Digital Commons Network^™

The Iconography Of An All-American Icon: Sailors, Homoeroticism, And Mid-Century Queer Cultural Politics, Kel R. Karpinski

Publications and Research

Through a new critical reading of the relevant images found in The Young Physique and Physique Pictorial, I explore how the sailor has become a homoerotic icon and how the sailor has become an object of gay fetishization and fantasy. Through media (in this instance: magazines), I focus on the time period between World War II through Gay Liberation in the 1970s, showing how the culture of the port cities of New York City and Los Angeles helped to create this homoerotic image of the sailor. Through a reading of three images that demonstrate the homoeroticism of sailor imagery from …

Insights: Qualitative Study To Reevaluate And Redesign Online Learning Self-Guided Tools For English First Year Writers Learning Self-Guided Tools For English First Year Writers, Nandi Prince

Publications and Research

The library faculty teaches approximately three hundred one-time instructional classes per year. This study explored the role of the library instructor in support of serving the needs of first-year writers (FYW) in a discourse community (DC). The English faculty teach English Composition I, the FYW develop their writing skills in a community with shared goals and an established means of communicating. This qualitative study explored: (1) in-depth experiences of the English faculty during library one-time instructional classes; (2) their perceptions of what students need most, in the new curriculum; (3) new findings that would guide the design of digital tools …

Lookism, Social Media, Beauty Prejudice, Diana Saiki, Alyssa Dana Adomaitis

Publications and Research

"Lookism” is a term to describe appearance discriminationor “the practice of discrimination on the basis of physical appearance in the workplace” (Ghodrati, Joorabchi, & Muati, 2015, p.1). In popular literature, it has been called “beauty prejudice” (Etcoff, 1999, p. 1). The notion that a pleasing appearance results in favorable outcomes (e.g., higherwages, promotions) from others is not necessarily new, as literature on physical attractiveness is rather extensive. The Washington Post Magazine first used the term “lookism” in 1978 (e.g., Ayto, 1999), however, the term “lookism” was first recognized as a form of discrimination by authors of the Oxford English Dictionary …

Teaching The Past To Protect The Future: Degenerate Art As A Modern-Day Cultural Warning, Cheryl Hogue Smith

Publications and Research

This chapter outlines how students who previously weren’t paying attention to the rampant antisemitism and racism embedded within American culture and systems see how the 20th century Degenerate Art Exhibition acts as a lesson against a racial nationalism that is attempting to take over the country.

Helping The Helpers: The Role Of Organizational Support And Peer Influence On Police Officer Receptivity To Employee Assistance Programs, Kenneth Quick

Publications and Research

Purpose – This study aims to investigate critical differences between police officer willingness to use and recommend an employee assistance program (EAP) to a peer, including the relationship between officer perceptions of macro-level organizational support and micro-level EAP support.

Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 213 police officers from a large, urban police department in the Northeast United States of America is used to evaluate the relationship between officer perceptions of the EAP and the officers’ willingness to use and recommend the EAP to peers. Generalized linear regression models are used to evaluate the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) …

Working Towards Promotion To Full Professor: Strategies, Time Management, And Habits For Academic Librarian Mothers, Marta Bladek

Publications and Research

After briefly sharing my experience as an academic librarian mother, the chapter places it within the larger context of academia in which women, especially mothers, lag behind men in attaining the full professor rank. It then outlines the strategies that have enabled me to gradually make progress towards promotion. The chapter discusses strategies to use at the institutional level (familiarity with local requirements, personnel process and related trainings, as well as the availability of leaves and grants), at the departmental level (workflow adjustments, scheduling arrangements, and strategic choice of projects and service commitments), and then at the individual/personal level (seeking …

The Political Ramifications Of Judicial Institutions: Establishing A Link Between Dobbs And Gender Disparities In The 2022 Midterms, Udi Sommers, Or Rappel-Kroyzer, Amy Adamczyk, Lindsay Lerner, Anna Weiner

