Digital Commons Network^™

How Can Embedded Criminologists, Police Pracademics, And Crime Analysts Help Increase Police-Led Program Evaluations? A Survey Of Authors Cited In The Evidence-Based Policing Matrix, Eric L. Piza, Json Szkola, Kwan-Lamra Blount-Hill

Publications and Research

Evidence-based policing emphasizes the evaluation of interventions to create a catalog of effective programs and practices. Program evaluation has primarily been considered the purview of academic researchers, with police agencies typically uninvolved in the evaluation of their own interventions. Scholars have recently advocated for police to take more ownership over program evaluation, often arguing for an increased role of three primary entities: embedded criminologists, police pracademics, and crime analysts. While an emerging body of literature has explored these entities individually, research has yet to explore the unique contributions each can make to police-led science. The current study is a survey …

Greater Social Cohesion Is Associated With Lower Body Mass Index Among African American Adults, Adolfo G. Cuevas, Ichiro Kawachi, Kasim Ortiz, Mariam Pena, Lorraine R. Reitzel, Lorna H. Mcneill

Publications and Research

Obesity remains a public health issue, especially for Blacks (or African Americans). Obesity is thought to reflect a complex interaction of socioenvironmental, biological, and cognitive factors. Yet, insufficient attention has been given to psychosocial factors like social cohesion within the African American community. Using multivariable linear regression, we examined the association between social cohesion, measured by the Social Cohesion and Trust scale, and body mass index (BMI) with cross-sectional data (n = 1467) from a cohort study (2008–2009). Greater social cohesion was associated with lower BMI (b = -0.88; 95% CI: −1.45, −0.32) in an unadjusted model. The association was …

Fascist Aesthetics From 1940 To Contemporary Times, Anna M. Gellerman

Publications and Research

Movies and literature all over the world share some common aesthetics: militarization, romanticization of death, beauty of perfection, and even purity. What most don't think about is how these tropes rose to popularity due to Nazi Germany's propaganda films. This work describes these fascist aesthetics, and uses famous publications from the 1940s until now to paint just how common these themes are.

The Effects Of Media Exposure And Language Attitudes On Grammaticality Judgments, Chun-Yi Peng

Publications and Research

While traditional 1st wave variationist sociolinguists resist citing media exposure as a source of language variation, this experimental study demonstrates that Mainland Mandarin speakers with reported exposure to Taiwanese TV were more likely to rate syntactic constructions found in Taiwanese Mandarin as grammatically acceptable. Data were collected through an online survey consisting of acceptability judgments, written-guise attitude tasks, reported viewing habits, and demographic questions. Principle Component Analysis was deployed to reduce data dimension, which allows for the identification of the key personality traits linked to Taiwanese Mandarin that contribute to the media effects. The results suggest an intertwined relationship in …

The Influence Of Education On Health: An Empirical Assessment Of Oecd Countries For The Period 1995–2015, Viju Raghupathi, Wullianallur Raghupathi

Publications and Research

Background: A clear understanding of the macro-level contexts in which education impacts health is integral to improving national health administration and policy. In this research, we use a visual analytic approach to explore the association between education and health over a 20-year period for countries around the world.

Method: Using empirical data from the OECD and the World Bank for 26 OECD countries for the years 1995–2015, we identify patterns/associations between education and health indicators. By incorporating pre- and post- educational attainment indicators, we highlight the dual role of education as both a driver of opportunity as well as of …

Motivation To Access Laparoscopic Skills Training: Results Of A National Survey Of Obstetric And Gynaecology Residents, Jocelyn Stairs, Bradley W. Bergey, Finlay Maguire, Stephanie Scott

Publications and Research

Objective

Competency based medical education (CBME) requires novel approaches to surgical education. Significant investment has been made in laparoscopic simulation, which has been shown to foster skill development prior to patient encounters. However, research suggests variable voluntary use of these resources by residents, and little is known about the motivational factors that influence their utilization. The purpose of this study was to characterize factors that motivate residents to seek laparoscopic simulation experience outside of the formal curriculum.

