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  Access to Students and Parents and Levels of Preparedness of Educators during the COVID-19 Emergency Transition to e-Learning

  Rasha Elhage

  In response to the COVID-19 school closures and the emergency transition to eLearning, faculty at Chicago State University organized a series of nine professional development webinars centered on the subject of eLearning. 3,428 educators attended the nine webinars. This study consisted of an exploratory research reporting on the participants’ answers to the polls questions administered during the webinars, in an attempt to identify levels of preparedness of educators during the COVID-19 Emergency Transition to eLearning and their access to students and parents. The study revealed low levels of preparedness in relation to teaching remotely in general, teaching students with disabilities in particular, and using technology tools. The study also revealed challenges of educators reaching students and parents. The study concludes with a number of recommendations to address these identified challenges.

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  A Guide to High-Stakes Standardized Testing in the United States: A Historical Overview

  Amy Kelly

  High-stakes standardized testing has a long history of exclusion, oppression, power, and control with deep roots in the landscape of American education. In this text, the events and circumstances that have forged the way of high-stakes testing are presented in a straightforward and accessible manner.
  This history is essential to understanding our current realities of testing in the United States especially as they relate to marginalization and control of certain populations. Furthermore, a historical perspective provides a lens to consider high-stakes standardized testing critically; to unpack the purposes, benefits, and damages of this practice.

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  An Introduction to Critical Thinking & Research Writing in the Social Sciences

  Alli Cipra

  This book is an easy-to-read workbook that helps undergraduate students learn the basics about understanding research articles and arguments and begin the process themselves. This book uses critical thinking skill building to form the basis of successfully writing a literature review.

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  ASHA Minority Student Leadership Program: A Student’s Perspective

  Angela M. Riccelli and Danielle Osmelak

  Xochitl Regalado, a graduate student at Governors State University (GSU), was selected to participate in ASHA’s Minority Student Leadership Program (MSLP), class of 2023. Xochitl was one of forty undergraduate seniors, graduate, and clinical doctoral students who was selected out of a competitive national selection process to participate in the MSLP. Per ASHA, the MSLP is a leadership development program for communication sciences and disorders (CSD) program students in order to recruit and retain racial/ethnic minorities that have been historically underrepresented in the field of CSD and to provide educational programming to build and enhance leaderships skills, while learning about how ASHA works.

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  Attitude Theory and Job Attitudes. On the Value of Intersections Between Basic and Applied Psychology

  Stephen Wagner

  As the understanding of job attitudes has evolved, there has been increasing recognition of the value of grounding its research in social psychological concepts and theories of attitudes. This chapter examines the intersections between research of job attitudes and central features of attitudes, including structure, strength, and function. Moreover, investigations of both explicit and implicit measures of attitudes are reviewed with focus on their application of work-related contexts. Consideration of these aspects of attitudes has altered the manner in which job attitudes, such as job satisfaction, are defined and has provided useful explanations for how information processing and behavior in work contexts is influenced by work-related attitudes. In turn, research on job attitudes has contributed to the basic understanding of attitudes by providing contexts rich in meaning and multi-level in nature and developing advancements in research methods for attitudes. By focusing on the commonalities in research on attitudes in social and industrial-organizational psychology, the underlying aim of this chapter is to motivate further research that connects these domains of study.

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  Book Review: Modernism, Empire, World Literature by Joe Cleary

  Liam Lanigan

  Book Review: Modernism, Empire, World Literature by Joe Cleary

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  Clinical Scholarship and Evidence-based Practice

  Catherine Tymkow

  The Doctor of Nursing Practice Essentials: A New Model for Advanced Practice Nursing, continues to be the only complete textbook for all eight American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. With DNP programs now found in every state, climbing from 25 to over 300 in the past 13 years, having a textbook dedicated to the DNP Essentials is imperative as faculty and students will use it as a template for future and existing programs. The newly revised Fourth Edition features updates and revisions to all chapters and expands on information relating to the current and future changes in today’s complex healthcare environment. The text features the addition of new DNP project resources, with supplemental case studies highlighting DNP projects and the impact of this work.

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  Corporate Risk-management [Корпоративный риск-менеджмент]

  Natalia Ermasova and S. Ermasova

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  Cross-cultural Issues in Business Ethics: A Review and Research Agenda

  Natalia Ermasova

  This paper reports a systematic literature review of articles published over the past 35 years on cross-cultural issues in business ethics. A screening process resulted in a final sample of 306 papers in 26 double-blind reviewed journals with an impact factor score of at least 1.0 in the field. This study uses citation analysis, systematic literature review method, and knowledge-stock analysis. This study highlights the findings from prior studies, compares and contrasts salient characteristics and provides directions for future research. This study identifies important gaps between the literature and the challenges of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. These gaps include lack of conceptual articles, multi-countries level analysis, and deficiency of comparison analysis between developed and developing countries. This article proposes to apply virtue ethics and model of cultural sense-making as some analytical frameworks in the field of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. This review of the literature could provide managers with a longitudinal perspective on how the institutional environment and national culture affect business ethics perception of employees. This paper contributes to the cross-cultural literature on ethical attitudes, helps us better understand cross-cultural differences in business ethics, and provides directions for further research.

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  Culture of Prevention and Early Disease Detection of Cancer in Russia

  Natalia Rekhter and Natalia Ermasova

  This study analyzed the early cancer detection in Russia. Using data from the Russian Ministry of Health from 2005 to 2016, this study aims to evaluate relationships between the number of patients diagnosed with I-II stage of cancer with the number of preventive visits, screening tests, and expedited access to specialists. The results of de-trending time-series model indicate that the number of specialists in outpatient facilities and the number of patients' preventive visits positively affect the number of patients diagnosed with cancer for the first time and the number of patients diagnosed with I-II degree cancer. The Russian Federation's experience suggests that early detection of cancer can be achieved by increasing the number of early cancer screening facilities, providing free screening, and moderating geographical and time constraints that prevent people of different geographic and socio-economic backgrounds from being screened. Another strategy includes dispelling myths associated with cancer screening, fostering outreach and patient education, and assuring availability and timely referrals to specialists and laboratory work.

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  Diana's Story: From Incarceration to Social Justice Advocacy

  Vickii Coffey

  This text covers the full spectrum of social work - from direct practice with children and adults to practice in youth homes, jails, neighborhoods, and organizations, as well as Indigenous and international contexts - to provide insight into social justice-oriented social work at every level and context of social work practice. Over 25 contributors provide real-life examples of a social justice approach to social work, allowing students to hear directly from practitioners and clients - not simulated cases.

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  Direct to Consumer Genetic Testing: Pandora's Box? Case 13.3 Alzheimer's Disease: An Ethical Dilemma

  Catherine Tymkow and Shirley Comer

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  Dissonance, Detachment and College Student Identity: An Exploration of Identity Gaps in the Emerging Majority Student

  Jayne Goode, Jelena Radovic-Fanta, and Alli Cipra

  As emerging majority students learn to adjust to academic life, they frequently confront feelings of inadequacy and face changing identities in relation to their home communities. These students often feel underprepared, experience both isolation and marginalization, and have difficulty navigating academic culture and expectations. Drawing on a qualitative data collected from 49 students using focus groups and open-ended interviews, this article uses the Communication Theory of Identity to examine disassociation and distancing in the form of personal-relational identity gaps that influence the emergence of the self-categorization of a college student identity among emerging majority students.

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  Effects of Thinning on Soil Nutrients in a Chronosequence of Chinese Fir in Subtropical China

  Jiping Li, Xiaoyu Cao, Yiru Wang, Wende Yan, Yuanying Peng, and Xiaoyong Chen

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  Finding Mental Freedom Within Pandemic Constraints: An Interview with Kim Olver

  Patricia A. Robey

  Kimberly Olver is a senior faculty member and executive director of William Glasser International. She is known internationally for her work as a counselor, coach, author, and trainer. Kim's background includes 22 years in social work, a certification in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University, and she is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In this interview, Kim explains how she integrates her professional experience with her knowledge of Glasser's ideas and offers strategies that could be immediately useful for individuals struggling to manage some of the current challenges related to the pandemic

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  Good Mothers and Good Workers: Discipline and Care in Chile's Grape-Packing Plants

  Jelena Radovic-Fanta

  This article explores the affective dimensions of precarious labor in Chile's grape-export industry in the centrally located Aconcagua Valley. Although the country's billion-dollar fruit industry is marked as an example of successful development, female seasonal workers (called temporeras) navigate hazardous working conditions and noncompliance of labor laws. Contrary to common assumptions of workers' alienation from labor, their personal identities are deeply entangled in their workplace. This article examines how management invokes temporeras' identities as mothers and care providers as a disciplinary mechanism. At the same time, workers articulate motherhood as a form of endurance. Although efforts by the Chilean government attempt to regulate the fruit-export sector, there is a dismal lack of enforcement of recent labor laws. As a result, temporeras bear the burden of safeguarding their physical well-being. I conclude by suggesting that social relations and the moral textures of everyday interactions provide the possibilities through which workers endure precarious labor.

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  Hostess, Ghost, and Apocalypse: Reconsidering Alice Munro’s “Carried Away”

  Josh Sopiarz

  The global COVID-19 pandemic affords contemporary readers a unique perspective for reinterpreting the relationship between Jack and Louisa in Alice Munro’s short story “Carried Away.” This alternate reading prioritizes Louisa’s difficult experiences with illness and rejection and reconsiders Jack as an abusive interlocutor who takes advantage of Louisa’s status as town librarian and the era’s social mores, its calamities, and the fog of war to exert control over a woman he desires, but could otherwise not be with. In this reading, Jack uses Louisa’s professional ethos of availability and her public workspace to reorder an otherwise heterotopic space and establish a system whereby he can anonymously surveil her and keep her under his control. Louisa’s pandemic-associated anxieties are acutely present for contemporary readers who are experiencing the most impactful global sickness of the past 100 years. This reading positions Jack as an intentional bad actor rather than as a man simply “carried away.”.

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  "I Have Never been Betrothed to Anyone, No Dowry was Paid on Me": Controversies over Bridewealth, Female Consent and Marriage in Colonial Native Courts, Southwest Nigeria

  Morenikenji Asaaju

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  Legacy Effect of Soviet Budgeting System on Public Capital Budgeting: Cases of Russia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan

  Natalia Ermasova, Tatyana Guzman, and Erica Ceka

  This comparative study uses the legacy effect of the Soviet past to explain the changes in public capital budgeting and management in the three former Soviet republics: Russian Federation, Moldova, and Uzbekistan. The main argument is that the legacy of the Soviet planning and budgeting traditions in forms of the centralized control, inadequate capital planning, and strong informal powers of political elites are embedded in the capital budgeting and management practices of the case countries. The analysis reveals that regardless of the differences in the countries’ socio-economic characteristics, political regimes, and institutional developments, the budgetary outcomes are consistently shaped by the public management principles rooted in the Soviet budgeting traditions. The study findings are significant to the field of International Public Administration, Post-Soviet Affairs, and Public Finance because they disclose the legacy effect of the Soviet practices on the implementation of public administration reforms in post-communist countries. By exploring areas in international public capital budgeting and investments, this study also attempts to address the gap identified by public finance scholars.

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  Maintaining Effective Leadership During Times of Environmental Stress

  Kent B. Provost and Patricia A. Robey

  Applying the concepts of lead management in a world that has traditionally experienced the external control of boss management is particularly challenging in times of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, the pandemic has meant a challenge to getting needs met, both inside and outside the workplace. At the most primal level, survival needs are being threatened, and the quality of our relationships can be influenced as we must find ways to work together from a distance. In the workplace, organizational survival also must be addressed. Deadlines remain in place and workers are expected to function effectively on their jobs despite other challenges they may be facing as a result of the pandemic. In this article, the authors integrate Glasser’s (1998) model of lead management with other management strategies that can be effective in addressing workplace concerns. The article concludes with a discussion in which Provost shares his experience in developing his own management style and explains how he focuses on how to balance the needs of individuals and groups within the constraints of the system, particularly in the time of stress within a pandemic.

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  Organizational Stress in Russia

  Natalia Ermasova, Natalia Rekhter, and Sergey Ermasov

  Organizational stress has become a common workforce issue in today’s workplace. This type of stress can lead to changes in the employee’s psychology and physiology, which has a great impact on their performance and productivity. This chapter examines the organizational stress in Russia. Russian history, culture, and leadership are presented along with practical implications and suggestions for managers, practitioners, and future studies.

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  Promoting "Scholarship, Research, Professionalism and Excellence in the Mental Health Field." An Interview with Lauren Joyce, Chair of the Student Leadership

  Patricia A. Robey

  Lauren Joyce is a member of the Glasser Institute for Choice Theory - US (GIFCT-US) and is founder and chair of the GIFCT student leadership committee. The mission of the Student Leadership Committee is "to build leadership across a prestigious student organization through the lens of Choice Theory/Reality Therapy and to promote scholarship, research, professionalism, and excellence in the mental health field". In this interview, Joyce shares how she was introduced to Glasser's ideas and what her plans are to engage students in learning, understanding and applying Glasser's ideas.

