Digital Commons Network^™

"This Is Exactly What This Study Is All About And It Is Happening Right In Front Of Me!" Using Participatory Action Research To Awaken A Sense Of Injustice Within A Privileged Institution, Brett G. Stoudt

Publications and Research

Rockport is an elite, all boys, day school in the northeast United States. It educates mostly white, wealthy, young men. Student researchers, faculty researchers and I collaborated to study bullying at Rockport using an approach to research known as participatory action research (PAR). In the process we also gained a better understanding of how privilege, especially gendered privilege, was socialized and (re)produced. The participatory research spaces that emerged in our project - grounded in the experiences of students, teachers, and administrators - facilitated critical awareness of self and context that Deutsch (2006) referred to as "awaking the sense of injustice." …

Taking Responsibility: The Multiple And Shifting Positions Of Social Justice Educators, Debbie Sonu, Rachel Oppenheim, Shira Epstein, Ruchi Agarwal

Publications and Research

In this article, we present a qualitative multi-case study of three beginning elementary teachers working in New York City and describe the distinct ways in which each articulates her responsibility to teach a social justice-oriented education. We employ positioning theory to examine how teachers narrate their relationship to the concept of social justice and how this relates to the ways in which they identify themselves and others as capable and qualified to engage in such work. We find that responsibility to teach for social justice is often delegated based on a perception of experiences with injustice and wonder how this …

Curriculum-Integrated Information Literacy (Ciil) In A Nursing School: A Practical Model, Carlos Arguelles

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Trends In Mortality From Septicaemia And Pneumonia With Economic Development: An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis, Irene O.L. Wong, Benjamin J. Cowling, Gabriel M. Leung, Mary Schooling

Publications and Research

Background
Hong Kong population has experienced drastic changes in its economic development in the 1940s. Taking advantage of Hong Kong’s unique demographic and socioeconomic history, characterized by massive, punctuated migration waves from Southern China, and recent, rapid transition from a pre-industrialized society to the first ethnic Chinese community reaching ‘‘first world’’ status over the last 60 years (i.e., in two or three generations), we examined the longitudinal trends in infection related mortality including septicemia compared to trends in non-bacterial pneumonia to generate hypotheses for further testing in other recently transitioned economies and to provide generalized aetiological insights on how economic …

Meta-Radicalism: The Alternative Press By And For Activist Librarians, Alycia Sellie

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Is The Punishment More Certain? An Analysis Of Cctv Detections And Enforcement, Eric L. Piza, Joel M. Caplan, Leslie W. Kennedy

Publications and Research

The primary preventive mechanism of CCTV is considered to be deterrence. However, the relationship between CCTV and deterrence has been left impli- cit. Empirical research has yet to directly test whether CCTV increases the certainty of punishment, a key component of the deterrence doctrine. This study analyzes CCTV’s relation to punishment certainty in Newark, NJ. Across eight crime categories, CCTV and 9-1-1 calls-for-service case processing times and enforcement rates are compared through Mann-Whitney U and Fisher’s Exact tests, respectively, with a Holm-Bonferroni procedure correcting for multiple comparisons. ANOVA and negative binomial regression models further analyze the frequency of CCTV activity …

Mechanisms For Sweetness123, John D. Fernstrom, Steven D. Munger, Anthony Sclafani, Ivan E. De Araujo, Ashley Roberts, Samuel Molinary

Publications and Research

A remarkable amount of information has emerged in the past decade regarding sweet taste physiology. This article reviews these data, with a particular focus on the elucidation of the sweet taste receptor, its location and actions in taste transduction in the mouth, its nontaste functions in the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., in enteroendocrine cells), and the brain circuitry involved in the sensory processing of sweet taste. Complications in the use of rodents to model human sweet taste perception and responses are also considered. In addition, information relating to low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) is discussed in the context of these issues. Particular consideration …

The French Prison System: Comparative Insights For Policy And Practice In New York And The United States, Lila Kazemian, Catrin Andersson

Publications and Research

Despite many differences between French and American correctional practices, the two countries have common challenges as well. This report offers a brief overview of the French prison system and describes how the elements of that system compare with the policies and practices of corrections agencies in New York and the United States.

