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This paper presents student projects analyzing or using blockchain technologies, created by students enrolled in courses dedicated to teaching blockchain, at two different universities during the 2018- 2019 academic year. Students explored perceptions related to storing private healthcare information on a blockchain, managing the security of Internet of Things devices, maintaining public governmental records, and creating smart contracts. The course designs, which were centered around project-based learning, include self-regulated learning and peer feedback as ways to improve student learning. Students either wrote a research paper or worked in teams on a programming project to build and deploy a blockchain-based application using Solidity, a programming language for writing smart contracts on various blockchain platforms. For select student papers, this case study describes research methods and outcomes and how students worked together or made use of peer feedback to improve upon drafts of research questions and abstracts. For a development project in Solidity, this study presents the issues at hand along with interview results that guided the implementation. Teams shared lessons learned with other teams through a weekly status report to the whole class. While available support for the Solidity teams was not ideal, students learned to use available online resources for creating and testing smart contracts. Our findings suggest that a project-based learning approach is an effective way for students to expand and develop their knowledge of emerging technologies, like blockchain, and apply it in a variety of industries.

This article presents the keynote address of Joseph DiMaria, who retired in June 2004 as vice president for student affairs at the Community College of Rhode Island, at the NEACRAO Fall 2004 annual meeting. DiMaria relates a story that made an impact on his life, reflects on the lessons he learned, and shares some observations on leadership and professional growth.

How do climate risk beliefs affect coastal housing markets? This paper provides theoretical and empirical evidence. First, we build a dynamic housing market model and show that belief heterogeneity can reconcile prior mixed evidence on flood risk capitalization. Second, we implement a door-to-door survey in Rhode Island, finding significant flood risk underestimation and sorting based on risk perceptions and amenity values. Third, we estimate that coastal prices exceed fundamentals by 6 |$\%$| -13 |$\%$| in our benchmark area, with potentially higher overvaluation in other locations. Finally, we quantify both allocative inefficiency and distributional consequences arising from flood risk misperceptions and insurance policy reform. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors provide an account of their department's minimalist and largely reluctant approach to mandatory assessment in the past decade. A decade earlier, the department had gone all out in an experimental assessment effort supported by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education, an effort the department was neither willing nor able to make once the college's accreditation agency mandated assessment in 2000. The authors describe another "less-than-ideal design" that has nonetheless involved many of the assessment elements described elsewhere (e.g., alumni and student surveys, classroom assignments, external reviewers, research papers) and has nonetheless yielded usable and utilized feedback for both teaching and curriculum construction. (Contains 2 tables and 2 notes.)

Each year, the annual meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics (DPP) brings together a broad representation of the many active subfields of plasma physics and enjoys an audience that is equally diverse. The meeting was well attended and largely went as planned despite the interventions of hurricane Sandy which caused the city of Providence to shut-down during the first day of the conference. The meeting began on Monday morning with a review of the physics of cosmic rays, 2012 being the 100th year since their discovery, which illustrated the central importance of plasma physics to astrophysical problems. Subsequent reviews covered the importance of tokamak plasma boundaries, progress towards ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF), and magnetized plasma turbulence. The Maxwell prize address, by Professor Liu Chen, covered the field of nonlinear Alfvén wave physics. Tutorial lectures were presented on the verification of gyrokinetics, new capabilities in laboratory astrophysics, magnetic flux compression, and tokamak plasma start-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the 1996 Herman and Myrtle Goldstein Student Paper Competition. Entries for the competition should be submitted by April 1 to Martin J. Bide at the Department of Textiles on Kingston, Rhode Island. The competition, which is consistent with the objectives and goals of American Association of Textile Chemists & Colorists (AATCC), is categorized into undergraduate and graduate. The oral presentation of the papers of the top students is a feature every AATCC International Conference & Exhibition.

The article provides and overview on the research, which seeks to establish a link between mind and machine that can turn thought into movement, by John Donoghue, a neuroscientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and his colleagues. The researchers show that an implant, known as brain-computer interface, can bridge the gap between brain and movement for a quadriplegic patient. Brain signals were monitored and after acquiring consistent positive results, the researchers decoded the signals into computer language that is now used as brain of prosthetic hand.