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  Queer Praxis: The Daily Labors of Love and Agitation

  Dustin Bradley Goltz and Jason Zingsheim

  Queer praxis the working, doing, living and every process of queering. It is the work of hope, anticipation, resistance, and imagining outside the violences of social categorizations- of longing sideways and gesturing other-wards and otherwise. In short, it is the work of worldmaking. Thus, it is a creative, collaborative, and ever-shifting project for a multiracial, multigendered, multi-everything social imaginary. It is about interrogating the legacies of privilege around our relations, our bodies, and our communities in order to disrupt and challenge the exclusions, limitations, and violences of our patterned ways of being, knowing, and doing. Queer praxis is about a constant and arduous process to be better in relation and connection to a range of differences too often devalued. It is about interrogating the places we may have had voice, position, comfort, and access. It is about undoing, redoing, and continually learning to make room, surrender space, redirect our gaze, and halt our defensive dances. Queer praxis hopes and labors for more humane, more durable ways to be and exist in our world across difference. It is work, It is process. And, it is ever-fallible.
  
  This chapter interrogates the personal and relational work of queering in daily life- as labor, loving, agitation, and praxis. Thus, we frame queerness as an action, an ethic, and a relational project owned by no one and differently accessible to everyone. Specifically, we examine faulty tensions in this work- competing dimensions of queer work that discursively create divisions and oppositions that paradoxically mobile and impede, both somewhat literally and metaphorically akin to the Cartesian mind/body split, where a wholly enmeshed and inter-reliant system is severed into a false binary. Queer praxis sits at the intersections and reintegrations of the lived and the theoretical, the individual and the relational, and the global and immediately situated. This chapter is a meditation upon these interconnections and false binaries that shape, foster, and impede queer praxis. First this chapter challenges the tendency for queerness to linger in the abstract and theoretical. This, in turn, demands the necessity to position queerness in the material, lived, embodied, and relational- thus the performative- dimensions of queer lives and practices. Second, the chapter explores resistance to minoritizing patterns that reduce the work of queer worldmaking to either gender queer or categorical queer postures. Resisting normalizing tendencies to cast queerness in terms that privilege white, cis, masculine frameworks, this resistance calls for constant reflection, decentering, and accountability for who and how queerness is being framed, what stories are being centralized, and to whose benefit and exclusion. Third, the chapter looks to queer praxis as a daily and moment-by-moment resistance, an opportunity and radically contextualized action, rather than an identity or fixed position. These resistances are elaborated through a series of mundane questions, statements, and encounters, exploring both the strategies and risks of queering (even as these shift and change).

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  Reform Under Turbulence: Leveraging Accreditation to Improve Principal Preparation Programs

  David L. Conrad and Jeannine Klomes

  One principal preparation program in Illinois experienced severe turbulence following the statewide redesign of all principal preparation programs. Myriad problems contributed to a cascading turbulence that negatively skewed stakeholder perceptions of program quality. In addition, the program failed two national accreditation submissions and faced the looming deadline for a final submission attempt. Using the conceptual framework of Turbulence Theory, this self-study illuminates how the program leveraged the accreditation process to quickly lower the turbulence level. Accreditation brought focused reflection and improvement, resulting in program stability, improved program outcomes, and full national recognition. Principal preparation programs are encouraged to use accreditation for collaborative reflection, study, and improvement.

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  School Counselor Roles for Student Success During a Pandemic

  Robert Pincus, Denise Ebersol, Judith Justice, TeShaunda Hannor-Walker, and Leonis Wright

  Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, school counselors continue to provide necessary mental health services, support, prevention, intervention, and referrals, as needed, to the increasing number of PK-12 students with mental health needs. School counselors are essential mental health professionals who provide developmentally appropriate, comprehensive, and evidence-based support for all students across education settings including in-person, blended, and virtual formats. Through their ongoing leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and systemic change, school counselors strive to ensure that their roles and responsibilities include supporting the mental health needs of students especially now that those needs have been exacerbated by COVID-19. Adverse childhood experiences during the pandemic have resulted in a need for additional early identification, prevention, and interventions to address the increasing mental health needs of students. Recommendations for more effectively addressing the mental health and social emotional needs of students are included as are suggestions for increasing advocacy for school counselor roles and responsibilities, evidence-based assessments, and the utilization of technology. Finally, the authors conclude by affirming that school counselors should be viewed as essential mental health professionals who are prepared to support the social emotional and behavioral health of students now more than ever when students need support overcoming COVID-19 related obstacles, stressors and trauma-inducing situations

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  Schulberg vs. Robson: Adapting The Harder They Fall

  Josh Sopiarz

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  Social Work Students' Perceptions of Their Writing Skills Pre/Post Writing Intervention

  Shonda Lawrence and Ivis Renee King

  This cross-sectional study assessed undergraduate social work students’ perception of their writing skills, individualized writing intervention plans, and writing workshop pilot program designed to improve students’ academic and professional writing. The present study used convenience sampling to administer a prewriting assessment and implemented individualized writing interventions to participants during Fall, 2018. Participants were junior social work majors enrolled in two sections of the Writing for Social Work course in a CSWE accredited BSW program. We used Qualtrics to administer the pre- and post-writing workshop interventions. Thirty-nine Participants completed a pre-test and post-test measuring their perceptions of their writing skills before and after participating in writing workshops. Mixed-methods provided quantitative and qualitative analysis of participants’ perceptions. Pretest results indicated that 85% of the participants were confident in their writing abilities and would earn at least an 85% in the course. Subsequently, post-test results indicated a drastic 47% decrease in students' assessment of their writing skills. Qualitative analysis indicated participants valued specific writing interventions. The theme analysis provides information that may assist in developing writing interventions for undergraduate social work students. The significance of the present study demonstrates that undergraduate students recognize their writing strengths and weakness, and prefer scaffolding assignments when focusing on academic writing in social work.

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  The Relationship Between Culture and Tax Evasion Across Countries: Cases of the USA and Germany

  Natalia Ermasova, Christian Haumann, and Laura Burke

  The purpose of this study is to compare the national culture for the Germany and the United States (US) and to analyze how the national culture affects the perception of tax evasion. This research analyzes the different types of tax evasions, the tax audit, and criminal investigation approaches in the USA and Germany. This study identifies important gaps in academic and practical understanding of tax evasion, and provides suggestions for revision of tax audit in the USA and Germany. The article provides a greater understanding of the impact of national culture on tax evasion and offers policy recommendations for the improvement of tax audit.

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  The Scholarly Communications Cookbook

  Cari Didion

  In response to new forms of research output and mandates for open data and science, scholarly communications and related work on research data management, copyright, and open access have become important services for academic librarians—including instruction and liaison librarians—to offer faculty and students. Academic libraries have become increasingly vital throughout the entire research process.

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  Utilizing Reality Therapy and Choice Theory in School Counseling to Promote Student Success and Engagement: A Role Play Demonstration and Discussion

  Ahmet Can and Patricia A. Robey

  The guidance/curriculum component of the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) National Model is designed to promote mental health and to enhance academic achievement. The role of school counselors is to deliver short-term individual and group services. The large ratio of students to school counselors necessitates the use of approaches that can provide effective interventions for students within a short period of time. The Reality Therapy process helps students move from a problem focus to choosing more effective behaviors. This article provides a brief example and discussion of how Reality Therapy and Choice Theory can be successfully employed in a school counseling scenario.

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  zSpace Open Lab: Using AR/VR Software to Learn Anatomy and More

  Cari Didion and Betsy Sterner

  Packed with real-world ideas drawn from an assortment of different libraries, alongside best practices for hygiene, implementation, and marketing, this resource will assist libraries in offering these exciting forms of programming to their patrons.

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  Book Review: Sport and the Shaping of Civic Identity in Chicago by Gerald R. Gems

  Josh Sopiarz

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  Robotic Assisted Surgery for Women Undergoing Gynecological Surgery

  Nancy J. MacMullen, Laura A. Dulski, and Lisa Mendelson

  One of the current alternatives to open gynecological surgery and laparoscopy is Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery (RALS), which is done utilizing Robotic Assisted Surgical Devices (RASD). These alternatives present another dimension to the cascade of decisions women make regarding surgery and recovery. Nurses are often called upon to help the women in the decision making process by providing education and current information. This requires requisite knowledge on the part of the nurses and collaboration with all members of the health care team. The purpose of this paper is to fully explain the trending new technology of robotic assisted gynecologic surgery, its advantages and disadvantages, and its implications for nursing through examining the available research and clinical literature on the topic.

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  Use of Employee Assistance Programs to Manage Stress in Policing: The Effects of Perceived Adequacy of Assistance and Opportunity for Promotion

  Erica Ceka and Natalia Ermasova

  This study investigates the relationship between police officer's willingness to use Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and their perceptions about stress and help-seeking in policing, considering the effect of gender and ethnicity in this association. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 431 Illinois police officers is used to measure officer's perceptions about help-seeking and organizational stressors. The conditional PROCESS modeling (Hayes, 2012) was employed to analyze the hypothesized mediation model. The ANOVA test was used to determent the effect of gender and ethnicity on organizational stressors in policing. Findings Findings suggest police officer's willingness to use EAP is shaped by the perceived negative effect of stress on promotion through the mediator, confidence in their departments to receive adequate assistance, with noticeable gender and ethnic differences. The analysis demonstrated that female police officers feel stressed because of unfair promotional opportunities and poor relationships with supervisors. Female police officers are less willing to apply for the EAP services to mitigate stress than male police officers. The findings reveal that ethnicity is a significant predictor of the police officers' willingness to apply for EAP services to mitigate stress. Research limitations/implications The current study is limited by its focus on only one police department located in the Illinois, USA. This may limit the generalizability of the results. The cross-sectional nature of data used to draw conclusions and variation in departments' characteristics and compositions could influence results. Practical implications The research has practical implications for those who are interested to understand organizational stressors and perceptions on help-seeking in policing. This study provides suggestions for police administrators to make effort in creating more sensitive working environment to reduce stressors for female police officers and representatives of ethnic groups. Originality/value The research unveils the significance of officer's confidence in their departments in modifying their willingness to use EAP, revealing the effect of organizational stressors on confidence. The study adds empirical evidence to existing research on impact of gender and ethnicity on their willingness to use EAP.

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  A Bibliometric Analysis of Folate Receptor Research

  Cari Didion and Walter A. Henne

  Background The objective of this study was to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the entire field of folate receptor research. Folate receptor is expressed on a wide variety of cancers and certain immune cells. Methods A Web of Science search was performed on folate receptor or folate binding protein (1969-to June 28, 2019). The following information was examined: publications per year, overall citations, top 10 authors, top 10 institutions, top 10 cited articles, top 10 countries, co-author collaborations and key areas of research. Results In total, 3248 documents for folate receptor or folate binding protein were retrieved for the study years outlined in the methods section search query. The range was 1 per year in 1969 to 264 for the last full year studied (2018). A total of 123,720 citations for the 3248 documents retrieved represented a mean citation rate per article of 38.09 and range of 1667 citations (range 0 to 1667). Researchers in 71 countries authored publications analyzed in this study. The US was the leader in publications and had the highest ranking institution. The top 10 articles have been cited 7270 times during the time frame of this study. The top cited article had an average citation rate of 110 citations per year. Network maps revealed considerable co-authorship among several of the top 10 authors. Conclusion Our study presents several important insights into the features and impact of folate receptor research. To our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric analysis of folate receptor.

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  Fluctuations in Environmental Pollutants and Air Quality During the Lockdown in the USA and China: Two Sides of COVID-19

  Awais Shakoor, Xiaoyong Chen, Taimoor Hassan Farooq, Umer Shahzad, Fatima Ashraf, Abdul Rehmen, Najam e. Sahar, and Wende Yan

  The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Due to the global threat, many countries impose immediate lockdown. The impact of lockdown on the environmental pollutants and climate indicators gained considerable attention in the literature. This study aims to describe the variations in the environmental pollutants (CO, NO2, SO2, PM2.5 and PM10) with and without the lockdown period in the majorly hit states and provinces of the USA and China, respectively. Data during the first quarter year of 2019 and 2020 (lockdown period) was used in this study. Moreover, the effect of these pollutants on the pandemic spread was also studied. The results illustrated that the overall concentrations of CO, NO2 and PM2.5 were decreased by 19.28%, 36.7% and 1.10%, respectively, while PM10 and SO2 were increased by 27.81% and 3.81% respectively in five selected states of the USA during the lockdown period. However, in the case of chosen provinces of China, overall, the concentrations of all selected pollutants, i.e., CO, NO2, SO2, PM2.5 and PM10, were reduced by 26.53%, 38.98%, 18.36%, 17.78% and 37.85%, respectively. The COVID-19 reported cases and deaths were significantly correlated with NO2, PM2.5 and PM10 in both China and the USA. The findings of this study concluded that the limited anthropogenic activities in the lockdown situation due to this novel pandemic disease result in a significant improvement of air quality by reducing the concentrations of environmental pollutants. As the trend goes on, the reduction of most pollutant concentrations is expected as long as partial or complete lockdown goes on.

