Digital Commons Network^™

When To Seek Help: Six Signs A Relationship Is Going Downhill, Jason B. Whiting

Faculty Publications

Billionaire inventor Elon Musk is known for his intense drive to change the world. He has developed technology to get humans off fossil fuels and up to the stars and is the CEO of electric car company Tesla, as well as rocket launcher SpaceX. By all accounts he is brilliant, driven, and uncompromising. His successes have earned him respect and money, but he has struggled in his romantic pursuits.

Food Habits, Lifestyle Factors, And Risk Of Prostate Cancer In Central Argentina: A Case Control Study Involving Self-Motivated Health Behavior Modifications After Diagnosis, Winston J. Craig, Sandaly O. S. Pacheco, Fabio J. Pacheco, Gimena M. J. Zapata, Julieta M. E. Garcia, Carlos A. Previale, Hector E. Cura

Faculty Publications

Cancer is the second most important non-communicable disease worldwide and disproportionately impacts low- to middle-income countries. Diet in combination with other lifestyle habits seems to modify the risk for some cancers but little is known about South Americans. Food habits of Argentinean men pre- and post-diagnosis of prostate cancer (n = 326) were assessed along with other lifestyle factors. We studied whether any of the behaviors and risk factors for prostate cancer were found in men with other cancers (n = 394), compared with control subjects (n = 629). Before diagnosis, both cases reported a greater mean consumption of meats …

Getting At The Source Of Distinctive Encoding Effects In The Drm Paradigm: Evidence From Signal-Detection Measures And Source Judgments, Glen E. Bodner, Mark Huff, Raymond W. Lamontagne, Tanjeem Azad

Faculty Publications

Studying Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) lists using a distinctive encoding task can reduce the DRM false memory illusion. Reductions for both distinctively encoded lists and non-distinctively encoded lists in a within-group design have been ascribed to use of a distinctiveness heuristic by which participants monitor their memories at test for distinctive-task details. Alternatively, participants might simply set a more conservative response criterion, which would be exceeded by distinctive list items more often than all other test items, including the critical non-studied items. To evaluate these alternatives, we compared a within-group who studied 5 lists by reading, 5 by anagram generation, and 5 …

Assessing Differences In Intimate Partner Obligations Based On Relationship Status, Gender, And Parental Status, Lawrence Ganong, Tyler B. Jamison, Ashton Chapman

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of relationship status (i.e., cohabiting or married), gender, and parental status on perceptions about intimate partner obligations. In vignettes depicting various aspects of couple relationships, we measured the effects of relationship status, gender, and parental status on partner obligations, obtaining quantitative and qualitative data. Married couples were perceived to have greater obligations to one another than cohabitors when issues involved potential relationship transitions. Women were perceived to be more obligated than men to support a partner's career change. Open-ended responses indicated that marriage is an important factor in shaping perceived …

Book Review: Madness In Civilization: A Cultural History Of Insanity From The Bible To Freud, From The Madhouse To Modern Medicine, Edward Cohen

Faculty Publications

A review of: Scull, Andrew. (2015). Madness in civilization: A cultural history of insanity from the Bible to Freud, from the madhouse to modern medicine. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 448 pp. $39.50 (Hardback), ISBN 978-0-691-16615-5.

Learning How To Speak Like A “Native”: Speech And Culture In An Online Communication Training Program, Tabitha Hart

Faculty Publications

This article examines the oral communication training that took place in Eloqi, a virtual language-learning community. Eloqi (a pseudonym) was a for-profit start-up that built and operated a proprietary Web-based, voice-enabled platform connecting English-language learners in China with trainers in the United States. While it existed, Eloqi’s unique platform was used to deliver short, one-on-one lessons designed to improve students’ oral English communication skills. Using the ethnography of communication and speech codes theory, a theoretical–methodological approach, the author presents an analysis of the speech code, or code of communicative conduct, employed at Eloqi. This code of English logic, which Eloqi’s …

The Misidentification Of Children With Disabilities: A Harm With No Foul, Claire Raj

Faculty Publications

Special education, despite being a uniform federal mandate, is often implemented drastically differently depending on the school system delivering services, the particular category of disability, and the race or ethnicity of students. Affluent white children who attend well-managed school districts tend to benefit from special education services. In the under-funded and over-tasked districts where most minorities attend school, the special education system does not always provide the same benefits. In these schools, special education, too often, operates as a dumping ground for those students the general education system cannot or refuses to serve. In these instances, the label of “special …

