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AI Literacy and LLM Engagement in Higher Education: A Cross-National Quantitative Study
No full textThis study presents a cross-national quantitative analysis of how university students in the United States and Bangladesh interact with Large Language Models (LLMs). Based on an online survey of 318 students, results show that LLMs enhance access to information, improve writing, and boost academic performance. However, concerns about overreliance, ethical risks, and critical thinking persist. Guided by the AI Literacy Framework, Expectancy-Value Theory, and Biggs' 3P Model, the study finds that motivational beliefs and technical competencies shape LLM engagement. Significant correlations were found between LLM use and perceived literacy benefits (r = .59, p < .001) and optimism (r = .41, p < .001). ANOVA results showed more frequent use among U.S. students (F = 7.92, p = .005) and STEM majors (F = 18.11, p < .001). Findings support the development of ethical, inclusive, and pedagogically sound frameworks for integrating LLMs in higher education.http://arxiv.org/abs/2507.0302
The Black Male Adult Learner Success Theory: unpacking institutional structures that support academic success
No full textAdult learners are one of the largest growing populations on college campuses. However, many universities do not consider this population generally and Black male adult learners specifically in policy decisions. To address this oversight there has been a growing body of work exploring the experiences of Black male adult learners in higher education, but most theories used to study this population were developed for traditional aged college students. Given the differences in the experiences of Black male adult learners, I developed the Black Male Adult Learner Success Theory (BMALST) to present an asset-based lens in which to study and make institutional decisions that cultivate the academic success of Black male adult learners. In this article I present the journey to developing the BMALST, describe the theory, and discuss how it could be used by institutions to improve the experience for Black male adult learners in higher education.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1637708/ful
Policy Narratives in the U.S. Voting Rights Debate
No full textThis study examines the role of policy narratives in the U.S. voting rights debate. Despite significant scholarship on voting rights and policy narratives in other fields, policy scholars have not specifically analyzed the role of policy narratives in this debate. This research employs the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to investigate whether the debate utilizes policy narratives as defined by the NPF and to assess differences in such usage between Democrats and Republicans, the two primary advocacy coalitions. Analyzing 406 news articles from 2006 to 2023, the study finds substantial use of policy narratives and notable partisan differences in employing certain NPF components. These findings underscore the critical role of policy narratives in the voting rights arena and demonstrate the NPF's value in providing a nuanced understanding of the debate
First Detection of Low-frequency Striae in Interplanetary Type III Radio Bursts
No full textWe report the first detection of type III solar radio burst striae in the 30–80 kHz range, observed by the Cluster-4 spacecraft during an exceptionally quiet solar period. These low-frequency fine structures, which drift slowly in frequency and exhibit narrow bandwidths, provide a novel diagnostic of plasma processes in the inner heliosphere. The detected striae, interpreted as fundamental plasma emission, exhibit a frequency drift rate of 0.328 Hz s⁻¹ and a bandwidth of 1.3 kHz. By combining high-resolution radio observations with well-calibrated in situ electron velocity distribution function data from the Wind spacecraft, we characterized the plasma properties of the burst source region near 0.32 au. Our analysis estimates relative density fluctuations, at the effective turbulence scale length, as approximately 3.4% (inferred from striae bandwidths), 0.62% (from intensity fluctuations), and 3.5% (from a heliocentric distance-based empirical model). These findings offer critical insights into small-scale density inhomogeneities and turbulence that affect electron beam propagation. This study underscores the potential of combining well-calibrated in situ electron data with radio burst measurements to probe the physical conditions of the solar wind and to refine our understanding of solar radio bursts across a broad frequency range.We acknowledge the use of data from the Cluster Science Archive (CSA), including WBD and supporting plasma and magnetic field measurements. The Cluster mission is a project of the European Space Agency (ESA) with contributions from NASA. We thank the CSA team for maintaining open access to high-quality data products that made this study possible. We also thank the Wind mission team and NASA's Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) for providing access to solar wind plasma and radio measurements. H.R. acknowledges the support from the STFC grant ST/W001004/1. E.P.K. acknowledges support via the STFC/UKRI grant ST/Y001834/1. J.S., O.S., and D.P. acknowledge the support of the Czech Science Foundation grant 22-10775S. V.K. was supported by the Wind/WAVES project and by the NASA grant 19-HSR-19_2-0143.https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/add68
Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Responding to Intimate Partner Violence Use Disclosures in U.S. Healthcare Settings
No full textPurpose
The healthcare system plays a critical role in intimate partner violence (IPV) detection and response through implementation of routine screening for IPV experiences (i.e., victimization). Yet, development of guidelines for identifying and responding to those who use violence in relationships (i.e., perpetration) is in its infancy.
