Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Pars Playwork: Considering Who We Are Becoming And Why, Janine Dodge

International Journal of Playwork Practice

The PARS model of playwork practice was developed by Dr Shelly Newstead from research into the origins of playwork from the adventure playgrounds set up in the UK just after the Second World War. This article considers why and how this theoretical model of playwork as a form of professional practice is now being applied and developed by practitioners in Brazil, contributing to the creation of an international ‘community of practice’ (Wenger et al, 2002). It describes how PARS’ underpinning philosophy and model of practice provide a strong foundation that values playwork and supports the development of a shared language …

Accelerate Construction Of New Pattern Of Ecological Protection In Northwest China, Qi Feng, Guangzu Bai, Zongxing Li, Bao Wang, Lijuan Chen, Penglong Wang, Tengfei Yu, Hongfei Meng, Wen Liu, Zhixiang Lu, Tingting Ning, Chengqi Zhang, Meng Zhu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Based on a profound understanding of the great significance of constructing an ecological protection pattern in Northwest China, this paper systematically summarizes the achievements, new problems and new trends of ecological protection in Northwest China, and accordingly, puts forward an overall spatial arrangement for the ecological protection under "two regions (watersheds)-six zones (core ecological function zones)-multiple points (key ecological points)". In addition, a key path to construct a new pattern of ecological protection in Northwest China is expounded in order to make more contributions to the acceleration of the harmonious co-existence between human and nature. The path is mainly based …

Path Choice Of Algorithm Intellectual Property Protection, Yulu Jin, Youdan Xiao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Protection of algorithm by intellectual property is a powerful way to stimulate innovation and regulate the risk of the algorithm. Algorithm that can be protected by intellectual property right is the program algorithm, which is compiled in computer language, in the form of coded instruction sequence, run by the computer and produce independent rational value results. The article is combed out that there are drawbacks to the traditional path of IP to protect program algorithms:it has conflict between program algorithm and copyright law system; the trade secret path is at odds with program algorithmic governance; and program algorithm can hardly …

Bounded Confidence: How Ai Could Exacerbate Social Media’S Homophily Problem, Dylan Weber, Scott Atran, Rich Davis

New England Journal of Public Policy

The advent of the Internet was heralded as a revolutionary development in the democratization of information. It has emerged, however, that online discourse on social media tends to narrow the information landscape of its users. This dynamic is driven by the propensity of the network structure of social media to tend toward homophily; users strongly prefer to interact with content and other users that are similar to them. We review the considerable evidence for the ubiquity of homophily in social media, discuss some possible mechanisms for this phenomenon, and present some observed and hypothesized effects. We also discuss how the …

Supporting Prosocial Behaviour In Online Communities Through Social Media Affordances, Dominique Kelly, Liu Yifan, Alex Mayhew, Sarah Cornwell, Yimin Chen, Nicole Delellis, Victoria Rubin

Data and Test Instruments

Affordances are action possibilities that emerge from the relationship between the properties of an object and an interacting agent’s capabilities. This poster examines how one type of affordance—anonymity—is enabled or constrained by six features of social media platforms. Our work is one step in a broader agenda to: (1) identify affordances that influence users’ behaviour in online communities; (2) outline the social media features that enable or constrain those affordances; and, (3) experimentally determine whether certain affordances, or combinations of affordances, support prosocial behaviour. Prosocial behaviour in information and communication technologies (ICTs) is broadly viewed here as benefiting other individuals …

Meteor Radar Vertical Wind Observation Biases And Mathematical Debiasing Strategies Including The 3dvar+Div Algorithm, Alan Z. Liu, Zishun Qiao, Gunter Stober, Alexander Kozlovsky, Ales Kuchar, Christoph Jacobi, Chris Meek, Diego Janches, Guiping Liu, Masaki Tsutsumi, Njål Gulbrandsen, Satonori Nozawa, Mark Lester, Evgenia Belova, Johan Kero, Nicholas Mitchell

Publications

Meteor radars have become widely used instruments to study atmospheric dynamics, particularly in the 70 to 110 km altitude region. These systems have been proven to provide reliable and continuous measurements of horizontal winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Recently, there have been many attempts to utilize specular and/or transverse scatter meteor measurements to estimate vertical winds and vertical wind variability. In this study we investigate potential biases in vertical wind estimation that are intrinsic to the meteor radar observation geometry and scattering mechanism, and we introduce a mathematical debiasing process to mitigate them. This process makes use of …

Towards More Equitable And Climate Resilient Communities With Jola Ajibade, Jola Ajibade

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Professor Jola Ajibade discusses research examining how cascading social and environmental hazards might impact communities in the Portland metro region and what policymakers and community members can do to mitigate the risks and promote a more just, livable, and sustainable urban future.

