Digital Commons Network^™

James Baldwin, Flannery O’Connor, And The Ethics Of Anguish, Carole K. Harris

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Species Shout-Outs From Abdul To Zebra: Encouraging Nonmajors To Communicate In The Biology Classroom, Christina P. Colon

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

On The Social Construction Of Hellenism Cold War Narratives Of Modernity, Development And Democracy For Greece, Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

Hellenism is one of those overarching, ever-changing narratives always subject to historical circumstances, intellectual fashions and political needs. Conversely, it is fraught with meaning and conditioning powers, enabling and constraining imagination and practical life. In this essay I tease out the hold that the idea of Hellas has had on post-war Greece and I explore the ways in which the American anti-communist rhetoric and discussions about political and economic stabilization appropriated and rearticulated Hellenism. Central to this history of transformations are the archaeologists; the archaeologists as intellectuals, as producers of culture who, while stepping in and out of their disciplinary …

The Effect Of Weight Loss On Changes In Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Overweight And Obese Women With Urinary Incontinence, Angela Marinilli Pinto, Leslee L. Subak, Sanae Nakagawa, Eric Vittinghoff, Rena R. Wing, John W. Kusek, William H. Herman, Delia Smith West, Miriam Kuppermann

Publications and Research

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of change in weight and change in urinary incontinence (UI) frequency on changes in preference-based measures of health-related quality of life (HRQL) among overweight and obese women with UI participating in a weight loss trial.

METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal cohort analysis of 338 overweight and obese women with UI enrolled in a randomized clinical trial comparing a behavioral weight loss intervention to an educational control condition. At baseline, 6, and 18 months, health utilities were estimated using the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3), a transformation of the SF-36 to the preference-based SF-6D, and …

Attack Rates Assessment Of The 2009 Pandemic H1n1 Influenza A In Children And Their Contacts: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Aharona Glatman-Freedman, Ian Portelli, Susan K. Jacobs, Justin I. Mathew, Jonathan E. Slutzman, Lewis R. Goldfrank, Silas W. Smith

Publications and Research

Background The recent H1N1 influenza A pandemic was marked by multiple reports of illness and hospitalization in children, suggesting that children may have played a major role in the propagation of the virus. A comprehensive detailed analysis of the attack rates among children as compared with their contacts in various settings is of great importance for understanding their unique role in influenza pandemics. Methodology/Principal Findings We searched MEDLINE (PubMed) and Embase for published studies reporting outbreak investigations with direct measurements of attack rates of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza A among children, and quantified how these compare with those of …

Reporting Financial Performance: The Key To Resolving Many Vexatious Accounting Standard Setting Issues?, Thomas J. Linsmeier

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Financial Services Consolidation And Performance In New York State Savings And Loan Associations, 2000-2011, Mine Aysen Doyran

Publications and Research

The market structure-performance relationship has been tested for US banking in industrial organization studies. Two divergent hypotheses with regard to this relationship are the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) Paradigm and Efficient Structure Hypothesis (ESH). This paper presents the test results of both hypotheses with respect to the New York State S&L associations using the time-series and cross sectional (firm-level) data for the most recent period 2000-2010. The results of PEGLS regression indicate that performances of S&Ls vary with respect to operating cost, credit risk and capitalization. Neither market share nor concentration, however, plays a significant role in explaining profitability. The results partially …

Effects Of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome On Adaptation Of Multi-Digit Forces To Object Mass Distribution For Whole-Hand Manipulation, Wei Zhang, Jamie A. Johnston, Mark A. Ross, Brandon J. Coakley, Elizabeth A. Gleason, Amylou C. Dueck, Marco Santello

Publications and Research

Background Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a compression neuropathy of the median nerve that results in sensorimotor deficits in the hand. Until recently, the effects of CTS on hand function have been studied using mostly two-digit grip tasks. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coordination of multi-digit forces as a function of object center of mass (CM) during whole-hand grasping. Methods Fourteen CTS patients and age- and gender-matched controls were instructed to grasp, lift, hold, and release a grip device with five digits for seven consecutive lifts while maintaining its vertical orientation. The object CM was changed …

What Can Phages Tell Us About Host-Pathogen Coevolution?, John J. Dennehy

Publications and Research

The outcomes of host-parasite interactions depend on the coevolutionary forces acting upon them, but because every host-parasite relation is enmeshed in a web of biotic and abiotic interactions across a heterogeneous landscape, host-parasite coevolution has proven difficult to study. Simple laboratory phage-bacteria microcosms can ameliorate this difficulty by allowing controlled, well-replicated experiments with a limited number of interactors. Genetic, population, and life history data obtained from these studies permit a closer examination of the fundamental correlates of host-parasite coevolution. In this paper, I describe the results of phage-bacteria coevolutionary studies and their implications for the study of host-parasite coevolution. Recent …