For many sex workers, accessing and maintaining housing is one of the central reasons for engaging in sex work. Simultaneously, one of the most stringent barriers to accessible and affordable housing is the stigma and discrimination against sex work as a livelihood. This paper explores the relationship between barriers to accessing housing for sex workers and the systems that hold the barriers in place. This paper is based on qualitative research conducted by Ocean State Advocacy's research team. Using quantitative analysis of 100 surveys and qualitative analysis of 35 interviews conducted with sex workers living in Rhode Island, this paper discusses the ways housing improves the physical health, mental health, and overall wellbeing of sex workers. By including sex workers and centering their human rights in movements around housing equity and access, sex workers' needs are prioritized while increasing understanding of stigma and systemic disenfranchisement within the field of housing justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultramarathon openwater swimming (OWS) events are one of the toughest endurance challenges in the world. The sport has gained notoriety with athletes swimming across the English Channel, Diana Nyad swimming from Cuba to Florida, and the 5- and 10-km OWS in the Olympic schedule. The athletes who participate are exposed to dangerous conditions that expose risks inherent to the sport. The optimal time to prepare for an emergency is before it happens. The aim of this paper is to present an emergency action plan (EAP) designed for the "Swim Tuff" event, a record-breaking ultramarathon swim that took place in Rhode Island, United States. This article identifies an overview of Swim Tuff, the challenges experienced, and how the team designed and implemented risk mitigation strategies. The professionals looking over athletes completing an OWS should be educated and aware of the unique circumstances inherent to the sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the demise of the Crompton Company, which filed for bankruptcy in October 1984, causing 2,450 workers in five states to lose their jobs. Crompton was founded in 1807 in Providence, Rhode Island and when it went out of business it was the oldest textile firm in the country, having been in continuous operation for 178 years. Despite its history, scholars have overlooked Crompton, partly because most work on deindustrialization has concentrated on heavy manufacturing industries, especially steel and automobiles. I argue that Crompton's demise throws much light on the broader decline of the American textile and apparel industry, which has lost over two million jobs since the mid-1970s, and shows that textiles deserve a more central place in the literature. Using company papers, this study shows that imports played the central role in causing Crompton's decline, although there were also other problems, including the strong dollar, declining exports, and a reluctance to diversify, which contributed to it. The paper also explores broader trends, including the earlier flight of the industry from New England to the South and the industry's unsuccessful campaign to pass import-restriction legislation, a fight in which Crompton's managers were very involved. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

State legislative elections in the 21st century U.S. often feature only one majorparty candidate, but this was not the case in many non-southern states before the late 1960s. This paper argues that the reapportionment revolution of the early 1960s was a key factor leading to the decline of state legislative contestation during the late 20th century. Through an in-depth case study of Rhode Island (where Republican contestation of legislative seats declined dramatically), the paper points to three important mechanisms explaining this relationship. By altering partisan advantage for control of legislative chambers, facilitating the widespread use of gerrymandering as a political strategy, and removing the responsibility for candidate recruitment from longstanding party organizations, the Supreme Court's "one-person, one-vote" mandate inadvertently paved the way for the decline of legislative contestation in the Ocean State. The paper thus serves as a cautionary note for those favoring judicial interventions into the electoral process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the course, "Designing Education for Better Prisoner and Community Health," which provided students with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to build real-world health education materials for persons who are criminal justice involved. Design/methodology/approach: A multiphase engaged scholarship course was designed and implemented through the Brown University School of Public Health in Rhode Island, USA. Findings: Students collaborated closely with instructors, subject matter experts and affected community members to develop highly tailored health education projects across six topic areas. The structure and outcomes of the paper are described with the hope that other instructors and institutions might replicate components of the model. Originality/value: Engaged scholarship in public health can provide students with rich, collaborative learning experiences, and when executed effectively, these endeavors can provide underserved communities with robust and informed health education interventions and programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using ethnographic data from Providence County, Rhode Island, this paper explores yoga as a bodywork practice that is part of everyday health and wellbeing routines in middle class households. In this context, participants define their bodywork practices as individual activities that answer health and wellbeing needs, but notably discuss bodywork in terms of their everyday social experience. Along with other bodywork activities, yoga emerges as a shared social practice that links participants to their partners, children, and other intimates, facilitating a sense of togetherness by allowing time and space for autonomy. By giving atmospheric and sensory attention to the ethnographic data, the paper further reveals how domestic intimacy is cultivated via the generation of bodily heat and positive energies and that yoga may tacitly facilitate such atmospheres. In this way, yoga can help households meet an American need for self-development and autonomy while still facilitating a far more enduring human need for intimate connection. Ultimately yoga is characterized as a pragmatic bodywork practice that blends self-development and social intimacy through shared energetic encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The convergence of flooding and environmental contamination heightens the potential for mobility and transfer of toxic substances. Spatial analytic platforms can help identify the risks of toxic substance release during flooding, but these platforms are not integrated with one another, making data sharing difficult across platforms. Using the Toxics Mobility Inventory for the State of Rhode Island, this paper presents a method which integrates Toxicological Prioritization Index outputs across multiple data visualization platforms. The workflow presented creates an accessible