Design

We developed a questionnaire grounded in Expectancy Value Theory, an established psychological theory of motivation, by adapting validated measures to fit the …

Examination Of A Partial Dietary Self‐Monitoring Approach For Behavioral Weight Management, Deborah F. Tate, Danika A. Quesnel, Lesley Lutes, Karen E. Hatley, Brooke T. Nezami, Alexis C. Wojtanowski, Angela M. Pinto, Julianne Power, Molly Diamond, Kristen Polzien, Gary Foster

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Streamlining Time Spent In Alternative Developmental Mathematics Pathways: Increasing Access To College-Level Mathematics Courses By Altering Placement Procedures, Marla A. Sole

Publications and Research

Developmental mathematics, which is designed to prepare students for college-level mathematics courses, can be a barrier to students’ success. In the United States, the majority of students placed into developmental mathematics courses fail to complete the developmental sequence. Alternative mathematics pathways offer some benefits when integrated with “just-in- time support” or expedited instruction on specific prerequisite concepts needed solely for the current lesson. This study compares two statistics courses taught at a public community college: a complete course taught in one semester and a two-semester version with just-in-time developmental content integrated into the course. The study found that students placed …

From Diversity To Inclusion: Challenges And Opportunities At An Urban Community College, Vanessa Marie Bing, Jason Hendrickson, Wendy Nicholson

Publications and Research

Diversity is and has been heralded as a cornerstone among high-impact practices within adult education in the United States. It embodies a larger ethos and culture within a campus, including the demography of the student body, staff, and faculty, as well as institutional memory. Yet, diversity is not enough. Inclusion is undervalued, which goes beyond taking solace in bringing together diverse bodies within the room; rather, inclusion requires an institutional response that ensures that these high-impact practices are fully realized. This paper examines the efforts undertaken at an urban community college where the student body reflects racial and cultural diversity …

The White Album As Neo-Victorian Fiction Of Loss, Lucas Kwong

Publications and Research

Although much has been written about the Beatles' celebration of Victorian culture on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, little scholarship, if any, has focused on the White Album’s relationship to the late Victorian period. This paper examines the White Album through the lens of what Victorian studies scholar Stephen Arata has called “fictions of loss,” a body of late Victorian texts depicting intertwined processes of “national, biological, [and] aesthetic” decline. Through examining songs like "Helter Skelter" and "Revolution Number 9," I argue that the White Album deserves consideration alongside Dracula and She as a “fiction of loss,” …

The Ends Of Medicine And The Experience Of Patients, D. Robert Macdougall

Publications and Research

The ends of medicine are sometimes construed simply as promotion of health, treatment and prevention of disease, and alleviation of pain. Practitioners might agree that this simple formulation captures much of what medical practice is about. But while the ends of medicine may seem simple or even obvious, the essays in this issue demonstrate the wide variety of philosophical questions and issues associated with the ends of medicine. They raise questions about how to characterize terms like “health” and “disease”; whether medicine’s goals should be extended to include enhancement beyond normal human function; and whether the ends of medicine are …

Out Of The Archives And Into The Streets: Teaching With Primary Sources To Cultivate Civic Engagement, Jen Hoyer

Publications and Research

This article examines whether teaching with primary sources can cultivate civic engagement by investigating the competencies involved in developing student civic engagement and aligning these with outcomes from teaching with primary sources. Using three examples from Brooklyn Connections, a primary source-based education outreach program that offers a free standards-based and curriculum-aligned school partnership program for grades four through twelve, this case study illustrates the potential for using primary sources to cultivate skills, knowledge, and student agency. Through assessment of these examples in teaching with primary sources using protocols developed for evaluation of programs that focus on developing civic engagement, the …

Mathematics Identity And Achievement Among Black Students, Lidia Gonzalez, Shawnda Chapman Brown, Juan Battle

Publications and Research

Employing data from the National Center of Educational Statistics’ (NCES) High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS) and utilizing critical race theory and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks, this article interrogates the relationship between mathematics identity and math success for a nationwide sample of Black secondary school students. More specifically, hierarchical regression modeling is employed to examine the relative impact of math identity, demographic variables, and school/parent social capital variables on the math grade point averages of this sample. The article ends with a discussion of specific steps for teaching mathematics that put the identity of those from traditionally marginalized communities at the …

Understanding The Dimensions Of Medical Crowdfunding: A Visual Analytics Approach, Jie Ren, Viju Raghupathi, Wullianallur Raghupathi

Publications and Research

Background: Medical crowdfunding has emerged as a growing field for fundraising opportunities. Some environmental trends have driven the emergence of campaigns to raise funds for medical care. These trends include lack of medical insurance, economic backlash following the 2008 financial collapse, and shortcomings of health care regulations.

Objective: Research regarding crowdfunding campaign use, reasons, and effects on the provision of medical care and individual relationships in health systems is limited. This study aimed to explore the nature and dimensions of the phenomenon of medical crowdfunding using a visual analytics approach and data crawled from the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform in 2019. …

Communication And Meaning-Making Are Central To Understanding Aesthetic Response In Any Context, Melissa J. Dolese, Aaron Kozbelt

Publications and Research

Conceptions of aesthetic experience extend beyond beauty to include any evaluative judgment or emotion experienced in response to an artwork. In this opinion piece, we discuss the nature of artistic communication and how it might be facilitated inside and outside of museum settings.