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  Reparative Environmental Justice in a World of Wounds

  Ben Almassi

  “One of the penalties of an ecological education,” wrote Aldo Leopold,” is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.” Ideally we would not do each other or the rest of our biotic community wrong, but we have, and still do. We need non-ideal environmental ethics for living together in this world of wounds. Ethics does not stop after wrongdoing: the aftermath of environmental harm demands ethical action. How we work to repair healthy relationality matters as much as the wounds themselves. Reparative Environmental Justice in a World of Wounds discusses the possibilities and practices of reparative environmental justice. It builds on theories of justice in political philosophy, feminist ethics, indigenous studies, and criminal justice as extended to non-ideal environmental ethics. How can reparative environmental justice provide a useful perspective on ecological restoration, human-animal entanglements, climate change, environmental racism, and traditional ecological knowledge? How can it promote just practices and policies while enabling effective opposition to business as usual? And how does reparative justice look different when we go beyond narrowly construed human conflicts to include relational repair with ecosystems, other animals, and future generations?

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  Rikers Island: The Failure of a “Model” Penitentiary

  Jayne Mooney and Jarrod Shanahan

  New York City’s Rikers jail complex is gripped by a crisis of legitimacy. Following a series of investigations, it has been denounced as a major symbol of criminal justice dysfunction, with calls for its closure and replacement with new smaller “state of the art” jails. Yet, when it opened, Rikers was hailed as a “model” facility, at the cutting edge of prison design and prisoner rehabilitation. To elucidate the present situation, we provide a focus on the under-explored history of New York City’s penal institutions

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  A Comparative Study of the Whistleblowing Activities: Empirical Evidence from China, Taiwan, Russia, and the United States

  Dina Clark, Teng-Shih Wang, Mike Shapeero, A. Blair Staley, Natalia Ermasova, and Mark Usry

  This chapter explores cultural factors that influence the propensity to blow-the-whistle in China, Taiwan, Russia, and the United States. This study found that culture and traditions have strong impact on the propensity of whistleblowing. This research analyzed 1,541 working adults in China, Taiwan, Russia, and the United States. Statistical analysis of self-developed questionnaires reveal that: (a) Americans have a greater disposition to engage in whistleblowing than Chinese, Taiwanese, and Russian; (b) Americans have a smallest level of fear of retaliation to whistleblowers than Chinese, Taiwanese, and Russian; (c) the intention of Chinese, American, and Taiwanese to whistle-blow is influenced to a greater degree by position of wrongdoers than that of Russian; and (d) guanxi (personal relationships or networks) has a greater effect on the propensity to whistle-blow for Chinese and Taiwanese than for Americans and Russian. Auditors and managers need to be aware that employees in different cultures respond differently to factors that influence whistleblowing activities. The results of this study will help auditors and managers better assess risk and the effectiveness of internal controls and ethical standards.

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  Consolidating Scholarship on Irish Modernism

  Liam Lanigan

  Book Review: A History of Irish Modernism by Gregory Castle and Patrick Bixby

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  Evaluation of Biomass and Carbon Stocks in Three Pine Forest Types in Karst Area of Southwestern China

  Wende Yan, Wangcai Wang, Yuanying Peng, and Xiaoyong Chen

  Afforestation has been considered as a possible solution to mitigate climate change because forests sequestrate atmospheric CO2 and convert it into their woody biomass and soils. In the present study, stand biomass and carbon (C) stock were investigated in three pine forest types: Masson pine natural forests (MPNF), Masson pine plantation forests (MPPF), and Slash pine plantation forests (SPPF) in the karst area of southwestern China. The results showed the total forest ecosystem C, total stand C, and total overstory C storage was significantly higher in SPPF stands than in MPNF and MPPF stands. The overall total C stocks in SPPF stands (165.14 Mg C ha−1) was higher than that of MPNF (115.54 Mg C ha−1) and MPPF (141.77 Mg C ha−1). The majority of C storage was in soil pool of three types of forest stands, accounting for 54.2%, 49.6% and 46.7% in MPNF, MPPF, and SPPF stands, respectively. The variation in C stock in the different forest types was due to differences in tree species feature and stand densities. The results suggest the plantation forests had higher C stocks than native forests at the early growth stage in this specific karst area of northwestern China.

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  Making a Case for Culturally Humble Leadership Practices through a Culturally Responsive Leadership Framework

  Linda Campos-Moreira, Marlon Cummings, Giesela Grumbach, Henry E. Williams, and Kylon Hooks

  Fluctuations in cultural and racial demographics of communities require leaders to consider the changing needs and expectations of stakeholders. Combining systems theory, theories of organizational change, and the literature on cultural humility and competence, this paper proposes a culturally responsive leadership framework (CRLF) for public sector and human service leaders to improve organizational outcomes equitably. Central to this framework are three elements: considering the socio-cultural aspects of an organization; creating inclusive environments to help facilitate distributed decision making; and a leader’s willingness to learn from all people to mitigate gaps in service delivery that are inadequate and inequitable.

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  Recommending Hearing Assessment for Individuals With Dementia: A Survey of Medical Professionals

  Naomi Gurevich, Heidi Ramrattan, Mary Kubalanza, Danielle Osmelak, and Jenna Boese

  Older adults are at risk for age-related hearing loss and for dementia. Hearing loss increases the risk of dementia and accelerates cognitive decline. There is no cure for dementia, but hearing loss is treatable. Medical professionals who work with individuals with dementia are surveyed to explore whether recommendations made to individuals diagnosed with dementia include hearing assessments.

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  Interprofessional Education Between Speech Pathology and Nursing Programs: A Collaborative e-platform Curriculum Approach

  Naomi Gurevich, Danielle Osmelak, and Cindy Farris

  Interprofessional practice between nurses and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in healthcare is essential, and it is a priority for both professions. Interprofessional education (IPE) is warranted to move forward professional partnership, and would be best served through incorporation into academic training for both disciplines. A combined synchronous and asynchronous e-platform collaborative approach that minimizes encroachment on already overcrowded clinical curricula is described. Implementation is outlined for use within a graduate-level dysphagia course for SLP students and a medical/surgical undergraduate course for nursing students. This model is flexible and lends itself for use in other courses within clinical disciplines.

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  Photosynthesis Performance and Antioxidative Enzymes Response of Melia azedarach and Ligustrum lucidum Plants Under Pb–Zn Mine Tailing Conditions

  XinHao Huang, Fan Zhu, ZhiXiang He, Xiaoyong Chen, GuangJun Wang, MengShan Liu, and HongYang Xu

  Lead–zinc (Pb–Zn) mine tailings pose a great risk to the natural environment and human health because of their high toxicity. In this study, the responses of photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, and antioxidative enzyme of Melia azedarach and Ligustrum lucidum in the soil contaminated by Pb–Zn mine tailings were investigated. Results showed that Pb–Zn mine tailings significantly reduced net photosynthetic rates and leaf photosynthetic pigment content of both trees, and the reduction of net photosynthetic rates was mainly caused by their biochemical limitation (BL). The chlorophyll fluorescence parameters from Pb–Zn tailing stressed leaves indicated that Pb–Zn tailings affected PSII activity which was evident from the change values of energy fluxes per reaction center (RC): probability that an electron moves further than QA− (ETO/TRO), maximum quantum yield for primary photochemistry (TRO/ABS), the density of PSII RC per excited cross-section (RC/CSO), the absorption of antenna chlorophylls per PSII RC (ABS/RC), and the turnover number of QA reduction events (N). Pb–Zn mine tailings also affected the oxidation and reduction of PSI, which resulted in a great increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents and then stimulated the rate of lipid peroxidation. Both trees exhibited certain antioxidative defense mechanisms as elevated superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities, then declined under high level of Pb–Zn tailing treatment. Comparatively, L. lucidum showed less extent effect on photosynthesis and higher antioxidative enzyme activities than M. azedarach; thus L. lucidum was more tolerant than M. azedarach at least under the described Pb–Zn tailing treatment. These results indicate that the effect of Pb–Zn mine tailings on photosynthesis performance mainly related to imbalance of the PSII activity and PSI redox state in both trees. We propose that M. azedarach and L. lucidum could relieve the oxidative stress for phytoremediation under the appropriate Pb–Zn mine tailing content.

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  Rikers Island Jail Complex: The Use of Social History to Inform Current Debates on Incarceration in New York City

  Jayne Moody and Jarrod Shanahan

  Rikers Island is the main jail complex for New York City. At its height in the 1990s, 22,000 people were incarcerated there. Having attracted national and international condemnation, it is regarded as one of the city's biggest failures: a magnet for scandal and controversy. In 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged that the complex would be closed within ten years with smaller ‘state of the art’ jails built to replace it. Our research explores the social history of Rikers from its origins to the present day, in a bid to provide a more nuanced understanding of the island and incarceration in New York City, and to engage with ongoing debate on the future of penal reform.

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  Both Artificial Root Exudates and Natural Koelreuteria paniculata Exudates Modify Bacterial Community Structure and Enhance Phenanthrene Biodegradation in Contaminated Soils

  Jiaolong Wang, Xiaoyong Chen, Wende Yan, Chen Ning, and Timothy Gsell

  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants that represent a serious threat to the health of humans and ecosystems. The effects of plant root and artificial root exudates (ARE) on the biodegradation of phenanthrene (PHE) and their impact on soil bacterial community structure was the focus of this work using four treatments for 180 days. Treatments included; control treatment (CK), low concentration of ARE (AREL), high concentration of ARE (AREH), and planting Koelreuteria paniculata saplings (KOE). The diversity and composition of soil bacterial community were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that KOE treatments had the most significant effect on the biodegradation of PHE compared to controls. ARE treatments had the similar effects on the biodegradation of PHE in soil with high efficiency in AREH than AREL. Both KOE and ARE treatments reduced diversity of bacterial community but increased the abundance of PAHs degrading bacterial populations within representative phyla, including Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. During the study, the total bacterial OTUs showed the number of unique genus types initially increased, then lowered in the later stages of the incubation process. Specific bacterial populations enriched by the treatments and supported by the exudates seemed to determine the biodegradation of PHE and not the overall bacterial diversity.

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  Novel Magnetic Fe3O4/g-C3N4/MoO3 Nanocomposites with Highly Enhanced Photocatalytic Activities: Visible-light-driven Degradation of Tetracycline from Aqueous Environment

  Tianpei He, Yaohui Wu, Chenyang Jiang, Yonghong Wang, Gaoqiang Liu, Zhenggang Xu, Ge Ning, Xiaoyong Chen, and Yunlin Zhao

  In the present work, a series of magnetically separable Fe3O4/g-C3N4/MoO3 nanocomposite catalysts were prepared. The as-prepared catalysts were characterized by XRD, EDX, TEM, FT-IR, UV-Vis DRS, TGA, PL, BET and VSM. The photocatalytic activity of photocatalytic materials was evaluated by catalytic degradation of tetracycline solution under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, the influences of weight percent of MoO3 and scavengers of the reactive species on the degradation activity were investigated. The results showed that the Fe3O4/g-C3N4/MoO3 (30%) nanocomposites exhibited highest removal ability for TC, 94% TC was removed during the treatment. Photocatalytic activity of Fe3O4/g-C3N4/MoO3 (30%) was about 6.9, 5, and 19.9-fold higher than those of the MoO3, g-C3N4, and Fe3O4/g-C3N4 samples, respectively. The excellent photocatalytic performance was mainly attributed to the Z-scheme structure formed between MoO3 and g-C3N4, which enhanced the efficient separation of the electron-hole and sufficient utilization charge carriers for generating active radials. The highly improved activity was also partially beneficial from the increase in adsorption of the photocatalysts in visible range due to the combinaion of Fe3O4. Superoxide ions (O2−) was the primary reactive species for the photocatalytic degradation of TC, as degradation rate were decreased to 6% in solution containing benzoquinone (BQ). Data indicate that the novel Fe3O4/g-C3N4/MoO3 was favorable for the degradation of high concentrations of tetracycline in water.