Click on the "Download" button to access the audio transcript.

Artificial Intelligence And The Situational Rationality Of Diagnosis: Human Problem-Solving And The Artifacts Of Health And Medicine, Michael W. Raphael

Publications and Research

What is the problem-solving capacity of artificial intelligence (AI) for health and medicine? This paper draws out the cognitive sociological context of diagnostic problem-solving for medical sociology regarding the limits of automation for decision-based medical tasks. Specifically, it presents a practical way of evaluating the artificiality of symptoms and signs in medical encounters, with an emphasis on the visualization of the problem-solving process in doctor-patient relationships. In doing so, the paper details the logical differences underlying diagnostic task performance between man and machine problem-solving: its principle of rationality, the priorities of its means of adaptation to abstraction, and the effects …

Climate Change And The Threat To U.S. Jails And Prisons, Laurie L. Levenson

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Diagnosing The Present With An Ecotopian Lexicon, Chirag Giri, Adam Liebman

Annual Student Research Poster Session

The book An Ecotopian Lexicon (2019) presents a collection of thirty terms and concepts from speculative fiction, anthropology, and the sociology of subcultures, each explored by a different author. The lexicon intends to address our collective “poverty of imagination” when it comes to avoiding global environmental collapse and building a different world, evidenced by the increasing dominance of apocalyptic narratives in popular culture. Although the book’s primary aim is to explore diverse concepts for imagining better futures, we have analyzed the form and content of the book for what they tell us about the present.

Impact Of Religion And Politics On Pro-Environmental Behavior And Views About Climate Change

Journal of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study was to analyze how religion and politics impact peoples’ opinions about climate change and likeliness to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The study conducted was a non-experimental, correlational research design, using a survey methodology. Fifty-eight participants, all over the age of 18, were recruited to participate in this study. The participants were asked to complete five questionnaires: The Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) (Huber & Huber, 2012), The Climate Change Attitude Survey (CCAS) (Christensen & Knezek, 2015), The Political Participation Scale (PPS), The Environmental Behavior Scale (EBS), and a demographic questionnaire. Two research hypotheses guided this …

Climate Adaptation And Risk Preparedness In Florida’S East Coast Cities: Views Of Municipal Leaders, Sheila A. Young, Kenyon C. Lindeman, Samantha R. Fowler

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Cities along Florida’s Atlantic coastline are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, posing significant challenges for city planners. How cities see themselves in terms of developing or implementing their climate change adaptation action plans depends, in part, on the extent to which they perceive climate-related events as risks, and their city size. Data were obtained from city leaders (i.e. mayors, city/town managers, or their designees) from 86 cities along Florida’s Atlantic Coast from January to May 2021 to quantitatively assess factors influencing city adaptation planning. Validity and reliability were obtained for the survey. Multiple regression analyses showed significant …

Analyzing The Production And Use Of Fossil Fuels: A Case For Data Mining And Gis, Alejandro Conde

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

As technology progresses and data grows both larger and more complex, techniques are being developed to keep up with the exponential growth of information. The term “data mining” is a blanket term used to describe an approach to find anomalies and correlations in a large dataset. This approach involves leveraging data mining software to manipulate and prepare data, apply statistics to quantify trends and characteristics in the data from a high level, and potentially apply advanced techniques like machine learning to identify patterns that wouldn’t be apparent otherwise. In this case study, data mining aided a GIS in displaying substantial …

Recycling And Practicing Sustainability At Umf, Brittany Brown, Madison Farris, Ali Gilman, Paris Howes, Miles Kelleher, Abby Washburn, Malachi Wilson