Ambiguity, Ambivalence, And Apprehensions Of Taking Hiv-1 Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Male Couples In San Francisco: A Mixed Methods Study, Parya Saberi, Kristine Elizabeth Gamarel, Torsten B. Neilands, Megan Comfort, Nicolas Sheon, Lynae A. Darbes, Mallory O. Johnson

Publications and Research

Objective: We conducted a mixed-methods study to examine serodiscordant and seroconcordant (HIV-positive/HIVpositive) male couples’ PrEP awareness, concerns regarding health care providers offering PrEP to the community, and correlates of PrEP uptake by the HIV-negative member of the couple.

Design: Qualitative sub-study included one-on-one interviews to gain a deeper understanding of participants’ awareness of and experiences with PrEP and concerns regarding health care providers offering PrEP to men who have sex with men (MSM). Quantitative analyses consisted of a cross-sectional study in which participants were asked about the likelihood of PrEP uptake by the HIV-negative member of the couple and level …

Medication Deserts: Survey Of Neighborhood Disparities In Availability Of Prescription Medications, Philippe Amstislavski, Ariel Matthews, Sarah Sheffield, Andrew R. Maroko, Jeremy Weedon

Publications and Research

Background Only a small amount of research has focused on the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and geographic access to prescription medications at community pharmacies in North America and Europe. To examine the relationship between a community’s socio-economic context and its residents’ geographic access to common medications in pharmacies, we hypothesized that differences are present in access to pharmacies across communities with different socio-economic environments, and in availability of commonly prescribed medications within pharmacies located in communities with different socio-economic status. Methods We visited 408 pharmacies located in 168 socio-economically diverse communities to assess the availability of commonly prescribed medications. …

Naturalization Ceremonies And The Role Of Immigrants In The American Nation, Sofya Aptekar

Publications and Research

Although immigration is an essential element in the American national story, it presents difficulties for constructing national membership and national identity in terms of shared intrinsic values. In this article, I analyze speeches made at naturalization ceremonies during two time periods (1950 – 1970 and 2003 – present) to examine the evolving roles of immigrants, as articulated to immigrants themselves. Naturalization ceremonies are a unique research site because the usually implied nationalist content is made explicit to brand new members of the nation. I find a shift in the framing from immigrants as potential liabilities and weak links in the …

Individual Differences In The Discrimination Of Novel Speech Sounds: Effects Of Sex, Temporal Processing, Musical And Cognitive Abilities, Vera Kempe, John C. Thoresen, Neil W. Kirk, Felix Schaeffler, Patricia J. Brooks

Publications and Research

This study examined whether rapid temporal auditory processing, verbal working memory capacity, non-verbal intelligence, executive functioning, musical ability and prior foreign language experience predicted how well native English speakers (N = 120) discriminated Norwegian tonal and vowel contrasts as well as a non-speech analogue of the tonal contrast and a native vowel contrast presented over noise. Results confirmed a male advantage for temporal and tonal processing, and also revealed that temporal processing was associated with both non-verbal intelligence and speech processing. In contrast, effects of musical ability on non-native speech-sound processing and of inhibitory control on vowel discrimination were not …

The Use Of Indicators For Unobservable Product Qualities: Inferences Based On Consumer Sorting, Matthew G. Nagler, Fredi Kronenberg, Edward J. Kennelly, Bei Jiang, Chunhui Ma

Publications and Research

We propose a method for measuring the conjectural errors that inexpert consumers make relative to experts in using observable product characteristics as surrogate indicators of a valued unobservable characteristic. Observations on the unobservable characteristic, available to the researcher but not consumers, are used to divide the data into high- and low-quality subsamples. Separate hedonic estimation on the subsamples enables measurement of the relative valuations and conjectures of experts and non-experts with respect to indicators under the assumption that consumers sort across quality grades based on their appraisal expertise. The method is demonstrated using a small sample of SKU-level data on …

Local History Journals And Their Contributions: Where Would We Be Without Them?, Sandra Roff

