Corner Culture: Corner Stores in the Black Pearl Neighborhood of New Orleans

The corner store represents a significant part of New Orleans\u27 history and neighborhoods. From essential grocery providers to bars and restaurants full of local character, these buildings have held a number of roles in the community. These roles have changed in response to development patterns, market pressures, and land-use regulation. A number of these traditional businesses still exist today as neighborhood cultural institutions throughout the city. Many more, however, have faced conversions to residential buildings, abandonment, or demolition. This case study addresses the significance of the corner store, identifies a number of factors leading to its decline, and suggests that a newly revised Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance in the city of New Orleans should reserve a place for these neighborhood businesses

Maternal Emotional Support following the Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse: A Qualitative Study

Essai doctoral présenté à la Faculté des Arts et des Sciences en vue de l’obtention du grade de doctorat en psychologie clinique (D. Psy)Non-offending caregiver (NOC) support has long been considered one of the most important protective factors in facilitating better child and adult adjustment following the disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA). However, recent findings have led authors to conclude that NOC support has yet to be properly conceptualized and operationalized within the CSA literature. Emotional support is one dimension that has consistently emerged in recent studies attempting to reconceptualize NOC support, but which also requires further theoretical investigation. This study interviewed 22 mothers about their experience and provision of emotional support following the disclosure of CSA. Data was analyzed using a method inspired by grounded theory. Mothers reported feeling initially overwhelmed and lost about how to emotionally support their child, but described an improvement in their capacities following therapy with their child. Furthermore, three overarching categories emerged outlining maternal emotional support strategies, each serving a specific emotional function: 1) elaborating, which encouraged children to talk about their experience following CSA, 2) soothing, which attempted to comfort children’s distress, and 3) orienting, which attempted to guide children’s recovery process. Implications are discussed for offering improved and more rapid clinical services for NOCs following the disclosure of CSA, as well as future development in the operationalization of NOC emotional support.Le soutien des parents non-agresseurs a longtemps été considéré comme un des facteurs protecteurs les plus importants pour faciliter l’adaptation des enfants à la suite du dévoilement d’une agression sexuelle (AS). Tout récemment, quelques auteurs concluent que le concept du « soutien des parents non-agresseurs » devrait être revu et mieux opérationnalisé. Le soutien émotionnel émerge des études récentes comme une dimension importante du soutien des parents non-agresseurs, mais celle-ci requiert d’être mieux définie et mesurée. Cette étude vise à documenter l’expérience des mères qui tentent de soutenir leurs enfants émotivement, et les façons dont elles offrent ce soutien. Ainsi, 22 mères ont été interviewées et les données ont été analysées à l’aide des procédures de la théorisation ancrée. Les résultats suggèrent que les mères se sentent généralement submergées et perdues face au soutien émotionnel à offrir à leurs enfants. Toutefois, elles décrivent une amélioration dans leurs capacités à parler et s’engager avec leurs enfants à la suite de leur participation à la thérapie avec ceux-ci. Les analyses permettent d’identifier trois ensembles de stratégies du soutien maternel émotionnel, mettant chacun en lumière une fonction spécifique du soutien émotionnel soit : 1) l’élaboration (encourager l’enfant à parler de son vécu), 2) l’apaisement (soulager la détresse de l’enfant), et 3) l’orientation (guider le processus de guérison de l’enfant). Les implications pour offrir rapidement des nouveaux services cliniques mieux adaptés aux besoins des mères à la suite du dévoilement, ainsi que pour le développement d’une meilleure opérationnalisation du concept du soutien, sont discutées

Drift Algae in New Haven Harbor and Impacts on Benthic Communities

In 2009 the University of New Haven initiated studies to develop a contemporary database and assessment of the benthic ecology of New Haven Harbor. Previous studies were last conducted in the 1970s and 1980s (e.g. McCusker, and Bosworth 1979, 1981, Rhoads and Germano 1982). Benthic populations and communities are excellent indicators of environmental conditions and are regularly used for environmental assessment in estuarine and coastal waters (e.g. Pearson and Rosenberg 1978, Rhoads et al. 1978, Zajac and Whitlatch 2001, Mangi 2003). Given the inherent ability of the benthos to integrate sediment and water quality, many environmental indicators and indices to assess the degree and nature of environmental change have been developed based on marine macrobenthic taxa and communities (e.g. Weisberg et al. 1997, Borja et al. 2000). Our findings have been reported to the Quinnipiac River Fund Board (Zajac and Brown 2012), and also have been presented at the Biennial Long Island Sound Research Conference that was held at the end of October 2010, and at national and regional meetings in 2011. Briefly, these studies showed that there are a diverse set of benthic (seafloor) habitats within the harbor that support a surprisingly diverse pool of species although there are areas that are impaired. Additionally, comparison to data collected in the 1980’s suggest that there has been an overall shift in the benthic community characteristics in New Haven Harbor suggesting a long-term degradation due to the presence / increased abundance of organisms that are typical under disturbed conditions