References To Television Programming In Judicial Opinions And Lawyers’ Advocacy, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

"Think of the poor judge who is reading ... hundreds and hundreds of these briefs," says Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. "Liven their life up just a little bit. . . with something interesting." Lawyers can "liven up" their briefs with references to television shows generally known to Americans who have grown up watching the small screen. After discussing television's pervasive effect on American culture since the early 1950s, this Article surveys the array of television references that appear in federal and state judicial opinions. In cases with no claims or defenses concerning the television industry, judges often help …

The Hague Convention On The Civil Aspects Of International Child Abduction And The Latent Domestic Relations Exception To Federal Question Jurisdiction, Sam F. Halabi

Faculty Publications

This article explores the discrepancy in the law of federal jurisdiction as it has developed under the Hague Child Abduction Convention. In contrast to return claims where the remedy is discrete, finite, and closely tied to fundamental international obligations under the treaty, orders to enforce access rights are, or would be, amorphous, ongoing, and subject to other administrative structures codified in the convention as well as, in the U.S. system, adding responsibilities for federal judges more generally associated with those undertaken by state judges. Even in the one federal appellate decision that explicitly acknowledged a judicially enforceable right to ensure …

Meta-Analysis Of 49 549 Individuals Imputed With The 1000 Genomes Project Reveals An Exonic Damaging Variant In Angptl4 Determining Fasting Tg Levels, Elisabeth M. Van Leeuwen, Aniko Sabo, Joshua C. Bis, Jennifer E. Huffman, Ani Manichaikul, Albert V. Smith, Mary F. Feitosa, Serkalem Demissie, Peter K. Joshi, Qing Duan, Jonathan Marten, Jan B. Van Klinken, Ida Surakka, Ilja M. Nolte, Weihua Zhang, Hamdi Mbarek, Ruifang Li-Gao, Stella Trompet, Niek Verweij, Evangelos Evangelou, Leo Pekka Lyytikäinen, Bamidele O. Tayo, Joris Deelen, Peter J. Van Der Most, Sander W. Van Der Laan, Dan E. Arking, Alanna Morrison, Abbas Dehghan, Oscar H. Franco, Albert Hofman, Fernando Rivadeneira, Eric J. Sijbrands, Andre G. Uitterlinden

Faculty Publications

Background So far, more than 170 loci have been associated with circulating lipid levels through genomewide association studies (GWAS). These associations are largely driven by common variants, their function is often not known, and many are likely to be markers for the causal variants. In this study we aimed to identify more new rare and low-frequency functional variants associated with circulating lipid levels. Methods We used the 1000 Genomes Project as a reference panel for the imputations of GWAS data from ~60 000 individuals in the discovery stage and ~90 000 samples in the replication stage. Results Our study resulted …

No Sweat: African American Adolescent Girls’ Opinions Of Hairstyle Choices And Physical Activity, Susan J. Woolford, Carole Woolford-Hunt, Areej Sami, Natalie Blake, David R. Williams

Faculty Publications

Background

Obesity prevalence is higher among African American adolescent (AAA) girls than among non-black girls. Lower levels of physical activity (PA) likely contribute to this disparity; this may be impacted by hairstyle concerns.

Methods

In 2011, focus groups were conducted with AAA girls 14-17 years old (n = 36) in Michigan (n = 9), California (n = 11), and Georgia (n = 16). Groups addressed perceptions of hairstyles, exercise, and relationships between the two. Groups were recorded, transcripts reviewed, and themes identified. Adolescents completed a standardized ethnic identity (EI) measure and a survey addressing demographics and …

Child Protection Law As An Independent Variable, Josh Gupta-Kagan

Faculty Publications

Child protection professionals work in a multidisciplinary system in which the law and the family court play central roles and which collects an increasing amount of data. Yet we know little about what impact the law has on whether a child is removed by child protective services, is deemed neglected by a family court, or reunifies with a parent. Do state‐to‐state variations in child protection laws, or changes by individual states to their laws, lead to different outcomes for children and families? The dramatic variations in child welfare practice from one state to another suggest that legal variations do matter. …

