Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Fluorescent Light On Shelter Dog Behavior (Canis Lupus Familiaris), Kristiina J. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Fluorescent lighting is used in a wide variety of applications, however, the flicker that accompanies fluorescent light can be aversive. This thesis examines the impact of fluorescent lighting on the behavior of shelter dogs at New York City’s Animal Care and Control Centers.

Open Lab Vs. Radiologic Students Final Practical Grades, Navdeep Kaur, Safraz Harun, Katie Tam, Robert O'Brien

Publications and Research

Open Lab provides the students of the Radiologic Technology & Medical Imaging Department the opportunity outside regular class time to practice communicating effectively in a health care setting, and grants the students the freedom to craft critical thinking skills in a radiologic environment. Our research aims to analyze the correlation between hourly time spent in Open Lab, and its contributing factor to a student's overall Radiographic Procedures grade. The amount of time spent in Open Lab can additionally contribute to a student's grasp of didactic concepts, and their integration into the clinical setting. Additional time spent in the laboratory can …

Our Stories, Katelyn S. Lopez

Publications and Research

This semester, we participated in the “Our Stories” qualitative research project that involves learning more about students' first year, and first-semester experiences at City Tech during pandemic times. As we organized and read students’ posts, we journaled and practiced reflexivity, a qualitative research process that helps us examine how we are interpreting the data that we are engaging with. T Reflexivity is a process in qualitative research involving frequent examination of one’s position in the project. These positions include one’s assumptions, feelings, and so forth. An essential question for qualitative researchers, according to Leavy (2011), is “Has the researcher engaged …

Design Game-Based Learning: Playtesting A Thesis, Micheal Lewis, Kimberly Ramgopal, Cindy Veliz

Publications and Research

Design game-based learning helps students understand interdisciplinary studies as they write a research paper. This presentation explores our use of game design in a team-taught interdisciplinary language and technology general education course. We are students majoring in computer engineering technology, computer systems technology, and construction management and civil engineering technology. Our focus on design allowed us to create tabletop games to playtest our theses and showcase our original ideas.

Sociopolitical Determinants Of Health In The Proposed Rezoning Of Richmond Hill/Ozone Park, Ny, Khemraj J. Persaud

Publications and Research

The community of Richmond Hill/Ozone Park, Queens, NY has been split into multiple zones and has needed rezoning for decades. The area consists of a range of people from different ethnic backgrounds, including Indo-Caribbean, South Asian, and Afro-Caribbean. Racial health disparities persist in this district, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. I conducted research about how ongoing political issues in this community has been affecting the overall health of its residents and what is being done about it.

Micro-Metropolis: Space, Work, And Waste In The Maquettes Of Constant And Bodys Isek Kingelez, Shoshanah B. Rosen

Theses and Dissertations

Constant Nieuwenhuys and Bodys Isek Kingelez both create futuristic utopias in the form of architectural maquettes. This comparative study explores each artist’s reverence for technology, global connectivity, and new forms of economic production. It argues that these utopias represent desires endemic to late modernity and capitalism, including consumption, nomadism, automation.

Galvanizing Steel, Francesca Dominguez

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines Galvanizing Steel, a performance event through the lens of John Martin’s concept of “metakinesis,” Dominguez considers spectatorship and interpretation as active participation. She queries kinesthetic empathy and whether centering the corporeal experience of the audience enhances their overall ability to connect with the performers and the performance.

Sondra Perry: On The Limits And Possibilities Of Access, Visibility, And Freedom, Sigourney Schultz

Theses and Dissertations

Sondra Perry: On the Limits and Possibilities of Access, Visibility, and Freedom connects the intellectual history of cyberfeminism and Afrofuturism with the future of post-Black studies by exploring themes such as the abstraction of blackness and the materiality of new media.