Publications and Research

In the American system of government, courts are designed to operate within the legal sphere, with limited political interference. Is it possible, though, that a behavior that is at the heart of the political process can be influenced directly by a judicial decision? Focusing on voter registration big data for the universe of voters in North Carolina around the time of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the authors assess the roles of gender, political party affiliation, and age in voter registration. North Carolina is the only state whose voter registry has the necessary granularity over time and information needed. …

Differences In Religious Framing Of Muslims And Islam In American Media Coverage Before And After The Trump Campaign, Emily Greene-Colozzi, Amy Adamczyk, Senahan Kiyal Keles

Publications and Research

Over the last 20 years Muslims have received a disproportionate amount of news media attention. In 2017 they were again thrust into the spotlight when the Trump administration issued a travel ban blocking entry from seven predominately-Muslim countries. With our hand coding of over 900 newspaper articles and mixed modeling techniques, we examine the newspaper rhetoric surrounding Muslims before and during the Trump administration and across US states. We find that after President Trump’s election, fewer newspapers mentioned religion or referenced Muslim claimsmakers. We also reveal that higher state-level religious salience was associated with more newspapers referencing religious claimsmakers in …

Staging A Musical Self Through Paper, Canvas, And The Screen: A Taxonomy Of Musicians’ Self-Portraits From The Renaissance To The Digital Age, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Abstract:

Musicians have engaged in visual self-representation at least since the Renaissance and have continued the tradition to modern times with contemporary practices including selfies and generative technology and AI art. The practitioners include so-called classical composers (Schoenberg is a well-known case) and performers (Caruso, for instance), but also pop singers and musicians (Joni Mitchell and Patti Smith, among others). The media used varies from oil on canvas to drawings on paper, from traditional photography to digital media. In some instances, there are grave, pompous self-representations, but caricatures also abound (e.g., Donizetti). There are also some miscategorized self-portraits (i.e., portraits …

Transfer Information Online: Websites And Articulation Agreements At The City University Of New York, A. W. Logue, Chet Jordan, Matthew Townsell, Nicol Bellettiere, Rhina Torres

Publications and Research

Objective: Transfer students face a range of potential challenges as they prepare to move from one college to another. Websites are critical resources for transfer students because they can be easily accessible sources of information concerning credit transfer, advising, articulation agreements, and additional transfer administrative policies and procedures. Detailed assessments of colleges’ website transfer information can provide information useful to higher education institutions regarding how transfer information should and should not be communicated online. Methods: The present study examined transfer information on the websites of 19 colleges of The City University of New York (CUNY). This examination assessed the presence …

Misogynistic Extremism: A Scoping Review, Robin O'Hanlon, Frederick L. Altice, Roy Ka-Wei Lee, Jack Laviolette, Gloria Mark, Orestis Papakyriakopoulos, Koustuv Saha, Munmun De Choudhury, Navin Kumar

Publications and Research

In recent years, the concept of “misogynistic extremism” has emerged as a subject of interest among scholars, governments, law enforcement personnel, and the media. Yet a consistent understanding of how misogynistic extremism is defined and conceptualized has not yet emerged. Varying epistemological orientations may contribute to the current conceptual muddle of this topic, reflecting long-standing and on-going challenges with the conceptualization of its individual components. To address the potential impact of misogynistic extremism (i.e., violent attacks), a more precise understanding of what this phenomenon entails is needed. To summarize the existing knowledge base on the nature of misogynistic extremism, this …

Cup Is Essential For Oskar Mrna Translational Repression During Early Drosophila Oogenesis, Livia V. Bayer, Samantha Milano, Stephen K. Formel, Harpreet Kaur, Rishi Ravichandran, Juan A. Cambeiro, Lizaveta Slinko, Irina E. Catrina, Diana P. Bratu

Publications and Research

Study of the timing and location for mRNA translation across model systems has begun to shed light on molecular events fundamental to such processes as intercellular communication, morphogenesis, and body pattern formation. In D. melanogaster, the posterior mRNA determinant, oskar, is transcribed maternally but translated only when properly localized at the oocyte’s posterior cortex. Two effector proteins, Bruno1 and Cup, mediate steps of oskar mRNA regulation. The current model in the field identifies Bruno1 as necessary for Cup’s recruitment to oskar mRNA and indispensable for oskar’s translational repression. We now report that this Bruno1-Cup interaction leads …

