Digital Commons Network^™

Spatial Organization In Self-Initiated Visual Working Memory, Hagit Magen, Tatiana Aloi Emmanouil

Publications and Research

Ample research in visual working memory (VWM) has demonstrated that the memorized items are maintained in integrated spatial configurations, even when the spatial context is task irrelevant. These insights were obtained in studies in which participants were provided with the information they memorized. However, the encoding of provided information is only one aspect of memory. In everyday life, individuals often construct their own memory representations, an aspect of memory we have previously termed self-initiated (SI) working memory. In this study, we employed a SI VWM task in which participants selected the visual targets they memorized. The spatial locations of the …

The Impact Of Callous-Unemotional Traits And Externalizing Tendencies On Neural Responsivity To Reward And Punishment In Healthy Adolescents, Yonglin Huang, Tingting Wu, Yu Gao, Yuyang Luo, Ziyan Wu, Shawn Fagan, Stephanie Leung, Xiaobo Li

Publications and Research

Both externalizing behavior and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in youth are precursors to later criminal offending in adulthood. It is posited that disruptions in reward and punishment processes may engender problematic behavior, such that CU traits and externalizing behavior may be linked to a dominant reward response style (e.g., heightened responsivity to rewards) and deficient punishment-processing. However, prior research has generated mixed findings and work examining both the sole and joint contribution of CU traits and externalizing problems related to functional brain alterations is lacking. In this pilot functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we measured externalizing behavior and CU traits in …

Information Literacy In Place-Based Interdisciplinary Teaching And Learning, Anne E. Leonard

Publications and Research

This chapter explores the role of information literacy in virtual or hybrid place-based interdisciplinary courses. Whether teaching as a guest lecturer or as a co-instructor, I infuse information literacy competencies into assignments, relying on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Four of the six frames of the Framework map especially well to interdisciplinary teaching and learning: information has value, authority is contested and contextual, research as inquiry, and searching as strategic exploration. Through searching in special collections and archives and integrating digitized primary sources into research projects students engage in a virtual exploration …

Visual Modulation Of Resting State Α Oscillations, Kelly Webster, Tony Ro

Publications and Research

Once thought to simply reflect passive cortical idling, recent studies have demonstrated that α oscillations play a causal role in cognition and perception. However, whether and how cognitive or sensory processes modulate various components of the α rhythm is poorly understood. Sensory input and resting states were manipulated in human subjects while electroencephalography (EEG) activity was recorded in three conditions: eyes-open fixating on a visual stimulus, eyes-open without visual input (darkness), and eyes-closed without visual input (darkness). We show that α power and peak frequency increase when visual input is reduced compared to the eyes open, fixating condition. These results …

Virtual Reality As A Pedagogical Tool For Interdisciplinarity And Place-Based Education, Laureen Park

Publications and Research

Place-based education (PBE) has long been recognized as a high-impact educational practice. It embeds learning in a multi-sensory context that nurtures active, praxis-driven, interdisciplinary, and collaborative learning. More recently, educators have begun to utilize digital media and virtual reality technologies in ways that seem to parallel PBE. Using phenomenological concepts, especially following Edmund Husserl and Alfred Schütz, this chapter explores what the parallels and differences might be between physical and virtual places, ontologically as well as in its pedagogical role in PBE. It also attempts to interpret the other chapters of the book in light of the philosophical implications.

Opinions And Perceptions Of Residents In New York City Public Housing. Map Evaluation Update Number 4., Sheyla A. Delgado, Jeffrey A. Butts, Gina Moreno

Publications and Research

This is the fourth of six updates presenting interim findings from the evaluation of the NYC Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP). As part of an evaluation of the New York City Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP), researchers from John Jay College of Criminal Justice collaborated with survey specialists from NORC at the University of Chicago to collect data from two probability samples of residents in public housing developments in New York City. This first iteration of collecting survey responses will be compared to the next wave of response to get an understanding of the effectiveness of …

Visualization And Analysis Of Environmental Data, Sean Macdonald

Publications and Research

The virtual exploration of place has been employed in a variety of learning environments across many disciplines, creatively expanding upon the experience of place. This chapter explores the value of mapping environmental data as a tool that can enhance students’ virtual exploration of place as they investigate local environmental policies and problems within their own urban surroundings. This visualization project engages students in making meaningful connections between the theoretical study of local and global environmental problems and the “observation” and investigation of these data using mapped data. The virtual learning environment is viewed as one that is interactive, exploring how …