interface for residents and policy makers to monitor the spatial conditions related to toxic substances during floods to better target solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of macro-morphological changes is important for recognizing disturbances in egg formation that cause pathologies, especially co-infection. The current study aimed to evaluate the level of egg productivity and macromorphological parameters of eggs in domestic chickens of the Rhode Island breed with co-infection of Histomonas, Trichomonas, and Eimeria. Clinical and parasitological, coproscopic, morphometric research, and statistical analysis methods were used for this research. Pathogens of Histomonas and Trichomonas were detected by microscopy of smears of fresh feces, and Eimeria oocysts were identified by flotation according to the Fullenborn method. During 30 days of research, there was a significant decrease in egg production (52%), a decrease in egg weight by 16.8%, and a decrease in the shell thickness by 30.43% during spontaneous Eimeria-Histomonosis-Trichomonosis coinfection in laying hens. The eggshell indicated noticeable macro-morphological changes, including deformations and defects resulting from insufficient calcification. These changes manifest as combined damage to the shell, characterized by small cracks, roughness, bumpy or spilled thickenings, and complete or partial depigmentation. When evaluating the internal content of eggs in 12% of their samples, there were bloody spots, relatively smaller and lighter yolks, thinning of the protein part. Thus, the specified macro-morphological changes and egg defects were the result of the negative impact of co-infection on the processes of egg formation, which indicates the systemic nature of the lesion and the morphofunctional insufficiency of the egg-forming organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the spread of COVID-19, the Rhode Island Department of Health delivered its first virtual World Diabetes Day (RIWDD) event. Evaluations exploring advantages and disadvantages of delivering public health events virtually are generally lacking. The aims of the present paper were to evaluate the reach, feasibility, and effectiveness of delivering RIWDD virtually. Quantitative methods were used to: (1) estimate and compare the target population to RIWDD's event reach; and (2) evaluate whether diabetes knowledge increased amongst attendees. Qualitative methods assessed event facilitators' perceptions of the strengths, limitations, and challenges of using a virtual format to inform planning and implementation of future RIWDD events. Results revealed segments of RI's population disproportionately affected by diabetes, including men, persons of color, and older adults were underrepresented at the event. The event was not associated with increases in diabetes knowledge; however, attendees possessed high diabetes knowledge overall. Facilitators identified several important factors associated with virtual delivery in the context of COVID-19. Considerations for delivering virtual events are discussed. A key takeaway of this evaluation is the critical need for cultural competency as a guiding framework for professional practice when delivering events virtually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will discuss the issues faced by the Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) in deciding how to handle the conservation and restoration needs of a very large and damaged work in their collection, and describe the innovative solution they came up with. The RIHS faced the decision of how to approach possible restoration of an 1812 painted drop scene or theater curtain, which had been conserved in the 1980s but was by now in need of cleaning and perhaps further restoration, to help celebrate the organization's bicentennial in 2022. They had to decide what the limits of traditional restoration were for their object, if this restoration might significantly affect the integrity of the work, and whether the considerable cost of traditional restoration was too prohibitive for a smaller institution. In considering these questions the RIHS came to the conclusion that an alternative method of restoring a work such as theirs was needed, a method that would allow an institution to create a digital file of the work, and to "restore" it using a combination of photo-editing tools and traditional painting methods. Digital photo-editing on its own would not have been sufficient to produce an organic, realistic restoration of the work, and using this hybrid digital approach, which did not alter the original object in any way, was the ideal solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opioid epidemic has renewed debate about how to structure laws, agency policies and hospital protocols for mandatory reporting of illicit substances during pregnancy. This paper analyzes the ethics of Rhode Island's approach to mandatory reporting - in particular, reporting of positive maternal and newborn drug tests at time of delivery. Given that state intervention is generally perceived by pregnant people as punitive and threatening to their family, we consider how four elements often used to justify punitive action by the state - retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation (societal protection) - apply to Rhode Island's policy and approach to prenatal substance use. In addition, the paper considers the equity implications of Rhode Island's approach. It concludes that, given the potential for the policy to do more harm than good, investment of resources would be better spent on clinical and community services that support substance using parents and their newborns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conference was organized by the American Dance in Education Organization, in co-operation with the Congress on Research in Dance, Rhode Island Dance Alliance and Rhode Island Alliance for Arts Education. The conference aim was 'to honor the legacy of dance and dancers past, as seen in the light of the present while building bridges to the future'. During the 3-day conference over 120 sessions were offered, including masterclasses, academic papers, workshops and performances. Inevitably, with the size of such an event, several sessions were scheduled at the same time. The 400 delegates and presenters fell into three general categories-school teachers, teachers in private dance studios, and university lecturers, the latter including many from colleges offering dance education programmes (i.e. teacher training). Generally, papers and workshops were aimed at one specific category but the sessions attracting delegates from all three categories were the well-attended masterclasses-taught by Bill Evans (contemporary dance), James Penrod (ballet) Michelle Bach-Coulibaly (African Dance) and Thom Cobb (character)-and the performances. The final performance was a celebration of dance in Rhode Island, with several companies and artists presenting their work. Again, it was very varied ranging from a Tap Dogs inspired number to a reconstruction of Ruth St Denis's 'Sonata Pathetique,' from a contemporary, humorous piece by Heidi Henderson to a Polynesian folk dance and from staged ballroom dance to a dynamic trio inaptly titled 'Sketches From Life,' by James Brown.