Collection Development At Two Armenian University Libraries: A Conversation With Librarians And Faculty, John Carey, D. Aram Donabedian, Arshak Balayan

Publications and Research

In the summer of 2016 two Hunter College librarians, working with a colleague in the Republic of Armenia, conducted an IRB-approved focus group at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia. This group drew participants from the libraries and other academic departments of the American University of Armenia as well as Yerevan State University, a large public institution. The discussion attempted to ascertain whether these libraries have devised effective strategies to acquire materials and build collections in the face of the challenges they face (budgetary, linguistic, and sometimes political) and whether faculty at these institutions feel their library’s collection …

Preliminary Efficacy Of Motivational Interviewing On Problem Drinkers 55 And Older Compared To Younger Counterparts, Alexis Kuerbis, Sijing Shao, Nehal Vadhan, Jon Morgenstern

Publications and Research

Background: Older adults who drink problematically are the largest group of substance users among those 55 and older. This group often chooses moderation as a goal instead of abstinence, and motivation and self-efficacy are found to have less of an impact on drinking compared to younger adults. No study has examined age effects (specifically 55 and older vs. younger counterparts) on motivational interviewing (MI) compared to brief advice with a sample that includes individuals over 65. Objective: To explore the moderating impact of age on heavy drinkers’ (aged M=50.7 years SD=11.6, range 23-73) response to MI. Methods: Data …

Modulation Of The Pol Ii Ctd Phosphorylation Code By Rac1 And Cdc42 Small Gtpases In Cultured Human Cancer Cells And Its Implication For Developing A Synthetic-Lethal Cancer Therapy, Bo Zhang, Xuelin Zhong, Moira Sauane, Yihong Zhao, Zhi-Liang Zheng

Publications and Research

Rho GTPases, including Rho, Cdc42, Rac and ROP subfamilies, are key signaling molecules in RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcriptional control. Our prior work has shown that plant ROP and yeast Cdc42 GTPases similarly modulate Ser2 and Ser5 phosphorylation status of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of the Pol II largest subunit by regulating CTD phosphatase degradation. Here, we present genetic and pharmacological evidence showing that Cdc42 and Rac1 GTPase signaling modulates a similar CTD Ser2 and Ser5 phosphorylation code in cultured human cancer cells. While siRNA knockdown of Cdc42 and Rac1, respectively, in HeLa cells increased the level of CTD …

Childhood Memories Of Playful Antics And Punishable Acts Risking An Imperfect Future Of Teaching And Learning, Lisa Farley, Debbie Sonu, Julie Garlen, Sandra Chang-Kredl

Publications and Research

This paper takes up the question of risk by examining childhood memories of nuisance-making and punishment shared by 26 participants enrolled in teacher education and/or childhood studies programs. Our analysis surfaces a tension that, on the one hand, idealizes the child as innocent instigator of playful antics and, on the other, produces a child who is guilty of punishable acts. We read these memories as an invitation to theorize a middle ground of the teacher’s role as one of introducing children to a world of limits, while also limiting the force of this very effort.

Bella Figura: Understanding Italian Communication In Local And Transatlantic Contexts, Denise Scannell Guida

Publications and Research

Bella figura—beautiful figure—is an idiomatic expression used to reflect every part of Italian life. The phrase appears in travel books and in transnational business guides to describe Italian customs, in sociological research to describe the national characteristics of Italians, and in popular culture to depict thematic constructs and stereotypes, such as the Mafia, romance, and la dolce vita. Scholarly research on bella figura indicates its significance in Italian civilization, yet it remains one of the most elusive concepts to translate. Among the various interpretations and references from foreigners and Italians there is not a single definition that captures the …

Work Alienation And Its Gravediggers: Social Class, Class Consciousness, And Activism, Jeremy Sawyer, Anup Gampa

Publications and Research

Work activity is central to human psychology. However, working conditions under capitalist socioeconomic relations have been posited as psychologically alienating. Given the negative impact of work alienation on well-being and mental health, we conducted two studies of the relations between social class, work conditions, and alienation. We also examined factors that might counteract alienation – class consciousness and activism. The utility of a Marxist measure of social class – based on objective work relations – was compared with that of SES and subjective class measures. Study 1 surveyed 240 U.S. adults from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk; Study …

African Naked Mole-Rat Colony Behavior Based On Whole Colony Radio Frequency Identification (Colony Tt-2, April 2015), Dan Mccloskey, Michael E. Kress

Publications and Research

This file contains Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) data for routine activity of members of the TT-2 colony during a 26 day period in April 2015. The data are organized into a state matrix where the last known location for each of the 49 animals in the colony is listed in each row. A new row means that the raw data file updated the location of one animal. The leftmost column gives the date and time of the event, the headers for the other 49 columns give the RFID code for each of the animals in the colony. Animals demonstrated to …

