Digital Commons Network^™

Disciplines, Institutions—And Desires, Will Stockton, Mario Digangi, Ruth Mazo Karras, Melissa E. Sanchez

Publications and Research

Will Stockton: I would like to begin by asking you to consider the chiasmus under which we gather: “Desiring History and Historicizing Desire.” The chiasmus focuses our attention on the crossing of two terms, each with noun and verb forms their grammatical flexibility indexed, perhaps, to the methodological flexibility of the fields in which most of us work: early modern (here both Renaissance and late-medieval) queer and/or sexuality studies. Talk a bit about the definitions of desir/e/ing and histor/y/icizing, and the relation of these terms to the periodization and thematization of your and our work. Is defining these words more …

The Good Food Jobs Nexus: A Strategy For Promoting Health, Employment, And Economic Development, Nicholas Freudenberg, Michele Silver, Lesley Hirsch, Nevin Cohen

Publications and Research

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, cities have looked to the rapidly growing food sector as a promising source of new employment, and yet most of the sector’s growth has come from low-wage, dead-end food jobs. A strategy to simultaneously increase food employment, improve conditions for food workers, and enhance access to healthy and affordable food to improve public health requires pursuing a “good food jobs” approach that supports policies and programs that advance all three goals. To inform such a strategy, this article analyzes policies and programs to create good food jobs in New York City and discusses …

Indigenous Ecuadorian Mobility Strategies In The Clandestine Migration Journey, Victoria Stone-Cadena

Publications and Research

Based on testimonials of migration journeys of indigenous Cañaris from southern highland Ecuador, this paper examines strategies of mobility and social networking employed by migrants and facilitators in the human smuggling market. Following a series of economic crises in the late 1990s, Ecuadorian transnational migration increased significantly, with a 55.5 percent increase to the United States between 2000 and 2008, and staggering 12,150 percent increase to Spain between 1998 and 2005. This article focuses on the growth of a regional migration industry in the southern high-land region, and pays special attention to the roles of indigenous Cañari migrants and migration …

Rumination And Rebound From Failure As A Function Of Gender And Time On Task, Ronald C. Whiteman, Jennifer A. Mangels

Publications and Research

Rumination is a trait response to blocked goals that can have positive or negative outcomes for goal resolution depending on where attention is focused. Whereas “moody brooding” on affective states may be maladaptive, especially for females, “reflective pondering” on concrete strategies for problem solving may be more adaptive. In the context of a challenging general knowledge test, we examined how Brooding and Reflection rumination styles predicted students’ subjective and event-related responses (ERPs) to negative feedback, as well as use of this feedback to rebound from failure on a later surprise retest. For females only, Brooding predicted unpleasant feelings after failure …

Genome Assembly And Geospatial Phylogenomics Of The Bed Bug Cimex Lectularius, Jeffrey A. Rosenfeld, Darryl Reeves, Mercer R. Brugler, Apurva Narechania, Sabrina Simon, Russell Durrett, Jonathan Foox, Kevin Shianna, Michael C. Schatz, Jorge Gandara, Ebrahim Afshinnekoo, Ernest T. Lam, Alex R. Hastie, Saki Chan, Han Cao, Michael Saghbini, Alex Kentsis, Paul J. Planet, Vladyslav Kholodovych, Michael Tessler, Richard Baker, Rob Desalle, Louis N. Sorkin, Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis, Mark E. Siddall, George Amato, Christopher E. Mason

Publications and Research

The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) has been a persistent pest of humans for thousands of years, yet the genetic basis of the bed bug’s basic biology and adaptation to dense human environments is largely unknown. Here we report the assembly, annotation and phylogenetic mapping of the 697.9-Mb Cimex lectularius genome, with an N50 of 971 kb, using both long and short read technologies. A RNA-seq time course across all five developmental stages and male and female adults generated 36,985 coding and noncoding gene models. The most pronounced change in gene expression during the life cycle occurs after feeding on …

