Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Brain Activity During Paired And Individual Mindfulness Meditation: A Controlled Eeg Study, Hessel Engelbregt, Hugo F. Alderse Bass, Sietske De Grauw, Jan Berend Deijen

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Objective: In this study, we evaluated brain electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in healthy participants during the performance of paired and individual mindfulness meditation (MM). We hypothesized that EEG activity is differentially affected by meditation in pairs compared to individual meditation. Methods: A total of 20 healthy female university students (mean age 19.54 years, SD =1.53) with no prior experience in MM participated in this study. All participants had to perform a 5-minute MM task together and individually while the other participant was in rest or performing a concentration task (control condition). To exclude social interaction as main factor, participants were separated …

The Varieties Of Spiritual States Triggered By Sex: A Systematic Review Of The Empirical Literature, Jenny Wade

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This systematic review integrates the empirical evidence of spiritual experiences triggered by sexual activity, including studies by 10 authors. Despite venerable sexual meditative traditions of embodied spiritual practices, such as Hindu Tantra, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Taoism, empirical studies of sexual spiritual experiences are in their infancy. This review presents the range of sexual altered states experiences identified to date and how they qualify as spiritual experiences phenomenologically and in terms of their lifechanging effects. Seventeen distinct sexual-spiritual states have been identified across authors, with 4 others identified at significant levels in qualitative studies by individual authors. As an emergent area …

Zoom Behaviors And Expectations: The Non-Obvious, Judith Slapak-Barski

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Experiential education is about engaging students in active learning. However, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we needed to meet emerging social-distancing needs through learning activities online in a hurry. As we strived to promote an abrupt sense of community and keep students engaged in meaningful learning activities online in the midst of an unprecedented worldwide pandemic, we became aware of our assumptions that students “just knew” how to behave appropriately in Zoom meetings. After encountering some unexpected behaviors, which were detrimental to accomplishing learning objectives, we realized that ground rules for participation in Zoom were not as obvious as we …

Election Campaign Finance Rules In Canadian Municipalities: An Overview, Brittany L. Bouteiller

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

The Money and Local Democracy Project explores the effects of campaign finance rules on municipal election campaigns and election outcomes in Canada. Governments around the world regulate election campaign financing to ensure that elections are fair and competitive, although they do so in different ways. Funded by a Western University Undergraduate Student Research Internship (UWO) grant, research assistant Brittany Bouteiller was tasked with conducting preliminary research on 65 municipalities across Canada to determine the availability of campaign finance data from local and provincial governments and to identify clusters or trends. This research bulletin summarizes her findings.

Decolonizing & Indigenizing Lis, Heather Hill, Marni Harrington, Paulette Rothbauer, Danica Pawlick Potts

FIMS Publications

What does it mean to Indigenize and decolonize a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program? This paper outlines the process by which one Canadian MLIS program responded to the reports from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Library Association Indigenous Matters Committee that specify the implications and provide guidelines for best practices for librarianship and the information professions across Canada. In outlining the challenges of re-engineering our standard procedures, practices, and pedagogies, this paper provides a path forward for other MLIS programs looking to critically evaluate and develop their own programs.

Sustained Neural Activity Correlates With Rapid Perceptual Learning Of Auditory Patterns, Björn Herrmann, Kurdo Araz, Ingrid S. Johnsrude

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Repeating structures forming regular patterns are common in sounds. Learning such patterns may enable accurate perceptual organization. In five experiments, we investigated the behavioral and neural signatures of rapid perceptual learning of regular sound patterns. We show that recurring (compared to novel) patterns are detected more quickly and increase sensitivity to pattern deviations and to the temporal order of pattern onset relative to a visual stimulus. Sustained neural activity reflected perceptual learning in two ways. Firstly, sustained activity increased earlier for recurring than novel patterns when participants attended to sounds, but not when they ignored them; this earlier increase mirrored …

Deaf Catholic Newsletter, Fall 2021

Deaf Catholic Newsletter

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Philapelphia, PA

Deaf Catholic Newsletter Finding Aid

Lost In Time And Lost In Space: Chronotopes In Thomas Pynchon’S Against The Day, Stephen Margavio

Poster Presentations

Honors thesis poster presentation.

