Indiana Nonprofits: A Portrait of Religious Nonprofits and Secular Charities

Compares sources of revenue, staffing, volunteers, services, governance, financial management, information technology, and other criteria for Indiana faith-based organizations and secular charities. Includes recommendations for policymakers

WorldWide Telescope in Research and Education

The WorldWide Telescope computer program, released to researchers and the public as a free resource in 2008 by Microsoft Research, has changed the way the ever-growing Universe of online astronomical data is viewed and understood. The WWT program can be thought of as a scriptable, interactive, richly visual browser of the multi-wavelength Sky as we see it from Earth, and of the Universe as we would travel within it. In its web API format, WWT is being used as a service to display professional research data. In its desktop format, WWT works in concert (thanks to SAMP and other IVOA standards) with more traditional research applications such as ds9, Aladin and TOPCAT. The WWT Ambassadors Program (founded in 2009) recruits and trains astrophysically-literate volunteers (including retirees) who use WWT as a teaching tool in online, classroom, and informal educational settings. Early quantitative studies of WWTA indicate that student experiences with WWT enhance science learning dramatically. Thanks to the wealth of data it can access, and the growing number of services to which it connects, WWT is now a key linking technology in the Seamless Astronomy environment we seek to offer researchers, teachers, and students alike.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, describes software available at worldwidetelescope.or

Dorsal and ventral stimuli in cell–material interactions: effect on cell morphology

Cells behave differently between bidimensional (2D) and tridimensional (3D) environments. While most of the in vitro cultures are 2D, most of the in vivo extracellular matrices are 3D, which encourages the development of more relevant culture conditions, seeking to provide more physiological models for biomedicine (e.g., cancer, drug discovery and tissue engineering) and further insights into any dimension-dependent biological mechanism. In this study, cells were cultured between two protein coated surfaces (sandwich-like culture). Cells used both dorsal and ventral receptors to adhere and spread, undergoing morphological changes with respect to the 2D control. Combinations of fibronectin and bovine serum albumin on the dorsal and ventral sides led to different cell morphologies, which were quantified from bright field images by calculating the spreading area and circularity. Although the mechanism underlying these differences remains to be clarified, excitation of dorsal receptors by anchorage to extracellular proteins plays a key role on cell behavior. This approach—sandwich-like culture—becomes therefore a versatile method to study cell adhesion in well-defined conditions in a quasi 3D environment

Participatory Budgeting in the City of Kitchener: Influencing Perceptions of Park Access, Park Use and Citizen Engagement

There is consensus among urban researchers that access to public parks and participation in the planning process are important aspects of urban life. Public parks provide mental and physical health benefits to individuals, while also helping to promote sense of community and social cohesion. Involvement in the planning process can help to empower residents and allow them to positively shape their environment, while also creating effective and efficient planning outcomes. Despite these benefits, some city dwellers, particularly low-income and ethnic minority groups, perceive these spaces and opportunities as inaccessible. This can result in poorer health outcomes for these groups, as well as non-inclusive and non-representative participation in the planning process. The purpose of this study was to examine the Participatory Budgeting (PB) process, which more directly involves the public in the planning process, as a potential tool to address these issues. A mixed methods approach was used to assess the City of Kitchener’s PB Pilot Project, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative key informant interviews to gather data. The results showed that PB could help to improve perceptions of access and increase the use of parks, as well as positively influence citizen engagement. Key informants identified that PB gave residents autonomy, influence, and ownership in the decision-making process, which resulted in park space that reflects their needs and over which they have ownership. For these reasons, key informants thought that PB could positively influence perceptions of access and park use. A third of the survey participants indicated that their barriers to park use would be reduced, suggesting their perceptions of access improved, and 57 per cent of participants indicated that their park use would increase. The increased outreach efforts by the City were noted as key to increasing and expanding participation, which was confirmed by the survey results, as 54 per cent of respondents were involved sometimes or never prior to the Pilot Project. Key informants identified the potential for PB to empower and increase future civic engagement, as residents were able to see the direct impacts of their involvement, as well as build relationships, social capital, and democratic capacity. The survey results also indicated that PB could increase civic engagement, as 46 per cent of participants said that their participation would increase. This study recommends PB as a tool for planners to develop positive perceptions of park access, increase park use, and positively influence the citizen engagement process

