retirees, enabling us to measure intra-generational redistribution isolated from possible inter-generational redistribution. We rely on the contribution records of approximately 100,000 Germans, who progressed into retirement in 2007–2015, to measure the level of intra-generational redistribution in the German statutory pension scheme (GRV). A recent reform of the childcare benefit provision, which became effective in 2014, confirms the predictions of our index. The reform introduced additional benefits for a substantial subgroup of German mothers, owing to which the index value for women, but not for men, jumps up. Our findings suggests that GRV fulfills the ideal of a Bismarckian pension system without intra-generational redistribution for men, while women benefit significantly from intra-generational redistribution.

Accordo assoluto tra valutazioni espresse su scala ordinale

Many methods for measuring agreement among raters have been proposed and applied in many domains in the areas of education, psychology, sociology, and medical research. A brief overview of the most used measures of interrater absolute agreements for ordinal rating scales is provided, and a new index is proposed that has several advantages. In particular, the new index allows to evaluate the agreement between raters for each single case (subject or object), and to obtain also a global measure of the interrater agreement for the whole group of cases evaluated. The possibility of having evaluations of the agreement on the single case is particularly useful, for example, in situations where the rating scale is being tested, and it is necessary to identify any changes to it, or to request the raters for a specific comparison on the single case in which the disagreement occurred. The index is not affected by the possible concentration of ratings on a very small number of levels of the ordinal scale.

A Numerical Study Of The Effects Of Overhangs On The Wind-Driven Rain Wetting Of Building Facades

Roof overhangs are used traditionally to reduce the amount of rainwater that is deposited on building facades by wind. This thesis investigates the effects of overhangs on the wind-driven rain (WDR) wetting of facades, which have not been studied in detail before, using CFD-based numerical simulation. The commercial CFD package ANSYS FLUENT is used to solve the multiphase flow of wind and rain around buildings. A MATLAB code is developed to post-process the CFD results and calculate the WDR parameters. The numerical scheme is validated by comparison to previously published results and field measurements. Roof overhangs are shown to be effective in protecting facades from WDR, especially at upper parts. This protection is highly dependent upon the overhang size, wind speed, wind direction and the building geometry, but is slightly affected by the rainfall intensity. Physical explanations are presented for the observations and a new global measure of the effectiveness of overhangs is introduced.

A Numerical Study Of The Effects Of Overhangs On The Wind-Driven Rain Wetting Of Building Facades

Roof overhangs are used traditionally to reduce the amount of rainwater that is deposited on building facades by wind. This thesis investigates the effects of overhangs on the wind-driven rain (WDR) wetting of facades, which have not been studied in detail before, using CFD-based numerical simulation. The commercial CFD package ANSYS FLUENT is used to solve the multiphase flow of wind and rain around buildings. A MATLAB code is developed to post-process the CFD results and calculate the WDR parameters. The numerical scheme is validated by comparison to previously published results and field measurements. Roof overhangs are shown to be effective in protecting facades from WDR, especially at upper parts. This protection is highly dependent upon the overhang size, wind speed, wind direction and the building geometry, but is slightly affected by the rainfall intensity. Physical explanations are presented for the observations and a new global measure of the effectiveness of overhangs is introduced.

Beyond the Pale: Dark Traits and Close Relations Influence Attitudes toward COVID-19 and the Rejection of Quarantine Rules

Dark personality traits are predictors of detrimental behavior (e.g., selfishness or violating norms). This research examined the influence dark personality traits on attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine rules. We determined whether specific dark traits could predict non-compliance, beyond the global measure of dark personality traits. Additionally, previous research suggests that people are more likely to violate rules for the benefits of close relations, rather than for their own self-interests. We examined how this tendency interacts with dark traits. The 823 participants in the study completed measures of the dark triad, moral disengagement, and attitudes toward COVID-19 rules, and responded to vignettes about themselves or close relations escaping quarantine. Using a bifactor model approach, results showed that a general dark factor predicted non-compliance to COVID-19 rules, but that some moral disengagement mechanisms contributed to non-compliance beyond this factor. Vignette results showed that participants were more willing to break quarantine rules for a close relation than for themselves, except for those high in moral disengagement, who broke rules more—regardless of who was involved. These findings have important implications for intervention programs and policies, since individuals with dark traits tend to “selfishly” trespass norms, but anyone can “go beyond the pale, i.e., go outside the limits of acceptable behavior, for a loved one.

Emotional Comprehension Is Not Related to Duration of Distress from Daily Life Events

The main aim of this paper is to analyze to what extent insight (i.e., mentalization referring to one’s own mental state) moderates recovering from daily life events. A total of 110 participants (84.5% women; mean age: M = 21.5; SD = 3.2) filled in the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R), and were interviewed about impairment derived from daily life events (everyday life stresses) during the past year. Multivariate regression models were adjusted for neuroticism, sex, and socioeconomic status to analyze whether different degrees of insight moderated the relationship between the intensity and the duration of emotional distress. Results showed that the global measure of insight did not moderate recovering from daily-life distress. Regarding the subdimensions, attention to emotional reactions was related to an increased duration of distress. Results showed that, against our hypothesis, deeper comprehension of emotional reactions, operationalized here as “true insight”, was not associated to faster recovery. Limitations and recommendations for further studies are discussed considering these results.

A Global Measure of Patient-reported Outcomes After Injury – Life Back on Track

Background The study assessed the psychometric properties of the Life Back on Track (LBoT) measure, a new self-reported single-item global measure of the trajectory of wellbeing after a transport accident. Methods The data come from four waves of the Transport Accident Commission Longitudinal Study (n=1,556 in wave 1), and two repeated cross-sectional surveys– a Client Outcome Survey (n=5,238) and a Client Experience Survey (n=1,964) of individuals injured in a transport accident in Victoria. The conceptual basis of the measure was confirmed in a qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses. The psychometric performance of the measure, including known-groups validity, test-retest reliability, sensitivity, and responsiveness was investigated. Results The LBoT measure was found to have a conceptual basis of recovery towards a normal life with domains of independence, control, happiness, work, social life, pain, physical function, cognitive function, work and leisure activities, income, anxiety, and depression. There were significant differences in the distribution of the LBoT scores based on the respondent’s depression, pain, return to work status, financial ability to get by, ability to cope, and ability to bounce back. The LBoT measure was a reasonable predictor of future work status and was moderately responsive to change. Conclusions LBoT is a valid measure to track the individual’s trajectory of subjective wellbeing in the context of recovery after a trauma, and it covers wider concepts than health-related quality of life. For use as a performance or tracking measure, however, further evidence is needed on its responsiveness.