In his 1937 essay “Forms of Time and of the Chronotope in the Novel,” Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin coins the term “chronotope” to discuss the inherently interconnected nature of time and space in narrative constructions. According to Bakhtin, there are a number of specific chronotopes (or space/time configurations) that help to define literary genres. Applying Bakhtin’s concepts to Thomas Pynchon’s novel Against the Day (2006), this thesis examines how the idea of narrative space/time can clarify Pynchon’s use of genre to make socio-political commentary. The first chapter of this thesis focuses on Bakhtin’s “road chronotope,” …

How Long Do Mood Induction Procedure (Mip) Primes Really Last? Implications For Cognitive Vulnerability Research., Jennifer C P Gillies, David J A Dozois

Psychology Publications

BACKGROUND: Mood Induction Procedures (MIPs) are used widely in research on cognitive vulnerability to depression. Although empirical evidence supports certain MIPs as effective, little research has evaluated whether MIP-induced sad moods are sufficiently persistent. This study aimed to determine (1) how long an MIP-induced mood lasts according to commonly used operational definitions and (2) whether these findings vary according to the type of MIP used.

METHODS: Four-hundred-and-one undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three commonly used sad MIPs (music, memory, music+memory) or to one of three matched neutral MIPs. Mood was repeatedly measured immediately prior to and following …

Understanding Lifeguard Recruitment And Selection Practices In Victorian Aquatic And Recreation Centers (Arcs), Michael Butson, John R. Tower, Eric C. Schwarz

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Extensive research has focused on human resource management (HRM) and recruitment and selection practices across different settings. However, there is a gap in the scholarly literature in ARC settings, including lifeguards. Additionally, the aquatics industry is experiencing unprecedented levels of lifeguard turnover within aquatic facilities. The recruitment and selection process can impact employee turnover. Therefore, an important first step to address lifeguard turnover is to better understand the current recruitment and selection practices of lifeguards. This study focuses on the recruitment and selection practices of ARC management to better understand the recruitment and selection of lifeguards. The analysis is based …

Visualizing The Convergence Of Metaliteracy And The Information Literacy Framework, Trudi E. Jacobson, Thomas P. Mackey, Kelsey L. O'Brien

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

Displaying information in a visual manner frequently enhances clarity. Highlighting thematic elements and their interrelationships can lead to understanding, even insights, that might not otherwise happen. While words describe, well-conceived graphics illuminate in both subtle and overt ways. Synergies between word and image are especially powerful.

The visualization at the heart of this chapter makes connections between two separate but related frameworks: information literacy and metaliteracy. The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education acknowledges that it was influenced by metaliteracy, and in particular metacognition.1 Metaliteracy emerged prior to the development of the ACRL Framework and was similarly designed …

Program Bs In Nutrition, Julia Lovett

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Are User Fees In Health Care Always Evil? Evidence From Family Planning, Maternal, And Child Health Services, Amira El-Shal, Patricia Cubi-Molla, Mireia Jofre-Bonet

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The effect of introducing or increasing user fees in low- and middle-income countries is controversial. While user fees are advocated as an effective means of generating revenue and enabling the quality improvement of health services, they are a financial barrier to access health services for the poorer. This paper contributes to the literature on the demand-side financing in health by providing evidence on the medium-term effects of introducing user fees on the utilization of family planning, antenatal and delivery care services, women’s access to health care, and child health status in a middle-income country setting. Using difference-indifferences models with fixed …

Shooting Down Trade, Uğur Aytun, Cem Özgüzel

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

On 24 November 2015, Turkish military shot down a Russian fighter jet near the SyrianTurkey border after it violated Turkish airspace for about 17 seconds. Russia retaliated by imposing an embargo on 17 agricultural HS-6 level products from Turkey that would be effective for 22 months. We exploit this natural experiment to evaluate the impact of sanctions on Turkish exports and exporters. Using restrictive customs and firm-level data in a triple difference framework, we estimate the effect of these sanctions on the exports towards Russia, for embargoed and non-embargoed products. We estimate a total trade loss of $3.25bn for Turkish …

Beyond The Digital Dividends: Fintect And Extreme Poverty In The Middle East And Africa, Noha Emara, Mahmoud Mohieldin

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

This study analyzes the impact of the proliferation of Financial Technology (FinTech) on the achievability of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with respect to extreme poverty by 2030. The study uses system General Method of Moments (GMM) dynamic panel estimation methodology on annual data for 12 MENA and 45 SSA countries in addition to 70 emerging markets and developing economies from outside the two regions over the period from 2004 until the latest available data in 2018. Three different measures characterize FinTech adoption: the number of mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people, the number of fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 …