Publications and Research

Since we are in the era of digitization much information is accessible easily, which makes it difficult for researchers to imagine locating manuscripts, ephemera and other local history finds without using the internet. We are only a few decades removed from when this was the norm, and the historian or genealogist searched for the forgotten document on the shelves of a library or in the pages of a local history journal. These local history journals appeared all over the country and struggled for survival. The contributions made by these journals are substantial, with hidden gems of information awaiting discovery by …

What Studios Do, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

This essay is focused around a seemingly simple question – what do recording studios do? First, a clarification. I am not primarily asking “what are studios” or “what do people do in studios,” two comparatively straightforward questions that are tangentially addressed in academic and trade writing. Rather, I wish to consider some of the ways in which the studio itself shapes the kinds of social and musical performances and interactions that transpire within. I contend that studios must be understood simultaneously as acoustic environments, as meeting places, as container technologies, as a system of constraints on vision, sound and mobility, …

Intervening To Reduce Sedentary Behaviors And Childhood Obesity Among School-Age Youth: A Systematic Review Of Randomized Trials, May May Leung, Alen Agaronov, Kateryna Grytsenko, Ming-Chin Yeh

Publications and Research

Objective. To assess the effectiveness of interventions that focus on reducing sedentary behavior (SB) among school-age youth and to identify elements associated with interventions' potential for translation into practice settings. Methods. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using 4 databases for peer-reviewed studies published between 1980 and April 2011. Randomized trials, which lasted at least 12 weeks, aimed at decreasing SB among children aged 6 to 19 years were identified. Results. Twelve studies were included; 3 focused only on SB, 1 focused on physical activity (PA), 6 were combined SB and PA interventions, and 2 studies targeted SB, PA, and …

Effect Of Axonal Micro-Tubules On The Morphology Of Retinal Nerve Fibers Studied By Second-Harmonic Generation, Hyungsik Lim, John Danias

Publications and Research

Abstract. Many studies suggest that the degradation of microtubules in the retinal ganglion cells may be an early event in the progression of glaucoma. Because reflectance and birefringence of the retinal nerve fibers arise primarily from microtubules, the optical properties have been intensively studied for early detection of the disease. We previously reported a novel nonlinear optical signal from axonal microtubules for visualizing the retinal nerve fibers, namely second-harmonic generation (SHG). We demonstrate the use of axonal SHG to investigate the effect of microtubules on the morphology of the retinal nerve fiber bundles. Time-lapse SHG imaging of ex vivo rat …

Development Of A Ground Based Remote Sensing Approach For Direct Evaluation Of Aerosol-Cloud Interaction, Bomidi Lakshmi Madhavan, Yuzhe He, Yonghua Wu, Barry Gross, Fred Moshary, Samir Ahmed

Publications and Research

The possible interaction and modification of cloud properties due to aerosols is one of the most poorly understood mechanisms within climate studies, resulting in the most significant uncertainty as regards radiation budgeting. In this study, we explore direct ground based remote sensing methods to assess the Aerosol-Cloud Indirect Effect directly, as space-borne retrievals are not directly suitable for simultaneous aerosol/cloud retrievals. To illustrate some of these difficulties, a statistical assessment of existing multispectral imagers on geostationary (e.g., GOES)/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite retrievals of the Cloud Droplet Effective Radius (Reff) showed significant biases especially at larger solar zenith angles, …

Protein P7 Of The Cystovirus Φ6 Is Located At The Three-Fold Axis Of The Unexpanded Procapsid, Garrett Katz, Hui Wei, Alexandra Alimova, Al Katz, David Gene Morgan, Paul Gottlieb

Publications and Research

The objective of this study was to determine the location of protein P7, the RNA packaging factor, in the procapsid of the φ6 cystovirus. A comparison of cryo-electron microscopy high-resolution single particle reconstructions of the φ6 complete unexpanded procapsid, the protein P2-minus procapsid (P2 is the RNA directed RNA-polymerase), and the P7-minus procapsid, show that prior to RNA packaging the P7 protein is located near the three-fold axis of symmetry. Difference maps highlight the precise position of P7 and demonstrate that in P7-minus particles the P2 proteins are less localized with reduced densities at the three-fold axes. We propose that …

Lgbt Life With Full Text, Matthew Harrick

Publications and Research

This publication reviews the EBSCO database LGBT Life with Full Text, and includes pricing options, a product description, a critical evaluation of the product, and starred evaluations for content, user interface/searchability, pricing, and contract options.