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  Response of Soil Respiration to Nitrogen Addition in Two Subtropical Forest Types

  Wende Yan, Xiaoyong Chen, Yuanying Peng, Fan Zhu, Wei Zhen, and Xuyuan Zhang

  Anthropogenic activities have increased nitrogen (N) deposition in terrestrial ecosystems, which directly and indirectly affects soil biogeochemical processes, including soil respiration. However, the effects of the increases in N availability on soil respiration are not fully understood. In this study, soil respiration was measured using an infrared gas analyzer system with soil chambers under four N treatments (0, 5, 15, and 30 g N m–2 year–1 as control, low N (LN), moderate N (MN), and high N (HN), respectively) in camphor tree and slash pine forests in subtropical China. Results showed that soil respiration rates decreased by 37% in the camphor tree forest and 27% in the slash pine forest on average on an annual base, respectively, in the N-fertilized treatments when compared with the control. No significant differences were found in the soil respiration rate among the LN, MN, and HN treatments in both forest types as these fertilized plots reached an adequate N content zone. In addition, soil microbial biomass carbon (C) content and fine root biomass declined in N-treated plots compared to the control. Our results indicated that elevated N deposition might alter the tree growth pattern, C partitioning, and microbial activity, which further affect soil C sequestration by reducing soil respiration in subtropical forests of China.

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  Russian Students' Use of Social Network Sites for Selecting University Abroad

  Natalia Rekhter and Donald Hossler

  This qualitative case study explores how undergraduate students from the Russian State University for Humanities used social network sites (SNSs) for their decision to transfer to higher education institutions (HEIs) abroad. Participants reported using specific SNS features, such as likes and shares, for measuring HEI rating and indicated that ability to use native language was among motivating factors for membership in a specific SNS. The reported benefits of SNSs included instantaneous connections with likeminded individuals, realistic visualization of campuses, and unbiased and multidimensional views presented by SNS members. One of the emerging findings was that participants with no connections abroad relied exclusively on SNSs for their college choice. Participants with connections abroad relied on the advice of international contacts, and SNSs played a complementary role. HEI professionals may consider hiring and training international students to maintain consistent and meaningful content on different SNS platforms, particularly in their countries’ specific SNSs.

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  A Reflection on Integrating Ethics Within Communication Sciences and Disorders Curriculum

  Danielle Osmelak

  Regardless of work setting, the ways in which we as an organization of audiologics, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists navigate our profession has profoundly been altered given the impact of COVID-19. As a speech-language pathologist and professor, the transition to alternative modes of course delivery in March challenged me to look at my own course curriculum and the modes in which I disseminate and foster learning with my students.

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  Dynamics of Canopy Development of Cunninghamia Lanceolata Mid-age Plantation in Relation to Foliar Nitrogen and Soil Quality Influenced by Stand Density

  Taimoor Hassan Farooq, Wende Yan, Xiaoyong Chen, Awais Shakoor, Muhammad Haroon U. Rashid, Matoor Moshin Gilani, Zongming He, and Pengfei Wu

  It has been generally accepted that different silvicultural practices affect the forest canopy morphology and structure. During forest establishment, many natural sites were converted to coniferous plantations in southern China. Retention of the canopy during stand conversion may be desirable to promote ecological function and meet conservation objectives. We tested the impact of planting density, foliar nitrogen and soil chemical properties on the canopy development of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) mid-age monoculture stands. Low density (1450 trees hm−2 with planting spacing of 2.36 × 2.36 m), intermediate-density (2460 trees hm−2 with planting spacing of 1.83 × 1.83 m) and high density (3950 trees hm−2 with planting spacing of 1.44 × 1.44 m) stands were selected in Xinkou forest plantations in Sanming City, China. Canopy characteristics such as leaf area index (LAI), mean tilt angle of the leaf (MTA) and average canopy openness index (DIFN) were measured. Measurements were taken using LAI-2200 PCA. The results illustrated that stand density was the primal factor responsible in canopy structuring while soil chemical properties seem to play a secondary role for canopy dynamics. LAI increased from 3.974 m2 m-2 to 5.072 m2 m-2 and MTA increases from 34.8° to 48.7° as the stand density increased while the DIFN decreased from 0.1542 to 0.0902 with the increasing stand density but it was no significantly different in intermediate and high-density stands. Additionally, LAI and MTA were positively correlated to foliar nitrogen while the DIFN was negatively correlated. In general, soil available nitrogen, available phosphorus and soil pH were not significant to canopy parameters. The results presented provide guiding principles about the canopy dynamics distribution in varying stand densities from LICOR measurements in mid-age Chinese fir monoculture. Furthermore, this provides a base to study canopy dynamics at mature stage forests because of more senescence activities.

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  Soil Organic Matter, Nitrogen and pH Driven Change in Bacterial Community Following Forest Conversion

  Ting Liu, Xiaohong Wu, Huangwei Li, Hattan Alharbi, Jun Wang, Peng Dang, Xiaoyong Chen, Yakov Kuzyakov, and Wende Yan

  Fast expansion of forest conversion to monoculture plantations has profound effects on ecosystem structure and functions. Through altering litter and rhizodeposition composition as well as one-sided effects on soil chemical properties, monoculture plantations may tremendously decrease biodiversity and functions of soil microorganisms. We investigated the impacts of conversion of natural evergreen and deciduous broad-leaf forest (Forest) to four 5-year old monoculture plantations (plantations), such as Camellia oleiferaAbel.(Oil), Amygdalus persica (Peach), Myrica rubra (Lour.) S. et Zucc.(Berry) and Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.(Fir), on soil properties and bacterial community and its driving factors using the high-throughput sequencing technique. Soil organic carbon, and total nitrogen decreased up to 59%–83% and pH increased by 0.31 units following the forest conversion. The changes in soil properties and bacterial communities were depended on the type of the plantation. Bacterial diversity increased by 6.5% after forest conversion. The relative abundances of Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria in the Forest were remarkably higher compared with all plantations, whereas that of Chloroflexi and Planctomycetes was less. All plantations had low abundance of Acidobacteria, while the highest abundance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Planctomycetes was observed under Peach. The co-occurrence patterns of bacterial communities identified rare taxa rather than abundant taxa as central players in bacterial network. The redundancy analysis indicated that the variation in the composition of bacterial community was mainly driven by soil pH, organic carbon and total nitrogen content. Therefore, good management practices, such as reasonable fertilization and soil erosion prevention, need to be developed for monoculture plantations to mitigate the depletion of nutrients and to enhance microbial functioning after forest conversion.

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  The Ambient Power of the College Campus: Spatiality and the Emerging Majority Experience

  Sayoni Bose, Jayne R. Goode, and Jelena Radovic-Fanta

  College life is considered as a meaningful journey. Students acquire a fundamental understanding of their new opportunities, working with many good role models. Thematically organized, this book, Exploring the Opportunities and Challenges of College Students, brings various perspectives by focusing on the importance of psychological context—examining how colleges, universities and their social environments, and ways in which college students become who they are, how they grow, and how they reach the full potential.
  The authors integrate empirical research throughout the book to present a meaningful story of both psychological and educational research and its applications to college students’ daily lives. Teaching pedagogy, student-centered learning, and lives in context enrich our insights and bring exploration of the ways in which college means us as a part of the lifespan.
  Both of our authors’ professional and personal experiences enable us to provide realistic examples of how to apply necessary skills we describe in the book. It will also yield pertinent information about the college experience, and review the issues that apply to a campus setting. It is our attempt to help remedy the problem of why college students have difficult times as a major concern, although college faculty and staff do their very best to keep schools and classrooms safe, organized, positive, and productive. We hope this book will provide necessary tools for many current and future college faculty and staff and that those individuals who desire to belong our academic life.

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  Weathering COVID-19 Storm: Successful Control Measures of Five Asian Counties

  Ning Lu, Kai-Wen Cheng, Nafees Qamar, Kuo-Cherh Huang, and James A. Johnson

  The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created the first viral pandemic storm of this nature and scale in our lifetime. As of April 24, 2020 there is a total of 2,631,839 COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide with 182,100 confirmed deaths affecting 213 countries, areas or territories.1 In this paper, we bring together the measures taken by 5 Asian countries that first got hit by the novel coronavirus. The purpose of the paper is to learn from those countries adeptly as we continue to discover what works for the United States to control COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 control measures taken by 5 Asian countries first hit by coronavirus. China took extremely aggressive measures of lockdowns and closing business. Singapore took proactive measures of border controls and extensive contact tracing. Taiwan-seized border control and strict home quarantine with the use of big data. South Korea executed widespread testing and contact tracing. Japan promoted measures of social distancing.

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  Narrative Crisis and Renewal in the Age of Information: David Foster Wallace’s “Mister Squishy”

  Christopher White

  David Foster Wallace’s late fiction powerfully dramatizes twenty-first-century information saturation and its dehumanizing effects. In “Mister Squishy,” the lead story in Oblivion (2004), the threat of information overload and the attendant crisis of narrative are thematized through the story’s staging of a central tension between statistical (quantitative) and narrative (qualitative) significance. Despite its numerous “anti-narrative” features, “Mister Squishy” is rather ingeniously designed to compel the reader’s narrative interest and participation by exploiting natural readerly “needs” – for narrative relevance, coherence, and closure. Wallace activates these readerly needs through his careful manipulation of how and when key information is revealed. The story’s dramatic shifts in pacing and perspective, and its oscillations between narration and description, combine to create extraordinary moments of suspense and surprise which drive both plot and reader forward. In this way “Mister Squishy” plays with the cognitive-affective dynamics of storytelling throughout, foregrounding them for our reflection. Ultimately, the story’s thematic concerns and the reader’s enactive performance of the text work together to reinforce the story’s ultimate affirmation of narrative as an essential meaning-making act and a central aspect of what it means to be human.

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  Grief and Loss Effects in the Couple Relationship

  Ileana Ungureanu

  Grief and loss are universal human experiences. Even in family therapy, the subject of death, grief, and bereavement continues to be seen as a taboo. In spite of this avoidance, research indicates that the death of a loved one is rated as one of life's top stressors, and grief is a normal and appropriate response to loss. Moreover, losing a child to death and the grief process related to this loss is generally considered “one of the most severe, enduring, and debilitating forms of bereavement.” This chapter will review the current bereavement literature, describe the impact of loss on the couple relationship, provide a framework for understanding dimensions of culture, and discuss clinical implications.

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  Explicit Grammatical Intervention for Developmental Language Disorder: Three Approaches

  Catherine H. Balthazar, Susan Ebbels, and Rob Zwitserlood

  This article summarizes the shared principles and evidence underpinning methods employed in the three sentence-level (syntactic) grammatical intervention approaches developed by the authors. We discuss associated clinical resources and map a way forward for clinically useful research in this area. Method: We provide an overview of the principles and perspectives that are common across our three syntactic intervention approaches: MetaTaal (Zwitserlood, 2015; Zwitserlood, Wijnen, et al., 2015), the SHAPE CODING™ system (Ebbels, 2007; Ebbels et al., 2014, 2007), and Complex Sentence Intervention (Balthazar & Scott, 2017, 2018). A description of each approach provides examples and summarizes current evidence supporting effectiveness for children with developmental language disorder ranging in age from 5 to 16 years. We suggest promising directions for future research that will advance our understanding of effective practices and support more widespread adoption of syntactic interventions with school-age children. Conclusion: In each approach to syntactic intervention, careful and detailed analysis of grammatical knowledge is used to support target selection. Intervention targets are explicitly described and presented systematically using multimodal representations within engaging and functional activities. Treatment stimuli are varied within a target pattern in order to maximize learning. Similar intervention intervals and intensities have been studied and proven clinically feasible and have produced measurable effects. We identify a need for more research evidence to maximize the effectiveness of our grammatical interventions, encompassing languages other than English, as well as practical clinical tools to guide target selection, measurement of outcomes, and decisions about how to tailor interventions to individual needs.

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  African American Men’s Health Disparities: Injustice in Healthcare

  Jerry Watson, Yarneccia D. Dyson, Shonda Lawrence, and Malik Cooper

  The social and cultural inclusion for Black and Brown people continues to be one of the pressing concerns in the 21st century. This pathbreaking collection of works in Contemporary Debates in Social Justice encourages a multi-discipline approach to examining the existing societal injustices affecting Black and Brown communities across the United States. In its exploration of Black and Brown life, this book considers issues of health, political, criminal justice, and educational inequalities. It takes a unique approach by offering essays, empirical studies, and interviews from a range of scholars, community activists, and practitioners who are on the front line of addressing social and cultural injustices. These diverse insights into such injustices illuminate new ways of understanding the complexity of Black and Brown communities.

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  Book Review: Expertise: A Philosophical Introduction by Jamie Carlin Watson

  Ben Almassi

  Book Review: Expertise: A Philosophical Introduction by Jamie Carlin Watson (Bloomsbury Academic, 2020).

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  COVID-19’s Effect on Students: How School Counselors Rise to the Rescue

  Robert Pincus, TeShaunda Hannor-Walker, Leonis Wright, and Judith Justice

  The COVID-19 global pandemic has brought about many changes to our society, which will have long-term effects for our youth and adolescents. Due to social isolation and adverse childhood experiences, there are concerns of suicidality, technology addiction, and school safety as schools attempt to transition to a state of normalcy in the months to come. This crisis will require coordinated efforts to assist students in not only getting back on track academically but also in helping students cope with the trauma they have and are continuing to experience. As a result, insights from school counselors can be used to obtain a better understanding of the social and emotional effects of COVID-19 by collaborating with administrators to emphasize using school counselors as a mental health provider in schools. The authors highlight school counselors’ mental health training and their role in combating this issue and provide practical applications that can employed to create a systemic approach for social and emotional prevention and intervention during and after the pandemic.