Research Learning Experiences (RLEs)

Students in the Fall 2022 First-year Fusion course titled “The Sustainable Campus” used the UMF campus as a learning laboratory to examine how principles of environmental sustainability and stewardship are put into practice in their own academic backyard. Throughout the semester, they researched, observed, visited, assessed, and reported on a host of sustainability-related initiatives undertaken over the years at UMF. In this final project presentation, the class offers its recommendations on how UMF can continue its mission to maintain an environmentally aware and sustainably operated campus.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 63 Number 2, Fall 2022 [Print Issue 62:2], Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - AFTER THE CANNONBALL What does it mean to wrestle with your own human limitations and vulnerability as you follow the footsteps of a saint? Hung Pham, S.J.

18 - GROWING When I was little, there seemed to be this nondescript era of life, a foggy “someday,” when becoming an adult just happened. Nikhita Panjnani ’24.

20 - HOW IT STARTED, HOW IT'S GOING For decades, the internet has shaped the way we communicate, but two years of being extremely online hit fast forward on its real-world impact. Matt Morgan.

26 - NURTURING NATURE A story in two stories: …

Surveying Pollinator Gardens, Isabel Kolb, Kaitlyn Richards, Nolan Rokke

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Surveying Pollinator Gardens with client Lincoln Electric System.

Matt Talbot Kitchen Organization, Samantha Nielsen, Miqaela Davis, Olivia Clancy

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Matt Talbot Kitchen Organization for client Victoria O'Neil.

Nebraska Solid Waste Measurement, Juliana Amato, Alexi Caines, Alex Napolitano

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Nebraska Solid Waste Measurement for client Douglas County (Nebraska) Environmental Services and the Nebraska Recycling Council.

Project Energy Norfolk, Anna Bunik, Megan Swain, Hunter Tesarek

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Project Energy Norfolk with client City of Norfolk, Nebraska (Steven Rames).

Public Transit Ghg Emission Analysis, Ally Barry, Aspen Rittgarn, Grace Schleining, Wyatt Koppold

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Public Transit GHG Emission Analysis created in partnership with the City of Lincoln (Nebraska) Public Health Department, StarTran, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Environmental Studies Program.

Nitrates In Nebraska Groundwater, Kjersten Hyberger, Adam Carlson, Grace Kollars, Rachael Herpel

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Slides of a presentation titled Nitrates in Nebraska Groundwater, created in collaboration with Rachael Herpel of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute.

Barriers To Student Engagement With Waste Diversion: Recycling And Composting Practices On The University Of Denver Campus, Izzy Beltran, Madeline Bonner, Dan Oxendine, Jason Tipler, Jules Mello, Tommy Dainko

Anthropology: Undergraduate Student Scholarship

This project sought to investigate barriers, facilitators, and behavioral patterns related to waste diversion on the University of Denver (DU) campus. In general, waste diversion can be defined as the methods of disposing of waste that prevent it from being deposited in a landfill. At the University of Denver, waste diversion is achieved primarily through recycling and composting. It is these two methods that our report will focus on.

Project Energy: South Sioux City, City Hall Emissions Reduction, Alayna Cowan, Michael Smilko, Spencer Rahl

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Video titled Project Energy: South Sioux City, City Hall Emissions Reduction with client South Sioux City, Iowa; Conservation Nebraska; and ICLEI.

How Elevation Affects Epiphyte Distribution: An Analysis In Epiphyte Distribution Changes At Different Elevations And Tree Strata In Santa Lucia Cloud Forest Reserve, Ecuador, Nicole L. Melnick

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cloud forests are unique ecosystems due to their tropical nature, high elevations, and extremely high presence of epiphytes that serve many important roles for the ecosystem’s biotic and abiotic components. As epiphytes can make up anywhere from one-quarter (Foster 2001) to a half (Gómez González et al. 2017) of all local plant species in cloud forests, it is essential to understand how their habitat distributions change with elevation and whether climate change will have a significant effect on that. This study used observational survey methods to record the amount of monocots (separately counted bromeliads and orchids), dicots, ferns, and percent …