The Fragility Of Ecological Pedagogy: Elementary Social Studies Standards And Possibilities Of New Materialism, Debbie Sonu, Nathan Snaza

Publications and Research

The greatest challenge facing the field of environmentalism includes ontological questions over the human subject and its desensitization from landscapes of experience. In this article the authors draw from field experiences in New York City elementary schools (such as observations of teachers, NYS Scope and Sequence Standards for Social Studies, and the Common Core State Standards) to demonstrate how curricular engagements with nature and the environment are persistently caught within humanist traditions that place agency and action as sovereign to humanness. It uses new materialist ontologies to suggest how hybrid relations among humans, nonhumans, and matter can be read by …

Impact Of Irrigation Method On Water Use Efficiency And Productivity Of Fodder Crops In Nepal, Ajay K. Jha, Razan Malla, Mohan Sharma, Jeeban Panthi, Tarendra Lakhankar, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Piyush Dahal, Madan Lall Shrestha

Publications and Research

Improved irrigation use efficiency is an important tool for intensifying and diversifying agriculture in Nepal, resulting in higher economic yield from irrigated farmlands with a minimum input of water. Research was conducted to evaluate the effect of irrigation method (furrow vs. drip) on the productivity of nutritious fodder species during off-monsoon dry periods in different elevation zones of central Nepal. A split-block factorial design was used. The factors considered were treatment location, fodder crop, and irrigation method. Commonly used local agronomical practices were followed in all respects except irrigation method. Results revealed that location effect was significant (p < 0.01) with highest fodder productivity seen for the middle elevation site, Syangja. Species effects were also significant, with teosinte (Euchlaena mexicana) having higher yield than cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Irrigation method impacted green biomass yield (higher with furrow irrigation) but both methods yielded similar dry biomass, while water use was 73% less under drip irrigation. Our findings indicated that the controlled application of water through drip irrigation is able to produce acceptable yields of nutritionally dense fodder species during dry seasons, leading to more effective utilization and resource conservation of available land, fertilizer and water. Higher productivity of these nutritional fodders resulted in higher milk productivity for livestock smallholders. The ability to grow fodder crops year-round in lowland and hill regions of Nepal with limited water storages using low-cost, water-efficient drip irrigation may greatly increase livestock productivity and, hence, the economic security of smallholder farmers.

Winfield V. City Of New York: Testing The Limits Of Disparate-Impact Liability After Texas Department Of Housing And Community Affairs V. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., Andrea Mcardle

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Costs Of "Broken Windows" Policing: Twenty Years And Counting, K. Babe Howell

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Universalizing Primary Education In Sierra Leone: Promises And Pitfalls On The Path To Equity, Grace Pai

Publications and Research

What barriers remain in the progress towards achieving Universal Primary Education (UPE), and how does the UPE agenda affect out-of-school children? Through a mixture of historical, quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis, this study examines these questions using the developing context of Sierra Leone as a case study.

Findings from over 100 interviews show that first of all, the most salient barrier that prevents children from participating in primary school is the fact that school is not free de facto in spite of the national abolishment of primary school fees in 2004. Rather than commonly cited constraints such as a …

Middle Preclassic Period Maya Greenstone "Triangulates": Forms, Contexts, And Geology Of A Unique Mesoamerican Groundstone Artifact Type, Terry G. Powis, Sherman Horn Iii, Gyles Iannone, Paul F. Healy, James F. Garber, Jaime J. Awe, Sheldon Skaggs, Linda A. Howie

Publications and Research

Over the past twenty years our understanding of the Middle Preclassic (900–300 BCE) period has become much clearer through archaeological investigations at a number of sites located in the Upper Belize River Valley region of the eastern Maya Lowlands. While the picture of Middle Preclassic Maya life, including their material culture, has sharpened, there are aspects that remain uninvestigated. One artifact type, identified as greenstone triangulates, has been found at several Belize Valley sites and in a variety of contexts. Although a number of these multifaceted, polished groundstone items have been recovered, little research has focused on their distribution and …