Child Protection Law As An Independent Variable, Josh Gupta-Kagan

Faculty Publications

Child protection professionals work in a multidisciplinary system in which the law and the family court play central roles and which collects an increasing amount of data. Yet we know little about what impact the law has on whether a child is removed by child protective services, is deemed neglected by a family court, or reunifies with a parent. Do state‐to‐state variations in child protection laws, or changes by individual states to their laws, lead to different outcomes for children and families? The dramatic variations in child welfare practice from one state to another suggest that legal variations do matter. …

Defining News: A Ten-Nation Perspective, August Grant, Jeffrey Wilkinson, Diane Guerrazzi, Yicheng Zhu

Faculty Publications

Worldwide, the consumption of news and information is greater than ever before. But twenty years of Internet news and a decade of social media have permanently altered the patterns of behaviors associated with how consumers look for news and even how they perceive what ‘news’ is for them. As the media landscape changes and old approaches no longer fit, it may be time to re-assess the fundamental definition of “news.” Traditional news values have been defined and extensively studied by Western researchers, but little attention has been paid to the correspondence of these definitions of news with consumers’ behavior in …

The Contribution Of The Pineal Gland On Daily Rhythms And Masking In Diurnal Grass Rats, Arvicanthis Niloticus, Dorela D. Shuboni, Amna A. Agha, Thomas K. H. Groves, Andrew J. Gall

Faculty Publications

Melatonin is a hormone rhythmically secreted at night by the pineal gland in vertebrates. In diurnal mammals, melatonin is present during the inactive phase of the rest/activity cycle, and in primates it directly facilitates sleep and decreases body temperature. However, the role of the pineal gland for the promotion of sleep at night has not yet been studied in non-primate diurnal mammalian species. Here, the authors directly examined the hypothesis that the pineal gland contributes to diurnality in Nile grass rats by decreasing activity and increasing sleep at night, and that this could occur via effects on circadian mechanisms or …

Post-Trial Pleas Bargaining In Capital Cases: Using Conditional Commutations To Remove Weak Cases From Death Row, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

Plea bargaining accounts for over ninety percent of criminal convictions and it dominates the American criminal justice system. Yet, once a defendant is convicted, bargaining almost completely disappears from the system. Even though years of litigation are on the horizon, there is nearly no bargaining in the appellate and habeas corpus process. There are two reasons for this. First, prosecutors and courts typically lack the power to alter a sentence that has already been imposed. Second, even if prosecutors had the authority to negotiate following a conviction, they would have little incentive to do so. Affirmance rates in ordinary criminal …

The Development Of White Asian Categorization: Contributions From Skin Color And Other Physiognomic Cues, Yarrow Dunham, Ron Dotsch, Amelia R. Clark, Elena V. Stepanova

Faculty Publications

We examined the development of racial categorizations of faces spanning the European–East Asian (“White–Asian”) categorical continuum in children between the ages of four and nine as well as adults. We employed a stimulus set that independently varied skin color and other aspects of facial physiognomy, allowing the contribution of each to be assessed independently and in interaction with each other. Results demonstrated substantial development across this age range in children’s ability to draw on both sorts of cue, with over twice as much variance explained by stimulus variation in adults than children. Nonetheless, children were clearly sensitive to both skin …

Exposure To Mass Media And Interpersonal Counseling Has Additive Effects On Exclusive Breastfeeding And Its Psychosocial Determinants Among Vietnamese Mothers, Phuong H. Nguyen, Sunny S. Kim, Tuan T. Nguyen, Nemat Hajeebhoy, Lan M. Tran, Silvia Alayon, Marie T. Ruel, Rahul Rawat, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Purnima Menon

