Digital Commons Network^™

Ensuring Survey Research Data Integrity In The Era Of Internet Bots, Marybec Griffin, Richard J. Martino, Caleb Loschiavo, Camilla Comer-Carruthers, Kristen D. Krause, Christopher B. Stults, Perry N. Halkitis

Publications and Research

We used an internet-based survey platform to conduct a cross-sectional survey regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the LGBTQ + population in the United States. While this method of data collection was quick and inexpensive, the data collected required extensive cleaning due to the infiltration of bots. Based on this experience, we provide recommendations for ensuring data integrity. Recruitment conducted between May 7 and 8, 2020 resulted in an initial sample of 1251 responses. The Qualtrics survey was disseminated via social media and professional association listservs. After noticing data discrepancies, research staff developed a rigorous data cleaning protocol. A second …

“School Hard” And Traditional Education In The Buffyverse Alia R. Tyner-Mullings, Alia R. Tyner

Publications and Research

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was once heralded as a beacon of feminist power on television in a sea of one-dimensional wives, girlfriends, and supporting characters. Joss Whedon, its creator, has been hailed as a feminist icon and a lifesaver of kids and adults struggling with being different (Cochran). “Geeks love Joss Whedon” according to a 2012 Wired article: “His characters are smart and self-aware. He’s steeped in pop culture and has a clever way with twists and turns of science fiction tropes […] plus, he writes female character who kick ass, which makes him so rare as to be sui …

"Writing Unspeakable Things: Speechlessness, Abjection, And The Ethics/Aesthetics Of (Not) Representing Sexual Violence In Three Korean American "Comfort Women' Novels", M Laura Barberan Reinares

Publications and Research

This article analyzes “comfort women” novels by the Korean American authors Therese Park, Nora Okja Keller, and Chang-rae Lee in terms of the ethics and aesthetics of representing sexual violence through language. I specifically look at these authors’ stylistic strategies to describe rape in writing and how they (more or less successfully) avoid voyeuristic portrayals of the “comfort women” by controlling the narrative point of view and relying on traumatic “speechlessness” and abjection. Building on relevant notions from the fields of photography, cinematography, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, this analysis suggests that in-progress representations of rape in language become a futile project …

Deism Defined And Defended, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Addressing Structural Racism In The Health Workforce, Randl B. Dent, Anushree Vichare, Jaileessa Casimir

Publications and Research

One of the greatest challenges facing the United States are health inequities among racial/ethnic and other marginalized populations. The deep-rooted structural racism embedded in our social systems, including our health care system and health workforce, is a core cause of racial health inequities. 1 Among many definitions of institutionalized or structural racism, Dr Jones 2 best defines it as: “Differential access to goods, services and opportunities of society by race ... It is structural, having been codified in our institutions of custom, practice, and law, so there need not be an identifiable perpetrator.” Dr Jones further explains that to set …

Reports And Commands: Deciphering A Health Exhibition Using The Speaking Mnemonic, David H. Lee

Publications and Research

The Amazing You exhibition at the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry had over 400 different multimedia health exhibits. Visitors walked through life stages, from conception through death, the exhibits at first showcasing developmental milestones, then diseases and chronic conditions associated with ageing. Museum executives described the exhibition as a public health intervention that stressed disease prevention, screening and behaviour change. This piece considers the question: What makes an exhibition be a health intervention? To describe complexities of the communication environment I use a mnemonic device called SPEAKING, an acronym for ‘Scene/Setting, Participants, Ends, Act Sequence, Key, Instrumentalites, Norms and …

Peer Leading Small Group Discussion During Covid-19, A. E. Dreyfuss, Ana Fraiman, Milka O. Montes, Reagan Hudson, Fernando Montalvillo Ortega, Jonathan Muniz, Franziska Piefke, Mikayla Rodriguez, Meinar Sheila, Keyshla Vargas, Nicky Vu

Publications and Research

Peer-led workshops in General Chemistry at the University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) were affected by COVID-19 restrictions during the 2020-2021 academic year. Most Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) workshops were conducted in person, but with the difference that protocols of distancing had to be observed, and a few were conducted online, so adjustments were necessary to prepare Peer Leaders to conduct their workshops in both types of settings. The facets of the modified PLTL program were supported by the online preparation for facilitation and chemistry content.

The results of an examination of critical incidents are shared here. This qualitative examination …

Active Learning With Silent Participation, A.E. Dreyfuss

Publications and Research

Silence by participants in peer-led learning sessions is often viewed as lack of engagement and interpreted as lack of participation or interest. This paper addresses facets of silence, suggesting linguistic, cultural, and other reasons for quietude, and provides methods of facilitation that incorporate silence to give voice to noiseless participation as a bridge to learning.

