Digital Commons Network^™

Reframing High School Dropout As A Public Health Issue [Response To Letters], Nicholas Freudenberg, Jessica Ruglis

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Using A Paradigm Shift To Teach Neurobiology And The Nature Of Science—A C.R.E.A.T.E.-Based Approach, Sally G. Hoskins

Publications and Research

Decades ago, classic experiments established the phenomenon of “neural induction” (Spemann and Mangold, 1924; Holtfreter, 1933). It appeared clear that amphibian ectoderm was pre-programmed to form epidermis, and that the neural phenotype was induced by a chemical signal from mesoderm. The “ectoderm makes skin, unless induced to make nervous system” model appeared in many textbooks. This interpretation, however, was not simply incorrect but 180 degrees out of alignment with the actual situation. As subsequently demonstrated, the default state of amphibian ectoderm is neuronal, and the expression of the epidermal phenotype requires cell signaling (Hemmati-Brivanlou and Melton, 1992; 1994; 1997). In …

From Bulls To Music: Social, Religious, And Economic Aspects Of A Pilgrimage To Nuestra Señora, La Vírgen De Altagracia, Angelina Tallaj

Publications and Research

Every August 10th, about 800,000 pilgrims begin a five-day pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Virgin of Altagracia in Higüey, Dominican Republic. In this paper, I will show some interesting aspects of this pilgrimage’s economy that, while not unique to this pilgrimage, become much more tangible because of the presence of bulls as alms. I will continue, through the study of the music making and ritual, to show the role that music (and especially improvisation) plays in the social and devotional aspects of this pilgrimage. By examining the complex web of assumptions and expressions that contains the acts of music …

The Impact Of Corporate Practices On Health: Implications For Health Policy, Nicholas Freudenberg, Sandro Galea

Publications and Research

Although corporate practices play a substantial role in shaping health and health behavior, public health researchers have rarely systematically studied these practices as a social determinant of health. We consider case studies of three products - trans fat, a food additive and a preservative; Vioxx, a pain killer; and sports utility vehicles - to illustrate the role of corporate policies and practices in the production of health and disease and the implications for health policy. In recent years, public health advocates, researchers, and lawyers have used strategies to reduce the adverse health impact of corporate practices. Systematic analysis of these …

The Impact Of Emerging Technologies In The Workplace: Who's Watching The Man (Who's Watching Me)?, William A. Herbert, Amelia Tuminaro

Publications and Research

This 2008 law review article examines the state of the law and regulation concerning the introduction of then new technologies in the workplace to track and monitor workers.

A Wavelet-Based Method For Overcoming The Gibbs Phenomenon, Nataniel Greene

Publications and Research

The Gibbs phenomenon refers to the lack of uniform convergence which occurs in many orthogonal basis approximations to piecewise smooth functions. This lack of uniform convergence manifests itself in spurious oscillations near the points of discontinuity and a low order of convergence away from the discontinuities. Here we describe a numerical procedure for overcoming the Gibbs phenomenon called the inverse wavelet reconstruction method. The method takes the Fourier coefficients of an oscillatory partial sum and uses them to construct the wavelet coefficients of a non-oscillatory wavelet series.

Race, Crime And Justice: A Fresh Look At Old Questions. Keynote Address At The New York City Bar Association/2008 Orison S. Marden Lecture On March 19, 2008 In New York, Ny., Jeremy Travis

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Africana Studies And Research Methodology: Revisiting The Centrality Of The Afrikan Worldview In Africana Studies Research And Scholarship, Karanja Keita Carroll

Publications and Research

This essay engages questions of methodology and philosophical assumptions as they impinge upon discipline-specific scholarship in Africana Studies and ultimately on arguments in Africology. Through an investigation of the worldview concept as discussed within the scholarship of Vernon Dixon, the Afrikan/Black psychologists and other Afrikan-centered scholars this essay attempts to reorient this discussion to questions which are pertinent to the development and utilization of the Afrikan Worldview as a research methodology in Africana Studies. We conclude with the possible implications this analysis can have on Africana Studies and Africological scholarship.