Building Mof Nanocomposites With Oxidized Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanospheres: The Effect Of Framework Geometry On The Structural Heterogeneity, Dimitrios A. Giannakoudakis, Teresa J. Bandosz

Publications and Research

Composite of two MOFs, copper-based Cu-BTC (HKUST-1) and zirconium-based Zr-BDC (UiO-66), with oxidized graphitic carbon nitride nanospheres were synthesized. For comparison, pure MOFs were also obtained. The surface features were analyzed using x-ray diffraction (XRD), sorption of nitrogen, thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The incorporation of oxidized g-C3N4 to the Cu-BTC framework caused the formation of a heterogeneous material of a hierarchical pores structure, but a decreased surface area when compared to that of the parent MOF. In the case of UiO-66, functionalized nanospheres were acting as seeds around which the crystals grew. Even though the MOF phases …

“Technology Is Great, But It’S Really Time-Consuming:” Understanding Students’ Digital Academic Lives, Mariana Regalado, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

Digital technology has become integral to higher education, incorporated by colleges and universities into teaching, student support and operations. We know that undergraduates lead busy lives, especially those attending commuter universities, and that they bring their prior experiences with technology with them into their college careers. However, while technology access and use in our everyday lives and workplaces has increased in the past few decades, it is not as ubiquitous as we might wish, and our students do encounter barriers to learning and connecting with digital technologies.

We draw on our decade of research on the experiences of CUNY undergraduate …

Hardware Implementation Of Assistive Technology Robot, Joycephine Li

Publications and Research

SuperHERO is an on-going research project in Computer Engineering Technology department which involves upgrading Heathkit Education Robot (HERO) hardware circuits and features by using modern hardware devices and sensors. The current phase of the project will focus on upgrading the motor drive system hardware as well as implementation and testing of features such as mobile robot obstacle detection and other assistive technologies to help people with disabilities. This involves the reattachment of the robot arm after repairing and updating with 3D printing and using modern hardware and software technology. We observed that the robotic arm has rotary and translation movements …

A Current Interpretation Of Robert Frank’S 1950’S New York, Anna Crull

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Vision Zero: Speed Limit Reduction And Traffic Injury Prevention In New York City, Kristin Mammen, Hyoung Suk Shim, Bryan S. Weber

Publications and Research

We examine the effect on the incidence of casualties and crashes of a city-wide vehicle speed limit reduction in New York City (NYC) streets. The law change, part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero Action Plan to improve traffic safety, cuts the default speed limit for streets with no speed limit signs from 30 to 25 mph beginning November 7, 2014. We use a monthly panel dataset with crash statistics for the entire population of NYC streets, from July 2012 through March 2019. Several difference-in-differences regressions show a statistically significant and meaningful decline in injuries and crashes.

Forensic Investigation Of Building Failure – The Harbour Cay Condominium Disaster, John Airis

Publications and Research

When a building suffers collapse, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is tasked with conducting an investigation into the cause. Often OSHA will request technical assistance from the National Institute for Standards and Technology to assist in the forensic technical aspects determining a most probable cause. This forensic effort entails many actions. The Harbour Cay Condominium disaster occurred on March 28, 1981 in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It was a total collapse of a five story reinforced concrete structure during the last stage of roof construction, resulting in 11 deaths and 24 injuries. The investigation report revealed structural design …

Correlation Of Open Lab X And Students' Final Grades, Fahameda Hassan, Zoya Vinokur, Mary Lee

Publications and Research

Open ended laboratory or open lab as it is known to the Radiological Technology students is an invaluable tool that the Radiological Technology and Medical Imaging Department provides to help the students become better radiographers. One way to ensure students use this resource is to make it a weekly requirement for some classes, other classes have no weekly requirements or may have a set total hour requirement per semester. We hope to study how utilizing this department resource impacts the students final grades over a multi-year study. Does making it mandatory help the students succeed in improving their skills and …

Information Design, Rana A. Abdelnaby

Publications and Research

To apply statistical information with visual data graphics that use information to tell a story. The poster must have numerical info that you can compare and use in a chart or a graph. Poster must present ‘the problem’ and then explain or explore ‘the problem’ through data.