Molecular Mechanism Behind The Safe Immunostimulatory Effect Of Withania Somnifera, Kriti Kalpana, Shen Yap, Moriya Tsuji, Akira Kawamura

Publications and Research

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (family Solanaceae) is a medicinal plant known for, among many pharmacological properties, an immune boosting effect. Our recent study revealed that its key immunostimulatory factor is lipopolysaccharide of plant-associated bacteria. This is peculiar, because, although LPS can elicit protective immunity, it is an extremely potent pro-inflammatory toxin (endotoxin). However, W. somnifera is not associated with such toxicity. In fact, despite the presence of LPS, it does not trigger massive inflammatory responses in macrophages. To gain insights into the safe immunostimulatory effect of W. somnifera, we conducted a mechanistic study on its major phytochemical constituent, …

C-Glycopyranosyl Aldehydes: Emerging Chiral Synthons In Organic Synthesis, Sandeep Kumar, Vinod Khatri, Priyanka Mangla, Rajni Johar Chhatwal, Virinder S. Parmar, Ashok K. Prasad

Publications and Research

Herein, we have summarized the vast array of synthetic processes that have been developed for the synthesis of C-glycopyranosyl aldehydes and diverse C-glycoconjugates derived from them by covering the literature reported from 1979 to 2023. Notwithstanding its challenging chemistry, C-glycosides are considered stable pharmacophores and are used as important bioactive molecules. The discussed synthetic methodologies to access C-glycopyranosyl aldehydes take advantage of seven key intermediates, viz. allene, thiazole, dithiane, cyanide, alkene, and nitromethane. Furthermore, the integration of complex C-glycoconjugates derived from varied C-glycopyranosyl aldehydes involves nucleophilic addition/substitution, reduction, condensation, oxidation, cyclo condensation, coupling, and …

Trans* Bambalinas: Del Freak Show Al Videoarte En El Documental Disidente Chileno, Ignacio A. Pastén López

Publications and Research

Este ensayo reseña los siguientes documentales:

El viaje de Monalisa. Dir. Nicole Costa. Prod. Gregory Costa y Daniela Camino. Nueva York, 2019, 93 min. https://ondamedia.cl/show/el-viaje-de-monalisa-1626213821621.

Casa Roshell. Dir. Camila José Donoso. Prod. Garbiñe Ortega, Juan Pablo Bastarrachea, Maximiliano Cruz y Sandra Gómez. Chile, 2017, 71 min. https://ondamedia.cl/show/casa-roshell.

Naomi Campbel. Dir. Camila José Donoso y Nicolás Videla. Prod. Catalina Donoso y Rocío Romero. Chile, 2013, 83 minutos. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=236699154110418.

En tránsito. Dir. Constanza Gallardo. Prod. Constanza Gallardo y Felipe Garrido González. Chile, 2017, 65 min. https://www.cclm.cl/cineteca-online/en-transito/.

El gran circo pobre de Timoteo. Dir. Lorena Giachino Torréns. Prod. Paola …

Potential Anti-Alzheimer Properties Of Mogrosides In Vitamin B12-Deficient Caenorhabditis Elegans, Denia Cai Shi, Chunlin Long, Ella Vardeman, Edward J. Kennelly, Michael A. Lawton, Rong Di

Publications and Research

Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to oxidative stress, which is known to be involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Mogrosides are plant-derived triterpene glycosides that exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity in animal cell lines and mouse models. Since amyloid-β toxicity is known to cause oxidative stress and damage to brain cells, we hypothesized that mogrosides may have a protective effect against AD. In this study, we investigated the potential anti-AD effect of mogrosides in vitamin B12-deficient wild-type N2 and in transgenic CL2355 Caenorhabditis elegans expressing amyloid-β peptide. Our data indicated that mogrosides have a beneficial effect on …

Quantity Of Questing Black-Legged Ticks And Associated Micro-Scale Environmental Data Collected From Four Suburban Parks Near New York City, Shipeng Sun, Chong Di, Li Li, Brian Sulkow, Weigang Qiu