Carbon Dioxide Attracts Nesting Behavior In Captive African Naked Mole-Rats, Dan Mccloskey

Publications and Research

This dataset contains raw Radio Frequency Identification data for a 185 hour gas infusion study conducted in the TT-2 colony at the College of Staten Island in May-June 2019. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether colony members would be attracted to a chamber with elevated carbon dioxide levels matching the highest values recorded in the typical colony nest. The results show a significant attraction to the CO2-infused chamber during and after the period of CO2 in=fusion, with the relocation of the colony nest to this site for the first time in the history of this colony. These …

Proceedings Of The Cuny Games Conference 6.0, Robert O. Duncan, Joseph Bisz, Christina Boyle, Kathleen Offenholley, Maura A. Smale, Carolyn Stallard, Deborah Sturm

Publications and Research

The CUNY Games Network is an organization dedicated to encouraging research, scholarship and teaching in the developing field of games-based learning. We connect educators from every campus and discipline at CUNY and beyond who are interested in digital and non-digital games, simulations, and other forms of interactive teaching and inquiry-based learning. These proceedings summarize the CUNY Games Conference 6.0, where scholars shared research findings at a three-day event to promote and discuss game-based pedagogy in higher education. Presenters could share findings in oral presentations, posters, demos, or play testing sessions. The conference also included workshops on how to modify existing …

Raw Veganism: The Human Diet, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

In this chapter, I present some compelling evidence that points to the conclusion that the human species has a specific diet, which is a raw vegan diet of fresh fruit, tender leafy greens, and a moderate amount of nuts and seeds. Out of the hundreds of thousands of species in the world, the only one—ours—cooks food. Not surprisingly, our species is the only one that suffers from numerous maladies. In other words, the argument is that the consumption of cooked food (especially animal-based) is unhealthful and undermines our nature. I present undeniable evidence, from evolutionary science to nutrition science, showing …

Evaluation Of Health Literacy And Depression Literacy Among Korean Americans, Kunsook Bernstein, Shinhi Han, Young-Me Lee, Oisaeng Hong

Publications and Research

Low health literacy is closely related to a higher rate of hospitalization and of emergency services usage, leading to billions of dollars in avoidable health care costs and contributing to individuals’ poor physical and mental health. While Korean Americans (KAs) have a high prevalence of general health and mental health problems, relatively little is known about their health and mental health literacy, specifically their depression literacy. This study aims to evaluate KAs’ health literacy and depression literacy, as related to sociodemographic characteristics. An exploratory study was conducted with 681 community-residing adult KAs using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) …

Recording Studios Since 1970, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

Like many other specialty, purpose-built spaces, we tend to think of recording studios in instrumental terms, meaning that the space is defined in relation to the nominal type of work that the space is instrumental towards. While audio recordings have been made in spaces since 1877, not all of these spaces tend to be regarded as recording studios, partly since so many recordings were made in environments designed for other types of work; indeed, much of the first seventy years of US and UK recorded music history transpired at radio stations, concert halls and lightly treated mixed-use commercial spaces (e.g. …

The Research 101 Certificate Program At A Community College: Giving All Students The Chance To Learn Basic Information Literacy Skills, Neera Mohess

Publications and Research

Many community college students are ill prepared to do scholarly research. In order to mitigate this, librarians at our campus created the Research 101 Certificate Program in 2016. These workshops provide an access point for any student who wishes to strengthen their information literacy skill set. This essay describes the inception of the program, its pedagogical rationale, administration and participation outcomes. Suggestions for implementation at local institutions are also provided.

Exploring Innovative Ways To Incorporate The Association Of College And Research Libraries Framework In Graduate Science Teacher Education Eportfolio Projects, Alison Lehner-Quam, Wesley Pitts

Publications and Research

This article investigates ways in which student voice informed design research into information literacy instruction in a year-long graduate science education ePortfolio culminating project. Library and science education faculty partnered in a two-year project to create communities of secondary science education students, in two cohorts, who used the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education to support their own research and reflections into information literacy. The overarching goal was to improve the course design to help science teachers develop their professional competencies in information literacy to conduct research to support their practice. Examination of students’ responses to research experiences …

A Revision Of The Buechner–Tavani Model Of Digital Trust And A Philosophical Problem It Raises For Social Robotics, Jeff Buechner

Publications and Research

In this paper the Buechner–Tavani model of digital trust is revised—new conditions for self-trust are incorporated into the model. These new conditions raise several philosophical problems concerning the idea of a substantial self for social robotics, which are closely examined. I conclude that reductionism about the self is incompatible with, while the idea of a substantial self is compatible with, trust relations between human agents, between human agents and artificial agents, and between artificial agents.