32584 research outputs found
Sort by
Spartan Daily, October 22, 2025
Get PDFVolume 165, Issue 26https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_2025/1069/thumbnail.jp
The Reading Teacher’s Children’s Literature Review Column
No full textThe study is dedicated to advancing literacy for all children by spotlighting literature that reflects diverse global perspectives and amplifies marginalized voices. By showcasing culturally rich books in fiction and nonfiction, the column aims to create an inclusive reading environment that empowers children and educators alike to explore the vast tapestry of human experiences. This initiative underscores the critical role of culturally reflective literature in fostering understanding, empathy, and connection in classrooms and communities
The Role of Community Policing in Communities with Serious Gang Problems: Insights from Trinidad and Tobago
No full textGlobally, the presence of gangs is associated with elevated rates of violence in the communities they occupy. Gang membership is associated with higher rates of criminal offending, drug use, school dropout, teenage parenthood, and joblessness. While various strategies have been developed to address gang violence, police tactics have primarily focused on suppression. However, it is well known that suppression tactics can lead to overzealous policing with potentially detrimental effects on communities. Limited research exists on the impact of police officers\u27 engagement in prevention and intervention activities to address gang violence. Based on in-depth interviews with police officers in a specialized community policing unit in Trinidad and Tobago, this paper explores police efforts to intervene in gang-related issues in communities facing high levels of gang violence. The officers we interviewed believe their efforts to engage respectfully with community members, including known gang members, resulted in a favorable community response to police work and residents\u27 buy-in towards police initiatives. This study contributes to understanding the perspectives of specialized community policing officers seeking to improve the quality of life for residents in communities beset by gang violence and highlights the challenges and potential benefits of respectful community engagement strategies
Further Reverberations of the 1983 Impact with Saturn\u27s C Ring
No full textA pattern of ∼1 km wavelength ripples exhibiting a periodic beating pattern in Saturn\u27s inner C ring (74,500–77,765 km) was detected in low-inclination Cassini Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) occultation observations made in 2010 (Marouf et al., 2011). Initially interpreted as analogous to the ∼30 km wavelength vertical corrugations with m=1 discovered in the C and D rings in near-equinox Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) images by Hedman et al. (2007, 2011), the shorter wavelength of these features suggested that they had evolved from a pair of impacts several centuries ago. However, important inconsistencies with this model prevented a secure identification of their origin. A comprehensive search has revealed additional detections of this pattern in Cassini RSS, Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) and Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) occultations observed between 2008 and 2017 that show a significant decrease in the wavelength of the ripples over time, suggesting a much more recent origin than centuries ago. We identify the conspicuous beat pattern visible in the ripple structure as the interference of m=0 and m=2 vertical modes of similar amplitudes but slightly different frequencies, evolving over time and winding up at a rate governed by the mean motion of ring particles, rather than by the much slower node rate that is applicable to the m=1 corrugations. From empirical fits to the observed time-dependent wavelengths of the two modes and power spectral analysis of individual optical depth profiles, we demonstrate that the short-wavelength vertical corrugations originated from the same event that produced the longer-wavelength m=1 periodic structure in the rings. We infer an impact date of UTC 1983 Sep 19.25 ± 5.5 d, taking into account a plausibly small contribution of ring self-gravity to the windup rates of the corrugations. No convincing signatures of counterpart m=0 or m=2 radial modes, or of vertical modes with m≥3, are present in the occultation data, and no evidence of ripple structure is detectable beyond an orbital radius of 77,765 km. The measured amplitudes Az0 and Az2 of the newly-identified modes are anti-correlated with the ring optical depth. We detect a significant decrease in the amplitudes of both modes between 2008 and 2017. N-body numerical collisional simulations provide constraints on the vertical and radial ring viscosity that are compatible with the observed radial trend of mode amplitudes Az0 and Az2 and their variation with time. Assuming an effective particle size R=1 m, the inferred coefficient of restitution ϵn∼0.5, with corresponding vertical and radial viscosities νz = 1.6 cm2s−1and νr = 2.2 cm2s−1at a radius of 75,500 km. The initial amplitudes of the m=0 and m=2 vertical modes are estimated to be ∼4 to 7 times their observed values in 2017 in this region
Relationship Between Dietary Probiotic Consumption and Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults: A 2011-2014 NHANES Study
Get PDFBackground
Consumption of probiotics has recently been associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline due to its anti-inflammatory effect on the brain, via the gut-brain-axis. Current studies with probiotic supplementation indicate that probiotics may play an important role in slowing the rate of cognitive decline and protecting memory. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a potential relationship between cognitive decline and dietary intake of probiotics.
