Demographic, Economic, and Social Transformations in Bronx Community District 9: Parkchester, Unionport, Soundview, Castle Hill, and Clason Point, 1990 - 2006

Introduction: This report analyzes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics among the five largest Latino nationality groups during 1990-2006 in the NYC Community District 9 of the borough of the Bronx, which comprises the neighborhoods of Parkchester, Unionport, Soundview, Castle Hill, and Clason Point. Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates. Results: Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino subgroup in the Bronx Community District 9, accounting for over 32% of the total population and 75% of the Latino population in the district. Latinos in the Bronx Community District 9, as a group, tend to be younger than non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks. Among the major racial/ethnic groups, Latinos have the second lowest homeownership rate in the district after non-Hispanic Blacks. The annual median incomes of the majority of the residents in the Bronx Community District 9 have increased since 1990. Asians and Non-Hispanic Whites had the largest median incomes even though they represent the smallest segments of the total population in the district. Among Latinos, Ecuadorians and Guatemalans also had the largest median incomes even though they represented the smallest segments of the Latino population in Community District 9. Educational attainment levels differed significantly among the major racial/ethnic groups, with Asians achieving significantly higher educational attainment levels over Latinos, which had the lowest percentage of individuals with a Bachelor’s or higher degree. Among Latinos, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans had the highest percentage of people 25 years and older who had a B.A. or higher degree. Discussion: Bronx-based stakeholders and advocacy groups may find this report valuable when attempting to identify key trends and obstacles facing Latinos in these communities and better allocate time and resources

Internet Giants as Quasi-Governmental Actors and the Limits of Contractual Consent

Although the government’s data-mining program relied heavily on information and technology that the government received from private companies, relatively little of the public outrage generated by Edward Snowden’s revelations was directed at those private companies. We argue that the mystique of the Internet giants and the myth of contractual consent combine to mute criticisms that otherwise might be directed at the real data-mining masterminds. As a result, consumers are deemed to have consented to the use of their private information in ways that they would not agree to had they known the purposes to which their information would be put and the entities – including the federal government – with whom their information would be shared. We also call into question the distinction between governmental actors and private actors in this realm, as the Internet giants increasingly exploit contractual mechanisms to operate with quasi-governmental powers in their relations with consumers. As regulators and policymakers focus on how to better protect consumer data, we propose that solutions that rely upon consumer permission adopt a more exacting and limited concept of the consent required before private entities may collect or make use of consumer’s information where such uses touch upon privacy interests

The Role of Motivation in Online Professional Learning

The importance of online learning has been highlighted by higher education, and online program administrators have looked for management strategies to establish competitive advantages through student satisfaction and loyalty. This research investigated theroles of various learning motivations (i.e., autonomous motivation, external motivation, need achievement, goal setting, social comparison, and reinforcement), perceived value, and satisfaction to predict students’ loyalty toward an online program in the MBA context. Data were collected from online panel members of Qualtrics who were currently enrolled in online MBA programs in the United States. The empirical findings identify that perceived value was significantly influenced by external motivation, need achievement, goal setting, and reinforcement. MBA program satisfaction was positively affected by need achievement and reinforcement, and loyalty toward an MBA program was significantly influenced by perceived value and MBA program satisfaction. Overall, these results indicate the relative importance of each learning motivation for predicting online students’ loyalty

From aptamer-based biomarker discovery to diagnostic and clinical applications: an aptamer-based, streamlined multiplex proteomic assay

Recently, we reported an aptamer-based, highly multiplexed assay for the purpose of biomarker identification. To enable seamless transition from highly multiplexed biomarker discovery assays to a format suitable and convenient for diagnostic and life-science applications, we developed a streamlined, plate-based version of the assay. The plate-based version of the assay is robust, sensitive (sub-picomolar), rapid, can be highly multiplexed (upwards of 60 analytes), and fully automated. We demonstrate that quantification by microarray-based hybridization, Luminex bead-based methods, and qPCR are each compatible with our platform, further expanding the breadth of proteomic applications for a wide user community

The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XXV. A Recalibration of Cepheid Distances to Type Ia Supernovae and the Value of the Hubble Constant