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  Data Science: A Promising Field of Study for Social Workers?

  Shonda Lawrence

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  Exporting Spanishness: The Role of Netflix in Shaping How the World Imagines Spain

  Novia Pagone

  The worldwide leader in streaming television, Netflix exercises significant influence over what viewers watch through algorithms and the shaping of communities based on a set of culturally determined preferences, or ‘taste communities’. Furthermore, its reputation for producing noteworthy and boundary-pushing original television content creates the expectation that Netflix will follow a similar path in Spain, where viewers represent diverse backgrounds. This essay argues that as a company based in the US creating original shows for broadcast to a global audience, Netflix sidesteps many of the thorny issues surrounding contemporary Spanish national identity and the country’s multicultural ‘ethnoscape’ to focus on genres and storylines that have proved successful on the platform. In this way, the streaming company offers locally produced content that appeals to existing global taste communities. Their made-in-Spain original dramas – Las chicas del cable, La casa de papel and Élite – present common themes such as socio-economic inequality, social mobility and female friendship, and settings that resonate with a local audience while remaining accessible and relevant globally. In this way, Netflix influences how Spain is portrayed to a global audience while maintaining a local presence.

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  Fiscal and Health Effects of U.S. Marijuana Legislation at the State Level

  Natalia Ermasova

  Public and academic interest in legalization of recreational marijuana is increasing after legalization campaigns in 2018. This study describes state government experiences implementing marijuana laws. This article seeks to provide a snapshot of these experiences by a comparative analysis of marijuana tax revenues in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia. The article provides a history of legalization of marijuana for medical and recreational use in different states, highlights how state legalization would affect the social sphere and what potential health effect this would have as well as the unintended consequences of marijuana laws at the state level in the United States.

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  Grade Efficacy, Grade Point Average, Aggregation, and Covid-19 Readiness at Proximity Learning®-A Company Providing Certified Teachers and Accreditated Courses Through Online Streaming

  G. McClendon, Rasha Elhage, and O. Laosebikan

  This study investigated grade point average efficacy and aggregation at an educational technology company based in the United States. Proximity Learning ® allowed researchers to examine multiple data sets to analyze individual and aggregate outcomes according to demographics, course type, grade level, geographic location.

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  Locating the Map of Meaningful Work Within Choice Theory

  Amy Vujaklija and Patricia A. Robey

  When educational settings turned upside down by pandemic-induced remote teaching and learning in Spring 2020, how were students and professors able to find meaning and redefine our quality worlds? Lips-Wiersma's Map of Meaningful Work made up of four pathways-integrity with self, unity with others, expressing full potential, and service to others-provides a means for exploring the applications of Glasser's Choice Theory and Quality Schools in a post-secondary classroom. This article is one professor's narrative of the process and progress within an undergraduate literature course by mapping the Quality School's conditions of building relationships, doing relevant and meaningful work, and engaging in self-evaluation. Locating the Map of Meaningful Work within Choice Theory Choice Theory, as Glasser stated in Quality School (1990), proposes that "all human beings are born with five basic needs built into their genetic structure: survival, love, power, fun, and freedom" (p. 43). Quality work depends on humans being able to choose situations, projects, and pathways that satisfy these basic needs. Choice Theory psychology states the following: • All we do is behave • Almost all behavior is chosen, and • We are driven by our genes to satisfy five basic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun. • We can only satisfy our needs by matching the pictures in our Quality World. These pictures motivate our behavior.

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  Perceived Stress and Coping Among Law Enforcement Officers: an Empirical Analysis of Patrol Versus Non-patrol Officers in Illinois, USA

  Natalia Ermasova, Ardis D. Cross, and Evgenia Ermasova

  The purpose of this paper is to examine the main perceived stressors and coping among law enforcement officers. Based on Stress Management for Law Enforcement Officers surveys of 427 law enforcement officers in Illinois, USA, descriptive analysis and one-way ANOVA tests were performed to analyze perceived stress and coping among patrol versus non-patrol police officers. The findings suggest that financial situation, situation when fellow officer killed or witnessing a fatality, poor personal relationships with supervisor(s), and unfair promotional opportunities are the leading causes of stress. One-way ANOVA test showed a marginal difference in the mean of perception of stress when fellow officer killed or witnessing a fatality among officers in patrol in comparison to non-patrol officers. One-way ANOVA test showed a significant marginal difference in the mean of relationship with supervisor(s) stress perception scores among non-patrol officers in comparison to patrol officers. Non-patrol officers had a higher relationship with supervisor(s) stress perception scores than officers in patrol. The study reveals that exercising is the main stress reliever for law enforcement officers. The study refutes the notion that alcohol is a preferred stress reliever as has been indicated in other studies. Analysis of stress perception and coping is allowing for a more rich understanding of stress and coping among law enforcement officers and provides recommendation for implementation of stress reduction techniques in police departments.

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  Police Brutality, African American Men, and Social Justice

  Shonda Lawrence, Jerry Watson, and Malik Cooper

  The social and cultural inclusion for Black and Brown people continues to be one of the pressing concerns in the 21st century. This pathbreaking collection of works in Contemporary Debates in Social Justice encourages a multi-discipline approach to examining the existing societal injustices affecting Black and Brown communities across the United States. In its exploration of Black and Brown life, this book considers issues of health, political, criminal justice, and educational inequalities. It takes a unique approach by offering essays, empirical studies, and interviews from a range of scholars, community activists, and practitioners who are on the front line of addressing social and cultural injustices. These diverse insights into such injustices illuminate new ways of understanding the complexity of Black and Brown communities.

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  Promoting Bilingual Mathematical Practices in a Classroom Through Modeling, Roller Coasters, and Discourse

  Angela Thompson, Michelle Hale, and Alexander Radosavljevic

  All mathematics teachers navigate between curriculum and the real, relatable world when teaching their students. In this chapter, we explore one teacher’s response to her school district’s demand that she teaches her bilingual students with project-based learning. Through action research, we investigate how the students engaged in the CCSS-M practice standards while also engaging in multi-language discourse, engineering, and mathematics by building model roller coasters. We conclude with guidelines for planning and assessment of mathematics projects as well as our insights and suggestions for doing mathematical modeling and discourse in a classroom where the students are bilingual but the teacher may not be.

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  Questioning Poverty: Experiences of Women in South-Western and North-Central Nigeria

  Lohna Bonkat and Morenikenji Asaaju

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  Reexamining "Perfect" Attendance in Schools

  David L. Conrad

  The COVID-19 emergency has created new challenges for schools regarding student attendance. The predominant practice of “perfect” attendance incentives in schools conflicts with new government policies regarding student self-quarantine due to the COVID-19 virus. School leaders must change their procedures and communication regarding student attendance to reflect these new conditions.

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  Stress and Coping of Russian Students: Do Gender and Marital Status Make a Difference?

  Natalia Ermasova, Evgenia Ermasova, and Natalia Rekhter

  This study examines the triggers for stress, and the coping mechanisms, of Russian students in relation to their gender and marital status. Based on the Stress and Coping Questionnaire administered to 539 students, this study analyzes whether gender and marital status have an effect on academic and interpersonal stressors. This study found that female students are more likely to experience stress than male students and that single students are impacted by academic and interpersonal stressors to a higher degree than married students. Male students are more likely to use exercise to alleviate stress but also more likely to use smoking, than female students. Male students are more likely to agree that the use of a psychologist leads to a perception of weakness than female students. Female students are more likely to agree that support services were not a priority on campus and male students are more likely than female students to show a preference for talking to friends over a psychologist. The choice of confiding in family during periods of stress is less often the case for single students than for married students, while single students may be more likely to use alcohol to alleviate stress.

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  Synergistic Adsorption Photocatalytic Degradation Effect and Norfloxacin Mechanism of ZnO/ZnS@BC Under UV-light Irradiation

  Wen Liu, Tianpei He, Yonghong Wang, Ge Ning, Zhenggang Xu, Xiaoyong Chen, Xinjiang Hu, Yaohui Wu, and Yunlin Zhao

  Norfloxacin (NOF) is an environmentally harmful and ubiquitous aquatic pollutant with extensive production and application. In this study, a novel composition named carbon-based composite photocatalytic material of zinc oxide and zinc sulphide (ZnO/ZnS@BC) was successfully obtained by the impregnation-roasting method to remove NOF under UV-light. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer characterised the composition. ZnO/ZnS was successfully decorated on the surface of biochar (BC). The pH, the ZnSO4/PS ratio, and ions and quenchers, were investigated. High removal efficiency was obtained with a pH of 7 and a ZnSO4/PS ratio of 1:1, and the removal ratio of NOF reached 95% within three hours; the adsorption and degradation ratios reached 46% and 49%, respectively. Fe2+ promoted the degradation of NOF, whereas other ions inhibited it, with NO3− showing the strongest inhibitory effect. Three reactive species (tert-butanol, quinone, and ammonium oxala) were identified in the catalytic system. The decreasing order of the contribution of each reactive species was: O2− > ·OH− > h+. Additionally, a recycling experiment demonstrated the stability of the catalyst; the catalytic degradation ratio of NOF reached 78% after five successive runs. Therefore, ZnO/ZnS@BC possessed strong adsorption capacity and high ultraviolet photocatalysis ability.

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  The 35 Years of Public Capital Budgeting: A Review and Future Research Agenda

  Natalia Ermasova

  This paper reviews a large number of works published over the past 35 years on public capital budgeting. the purpose of this paper is to provide a more comprehensive analysis of research on capital budgeting. Through this review, this study seeks to critically analyze the literature on the public capital budgeting, identify the research gaps, and set future research agenda based on those gaps. Our study presents a review of 106 academic studies on this topic. the main finding is that constructs, such as international capital budgeting, infrastructure maintenance, cross-state and cross-local municipalities’ analysis, need further attention. This study found that there is a lack of literature that examines how the federal, state, and local governments cope with challenges and pressures during economic decline. Future studies could examine the effects of economic decline during and after Covid-19 pandemic on changes in capital budgeting practices in different countries on national, regional and local levels. the paper is intended as a resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, focusing on public capital budgeting issues.

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  The Journey from External Control to Leader Management and Quality Education: An Interview with Robert G. Hoglund

  Patricia A. Robey

  Robert (Bob) Hoglund has been applying William Glasser's ideas in his work as an educator, counselor, and trainer since 1981. He has delivered training for The William Glasser Institute from the beginning Basic Intensive training to all levels of faculty training and served eight terms on the International Board of Directors, including 10 years as Board Chair. Bob has been a member of the National Quality in Education Conference Committee and as a program proposal evaluator for the National Quality in Education Conference. He has developed programs and workshops based on Choice Theory® and Reality Therapy, and through his business, Bob Hoglund, Inc., he combined The Glasser Quality School and Malcolm Baldrige Quality Program to successfully help teachers close the achievement gap. In this interview, Bob shares how applying Glasser's ideas into his work as a teacher and counselor and integrating these ideas with the work of Deming and other models resulted in a new way of looking at management and a measurable positive change in the systems that put these ideas into action.

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  "Transitory Indignities" Trauma and the Commuter Train in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

  Josh Sopiarz

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  Understanding the Call of Social Justice Advocacy: A Phenomenological Study of High School Counselors

  Leonis Wright

  Due to a growing diversified society, and the specific needs of students who are considered marginalized, school counselors are identified as crucial personnel to serve as social justice advocates to promote educational equity for all students. Despite this calling, there is limited research on school counselors’ understanding of social justice advocacy and their expected role. Thus, this article highlights research that provided practicing high school counselors the opportunity to share their views on this phenomenon.

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  Using Social Network Sites in Healthcare Management: Challenges and Opportunities

  Natalia Rekhter and T. Anopchenko

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  Utilizing Choice Theory as an Administrator in a School System: An Interview with Lois DaSilva-Knapton

  Patricia A. Robey

  Dr. Lois DaSilva-Knapton has been applying the Glasser concepts in her life since 1998 and became a faculty member in 2015. Dr. DaSilva-Knapton started as a para-educator in a high school setting and continued her career in special education as a teacher and an administrator for the next 16 years. She also taught at the University level for 5 years concurrently. For the last 6 years, she has been a school Superintendent. In this interview, Dr. Lois DaSilva-Knapton shares her experience of applying Choice Theory in her personal life as well as in her work as an educator for the last 22 years.

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  What Determines Investment in Renewable Energy?

  Evelina Mengova

  Investment in renewable energy is an investment in our future. This paper explores the determinants of investment in renewable energy capacity in Europe, the Former Soviet Union, and the Middle East and North Africa. It explores the major challenges each of these regions faces in moving towards a more environmentally friendly generation and use of energy. We find that specific country and regional characteristics, together with the level of pollution of a country, have a significant impact on its total renewable capacity installed. We find mixed evidence that the overall quality of governance promotes renewables.