Risky business: growers' perceptions of organic and biodynamic farming in the tropics

Organic and biodynamic farming has emerged as a growing, niche sector in the agricultural industry. Research into stakeholders' risk perceptions of organic and biodynamic farming is surprisingly scarce. This paper uses qualitative data from a series of 32 interviews with growers and key respondents to illuminate how risk is interpreted in the agricultural community. This study showed that despite the diversity of the sample, there was broad consensus on the risks facing organic farmers. However, risk perceptions seemed to vary depending on personal values and institutional trust. Some of these farmers lacked confidence in agricultural institutions, were strongly opposed to the use of chemicals in farming on health and environmental grounds and perceived risk differently from their counterparts in conventional agriculture

Great Canadian Lagerstätten 5. Crawford Lake – A Canadian Holocene Lacustrine Konservat-Lagerstätte with Two-Century-Old Viable Dinoflagellate Cysts

In addition to commonly preserved microfossils like pollen and diatoms, the varved sediments of Crawford Lake, Ontario, contain the fossilized remains of otherwise rare microfossils. Bottom water anoxia resulted from the physiography of this small, deep lake and enhanced biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) during two distinct phases of human settlement: prehistoric Iroquoian (approximately 1268–1486 CE) and historic Euro-Canadians (since 1822 CE). The exceptional preservation of delicate organic-walled microfossils like rotifer loricae and cellulosic dinoflagellate thecae provides unparalleled insights into a Holocene freshwater lake ecosystem and allows the biological and taphonomic components of the fossil assemblage to be isolated. Bottom water anoxia may also have increased the longevity of cell contents: resting cysts of Parvodinium [Peridinium] inconspicuum (Lemmermann) Carty and Peridinium volzii Lemmermann. These were germinated from varves deposited nearly two centuries ago, extending the known span of viability of dinoflagellates.RÉSUMÉEn plus des microfossiles couramment conservés comme le pollen et les diatomées, les sédiments varvés du lac Crawford en Ontario, contiennent les restes fossilisés de microfossiles très rares. Le caractère anoxique des eaux de fond s’explique par la physiographie de ce petit lac profond et par une augmentation de la demande biochimique en oxygène (DBO) durant deux phases distinctes de peuplement humain : phase préhistorique iroquoienne (environ 1268 à 1486 CE) et une phase  historique euro-canadienne (depuis 1822 CE). La préservation exceptionnelle de délicats microfossiles à membranes organiques comme rotifère lorica et les thèques cellulosiques de dinoflagellés, ouvre une fenêtre inédite sur l’écosystème d’un lac d’eau douce Holocène et permet aux composants biologiques et taphonomiques de l'assemblage de fossiles d'être préservés isolément. L’anoxie des eaux de fond peut également avoir augmenté la longévité du contenu des cellules: kystes dormants de Parvodinium [Peridinium] inconspicuum (Lemmermann) Carty et de Peridinium volzii Lemmermann. Ces derniers ont été activés à partir de varves déposés il y a près de deux siècles, ce qui allonge la durée connue de la viabilité des dinoflagellés

Dual-Process Theory of Racial Isolation, Legal Cynicism, and Reported Crime

Why is neighborhood racial composition linked so strongly to police-reported crime? Common explanations include over-policing and negative interactions with police, but police reports of crime are heavily dependent on resident 911 calls. Using Sampson’s concept of legal cynicism and Vaisey’s dual-process theory, we theorize that racial concentration and isolation consciously and nonconsciously influence neighborhood variation in 911 calls for protection and prevention. The data we analyze are consistent with this thesis. Independent of police reports of crime, we find that neighborhood racial segregation in 1990 and the legal cynicism about crime prevention and protection it engenders have lasting effects on 911 calls more than a decade later, in 2006–2008. Our theory explains this persistent predictive influence through continuity and change in intervening factors. A source of cumulative continuity, the intensification of neighborhood racial concentration and isolation between 1990 and 2000, predicts 911 calls. Likewise, sources of change—heightened neighborhood incarceration and home foreclosures during the financial crisis in 2006–2008—also predict these calls. Our findings are consistent with legal cynicism theory’s focus on neighborhood disadvantage, racial isolation, and concerns about police protection and crime prevention; they correspond less with the emphasis of procedural justice theory on police legitimacy

Three-graviton scattering and recoil effects in M-atrix theory

We study the scattering of three gravitons in M-atrix theory at finite N. With a specific choice of the background we obtain the complete result up to two loops. The contributions from three-body forces agree with the ones presented in recent papers. We extend the calculation and evaluate the two-body exchanges as well. Such terms, somewhat difficult to isolate and compute, had been neglected so far in the existing literature. We show that the result we have obtained from M-atrix theory precisely matches the result from one-particle reducible tree diagrams in eleven-dimensional supergravity .Comment: corrected reference to the second paper in ref [6] in which recoil effects were considered and comparative comments added. latex, 22 page