Changing Corporate Practices To Reduce Cancer Disparities, Nicholas Freudenberg, Sandro Galea, Marianne Fahs

Publications and Research

While reducing racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in cancer mortality has been identified as a national goal, current policies are unlikely to achieve it. In order to advance the development of policies for the primary prevention of cancer and cancer disparities, we propose that the practices of the tobacco, alcohol, and food industries be considered as modifiable social determinants of health. We review evidence that the practices of these industries in product design, marketing, retail distribution, and pricing contribute to cancer risk behavior, incidence, and disparities, then examine public health strategies designed to reduce health-damaging practices of these industries and encourage …

Depression In Parkinson's Disease: Health Risks, Etiology, And Treatment Options, Pasquale G. Frisina, Joan C. Borod, Nancy S. Foldi, Harriet R. Tenenbaum

Publications and Research

Depression is found in about 30%-40% of all patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), but only a small percentage (about 20%) receive treatment. As a consequence, many PD patients suffer with reduced health-related quality of life. To address quality of life in depressed PD patients, we reviewed the literature on the health correlates of depression in PD (eg, cognitive function), etiology of depression in PD, and treatment options (ie, antidepressants, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychotherapy). The current review is unique in its focus on psychosocial aspects, as well as neuropathological factors, of depression in PD. Overall, we conclude that neurochemical (eg, serotonin) …

Childhood Obesity Predicts Adult Metabolic Syndrome: The Fels Longitudinal Study, Shumei S. Sun, Ruohong Liang, Terry T-K Huang, Stephen R. Daniels, Silva Arslanian, Kiang Liu, Gilman D. Grave, Roger M. Siervogel

Publications and Research

Objectives—To determine the age of significant divergence in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference in adults with and without the metabolic syndrome, and to provide age- and sexspecific childhood values that predict adult metabolic syndrome.

Study design—Part 1 of this study is a retrospective cohort study of 92 men and 59 women (mean age, 51 years) who had metabolic syndrome and 154 randomly selected adults matched for age and sex who did not have the syndrome. Part 2 is a study of predictive accuracy in a validation sample of 743 participants.

Results—The first appearance of differences …

Concourse Dreams: A Bronx Neighborhood And Its Future, William A. Casari

Publications and Research

This master's thesis focuses on the West Bronx recent past and illustrates what upward mobility meant for the Grand Concourse neighborhood populated with second generation immigrant groups at the beginning of the 20th century, including Jewish, Italian and Irish people. Later, most of the same area became a slum at the hands of city planners, New York City administration, and negative media portrayals. Race and ethnicity became even more talked about when non-white immigrants and migrants began moving to the Grand Concourse in huge numbers after World War Two.Through a celebrated Bronx past before 1950 and eventually the sensational media …

Diverse Antidepressants Increase Cdp-Diacylglycerol Production And Phosphatidylinositide Resynthesis In Depression-Relevant Regions Of The Rat Brain, Kimberly R. Tyeryar, Ashiwel S. Undieh, Habiba Ou Vongtau

Publications and Research

Background: Major depression is a serious mood disorder affecting millions of adults and children worldwide. While the etiopathology of depression remains obscure, antidepressant medications increase synaptic levels of monoamine neurotransmitters in brain regions associated with the disease. Monoamine transmitters activate multiple signaling cascades some of which have been investigated as potential mediators of depression or antidepressant drug action. However, the diacylglycerol arm of phosphoinositide signaling cascades has not been systematically investigated, even though downstream targets of this cascade have been implicated in depression. With the ultimate goal of uncovering the primary postsynaptic actions that may initiate cellular antidepressive signaling, we …

Resuscitating Proportionality In Non Capital Criminal Sentencing, Donna H. Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Judicial Evasion And Disingenuous Legislative Appeals To Science In The Abortion Controversy, Caitlin Borgmann

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Resuscitating Proportionality In Noncapital Criminal Sentencing, Donna Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Nicholas Freudenberg: A Selected Bibliography To Accompany A Conversation On Health Law, Julie Graves Krishnaswami

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Gender Violence And Work: Reckoning With The Boundaries Of Sex Discrimination Law, Julie Goldscheid

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Servant Of One's Own: The Continuing Class Struggle In Feminist Legal Theories And Practices, Ruthann Robson

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Traditional Advocacy For Nontraditional Youth: Rethinking Best Interest For The Queer Child, Sarah Valentine

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Topological And Categorical Properties Of Binary Trees, Homeira Pajoohesh