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  Quantitative Urbanism: How Illinois City Characteristics Change as They Grow

  Heather Conte and J. Christopher Tweddle

  The global trend of population shifts toward increased urbanization has led to interest in understanding the dynamics of city growth. In the mid-twentieth century, the Chicago School of Sociology began expressing urbanization in terms of human ecology. This led to the development of ideas of urban metabolism and the use of mathematical models to describe the growth. These quantitative approaches have shown that many aspects of cities, such as crime rates, energy usage, and wealth, change exponentially in relation to city size. Multiple urban indicators for cities in Illinois are explored as functions of population size and results are discussed compared to current research worldwide. The paper discusses briefly how this developing data could be used in the future as our world becomes more and more urban. Possibly, what we know about successful urban regions could help us build strong new communities in developing countries

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  Book Review: Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib

  Josh Sopiarz

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  Atypical Dermatophytosis in 12 North American Porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum) from the Northeastern United States 2010–2017

  David B. Needle, Robert Gibson, Nicholas A. Hollingshead, Inga F. Sidor, Nicholas J. Marra, Derek Rothenheber, Anil J. Thachil, Bryce J. Stanhope, Brian A. Stevens, Julie C. Ellis, Shelley Spanswick, Maureen Murray, and Laura B. Goodman

  Twelve wild North American porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum) out of a total of 44 of this species examined in an 8-year period were diagnosed with dermatopathies while being cared for at two wildlife rehabilitation clinics. Biopsy and necropsy were performed on seven and five animals, respectively. Atypical dermatophytosis was diagnosed in all cases. Lesions consisted of diffuse severe epidermal hyperkeratosis and mild hyperplasia with mild lymphoplasmacytic dermatitis and no folliculitis. Dermatophytes were noted histologically as hyphae and spores in hair shafts, and follicular and epidermal keratin. Trichophyton sp. was grown in 5/6 animals where culture was performed, with a molecular diagnosis of Arthroderma benhamiae/Trichophyton mentagrophytes in these five cases. Metagenomic analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples from three cases identified fungi from 17 orders in phyla Basidiomycota and Ascomycota. Alteration of therapy from ketaconazole, which was unsuccessful in four out of five early cases, to terbinafine or nitraconazole led to the resolution of disease and recovery to release in four subsequent animals. In all, six animals were euthanized or died due to dermatopathy, no cases resolved spontaneously, and six cases were resolved with therapy. The work we present demonstrates an atypical lesion and anatomical distribution due to dermatophytosis in a series of free-ranging wild porcupines and the successful development of novel techniques for extracting and sequencing nucleic acids from fungus in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded animal tissue.

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  Gilmore Girls: A Cultural History

  Lara Stache Ph.D and Rachel D. Davidson

  Airing from 2000–2007, Gilmore Girls focused on the relationship between thirty-something single mom Lorelai and her teenage daughter, Rory. While exploring themes of family, romantic love, friendship, and life’s choices, this quirky show featured fast-paced dialogue, funny quips, and a steady stream of pop-culture references. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Gilmore Girls served as a launching pad for the careers of its stars—including Lauren Graham, Melissa McCarthy, Alexis Bledel, Jared Padalecki, and Milo Ventimiglia. The series’ popularity was so enduring that ten years after its initial run, a revival season was released on Netflix. In Gilmore Girls: A Cultural History, Lara C. Stache and Rachel Davidson offer an engaging analysis of the popular series. The authors examine how the show serves as a representation of American culture and politics, reflects complexity within multiple mother-daughter dynamics, and employed literature, movies, and music to drive the dialogue and plot. They also explore how the choices made in the series reflect social values of the time, reinforce and challenge traditional ideas of gender and feminism, and unpack the cultural significance of this endearing series. As both a mirror and a construction of contemporary American culture, the series achieved critical accolades and became a cult classic, at once both unassuming and dynamic. This book offers new ways for fans to appreciate the appeal and value of this binge-worthy favorite as part of the larger culture in which it exists. Gilmore Girls: A Cultural History will be of interest to fans of the show as well as to scholars and students of television, media, and American popular culture.

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  Grazing Affects the Ecological Stoichiometry of the Plant-soil-microbe System on the Hulunber Steppe, China

  Jun Cao, Ruirui Yan, Xiaoyong Chen, Xu Wang, Qiang Yu, Yunlong Zhang, Chen Ning, Lulu Hou, Yongjuan Zhang, and Xiaoping Xin

  Grazing affects nutrient cycling processes in grasslands, but little is known by researchers about effects on the nutrient stoichiometry of plant-soil-microbe systems. In this study, the influence of grazing intensity (0, 0.23, 0.34, 0.46, 0.69, and 0.92 AU ha-1) on carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and their stoichiometric ratios in plants, soil, and microbes was investigated in a Hulunber meadow steppe, Northeastern China. The C:N and C:P ratios of shoots decreased with grazing increased. Leaf N:P ratios <10 suggested that the plant communities under grazing were N-limited. Heavy grazing intensities increased the C:N and C:P ratios of microbial>biomass, but grazing intensity had no significant effects on the stoichiometry of soil nutrients. The coupling relationship of C:N ratio in plant-soil-microbial systems was tightly significant compared to C:P ratio and N:P ratio according to the correlation results. The finding suggested grazing exacerbated the competition between plants and microorganisms for N and P nutrition by the stoichiometric changes (%) in each grazing level relative to the no grazing treatment. Therefore, for the sustainability of grasslands in Inner Mongolia, N inputs need to be increased and high grazing intensities reduced in meadow steppe ecosystems, and the grazing load should be controlled within G0.46.

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  The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of an Atlantic Ocean Shortfin Mako Shark, Isurus oxyrinchus

  Jonathan Gorman, Nicholas Marra, Mahmood S. Shivji, and Michael J. Stanhope

  We report the first complete mitochondrial genome of a shortfin mako shark from the Atlantic Ocean. The genome had 16,700 base pairs and contained 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a non-coding D-loop. There were 81 individual differences compared to the published mitochondrial genome of a shortfin mako from the Pacific Ocean, with most variability found in protein coding genes, especially ND5, ND3, and ND1. These highly variable genes may be useful population markers in future studies, and availability of a second mitogenome will assist with future, genome-scale studies of this IUCN Endangered species. Keywords: Isurus oxyrinchusmitochondrial genomeshortfin mako

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  Business Ethics in a Global Economy: A Cross-Cultural Study Among Working Adults in Russia and Vietnam

  Lam D. Nguyen, Loan N. T. Pham, and Natalia Ermasova

  The purpose of the present study is to empirically examine the personal perception of working adults on business ethics in Russia and Vietnam. Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire from 487 working adults (248 Russian and 239 Vietnamese adults). Significance of differences in Clark and Clark’s Personal Business Ethics Scores based on gender, management experience and ethics training was analysed with the help of univariate analysis of variance method (two-way analysis of variance method). Findings of the present study indicate that there is a significant difference in the level of ethical maturity among the Vietnamese and Russian working adults. Vietnamese respondents have higher business ethics perception than Russian respondents. Female adults demonstrate higher ethical maturity level than their male counterparts in the overall sample. Additionally, there is no significant difference in the business ethics perception of respondents in Russia and Vietnam on the basis of ethics training and management experience. This study provides global business leaders an opportunity to better understand business ethics perception of working adults across Russia and Vietnam.

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  What Determines Energy Production from Renewable Sources?

  Evelina Mengova

  Investment in renewable energy is an investment in our future. This paper analyzes the determinants of production of energy from renewable sources in Europe, the Former Soviet Union, and the Middle East and North Africa. It explores the major challenges each of these regions faces in moving towards a more environmentally friendly generation and use of energy. We find that specific country and regional characteristics, together with the energy needs and overall energy profile of a country, have a significant effect on its electricity production from renewable sources. We do not find evidence that the overall quality of governance promotes renewables.

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  Comeback Workout: QM Practices and the Health and Fitness Industry

  Wonsuk Cha

  Purpose
  The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical model for the relationship between quality management (QM) practices and the health and fitness industry through two competencies, including relational competence (RC) and technical competence (TC).
  Design/methodology/approach
  Drawing from the resource-based view and the relational competence theory, this paper seeks a further understanding of the conceptual link between QM practices and the health and fitness industry.
  Findings
  This paper proposes that RC and TC will positively mediate the relationship between QM practices and customers’ behavioral intentions to use the health and fitness service.

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  Characteristics of Horizontal Precipitation in Semi-humid Forestland in Northern China

  Jianbo Jia, Wende Yan, Xiaoyong Chen, and Wenna Liu

  Little information is available on horizontal precipitation in forest land in semi-humid climate regions. In this study, the quantity and duration of horizontal precipitation were investigated using the high precision weighing lysimeter system in the mountainous areas of northern China during the experiment year 2011 and 2012. The purpose of this study was to better understand the formation mechanisms of horizontal precipitation in the semi-humid climate region. The results showed that hourly values of horizontal precipitation distributed between 0 and 0.1 mm, and that the one-night values distributed between 0.2 and 0.4 mm. The number of days with horizontal precipitation accounted for about 45% of the whole year. The average monthly amount of horizontal precipitation was 4.5 mm in the non-growing season, while it was a mere 1.6 mm in the growing season. The total amount of horizontal precipitation in the year was about 33 mm. Horizontal precipitation represented about 4.61% and 4.23% of the annual precipitation in 2011 and 2012. During the non-growing season, water vapor absorbed by the soil was greater than canopy and soil condensation, not only in terms of frequency, but also in the cumulated quantity. On a typical day, the canopy and soil condensation was 0.07 mm, accounting for 31.81% of total quantity of horizontal precipitation (0.22 mm). Air temperature, soil temperature and wind speed were negatively correlated with the quantity and duration of horizontal precipitation. This research could provide information for a better understanding of the ecological significance of horizontal precipitation in the semi-humid climate region in northern China.

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  Comparisons of the Risk of Medication Noncompliance and Suicidal Behavior Among Patients with Depressive Disorders Using Different Monotherapy Antidepressants in Taiwan: A Nationwide Populations-based Retrospective Cohort Study

  Kuan-Pin Su, Ning Lu, Chao-Hsuin Tang, Wei-Che Chiu, Hui-Chih Chang, and Kuo-Cherh Huang

  The aim of this study was to assess the association between various classes of antidepressants and the risk of medication noncompliance as well as suicidal behavior among depressed patients. A retrospective cohort study was conducted utilizing two nationwide population-based datasets in Taiwan from 2010 to 2016. The outcome measures included the risk of medication noncompliance, attempted suicide, and completed suicide. Cox proportional hazards models with stratification of the propensity score deciles were performed. A total of 447,411 new antidepressant users were identified. Compared to SSRIs, patients who received SARIs [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.124, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.108–1.142], SNRIs (aHR = 1.049, 95% CI = 1.033–1.065), and other classes of antidepressants (aHR = 1.037, 95% CI = 1.024–1.051) were more likely to exhibit poor medication noncompliance. Patients who received SNRIs had a higher risk of attempted suicide (aHR = 1.294, 95% CI = 1.114–1.513), compared to SSRIs. However, patents in the TCAs group revealed the opposite result (aHR = 0.543, 95% CI = 0.387–0.762). Concerning the risk of completed suicide, this analysis detected no statistical significance across different types of antidepressants. Although the universal coverage of Taiwan's national health insurance program tends to minimize the risk of selection and recall bias, it is difficult to rule out medical surveillance bias by using claim data. This study demonstrated that classes of antidepressants exert different degrees of impact on the risk of medication noncompliance and attempted suicide, but not completed suicide, among depressed patients.

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  The High Stakes of Testing: Exploring Student Experience with Standardized Assessment through Governmentality

  Amy Kelly

  Standardized assessments have long been part of the educative experience for students around the world. The high-stakes nature of these tests can have damaging and enduring effects for public school systems, particularly the youth. With the adoption of Common Core State Standards and mandated state-wide accountability measures, high-stakes tests, like the PARCC, gained quick and controversial notoriety.
  The high-stakes discourse has been dominated by politicians, educators, and parents. Notably absent from this dialogue are the voices of those whom are impacted the most: students. Largely influenced by Critical Pedagogy, this research sheds light on the negative, punitive, and often arbitrary nature of testing in schools. The paramount intention of this publication is to raise awareness of student experiences and perspectives of standardized testing.
  The High Stakes of Testing analyzes the experiences, relationships, thoughts, ideas, and opinions students have with standardized assessment measures. Interviews with seven students in Grades 3, 5, and 8 are examined through a governmentality lens to reveal the ways in which the youth are manipulated, regulated, and disciplined to view standardized testing as a natural part of what it means to be a public-school student. It is only when we can begin to see and appreciate how our youth interact with the omnipresent testing in our public schools can we begin to envision changing these accountability practices.