Implication Of Local Weather On Heat Transfer Rates By Infiltration, Kyungmin Park, Anthony Rivera

Publications and Research

The first law of thermodynamics, also known as “Law of Conservation of Energy”, states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. The natural transfer of heat flows from a warmer environment to a colder environment. Infiltration through a building entrance door has major impacts on the indoor thermal environment, indoor air quality and energy performance. In our research, we measured differential pressure and air velocity across entrance doors. We also monitored the indoor and outdoor environments in the Environmental Building by collecting data using specialized instruments and …

Assessing Participants' Feedback To Dental Screenings And Hygiene Care Provided By City Tech's Dental Hygiene Students, Alona Abdullaieva, Wen Wen Dong, Yujing Mei, Susan Davide, Audra Haynes

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Determinism Of Stochastic Processes Through The Relationship Between The Heat Equation And Random Walks, Gurmehar Singh Makker

Publications and Research

We study the deterministic characteristics of stochastic processes through investigation of random walks and the heat equation. The relationship is confirmed by discretizing the heat equation in time and space and determining the probability distribution function for random walks in dimension d = 1, 2. The existence of the relationship is presented both through theoretical analysis and numerical computation.

Design And Manufacturing Of A Walking Machine, Aneita L. Torres

Publications and Research

Advancements and research in technology takes influence from several different sources, some of which is from nature. For example, vehicles and wheeled machines face the challenge of terrain that is not smooth or small obstacles that animals and humans can simple walk through. Thus, the motivation of our project is to build a quadruped robot that will be able to travel through areas it wouldn’t be able to with wheels. This sort of robot can be used to carry needed supplies through areas dangerous for humans without being hindered by the types of obstacles land and air vehicles are held …

Low-Cost Near Infrared Diffuse Optical Imaging System, Mohammed Z. Shakil, Chen Xu

Publications and Research

Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) and Optical Spectroscopy using near-infrared (NIR) diffused light has demonstrated great potential for the initial diagnosis of tumors and in the assessment of tumor vasculature response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The NIR technique utilizes intrinsic hemoglobin contrast, which is directly related to tumor angiogenesis development, a key process required for tumor growth and metastasis. The NIR diffuse tomography holds great promise in distinguishing early-stage invasive breast cancers from benign lesions. This technique also provides insight into tumor metabolism and tumor hypoxia, important indicators of tumor response to various forms of therapy. Currently, the high cost of the …

Letterforms As Visual Communication Elements, Tatiana Ribeiro

Publications and Research

The purpose of this research is to explore the value and objectivity of written language through investigating human perception of letterforms as abstract visual communication elements. While communicating with one another is not unique to humans, and other species have been observed to be able to produce, perceive and learn different forms of communication, the visual aspect of human languages, represented in a an organized system of symbols is uniquely human. Languages, as our primary way of communication, possess an enormous power which is used to create and destroy, unite and divide, facilitate progress and reflect.

This research will attempt …

Fabrication And Imaging Characterization Of Poly (Dimethyl Siloxane)/Sic Nano-Fillers Samples As Model Biomaterials, Tetiana Soloviova, Viorica Gutu, Zoya Vinokur, Akm S. Rahman, Subhendra Sarkar

Publications and Research

Biopolymers are being developed with embedded nanostructures for in vivo drug delivery to treat various diseases including cancers. In the current project we developed fabrication steps to prepare two biopolymers, poly di-methoxy siloxane (PDMS) with 0-0.9 vol% of SiC nano whisker (fillers) followed by non- destructive characterization. Optical reflection microscopy (5-100X) was performed to ensure loading and distribution of increasing SiC content. Optical microscopy showed progressively higher SiC distribution as filler loading was increased from 0-0.9 vol%. X-ray imaging at low kV (kilovoltage) and low mAs (milliamperage per second) were optimized to allow distinction between filled PDMS with SiC concentration …

Static Analysis Of Structural Members, Amani Calderon, Alexis Villalona, Farhad Alinaghizadeh

Publications and Research

This research is devoted to statics analysis of structural members under mechanical loads. Static analysis of beams under uniform transverse mechanical loads is presented. The beams are supported by simply supported boundary condition at both sides. The equilibrium equation of the beams is obtained and solved using analytical method and numerical method. The numerical method employed in this work is generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method. The type of differential quadrature method used for numerical solution is the polynomial-based GDQ method. The differential equation is discretized into algebraic equations based on the GDQ technique. The algebraic equations are then solved to …

