Exploring the Essence of Spirituality: A Phenomenological Study of Eight Students with Eight Different Worldviews

Throughout most facets of American life, there has been a renewed interest in and expression of spirituality. Religiosity and spirituality have been at the center of recent international events (e.g., September 11th) and political discussions (e.g., continuing debates about school prayer and the role of religion in the political process). As a consequence, campus communities are striving to make sense of spirituality and religious tolerance as well as their roles in helping American students understand themselves as part of a diverse democracy. This phenomenological study addresses these issues by asking eight students representing eight different worldviews (i.e., Agnosticism, Atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Muslim, Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism) about what spirituality means to them. Photo elicitation and semistructured interviewing are used as the primary means for collecting data. Results show that common to all eight perspectives is the idea that spirituality is the human attempt to make meaning of the self in connection to and with the external world. Implications for student development practice and future research are discussed

The development of a brief self-report questionnaire to measure 'recent' Rash Impulsivity: A preliminary investigation of its validity and association with recent alcohol consumption

Background: Traditionally, impulsivity has been regarded as a stable trait. However, a series of longitudinal and behavioural laboratory studies has found that impulsivity can fluctuate within individuals, suggesting that it has a state as well as a trait manifestation. Whilst existing impulsivity questionnaires tap the former, there is no self-report instrument to assess recent fluctuations in impulsivity. Research aims and design. The present study set out to develop and undertake preliminary validation of a measure of 'recent' impulsivity, focusing in particular on Rash Impulsivity. Part of the construct validation of the resulting Recent Rash Impulsivity Scale (RRIS) entailed examining its association with recent alcohol intake, since there are well-documented reciprocal relationships between alcohol consumption and inhibitory control. In developing the RRIS, items from existing trait impulsivity questionnaires were converted into a 'previous two weeks' format. The pilot RRIS was then administered, along with a parallel trait version (Trait Rash Impulsivity Scale; TRIS) and a well-established trait impulsivity measure (the BIS-11; Patton, Stanford & Barratt, 1995), to two cohorts of first-year undergraduates aged 17 to 25 (N = 240), on two occasions one month apart. Information about habitual and recent alcohol intake was also gathered. Results: Factor analyses on both the RRIS and TRIS identified two factors: 'Cognitive Impulsivity' (CogImp) and 'Motor Impulsivity' (MotImp). Consistent with the RRIS being sensitive to fluctuations in impulsivity, it was found that, as predicted: i) the RRIS was somewhat less strongly correlated than the TRIS with an established trait measure (the BIS-11; Patton et al., 1995); ii) the test-retest stability of 'Total' scores (CogImp and MotImp) was weaker for the RRIS than the TRIS; iii) there was evidence that the RRIS MotImp and Total scales were more strongly predicted by recent alcohol intake than were their trait equivalents; and iv) the RRIS CogImp and Total scales correlated more strongly with their trait equivalents in participants whose alcohol consumption had remained stable recently (relative to their habitual intake), compared to those whose consumption had recently changed. Conclusions: These data suggest that transient changes in impulsivity can be assessed via self-report, and that the RRIS is sensitive to recent changes in alcohol intake. Subject to a more intensive and detailed validation, it is thus promising as a tool for tapping and characterising fluctuations in behavioural control and for exploring a range of factors to which this might be associated

Breaking the Silence: Achieving a Positive Campus Climate for Diversity from the Staff Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that create a positive climate for diversity and to demonstrate how these factors predict outcomes related to achieving a positive campus climate for diversity. Based on survey data collected from 437 staff members employed at a large, public, predominantly White university in the Midwest, results suggest that the institution’s ability to achieve a positive climate for diversity reflects not only the personal characteristics of the staff member (race, gender, education level, and age) but also their perceptions of their immediate work environment. Implications are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43633/1/11162_2004_Article_8152.pd