Who Needs To Be “Burned-Out”? Time For A New Approach To Job-Related Distress, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Burnout is a popular indicator of job-related distress, notably in research on the ill-being of medical professionals. The burnout construct is, however, plagued by definitional and measurement problems. Often unnoticed, these problems undermine findings and conclusions emanating from burnout research. The definitional and measurement problems affecting the burnout construct hamper knowledge growth, waste resources, and impede our ability to make informed decisions and take effective action to support personnel. It is time for occupational health specialists to abandon the idea of burnout and focus on occupational depression.

Factors Influencing The Relationship Between Work-Related Stress And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Working Black Adults In The United States, Paul C. Archibald

Publications and Research

Introduction: Work-related stress (WRS) and posttraumatic disorder (PTSD) is higher among Black adults relative to their White counterparts. Trauma exposure is not the only connection to increased risk for PTSD as WRS is highly associated with risk for PTSD. However, the factors that link WRS and PTSD among working Black adults is not well understood. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional data from the National Survey of American Life was used to examine the relationship between WRS and PTSD among 2,139 working Black adults and to determine whether there are influencing factors. Results: Logistic regression analyses revealed that working …

Hostile, Quick-Tempered, And Exposed To Dangerous Environments: Exploring The Link Between Temperament And Street Code Adherence, Kevin T. Wolff, Sharron Spriggs, Jonathan Intravia, Michael T. Baglivio, Matt Delisi

Publications and Research

Although Elijah Anderson’s (1999) code of the street thesis has received a great deal of scholarly attention, fewer studies have examined the characteristics associated with its adoption. Existing evidence is supportive of Anderson’s initial observations, however, less is known about the association between personality and emotional characteristics and adopting street code norms. The current study assesses the role of Delisi and Vaughn’s difficult temperament index in the adoption of the street code among a sample of juvenile justice-involved youth. Results indicated youth with more difficult temperaments, characterized by lower levels of effortful control and higher levels of negative emotionality, were …

Crowd Salience Heightens Tolerance To Healthy Facial Features, Mitch Brown, Ryan E. Tracy, Steven G. Young, Donald F. Sacco

Publications and Research

Objective: Recent findings suggest crowd salience heightens pathogen-avoidant motives, serving to reduce individuals’ infection risk through interpersonal contact. Such experiences may similarly facilitate the identification, and avoidance, of diseased conspecifics. The current experiment sought to replicate and extend previous crowding research.

Methods: In this experiment, we primed participants at two universities with either a crowding or control experience before having them evaluate faces manipulated to appear healthy or diseased by indicating the degree to which they would want to interact with them.

Results: Crowding-primed participants reported a more heightened preferences for healthy faces than control-primed participants. Additionally, crowd salience reduced …

Police Officers’ Best Friend?: An Exploratory Analysis Of The Effect Of Service Dogs On Perceived Organizational Support In Policing, Kenneth M. Quick, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

This study explored the effectiveness of a novel technique for police departments to support their officers and promote wellness: the use of service dogs. We evaluated officer perceptions in two mid-sized, municipal police departments that have wellness programs with a service dog that is permanently assigned to a full-time police officer handler: Groton and Naugatuck, Connecticut. We assessed 6 factors believed to influence police officer wellness including: operational and organizational stress using the Police Stress Questionnaire (McCreary & Thompson, 2006); topical stressors including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic, police use of force and community relations, and police reform efforts; …

During Natural Viewing, Neural Processing Of Visual Targets Continues Throughout Saccades, Atanas D. Stankov, Jonathan Touryan, Stephen Gordon, Anthony J. Ries, Jason Ki, Lucas C. Parra

Publications and Research

Relatively little is known about visual processing during free-viewing visual search in realistic dynamic environments. Free-viewing is characterized by frequent saccades. During saccades, visual processing is thought to be suppressed, yet we know that the presaccadic visual content can modulate postsaccadic processing. To better understand these processes in a realistic setting, we study here saccades and neural responses elicited by the appearance of visual targets in a realistic virtual environment. While subjects were being driven through a 3D virtual town, they were asked to discriminate between targets that appear on the road. Using a system identification approach, we separated overlapping …