Lung Cancer Screening For The Poor And Underserved: Should Routine Screening Be Performed?, Vaibhav Verma, Vladimir K. Gotlieb, Joshua Fogel, Alan S. Multz, Geeti Sharma

Publications and Research

Background: Lung cancer is a leading cause of death in United States. A recent study using low dose CT scans for screening long term smokers for lung cancer has, for the first time, demonstrated reduction in mortality, although it is not a standard of care in the community yet.

Methods: We analyzed lung cancer data for stages 0 through 4 for 1,412 individuals from, a public hospital, Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) with patients of lower income, two private hospitals, North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) and Long Island Jewish Hospital (LIJ), with patients of higher income, with average household income …

Fundamental Limits On Wavelength, Efficiency And Yield Of The Charge Separation Triad, Alexander Punnoose, Liza Mcconnell, Wei Liu, Andrew C. Mutter, Ronald Koder

Publications and Research

In an attempt to optimize a high yield, high efficiency artificial photosynthetic protein we have discovered unique energy and spatial architecture limits which apply to all light-activated photosynthetic systems. We have generated an analytical solution for the time behavior of the core three cofactor charge separation element in photosynthesis, the photosynthetic cofactor triad, and explored the functional consequences of its makeup including its architecture, the reduction potentials of its components, and the absorption energy of the light absorbing primary-donor cofactor. Our primary findings are two: First, that a high efficiency, high yield triad will have an absorption frequency more than …

Squalicorax Chips A Tooth: A Consequence Of Feeding-Related Behavior From The Lowermost Navesink Formation (Late Cretaceous: Campanian-Maastrichtian) Of Monmouth County, New Jersey, Usa, Martin A. Becker, John A. Chamberlain Jr.

Publications and Research

Chipped and broken functional teeth are common in modern sharks with serrated tooth shape. Tooth damage consists of splintering, cracking, and flaking near the cusp apex where the enameloid is broken and exposes the osteodentine and orthodentine. Such damage is generally viewed as the result of forces applied during feeding as the cusp apex impacts the skeletal anatomy of prey. Damage seen in serrated functional teeth from sharks Squalicorax kaupi [1] and Squalicorax pristodontus [1] from the late Cretaceous lowermost Navesink Formation of New Jersey resembles that occurring in modern sharks and suggests similar feeding behavior. Tumbling experiments using serrated …

The Association Between Marital Transitions, Body Mass Index, And Weight: A Review Of The Literature, Lauren Dinour, May May Leung, Gina Tripicchio, Sahar Khan, Ming-Chin Yeh

Publications and Research

Objective: To examine the association between different marital transitions and changes in body mass index (BMI) and body weight.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted for peer-reviewed articles published between January 1990 and December 2011. Longitudinal studies were included if they compared dependent variables, such as BMI or weight, before and after a change in marital status.

Results: Twenty articles were included: 4 articles described only transitions into marriage and/or cohabitation, 2 articles described only transitions out of marriage and/or cohabitation, and 14 articles described both. Overall, transitions into marriage were associated with weight gain, whereas transitions out of …

Blending, Mixing, And Processing: Strategies Used To Engage Students In The Classroom, Mark Aaron Polger, Karen Okamoto

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

A Chemical Specialty Semantic Network For The Unified Medical Language System, C Paul Morrey, Yehoshua Perl, Michael Halper, Ling Chen, Huanying “Helen” Gu

Publications and Research

Background Terms representing chemical concepts found the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) are used to derive an expanded semantic network with mutually exclusive semantic types. The UMLS Semantic Network (SN) is composed of a collection of broad categories called semantic types (STs) that are assigned to concepts. Within the UMLS’s coverage of the chemical domain, we find a great deal of concepts being assigned more than one ST. This leads to the situation where the extent of a given ST may contain concepts elaborating variegated semantics. A methodology for expanding the chemical subhierarchy of the SN into a finer-grained categorization …

Pre-Whaling Genetic Diversity And Population Ecology In Eastern Pacific Gray Whales: Insights From Ancient Dna And Stable Isotopes, S Elizabeth Alter, Seth D. Newsome, Stephen R. Palumbi

Publications and Research

Commercial whaling decimated many whale populations, including the eastern Pacific gray whale, but little is known about how population dynamics or ecology differed prior to these removals. Of particular interest is the possibility of a large population decline prior to whaling, as such a decline could explain the ,5-fold difference between genetic estimates of prior abundance and estimates based on historical records. We analyzed genetic (mitochondrial control region) and isotopic information from modern and prehistoric gray whales using serial coalescent simulations and Bayesian skyline analyses to test for a pre-whaling decline and to examine prehistoric genetic diversity, population dynamics and …