Social Aggregation in Pea Aphids: Experiment and Random Walk Modeling

From bird flocks to fish schools and ungulate herds to insect swarms, social biological aggregations are found across the natural world. An ongoing challenge in the mathematical modeling of aggregations is to strengthen the connection between models and biological data by quantifying the rules that individuals follow. We model aggregation of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Specifically, we conduct experiments to track the motion of aphids walking in a featureless circular arena in order to deduce individual-level rules. We observe that each aphid transitions stochastically between a moving and a stationary state. Moving aphids follow a correlated random walk. The probabilities of motion state transitions, as well as the random walk parameters, depend strongly on distance to an aphid\u27s nearest neighbor. For large nearest neighbor distances, when an aphid is essentially isolated, its motion is ballistic with aphids moving faster, turning less, and being less likely to stop. In contrast, for short nearest neighbor distances, aphids move more slowly, turn more, and are more likely to become stationary; this behavior constitutes an aggregation mechanism. From the experimental data, we estimate the state transition probabilities and correlated random walk parameters as a function of nearest neighbor distance. With the individual-level model established, we assess whether it reproduces the macroscopic patterns of movement at the group level. To do so, we consider three distributions, namely distance to nearest neighbor, angle to nearest neighbor, and percentage of population moving at any given time. For each of these three distributions, we compare our experimental data to the output of numerical simulations of our nearest neighbor model, and of a control model in which aphids do not interact socially. Our stochastic, social nearest neighbor model reproduces salient features of the experimental data that are not captured by the control

First-year LGBQ+ students in higher education: who are they and where do they enroll?

Recent decades have seen a growing body of scholarship dedicated to the college experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ+) students. To date, research on LGBQ+ students offers much-needed insight into their postsecondary experiences and outcomes (Rankin et al., 2019), and large-scale surveys indicate the proportion of LGBQ+ students is on the rise (e.g., Eagan et al., 2015; 2017). Yet, other than a breakdown of the types of institutions at which LGBQ+ students enroll (e.g., public and private 4-year colleges and universities) (Eagan et al., 2015; 2017), there is no national snapshot of this group’s demographic characteristics. Further, comparatively little quantitative research on this population exists (Garvey, 2014), with only one national survey, the American College Health Association (ACHA) National College Health Assessment, consistently collecting data on LGBQ+-identified students for more than a decade. Given the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the LGBQ+ collegiate community and the implications of such insight, the purpose of this study is twofold. First, it provides an estimate of the first-year LGBQ+ college student population at specific institution types using national data from entering college students. Second, it yields new information on the characteristics of first-year LGBQ+ individuals in United States higher education. METHODS: Data for this study come from the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS). IDEALS—a national, longitudinal study of students’ experiences with and perspectives toward religious, worldview, and other types of diversity (including sexual orientation)—was first fielded in the fall of 2015 to entering students at 122 U.S. college and universities who were recruited based on a national sampling frame that accounted for geography, size, control, and selectivity. Of the 122 institutions, 32 are public (41% of respondents), 32 are Protestant-affiliated (21% of respondents), 29 are private nonsectarian (24% of respondents), 15 are Evangelical Protestant (7% of respondents), and 14 are Catholic-affiliated (8% of respondents). A total of 20,436 students participated in the first wave of data collection; however, data on sexual orientation were only collected from 121 colleges, as one institution opted to omit the sexual orientation question given concerns for student privacy. Additional tests confirmed the exclusion of this institution had no impact on the findings. [End Page 499] White women were overrepresented in the unweighted dataset, while Men of Color were underrepresented. In light of representation issues and to ensure nationally representative results, the dataset was weighted using the “Generalized Raking Method” (see Deville et al. [1993] for an overview of the method). The idea of this approach is to come up with adjustment factors so that the percentages found in a survey match a set of known population percentages. Using computer code publicly available through the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) (INSEE, 2018), weights were constructed to match the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) fall 2015 census of postsecondary enrollment on six dimensions: sex1 (female and male); race/ethnicity (Students of Color and white students); institutional status (private religious, private nonreligious, and public); Carnegie classification (large research or many doctoral programs, many master’s degree programs, and primarily bachelor’s or associate’s degree); geographic region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West), and urbanicity (urban/city-set institution and not-city-set institution). As a reliable, standardized, and transparent data source vetted by the National Center of Education Statistics, IPEDS reduces both biases and missing data potentials. Unless noted, all tables presented in the results are weighted according to conventional weighting practices (Deville et al., 1993). ANALYSES AND RESULTS: We conducted descriptive analyses to examine how many LGBQ+ first-year students enroll at U.S. four-year postsecondary institutions. Of the approximately 3.2 million students who entered college in 2015, the vast majority identified as heterosexual (86.2%, n = 2,775,399). However, with 13.8% of students identifying as LGBQ+ (n = 444,862), this study suggests that the percentage of LGBQ+ students on U.S. campuses is higher than...First author draf