Method
We used a multi-phased exploratory sequential mixed methods approach to develop clinical practice guidelines for responding to IPV use disclosures in healthcare settings. Qualitative findings from expert panel discussions were used to develop an expert consensus survey that was distributed to an expanded pool of experts to evaluate agreement and feedback on clinical guidelines.
Results
Qualitative findings led to an initial start list of 17 recommendations for responding to IPV use following IPV use disclosures. Subsequent expert consensus survey findings yielded agreement on nine clinical practice guidelines for responding to and managing risk following IPV use disclosures in the healthcare setting.
Conclusions
With additional research intended to implement, evaluate, and refine these clinical practice guidelines for responding to IPV use disclosures, they may enhance preparedness and competence among providers, with potential for increasing identification of patients who use IPV, connect them to needed resources, and reduce future acts of violence. Following evaluation, the guidelines developed through this work may assist healthcare systems in establishing and implementing plans for IPV use response, risk management, and formation of connections to appropriate resources.This research was supported by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Health Systems Research (HSR) as part of Dr. Galina Portnoy’s HSR Career Development Award (CDA 19–234) and by the IPV Center for Implementation, Research, and Evaluation (IPV-CIRE) that receives funding from VHA’s Care Management and Social Work Service. The contents of this article do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10896-025-00908-
Global sourcing patterns, domestic institutions, and commercial arbitration environments
No full textThis paper empirically examines how the quality of national arbitration institutions affects global sourcing patterns of intermediate inputs. Higher-quality arbitration institutions provide better enforcement of an arbitral award and easier access to commercial arbitration. I find that global sourcing shrinks when transactions are more dependent on relationships between traders. This negative impact is better mitigated when each source and destination country's arbitration institutions are of higher quality.https://ideas.repec.org//a/ebl/ecbull/eb-25-00113.htm
Popular AIs head-to-head: OpenAI beats DeepSeek on sentence-level reasoning
No full textLarge language model AIs can ingest long documents and answer questions about them, but a key question is how well they ‘understand’ individual sentences in the documents.Manas Gaur receives funding from USISTEF Endowment Fundhttp://theconversation.com/popular-ais-head-to-head-openai-beats-deepseek-on-sentence-level-reasoning-24910
Assessing the Incremental Health Care Utilization and Expenditures Associated With Serious Psychological Distress by Living Arrangements Among Older Adults
No full textOlder adults suffering from serious psychological distress (SPD) have higher health care utilization and expenditures. However, it is unknown whether living alone might further amplify differences in health care usage and costs among older adults with SPD. Using pooled data from 2007-2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we estimated the incremental care expenditures and utilization associated with SPD among older adults living alone and living with others. The results show that in both living arrangements, having SPD is associated with increases in emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and prescription fill-ups, which leads to higher total prescription expenditures. However, the incremental differences of SPD-related incremental usage and expenditures between older adults living alone and living with others were similar. Our findings call for targeted community programs for older adults that go beyond eliminating physical loneliness, and innovative care coordination strategies that prioritize mental health and preventative care among older adults.The author s disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research authorship and or publication of this article This work was supported by the Dr Jie Chen University of Maryland College Park is supported by National Institute of Aging Grants R01AG062315 and RF1AG083175https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0733464825132302
Can Gaithersburg Regulate HOAs and Condos Better than Montgomery County?
No full textHOAs and Condo associations have grown to be a big part of the American housing landscape over the last 50 years. In 2025, the Maryland general assembly passed a new law requiring independent third-party elections of HOA/condo boards and the City of Gaithersburg left Montgomery County’s Commission on Common Ownership Communities. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Gaithersburg councilmembers Neil Harris and Yamil Hernandez, themselves experienced HOA officials, about how they are thinking of a new regulatory regime. Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s.https://open.spotify.com/episode/5doMMT6Lf6Uwn47so974H
Differential Reinforcement
No full textNearly 100 years ago, Skinner made the groundbreaking observation that behavior is sensitive to environmental variables (Skinner, 1938). This process, called operant selection or selection by consequences, was a parallel to natural selection coined by Darwin in that both emphasize that the organism’s behaviors and other features change as a function of environmental variables. These changes increase the organism’s adaptability to the environment and, implicitly, chances of survival. Operant and natural selection differ in their level of analysis; operant selection describes learning that occurs during an individual’s life (i.e., ontogeny), whereas natural selection describes learning that occurs across generations within the same species (i.e., phylogeny). The concept of operant selection is a synonym for behavior change; therefore, from a clinical standpoint, operant selection opened the door for therapeutic intervention.https://global.oup.com/academic/product/lifespan-treatment-for-autistic-individuals-9780197635841?cc=us&lang=en&