Publications and Research

During 2017 and 2018, we collected the quantity of questing black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), also known as deer ticks, in 124 sampling sites of 5m by 5m in four state parks—Caumsett State Historic Park, Connetquot River State Park, Rockefeller State Park, and Fire Island National Seashore—around New York City. The black-legged tick is the primary vector for the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen of Lyme disease, in Northeastern United States. Using the flagging method, we collected and counted the numbers of adult and nymphal black-legged ticks at each site. Along with these quantities, we also recorded the …

People Are Curious About Immoral And Morally Ambiguous Others, Jordan Wylie, Ana Gantman

Publications and Research

Looking to the popularity of superheroes, true crime stories, and anti-heroic characters like Tony Soprano, we investigated whether moral extremity, especially moral badness, piques curiosity. Across five experiments (N = 2429), we examine moral curiosity, testing under what conditions the moral minds of others spark explanation-seeking behavior. In Experiment 1, we find that among the most widely watched Netflix shows in the US over a five-month period, the more immoral the protagonist, the more hours people spent watching. In Experiments 2a and 2b, we find that when given a choice to learn more about morally good, bad, ambiguous, or …

Feeling Analogue: Using Modular Synthesizers, Designing Synthesis Communities, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

When Harald Bode nominally invented the modular synthesiser in 1960, it was not yet clear whether it was a musical instrument or a less-defined form of studio-sited audio technology (Subotnik 1970). Much of the technology, from the interface design to the specific parts, was shared with nonmusical test and measurement equipment. Sixty years later, hardware modular synthesis is used not just for musical creation but for noise, sound art and data sonification/visualization. Through an ethnographic study of the design and use of the Eurorack modular synthesis format, and of modular synthesis maker and user communities spread through North America, Europe …

Correlation Of Road Network Structure And Urban Mobility Intensity: An Exploratory Study Using Geo-Tagged Tweets, Li Geng, Ke Zhang

Publications and Research

Urban planners have been long interested in understanding how urban structure and activities are mutually influenced. Human mobility and economic activities naturally drive the formation of road network structure and the accessibility of the latter shapes the patterns of movement flow across urban space. In this paper, we perform an exploratory study on the relationship between the street network structure and the intensity of human movement in urban areas. We focus on two cities and we utilize a dataset of geo-tagged tweets that can form a proxy to urban mobility and the corresponding street networks as obtained from OpenStreetMap. We …

Open Educational Resources Adoption Reduces Textbook Costs Without Sacrificing Student Performance In Business And Economics Courses At A Community College, Dorina Tila, Dawn Levy

Publications and Research

This study analyzed the possibility of saving on textbook costs without sacrificing student performance by using Open Educational Resources (OER) at no cost to students as a replacement for high-priced commercially printed books. Approximately two hundred students enrolled in business and economics courses at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York from Fall 2016 to Fall 2018 were assessed in this study. Using summative assessments and course grades as a measure of students’ performance, the findings showed that students in courses using OER as compared to students in the same subject area using traditional textbooks perform equally …

​​Pr 101: A Resource For New Public Relations Professionals, Ilana M. Weinberger

Publications and Research

The field of public relations (PR) is often misunderstood, despite the fact that it is a growing field (Fawkes, 2018). New employees enter the field of PR every year, whether as new graduates or as those making a career change, yet the intricacies of working in PR are not generally taught in the classroom (Meganck, Smith & Guidry, 2020). Most people do not have a solid understanding of what PR professionals do on a day-to-day basis, and in fact, many of those entering the field don’t either. They may think that PR is simply social media management, or even confuse …

Hyperemployment: Alienated Activity, Aestheticized Precarity, And Disillusioned Techno-Optimism, Julie K. Smitka

Publications and Research

This brief reflection aims to typify hyperemployment in the digital economy as social reproduction via alienated activity, illustrate its aestheticization of precarity, and elucidate its perpetuation by techno-optimism.

