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Police self-legitimacy and democratic orientations: Assessing shared values
No full textUsing a sample of frontline police officers from several mid-sized municipal police departments in the United States, this study explores the relationships between frontline police officers’ self-legitimacy, organizational fit, moral alignment with policed communities, and attitudes toward democratic policing principles. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, the analysis frames democratic policing using a formative latent construct to test several hypotheses. The results support a direct positive relationship between self-legitimacy and attitudes toward democratic policing, and suggest the relationship is partially mediated by officers\u27 perceptions of moral alignment with their policed communities. The results further demonstrate that self-legitimacy is significantly related to organizational fit, but organizational fit does not appear to mediate the relationship between self-legitimacy and attitudes toward democratic policing
The Size of it: Scant Evidence That Flower Size Variation Affects Deception in Intersexual Floral Mimicry
No full textMutualisms involve cooperation, but also frequently involve conflict. Plant-pollinator mutualisms are no exception. To facilitate animal pollination, flowering plants often offer pollen (their male gametes) as a food reward. Since plants benefit by maximizing pollen export to conspecific flowers, we might expect plants to cheat on pollen rewards. In intersexual floral mimicry, rewarding pollen-bearing male flowers (models) are mimicked by rewardless female flowers (mimics) on the same plant. Pollinators should therefore learn to avoid the unrewarding mimics. Plants might impede such learning by producing phenotypically variable flowers that cause bees to generalize among models and mimics during learning. In this laboratory study, we used partially artificial flowers (artificial petals, live reproductive parts) modeled after Begonia odorata to test whether variation in the size of rewarding male flowers (models) and unrewarding female flowers (mimics) affected how quickly bees learned both to recognize models and to reject mimics. Live unrewarding female flowers have 33% longer petals and have 31% greater surface area than live rewarding male flowers, which bees should easily discriminate. Yet while bees rapidly learned to reduce foraging effort on mimics, learning was not significantly affected by the degree to which flower size varied. Additionally, we found scant evidence that this was a result of bees altering response speed to maintain decision accuracy. Our study failed to provide evidence that flower size variation in intersexual floral mimicry systems exploits pollinator cognition, though we cannot rule out that other floral traits that are variable may be important. Furthermore, we propose that contrary to expectation, phenotypic variability in a Batesian mimicry system may not necessarily have significant effects on whether receivers effectively learn to discriminate models and mimics
Verification of the neural network training process for spectrum-based chemical substructure prediction using metamorphic testing
No full textFourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is one of the commonly used techniques in chemical analysis. The chemical bonds that are present in samples absorb infrared light at various wavelengths based on the properties of chemical bonds between sets of atoms bonded together. By extracting these absorbance patterns, we aim to predict the presence or absence of various substructures within a compound based on its FTIR spectrum. Hypothetically, a powerful machine learning method with enough examples of a substructure should be able to identify the structure of an unknown compound by analyzing its FTIR spectrum. To this extent we developed a novel system that trains neural networks to predict the presence of various substructures within a compound. We then propose to apply metamorphic testing to verify the network training process. Experimental results exhibit that metamorphic testing helps to develop a more effective training process for classifier neural networks
Is it a Tip or a Gift? Investigating Duberstein in the Modern Gratuity Era
No full textIn the modern era of social media, users frequently promote their acts of generosity. Included in these acts of generosity are tips to restaurant servers that exceed customary amounts. Due to the extraordinary amounts of the transfers, the proper tax treatment as a “gift” or a “tip” is called into question. In Commissioner v. Duberstein, the Supreme Court addressed gifts versus taxable transfers, but did not provide a clear test for taxpayers. In the 60 years since Duberstein, Congress has yet to address the call of Duberstein to create an appropriate test for gift treatment. In this paper, we analyze prior law on gifts and tips. Next, we apply the law to scenarios based on current events. Finally, we recommend that Congress address transfers where the appropriate treatment as a “gift” or a “tip” is in question
Enhancing Civic Engagement through Leadership Education
No full textMany civic engagement courses require students to work with community members to make progress on complex problems, which in itself can be a practice of leadership. Yet there is little evidence that leadership development is strategically incorporated in civic engagement courses. Therefore, we taught eight leadership sessions over two semesters in the Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program at Guilford College. This study examines the perceived impact of leadership curriculum on the personal practices of leadership and the civic engagement for 14 undergraduate students. We present the findings through three themes highlighting (1) the shifts in the students’ philosophies of leadership from leader-centric to collective perspectives; (2) the value of civic leadership and democratic engagement praxis, and (3) the salient leadership lessons. Lastly, we discuss implications and future research calling for more integration of these two fields and more research around the curricular integration of leadership education and civic education
Legislators’ Perceptions of Public University Student Lobbying Efforts On Public Higher Education Legislation: A Case Study