Conscientization & Third Space: A Case Study Of A Tunisian Activist, Habiba Boumlik, Joni Schwartz

Publications and Research

This article examines the role of a female cyber and social activist, Amira Yahyaoui, in the aftermaths of the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia through the lens of adult education. In this case study, the theoretical frameworks of conscientization and third space are utilized to describe Yahyaoui’s development of the watchdog political organization, al-bawsala, for the purpose of transformative learning and knowledge transmission in regard to political practices toward democracy in Tunisia. The focus will be on platforms used by this non-governmental organization (NGO), Al-Bawsala, to educate and raise political consciousness; these participatory platforms are: marsad (parliamentary observatory), debates or town …

Latin Nominatives With And Without Verbs, Joseph C. M. Davis

Publications and Research

Although the nominative case has typically been viewed as a syntactic device marking the subject of the verb of a sentence, that case in Latin must instead be understood as a communicative tool operating at the discourse level if its entire distribution is to be accounted for. Attested instances of the Latin nominative case without any verb force this shift. Nominatives with and without verbs alike can be accounted for if concentration of attention at the discourse level is treated as the operative factor. Once the function of the Latin nominative case is properly understood, its distinction from other grammatical …

Comparative Phylogeography Of Ethiopian Anurans: Impact Of The Great Rift Valley And Pleistocene Climate Change, Xenia Freilich, Jose D. Anadon, Jolanta Bukala, Ordaliza Calderon, Ronveer Chakraborty, Stephanie Boissinot

Publications and Research

Background: The Ethiopian highlands are a biodiversity hotspot, split by the Great Rift Valley into two distinct systems of plateaus and mountains. The Rift Valley is currently hot and dry and acts as a barrier to gene flow for highland-adapted species. It is however unlikely that the conditions in the Rift were inhospitable to highland species during the entire Pleistocene. To assess the significance of the Ethiopian Rift as a biogeographic barrier as well as the impact Pleistocene climatic changes have had on the evolution of Ethiopian organisms, we performed phylogeographic analyses and developed present and past niche models on …

Location Means A Lot For College Enrollments, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Assessing Urban Greenhouse Gas Emissions In European Medium And Large Cities: Methodological Considerations, Peter Marcotullio, Andrea Sarzynski, Jochen Albrecht, Niels Schulz, Jake Garcia

Publications and Research

Policymakers need clear, consistent, and reliable information about the location of greenhouse gases and drivers of emitting activity in order to design appropriate mitigating strategies. At the urban scale, there have been challenges in developing consistent and reliable emissions inventories. This chapter examines selected methods to determine greenhouse gas emissions at the urban scale. We describe the various criteria considered when constructing an urban greenhouse gas protocol including the definition of urban, the gasses that are measured, the source they come from, the scope of analysis and how the measurements are undertaken. We then present results for European medium and …

Global Homesickness In William Gibson’S Blue Ant Trilogy, Sean Scanlan

Publications and Research

This article explores theories of home, homesickness, and identity instability as they occur in William Gibson’s Blue Ant trilogy, which consists of three novels: Pattern Recognition (2003), Spook Country (2007), and Zero History (2010). In order to clarify this collision and underscore the importance of cultural and aesthetic codes of uneven globalization, this article offers a character study focused through the place-based intensities of global homesickness. Each character has a strained relationship with home: Cayce Pollard only feels at home while reading and writing in an online film forum; Hollis Henry wonders if she might be considered homeless, even though …

Vulnerability And Exposure To Crime: Applying Risk Terrain Modeling To The Study Of Assault In Chicago., Leslie W. Kennedy, Joel M. Caplan, Eric L. Piza, Henri Buccine-Schraeder

Publications and Research

Prior research has applied risk assessment and spatial analysis techniques to the study of violence. This paper builds on those results, tying the practical outcomes of spatial risk analysis methods to broader spatial issues on the articulation of risky places for aggravated assault. We begin by conceptualizing key relationships, addressing the effects of environmental factors on creating distinct, identifiable areas that are conducive to crime. Propositions of the theory of risky places are posed and then empirically tested using a GIS based program, RTMDx, on aggravated assault data in an urban area. Given the current thinking about crime vulnerability based …