Two-Factor Theory – At The Intersection Of Health Care Management And Patient Satisfaction, Josef Bohm

Publications and Research

Using data obtained from the 2004 Joint Canadian/United States Survey of Health, an analytic model using principles derived from Herzberg’s motivational hygiene theory was developed for evaluating patient satisfaction with health care. The analysis sought to determine whether survey variables associated with consumer satisfaction act as Hertzberg factors and contribute to survey participants’ self-reported levels of health care satisfaction. To validate the technique, data from the survey were analyzed using logistic regression methods and then compared with results obtained from the two-factor model. The findings indicate a high degree of correlation between the two methods. The two-factor analytical methodology offers …

Central Park East Secondary School: Teaching And Learning Through Freire, Alia R. Tyner-Mullings

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

From Genre To Portrait: The Etymology Of The 'Conversation Piece', Ching-Jung Chen

Publications and Research

During the late 1720s and early 1730s, a new type of portrait painting, called the conversation piece, became fashionable in England. This article will trace the origin and evolution of the term "conversation piece" from its earliest appearance in the English language to the present. First used in English for genre pictures in the Dutch tradition as well as Watteau's fetes galantes, the term was adopted for small-scale group portraits around 1730 when this type of portraiture became popular. Long after the rise of the portrait conversation, the term continued to be used for genre pictures. The use of …

Students As Donors To University Archives: A Study Of Student Perceptions With Recommendations, Jessica Wagner, Debbi A. Smith

Publications and Research

Most of the literature that explores the relationship between students and university archives focuses on how to integrate archival materials into the undergraduate curriculum. Little exists that analyzes student perceptions of the types of materials that are found in archives; even less discusses how to induce students to donate materials that document life on campus. This case study examines student perceptions of various aspects of university archives, with the goal of developing better methods of reaching out to encourage donation of student life materials.

The Determinants Of Helminth Infection In Baboons, Rita Monfort

Publications and Research

THE DETERMINANTS OF HELMINTH INFECTION IN BABOONS

Summary Paragraph:

Intestinal parasitic helminths are common in wild primate populations [1, 2] and can impose a significant burden on their host’s fitness. Numerous factors can affect the prevalence and diversity of intestinal parasites in natural populations including environmental factors [3, 4], the host’s behavior and genetics [5, 6]. How these different factors interact in natural populations remains unclear. This is in all probability due to the fact that previous studies have seldom looked at the prevalence and diversity of parasitic helminths in the same species but in different habitats over periods longer …

Multiculturalist Liberalism And Harms To Women: Lookin Through The Issue Of "The Veil", Anissa Helie, Marie Ashe

Publications and Research

Hélie & Ashe law review writing raises and responds to a reformulated and broadened version of Susan Okin’s 1999 inquiry, Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? It identifies social and political developments, as well as legal and theoretical developments, that have occurred in the 21^st century and that demand that reformulation.

Not limiting itself (as did Okin’s question) to interrogating the relationship between women’s equality interests and interests in “religious freedom” advanced by minority-religious groups, Hélie & Ashe is the broader inquiry, critical for liberal theory of the 21^st century which has been greatly affected by the “ethos …

The Role Of Dental Hygienists In Conducting Rapid Hiv Testing, Anthony J. Santella, Susan H. Davide, Marilyn Cortell, Winnie Furnari, Janet Tuthill

Publications and Research

Expanding rapid HIV testing in the dental setting may increase the number of individuals who are aware of their HIV status and can begin medical care and social support services if seropositive and appropriate.

What Is The Predictive Power Of The Colobine Protein-To-Fiber Model And Its Conservation Value?, Jan F. Gogarten, Melissa Guzman, Colin A. Chapman, Aerin L. Jacob, Patrick A. Omeja, Jessica Rothman

Publications and Research

Predicting variation in animal abundance across time and space has proven very difficult; however, a model exists to predict the biomass of small folivorous primates that has considerable correlative support. This model suggests that the protein-to-fiber ratio of leaves in a habitat can predict folivore biomass. Here we present an experimental test of this protein-to-fiber model to assess if the number of infant monkeys per female and group size can be predicted based on the leaf chemistry of a habitat. We expected regenerating forest in Kibale National Park, Uganda to have leaves with higher concentrations of crude protein and lower …

A Librarian's Defense Of The Practicable Over The Perfect In Scholarly Communication, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

This peer commentary is an invited response to "Scientific Utopia: I. Opening Scientific Communication" by Brian A. Nosek and Yoav Bar-Anan. It appeared alongside the target article in Psychological Inquiry, Volume 23, Issue 3, 2012.