Williams Hierarchical Integrated Model Measurement: Assessment Design, Construction, and Initial Validation

The purpose of this study was to design and pilot an instrument, the WHIMM, that uses the Williams Hierarchical Integrated Model as a foundation for measuring needs met within and outside of substance use for individuals age 18 and older who report previously considering cutting down on alcohol or drug use. Instrument construction and validation were completed using a first pilot (n=200), a pilot one-re-contact (n=50), and a final administration (n=420). The scale development process allowed for initial validation of the WHIMM, including measurement of inter-item reliability, test-retest reliability, correlation between subscales, and construct validity. In addition, a scoring metric was developed to allow an individual’s WHIMM results to be interpreted based upon the national normative sample used for the present study. The overall WHIMM and each of the subscales for the Global and Substance Use forms yielded Cronbach’s alpha inter-item reliability coefficients equal to or greater than .90. Test-retest reliability for the WHIMM Global and Substance Use forms was generally adequate with the majority of subscales producing a minimum test-retest reliability coefficient of .70. The construct validity tests of the WHIMM demonstrated that the constructs measured by the WHIMM differ substantially from the constructs that are measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT; Babor, Higgins-Biddle, Saunders, & Monteiro, 2001) and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST; Skinner, 1982). Exploratory factor analysis loosely supported the Williams Hierarchical Integrated Model’s discrete but interrelated elements. There were statistically-significant differences between scores on the WHIMM Global and WHIMM Substance Use forms. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are also presented

Conceptualizations of Substance Use, Abuse, Dependence, and Treatment: A Qualitative Comparison of Experiences of Italian and American Counselors-In-Training

The present study is a qualitative exploration of the conceptualizations of substance use, abuse, dependence, and treatment from the perspectives of Italian and American counselors-in-training. The researcher conducted semi- structured interviews with two Italian and two American graduate-level counseling students. Thematic elements identified based upon collected data include differential attitudes toward alcohol and marijuana compared to illicit drug use in both Italy and the United States, consequences experienced as a result of problematic substance use, and the impact of stigma on opportunities following treatment. Differences in treatment practices and standards and differences in vocational opportunities following treatment in Italy and the United States were reported by participants. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are provided based upon findings

Divided We Fall: The Story of Separate and Unequal Suburban Schools 60 Years after Brown v. Board of Education

This report is a clarion call for those paying attention to the changing racial and ethnic demographics of this country and its suburbs in particular. It is the in-depth story of one suburban county and its public schools as the demographics of who lives in the suburbs versus the cities in the 21st century is shifting quickly, as the affluent and the poor, the black and the white are trading places across urban-suburban boundary lines. The same story could be told about hundreds of suburban counties across the country that are facing similar pressures and approaching similar breaking points. In the statistical data we analyzed and in the voices of the 800 people we interviewed and surveyed in Nassau County, Long Island - the home of Levittown, the first post-WWII archetypal suburb -- there is mounting anxiety about the future of American suburbs and their public schools. We found much frustration about how the economy, housing market, lack of infrastructure and public policies negatively affect these communities. In this report, we convert this angst into a reality check for anyone who may think that racially and ethnically diverse suburbs are easily accomplished or that they do not face serious obstacles. These obstacles include racially and ethnically segregated housing patterns amid fragmented and divided municipalities and school districts and the brain drain of more affluent and educated residents who grew up in the suburbs but now prefer city life. Meanwhile, these suburbs are tubs on their own bottoms, heavily reliant on local sources of funding, namely property taxes, to pay for public schools and municipal services. This means that public school resources and reputations are spread unevenly across separate and unequal suburban school districts

Swingbed Amine Carbon Dioxide Removal Flight Experiment - Feasibility Study and Concept Development for Cost-Effective Exploration Technology Maturation on The International Space Station

The completion of International Space Station Assembly and transition to a full six person crew has created the opportunity to create and implement flight experiments that will drive down the ultimate risks and cost for human space exploration by maturing exploration technologies in realistic space environments that are impossible or incredibly costly to duplicate in terrestrial laboratories. An early opportunity for such a technology maturation experiment was recognized in the amine swingbed technology baselined for carbon dioxide and humidity control on the Orion spacecraft and Constellation Spacesuit System. An experiment concept using an existing high fidelity laboratory swing bed prototype has been evaluated in a feasibility and concept definition study leading to the conclusion that the envisioned flight experiment can be both feasible and of significant value for NASA s space exploration technology development efforts. Based on the results of that study NASA has proceeded with detailed design and implementation for the flight experiment. The study effort included the evaluation of technology risks, the extent to which ISS provided unique opportunities to understand them, and the implications of the resulting targeted risks for the experiment design and operational parameters. Based on those objectives and characteristics, ISS safety and integration requirements were examined, experiment concepts developed to address them and their feasibility assessed. This paper will describe the analysis effort and conclusions and present the resulting flight experiment concept. The flight experiment, implemented by NASA and launched in two packages in January and August 2011, integrates the swing bed with supporting elements including electrical power and controls, sensors, cooling, heating, fans, air- and water-conserving functionality, and mechanical packaging structure. It is now on board the ISS awaiting installation and activation

Roadkill scavenging behaviour in an urban environment

Roads can have negative impacts on wildlife through indirect effects such as fragmentation of habitat, or through direct effects such as fatal collisions with vehicles. Wildlife deaths on British roads number in the millions per year, so the resulting carcasses represent a substantial carrion biomass available as food for scavengers. By removing roadkill in urban areas, scavengers perform a valuable ecosystem service, but the rapid removal of these carcasses by scavengers could bias estimates of the impacts of roads on wildlife. In order to evaluate the scale and context of urban roadkill scavenging, we examined: (i) which species scavenge on roadkill in urban areas, (ii) the likelihood of roadkill being removed by scavengers, and (iii) whether spatial and temporal factors (habitat type and time of day) influenced the rate of removal. Camera traps baited with chicken heads as simulated ‘roadkill corpses’ were deployed in six residential and six parkland sites in the city of Cardiff, UK. Seven species were observed removing the roadkill, with corvids being the most common scavengers, responsible for 42% of removals. Of the 120 corpses, 90 (76%) were removed within 12 h. Time of day had a significant effect on the rate of removal, with the number of carcass removals peaking in the first few hours of daylight. Of roadkill placed at 9 am, 62% of carcasses had been removed after only 2 h. Removal of corpses by scavengers could mean that the actual number of road deaths is six times more than that observed during surveys

2016-2017 Scholarship Fund Concert at Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club

https://spiral.lynn.edu/foc-events/1022/thumbnail.jp

Manual / Issue 1 / Hand in Hand

Manual, a journal about art and its making. Hand in Hand. The inaugural issue of The Manual, a twice-yearly publication by the RISD Museum. The theme of this first issue is “hand in hand,” a phrase first recorded in the 16th century. Its early usage described the clasping of palm to palm, but the term has since come to encompass more than this literal meaning. To be hand in hand is also to be connected, joined, concurrent, well matched. Thumb through these pages to find rigorous, imaginative musings as artists and academics make solid contact, gesture wildly, and put their fingers on the pulse of new ideas. In your grasp, an open invitation to explore objects and materials, and the meanings and makings of things. Softcover, 48 pages. Published 2013 by the RISD Museum. Proceeds from RISD Museum publications support the work of the museum. Manual 1 (Hand in Hand) contributors include Sheila Bonde, Robert Brinkerhoff, Kate Irvin, James McShane, Maureen C. O’Brien, and Elizabeth A. Williams.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdmuseum_journals/1000/thumbnail.jp