Place-Based Correlates Of Motor Vehicle Theft And Recovery: Measuring Spatial Influence Across Neighbourhood Context, Eric L. Piza, Shun Feng, Leslie Kennedy, Joel Caplan

Publications and Research

Social scientists have long shown great interest in the spatial correlates of crime patterns. A subset of the literature has focused on how micro-level spatial factors influence the formation of crime hot spots. At the same time, tangential research has highlighted how neighbourhood disadvantage influences crime occurrence. The current study focuses on the intersection of these perspectives through a spatial analysis of Motor Vehicle Theft (MVT) and Motor Vehicle Recovery (MVR) in Colorado Springs, CO. We begin by conducting a Risk Terrain Modelling analysis to identify spatial risk factors significantly related to MVT and MVR occurrence. We then test whether …

Factors Associated With Providers’ Perceptions Of Mental Health Care In Santa Luzia’S Family Health Strategy, Brazil, Angela R. Ghesquiere, Rogerio M. Pinto, Rahbel Rahman, Anya Y. Spector

Publications and Research

Brazil has a unique mental health care system, characterized by universal coverage delivered by interdisciplinary teams both in the community and in specialized centros de atenção psicossocial (CAPS—psychosocial care centers). Provision of patient-centered mental health care is an important principle of Brazilian mental health care, but this topic has not been well-studied. We analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey of 151 community health workers (CHWs), nurses, and physicians in Santa Luzia, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Chi-squares, t-tests and multivariate regression analyses examined differences in socio-demographics, caseload, engagement in evidence-based practices (EBPs), and transdisciplinary collaboration between providers who reported providing high …

The Mathematics And Applications Behind Image Warping And Morphing, Tanvir Prince, Maria Malik, Ildefonso Salva, Ariel Mazor, Sakhr Aldaylam

Publications and Research

This research is conducted in the summer of 2015 and is possible by the support of various agency, in particular, by the grant of Prof. Angulo Nieves and the New York City Research Initiative.

The purpose of this research is to reveal the mathematics and applications of the computer animation techniques of warping and morphing. A warp is a twist or distortion in the form of an object in an image while a morph is the smooth and gradual transformation of an object in one image into the object in another image. Linear algebra makes these computer animation techniques possible; …

'At-Risk' Places: Inequaties In The Distribution Of Environmental Stressors And Prescription Rates Of Mental Health Medications In Glasgow, Scotland, Juliana A. Maantay, Andrew Maroko

Publications and Research

Using geospatial analytical methods, this study examines the association between one aspect of the built environment, namely, the concentration of vacant and derelict land (VDL), and the prevalence of mental health disorders (using the proxy variable of mental health medication prescription rates) in Glasgow, Scotland. This study builds on our previous research, which demonstrated the spatial correspondence between the locations of VDL in Glasgow and several physical health outcomes. Numerous studies of other locales have found similar correspondence between different elements of the built environment and various health outcomes. This is the first study of its kind to look at …

Situational Prevention And Public Transport Crime In El Salvador, Mangai Natarajan, Ronald Clarke, Carlos Carcach, Carlos Ponce, Margarita Beneke De Sanfeliú, Dolores Escobar Polanco, Mario Chávez, Mauricio Shi

Publications and Research

By any standard, there is a serious problem of crime on the public transport system in El Salvador. Guided by crime opportunity theory, this study undertook a rapid assessment of the problem consisting of a systematic observation of public transport in El Salvador and focus group discussions with passengers, bus operators, police and bus company owners/managers. The purposes were (1) to describe the main forms of crime and disorder afflicting the system, (2) to identify features of the system that contribute to the high levels of crime and disorder, and (3) to identify preventive measures, consistent with international experience. A …

Heroic Depiction Vs. Modern Slaughtering -The Great War In The Middle East As A Semi-Modern War, Frank Jacob, Riccardo Altieri

Publications and Research

The paper discusses the reception of the Middle East during the First World War comparing different areas of campaigns and battles in the region.