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  A Rhetoric of Contradiction: SuicideGirls, Female Empowerment, and Sexuality

  Lara Stache and Rachel D. Davidson

  The intersection of female empowerment and sexuality is prevalent in contemporary public discourse. In this analysis, we critique the rhetoric of female empowerment from the SuicideGirls, a soft-core pornography website that claims to promote an alternative beauty. Existing literature on SuicideGirls provides consensus that the website promotes female empowerment. We critique SuicideGirls’ rhetoric as an example of why consistency between rhetoric and action are important to analyze in a sex-positive culture that embraces contradiction as empowerment. A rhetoric of contradiction emerges when the language of empowerment is not supported with empowering action, and ultimately we argue that this undermines the goals of a sex-positive culture for women. Our conclusions address the complexity of cultural texts that equate sexuality with power, and to ultimately illuminate the boundaries to challenging the status quo in a society that embraces a rhetoric of contradiction as female empowerment.

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  COREMatters: A Bullying Intervention Pilot Study

  Alli Cipra and LaTreese Hall

  While bullying is a serious concern for students and educators alike, empirically tested interventions are needed. This study examined the impact of a bullying intervention curriculum at a public middle school in the Midwest. This intervention, COREMatters, was designed to reduce bullying behaviors, foster a greater sense of community cohesion and trust in the school, improve school climate, and increase student self-esteem. As such, the intervention required participation of teachers, administrators, students, and outside experts. COREMatters was modeled after theoretical frameworks of socioemotional learning and Bloom’s taxonomy. Additionally, components of This We Believe outlining successful schools were considered. Uniquely contributing to this intervention is the inclusion of martial arts instruction. The intervention was taught as a whole, integrated model. The t-tests indicated significant differences between the control and intervention groups on measures of school climate, student self-esteem, and school cohesion and trust. Students in the intervention group scored higher in measures of self-esteem and rated their schools more positively on measures of cohesion and trust and climate.

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  Forgiveness as an Effective Total Behavior

  Sofie Azmy and Patricia A. Robey

  Choice theory emphasizes that all individuals have control over their own behavior and that empowerment comes from placing the responsibility for choice on the individual. Individuals lead healthy and productive lifestyles when they engage in effective behaviors which are characterized by positive choices. In this article the authors illustrate how the choice to forgive is an example of an effective behavior. The authors discuss the total behavior of forgiveness with its four components of action, thinking, feeling, and physiology. Finally, the authors describe how viewing forgiveness as an effective behavior and integrating forgiveness interventions in therapy adds to clients' overall well-being as they strive to meet the need for love and belonging and live healthy and productive lifestyles.

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  Place, Prestige, Price, and Promotion: How International Students Use Social Networks To Learn About Universities Abroad

  Natalia Rekhter and Donald Hossler

  This qualitative study aims to explore the social media component of international students’ college choice process for studying abroad. One of the emerging pieces of evidence was that participants applied social media specific criteria, such as the number of “likes,” the number of followers, and the ratio of followers to following to rank Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and measure their prestige. Another emerging finding was that participants with no connections abroad relied exclusively on social media for their college choice decisions and without social media would not even consider an option of transferring abroad. Videos and pictures offered by social network sites (SNS) provided emotional benefits by helping “to see” an unknown reality, develop sense of belonging, diminish apprehensions of moving abroad, and solidify the choice of HEI, while traditional sources of promotion, such as websites, were perceived as not trustworthy. Higher education professionals could hire individuals with proven expertise in social media to create consistent and meaningful content on different social media platforms to connect with potential international candidates.

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  Simulation‐based Learning Modules for Undergraduate Engineering Dynamics

  Ernur Karadoğan and Figen Karadoğan

  In this paper, we describe software modules that provide both visual and haptic feedback to the student, and evaluate their effectiveness. The system integrates software modules with a haptic interface that can augment teaching and learning in a required undergraduate engineering Dynamics course. Students can change parameters, predict answers, compare outcomes, interact with animations, and feel the results using a haptic interface. Three software modules were evaluated in two separate studies. The first study focused on subjective ratings based on student opinions. The second study assessed the effect of the modules on students' conceptual understanding for force and motion using a pretest/posttest design. The results revealed that the practice with the modules significantly improved the conceptual understanding of the targeted concepts. In addition, students showed a significant preference by stating that the modules would increase their interest in Dynamics as a subject and their engagement in the Dynamics course.

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  New York City’s Captive Work Force: Remembering the Prisoners Who Built Rikers Island

  Jarrod Shanahan and Jayne Moody

  This article undertakes a "history of the present" as a means of intervening in current debate around the closure of the Rikers Island jail complex and its replacement with smaller "state of the art" jails. We argue that the telling of carceral history is potentially a powerful weapon capable of shaping unfolding events, as well as, helping to preserve the memory of those who have suffered from the practice of human caging. To this effect we reconstruct the history of the Rikers Island penal colony predating its officially-recognized opening in 1935; a history defined by the forced prison labour that was used to expand the island and construct the original penitentiary. We illustrate how the labour of these prisoners, lives on in the physical structure of Rikers, as well as in its scandalous carceral existence. In defiance of current efforts at piecemeal reform or of preserving the status quo, we offer this historical intervention as a means of problematizing the present effort to solve the problems of jails with more jails, suggesting instead that the past calls for more drastic action—an escape

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  Effects of Pb and Zn Toxicity on Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Biomass Production of Koelreuteria Paniculata and Zelkova Schneideriana Young Plants

  Xinhao Huang, Fnu Fan, Xiaoyong Chen, W.D. Yan, R.J. Wang, and G.J. Wang

  The influence of Pb and Zn on chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence and plant growth of one-year-old Koelreuteria paniculata and Zelkova schneideriana young plants was investigated. Pb and Zn contents in plant organs were measured. The results showed Pb and Zn stress decreased photochemical quenching and quantum efficiency of PSII, but increased energy dissipation in the tested plants. At the same time, maximum net photosynthetic rate, maximum quantum use efficiency, and organ biomass were reduced. Under the same concentration of heavy metals, the damage induced by Zn toxicity was more serious than that of Pb. Pb was less accumulated in leaves, with a mild effect on photosynthesis. Zn was mostly accumulated in leaves and strongly disturbed chloroplast functioning and affected photosynthesis. Pb and Zn had different pathway to influence biomass production, and both tested plants might use different mechanisms of action for heavy metal stress resistance.

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  Beyond Science Wars Redux: Feminist Philosophy of Science as Trustworthy Science Criticism

  Ben Almassi

  Bruno Latour is not the only scholar to reflect on his earlier contributions to science studies with some regret and resolve over climate skepticism and science denialism. Given the ascendency of merchants of doubt, should those who share Latour's concerns join the scientists they study in circling the wagons, or is there a productive role still for science studies to question and critique scientists and scientific institutions? I argue for the latter, looking to postpositivist feminist philosophy as exemplified by Alison Wylie and Lynn Nelson, among others, as a guide. Feminist philosophers of science who ground their analysis in a detailed understanding of scientific practice are not science's champions nor its antagonists, but they do stand in a distinct relationship to science. If not merchants of doubt, are they scientific gadflies or perhaps in scientific loyal opposition? Though these notions can underwrite useful approaches to science studies, neither captures the distinctive interdependency and interestedness of feminist philosophers and science. I suggest that we would be better served by the notion of trustworthy science criticism, building on the analyses of trust and trustworthiness by Annette Baier, among others, attendant to the dynamics of interdependency in trust relationships.

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  Book Review: Building New Banjos for an Old-Time World by Richard Jones-Bamman

  Josh Sopiarz

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  Capital Management and Budgeting in the Public Sector

  Arwiphawee Srithongrung, Natalia Ermasova (ed.), and Juita-Elena Wie Yusuf

  To create an enhanced quality of life, attract business relocation, and enhance equity in access to public infrastructure, governmental bodies must take certain precautions with their money. Budgeting at such a high level requires careful evaluation and research that addresses every aspect of financial management.
  Capital Management and Budgeting in the Public Sector provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of long-term capital planning, annual capital budgeting, capital budget execution, and public spending evaluation. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as fiscal federalism, political regime, and project execution management, this book is ideally designed for managers, accountants, professionals, practitioners, and researchers working in the areas of public finance and/or international development.
  
  Chapter 2. This chapter provides a case study from the United States regarding public capital budgeting and management on the federal, state, and local levels. The U.S. case of the public investment process (or positive theory for United States public investment) is described and compared with the normative theory outlined in Chapter 1 to understand the deviation between the positive and normative theories. This chapter presents an analysis of four main components of the USA capital budgeting system including (1) long-term public capital planning, (2) annual public budgeting and financing, (3) project execution, and (4) public infrastructure evaluation. In addition, this chapter shows public infrastructure needs and financing issues in the United States.
  
  Chapter 3. This chapter presents an analysis of four main components of the German capital budgeting system including (1) long-term public capital planning, (2) annual public budgeting and financing, (3) project execution, and (4) public infrastructure evaluation. Germany provides good conditions for capital investments. This chapter explains main reasons for it: institutional framework, healthy public finance, structural reform, and special investment and redemption fund that gave a boost to investments in infrastructure. This case describes the capital budgeting process in Germany and explains the recent trends of public capital investments.
  
  This chapter provides a case study from Russia regarding public capital budgeting and management at the federal, state, and local levels. This chapter presents an analysis of four main components of Russian capital budgeting system including (1) long-term public capital planning, (2) annual public budgeting and financing, (3) project execution, and (4) public infrastructure evaluation. This research explains the general challenges of capital budgeting process after the several decades of financial and budget reforms. This chapter presents the structure and classification of the capital budget as well as recent trends in capital expenditure levels in Russia. The authors review the capital resource allocations across sectors based on investment needs and national priorities in Russia. The chapter explains public investment management processes and presents recommendations to improve the efficiency of public capital budgeting in Russia.

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  Factors Influencing Breast Cancer Genetic Testing Among High Risk African American Women: A Systematic Review

  Shirley Spencer, Carolyn Rodgers, and Vickii Coffey

  African American women are disproportionately impacted by breast cancer and its associated effects. They have the highest breast cancer mortality rate of all racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., yet, many high risk African American women do not follow-up with genetic testing despite, having a shorter survival rate and more likely to develop malignancies or aggressive forms of breast cancer than white women. Purpose: This review explored breast cancer genetic follow up and barriers among African American women and made recommendations for designing tailored high risk breast cancer programs. Method: The Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction framework provided the framework for the review. PubMed, PSYINFO, CINAHL and Cochrane Collection Plus databases were searched for articles published from 2007 to 2017 that focused on attitude and beliefs that influenced genetic testing follow up among African American women. Three reviewers independently reviewed and appraised articles. The quality of the articles was assessed to determine the evidence level and overall recommendations using the Joanna Bridge Institute grading criteria. Results: Sixteen of the 2275 articles reviewed met the inclusion criteria of which, seven showed statistically significance changes related to family concerns, medical mistrust and cost barriers; decreases in breast cancer worry and perceived risk after genetic counseling; and higher education level and diagnosed early increased genetic testing. Conclusions: This systematic review provides greater understanding of how the social determinants of health influence decisions about genetic testing and treatment to determine why African American women who are at risk for breast cancer, do not progress to genetic testing. It provided recommendations for designing sensitive curriculum content for African American women and providers to increase genetic follow-up and reduce breast cancer disparity. The results of this review could be used to design comprehensive, tailored interventions to address the identified barriers, increase breast cancer awareness and early detection, and help minority women make informed, value decisions about genetic testing and treatment options. Recommendations: Future research is required to examine the role communities, agencies and policy makers play in improving clinical outcomes for minorities.

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  Female Gladiators and Third Wave Feminism: Visualizing Power, Choice, and Dialogue in Scandal

  Lara Stache Ph.D and Rachel D. Davidson

  One of the most popular shows to come out of Shondaland, Shonda Rhimes’s production company, is ABC’s political drama Scandal (2012–18)—a series whose tremendous success and marketing savvy led LA Times critic Mary McNamara to hail it as “the show that Twitter built” and Time magazine to name its protagonist as one of the most influential fictional characters of 2013. The series portrays a fictional Washington, DC, and features a diverse group of characters, racially and otherwise, who gather around the show’s antiheroine, Olivia Pope, a powerful crisis manager who happens to have an extramarital affair with the president of the United States. For seven seasons, audiences learned a great deal about Olivia and those interwoven in her complex world of politics and drama, including her team of “gladiators in suits,” with whom she manages the crises of Washington’s political elite. This volume, named for both Olivia’s team and the show’s fans, analyzes the communication, politics, stereotypes, and genre techniques featured in the television series while raising key questions about the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and viewing audiences. The essays range from critical looks at various members of Scandal’s ensemble, to in-depth analyses of the show’s central themes, to audience reception studies via interviews and social media analysis. Additionally, the volume contributes to research on femininity, masculinity, and representations of black womanhood on television. Ultimately, this collection offers original and timely perspectives on what was one of America’s most “scandalous” prime-time network television series.