Publications and Research

Binary trees are very useful tools in computer science for estimating the running time of so-called comparison based algorithms, algorithms in which every action is ultimately based on a prior comparison between two elements. For two given algorithms A and B where the decision tree of A is more balanced than that of B, it is known that the average and worst case times of A will be better than those of B, i.e., ₸A(n) ≤₸B(n) and TWA (n)≤TWB (n). Thus the most balanced and the most imbalanced binary trees play a main role. Here we consider them as semilattices …

Our Existential Death Penalty: Judges, Jurors, And Terror Management, Jeffrey Kirchmeier

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor: A Selected Annotated Bibliography, Julie Graves Krishnaswami

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Queer Kids: A Comprehensive Annotated Legal Bibliography On Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender, And Questioning Youth, Sarah Valentine

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Sitting On A Tinderbox': Racial Conflict, Teacher Discretion And The Centralization Of Disciplinary Authority, Judith R. Kafka

Publications and Research

The centralization of school discipline in the second half of the twentieth century is widely understood to be the inevitable result of court decisions granting students certain civil rights in school. This study examines the process by which school discipline became centralized in the Los Angeles City School District in the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, and finds that the locus of control over student discipline shifted from the school site to the centralized district largely in response to local pressures. Indeed, during a period of large-scale student unrest, and in an environment of widespread racial and cultural tensions, …

Measuring Knowledge Of Natural Selection: A Comparison Of The C.I.N.S., An Open-Response Instrument, And An Oral Interview, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Growing recognition of the central importance of fostering an in-depth understanding of natural selection has, surprisingly, failed to stimulate work on the development and rigorous evaluation of instruments that measure knowledge of it. We used three different methodological tools, the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS), a modified version of Bishop and Anderson's (Bishop and Anderson [1990] Journal of Research in Science Teaching 27: 415-427) open-response test that we call the Open Response Instrument (ORI), and an oral interview derived from both instruments, to measure biology majors' understanding of and alternative conceptions about natural selection. We explored how these instruments …

Exploring The Personal Reality Of Disability And Recovery: A Tool For Empowering The Rehabilitation Process, Ashley E. Kurz, Nicole Saint-Louis, Janice P. Burke, Margaret G. Stineman

Publications and Research

People experiencing disability and chronic disease often feel powerless, relinquishing medical control to “more knowledgeable” professionals. This article presents qualitative and quantitative results from three individual patients experiencing an emerging procedure called Recovery Preference Exploration (RPE). To inspire greater patient involvement, self-direction, and individual choice, we instructed participants to create an imagined recovery path, exposing recovery preferences while learning about clinical rehabilitation concepts. Results uncovered important values and feelings about disability, providing a richer context for patient evaluation and treatment goal modification. Applying mixed methods, RPE is presented as an explanatory process for quantifying recovery preferences in a way that …

Formulas For The Fourier Series Of Orthogonal Polynomials In Terms Of Special Functions, Nataniel Greene

Publications and Research

An explicit formula for the Fourier coefficient of the Legendre polynomials can be found in the Bateman Manuscript Project. However, formulas for more general classes of orthogonal polynomials do not appear to have been worked out. Here we derive explicit formulas for the Fourier series of Gegenbauer, Jacobi, Laguerre and Hermite polynomials. The methods described here apply in principle to a class of polynomials, including non-orthogonal polynomials.

New Strategy For The Search Of Natural Biologically Active Substances., Vyacheslav Dushenkov, Ilya Raskin

Publications and Research

The modern pharmaceutics actively screens an immense diversity of substances occurring in plants and other natural resources in the search for new effective medicinal agents. The Global Institute for Bioexploration (GIBEX) established by joint efforts of Rutgers University and the University of Illinois (United States) represents the organizational core of international scientific community whose activity is directed towards the search and development of new medicinal preparations from natural raw materials. The basis of GIBEX activity is the transfer of modern screening technologies to countries and geographical regions characterized by remarkable biodiversity. The GIBEX goals are to encourage the search for …

Quisqueya On The Hudson: The Transnational Identity Of Dominicans In Washington Heights, Jorge Duany, Cuny Dominican Studies Institute

Publications and Research

This field research study of ethnic identity, popular culture, and everyday life of the Dominican community of Washington Heights examines the social adaptation of Dominican immigrants to the host country.