Using structural equation modeling to validate the theory of planned behavior as a model for predicting student cheating

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86093/1/E3_Mayhew_et_al_2009.pd

The pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents: protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

[Background] Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of children and adolescents, with a significant impact on health services and the community in terms of economic and social burdens. The objective of this systematic review will be to evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments in children and adolescents with ADHD.[Methods] Searches involving PubMed/MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews will be used to identify related systematic reviews and relevant randomized trials. Search results will be supplemented by reports from the regulatory and health technology agencies, clinical trials registers and by data requested from trialists and/or pharmaceutical companies. We will consider studies evaluating pharmacological interventions (e.g. stimulants, non-stimulants, antidepressants), psychological interventions (e.g. behavioural interventions, cognitive training and neurofeedback) and complementary and alternative medicine interventions (e.g. dietary interventions, supplement with fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, aminoacids, herbal treatment, homeopathy, and mind-body interventions including massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, Tai chi). Eligible control conditions will be placebo, waitlist, no treatment and usual care. Randomized controlled trials of a minimum of 3 weeks duration will be included. The primary outcomes of interest will be the proportion of patients who responded to treatment and who dropped out of the allocated treatment, respectively. Secondary outcomes will include treatment discontinuation due to adverse events, as well as the occurrences of serious adverse events and specific adverse events (decreased weight, anorexia, insomnia and sleep disturbances, anxiety, syncope and cardiovascular events). Two reviewers will independently screen references identified by the literature search, as well as potentially relevant full-text articles in duplicate. Data will be abstracted and risk of bias will be appraised by two team members independently. Conflicts at all levels of screening and abstraction will be resolved through discussion. Random-effects pairwise meta-analyses and Bayesian network meta-analyses will be conducted where appropriate. .[Discussion] This systematic review and network meta-analysis will compare the efficacy and safety of treatments used for ADHD in children and adolescents. The findings will assist patients, clinicians and healthcare providers to make evidence-based decisions regarding treatment selection.Specific funding is provided by the Alicia Koplowitz Foundation (2014 to 2016). RT-S is supported by the Spanish Psychiatric Research Network, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CIBERSAM). ADM is partially funded by grant number R24 AT001293 from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the US National Institutes of Health. DM is funded by a University of Ottawa Research Chair

The value of CCTV surveillance cameras as an investigative tool: an empirical analysis

There has been extensive research on the value of closed-circuit television (CCTV) for preventing crime, but little on its value as an investigative tool. This study sought to establish how often CCTV provides useful evidence and how this is affected by circumstances, analysing 251,195 crimes recorded by British Transport Police that occurred on the British railway network between 2011 and 2015. CCTV was available to investigators in 45% of cases and judged to be useful in 29% (65% of cases in which it was available). Useful CCTV was associated with significantly increased chances of crimes being solved for all crime types except drugs/weapons possession and fraud. Images were more likely to be available for more-serious crimes, and less likely to be available for cases occurring at unknown times or in certain types of locations. Although this research was limited to offences on railways, it appears that CCTV is a powerful investigative tool for many types of crime. The usefulness of CCTV is limited by several factors, most notably the number of public areas not covered. Several recommendations for increasing the usefulness of CCTV are discussed

Studying synapses in human brain with array tomography and electron microscopy

Postmortem studies of synapses in human brain are problematic due to the axial resolution limit of light microscopy and the difficulty preserving and analyzing ultrastructure with electron microscopy. Array tomography overcomes these problems by embedding autopsy tissue in resin and cutting ribbons of ultrathin serial sections. Ribbons are imaged with immunofluorescence, allowing high-throughput imaging of tens of thousands of synapses to assess synapse density and protein composition. The protocol takes approximately 3 days per case, excluding image analysis, which is done at the end of the study. Parallel processing for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using a protocol modified to preserve structure in human samples allows complimentary ultrastructural studies. Incorporation of array tomography and TEM into brain banking is a potent way of phenotyping synapses in well-characterized clinical cohorts to develop clinico-pathological correlations at the synapse level. This will be important for research in neurodegenerative disease, developmental diseases, and psychiatric illness