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  Fighters and Fathers: Managing Masculinity in Contemporary Boxing Cinema

  Josh Sopiarz

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  Heart-Based Teaching: A Mindfulness Program for Preservice Teachers

  Timothy W. Pedigo and Glenna Lambert Howell

  Heart-Based Teaching, a mindfulness training program embedded in the professional education curriculum of preservice teacher candidates, is described. Heart-Based Teaching prepares teacher candidates to model and teach mindfulness to help their future students achieve social emotional goals as well as to enhance the teacher candidates' own social emotional competencies. Theoretical and research bases of the program as well as specific elements of implementation are included: structure of the two required courses, mini-lecture/discussion topics of each class session, assignments, assessments, and rubrics. Some initial qualitative data that contributed to program development are presented, and parameters of an ongoing robust quantitative study are described. Heart-Based Teaching is presented as a replicable model for other teacher education programs.

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  It All Begins with Relations: The Glasser Quality School Model

  Jane V. Hale and Patricia A. Robey

  Understanding choice theory provides a foundation for developing relationships and is the central component of the Glasser quality school model. Choice theory is William Glasser's explanation of human behavior and motivation. It is based on the premise that we all have five basic needs: love and belonging, power and achievement, the freedom to be independent and make choices, the joy in having fun, and basic needs of survival and safety. In a quality school, the goal of administrators, teachers, counselors, staff, and support personnel is to create an environment in which everyone in the system, especially the students, gets his or her needs met in responsible, respectful ways. In this chapter, the Glasser quality school criteria is explained in addition to the behavioral habits that help build relationships and the behavioral habits that break down relationships. Stories that highlight the experiences of administrators, teachers, and counselors who put Glasser's concepts into action are included to illuminate the essence of the Glasser quality school model.

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  Public Capital Budgeting and Management Process in Moldova

  Erica Ceka

  As Moldova works toward building democracy and sustainable development, it is focusing its attention on increasing the effectiveness of public capital investment management. The chapter summarizes the current legal framework and practices in the field of capital management and budgeting in Moldova and compares the processes with a normative framework for effective capital investment management, focusing on capital planning, capital financial management, capital project execution and management, and public infrastructure maintenance. The analysis demonstrates that the public capital management and budgeting process in Moldova at the level of planning, allocation, and implementation of capital budgets falls short of its potential. The case reveals that despite a promising budgetary reform and comprehensive legal framework, the process of capital budgeting and management in Moldova remains ineffective due to institutional, economic, and political constraints.

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  Public Capital Budgeting and Management: The Concept and Its Application in Three Important Federations

  Natalia Ermasova and John L. Mikesell

  This paper reviews the literature on national government capital budgeting approaches, identifies the standard features expected to be found in such processes, and compares how the procedures are applied in three large and significant federations, the German Federal Republic, the Russian Federation, and the United States. the study uses a comparative case study approach to uncover contrasts, similarities, and patterns of capital budgeting in these countries. This paper examines infrastructure status and gaps and how capital budgeting procedures identified here can help resolve problems. the main finding is that effectively managing and budgeting capital expenditures are among the most pressing challenges to contemporary governments and the effort requires comprehensive and systematic planning, centralized execution and project management, and infrastructure maintenance.

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  Replicable Strategies for Advancing Proposal Development Capacity in Teaching-focused Institutions

  Ben Cipra and Alli Cipra

  A common grievance heard from higher-education grant professionals is that faculty do not prepare a sufficient number of grant proposals to meet institutional goals. Likewise, faculty who are concerned about their teaching and publication goals often do not prioritize grant proposal writing. Furthermore, the structure of faculty duties in most universities does not provide free time or adequate support for them to research and craft grant proposals. This scenario is especially problematic at community, liberal arts, and teaching colleges where the faculty may not be required to produce successful grant proposals for tenure status. Grant professionals must address this and many other challenges when looking to increase grant submissions from faculty. Federal grant projects may span several years and require a substantial amount of effort while affording applicants only a few weeks to complete a proposal. Time pressure is especially problematic for teaching faculty, who have substantially more classes than ever, but are asked to develop proposals. Ultimately, if university administrators expect revenue streams from faculty grants, grant professionals must have an action plan to support and motivate faculty. By analyzing the experience of one teaching-focused university, this article presents such strategies for the grant professional, particularly those at teaching and community colleges where previous literature has not addressed their unique needs and challenges.

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  Skepticism and Pluralism on Ethics Expertise

  Ben Almassi

  Does expertise have a place in ethics? As this question has been raised in moral philosophy and bioethics literatures over the past twenty years, skepticism has been a common theme, whether metaphysical (there is no such thing as ethics expertise), epistemological (we cannot know who has ethics expertise) or social-political (we should not treat anyone as having ethics expertise). Here I identify three common, contestable assumptions about ethics expertise which underwrite skepticism of one form or another: (1) a singular conception of ethics expertise constituted by a core property or unity among multiple properties, (2) equivocation of ethics expertise and ethicists’ expertise, and (3) priority of moral deference as an unavoidable implication of ethics expertise. Taken separately, each assumption can have unpalatable implications for ethics expertise that make skepticism seem more attractive; taken together, the resulting picture of ethics expertise is that much worse. Each of these assumptions is vulnerable to criticism, however, and jettisoning them enables a pluralist approach to ethics expertise less prone to skepticism and better suited for the ranging functions of ethics expertise in healthcare and other contexts.

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  The Cost of Doing (Cannabis) Business: An Analysis of Four Federal Tax Cases on the Disallowance of Deductions and Credits under Section 280E

  Alice E. Keane

  In recent years, as state legalization of growing and selling cannabis has become more common, the federal government has generally taken a hand’s off approach. As of June 2019, 39 states and Washington DC have legalized growing and selling cannabis for either medical or recreational purposes. In 2017, legal cannabis sales grew to $8.5 billion in North America, and these sales are expected to continue to grow dramatically. Cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under the federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. However, federal prosecutors have not enforced criminal laws against those involved in cannabis businesses under state sanctioned programs. In contrast, though, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have enforced Section 280E under Title 26 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code against cannabis businesses. This section prohibits these businesses from taking any deductions or credits against their gross income from carrying on a trade or business that involves trafficking in controlled substances, including cannabis. This puts these otherwise lawabiding businesses in a difficult position. Four recent federal court decisions, two in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and two in the U.S. Tax Court, demonstrate the application of Section 280E to cannabis businesses. These cases reveal that, unlike other businesses, they are taxed on their gross income and cannot deduct the costs of doing business, including some portions of the cost of goods sold and employee compensation. This limitation on deductions and credits can be imposed by the IRS even in the absence of proof that the business is trafficking cannabis or a criminal conviction. Because of this, cannabis businesses pay far more taxes on a percentage basis than other businesses. This likely will have a dramatic effect on whether new businesses will be able to break into the cannabis market and survive.

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  The Effect of Education and Formal Training on Ethical Behavior Among Russian Public Sector Employees

  Natalia Ermasova, Dina Clark, Lam Nguyen, and Sergey Ermasov

  The purpose of this paper is to investigate how education and formal training predict personal administrative ethics perceptions of Russian public sector employees while controlling for age. Using ANCOVA analyses and adopting the widely used Clark and Clark’s Personal Business Ethics Scores measure, this study analyzed the ethical perception of 199 Russian public sector employees. Significant correlations were observed between personal administrative ethics perceptions of Russian public sector employees and level of education. The respondents with doctorate degrees scored significantly higher PBES, followed by respondents with bachelor degrees, compared to respondents with two years of college and high school diploma. We did not find significant differences in ethical behavior and formal training. Researchers and scholars in cross-cultural management and business ethics fields can benefit from this study as it provides more empirical results in understanding the impact of educational and cultural factors on the ethical maturity of public sector employees in different countries. Leaders, managers, and practitioners can benefit from this study as it provides managerial implications in managing public sector employees in the most effective and efficient manner. The results from this research suggest that academic ethics education plays a critical role in creating an ethical workplace climate in Russia. This study fills the gap in the literature and offers a unique analysis of the administrative ethics perceptions of Russian public sector employees. Determining the types of administrative ethics education and training that are most effective in Russia would be beneficial to researchers and practitioners.

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  ''The Girls of Akure are Now too Costly'': Gender, Bridewealth and Legal Debates over Marriage in Colonial Southwestern Nigeria

  Morenikenji Asaaju

  This study demonstrates how the junior men created an important status for themselves as they negotiated the authority of the senior men (chiefs and fathers) who facilitated marriage relations and served as cultural guardians. I then link this struggle to the larger legal debates on marriage. As young men stated their perspectives on marriage payments, they continuously unveiled a number of sociocultural and economic matters that connect intensely to the broader social change under British colonialism.

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  The Impact of ICT Training on Income Generation Opportunities for Vulnerable Young Adults in Lebanon

  Rasha Elhage and Chantal Lakkis

  The aim of this study was to identify if acquiring ICT skills through DOT Lebanon’s ICT training program (a local NGO) improved income generation opportunities after 3-months of completing the training. The target population was the NGO’s vulnerable young beneficiaries. This study was completed in an effort to find creative and digital solutions to the high rate of youth unemployment in Lebanon (37%), one of the highest rates in the world. Results showed that 48% of beneficiaries who were unemployed at baseline, were exposed to at least one income generation opportunity 3 months after completing the DOT Lebanon training. Also, 49% of beneficiaries who were already employed at baseline were exposed to at least one income generation opportunity. Gender, English proficiency and governorate were variables that were found to be statistically significant. Males were more likely than females to be exposed to income generation opportunities. Those who knew little English had better chances than those who had no English proficiency. Beneficiaries living in the capital Beirut were more likely than others to be exposed to income generation opportunities.

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  The Manipulation of Aboveground Litter Input Affects Soil CO2 Efflux in a Subtropical Liquidambar Forest in China

  Wende Yan, Yuanying Peng, Cao Zhang, and Xiaoyong Chen

  Litters on the forest floor represent an important organic carbon (C) sources from aboveground plants to the soil, which therefore have a significant influence on belowground processes such as soil respiration. In this study, dynamic property of soil respiration was investigated under aboveground litter manipulation treatments in a liquidambar forest in subtropical China. The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of changing aboveground litter inputs on soil CO2 emission in forests. The litter manipulation included litter addition (LA), litter removal (LR) and litter control (LC) treatments. Each litter treatment had six replications. Soil respiration rates were measured using an infrared gas analyzer system (LI-COR 8100) with soil chambers. The results showed that mean soil respiration rates increased significantly in LA plots (mean ± SE: 2.21 ± 0.44 μmol m-2 s-1; P<0.05) and decreased slightly in LR plots (1.17 ± 0.16 μmol m-2 s-1) when compared to control plots (1.42 ± 0.20 μmol m-2 s-1). On average, LA treatment significantly increased annual soil respiration by about 56% (837.5 ± 165 gC m-2 year-1), while LR treatment decreased soil respiration by approximately 17% (443.1 ± 61.7 gC m-2 year-1) compared with the control (535.5 ± 75.7 gC m-2 year-1). The “priming effect” was a primary contributor to the increase of soil respiration in LA treatments and the reduction of soil CO2 efflux was mainly ascribed to the elimination of organic C sources in LR treatments. Soil temperature was the main factor affecting seasonal variation in soil respiration. Up to the 90% to 95% seasonal variation in soil respiration is explained by soil temperature within each of the litter treatments. Our study indicated that changes in litter inputs due to climate change and human practices would significantly affected soil CO2 emission and would subsequently affect C balance in subtropical forests.

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  Undergraduate and Graduate Communication Sciences and Disorders Students׳ Views Regarding the Pursuit of a Doctorate of Philosophy Degree

  Danielle Osmelak

  There is a recognized shortage of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) professionals who hold a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in the field of CSD. The purpose of this study was to explore CSD students׳ views towards pursuing a PhD and to investigate the relationship between CSD students׳ exposure to research and their views regarding the pursuit of a PhD in order to understand and generate possible solutions to the PhD shortage. Method: The quantitative cross-sectional survey study included undergraduate (n = 49) and graduate (n = 51) CSD students from 12 Midwestern CSD institutions in the United States. The CSD PhD survey was administered via an online survey tool. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, and the nonparametric Friedman׳s test with a series of post-hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results: Participants most frequently ranked research interest, desire for knowledge, and making a contribution to the discipline as the most important reasons why one would pursue a PhD. Participants most frequently ranked lack of research interest, satisfaction with current degree and position, and cost of doctoral program as the most important reasons why one would not pursue a PhD. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between CSD students׳ interest in research and their views about pursuing a PhD. Discussion: The implications of this study support the need to further investigate the relationship between students׳ exposure and interest in research and their views about pursuing a PhD in order to optimize PhD recruitment efforts