Digital Commons Network^™

Life-Course Origins Of Social Inequalities In Adult Immune Cell Markers Of Inflammation In Developing Southern Chinese Population: The Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study, Douglas A. West, Gabriel M. Leung, Chao Q. Jiang, Timothy M. Elwell-Sutton, Wei S. Zhang, Tai H. Lam, Kar K. Cheng, Mary Schooling

Publications and Research

Background
Socioeconomic position (SEP) throughout life is associated with cardiovascular disease, though the mechanisms linking these two are unclear. It is also unclear whether there are critical periods in the life course when exposure to better socioeconomic conditions confers advantages or whether SEP exposures accumulate across the whole life course. Inflammation may be a mechanism linking socioeconomic position (SEP) with cardiovascular disease. In a large sample of older residents of Guangzhou, in southern China, we examined the association of life course SEP with inflammation.

Methods
In baseline data on 9,981 adults (≥ 50 years old) from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort …

The Chill Of A Wintry Light? Borough Of Duryea V. Guarnieri And The Right Of Petition In Public Employment, William A. Herbert

Publications and Research

This article analyzes the Supreme Court’s decision in Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri, which held that in order for a petition, grievance or litigation by a public employee to be protected against retaliation under the Petition Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution it must satisfy the public concern test applicable in retaliation cases alleging a violation of the Speech Clause. The decision was issued in the midst of a renewed contemporary debate over public sector collective bargaining and other statutory rights in public employment. The article analyzes the decision in the context of American public sector …

Transforming Student Engagement Through Documentary And Critical Media Literacy, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

Young people entering college today have grown up in a multimedia environment, yet the classroom they most often encounter reflects nineteenth-century pedagogy. This paper explores the paradigm shift that is making documentaries more widely accessible for use in the classroom; describes a pedagogical strategy for connecting a critical media literacy ‘reading’ of documentaries with more traditional reading of written texts; investigates the effectiveness of this method to engage students through critical media literacy in ways that encourage transformation. Effectiveness was measured in a voluntary, self-reported questionnaire, emailed to students after the semester they took Introductory Sociology. Students in the sample …

Transfer Of Juveniles To Criminal Court Is Not Correlated With Falling Youth Violence, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Though it may seem that transferring youth to criminal court should lower youth violent crime, this analysis shows no relationship. This databit looks at the transfer rate and violent crime declines in the six states that reported juvenile arrests to the FBI.

Entropy And The Complexity Of Graphs Revisited, Abbe Mowshowitz, Matthias Dehmer

Publications and Research

This paper presents a taxonomy and overview of approaches to the measurement of graph and network complexity. The taxonomy distinguishes between deterministic (e.g., Kolmogorov complexity) and probabilistic approaches with a view to placing entropy-based probabilistic measurement in context. Entropy-based measurement is the main focus of the paper. Relationships between the different entropy functions used to measure complexity are examined; and intrinsic (e.g., classical measures) and extrinsic (e.g., Körner entropy) variants of entropy-based models are discussed in some detail.

A Cross-Sectional Description Of Social Capital In An International Sample Of Persons Living With Hiv/Aids (Plwh), Allison Webel, J Craig Phillips, Carol Dawson Rose, William L. Holzemer, Wei-Ti Chen, Lynda Tyer-Viola, Marta Rivero-Méndez, Patrice Nicholas, Kathleen Nokes, Jeanne Kemppainen, Elizabeth Sefcik, John Brion, Lucille Eller, Scholastika Iipinge, Kenn Kirksey, Dean Wantland, Puangtip Chaiphibalsarisdi, Mallory O. Johnson, Carmen Portillo, Inge B. Corless

Publications and Research

Background Social capital refers to the resources linked to having a strong social network. This concept plays into health outcomes among People Living with HIV/AIDS because, globally, this is a highly marginalized population. Case studies show that modifying social capital can lead to improvements in HIV transmission and management; however, there remains a lack of description or definition of social capital in international settings. The purpose of our paper was to describe the degree of social capital in an international sample of adults living with HIV/AIDS. Methods We recruited PLWH at 16 sites from five countries including Canada, China, Namibia, …

Power Of The Narrator (Review), Veronica Schanoes

Publications and Research

Reviews the book Narrative Power: Encounters, Celebrations, Struggles by L. Timmel Duchamp. Seattle, WA: Aqueduct, 2010

School Crime Has Declined Sharply Since The 1990'S, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Between 1994 to 2010, the rate of violent victimizations at American schools dropped, with a sharp fall after 1994. This databit looks at property and violent crimes in schools from the early 1990s to 2010.

Could Focused Deterrence Strategies Reduce Drug-Related Violence In Mexico?, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

Drug-related killings in Mexico have reached frightening proportions. This databit summarizes recommendations by Professor Mark Kleiman and analyzes drug-related murders in the Federal States of Mexico compared to total murders in U.S jurisdictions of comparable size.

Recent Increases In Drug Arrests Were For Possession, Not Sales, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Between 1991 and 2006, arrests for drug sales and manufacturing dropped while arrests for possession grew, with the largest growth seen in youth under 18. This databit looks at drug-related arrests for youth under 18, young adults 18 – 24, and adults 25 and older.

As Serious Juvenile Crime Declined, Police Made More Arrests For Less Serious Offenses, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Arrests by law enforcement for youth under 18 reached a 30-year low in 2012. Arrests for the eight serious offenses included in the FBI crime index decreased by almost half from 1995 to 2010. This databit looks at juvenile arrests in total and by offense from 1980 to 2010.