Orb-Weaver Diversity And Niche Partitioning In Ecuador’S Amazonian Foothills: What Spiders Can Reveal About Tree Fall Gaps, Streams, And Cultivated Areas, Riley Endries

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As abundant predators at the top of arthropod food chains, spiders are excellent bioindicators. Araneae is a megadiverse and extremely understudied order, especially in the tropics. This study aims to investigate the diversity of orb-weaver spiders across a disturbance gradient and variety of habitat types as well as their microhabitat preferences and potential niche partitioning. Spider collection was performed on spiders of the families Araneidae, Tetragnathidae, and Theridiosomatidae in Sumak Kawsay in Situ biological reserve in the lower elevation cloud forest of Ecuador’s Andean foothills. Spiders and webs were observed and analyzed from primary and secondary forest tree fall gaps, …

The Nesting Behavior Of Russet-Backed Oropendola On Sumak Allpa, Ecuador: An Analysis Of Nest Construction And Interactions With Competing Species, Claire Molina

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nests are the literal place of birth of bird species; they are incredibly important in the survival and reproduction of populations. Therefore, nesting behavior is a gateway into the lives and success of the animals. With the degradation of natural landscapes due to human activity, there is more of a need to monitor these nests to ensure healthy inhabitants. The Russet-backed Oropendola (Psarocolius angustifrons) creates unique, pendulous nests that are subject to piracy, parasitism, and predation; as well as weather phenomenon’s such as wind and rainstorms. This study describes the nest construction behavior, nest materials and nest architecture by collecting …

The Influence Of A Company's Inherent Values On Its Sustainability: Case Study Of Portuguese Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Charlie Lynch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

SMEs are a significant portion of global corporations and, while individually might not compare to larger corporations in total emissions, holistically have significant impact. Therefore, understanding how a company's inherent values influence its ability to be sustainable is necessary to help inform the field. Thus, the project was focused on the influence of social, environmental, and economic values on the sustainability of a company. The study compared founder and company profiles generated from an interview with the founder and triangulated through secondary sources. The study found that the inherent values of Veganism, Ethical Drive, and Ecological Consciousness influenced mainly the …

The Future Of Architecture: Measuring The Sustainability Of Paradigm Shifting Architectural Interventions, Jake M. Cohen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sustainable development in the built environment seems paradoxical given that the architecture, construction, and buildings sector is one of most polluting, wasteful, and inefficient industries. Despite this notion, the role of the architect is evolving and their influence on design is expanding beyond ideas for physical structures and into designing interactions between the built environment and components such as policy, material usage, sustainability, and urban regeneration. Architects that are able to implement paradigm shifting design ideas that improve the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability can be catalytic for systemic change and act as a vehicle to move away …

How Spirituality Intensifies Sustainability: A Case Study Of Ananda Valley In Northern Portugal, Mia Handler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The religious affiliations of citizens in the West are currently shifting away from the fundamentalist, traditional structures of the past towards more alternative spiritualities. Furthermore, as a result of the climate crisis, ecovillages are becoming increasingly popular. Ecovillages are intentional, “sustainable” communities that seek to reduce consumption, live in harmony with nature, and create strong social bonds. They are characterized by varying levels of spiritual involvement (Greenberg, 2014, p. 274). As such, the objective of this paper is to study the relationship between spirituality and environmentally-friendly practices and attitudes, using the ecovillage Ananda Valley – an Ananda Marga Master Unit …

The Viability Of Traditional Portuguese Olive Groves In The Alentejo Region Under A Sustainable Development Framework, Sydney Soloway

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Portugal became self-sufficient in olive oil production in 2014 and produces 150% of its needs, which makes Portugal the world’s fourth-largest exporter (DeAndreis, 2022). Olive groves in Portugal were once estimated to be 70-80% low-input traditional type, but rapid intensification toward a predominantly intensive mode of agriculture has been extremely fast (Beaufoy, 2001, p. 22; Silveira et al., 2018, p. 248). The Alentejo region, despite its dry Mediterranean climate and a tradition of extensive, multi-functional agricultural systems, is now home to 85% of Portugal’s olive groves and responsible for 77% of the country’s olive oil production (Dawson, 2019; Silveira et …