Toward A Deeper Understanding Of Disability: Physical Therapy Educators’ Reflections, Clarence Chan, Debra Engel, Jacqueline Ross

Publications and Research

This article describes the unique journey both of a blind student in our Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) Program and of the faculty who taught him as they all navigated through uncharted territories. Despite the fact that the physical therapy profession trains practitioners to help clients with disabilities to maximize their physical function and teaches them how to adapt to the challenges of daily activity, we initially assumed that a blind student would not be able to complete the program or be able to become a self-sufficient practitioner. We were very wrong. This article describes our learning process over the course …

Gurkha Soldiers As An Intercultural Moment On The European Battlefields Of The Great War, Frank Jacob

Publications and Research

The article analyzes the role of the Gurkhas during the First World War to explain the intercultural contacts as they were created by the multi-ethnicity of the troops that were recruited for the Great War throughout the British Empire.

Deleuze, Haraway, And The Radical Democracy Of Desire, Robert Leston

Publications and Research

In response to suggestions that Deleuze and Guattari are the “enemy” of companion species, this essay explores the tension between Donna Haraway’s attacks against Deleuze and Guattari and their philosophy of becoming animal. The essay goes on to contextualize Deleuze and Guattari’s statements against pet owners through a discussion of the psychoanalytical refiguration of desire and shows how their ostensible attack against pet owners fits into their larger critique against capitalism. The essay illustrates why Deleuze and Guattari and Haraway are more in agreement than first meets the eye, finding commensurability through Haraway’s early work on embryology. Becoming animal does …

Homo Naledi, A New Species Of The Genus Homo From The Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, Lee R. Berger, John Hawks, Darryl J. De Ruiter, Steven E. Churchill, Peter Schmid, Lucas K. Delezene, Tracy L. Kivell, Heather M. Garvin, Scott A. Williams, Jeremy M. Desilva, Matthew M. Skinner, Charles M. Musiba, Noel Cameron, Trenton W. Holliday, William Harcourt-Smith, Et Al.

Publications and Research

Homo naledi is a previously-unknown species of extinct hominin discovered within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. This species is characterized by body mass and stature similar to small-bodied human populations but a small endocranial volume similar to australopiths. Cranial morphology of H. naledi is unique, but most similar to early Homo species including Homo erectus, Homo habilis or Homo rudolfensis. While primitive, the dentition is generally small and simple in occlusal morphology. H. naledi has humanlike manipulatory adaptations of the hand and wrist. It also exhibits a humanlike foot and lower …

Iberian Theater And Performance, Christopher B. Swift

Publications and Research

Medieval Iberian theater and performance maintains a peculiar status within, and between, performance and medieval disciplines. In theater studies, medieval Iberia has received minimal scholarly attention, and standard theater history textbooks contain only traces of Iberian material, if any at all. Despite the existence of Catalonian and Castilian archival materials that indicate performance traditions unique to the peninsula, scholars of Spanish literature (outside of the notable exceptions below) generally view Iberian medieval theater as an anomaly. One of the main reasons for this situation is that Iberian theater has yet to emerge fully from traditional historiographic parameters predicated upon the …

Situational Crime Prevention And Worldwide Piracy: A Cross‑Continent Analysis, Jon M. Shane, Eric Piza, Marissa Mandala

Publications and Research

Relying on situational crime prevention perspective, this study compares successful and unsuccessful pirate attacks reported to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) from the year 2000 through 2013 (n = 4,902). The study builds upon the recent work of Shane and Magnuson in Justice Quarterly, pp 1–26 (2014), which found various SCP techniques effectively prevented piracy attacks on a global level. The current study builds upon these findings by testing whether the global effect of SCP is consistent across individual continents. A series of mixed-effects logistic regression models and follow-up likelihood ratio tests were incorporated to explore the research question. In …