Cepheid-based distances to seven Type Ia supernovae (SNe)-host galaxies have been derived using the standard HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale pipeline. For the first time, this allows for a transparent comparison of data accumulated as part of three different HST projects, the Key Project, the Sandage et al. Type Ia SNe program, and the Tanvir et al. Leo I Group study. Re-analyzing the Tanvir et al. galaxy and six Sandage et al. galaxies we find a mean (weighted) offset in true distance moduli of 0.12+/-0.07 mag -- i.e., 6% in linear distance -- in the sense of reducing the distance scale, or increasing H0. Adopting the reddening-corrected Hubble relations of Suntzeff et al. (1999), tied to a zero point based upon SNe~1990N, 1981B, 1998bu, 1989B, 1972E and 1960F and the photometric calibration of Hill et al. (1998), leads to a Hubble constant of H0=68+/-2(random)+/-5(systematic) km/s/Mpc. Adopting the Kennicutt et al. (1998) Cepheid period-luminosity-metallicity dependency decreases the inferred H0 by 4%. The H0 result from Type Ia SNe is now in good agreement, to within their respective uncertainties, with that from the Tully-Fisher and surface brightness fluctuation relations.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 62 pages, LaTeX, 9 Postscript figures. Also available at http://casa.colorado.edu/~bgibson/publications.htm

PKCε Overexpression, Irrespective of Genetic Background, Sensitizes Skin to UVR-Induced Development of Squamous-Cell Carcinomas

Chronic exposure to UVR is the major etiologic factor in the development of human skin cancers including squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC). We have previously shown that protein Kinase C epsilon (PKCε) transgenic mice on FVB/N background, which overexpress PKCε protein approximately eightfold over endogenous levels in epidermis, exhibit about threefold more sensitivity than wild-type littermates to UVR-induced development of SCC. To determine whether it is PKCε and not the mouse genetic background that determines susceptibility to UVR carcinogenesis, we cross-bred PKCε FVB/N transgenic mice with SKH-1 hairless mice to generate PKCε-overexpressing SKH-1 hairless mice. To evaluate the susceptibility of PKCε SKH-1 hairless transgenic mice to UVR carcinogenesis, the mice were exposed to UVR (1–2KJm−2) three times weekly from a bank of six kodacel-filtered FS40 sunlamps. As compared with the wild-type hairless mice, PKCε overexpression in SKH-1 hairless mice decreased the latency (12 weeks), whereas it increased the incidence (twofold) and multiplicity (fourfold) of SCC. The SKH hairless transgenic mice were observed to be as sensitive as FVB/N transgenic mice to UVR-induced development of SCC and expression of proliferative markers (proliferating cell nuclear antigen, signal transducers and activators of transcription 3, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2). The results indicate that PKCε level dictates susceptibility, irrespective of genetic background, to UVR carcinogenesis

The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XXVIII. Combining the Constraints on the Hubble Constant

Since the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope nine years ago, Cepheid distances to 25 galaxies have been determined for the purpose of calibrating secondary distance indicators. A variety of these can now be calibrated, and the accompanying papers by Sakai, Kelson, Ferrarese, and Gibson employ the full set of 25 galaxies to consider the Tully-Fisher relation, the fundamental plane of elliptical galaxies, Type Ia supernovae, and surface brightness fluctuations. When calibrated with Cepheid distances, each of these methods yields a measurement of the Hubble constant and a corresponding measurement uncertainty. We combine these measurements in this paper, together with a model of the velocity field, to yield the best available estimate of the value of H_0 within the range of these secondary distance indicators and its uncertainty. The result is H_0 = 71 +/- 6 km/sec/Mpc. The largest contributor to the uncertainty of this 67% confidence level result is the distance of the Large Magellanic Cloud, which has been assumed to be 50 +/- 3 kpc

Religious Identity, Religious Attendance, and Parental Control

Using a national sample of adolescents aged 10–18 years and their parents (N = 5,117), this article examines whether parental religious identity and religious participation are associated with the ways in which parents control their children. We hypothesize that both religious orthodoxy and weekly religious attendance are related to heightened levels of three elements of parental control: monitoring activities, normative regulations, and network closure. Results indicate that an orthodox religious identity for Catholic and Protestant parents and higher levels of religious attendance for parents as a whole are associated with increases in monitoring activities and normative regulations of American adolescents