Frequency and Correlates of Campus Crime: Missouri Public Postsecondary Institutions

Data from 34 public postsecondary institutions in Missouri showed liquor- and drug-related offenses and burglary as the most frequent campus crimes. Four-year institutions, institutions with a greater number of students, full-time students, younger students, out-of-state students, and a larger percentage of program completion were positively correlated with campus crime

School Mobility and Students’ Academic and Behavioral Outcomes

The study examined estimated effects of school mobility on students’ academic and behavioral outcomes. Based on data for 2,560 public schools from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) 2007-2008, the findings indicate that schools serving a total student population of more than 50% minority students, high schools, and urban schools tend to have more school mobility than their counterparts. After controlling for crime prevention programs, violence, and school background characteristics, school mobility is negatively associated with principals’ perceived students’ aspiration and school achievement and positively associated with students’ insubordination. Policy implications for school leaders are offered

Student Insubordination, Discipline and Safety Initiatives in Urban Schools

This study examines school factors associated with student insubordination in urban schools. Using data from 1,493 public schools (School Survey on Crime and Safety 2007-2008), multivariate regression analyses show that schools with more disadvantaged students (e.g., ethnic minority students, underachievers, and special education students) tend to have more insubordination incidents after controlling for violence incidents and school safety initiatives. Among school factors, perceived school value and parental involvement are consistently and negatively associated with both the actual number of incidents and principals’ perception of insubordination. Teacher training programs and student-oriented crime prevention programs are associated differently with each type of student insubordination

A Mandatory Uniform Policy in Urban Schools: Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2003-04

The main purpose of the study is to examine the relations between a mandatory school uniform policy and student problem behavior. The study is based on the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) 2003-04 data. Analyzing data from 421 urban schools, the study found that schools adopting a mandatory uniform policy are negatively associated with rates of student problem behaviors except at the high school level. As with other school safety initiatives, parental involvement at the elementary school level, and teacher training and community efforts at the high school level were revealed as negative predictors of student problem behavior

Uniform Policies, School Violence, and School Outcomes: From Principal’s Perspective

This study explores the relationships between uniform policies and school outcomes by analyzing data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety 2007-2008. Data from 387 urban elementary schools indicate that schools with uniform policies tend to have more violent incidents than schools without uniform policies. Perceptions of principals indicate more frequent incidents (e.g., verbal abuse of teacher, disrespect to teacher, and classroom disorder) in schools with uniform policies than schools with no uniform policies. In addition, school violence measured by disciplinary outcomes shows that schools with uniform policies have more drug problems, physical attacks or fights, insubordination, gang-related incidents, and disruptions than schools without uniform policies. After controlling for school characteristics and school violence, multivariate regression analyses show that schools with uniform policies are positively associated with achievement and learning value, but negatively with students’ aspiration

Disgust Promotes Disposal: Souring the Status Quo

Humans naturally dispose of objects that disgust them. Is this phenomenon so deeply embedded that even incidental disgust--i.e., where the source of disgust is unrelated to a possessed object--triggers disposal? Two experiments were designed to answer this question. Two film clips served as disgust and neutral primes; the objects were routine commodities (boxes of office supplies). Results revealed that the incidental disgust condition powerfully increased the frequency with which decision makers traded away a commodity they owned for a new commodity (more than doubling the probability in each condition), thereby countering otherwise robust status quo bias (Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988). Decision makers were unaware of disgust's impact. Even when warned to correct for it, they failed to do so. These studies presented real choices with tangible rewards. Their findings thus have implications not only for theories of affect and choice, but also for practical improvements in everyday decisions.

Mercury speciation in Galveston Bay, Texas: the importance of complexation by natural organic ligands

The major goal of this research is the development of a competitive ligand equilibration-solvent solvent extraction (CLE-SSE) method to determine organically complexed mercury species in estuarine water. The method was applied to estuarine surface waters of Galveston Bay and the water column of Offatts Bayou. Thermodynamic equilibrium modeling estimated organically complexed mercury species in estuarine water using the conditional stability constants of mercury-organic complexes and the concentrations of organic ligands determined by CLE-SSE. Two competing ligands, chloride and thiosalicylic acid (TSA), were used for CLE-SSE. Chloride ion competition determined conditional stability constants for 1 : 1 mercury-ligand complexes ranging from ~1023 to ~1024 with concentrations of organic ligands at low nM levels. TSA competition determined stronger mercury-binding ligands by manipulating the TSA concentration such that a higher binding strength was achieved than that for the mercury-chloride complex. TSA competition determined conditional stability constants for 1 : 1 mercury-ligand complexes ranging from ~1027 to ~1029, with ligand concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 pM. Mercury-organic binding strengths in these ranges are consistent with bidentate mercury complexation by low molecular weight organic thiols. A linear relationship was observed between log stability constants for the mercury-ligand complex and log ligand concentrations, supporting the hypothesis that there is a continuum of mercury binding site strengths associated with dissolved organic matter. In Galveston Bay, organically complexed mercury accounted for > 95 % of the total dissolved mercury in surface water. Organic complexation of mercury coupled with mercury dissolution from particulate phases controls the filter-passing mercury distribution in surface waters of Galveston Bay. The estuarine distributional features of mercury-complexing organic ligands were similar to those of glutathione, supporting mercury complexation by a thiol binding group. In Offatts Bayou, a seasonally anoxic bayou on Galveston Bay, thermodynamic equilibrium modeling suggests that the speciation of dissolved mercury in anoxic systems is dominated by sulfide complexation rather than organic complexation

Disgust Promotes Disposal: Souring the Status Quo

Humans naturally dispose of objects that disgust them. Is this phenomenon so deeply embedded that even incidental disgust – i.e., where the source of disgust is unrelated to a possessed object – triggers disposal? Two experiments were designed to answer this question. Two film clips served as disgust and neutral primes; the objects were routine commodities (boxes of office supplies). Results revealed that the incidental disgust condition powerfully increased the frequency with which decision makers traded away a commodity they owned for a new commodity (more than doubling the probability in each condition), thereby countering otherwise robust status quo bias (Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988). Decision makers were unaware of disgust’s impact. Even when warned to correct for it, they failed to do so. These studies presented real choices with tangible rewards. Their findings thus have implications not only for theories of affect and choice, but also for practical improvements in everyday decisions

Thyroid Isthmus Length and Iodine Turnover as Predictors of Successful Radioactive Iodine Therapy in Patients with Graves’ Disease

Radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy is an effective treatment option for Graves’ disease. However, predicting treatment failures after RAI therapy remains controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate the factors associated with the success rate of RAI therapy for treatment of Graves’ hyperthyroidism. Thyroid functional outcome, pre-RAI ultrasonographic features, and clinical parameters were evaluated retrospectively in 98 patients followed up for at least 12 months after RAI (mean RAI dose was 11.7 ± 1.8 mCi). Hypothyroidism was achieved in 59 patients (60.2%), and euthyroidism in 16 patients (16.3%), while 23 patients (23.5%) remained hyperthyroid. Age, sex, body mass index, pre-RAI thyroid function, or thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin levels were not associated with treatment outcome. Length of thyroid isthmus (p=0.028) and 2- to 24-hour iodine uptake ratios (p=0.002) were significantly associated with treatment failure, which was defined as a persistent hyperthyroid status after RAI therapy. Patients with a longer isthmus had a higher risk of remaining hyperthyroid, with a threshold for isthmus length of 5.2 mm, with a sensitivity of 69.6% and specificity of 70.3% for treatment success. Measuring the length of the thyroid isthmus can be a simple and useful way to predict RAI treatment outcome