The Naked Truth: A Comprehensive Clarification And Classification Of Current ‘Myths’ In Naked Mole‐Rat Biology, Rochelle Buffenstein, Vincent Amoroso, Blazej Andziak, Stanislav Avdieiev, Jorge Azpurua, Alison J. Barker, Nigel C. Bennett, Miguel A. Brieño‐Enríquez, Gary N. Bronner, Clive Coen, Martha A. Delaney, Christine M. Dengler‐Crish, Yael H. Edrey, Chris G. Faulkes, Daniel Frankel, Gerard Friedlander, Patrick A. Gibney, Vera Gorbunova, Christopher Hine, Melissa M. Holmes, Jennifer U. M. Jarvis, Yoshimi Kawamura, Nobuyuki Kutsukake, Cynthia Kenyon, Walid T. Khaled, Takefumi Kikusui, Joseph Kissil, Samantha Lagestee, John Larson, Amanda Lauer, Leonid A. Lavrenchenko, Angela Lee, Jonathan B. Levitt, Gary R. Lewin, Kaitlyn N. Lewis Hardell, Tzuhua D. Lin, Matthew J. Mason, Dan Mccloskey, Mary Mcmahon, Kyoko Miura, Kazutaka Mogi, Vikram Narayan, Timothy P. O'Connor, Kazuo Okanoya, M. Justin O'Riain, Thomas J. Park, Ned J. Place, Katie Podshivalova, Matthew E. Pamenter, Sonja J. Pyott, Jane Reznick, J. Graham Ruby, Adam B. Salmon, Joseph Santos‐Sacchi, Diana K. Sarko, Andrei Seluanov, Alyssa Shepard, Megan Smith, Kenneth B. Storey, Xiao Tian, Emily N. Vice, Mélanie Viltard, Akiyuki Watarai, Ewa Wywial, Masanori Yamakawa, Elena D. Zemlemerova, Michael Zions, Ewan St. John Smith

Publications and Research

The naked mole‐rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has fascinated zoologists for at least half a century. It has also generated considerable biomedical interest not only because of its extraordinary longevity, but also because of unusual protective features (e.g. its tolerance of variable oxygen availability), which may be pertinent to several human disease states, including ischemia/reperfusion injury and neurodegeneration. A recent article entitled ‘Surprisingly long survival of premature conclusions about naked mole‐rat biology’ described 28 ‘myths’ which, those authors claimed, are a ‘perpetuation of beautiful, but falsified, hypotheses’ and impede our understanding of this enigmatic mammal. Here, we re‐examine each of …

Psilocybin Newspaper Coverage – Sentiment And Frequency (1989-2020), Dax Oliver

Publications and Research

A growing body of medical research has focused on the chemical compound psilocybin in recent years. However, this research is not merely a scientific issue but also a social and political one. In the 1960s, psilocybin and other psychedelics were often ingested outside of research settings. This alarmed many people, resulting in severe legal restrictions on psilocybin research. Today, many psilocybin advocates hope that it will avoid the negative public sentiment of the 1960s. To help gauge public sentiment about other psychoactive compounds, some studies have examined newspaper coverage. The present study hoped to build a similar gauge with newspaper …

Health-Related Quality Of Life And Mental Well-Being Of Healthy And Diseased Persons In 8 Countries: Does Stringency Of Government Response Against Early Covid-19 Matter?, Di Long, Juanita A. Haagsma, Mathieu F. Janssen, John N. Yfantopoulos, Erica I. Lubetkin, Gouke J. Bonsel

Publications and Research

Objectives

Our study aimed to (1) assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental well-being of healthy and diseased persons in the general population during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) examine the relationship between HRQoL and mental well-being and individual characteristics and government response against COVID-19, as measured by the stringency index.

Methods

A web-based survey was administered to a cohort of persons from the general population of eight countries: Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US) from April 22 to May 5 and …

Must Consent Be Informed? Patient Rights, State Authority, And The Moral Basis Of The Physician's Duties Of Disclosure, D. Robert Macdougall

Publications and Research

Legal standards of disclosure in a variety of jurisdictions require physicians to inform patients about the likely consequences of treatment, as a condition for obtaining the patient’s consent. Such a duty to inform is special insofar as extensive disclosure of risks and potential benefits is not usually a condition for obtaining consent in non-medical transactions.