Faculty Publications

The pathways through which behavior change interventions impact breastfeeding practices have not been well studied. This study aimed to examine: (1) the effects of exposure to mass media and interpersonal counseling on exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and hypothesized psychosocial determinants (i.e. knowledge, intention, beliefs, social norms, and self-efficacy); and (2) the pathways through which exposure to mass media and interpersonal counseling are associated with EBF. We used survey data from mothers with children< 2 year (n = 2045) from the 2013 process evaluation of Alive & Thrive’s program in Viet Nam. Multiple linear regression analyses and structural equation modeling were used to estimate effects. Exposure to mass media only, interpersonal counseling only, both or neither was 51%, 5%, 19% and 25%, respectively. Exposure to both mass media and interpersonal counseling had additive effects on EBF as well as on related psychosocial factors, compared with no exposure. For example, EBF prevalence was 26.1 percentage points (pp) higher in the group that received interpersonal counseling only, 3.9 pp higher in the mass media group and 31.8 pp higher in the group that received both interventions. As hypothesized, more than 90% of the total effect of the two interventions on EBF was explained by the psychosocial factors measured. Our findings suggest that combining different behavior change interventions leads to greater changes in psychosocial factors, which in turn positively affects breastfeeding behaviors.

Systematic Review Of The Relationships Between Objectively Measured Physical Activity And Health Indicators In School-Aged Children And Youth, Veronica Joan Poitras, Casey Ellen Gray, Michael M. Borghese, Valerie Carson, Jean-Philippe Chaput, Ian Janssen, Peter T. Katzmarzyk, Russell R. Pate, Sarah Connor Gorber, Michelle E. Kho, Margaret Sampson, Mark S. Tremblay

Faculty Publications

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is essential for disease prevention and health promotion. Emerging evidence suggests other intensities of physical activity (PA), including light-intensity activity (LPA), may also be important, but there has been no rigorous evaluation of the evidence. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the relationships between objectively measured PA (total and all intensities) and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. Online databases were searched for peer-reviewed studies that met the a priori inclusion criteria: population (apparently healthy, aged 5–17 years), intervention/exposure/comparator (volumes, durations, frequencies, intensities, and patterns of objectively measured PA), and outcome (body …

A Nation Divided: Science, Religion, And Public Opinion In The United States, Shiri Noy, Timothy L. O'Brien

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Technology-Mediated Behavioral Weight Gain Prevention Intervention For College Students: Controlled, Quasi-Experimental Study, Delia Smith West, Courtney M. Monroe, Gabrielle Turner-Mcgrievy, Beth Sundstrom, Chelsea Larsen, Karen Magradey, Sara Wilcox, Heather M. Brandt

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Both men and women are vulnerable to weight gain during the college years, and this phenomenon is linked to an increased risk of several chronic diseases and mortality. Technology represents an attractive medium for the delivery of weight control interventions focused on college students, given its reach and appeal among this population. However, few technology-mediated weight gain prevention interventions have been evaluated for college students. OBJECTIVE: This study examined a new technology-based, social media-facilitated weight gain prevention intervention for college students. METHODS: Undergraduates (n =58) in two sections of a public university course were allocated to either a behavioral …

Specialized Disaster Behavioral Health Training: Its Connection With Response, Practice, Trauma Health, And Resilience, Christiana D. Atkins, Harvey J. Burnett Jr

Faculty Publications

This study examined the relationship between having training in key disaster behavioral health (DBH) interventions and trauma health (compassion fatigue, burnout and compassion satisfaction), resilience, the number of crisis responses participated in within the last year, and the frequency of assembling to practice crisis interventions skills. Data was collected from a convenience sample of disaster behavioral health responders (N = 139) attending a training conference in Michigan. Measures included the Professional Quality of Life Scale, the 14-item Resilience Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Point biserial correlations revealed that having training in large and small group crisis interventions and individual …

The Deception Of Depression: How A Melancholy Mood Can Sink A Marriage, Jason B. Whiting

Faculty Publications

Logan was a doctoral student studying ancient Italian poetry. His life was filled with shelves of old books and a teaching job where he was supposed to inspire lethargic freshmen. His doctoral adviser was difficult and inconsistent, and Logan was a people- pleaser who worried that his adviser and students were always upset with him. He came to see me at the request of his wife, Yuko, who was starting to panic at his change in personality. “He used to be cheerful, fun-loving, and interested in his work,” she said. “Now he is a zombie. He goes through the motions …

An Epistemic Justification For Voting, Julia Maskivker

Faculty Publications

Received wisdom in most democracies is that voting should be seen as a political freedom that citizens have a right to exercise or not to exercise. But would liberal democracies be any less liberal if voting were seen as a duty? Contrasting the libertarian argument against the moral duty to vote, this paper proposes that we have a duty to vote well – with knowledge and a sense of impartiality. The obligation is one among many instantiations of a natural duty to promote and support just institutions in society. The paper links justice with democratic epistemic virtues to ground the …