Political Consensus, Economic Reforms, And Democratic Transitions: Evidence From Voting Tunisian Reform Bills, Nizar Jouini, Manel Ben Akal

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

This study investigates the role of political consensus in accelerating economic reforms. We examine the role of unregular political mechanisms represented by the political consensus in correcting regular political institutions. In particular, we analyze the success or failure of accelerating a reform vote in the parliament to identify the causal effect of the consensus. Using a novel and original database of reforms between 2012 and 2019 in Tunisia, we compare economic and social reforms to political reforms before and after the consensus. We find a significant negative effect of consensus on the probability to accelerate reform votes. Additionally, consensus is …

Data Segmentation (Video), Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Workforce Analytics Resources

Data segmentation is the process of breaking down “big” data into smaller, more meaningful groups, called segments. In the case of workforce data, each segment represents a group of people with similar characteristics, either that pertain to them as an individual (e.g., gender, race, educational background) or to their connection to the organization (e.g., their job title, supervisor, or work schedule).

There are a variety of ways to “slice and dice” your data into meaningful groups. Some possibilities are listed below. The squares represent the unit of categorization (e.g., agency structure), and dashed green squares represent the data segments (e.g., …

Citation Patterns In Chemistry Dissertations At A Mid-Sized University: An Internal Citation Analysis And External Comparison, Lisa M. Rose-Wiles

Library Publications

This study analyzes the references cited in 34 chemistry dissertations and compares the results with an earlier study of citations in American Chemical Society journals. The dissertations cite more references and older references and a greater diversity of sources. They have the same tendency to heavily cite journal articles from a small core of traditional journals. This study underscores the value of comparing internal citation analyses with external citation analyses, and of analyzing the number of citing authors as well as the number of citations. Interlibrary loan and internal usage statistics were also used to inform collection development and library …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, September 2021, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 2, Issue 9.

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards and Recognition
Page 3 Student Clubs in Natural Science
Page 4 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 5 Hobo Day Festivities
Page 6 Open PRAIRIE Data; Grants Awarded in CNS
Page 7 One Day for State Recap

Dimension- And Context-Specific Expression Of Preschoolers’ Disruptive Behaviors Associated With Prenatal Tobacco Exposure, Suena H. Massey, Caron A.C. Clark, Michael Y. Sun, James L. Burns, Daniel K. Mroczek, Kimberly A. Espy, Lauren S. Wakschlag

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective—Precise phenotypic characterization of prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE) −related disruptive behavior (DB) that integrates nuanced measures of both exposures and outcomes is optimal for elucidating underlying mechanisms. Using this approach, our goals were to identify dimensions of DB most sensitive to PTE prior to school entry and assess contextual variation in these dimensions.

Methods—A community obstetric sample of N=369 women (79.2% lifetime smokers; 70.2% pregnancy smokers) from two Midwestern cities were assessed for PTE using cotinine-calibrated interview-based reports at 16, 28, and 40 weeks of gestation. A subset of n=244 who completed observational assessments with their …

Evidence Of Impact Underpinning Life Education Programs, Katherine Dix, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Shani Sniedze

Wellbeing

This rapid evaluation of core Life Education programs conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in June 2021 is an independent investigation that demonstrates the evidence base underpinning Life Education programs in primary schools Australia-wide. It presents a national snapshot by drawing upon existing Life Education-specific evaluation data, existing ACER student wellbeing data, and accepted best practice in the field of student health and wellbeing education. The project addressed the key evaluation questions: How are core Life Education programs underpinned by evidence-based best practice, and how are core Life Education programs impacting primary-aged student wellbeing outcomes that align …

Uni Scholarworks Readership Snapshot, September 2021, Bepress

Library Documents & Reports (entire collection)

No abstract provided.