An Event-Without-Witness: A Nietzschean Theory Of The Digital Will To Power As The Will To Temporalize, Talha Issevenler

Publications and Research

This article offers a Nietzschean theory of digital will to power to conceptualize the temporality of social media feeds run by algorithms. Stylistic and methodological temporalities of Nietzsche are discussed as well as their influence in subsequent social theory of political technologies. The paradox of heavy investment in both subjective expression and nonhuman temporalization in social media milieus is addressed with the concept of an event-without-witness drawn from Nietzsche’s account of himself as the solitary thinker of catastrophe of nihilism and psychoanalytical and deconstructive literatures on the catastrophes of the 20th century. Nietzsche’s fundamental resistance to and fascination with the …

Standard Deviations Of Mr Signal Intensities Show A Consistent Trend During Imaging Follow-Ups For Glioblastoma Patients When Corrected For Non-Biological Heterogeneity Due To Hardware And Software Variation, Subhendra N. Sarkar, Rafael Rojas, Evans Lespinasse, Xiang Fu Zhang, Ruth Zeron

Publications and Research

Introduction: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has a poor prognosis in spite of advanced MRI guided treatments today. Routine MRI using conventional T1 or advanced permeability based MRI of GBM often does not adequately represent changing tumor phases or overall survival. In this work, region of interest (ROI) based tissue MR standard deviation (SD) is demonstrated as an important MRI variable that could be a potential biomarker of GBM heterogeneity and radioresistance. Materials and methods: MRI characterization is often qualitative and lacks reproducibility. Using standardized MRI phantoms we have normalized retrospective records of 12 radioresistant GBM patients that underwent radiation therapy (RT) …

Digital Humanities At Work In The World, Sarah Ruth Jacobs

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Business Information Security Officer (Biso) Responsibilities And Role Development, Kaung Myat Thu, Hudda Siddique

Publications and Research

In today's interconnected world, the success of enterprises heavily relies on network connectivity and technology. To safeguard sensitive information from cyber threats and ensure business success, the role of Information Security has become critical. This research project focuses on the Business Information Security Officer (BISO) role, studying their responsibilities, strategies, and how they handle threats. We explore the knowledge and skills required for BISOs, including certifications such as ISC² CISSP, ISACA CRISC, CISM, and CompTIA Security+. By contributing to the maturity of the BISO role, this study aims to enhance information security in organizations.

“Together We Arrived And Together We Shall Leave”: The Gouverneur Parents Association And The Politics Of Race And Disability In Postwar New York, Jorge A. Matos

Publications and Research

This essay documents the history of the Gouverneur Parents Association (GPA), a group of mostly Black and Latinx parents whose disabled children were institutionalized at the Gouverneur Division of the infamous Willowbrook State School in New York City. The GPA, in coalition with Black, Latinx, and White parents and activists, led a campaign during the 1970s and 1980s to close Willowbrook, then part of a national network of sites denounced by disability activists during the heyday of the deinstitutionalization movement. In this essay I argue that the postwar migration of Black and Latinx communities into New York City amid an …

Implementing Oer At Laguardia Community College: Three Case Studies, Ian Mcdermott, Joshua P. Tan, Alioune Khoule, Marta Kowalczyk, Emma Handte, Rena D. Grossman

Publications and Research

LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York (CUNY) began receiving funds from a New York State Open Educational Resources (OER) grant in 2017. Since then, several departments have made significant strides in the implementation of OER. We offer three case studies of putting OER into practice, in math, astronomy, and chemistry. Each case study presents the context for OER conversion, the steps taken, early results from OER implementation, and the main takeaways. A common feature across courses and departments is a process-oriented implementation of OER, namely, one that is constantly improving and moving towards the goal of openness and …

The Living Breakwaters Pdr Efforts Econcrete Resource Analysis, Guianina Ferrari, Shervon Stephens, Calvin O. Walters Jr.

Publications and Research

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy impacted 443,000 people and caused nearly $19 billion (about $58 per person in the US) worth of damage within New York City. As part of the New York City infrastructure reparation plan, the Living Breakwaters project in Tottenville addressed coastal resilience, allocating $100M of public funds to a series of artificial breakwaters by the southwest coast of Staten Island. Each breakwater is constructed and designed to mitigate water flow in storm events. ECOncrete, a primary element of the breakwater, is a specialty cast cementitious product that is marine organism-friendly that encourages biocalcification and photosynthesis. …