This paper describes and analyses the experiences of the Boston Manufacturing Company (BMC) as it planned and developed its mill seat in Waltham, Massachusetts between 1813 and 1850. Based on the vision of Francis C. Lowell, the experiences of previous mill experiments in Connecticut and Rhode Island and the innovations of on-site managers, its physical planning significantly informed the development of future mill cities in New England. In essence, the BMC served as a transitional experiment linking what came to be called the Rhode Island and Lowell Systems of mill development. While many of the elements of the BMC have been previously researched, there is a gap concerning how the BMC, working with Waltham's civic leaders, implemented its plans in a climate of mutual harmony, respect and support to the point that the BMC continued to expand with minimal government interference and Waltham's quality of life steadily improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there in general appears to be public support for shellfish aquaculture operations, the construction of oyster farms often meets opposition where an important argument is devaluation of housing property. This makes it important to study the effect of construction of oyster farms on property value. In this paper house sales data from Rhode Island between 2000 and 2013 is analyzed to evaluate the effect of oyster farm construction on property values using a difference-in-difference (DiD) approach within a hedonic price model (HPM). Given the use of sales data this study focuses on the perceptions of people in the housing market. We found that the impacts are more nuanced and complex: overall on average the construction of oyster farms increased the value of the houses located closer to the farm. When the houses are grouped by their value category, however, our results show that the value of luxury houses decreased significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Paper highlights instrumentation and monitoring of the first US offshore wind farm. • Modal parameters of the OWT are reported over one year of continuous monitoring. • Modal parameters show correlation with operational and environmental conditions. • The side-to-side modal properties are generally stable with little variability. • The fore-aft modal properties vary significantly with wind speed and turbine operation. This paper presents the variation of identified modal parameters of an offshore wind turbine (OWT) over one year of continuous monitoring. The considered OWT is a Haliade 150–6 MW GE turbine on a jacket substructure at the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island, U.S. The turbine was instrumented with a monitoring system including accelerometers, strain gauges, inclinometers, and a data acquisition system with automatic data transfer to cloud storage. Continuous vibration measurements of the OWT have been collected over one year from April 2021 to April 2022. An automated output-only operational modal identification approach is developed to extract modal parameters of the OWT over this one-year period using windows of 10-min data. The identified modal parameters of the first few vibration modes show variability and correlation with several ambient and operational conditions. It is observed that the identified natural frequencies and damping ratios of the first side-to-side (SS) mode are stable over time and have very small variation, but those of the first fore-aft (FA) mode show significant variability. The second FA/SS modes can only be identified with reasonable accuracy when the turbine is in idle condition. Similar to the first FA/SS modes, the second FA mode has larger variability in frequencies and damping ratios than the second SS mode because of the aerodynamics effects. The system identification results over one full year verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach for long-term monitoring of this OWT and serve as the reference database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ports are a cornerstone of the local, state, and national economy, especially for coastal cities. However, ports face growing economic challenges that require infrastructure financing, and a relevant avenue of securing funds is through government assistance via bond issues. We examine voter support for the public financing of port infrastructure investments using a 2016 referendum in Rhode Island. Through our multiple regression voting model, we find strong evidence that public spending on ports in Rhode Island was more of a bipartisan issue compared to other public financing efforts on the ballot. Additionally, neighborhoods with a larger minority presence and those with higher median per capita income were more likely to support port development. In contrast, areas with a higher homeowner population and those communities farther from ports were less likely to support port spending. As a key novelty to our paper, we use our voting model results to forecast how a hypothetical port infrastructure bond might fare in other states, and find that regardless of socioeconomic and political differences, all coastal states in the US would be expected to pass a port referendum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the policies and ideologies affecting language education in Rhode Island, where as a result of a State Language Roadmap, groups are working at the grassroots level toward the implementation of dual language immersion in all public school districts. The author points out that while the push from business for multilingual employees, with a focus on the languages of economically powerful nations, could risk the further marginalization of minoritized languages, it could alternatively be leveraged to support minoritized languages equitably and make bilingualism and biliteracy the norm for all students. Using the critical race theory (CRT) as a lens along with Valdez, Delavan, and Freire's (2014) global human capital and equity/heritage frameworks, this argument is contextualized by focusing on the case of Guatemalans and Cambodians in Rhode Island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 11th International Conference on Health Policy Statistics (ICHPS) conference was successfully held from October 7 to 9, 2015, in Providence, Rhode Island, espousing the theme 'Statistical Science at the Forefront of Health Policy Research'. Authors of research presented at ICHPS 2015, in both posters and talks, were invited to submit their completed papers in two special issues of Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology. In addition, the issues feature interviews with the winners of the American Statistical Association's Health Policy Statistics Section of the Long-Term Excellence and Mid-career Awards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of Soft Operational Research (Soft OR) has emerged from the attempt to address contextually rich, multi-actor 'wicked' problems that are not amenable to traditional 'hard' operational research techniques, which often rely on mathematical modelling. This study assesses the use of Soft OR techniques in climate change policymaking. Since climate change problems are classical wicked problems, many assume that Soft OR would be in high demand in developing climate change policy. And the review of the use of these techniques conducted here does find that in the cases where Soft OR methods have been used by academics and other non-governmental actors, they have consistently provided useful results for policymaking. It is puzzling therefore that there is little evidence of governments using Soft OR application in this area. We study two cases of explicit (in Bristol UK) and implicit use (Rhode Island, US) of such techniques by governments to explain why this is so. We argue that notwithstanding the challenges the two cases reveal in their application, Soft OR nevertheless has much to offer policymakers in the arena of climate change policymaking and deserve more attention and use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the time trend coefficients in the temperatures in 48 US states using monthly data from January 1895 to December 2017, as well as in their anomalies with respect to the base period 1901–2000. For this purpose, we use techniques based on fractional integration, which is a more general approach than the standard methods used in the literature based on integer differentiation. The results indicate that with the exception of 10 states, in the remaining 38, the temperature anomalies have increased across time, with the increase being higher than the one expected under the other more standard approaches. The highest increases correspond to New Jersey and Rhode Island, with an increase of approximately 2.9°C over the last 100 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trap-neuter-return (TNR) is promoted as a "humane" alternative to lethal methods for population control of feral domestic cats (Felis catus). This paper explores feedbacks between feral domestic cats, coyotes (Canis latrans), raccoons (Procyon lotor), and skunks (Mephitis mephitis) at a TNR feral cat colony in Rhode Island, USA. A total of 12,272 photographs from a motion-activated camera were analyzed. Cat population size and visitation frequency of wildlife were estimated during three different feeding regimes. Abundant food on the ground was associated with increased wildlife visits, while elevated or limited food was associated with decreased wildlife visits. During the two-year study period, the population of cats dropped from 17 to 12 individuals and the cats appeared to have short life spans, which could have been due