The 100 Leading Contributors to English-Language Gerontological Journals: An International Study of Scholarly Impact.

The two aims of this study were to: 1) identify the 100 most impactful contributors to English-language gerontological journals, and 2) map their respective disciplinary affiliations to help illuminate the perspectives shaping gerontological discourse. Toward that end, we conducted a secondary data analysis of a publicly available database of the world's leading scientists. After extracting all scientists in the gerontological category, we rank ordered them according to a composite measure of scholarly impact that controls for self-citations and author order while also calculating other bibliometric statistics. Disciplinary affiliations were assigned based upon the Classification of Instructional Programs codes developed by the National Center for Education Statistics at the United States Department of Education. The results reveal the mean contributor to the gerontological literature published 241.15 (SD = 203.95) papers and - after correcting for self-citations - had an h-index of 50.05 (SD = 25.00), and an hm-index 23.67 (SD = 7.50). A diverse array of professional affiliations characterized the contributors with a plurality being located in the health professions category, followed by the biological and biomedical science, and social sciences categories. The results reveal that gerontology is home to some of the world's leading scientists. Leveraging their expertise can help advance the field's collective knowledge development.

Identifying the Leading Global Contributors to Scholarship in Religion Journals: A Bibliometric Study.

This study identified the 100 most impactful global contributors to religion journals and mapped their respective disciplinary affiliations. To conduct this investigation, we performed a secondary data analysis of a Scopus-derived database featuring the world's leading scientists. The mean contributor published 51.93 papers, had an h-index of 13.57, and an hm-index 11.50. Most contributors were located in the USA with the most common disciplinary affiliations being religion, non-specialized (n = 22), sociology, non-specialized (n = 21), sociology of religion (n = 20), and theology (n = 11). The results reveal that religion discourse is populated by some of the leading scholars in the world. Leveraging their expertise can help advance the field's knowledge development.

A Pilot Study of an Evidence-Based Prevention Intervention (keepin' it REAL) for Early Adolescents in Kenyan Schools.

CONCLUSIONS: Although larger trials with a more representative sample of schools are needed, the study suggests the potential for kiR as an effective approach for substance use prevention in Kenya. METHOD: A convenience sample of primary schools in metropolitan Nairobi was randomized into an intervention or control group. Teachers in intervention schools were trained to deliver the kiR curriculum with fidelity. Students in seventh and eighth grades in the intervention and control schools (N = 533) completed pretest and posttest questionnaires assessing substance use behaviors, attitudes, and drug resistance strategies. OBJECTIVE: Although many primary school students in Kenya report use of alcohol and other drugs, evidence-based prevention interventions for schools are generally unavailable. Globally, there are growing opportunities to conduct research that assesses whether efficacious interventions from elsewhere can be adopted for new settings and populations. This small pilot study implemented and evaluated a linguistically adapted version of the school-based keepin' it REAL (kiR) universal substance use prevention program from the United States in Kenyan primary schools to assess its effectiveness and estimate potential effect sizes. RESULTS: Relative to the control group, kiR students reported several desired changes in behaviors and attitudes: less recent alcohol use and heavy (binge) alcohol drinking, and continuing or increased adherence to certain anti-drug norms. There was partial evidence that kiR helped students rely less on conflictual drug resistance strategies, such as reacting to substance offers angrily or with violence. Effect sizes for these outcomes compare favorably to those obtained in other school-based prevention interventions.

Effects of basin topography and monsoon conditions on transport and occurrence of atmospheric PCDD/Fs in the Taichung Basin.

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: Topographical and meteorological factors, such as monsoons, can drastically affect ambient dioxin levels. In order to better understand these phenomena, four sampling lines (comprising 16 sampling sites) were selected in accordance with the topographical characteristics and the transport paths of the Taichung Basin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ambient air samples were simultaneously collected according to US EPA TO-9A. Seventeen polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were analyzed by a high-resolution gas chromatograph/high-resolution mass spectrometer. RESULTS: Field measurements indicated that, during monsoons, PCDD/Fs concentrations varied from 128 to 4,230 fg m(-3). Two locations, the pass between two tablelands and the valley in front of a mountain, had the highest PCDD/Fs concentrations; those concentrations were about two to five times greater than the average concentration. There were 189 analyses of 11 kinds of PCDD/Fs emission sources used to develop emission fingerprints for a CMB8.2 simulation. Chemical mass balance (CMB8.2) model simulation with PCDD/Fs and surface wind field measurements were performed. Results of CMB8.2 modeling indicated that the major source of most sites was secondary copper smelting. CONCLUSIONS: The CMB8.2 model indicated the effects of hills and river valleys on pollutant transport. Results indicated that secondary copper smelting must be controlled to reduce the ambient concentrations of PCDD/Fs in the Taichung Basin.