Free Expression in Arts Funding

The result of almost two years of research, this report surveys free expression policies among state and local arts agencies, including procedures for anticipating and handling controversy. Its purpose is to provide the arts community, as well as others interested in censorship or cultural policy, with solid research that will enable grant-making agencies to take a principled stand on artistic freedom without alienating their audiences or losing their funding. The report includes candid interviews with agency officials regarding funding disputes, political accountability, and most important, ways of reaching out to communities and opening up dialogue about challenging or provocative art. The report also contains extensive background on the "funding wars" of the 1990s, illustrations, and two appendices summarizing free expression statements and policies among all state arts agencies and a random sample of local agencies.As the Executive Summary points out, despite America's recent history of attacks on controversial art, artistic freedom in the context of public funding remains a critical issue. The ability to make challenging art that can explore all facets of the human condition, including unpleasant ones, is essential to a vibrant culture and a healthy democracy. Neither private philanthropy nor the mass media conglomerates that dominate commercial entertainment can be counted upon to support the give-and-take of diverse viewpoints, reflected through literature, theater, music, film, and other visual art, or to provide visibility for the multi-layered, varied, and inventive cultures of America

Processing presupposition: Verifying sentences with ‘only’

With respect to how comprehenders process presupposition and handle presupposition failure when verifying sentences, at least two hypotheses are possible: (1) presuppositions are treated like preconditions for evaluating the truth or falsity of a sentence, and are systematically verified before the assertion, and (2) presuppositions are \u27backgrounded\u27 and therefore taken for granted—meaning that assertions are systematically evaluated first. Three sentence-picture verification experiments are presented which suggest some version of the latter view; the results are compatible with there being no explicit step of presupposition verification. Instead, presupposition failure arises only accidentally, or in cases where the content of the presupposition is made especially salient in the discourse context by some external means

Identification and nucleotide sequences of mxaA, mxaC, mxaK, mxaL, and mxaD genes from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1

The DNA sequence for a 4.4-kb HindIII-XhoI Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 DNA fragment that is known to contain three genes (mxaAKL) involved in incorporation of calcium into methanol dehydrogenase (I. W. Richardson and C. Anthony, Biochem. J. 287:709-7115, 1992) was determined. Five complete open reading frames and two partial open reading frames were found, suggesting that this region contains previously unidentified genes. A combination of sequence analysis, mutant complementation data, and gene expression studies showed that these genes correspond to mxaSACKLDorf1. Of the three previously unidentified genes (mxaC, mxaD, and orf1), mutant complementation studies showed that mxaC is required for methanol oxidation, while the function of the other two genes is still unknown

Nurse Practitioners’ Attitudes and Knowledge about Influenza Immunization

Influenza remains a leading cause of death nationally and internationally. Annual influenza immunization for healthcare workers has been recommended since 1984. Despite this, many healthcare workers do not receive the immunization. Nurse practitioners (NPs) are key primary care providers in the U.S. healthcare system. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and personal beliefs of NPs as a step toward understanding the reasons for the participation or non-participation in the influenza vaccine of this professional group. A quantitative cross-sectional survey of knowledge, attitudes, NP demographics, and patient factors was carried out. Most of the 174 participants had received the vaccine. Vaccine status was not correlated with the assessed risk level of patients. Available and mandatory vaccine in the workplace was correlated with vaccination status of the NP. Vaccine status of the NP was correlated with patient counseling to receive influenza immunization. Not all NPs agree with or adhere to federal vaccine recommendations. It is critically important for healthcare providers to base decisions affecting the health of themselves and their patients on evidence-based research

Understanding face and eye visibility in front-facing cameras of smartphones used in the wild

Commodity mobile devices are now equipped with high-resolution front-facing cameras, allowing applications in biometrics (e.g., FaceID in the iPhone X), facial expression analysis, or gaze interaction. However, it is unknown how often users hold devices in a way that allows capturing their face or eyes, and how this impacts detection accuracy. We collected 25,726 in-the-wild photos, taken from the front-facing camera of smartphones as well as associated application usage logs. We found that the full face is visible about 29% of the time, and that in most cases the face is only partially visible. Furthermore, we identified an influence of users' current activity; for example, when watching videos, the eyes but not the entire face are visible 75% of the time in our dataset. We found that a state-of-the-art face detection algorithm performs poorly against photos taken from front-facing cameras. We discuss how these findings impact mobile applications that leverage face and eye detection, and derive practical implications to address state-of-the art's limitations

Comparing the Impact of Cultural Factors on Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Chinese and Other Asian Background College Students with Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety

A cross-sectional survey of 204 Asian and Asian-American students at Binghamton University, including 103 students of Chinese descent and 101 students from other Asian backgrounds, was conducted through SONA. This study aimed to investigate the perceived support and cultural barriers faced by Asian and Asian-American college students experiencing depression and anxiety symptoms. The study found that depression and anxiety symptoms were significantly correlated with cultural stigma and barriers to seeking mental health treatment. Interestingly, perceived family support demonstrated a significant negative association with depression and anxiety symptoms, whereas perceived friend support was not correlated. The study suggests there is a need to reduce barriers and stigma to mental health services including making culturally sensitive adaptations. Future studies would benefit from a larger and more generalizable sample as well as the use of qualitative data to better understand the perceived cultural barriers to mental health encountered by Asian American college students.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2023/1043/thumbnail.jp