to predation by coyotes. Our results suggest that wildlife confluence and predation risks can be influenced by feeding regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the consequences of nutrient reduction strategies on water quality under climate change, we investigated the long-term dynamics of dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH in Narragansett Bay (NB), a warming urbanized estuary in Rhode Island, where nitrogen loads have declined due to extensive wastewater treatment plant upgrades. We use 15 years (January 2005-December 2019) of measurements from the Narragansett Bay Fixed Site Monitoring network. Nutrient-enhanced phytoplankton growth can increase DO in the upper water column while subsequent respiration can reduce water column DO and enhance bottom water acidification, and vice-versa. We observed significant decreases in surface DO levels, concurrent with a significant increase in bottom DO, associated with the nitrogen load reduction. Surface DO decline was primarily attributed to reduced intensity of primary productivity, supported by a concurrent decrease in surface chlorophyll concentrations. Meanwhile, the influence of reduced organic matter respiration led to the increase of bottom DO levels by 9 µmol kg-1 (approximately 0.2 mg L-1 for typical summer temperature and salinity) over a 15-year period, which overcame the opposite influence of oxygen reduction from solubility decreases due to warming temperatures. In contrast, long-term changes in surface pH have not exhibited discernible trends beyond natural variability, likely due to the complex and sometimes opposing influences of biological activity and changing river flow conditions. We observed a slight increase in bottom pH, associated with the increase in DO in bottom water. Notably, future variations in freshwater discharge, particularly linked to extreme precipitation events, may further influence water carbonate chemistry and thereby impact pH dynamics. This study highlights the necessity of long-term time series measurements in helping understand the impacts of environmental management practices in improving water quality in coastal regions during a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in media literacy education is increasing across the United States and around the world but little is still known about the prevalence of various instructional practices used to implement it in elementary and secondary schools. Surveys and semi-structured interviews with a statewide quota sample of education stakeholders included school leaders, educators, librarians, elected public officials, parents, and members of the community in all 24 school districts in Rhode Island. Results show that only a few instructional practices are implemented with most or nearly all students in the state. However, the implementation of various media literacy instructional practices varied considerably from one community to another but these differences were not due to the size of the community, its geographic location, or its socioeconomic status. Nearly half the variance in instructional practices can be accounted for by obstacles including technology limitations, school policies, academic priorities, perceptions of students, and educator response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an investigation into the effectiveness of teaching research methods in library and information science (LIS). A review of the literature revealed that the LIS community is engaged in a continuing debate about the most effective means for teaching research methods courses in master's-level LIS programs. Many LIS master's students enter their programs lacking backgrounds in social science research, and many exhibit skepticism about the need for LIS practitioners to understand and engage in research. The small research project described in this paper was designed to contribute to this discussion by exploring how several different iterations of the final project implemented in a research methods course at the University of Rhode Island's (URI) LIS program contributed both to student retention of learning outcomes after completing the course and to the graduates' views of research and their engagement with research as practitioners. The authors developed a survey consisting of 20 closed-ended questions in single and matrix formats, covering three categories: respondents' experience with the course, their current use of research, and their opinion of research. The findings show promise for further research in the pedagogy of LIS research methods courses. Respondents demonstrated achievement and retention of course learning objectives and a generally positive attitude toward research.

The article offers information on the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) activities scheduled for December, 1982 such as the executive night to be held in Johnstown, New York on December 1, the ladies' night to be held in Tiverton, Rhode Island on December 3, and the Introduction to Textile Testing workshop in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina on December 9-10.

Public unions have enjoyed a strong presence for half a century. Despite political disagreement about the value of public unionism, the organizations have persisted and rather steadily maintained, even as private unions dropped off dramatically. But now, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, and somewhat suddenly, the very existence of public unions is threatened by attempts at wholesale elimination. What changes prompted such finality? The more acute change is macroeconomic in nature. Public fiscs are struggling to remain balanced during a decline in economic conditions. Given that union salaries and benefits consume a large portion of government budgets--particularly at the municipal level--they have been a natural target of reform. But there is a more chronic change as well. The strategies public unions use to maintain parameters of success, such as enrollment and compensation, have eroded over time the confidence some have in their positions and very nature. The erosion is at minimum an impediment to the goodwill necessary to productive negotiation and at most an impediment to existence. The literature thus far focuses on mere analyses of the effects of bargaining laws. It shows what one would expect, namely that laws designed to benefit unions do in fact benefit unions. But nonspecific analyses of raw statutes tell very little of the story behind the erosion of confidence expressed by political groups. More important are the outcomes sought through judicial interpretation of these laws and the processes by which outcomes are sought. This paper explains such an outcome and process sought by public unions, namely to have judges rule that salaries and benefits can only go up where the right to strike is proscribed. This position has contributed to confidence erosion because it sounds at the margins of democratic means and substance. There are two reasons for this. First, it utilizes the judiciary and quasi-judicial fora to read additional broadly applicable restrictions into procedural legislation that is on its face complete. Second, it ties the hands of elected officials on a matter according to which they are evaluated primarily. The position is not without justification, but there are more democratic means available to public unions to effect the desired result. For example, in the case of teachers, unions exert great influence over school committee elections via financial prowess and a deep membership electorate. They are thus able to express their will on contract negotiations through the electoral process. They need not resort to the judiciary for contractual outcomes. A case study of this litigation-election dynamic is presented. It is set in Rhode Island. There, a teachers' union took the litigation position and lost, but then saw the replacement of all but one member of the school committee with whom it disagreed about a reduction in salaries and benefits at the time of its contract renewal in 2008 in the depths of recession. Malfunctions in democratic processes are at times subtle. But subtlety does not limit the scope of consequence. This paper traces the potential origin of one such malfunction and points to a solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the Rhode Island Tobacco Control Enhancement Project (TCEP), a state-university-community technical assistance system. TCEP was developed under the auspices of the Rhode Island Department of Health's Tobacco Control program and was designed to build capacity among nine community-based organizations to mount comprehensive tobacco control interventions in five diverse communities within the state. This paper: (1) provides a description of community mobilization ; (2) presents a logic model for planning and decision making used by state-university-community partners; (3) describes training, technical assistance services and implementation; and, (4) describes the evaluation and program improvement activities used to support on-going project development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction focuses on the work of sociologist and economic theorist, Talcott Parsons, who is featured in this issue of "The American Journal of Economics and Sociology," and the development of economic sociology. The taping of Parsons' March 1973 seminar at Brown University was directed by Alan Sondheim of the Rhode Island School of Design; a follow-up seminar was also videotaped. An edited transcript of the event is published in this issue. The archived copy is in the Parsons Papers collection which is housed at Harvard University.