What could morally justify the physician’s special legal duty to inform? I argue that existing justifications have tried but failed to ground such special duties directly in basic and general rights, such as autonomy rights. As an alternative to such direct justifications, I develop an …

Safety And Belonging In Immigrant-Serving Districts: Domains Of Educator Practice In A Charged Political Landscape, Rebecca Lowenhaupt, Dafney Blanca Dabach, Ariana Mangual Figueroa

Publications and Research

Drawing from a context of reception framework, this article asks the following questions: How do educators describe issues of safety and belonging in the context of a charged immigration policy climate? What practices have educators developed to support immigrant-origin youth? And, what are the relationships between educators’ perceptions of safety and belonging and educator practices? We analyze educators’ survey responses administered across six school districts in different contexts across the United States, including the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. We synthesize four domains of educator practice: signaling affirmation, building shared knowledge and capacity, finding and mobilizing resources, and creating space …

Agency Rescues Competition For Credit Assignment Among Predictive Cues From Adverse Learning Conditions, Mihwa Kang, Ingrid Reverte, Stephen Volz, Keith Kaufman, Salvatore Fevola, Anna Matarazzo, Fahd H. Alhazmi, Inmaculada Marquez, Mihaela D. Iordanova, Guillem R. Esber

Publications and Research

A fundamental assumption of learning theories is that the credit assigned to predictive cues is not simply determined by their probability of reinforcement, but by their ability to compete with other cues present during learning. This assumption has guided behavioral and neural science research for decades, and tremendous empirical and theoretical advances have been made identifying the mechanisms of cue competition. However, when learning conditions are not optimal (e.g., when training is massed), cue competition is attenuated. This failure of the learning system exposes the individual’s vulnerability to form spurious associations in the real world. Here, we uncover that cue …

Engaging With Text: The Effectiveness Of Content Literacy And Active Learning Strategies In Online Introductory Accounting Courses, Rachel Raskin

Publications and Research

Language and literacy are innate to learning. The accounting language is technical and specific, and students must become literate in the discipline to be able to critically read and understand accounting text and apply their knowledge. Introductory accounting courses are typically difficult for students, who struggle to simply pass the course. Students memorize the concepts but cannot internalize the information. Lack of active reading and literacy skills hinders higher order thinking needed to solve problems. The study discussed in this paper involves two fully online introductory accounting courses where one of the courses is taught leveraging literacy strategies (experimental course) …

Holding Space For Uncertainty And Vulnerability: Reclaiming Humanity In Teacher Education Through Contemplative | Equity Pedagogy, Malgorzata Powietrzynska, Linda Noble, Sharda O’Loughlin‑Boncamper, Aundrey Azeez

Publications and Research

In this manuscript we describe our journey as two White coteachers conducting interpretive research with Black and Brown students in a remote-learning teacher preparation course in New York City. In the context of uncertainty, during the twin epidemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice, we explore how we reframed our contemplative pedagogy by embracing an equity-oriented framework. We share stories about moments of awakening drawn from spaces between us and our exceptional cohort of special education teachers – reflections about sensations, emotions, biases, and lived experiences as we embrace the identity of interbeing. Specifically, we explore transformations in our approach to …

Acute Effect Of High‑Definition And Conventional Tdcs On Exercise Performance And Psychophysiological Responses In Endurance Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Daniel Gomes Da Silva Machado, Marom Bikson, Abhishek Datta, Egas Caparelli‑Dáquer, Gozde Unal, Abrahão F. Baptista, Edilson Serpeloni Cyrino, Li Min Li, Edgard Morya, Alexandre Moreira, Alexandre Hideki Okano

Publications and Research

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been used aiming to boost exercise performance and inconsistent findings have been reported. One possible explanation is related to the limitations of the so-called “conventional” tDCS, which uses large rectangular electrodes, resulting in a diffuse electric field. A new tDCS technique called high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) has been recently developed. HD-tDCS uses small ring electrodes and produces improved focality and greater magnitude of its aftereffects. This study tested whether HD-tDCS would improve exercise performance to a greater extent than conventional tDCS. Twelve endurance athletes (29.4 ± 7.3 years; 60.15 ± 5.09 ml kg− 1 min− …

Learning Of Food Preferences: Mechanisms And Implications For Obesity & Metabolic Diseases, Hans-Rudolf Berthoud, Christopher D. Morrison, Karen Ackroff, Anthony Sclafani

Publications and Research

Omnivores, including rodents and humans, compose their diets from a wide variety of potential foods. Beyond the guidance of a few basic orosensory biases such as attraction to sweet and avoidance of bitter, they have limited innate dietary knowledge and must learn to prefer foods based on their flavors and postoral effects. This review focuses on postoral nutrient sensing and signaling as an essential part of the reward system that shapes preferences for the associated flavors of foods. We discuss the extensive array of sensors in the gastrointestinal system and the vagal pathways conveying information about ingested nutrients to the …

The Magnetic Couples Study: Protocol For A Mixed Methods Prospective Cohort Study Of Hiv-Serodifferent Heterosexual Couples’ Perspectives And Use Of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep), James M. Mcmahon, Janie Simmons, Jessica E. Haberer, Sharon Mannheimer, Natalie M. Leblanc, Leilani Torres, Robert Quiles, Guillermo Aedo, Anabel Javier, Amy Braksmajer, Graham Harriman, Nicole Trabold, Enrique R. Pouget, Ann Kurth, Martez D. R Smith, Judith Brasch, Eric J. Podsiadly, Peter L. Anderson