Formations Of The Mayan Diaspora In Guatemala And The Us: Land, Migration, And Linguistic Ideologies As The Markers Of Diasporic Separation., Daniel Antipov

Theses and Dissertations

This work examines the phenomenon of diaspora formation among the indigenous Guatemalan population as a major identity marker in the new Guatemalan immigrants in the US. This work provides: definition of diaspora, its historical frames, juxtaposition of the self and the Other, and separation and differentiation of the indigenous languages

The Effects Of Access To Safe Abortion Methods On Women’S Health And Employment, Azka Imran

Theses and Dissertations

Abortion remains highly legally restricted in many developing countries, constraining women to unsafe providers. As of 2019, 23,000 women die each year due to unsafe abortions in low- and middle-income countries. These deaths are almost entirely preventable with universal access to safer abortion methods. In 2006, some regions in Peru, a country that legally restricts abortion except to preserve the mother’s life, adopted a harm-reduction approach to address this health issue within their legal framework. The model works by providing information on safely terminating a pregnancy using misoprostol, a drug generally prescribed by a gastroenterologist but available to women on …

In The Face Of Death The Photographic Reevaluation Of The Death Mask During The Weimar Republic, Maresa Carney

Theses and Dissertations

During the Weimar Republic three books that shared the morbid subject of death masks, were published in short intervals and immediately enjoyed enormous popularity. The three publications Das Ewige Antlitz , Totenmasken, and Das Letzte Gesicht serve as an underpinning of the cultural and philosophical investigation of death mask photography

How Innovation Occurs In The Software Industry: A Qualitative Study On Innovation Management, Jihoon Rim

Student Theses and Dissertations

Research in innovation has been widely conducted by academics. However, many of them merely define associations among innovation factors, findings are often contradictory, and research that involves innovation leaders with rich experiences, both successes and failures, is rare. Thus, how to best innovate remains a question among practitioners. This qualitative research is aimed at filling this gap in the literature. To that end, 23 innovation leaders, most of whom founded software companies worth hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, were interviewed with a grounded theory approach using Peter Drucker’s innovation theory as a lens through which to view new …

Deficiencies Within Guatemalan Criminal Justice Institutions When Detecting And Prosecuting Sextortion Crimes, Julia A. Bolotovsky

Student Theses

Sextortion is a form of corruption involving sexual exploitation, in which requests for monetary bribes are replaced by requests for sexual acts. Within Latin America, this crime is especially pertinent in Guatemala. Therefore, this study aims to identify which factors contribute to the occurrence of sextortion within Guatemala, while also analyzing the larger realm of violence against women. Based on semi-structured interviews with local experts and civil society activists, this study argues that sextortion is enabled by deficiencies within Guatemalan criminal justice institutions when detecting and prosecuting this crime. In order to effectively counter sextortion, more emphasis needs to be …

How Prospective Bias Shapes Children’S Responses To Temporal Location Questions, Tige M. Anderson

Student Theses

This study builds on McWilliams (et al., 2019) by analyzing temporal bias among children when making relative temporal judgments using recurring landmarks (e.g., birthday, holidays). Previous research has demonstrated that children display a prospective bias when making these judgments, meaning they tend to date things based on the future occurrence of the landmark (E.g, “it’s ten months until my birthday”) (McWilliams et al., 2019). Adults, by contrast, make relative judgments with landmarks based on the most proximate occurrence of the landmark. In other words, they do not prefer the future or the past (Merriwether et al., under review). Additionally, recent …

Exploring Criminal Thinking Patterns And Cognitions In High Risk Sexually And Non-Sexually Violent Offenders, Ruby L. Orth

Student Theses

The current understanding of shared offense supporting attitudes between different offender types is limited. This study compares criminal thinking styles and rape supportive attitudes between high-risk offenders who have engaged in either sexual or violent behavior. A sample of 237 incarcerated male high risk sexually violent and non-sexually violent offenders participated in a study where they completed a series of self-report questionnaires including the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) (Walters, 1995) and Bumby’s (1996) MOLEST and RAPE scales. Significant differences in criminal thinking between offender types was hypothesized. Significant overlap of rape supporting cognitive distortions, regardless of offender …

Pondering Possible Psychological Pandemonium: Covid-19’S Impact On Undergraduate Students’ Distress Levels, Laura Alarcon

Student Theses

The pandemic has altered everything in its path, including a broad impact on mental health, but not everyone has been affected equally. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to examine if previously found differences in how non-Hispanic white and Latinx populations experience anxiety persist and/or were compounded. This study investigated distress levels of Latinx and non-Hispanic white undergraduate students at a public Hispanic Serving Institution both prior to and during the pandemic. A two-way ANOVA was run on a subset of an existing database to assess changes in distress levels between the two populations and timeframes. It was hypothesized that …

Depression Is Associated With Myocardial Infarction Within A Two-Year Period Among Adults In China, Lydia W. Li, Greta Cheng, Hongwei Xu, Zhenmei Zhang, Jinyu Liu, Yeates Conwell