Hookah: Prevalence, Perceived Harmfulness, and Factors Associated with Its Use among College Students

Introduction: Given the increased use and availability of hookah among the US college students, coupled with the health risks related to its use, the current study examined awareness and use of hookah among college students as well as what characteristics are related to the use of hookah. Methods: The study utilized a self administered anonymous survey to gather information about hookah use from the students in an undergraduate general education class (n = 108). Results: The survey results indicated that the large majority of students were aware of hookah, and nearly half of them had used hookah more than once. Level of social activity (p = .016) and perceived healthy lifestyle (p = .042) were the independent predictors of hookah use. The use of hookah was perceived as more harmful than alcohol use, but not as harmful as cigarette smoking. Conclusions: The findings of this study can serve as a baseline for further studies on the subject, the results of which can lead to development of preventive programs targeting the populations that are most prone to hookah use

Adding Soft-Skills to the Hard Target of Adequacy: The Case for Rearticulation Based on a Multifocal Analysis

The purpose of this study is to expand the definition of adequacy by adding soft skills as a measure of school productivity. The singular focus on academic standards inherent in education policy has prevented scholars from seeing the concept of adequacy through myriad perspectives and has contributed to a resegregation of schools. Education policy includes legal, historical, and political perspectives; research inquiries must accommodate these multiple foci. This study made use of multifocal analysis to investigate the development of the concept of adequacy in South Carolina. Conclusions suggest an expanded definition of adequacy has potential for addressing school financing policy, but also for making historical, political and legal contributions to educational and economic policies aimed at repurposing schools

WorldWide Telescope in Research and Education

The WorldWide Telescope computer program, released to researchers and the public as a free resource in 2008 by Microsoft Research, has changed the way the ever-growing Universe of online astronomical data is viewed and understood. The WWT program can be thought of as a scriptable, interactive, richly visual browser of the multi-wavelength Sky as we see it from Earth, and of the Universe as we would travel within it. In its web API format, WWT is being used as a service to display professional research data. In its desktop format, WWT works in concert (thanks to SAMP and other IVOA standards) with more traditional research applications such as ds9, Aladin and TOPCAT. The WWT Ambassadors Program (founded in 2009) recruits and trains astrophysically-literate volunteers (including retirees) who use WWT as a teaching tool in online, classroom, and informal educational settings. Early quantitative studies of WWTA indicate that student experiences with WWT enhance science learning dramatically. Thanks to the wealth of data it can access, and the growing number of services to which it connects, WWT is now a key linking technology in the Seamless Astronomy environment we seek to offer researchers, teachers, and students alike.Astronom

Exploring the Relationship Between Covert Narcissism and Amorality: The Mediating Influences of Self-efficacy and Psychological Entitlement

Narcissism, as a personality construct, has attracted attention from countless scholars across multiple disciplines. It has been suggested that two forms of narcissism exist (Wink, 1991) and research has supported the delineation of overt (grandiose) and covert (hypersensitive) narcissism (Dickinson & Pincus, 2003; Gabbard, 2009; Luchner, Houston, Walker, & Houston, 2011). To date, most of the research devoted to narcissism has been focused on the overt rather than the covert form (Cain, Pincus, & Ansell, 2008). Further, researchers propose that a decreased level of meaningful relational interactions among narcissists may result in a higher propensity for amoral behaviors. Thus, to extend the research the current study explores the influence of several mediating variables on the relationship between covert narcissism and amorality. The current study found a negative relationship between covert narcissism and self-efficacy as well as an anticipated positive relationship between covert narcissism and psychological entitlement. It was also observed that self-efficacy and psychological entitlement did partially mediate the relationship between covert narcissism and higher amorality, supporting the study’s predictions