No full textCollege students have a legitimate interest in many policy issues that affect their campuses, but are they effective in lobbying their state representatives for their interests? Elected members of the Kansas state legislature were surveyed to determine if student lobbyists were effective in influencing legislator’s decision-making on matters of public higher education policy in Kansas. Interest group theory was utilized as a lens to view results of legislator perceptions. Findings suggested that 70% of legislator participants never altered their view on an issue after meeting with a college student lobbyist. Responses aligned with partisan politics, with Democrats more likely to empathize and understand the perspective of college students than their Republican colleagues
Kiowa at the Battle of the Washita, 27 November 1868
No full textWhile the Battle of the Washita of 27 November 1868 is a well-documented event in Native American and Southern Plains history, especially regarding the Cheyenne, Kiowa involvement is little known. This work sheds light on which Kiowa were at the battle and their participation, through an examination of US military records, Kiowa ledger art, oral histories, onomastics, photographs, and an unpublished account from Kein-taddle of her husband’s (Chiefs Call Him) participation and later naming of three family members from his personal war actions in the battle. The account suggests not only that Chiefs Call Him was involved in the action against Major Joel Elliott and his detachment, who were killed that day, but that he also witnessed Elliott’s death and counted coup on him
Detrital zircon geothermochronology reveals pre-Alleghanian exhumation of regional Mississippian sediment sources in the southern Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province
No full textThe Black Warrior foreland basin records sedimentation associated with the development of intersecting Ouachita and Alleghanian thrust belts along the southern margin of Laurentia. Mississippian–Pennsylvanian units in the Black Warrior basin are interpreted to be sourced from either the northern Appalachians and mid-continent or more regionally from the southern Appalachians or nearby Ouachita thrust belt. We present detrital zircon U-Pb ages and Th/U values from Paleozoic units that indicate zircon from the Mississippian Hartselle Sandstone are temporally and chemically compatible with being sourced from the southern Appalachians. Zircon mixing models suggest sediment was primarily recycled from Cambrian, Ordovician, and Devonian strata in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge, with minor influx from Piedmont units. A ca. 415 Ma zircon population requires additional input from the Maya Block of the Yucatan Peninsula or similar outboard terranes. We present zircon (U-Th)/He analysis and thermal history modeling of Paleozoic units, which detail pre-Alleghanian exhumation in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge. Both the Cambrian Chilhowee Group and Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation exhibit (U-Th)/He dates ranging from 507 to 263 Ma with a Mississippian subset (353–329 Ma, n = 4), which indicates rapid cooling and inferred exhumation during Late Devonian–Early Mississippian Neoacadian tectonism. We propose a Mississippian drainage system that transported material along southern Appalachian structural fabrics to the juncture between Appalachian and Ouachita thrust belts followed by a sediment-routing rotation toward the Black Warrior foreland. This interpretation honors chemical-age zircon data, accounts for metamorphic grains in thin section petrography, and matches Mississippian–Pennsylvanian Black Warrior foreland lithostratigraphic relationship
Receiver function investigation of crustal structure in the Malawi and Luangwa rift zones and adjacent areas
No full textStacking over 2300 P-to-S receiver functions recorded by 33 SAFARI (Seismic Arrays for African Rift Initiation) broadband seismic stations that we installed in the vicinity of the Malawi and Luangwa rift zones (MRZ and LRZ, respectively) reveals significant variations of crustal thickness (32.8–46.3 km) and Vp/Vs (1.69–1.85). The resulting crustal stretching factor is about 1.05–1.08 for the MRZ, which is approximately 10–40% lower than that observed in the mature segments of the East African Rift System (EARS). The low stretching factor is consistent with the general absence of volcanism in the MRZ, and the relatively high Vp/Vs (≥ 1.81) beneath the southern MRZ, when combined with observations from previous studies, indicate the possible existence of crustal partial melting, elevated temperatures or fluid-filled deep crustal faults that are likely associated with lithospheric stretching. In sharp contrast with the southern MRZ, low Vp/Vs measurements in the range of 1.69–1.72 are observed along the western boundary of the northern MRZ, which could be attributable to the infiltration of magma-derived CO2 into the crust. The LRZ shows negligible crustal thinning and a Vp/Vs that is comparable to the globally averaged value for continental crust, suggesting a complete post-rifting recovery of crustal properties in terms of crustal thickness and Vp/Vs
When Ignorance Is Bliss: The Role of Curiosity in Online Games Adoption
No full textDespite the adverse consequences associated with playing risky online games, their popularity is increasing. Prior literature on online games has focused on identifying adoption factors without taking associated risks into consideration. In this study, we examine the factors that drive individuals to play online games in the presence of cybersecurity risks such as physical and psychological risks associated with online games. We draw on the information gap theory of curiosity to investigate the impact of security risk awareness and curiosity on the intention to play online games. Using a hypothetical scenario that simulates a real event and a total of 301 responses collected using Amazon Mechanical Turk platform and analyzed using LISREL 8.80, we provide evidence of how the awareness of threats incites curiosity and invites exploratory behavior that can lead to undesirable consequences. Our results reveal that security risk awareness has a positive and significant effect on both perceived risk and curiosity, while curiosity has a negative effect on perceived risk and a positive effect on the intention to play an online game. This study contributes to the literature on online games by adding the role of cybersecurity awareness as a predictor of curiosity, which in turn leads to risky behavior of playing online games. The study introduces curiosity as a critical factor that has valuable cybersecurity implications in the context of online gaming