This paper attempts to show the importance of including variables relating to providers of care in a full explanation of utilization of ambulatory care services. Data were obtained via interviews in a sample survey of Rhode Island households conducted in 1974. The concept of an affiliation with a medical care provider is developed and the number of affiliations is used as a provider or pattern of care variable to include in a multiple regression equation to explain utilization of ambulatory care services. The two key predictors of utilization are the number of affiliations and the number of conditions. Other important variables are total family income and a dummy variable representing whether or not a person has some form of government aid (such as Medicare or Medicaid) in paying for health costs. As the number of affiliations and number of conditions increases, utilization increases. Having a government-sponsored form of aid also increases utilization. A negative relationship is found between income and utilization. Together the variables included in the regression equation explain 40.4 percent of the variance, thus indicating the importance of including variables relating to affiliations and to how people actually obtain care in future attempts to explain utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Overdose prevention centers (OPCs) are being implemented in the United States as a strategy to reduce drug-related mortality and morbidity. Previous studies have suggested that people who use drugs (PWUD) with a history of criminal legal system (CLS) involvement (e.g. current probation/parole) are at greater risk of overdose but may also encounter significant barriers to OPC use. The objective of this study was to explore the association between willingness to use an OPC and probation/parole status in a sample of PWUD in Rhode Island. Methods: This study utilized data from the Rhode Island Prescription and Illicit Drug Study, which enrolled adult PWUD from August 2020 to February 2023. We used Pearson's chi-square and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests to assess bivariate associations between willingness to use an OPC and probation/parole status (current/previous/never), as well as other sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics. In multivariable Poisson analyses, we examined the association between willingness to use an OPC and probation/parole status, adjusting for key sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics. Results: Among 482 study participants, 67% were male, 56% identified as white, 20% identified as Hispanic/Latine, and the median age was 43 (IQR 35–53). Nearly a quarter (24%) had never been on probation/parole, 44% were not currently on probation/parole but had a lifetime history of probation and parole, and 32% were currently on probation/parole. Most participants (71%) reported willingness to use an OPC, and in both bivariate and multivariable analyses, willingness to use an OPC did not vary by probation/parole status. Crack cocaine use and lifetime non-fatal overdose were associated with greater willingness to use an OPC (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: These data demonstrate high willingness to use OPC among PWUD in Rhode Island regardless of CLS-involvement. As OPCs begin to be implemented in Rhode Island, it will be imperative to engage people with CLS-involvement and to ensure access to the OPC and protection against re-incarceration due to potential barriers, such as police surveillance of OPCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Of the 1.9 million new cancer diagnoses made in 2022, 55.8% were made in adults aged 65 years and older. The care of these patients differs from that of the general adult cancer population mainly because these patients are vulnerable to geriatric syndromes such as dementia, frailty, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy. Objectives: The Geriatric Surgery Verification (GSV) Program is designed to improve surgical care and outcomes for older adults, aiming to provide early intervention and prevention strategies to maximize therapeutic response using multidisciplinary team approaches. Population and setting: We evaluated the implementation of the GSV Program in a small community hospital, Roger Williams Medical Center (RWMC), based in Rhode Island. RWMC is a teaching community hospital that has an established geriatric surgical oncology department. Methods: As part of GSV implementation, the Geriatric Surgery Quality Committee was established, which consists of a geriatric surgery director, coordinator, nurse navigator, registered nurses, case manager, surgical specialty representatives, and a geriatrician. All patients referred to the surgery oncology clinic were evaluated for the GSV Program starting in April 2022. Of those, 50 patients met age criteria and were assessed utilizing the Age-Friendly Health Systems 4Ms framework for what matters, mobility, medication, and mentation. Results: This yielded 12 referrals for specific interventions dependent on deficits identified upon evaluation, including 6 geriatric medicine referrals, 1 social worker referral, and 5 nutrition referrals. Outcome measures collected include patient satisfaction, delirium diagnosis, palliative care, and hospice utilization. Conclusion: The GSV Program has demonstrated impact on patient satisfaction, with patients and caregivers noting additional support through transitions of care, increased inpatient geriatric medicine consults, earlier identification of patients at high risk for developing delirium, and increased utilization of palliative and hospice services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A combination of annual peak water demand due to seasonal population spikes along with small and shallow aquifers has prompted an assessment of the region's watersheds as operating at a net water deficit. This study uses the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate historical drought conditions in the Chipuxet watershed in Rhode Island, USA. The calibrated and validated model uses the Soil Moisture Deficit Index (SMDI) and Evapotranspiration Deficit Index (ETDI) as well as an Indicators of Hydrological Alteration (IHA) calculation to determine the frequency and severity of historical droughts and to simulate climate change conditions developed through a downscaled climate model selection. The output data for the