Methods
This study utilized data from NHANES, both 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 cycles. Categorical variables were analyzed using chi-square tests, and continuous variables were analyzed using General Linear Models. Participants (n = 2,689) were aged 65 or older and completed two-day 24-hour dietary recall, in addition to completion of all cognitive assessments (CERAD-WR, CERAD-DL, AFT, DSST).
Results
Probiotic intake and DSST test scores had a positive significant association (p = 0.004). DSST test scores increased across each tertile of probiotic intake (low = 35.8, med = 41.3, and hi = 44.4), out of a maximum score of 133. CERAD-WR, CERAD-DL, AFT, and global cognition were not significantly affected by dietary probiotic intake (p = 0.460, 0.950, 0.674, and 0.531, respectively).
Conclusion
These findings indicate a significant relationship between the amount of dietary probiotics consumed and increased processing speed, sustained attention, and working memory in older adults
Walsh, James P.
No full textUniversity of California, Berkeley, History and Education, Ph.D. 1970
University of San Francisco, History, M.A. 1962
University of San Francisco, History, B.S. 1959https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/erfa_bios/1270/thumbnail.jp
COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors Are Congruent Within Social Networks of Disenfranchised Hispanic and Criminal Legal Involved Community Members
No full textThe COVID-19 (COVID) pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on people who have low income and identify as Hispanic or Latinx (PLIH) as well as those with criminal Legal Involvement (CLI). These two groups, and their intersection, are often disenfranchised from livable wage employment, basic social services, and healthcare, which are vital to prevent the spread of COVID. We examined baseline data from the Community Network-Driven COVID Testing of Marginalized Population in the Central US (C3) which included 1036 participants: 32.1% PLIH, 39.6% CLI, 10.6% who identified as both PLIH and CLI, and 17.6% who were neither PLIH nor CLI. Participants were more likely to engage in COVID preventive behaviors if their social networks engaged in the same behaviors. For example, participants had 9.38 times the odds of being vaccinated if more than 50%, according to their own estimation, of their network were vaccinated (aOR: 9.38, 95%, CI: 4.22–20.84)
Exploring the Role of Culture and Bilingualism in Programming Activities: Lessons from African Educators
No full textThe delivery of culturally relevant content in K-12 computing education is widely recognized as essential for engaging students and fostering meaningful learning experiences. However, in many African contexts, K-12 computing teachers feel unprepared to address this need. Course materials often fail to reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the students they serve. In this study, we conducted participatory design sessions with education stakeholders, including primary and secondary school teachers, to develop culturally relevant programming activities for a national programming outreach initiative in Botswana. Our findings emphasize the importance of relatable examples and a balanced approach to integrating cultural elements into learning materials. Challenges, such as diverse dialects and difficulties with direct translation, led stakeholders to adopt a bilingual approach to the initiative. This research contributes insights into the complexities of integrating culturally relevant programming languages and course materials and highlights the need for flexibility and adaptability. The implications of this study include the need for cross-regional research collaborations, teacher training and guidelines, and empowering teachers to effectively integrate cultural elements, promoting inclusivity and cultural responsiveness in programming education
Enhancing Clinical Named Entity Recognition via Fine-Tuned BERT and Dictionary-Infused Retrieval-Augmented Generation
No full textClinical notes often contain unstructured text filled with abbreviations, non-standard terminology, and inconsistent phrasing, which pose significant challenges for automated medical information extraction. Named Entity Recognition (NER) plays a crucial role in structuring this data by identifying and categorizing key clinical entities such as symptoms, medications, and diagnoses. However, traditional and even transformer-based NER models often struggle with ambiguity and fail to produce clinically interpretable outputs. In this study, we present a hybrid two-stage framework that enhances medical NER by integrating a fine-tuned BERT model for initial entity extraction with a Dictionary-Infused Retrieval-Augmented Generation (DiRAG) module for terminology normalization. Our approach addresses two critical limitations in current clinical NER systems: lack of contextual clarity and inconsistent standardization of medical terms. The DiRAG module combines semantic retrieval from a UMLS-based vector database with lexical matching and prompt-based generation using a large language model, ensuring precise and explainable normalization of ambiguous entities. The fine-tuned BERT model achieved an F1 score of 0.708 on the MACCROBAT dataset, outperforming several domain-specific baselines, including BioBERT and ClinicalBERT. The integration of the DiRAG module further improved the interpretability and clinical relevance of the extracted entities. Through qualitative case studies, we demonstrate that our framework not only enhances clarity but also mitigates common issues such as abbreviation ambiguity and terminology inconsistency