The State Of The Unions 2021: A Profile Of Organized Labor In New York City, New York State, And The United States, Ruth Milkman, Stephanie Luce

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns generated vast job losses across the United States. The New York City metropolitan area, where the pandemic’s impact was felt earlier than elsewhere in the country, suffered severe job losses in 2020. The decline in employment among women workers was greater than among men — in sharp contrast to the Great Recession, which hit men’s employment harder. The State of the Unions 2021, A Profile of Organized Labor in New York City, New York State, and the United States, presents data on gender, union membership, and job losses in the COVID-19 economic downturn …

Increasing Scholarly Productivity: Developing An In-House Academic Librarian Support Network, Leetta Schmidt, Jason Boczar, Barbara Lewis, Tomaro I. Taylor

Tampa Library Faculty and Staff Publications

Organizational and professional support structures can provide tools and resources to help academic librarians address the challenges of research and publishing. At the USF Libraries, a Research and Publishing committee was created by the faculty to develop tools and provide professional development support, with the aim of encouraging a community culture of research. The committee's work resulted in a series of workshops, discussion groups, guiding documents, and tools.

Volume 41, Number 3, September 2021 Olac Newsletter, Laura Kane Mcelfresh, Jennifer M. Eustis, Richard N. Leigh, Jan Mayo, Yoko Kudo, Jay Weitz, Lisa Romano

OLAC Newsletters

Digitized September 2021 issue of the OLAC Newsletter.

Road Work Ahead: Using Deep Neural Networks To Estimate The Impacts Of Work Zones, Abbas Rashidi, Ali Hassandokht Mashhadi

TREC Project Briefs

Roadside construction - be it a detour, a closed lane, or a slow weave past workers and equipment - work zones impact traffic flow and travel times on a system-wide level. The ability to predict exactly what those impacts will be, and plan for them, would be a major help to both transportation agencies and road users. Funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, the latest Small Starts project led by Abbas Rashidi of the University of Utah introduces a robust, deep neural network model for analyzing the automobile traffic impacts of construction zones.

Foundations Of Linguistics And Identity In L2 Teaching And Learning: Agency Through Linguistic Enrichment, Differentiated Instruction And Teacher Identity, Marnie Jo Petray, Rebecca Shapiro, Gladys M. Vega

Publications and Research

Language, procedure, and identity are L2 teaching/learning essentials that may promote agency and stimulate synergies among knowledge, practice, and reflection (Diaz Maggioli, 2014; Duff, 2012). This meta-report presents three studies that collectively advance agency and endorse linguistic foundations as enrichment, differentiated instruction as engagement, and teacher identity as empowerment. All of these theoretical constructs are key to successful L2 teaching and acquisition. Study 1 quantitatively reports on introductory linguistics’ presence or absence in 114 master’s programs at 54 US institutions. Findings suggest that linguistics’ curricular presence is inconsistent and training for optimal impact in the L2 classroom is lacking. Given …

Our Year Of Remote Reference: Covid19’S Impact On Reference Services And Librarians, Sarah B. Cohn, Rebecca Hyams

Publications and Research

After a full year of providing fully remote library reference due to the COVID-19 pandemic campus closures, this exploratory study looks at reference practices of libraries, and librarian response to those practices, at a large, urban, public university. This article focuses on the impact COVID-19 had on reference services themselves, as well as the perceptions of those who provide them.

Dynamic Analysis Of Money Supply, Unemployment And Inflation Rate In The Us, Guangyu Wang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Price stability is not only an important indicator of the healthy and stability of macro-economy, but also one of the goals of macroeconomic policy. There are many factors affecting inflation. Different monetary policy instruments, such as money supply, liquidity and market expectations, have different effects on inflation. Meanwhile, monetary policy goals, such as inflation rate, employment rate and economic growth rate, also affect each other.

This paper provides an empirical study of money supply, inflation and unemployment in the US economy. Based on the existing theoretical and empirical analysis, this paper selects different research models and new data dimensions to …

Examining Associations Between Knowledge And Vaccine Uptake Using The Human Papillomavirus Knowledge Questionnaire (Hpv-Kq), Sayward Harrison, Valerie Yelverton, Yunfei Wang, Jan Ostermann, Laura J. Fish, Charnetta L. Williams, Lavanya Vasudevan, Emmanuel B. Walter

Faculty Publications

Objectives: Understanding the relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge and vaccination behavior is important to inform public health interventions, yet few validated HPV knowledge scales exist. This study describes development of the Human Papillomavirus Knowledge Questionnaire (HPV-KQ) and its validation with parents residing in the southern United States (US). Methods: Drawing on previously published measures, we developed the 13-item HPV-KQ and administered the scale via Web-based survey to parents (N=1105) of adolescents ages 9 to 17 years. Dimensionality, internal consistency, model fit, and predictive validity were assessed. Results: The scale was bidimensional. One factor captured general HPV knowledge, and the …