A Conceptual Framework For Graduate Teaching Assistant Professional Development Evaluation And Research, Todd D. Reeves, Gili Marbach-Ad, Kristen R. Miller, Judith Ridgway, Grant E. Gardner, Elisabeth E. Schussler, E. William Wischusen

Faculty Publications

© 2016 T. D. Reeves et al. Biology graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are significant contributors to the educational mission of universities, particularly in introductory courses, yet there is a lack of empirical data on how to best prepare them for their teaching roles. This essay proposes a conceptual framework for biology GTA teaching professional development (TPD) program evaluation and research with three overarching variable categories for consideration: outcome variables, contextual variables, and moderating variables. The framework’s outcome variables go beyond GTA satisfaction and instead position GTA cognition, GTA teaching practice, and undergraduate learning outcomes as the foci of GTA TPD …

Functional Brain Imaging In Survivors Of Critical Illness: A Prospective Feasibility Study And Exploration Of The Association Between Delirium And Brain Activation Patterns☆, James C. Jackson, Alessandro Morandi, Timothy D. Girard, Kristen Mirkle, Amy J. Graves, Jennifer L. Thompson, Ayumi K. Shintani, Max L. Gunther, Christopher J. Cannistraci, Baxter P. Rogers, John C. Gore, Hillary J. Warrington, Wesley Ely, Ramona O. Hopkins

Faculty Publications

Purpose

We undertook this pilot prospective cohort investigation to examine the feasibility of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessments in survivors of critical illness and to analyze potential associations between delirium and brain activation patterns observed during a working memory task (N-back) at hospital discharge and 3-month follow-up.

Materials and methods

At hospital discharge and 3 months later, fMRI assessed subjects' functional activity during an N-back task. Multiple linear regression was used to examine associations between duration of delirium and brain activity, and elastic net regression was used to assess the relationship between brain activation patterns at 3 months and …

Personal Happiness, Self-Fulfillment, And Homosexuality In The Church, David K. Penno

Faculty Publications

With the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States and other countries, the Adventist Church must face the issue of how to relate to gay individuals. We need to examine our arguments when addressing how, or even if, gay persons who are in a sexual relationship with a same-sex partner fit into the life of the church.

Format Appears To Matter Less Than Story Salience, Diane Guerrazzi, August Grant, Jeffrey Wilkinson

Faculty Publications

Researchers suggest another factor other than format may be at work in determining the amount of time readers spend with an online news story, and that is the story’s relevance. They suggest journalists choose the format based upon the best way for telling a particular story.

Pubertal Maturation Compression And Behavioral Impulsivity Among Boys At Increased Risk For Substance Use, Charles W. Mathias, Nora E. Charles, Yuanyuan Lang, Ashley Acheson, Sarah L. Lake, Stacy R. Ryan, Rene L. Olvera, Donald M. Dougherty

Faculty Publications

Objectives: While early onset of puberty among girls has been related to substance use involvement and other adverse outcomes, less research has examined pubertal development and outcomes in boys. Further, research on puberty has not been conducted in the context of other risk factors for substance use involvement such as impulsivity. To address these gaps, this study characterized boys' pubertal development from preadolescence to mid adolescence and related it to substance use risk and behavioral impulsivity.

Methods: A sample of 153 boys completed the Pubertal Development Scale to assess perception of their pubertal development relative to same-age peers …

Sustainability Science Graduate Students As Boundary Spanners, Spencer R. Meyer, Vanessa R. Levesque, Karen H. Bieluch, Michelle L. Johnson, Bridie Mcgreavy, Stacia Dreyer, Hollie Smith

Faculty Publications

Graduate training in sustainability science (SS) focuses on interdisciplinary research, stakeholder-researcher partnerships, and creating solutions from knowledge. But becoming a sustainability scientist also requires specialized training that addresses the complex boundaries implicit in sustainability science approaches to solving social-ecological system challenges. Using boundary spanning as a framework, we use a case study of the Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI) at the University of Maine to explicate key elements for graduate education training in SS. We used a mixed-methods approach, including a quantitative survey and autoethnographic reflection, to analyze our experiences as SSI doctoral students. Through this research, we identified four essential …