Cost Effective Malaria Risk Control Using Remote Sensing And Environmental Data, Md Zahidur Rahman, Leonid Roytman, Abdel Hamid Kadik

Publications and Research

Malaria transmission in many part of the world specifically in Bangladesh and southern African countries is unstable and epidemic. An estimate of over a million cases is reported annually. Malaria is heterogeneous, potentially due to variations in ecological settings, socio-economic status, land cover, and agricultural practices. Malaria control only relies on treatment and supply of bed networks. Drug resistance to these diseases is widespread. Vector control is minimal. Malaria control in those countries faces many formidable challenges such as inadequate accessibility to effective treatment, lack of trained manpower, inaccessibility of endemic areas, poverty, lack of education, poor health infrastructure and …

Twenty Years After: Armenian Research Libraries Today, D. Aram Donabedian, John Carey, Arshak Balayan

Publications and Research

Since achieving statehood in 1991, Armenia has faced major economic and political obstacles which have significantly affected the nation’s research libraries. This research paper will quantitatively and qualitatively examine the challenges facing Armenian research libraries just over twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Specifically, the authors analyze their interviews with five library administrators at five major institutions, respectively. These include Yerevan State University Library, the National Library of Armenia, the Fundamental Scientific Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, the Republican Scientific-Medical Library of Armenia, and the Papazian Library of the American University of Armenia. …

The Manufacture Of Lifestyle: The Role Of Corporations In Unhealthy Living, Nicholas Freudenberg

Publications and Research

Recently, researchers have debated two views on the connection between lifestyle and health. In the first, health-related lifestyles including tobacco and alcohol use, diet, and physical activity are seen as primary influences on health. In the second, social stratification is the dominant influence with lifestyles simply markers of social status. Neither approach leads to interventions that can reverse the world's most serious health problems. This article proposes that corporate practices are a dominant influence on the lifestyles that shape patterns of health and disease. Modifying business practices that promote unhealthy lifestyles is a promising strategy for improving population health. Corporations …

High Tech Tethers And Work-Family Conflict: A Conservation Of Resources Approach, Katherine M. Richardson, Cynthia A. Thompson

Publications and Research

This is one of the first studies to empirically examine the relationship between wireless communications technology and work interference with family, and results shed light on the motivating factors that influence individuals to continuously engage with mobile technologies, sometimes to their personal detriment. We draw from Conservation of Resources (COR) theory to examine the relationship between using mobile communications technologies during non-work time (e.g., evenings, weekends, vacation) and psychological variables related to work-family conflict and well being, and whether this relationship is mediated by perceptions of job control and detachment from work. We collected data from 139 full-time working adults …

Bridging The Gap Through Collaboration:, Rebecca Arliss, Carlos Arguelles, Rodolfo Hernandez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Off To Market We Go: A Content Analysis Of Marketing And Promotion Skills In Academic Librarian Job Ads, Karen Okamoto, Mark Aaron Polger

Publications and Research

This exploratory study analyzed the presence of marketing and promotional responsibilities and qualifications listed in selected job advertisements for academic librarians. A content analysis was employed to analyze job advertisements for academic librarians who possessed marketing,promotion, public relations, outreach, and liaison skills. Job advertisements were selected from January 2000 to December 2010. A total of 149 advertisements were analyzed. The authors found that promotional responsibilities were advertised across the 10-year period, but marketing responsibilities were not. Prior promotional and marketing experience was not widely required. Some libraries advertised marketing librarian positions with responsibilities such as branding and social networking. The …

Persistent Disparities In Cholesterol Screening Among Immigrants To The United States, Jim P. Stimpson, Fernando A. Wilson, Rosenda Murillo, Jose A. Pagan

Publications and Research

Background: This study compared differences in cholesterol screening among immigrant populations and US born race/ethnic groups and whether improving access to health care reduced differences in screening.

Methods: Self-reported cholesterol screening for adults was calculated from multivariate logistic regression analysis of the 1988–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (N = 17,118). Immigrant populations were classified by place of birth and length of residency.