Publications and Research

We examined whether baseline depression is associated with MI within a two-year period among adults aged 45+ in China and whether the association varies by sociodemographic characteristics. Two-year longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of people aged 45+ in China were analyzed (N = 15,226). MI within the 2-year period was coded dichotomously. Baseline depression, assessed by the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, was used as a dichotomous and a continuous variable. After adjusting for medical conditions, lifestyle and sociodemographic characteristics, the odds of having an MI within the 2-year period were 46% greater for respondents with …

Prenatal Exposure To A Climate-Related Disaster Results In Changes Of The Placental Transcriptome And Infant Temperament, Jessica Buthmann, Dennis Huang, Patrizia Casaccia, Sarah O'Neill, Yoko Nomura

Advanced Science Research Center

Maternal stress during pregnancy exerts long-term effects on the mental well-being of the offspring. However, the long-term effect of prenatal exposure on the offspring’s mental status is only partially understood. The placenta plays a vital role in connecting the maternal side to the fetus, thereby serving as an important interface between maternal exposure and fetal development. Here, we profiled the placental transcriptome of women who were pregnant during a hurricane (Superstorm Sandy), which struck New York City in 2012. The offspring were followed longitudinally and their temperament was assessed during the first 6–12 months of age. The data identified a …

Female Prisoners, Mental Health, And Contact With Family And Friends, Katarzyna Celinska, Irina Fanarraga

Publications and Research

The present study explores the psychological symptoms of 194 female inmates housed in a northeast state prison. Imprisoned women completed Derogatis’ (2001) Brief Symptom Inventory-18 and responded to questions on the frequency of contact with family and friends via phone calls, letters, and visitations. The results showed significant correlations between psychological symptoms and modes of contact. Multiple regression models revealed that certain types of contact with family and friends had a statistically significant impact on the self-reported psychological symptoms of female inmates. Policy implications and recommendations are discussed.

Nm-Rs Au Naturale: Investigations Into Simulating A Natural Environment, Jenna Pantophlet

Theses and Dissertations

Naked Mole-rats (NM-Rs) have been studied in laboratories for decades due to their unique behavior and physiology. However, due to the scope and complexity of the NM-R’s natural subterranean tunneling system, it has been difficult to replicate in the laboratory environment. From a researcher’s perspective, optimal housing is cost- and space-efficient and easily cleaned. On the other hand, optimal animal welfare and husbandry encourages the most biologically relevant enclosure to evoke the fullest range of an animal's behavioral repertoire. While there is an abundance of works centered on the biomedical potential of these odd rodents (Buffenstein et al, 2012; Delaney …

Investigating The Function Of Play Bows In African Wild Dogs (Lycaon Pictus), Michael Spiotta

Theses and Dissertations

Play bows are a recognizable communicative signal observed in many carnivores, most notably, members of the genus Canis. Various hypotheses have been set forth to describe the function of play bows within canid social play behavior. To date, evidence suggests that wolves (Canis lupus), domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), and dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) use this signal as a means to both initiate, as well as, resume play. These studies have not previously been replicated in members of the family Canidae who fall outside of the genus Canis. In this study, I analyzed …

Parenthood Orientation Among Young Women: Is It Associated With Pregnancy Intention And Unprotected Intercourse?, Nakeisha Blades

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored relationships between parenthood orientation, pregnancy intention, and unprotected intercourse. Nulligravid, sexually active women aged 18-29 (N = 252) were surveyed on these topics in May 2019. There were significant differences in parenthood orientation by past and current pregnancy intention. Higher scores on parenthood orientation were associated with increased odds of past unprotected intercourse and expecting future unprotected intercourse. Only education and contraceptive self-efficacy retained significance in adjusted models. Study results are consistent with prior work on parenthood orientation and pregnancy intention and point to other factors as stronger correlates of contraceptive use.