Publications and Research

Introduction HIV transmission within serodifferent heterosexual couples plays a key role in sustaining the global HIV pandemic. In the USA, transmission within established mixed-status couples accounts for up to half of all new HIV infections among heterosexuals. Oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective prevention method, although underutilised among serodifferent couples. Moreover, there is a dearth of research on US HIV-serodifferent couples’ perspectives and use of PrEP, alone or in combination with other prevention methods. In this paper, we describe the study protocol for the Magnetic Couples Study, designed to fill critical knowledge gaps regarding HIV-serodifferent heterosexual couples’ …

Using Economic Evaluation To Hasten Health Equity, Maria-Isabel Roldos, Nancy Breen

Publications and Research

Achieving health equity has proven elusive for two reasons. First, most research has focused on changing the behavior of individuals; however, policies that address socioeconomic factors or change the context to facilitate healthy decisions tend to be more effective. Second, health disparity science and evidence are not consistently used to guide policymakers, even those seeking health equity. In this perspective, we discuss economic evaluation tools that researchers can use to assist decision-makers in conducting research or evaluating policy: self-reported health-related quality-of-life surveys and cost–benefit analysis evaluations informed with the willingness to pay for research and analyses.

The Cost Of Being Black In Social Work Practicum, Nia Johnson, Paul Archibald, Anthony Estreet, Amanda Morgan

Publications and Research

The social work profession is not exempt from fueling institutional racism, which affects the provision of social work practicum education for Black social work students. This article highlights how the historical and current social cost of being Black in the United States presents itself within social work education’s signature pedagogy. Social workers who hold bachelor’s degrees in social work (BSW) are more likely to be Black than those holding master’s degrees in social work (MSW; Salsberg et al., 2017). It takes Black students longer to earn an MSW degree though they are more likely to hold a BSW while also …

Examining Inequities In Rates Of Undiagnosed Hiv And Rectal Stis In A Large Nationwide Cohort Study Of Sexual Minority Men, H Jonathon Rendina, Ali Talan, K Marie Sizemore, Nicola F. Tavella, Brian Salfas, Ore Shalhav, Drew Westmoreland, Brian Mustanski, Carlos E. Rodríguez- Díaz

Publications and Research

Objective Sexual minority men (SMM) of colour are disproportionately impacted by HIV and bacterial STIs (bSTIs). To better understand within-group heterogeneity and differential risk factors by race and ethnicity, we sought to examine rates of undiagnosed HIV and rectal bSTI at the intersection of racial and ethnic identity with other sociodemographic factors.

Methods We examined data from 8105 SMM conducting home-based self-testing at enrollment in a nationwide cohort study collected from November 2017 to August 2018. We conducted analyses stratified by racial and ethnic groups to examine within- group (ie, subgroup) unadjusted rates of HIV and rectal bSTI infection across …

Quantifying The Speed Of Chromatophore Activity At The Single-Organ Level In Response To A Visual Startle Stimulus In Living, Intact Squid, Stavros P. Hadjisolomou, Rita W. El-Haddad, Kamil Kloskowski, Alla Chavarga, Israel Abramov

Publications and Research

The speed of adaptive body patterning in coleoid cephalopods is unmatched in the natural world. While the literature frequently reports their remarkable ability to change coloration significantly faster than other species, there is limited research on the temporal dynamics of rapid chromatophore coordination underlying body patterning in living, intact animals. In this exploratory pilot study, we aimed to measure chromatophore activity in response to a light flash stimulus in seven squid, Doryteuthis pealeii. We video-recorded the head/arms, mantle, and fin when squid were presented with a light flash startle stimulus. Individual chromatophores were detected and tracked over time using image …

Fostering Information Literacy: A Call For Collaboration Between Academic Librarians And Msw Instructors., Sarah C. Johnson, Margaret Bausman, Sarah Ward

Publications and Research

Genuine collaboration between academic librarians and social work faculty in which information literacy is embedded in social work education is lacking. Drawing from the results of the authors’ 2016 quantitative study surveying academic social work librarians across the United States, this qualitative follow-up uses data from 27 semi-structured interviews concerning the prevalence and nature of information literacy instruction (ILI) in social work education, how ILI is introduced and sustained in social work curricula, and the alignment between ILI efforts with institutional goals, guidelines from accreditation authorities, and professional social work practice standards. The literature review engages the reader in a …