Results: After adjusting for individual characteristics and access to health care, the multivariate adjusted probability of cholesterol screening is significantly lower for persons originating from Mexico (70.9%) compared to persons born in the US (80.1%) or …

Validation Of Noaa-Interactive Multisensor Snow And Ice Mapping System (Ims) By Comparison With Ground-Based Measurements Over Continental United States, Christine Chen, Tarendra Lakhankar, Peter Romanov, Sean Helfrich, Al Powell, Reza Khanbilvardi

Publications and Research

In this study, daily maps of snow cover distribution and sea ice extent produced by NOAA’s interactive multisensor snow and ice mapping system (IMS) were validated using in situ snow depth data from observing stations obtained from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) for calendar years 2006 to 2010. IMS provides daily maps of snow and sea ice extent within the Northern Hemisphere using data from combination of geostationary and polar orbiting satellites in visible, infrared and microwave spectrums. Statistical correspondence between the IMS and in situ point measurements has been evaluated assuming that ground measurements are discrete and continuously …

Buddhist Hard Determinism: No Self, No Free Will, No Responsibility, Rick Repetti

Publications and Research

This is the third article in a four-article series that examines Buddhist responses to the Western philosophical problem of whether free will is compatible with “determinism,” the doctrine of universal causation. The first article (“Earlier”) focused on the first publications on this issue in the 1970s, the “early period.” The second (“Paleo-compatibilism”) and the present articles examine key responses published in the last part of the Twentieth and the first part of the Twenty-first centuries, the “middle period.” The fourth article (“Recent”) examines responses published in the last few years, the “recent period.” Whereas early-period scholars endorsed a compatibilism between …

Mental Health And Drug Disorders Less Common At Early Stages Of Juvenile Justice, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Youth in the juvenile justice system are at a higher risk for mental health disorders and substance abuse problems, but these differences in risk are often misunderstood. This databit looks at the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse and makes recommendations for early intervention and prevention programs.

Faculty As Undergraduate Research Mentors For Students Of Color: Taking Into Account The Costs, Joni Schwartz

Publications and Research

This article is based on the findings of a 2-year study that examined the nature of effective faculty/student undergraduate research (UR) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) relationships. The study site was a large urban public college where three fourths of all incoming freshmen receive need-based aid; and although not a historically Black college or university (HBCU), 85% are students of color. The college offers 2- and 4-year STEM degree programs. Utilizing cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) as both a theoretical and methodological framework, this phenomenological study employed semistructured interviews, written surveys, and member checking to understand four paired faculty/student …

Buddhist Reductionism And Free Will: Paleo-Compatibilism, Rick Repetti

Publications and Research

This is the second article in a four-article series that examines Buddhist responses to the Western philosophical problem of whether free will is compatible with “determinism,” the doctrine of universal causation. The first article focused on the first publications on this issue in the 1970s, the “early period”; the present article and the next examine key responses published in the last part of the Twentieth century and first part of the Twenty-first, the “middle period”; and the fourth article will examine responses published in the last few years. Whereas early-period scholars endorsed compatibilism, in the middle period the pendulum moved …

A Macroepigenetic Approach To Identify Factors Responsible For The Autism Epidemic In The United States, Renee Dufault, Walter J. Lukiw, Raquel Crider, Roseanne Schnoll, David Wallinga, Richard Deth

Publications and Research

The number of children ages 6 to 21 in the United States receiving special education services under the autism disability category increased 91% between 2005 to 2010 while the number of children receiving special education services overall declined by 5%. The demand for special education services continues to rise in disability categories associated with pervasive developmental disorders. Neurodevelopment can be adversely impacted when gene expression is altered by dietary transcription factors, such as zinc insufficiency or deficiency, or by exposure to toxic substances found in our environment, such as mercury or organophosphate pesticides. Gene expression patterns differ geographically between populations …

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 Mathematics Portfolio: An Alternative Tool To Evaluate Students’ Progress, Marla A. Sole

Publications and Research

This article describes the need for more thorough and varied forms of assessment to evaluate students’ level of understanding in mathematics. Portfolios are one type of assessment tool that, when added to a teacher’s repertoire can improve students’ comprehension and retention and enable students to monitor their own progress and to take more responsibility for their own learning. Portfolio assignments can also help students and teachers to detect and remedy weaknesses and misunderstandings and can increase students’ self-confidence in mathematics. This article discusses what a portfolio is, gives an example of a unit portfolio used in an undergraduate Finite Mathematics …