The Criminogenic Effect Of Marijuana Dispensaries In Denver, Colorado: A Microsynthetic Control Quasi-Experiment And Cost-Benefit Analysis, Nathan Connealy, Eric L. Piza, Dave Hatten

Publications and Research

The study analyzed the criminogenic effect of legalizing recreational marijuana dispensaries in Denver. Street segments with recreational dispensaries experienced no changes in violent, disorder and drug crime but did experience an 18% increase in property crime, and street segments adjacent to recreational dispensaries experienced some notable (but non-significant) drug and disorder crime increases. Medical dispensaries demonstrated no significant crime changes. A cost-benefit analysis found the associated crime costs were largely offset by sales revenue. Monetary benefits were much less pronounced, and barely cost effective, when only considering tax revenue.

Physico-Chemical Modeling, Optical Microscopy And Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Characterization Of Model Biomaterials., Amina Shahbaz, Subhendra N. Sarkar, Zoya Vinokur, Aldona Gjoni

Publications and Research

Biopolymers are being developed with nanostructures which acts as a carriers for drug delivery to treat different diseases including cancers. In this project, the authors made one biopolymer PDMS with 0-0.9% of SiC filler a novel characterization was demonstrated. Characterization included optical surface microscopy (5-100X) and 2D X-ray imaging at low kVp and low mAs to ensure proper loading and uniform distribution of SiC filler content in PDMS matrix distinguishable within 0.2 vol% of SiC. MR measurements also seemed to be very promising.

Augmented Reality Gaming: Harnessing Real-World Environment With Game Interactions, Steven Li

Publications and Research

Augmented Reality (AR) technologies enhance the version of the physical environment with computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, or graphics overlaid on top of the real-world view. AR can also be used to improve the user experience while interacting with the world. Today, some examples of AR games consist of Pokémon Go and Zombies Run!. These games display virtual characters in the real-world using smartphones, capturing the surrounding environment, and embedding the virtual characters as if they were real ones. In these games, players are also able to interact and play against each other. AR has other uses beyond …

Part I: Comparative Analysis Between Natural And Ceramic Teeth, Aneeza Hussain, Ibeth Erazo

Publications and Research

Ceramics play a fundamental role in Dentistry and are used widely, due to their ability to mimic the optical characteristics of enamel and dentine, as well as for their biocompatibility and strength. Initially, dental ceramics were materials that formed part of systems, designed with the purpose of producing dental prosthetics that in turn were used to replace missing or damaged dental structures. However, due to the increased demand for esthetics, its development has gone beyond in such a way that it has led to the development of all ceramic restorations. So that, in the last few decades, there have been …

International Space Object Orbit Tracker, Nicole Navarro

Publications and Research

This software engineering project involves development of machine learning algorithms for embedded applications. High speed 32-bit hardware devices such as Raspberry Pi and ARM microcontrollers has become inexpensive and readily available. Machine learning algorithms for applications such as image processing and image recognition are computationally intensive. But with the availability of low cost 32-bit embedded computing devices, it is now feasible to implement then on embedded hardware. This project will explore embedded applications of machine learning algorithms by following a software engineering design and test approach.

Self-Driving Toy Car Using Deep Learning, Fahim Ahmed, Suleyman Turac, Mubtasem Ali

Publications and Research

Our research focuses on building a student affordable platform for scale model self-driving cars. The goal of this project is to explore current developments of Open Source hardware and software to build a low-cost platform consisting of the car chassis/framework, sensors, and software for the autopilot. Our research will allow other students with low budget to enter into the world of Deep Learning, self-driving cars, and autonomous cars racing competitions.

The Ethical Implications Of Bioengineering Advancements, Mainstream Media Coverage Of Those Developments, And The Future Of Motherhood, Aliff Abad, Katherine Gregory

Publications and Research

How do the media interpret reproductive interventions that involve genetic testing? When a scientist performed the first known genetic editing on twins, Lulu and Nana, he ignored ethical considerations of CRISPR use. This project provides a content analysis based on a review of popular science and newspaper articles. Our interpretation of these articles suggest that there is a lack of critical understanding of this unethical procedure and a similar attitude towards future genetic developments. While the public is curious about the repercussions of genetic editing, not enough focus is applied to the ethics of conducting such a procedure.