Dirks-Linhorst Looks At Different Angles Of The Law, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Oberweis Studies Drug Problems In Society, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Brown Studies Problems Of “Food Deserts.”, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

A Genealogical Review Of The Worldview Concept And Framework In Africana Studies-Related Theory And Research, Karanja Keita Carroll

Publications and Research

Daudi Ajani Ya Azibo's "Articulating the Distinction between Black Studies and the Study of Blacks: The Fundamental Role of Culture and the African-Centered Worldview" originally published in the Afrocentric Scholar and republished in both editions of Nathaniel Norment Jr.'s African American Studies Reader, provides much needed clarity on the philosophical foundations of Black Studies. However, Azibo's work is connected to an earlier project, Syed M. Khatib's (aka Cedric X. Clark) "Black Studies or the Study of Black People: Reflections on the Distinctive Characteristics of Black Psychology." Both Azibo and Khatib ask an important question related to the philosophical foundations of …

Libraries And General Education: New Strategies To Enhance Freshman Orientation, Faculty Collaboration, And Curriculum Development, Carl R. Andrews

Publications and Research

My research will attempt to re-evaluate the academic library's role in supporting a general education program. The emphasis will focus on student centeredness, faculty collaboration, outreach and curriculum support. In the short time that I have worked in academic libraries I have learned that quality customer service and reference desk work is far from the list of priorities in some settings. Coming from the public library I found this to be unacceptable. We are service providers and the way in which we communicate with students and faculty is important. As professionals we should do more in the way of making …

Staying Informed With Really Simple Syndication (Rss), Steven Ovadia

Publications and Research

This article discusses Really Simple Syndication (RSS), a specification that allows content to be pushed to users, making it a useful way to track academic research.

Critical Bifocality And Circuits Of Privilege: Expanding Critical Ethnographic Theory And Design, Lois Weis, Michelle Fine

Publications and Research

Almost 10 years ago, in Working Method (2004), we argued for a critical theory of method for educational studies, which would analyze lives in the context of history, structure, and institutions, across the power lines of privilege and marginalization.

International Humanitarian Law Of Armed Conflict: A Critical Annotated Bibliography For Collection Development, Madeline Cohen

Publications and Research

This article is an annotated bibliography of selected monographs published from 2001 through 2012 in the fields of International Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflict (Laws of War) and International Human Rights Law. The aim is to provide a collection development guide for librarians and scholars in this area of international law. Key topics that are covered are: Internal conflicts, asymmetric warfare, laws of war, humanitarian intervention, treatment of insurgents, non-international armed conflict, targeted killings, terrorism, drones, robotics.

The Need For Continued Activism In Black Librarianship, Andrew P. Jackson

Publications and Research

Preface to The 21st Century Black Librarian in America

How Milk Does The World Good: Vernacular Sustainability And Alternative Food Systems In Post-Socialist Europe, Diana Mincyte

Publications and Research

Scholarly debates on sustainable consumption have generally overlooked alternative agro-food networks in the economies outside of Western Europe and North America. Building on practice-based theories, this article focuses on informal raw milk markets in post-socialist Lithuania to examine how such alternative systems emerge and operate in the changing political, social, and economic contexts. It makes two contributions to the scholarship on sustainable consumption. In considering semi-subsistence practices and poverty-driven consumption, this article argues for a richer, more critical, and inclusive theory of sustainability that takes into consideration vernacular forms of exchange and approaches poor consumers as subjects of global history. …

Frey-Spurlock Studies Women’S Roles In Society, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Maätita Studies Issues Of Motherhood, Sexuality, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Davis Studies Gray Areas Of Human Sexuality, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Heil Studies Terrorism, Sex Trafficking In U.S, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Drake Sees Siue Gardens As Social Service, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Intervention: Reality Tv, Whiteness, And Narratives Of Addiction, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

Purpose – Reality TV shows that feature embodied “transformations” are popular, including Intervention, a program that depicts therapeutic recovery from addiction to “health.” The purpose of this chapter is to address the ways whiteness constitutes narratives of addiction on Intervention.

Methodology – This analysis uses a mixed methodology. I conducted a systematic analysis of nine (9) seasons of one hundred and forty-seven (147) episodes featuring one hundred and fifty-seven individual “addicts” (157) and logged details, including race and gender. For the qualitative analysis, I watched each episode more than once (some, I watched several times) and took extensive notes on …

Learning And Innovation In The Context Of Process-Focused Management Practices: The Case Of An Environmental Management System, Deepa Aravind

Publications and Research

Adoption of process-focused management practices has been associated with inertia and rigidity in adopting firms. By drawing on the literature on routines and using survey data from 192 ISO 14001 certified facilities in the United States, I find that change catalysis or a deep form of learning which presents the opportunity for innovation can happen in this context. I also examine the internal and external determinants of change catalysis. By doing so I contribute to a better understanding of how process-focused management practices can be a source of innovation within firms.

Citizen 2.0: Public And Governmental Interaction Through Web 2.0 Technologies (Preface), Kathryn Kolby, Maria J. D'Agostino

Publications and Research

Preface to Citizen 2.0: Public and Governmental Interaction Through Web 2.0 Technologies

Challenging Technicism: Space For The Individual Bureaucrat In Public Administration Theory And Practice, Nicole M. Elias

Publications and Research

Participation in PAT-Net 2011 led me to rethink some basic assumptions surrounding public administration theory and what constitutes knowledge in public administration scholarship and practice. My reflection responds to the major questions posed during the Ph.D. Student Workshop on "Writing Theory in a Technicist Field": specifically, why a technicist attitude is so pervasive in a democratic society and what alternatives have been posited for confronting technicism to advance theoretical and critical scholarship.