Non-Verbal Pride Expressions As A Predictor Of Lgbtq Health, Craig Gilbert

Theses and Dissertations

Pride is a self-conscious, positive emotion that has been assessed in a wide range of populations and with a variety of pre-validated measures. Research has shown that the presence of pride can function as a potential resilience factor against minority based stress and has been linked to increased emotional well being, life satisfaction, and self-esteem. However, a majority of this research relies upon self-report questionnaires as opposed to observational data. To evaluate the predictive power of non-verbal pride behaviors, a group of LGBTQ+ individuals (n=125) were asked during a recorded interview to describe an experience where they felt prideful about …

An Oer / Coil Project On "Society And Cross-Cultural Interaction: Verbal And Non-Verbal Communication Across Cultures", Oluremi "Remi" Alapo

Publications and Research

The presenter’s goal is to discuss the research she has developed: an OER [open educational resources] course content and how she co-designed a COIL [collaborative online international learning] partnership course that was used by students in diversity and multicultural education courses which focused on race and ethnicity, how we see things based on several factors, how it influences the choices and decisions we make; how to deal positively with conflicts that inevitably arise in working /living situations with people of diverse cultures.

This course was structured to raise multicultural awareness and fortify students’ social skills in dealing with racial and …

Eco 2200: Module 2, Dorina Tila

Open Educational Resources

Firms and Financial Institutions

• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions

Acknowledging The Relevance Of Elephant Sensory Perception To Human–Elephant Conflict Mitigation, Robbie Ball, Sarah L. Jacobson, Matthew S. Rudolph, Miranda Trapani, Joshua M. Plotnik

Publications and Research

Elephants are well known for their socio-cognitive abilities and capacity for multi-modal sensory perception and communication. Their highly developed olfactory and acoustic senses provide them with a unique non-visual perspective of their physical and social worlds. The use of these complex sensory signals is important not only for communication between conspecifics, but also for decisions about foraging and navigation. These decisions have grown increasingly risky given the exponential increase in unpredictable anthropogenic change in elephants’ natural habitats. Risk taking often develops from the overlap of human and elephant habitat in Asian and African range countries, where elephants forage for food …

Managing Illegality On Campus: Undocumented Mismatch Between Students And Staff, Holly E. Reed, Sofya Aptekar, Amy Hsin

Publications and Research

Contributing to the literature on the institutional experiences of undocumented youth, this essay by Holly E. Reed, Sofya Aptekar, and Amy Hsin explores undocumented and “DACAmented” students’ experiences managing their illegality on campus and how college staff and faculty manage that illegality while organizing programs and support. Their analysis of in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with more than a hundred undocumented college students and former students and thirty-five faculty and staff members at the City University of New York identifies multiple points of tension. The “undocumented mismatch” between campus management of illegality and student experiences was evident in the exclusion and …

Ungrading In Art History: Grade Inflation, Student Engagement, And Social Equity, Lauren Disalvo, Nancy Ross

Art History Pedagogy & Practice

Traditional academic pedagogies require that professors assign students grades in a system that creates hierarchies of power of professor over student. This system assumes that grades serve as an intrinsic motivator for students to improve in an academic setting. Many studies suggest that professor-assigned grades do not function as assumed. This article explores one alternative to the traditional system, known as ungrading, a practice whereby students assign themselves grades after a semester of frequent feedback and reflective assignments. This study offers a thematic literature review of ungrading in many disciplines and a small study of ungrading in upper-division art history …

Occupational Depression In A Spanish-Speaking Sample: Associations With Cognitive Performance And Work-Life Characteristics, Bianchi Renzo, Guadalupe Manzano García, Maria Pilar Montanes, Emily A. Schonfeld, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This 386-participant study investigated the structural and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI). Exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analysis revealed that the ODI meets the requirements for essential unidimensionality. Measurement invariance held across our sample and the English- and French-speaking samples used in the ODI’s initial validation study. Mokken scale analysis indicated that (a) the scalability of the instrument was strong, (b) no violations of monotonicity or local independence were present, and (c) invariant item ordering was sufficiently accurate. The ODI’s reliability was optimal. The ODI exhibited both convergent validity and discriminant validity vis-à-vis …

Clcd (Children's Literature Comprehensive Database) Enterprise, Sonali Sugrim

Publications and Research

CLCD Enterprise is one of three products offered by CLCD (Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database), LLC. CLCD Enterprise is an online database that provides access to book reviews, thematic lists, award winning content and curriculum tools of disparate collections for grade pre-K through 12 media of all types. The database allows for power search, advanced search, and award search options for browsing and locating content. CLCD Enterprise is available through a subscription and valuable for those in education, library and information science and literature fields looking for a tool to expand on collection and curriculum development, and reader advisory suggestions for …