historical and climate change scenarios were analyzed for drought frequency and severity. Results indicate that water stress will increase in both low-emission (RCP4.5) and high-emission (RCP8.5) scenarios. Additionally, the SMDI and ETDI show that RCP8.5 climate scenarios will have more severe deficits. Finally, IHA data indicate that zero-flow days and low-flow durations increase under all climate scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the pattern of vegetation change at three sites on a utility right-of- way, Exeter, Rhode Island, over 57 years. Trees and tall shrubs were cut from the right-of-way in 1963. The stumps were chemically treated in 1963 with 2,4,5-T. Select hardwood species were treated again from 1965 to 2022 targeting only the taller trees and shrubs. Unwanted small woody and herbaceous vegetation was treated with a 2% solution of Vastian, while Polaris (.250%), Escort, and Arsenal (.250%) were applied to unwanted weeds, grasses, and woody taxa. There has been an increase in the number of vascular plant species at each of the three sites, especially at Site 2, where the number of taxa, 28, is nearly double the 15 taxa identified at the site in 1965. There was a significant increase in the number of monocots in 2022, especially Poaceae, including Poa sylvestris A. Gray, a new Rhode Island record. No nonnative taxa were identified in 1965, while eight were present in 2022. Parsimony analysis reveals a branch break between Sites 1b and 2b and Sites 1a, 2a, 3a, and 3b. This is best explained by soil moisture, community development, and succession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout and pay satisfaction were associated with intention to leave the profession; however, overall compensation dollar amount was not correlated with intention to leave. Approaches to nurse retention should employ a multifaceted approach to effectively enhance retention rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent decades, the Bering Sea has experienced oceanic and atmospheric climate extremes, including record warm ocean temperature anomalies and marine heatwaves (MHWs), and increasingly variable air–sea heat fluxes. In this work, we assess the relative roles of surface forcing and ocean dynamical processes on mixed layer temperature (MLT) tendency by computing a closed mixed layer heat budget using the NASA/JPL Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) Ocean State and Sea Ice Estimate. We show that surface forcing drives the majority of the MLT tendency in the spring and fall and remains dominant to a lesser degree in winter and summer. Surface forcing anomalies are the dominant driver of monthly mixed layer temperature tendency anomalies (MLTa), driving an average of 72% of the MLTa over the ECCO record length (1992–2017). The surface turbulent heat flux (latent plus sensible) accounts for most of the surface heat flux anomalies in January–April and September–December, and the net radiative flux (net longwave plus net shortwave) dominates the surface heat flux anomalies in May–August. Our results suggest that atmospheric variability plays a significant role in Bering Sea ocean temperature anomalies through most of the year. Furthermore, they indicate a recent increase in ocean warming surface forcing anomalies, beginning in 2010. Significance Statement: In recent years, the Bering Sea has experienced extremes in ocean temperature, which have had adverse impacts on ocean ecology and marine fisheries and have contributed to increasingly variable sea ice extent. Our results identify anomalous heating by air–sea heat flux anomalies as the process responsible for most of the observed ocean temperature anomalies over the period 1992–2017. We additionally show that there has been an increase in atmosphere-driven ocean warming since 2010. Our work highlights the importance of investigating how ocean–atmosphere interactions might change under future climate change and how this will impact the Bering Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One in seven people living with HIV in the USA passes through a prison or jail each year, and almost all will return to the community. Discharge planning and transitional programs are critical but challenging elements in ensuring continuity of care, maintaining treatment outcomes achieved in prison, and preventing further viral transmission. This paper describes facilitators and challenges of in-prison care, transitional interventions, and access to and continuity of care in the community in Rhode Island and North Carolina based on qualitative data gathered as part of the mixed-methods Link Into Care Study of prisoners and releasees with HIV. We conducted 65 interviews with correctional and community-based providers and administrators and analyzed the transcripts using NVivo 10 to identify major themes. Facilitators of effective transitional systems in both states included the following: health providers affiliated with academic institutions or other entities independent of the corrections department; organizational philosophy emphasizing a patient-centered, personal, and holistic approach; strong leadership with effective 'champions'; a team approach with coordination, collaboration and integration throughout the system, mutual respect and learning between corrections and health providers, staff dedicated to transitional services, and effective communication and information sharing among providers; comprehensive transitional activities and services including HIV, mental health and substance use services in prisons, timely and comprehensive discharge planning with specific linkages/appointments, supplies of medications on release, access to benefits and entitlements, case management and proactive follow-up on missed appointments; and releasees' commitment to transitional plans. These elements were generally present in both study states but their absence, which also sometimes occurred, represent ongoing challenges to success. The qualitative findings on the facilitators and challenges of the transitional systems were similar in the two states despite differences in context, demographics of target population, and system organization. Recommendations for improved transitional systems follow from the analysis of the facilitators and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Black/African American (B/AA) and Hispanic/Latino (H/L) men who have sex with men (MSM) are significantly less likely than white MSM to initiate pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). A peer-driven intervention (PDI) may be an effective approach to addressing this disparity. In this study, we explored community member perspectives of a PDI to promote PrEP uptake among B/AA and H/L MSM. