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Globalization, Democracy, and Public Space: The Case of the U.S.- Mexican Border Region
Get PDFThe U.S.-Mexican border is a region discussed in public conversations; a place where vendors, disparate groups of people, public art, and many different levels of government converge; it is a place designed to be a gateway between countries. It is a public space, a place where substantive democracy should be paramount. This paper provides a theoretical overview of public space, democracy, and the main bureaucracy in charge, the Department of Homeland Security. It posits that democracy is limited in the border region, with the use of the public space and the functioning of the bureaucracy, and provides suggestions to improve democracy in the region. In order to improve lives, increase trust of government institutions, and improve domestic and economic security, a more democratic system needs to be developed
African and Non-African Refugees’ Perceptions of Police: A Study of
Get PDFAlthough there is an enormous amount of scholarship on public perceptions of the police, few studies have had an interest in refugees’ opinions. Using a survey instrument, the current study aims to understand the adaptation of refugees to the American criminal justice system by focusing on how they perceive police officers in two mid-sized cities in the northeastern region. We explore whether there are differences in perceived police prejudice, police effectiveness, and respect for the police between African and non-African refugees. In addition, we identify factors that affect refugees’ perceptions. Findings from ordinary least squares and multinomial regression analyses indicate that, overall, African refugees perceive the police in a way similar to non-African refugees. Two nondemographic characteristics also play a significant role: Fear of crime and poor communication most likely result in refugees’ negative evaluations of the police
Does operation scheduling make a difference: Tapping the potential of optimized design for skipping-stop strategy in reducing bus emissions
No full textThe idea of corporate social responsibility has promoted bus operation agencies to rethink how to provide not only efficient but also environmentally friendly services for residents. A study on the potential of using an optimized design of skip-stop services, one of the essential operational strategies in practice, to reduce emissions is conducted in this paper. The underlying scheduling problem is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem with the primary objective of optimizing the total costs for both passengers and operating agencies, as well as with the secondary objective of minimizing bus emissions. A solution method is developed to solve the problem. A real-world case of Route 16 in Beijing is studied, in which the optimal scheduling strategy that maximizes the cost savings and environmental benefits is determined. The costs and emissions of the proposed scheduling strategy are compared with the optimal scheduling with skip-stop services without considering bus emissions. The results show that the proposed scheduling strategy outperforms the other operating strategy with respect to operational costs and bus emissions. A sensitivity study is then conducted to investigate the impact of the fleet size in operations and passenger demand on the effectiveness of the proposed stop-skipping strategy considering bus emissions
On the treatment of ℓ-changing proton-hydrogen Rydberg atom collisions
No full textEnergy-conserving, angular momentum changing collisions between protons and highly excited Rydberg hydrogen atoms are important for precise understanding of atomic recombination at the photon decoupling era and the elemental abundance after primordial nucleosynthesis. Early approaches to ℓ-changing collisions used perturbation theory only for dipole-allowed (Δℓ=±1) transitions. An exact non-perturbative quantum mechanical treatment is possible, but it comes at a computational cost for highly excited Rydberg states. In this paper, we show how to obtain a semiclassical limit that is accurate and simple, and develop further physical insights afforded by the non-perturbative quantum mechanical treatment
Economic Determinant Analysis of Student Academic Performance in Mississippi Public Schools
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between economic determinants and student academic performance indicators of public school students in the State of Mississippi. It was hypothesized that public school districts with higher economic security leads to higher academic achievement. Data for the study were obtained through the Mississippi Department of Education Children’s First Annual Report for school year 2012 -2013, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Datacenter for 2013. Using bivariate analyses and multiple regression models, the results revealed that students’ academic performance indicators were statistically significantly with weak to moderate effects for each of the economic factors with the exception of unemployment rate in the bivariate analysis, and unemployment rate and median household income in the multiple regression model which were found to be nonsignificant. Further, the multiple regression analyses indicated that poverty in the school district was the best predictor in explaining the differences in student performance as an educational outcome. This study suggests that while student performance is linked to the school learning environment, residing in low-income families within high poverty school districts with a dwindling property tax-base is just as important when explaining the differences in student performance
Citizen Evaluation of Government and Confidence in Public Institutions in Emergent Islamic Democracies: Evidence from Afghanistan
Get PDFExtant literature on citizen evaluation of government and confidence in public institutions is anchored on findings largely derived from the rich and enduring democratic traditions of Western industrialized democracies. This research explores whether this literature informs and can be generalized to similar phenomena in a developmental Islamic democracy, such as that in Afghanistan. Analyzing national probability survey data of adult Afghans, we find that prevailing theories of citizen evaluation of government and confidence in public institutions do offer viable explanations, although the effect of each factor varies according to both level of government and institution. Also, the effects of perceptions of performance are very salient. Overall, the theories provide more potent explanations of citizen evaluation of government and confidence in public institutions vis-a-vis demographic factors. We contend that the prospects for democracy in Afghanistan may well depend on democracy’s ability to deliver both on its stated ideals and expected dividends
Cultural diversity in introductory psychology textbook selection: The case for historically Black colleges/universities (HBCUs)
No full textThe present study describes a culturally relevant approach to introductory psychology textbook selection for students attending a historically Black college/university (HBCU). The following multistage procedure was used: (1) a survey of HBCU psychology departments was conducted to ascertain how they selected their introductory psychology textbooks; (2) a review of the literature on introductory psychology textbook selection was performed to identify criteria; and (3) rating criteria were developed; used in the actual selection of a textbook for HBCU students; and were subjected to psychometric analysis. The psychometric analyses of 240 ratings (10 criteria X 4 raters X 6 books) involved both reliability assessment of the scale with the selection criteria as items and interrater reliability in evaluating introductory psychology textbooks. The survey of HBCU faculty yielded no consensus or systematic process from the respondents. Both internal consistency reliability and agreement among faculty were adequate on the rating instrument for the total scores and subscale scores of Quality of Learning Resources and Learning and Comprehension. However, the subscale scores for Cultural Relevance yielded mixed results by type of reliability: Interrater agreement was adequate but internal consistency reliability was poor. Future research using multiple methodologies must address the relevancy of cultural diversity for introductory psychology courses
D-mannose: A novel prognostic biomarker for patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma
No full textMetabolomic profiling is a promising approach to identify new biomarkers for cancer prognosis. However, the role of circulating metabolites as prognostic indicators in esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has not been well explored. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of three serum metabolites, d-mannose, l-proline (LP), and 3-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), which were significantly different between EAC patients and controls, identified through a global and targeted metabolite profiling. We measured the levels of d-mannose, LP, and BHBA in pretreatment serum from 159 EAC patients, using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods. A multivariable Cox model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the association of these metabolites with recurrence and overall survival. We found that serum levels of d-mannose were significantly associated with recurrence and overall survival in EAC patients, whereas levels of LP and BHBA were not. Compared with patients with a low (first tertile) level of d-mannose, those with a high (second plus third tertiles) level had 49% reduced risk of recurrence (HR = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.29-0.91; P = 0.02), and 56% reduced risk of death (HR = 0.44; 95% CI: 0.25-0.77, P \u3c 0.01). The significant association of high d-mannose levels with better prognosis was consistent among patients with early-stage and advancedstage EAC. Our results suggest that serum level of d-mannose may be used as a novel prognostic biomarker for patients with EAC. Further studies in independent populations are warranted to confirm our findings