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with B/AA and H/L HIV-negative MSM between August 2018 and October 2019 in Rhode Island, USA. Participants reported their perspectives and recommendations for a PDI. Data from participant responses were thematically analysed. Results: Of 15 MSM, the median age was 25 years (interquartile range: 22, 33). The majority identified as B/AA (53.3%), H/L (66.7%), and having a college education or above (53.3%). Most participants viewed a PDI positively and were willing to learn and promote PrEP among their peers. Participants identified and supported several potential intervention components, such as education about the benefit of PrEP, emphasising prevention-effective dosing, and clarifying no prevention effect towards other sexually transmitted infections. They preferred in-person meetings to electronic communication. Preferred characteristics of peer educators included compassion, good communication skills, and enthusiasm about PrEP. Conclusions: This in-depth qualitative interview suggested that a PDI approach is promising in promoting PrEP uptake, as it could deliver culturally appropriate education and encourage PrEP uptake via peer influence among B/AA and H/L MSM. Peer approach is effective in promoting health among hard-to-reach populations. This study aims to explore the feasibility of implementing a peer approach for improving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among Black/African American (B/AA) and Hispanic/Latino (H/L) men who have sex with men (MSM). Study findings will be used to develop a peer approach for a real-world implementation. Participants were interviewed for their perspectives on such a peer approach, including willingness to disseminate PrEP knowledge and potential barriers to initiating PrEP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents in therapeutic schools are at greater risk for HIV and other STIs than their peers due to earlier higher rates of sexual risk and difficulty managing strong emotions. HIV prevention programs that incorporate techniques for affect management (AM) during sexual situations may be beneficial. This paper determined the immediate impact of such an intervention, AM, compared to a standard, skills-based HIV prevention intervention and a general health promotion intervention (HP) for 377 youth, ages 13-19, in therapeutic schools in two cities. 1 month after the intervention, analyses that adjusted for the baseline scores found adolescents in AM were more likely to report condom use at last sex than those in HP (0.89 vs. 0.67, p = 0.02) and that their HIV knowledge was significantly greater. These data suggest that AM techniques might improve the impact of standard skills-based prevention programs for adolescents in therapeutic schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper presents a multi-method research project to develop a conceptual framework for measuring outcomes in studies of osteoporotic kyphosis. The research involved literature research and qualitative interviews among clinicians who treat patients with kyphosis and among patients with the condition. Introduction: Kyphosis due to at least one vertebral compression fracture is prevalent among osteoporotic patients, resulting in well-documented symptoms and impact on functioning and well-being. A three-part study led to development of a conceptual measurement framework for comprehensive assessment of symptoms, impact, and treatment benefit for kyphosis. Methods: A literature-based disease model (DM) was developed and tested with physicians ( n = 10) and patients ( n = 10), and FDA guidelines were used to develop a final disease model and a conceptual framework. Results: The DM included signs, symptoms, causes/triggers, exacerbations, and functional status associated with kyphosis. The DM was largely confirmed, but physicians and patients added several concepts related to impact on functioning, and some concepts were not confirmed and removed from the DM. Conclusions: This study confirms the need for more comprehensive assessment of health outcomes in kyphosis, as most current studies omit key concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a countermovement that is emerging within an educational climate that highlights accountability, standardisation and performativity. This countermovement has become manifest in a rapid rise in the implementation and research of contemplative practices (e.g. mindfulness, yoga) across educational settings. The paper explores the unfolding of this curricular-pedagogical phenomenon, characterises its core elements and explains why and how it can be viewed as a 'contemplative turn in education'. Based on a conceptual review of academic publications in the field, the paper demonstrates a progression from a pre-contemplative era to the current contemplative turn. As part of the review three curricular domains within this turn are described: mindfulness-based interventions, contemplative pedagogies and contemplative inquiry. Each domain offers a different perspective on the contemplative turn and contributes to epistemological changes in curricular-pedagogical practice. The paper also presents a critical discourse that challenges the contemplative turn's ethics, implementations and curricular orientations.

Minority students and students with disabilities are disciplined disproportionately from their peers. Discipline has led to many negative consequences in the lives of youth in the United States, including the school-to-prison pipeline. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance encouraging school districts to develop policies that seek alternatives to exclusionary penalties. Some states, including the State of Illinois, have been proactive in revamping the state's discipline. In this paper, we will examine how the states are responding to the school-to-prison pipeline and the other negative effects of exclusions and suspensions. Additionally, this paper will examine the implementation of Illinois Senate Bill 100, from an administrator's point of view, to make recommendations for disciplinary strategies and possible policy revisions.