Queens College, CUNY

Prior research has highlighted strong benefits from having a collaborative environment within schools. However, there has been limited research regarding factors that can promote a collaborative relationship between two key professionals within the school environment: school administrators and school psychologists. The first purpose of this study was to examine the nature of collaboration between school psychologists and school administrators. The second purpose was to explore ways to facilitate and improve this interprofessional collaboration within the school to promote safe, equitable, and supportive school climates and positive student outcomes. Using a qualitative research method, we collected and analyzed data from three focus groups: school psychologists, school administrators, and a combined group of school psychologists and school administrators, all working in New York City and nearby suburban, public culturally and linguistically diverse school settings. We developed an interview guide disseminated to the participants before the focus group meetings which were held via conference call and recorded. Discussions were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. Four raters coded the data and reached consensus on major themes. The findings suggest that quality collaboration between school psychologists and school administrators is infrequent and often haphazard and it should instead be intentional and purposeful. The study uncovered prerequisites for and challenges to effective collaboration, leading to recommendations for intervention in school practice and in preparation programs with a goal of enhancing school climate and student outcomes.

The deep oceans are environments of complex carbon dynamics that have the potential to significantly impact the global carbon cycle. However, the role of hadal zones, particularly hadal trenches (water depth > 6 km), in the oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) cycle is not thoroughly investigated. Here we report distinct DOC signatures in the Japan Trench bottom water. We find that up to 34% ± 7% of the DOC in the trench bottom is removed during the northeastward transport of dissolved carbon along the trench axis. This DOC removal increases the overall DOC recalcitrance of the deep Pacific DOC pool, and is potentially enhanced by the earthquake-triggered physical and biogeochemical processes in the hadal trenches. Radiocarbon analysis on representative oceanic transects further reveals that the Pacific deep-water DOC undergoes distinct removal compared to those in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans along the thermohaline transport. Our findings highlight hadal trenches as previously unrecognized DOC sinks in the deep ocean system, with varying dynamics that warrant further investigation.

Forecasting the onset, evolution and end of volcanic eruptions relies on interpretation of monitoring data—particularly seismic signals, such as persistent volcanic tremor—in relation to causative magmatic processes. Petrology helps establish such links retrospectively but typically lacks the required temporal resolution to directly relate to geophysical data. Here we report major and volatile element compositions of glass from volcanic ash continuously sampled throughout the 2021 Tajogaite eruption of Cumbre Vieja volcano, La Palma, Canary Islands. The data reveal the evolving chemistry of melts supplied from depth at a daily temporal resolution. Erupted melt compositions become progressively more primitive until the tenth week of activity, but a sharp reversal of this trend then marks the decline of mantle magma supply and a precursory signal to the eruption end. We find that melt SiO2 content is positively correlated with the amplitude of narrow-band volcanic tremor. Tremor characteristics, inferences from simulations and model calculations point to melt viscosity-controlled degassing dynamics generating variations in tremor amplitude. Our results show promise for a monitoring and forecasting tool capable of quickly identifying rejuvenated and waning phases of volcanic eruptions and illustrate how subtle changes in melt composition may translate to large shifts in geophysical signals.

Background Education is a strong predictor influencing the dementia progression. With diminished brain integrity, cognitive reserve (CR) is thought to help preserve cognitive function and delay the symptom manifestation. Yet, scholars have not reached consensus on the extent to which education modifies brain integrity‐cognitive decline associations and how it differs by sex/gender. Method To test the hypothesis about CR on cognitive decline, we used the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) sample and included 785 male and 637 female participants, who were cognitively normal or had mild cognitive impairment at baseline (Table 1). We used three global brain integrity measures (cortical thickness (CT), hippocampal volume (HP), and Reversed‐White Matter Hyperintensities (R‐WMH) as well as the language composite score using the item response theory. We applied sex‐stratified random intercept models including the three‐way interaction term (education x CT x time) against the 5‐year language performance. A robust set of contextual confounders was included; intracranial volume (ICV) difference was accounted for in two ways: covariate adjustment vs. normalization. Results The average age was 72.6 (7.0 SD) and 74.3 years (6.8 SD) for female and males, respectively. Males had high average years of education than females. The linear regression models showed that high levels of brain integrity (HP, CT) were associated with high baseline performance and slower decline; education was only associated with higher baseline performance. The estimation of education modifying the association between brain integrity and language was sensitive to ICV correction methods and differed by brain integrity type and sex. For example, education attenuated the relationship between low normalized‐CT and R‐WMH measures and faster decline (i.e., the lower CT or WMH and decline association was weaker with higher education) only in female sample (Figure 1B); such association was not hold when ICV was included as covariate. In both males and females, lower HP and decline association was stronger with higher education, regardless ICV correction methods (Figure 2). Conclusion Incongruence between theory and empirical evidence on education and cognitive reserve may stem from which brain integrity measures are used, and the different approaches to account for ICV.

Background Adults from underrepresented populations (URPs), including non‐Latinx NLB (NLB) and Latinx adults, have higher Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) rates than non‐Latinx Whites (NLWs). Young onset dementia is diagnosed when symptom onset occurs before age 65, and little is known about mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia rates in younger URPs. We examined neurocognitive diagnoses, amyloid positivity, and psychiatric symptoms in adults from URPs under 65. Methods A total of 1,562 participants under 65 (Mage = 57.8, SD = 4.18; Meducation = 13.08, SD = 4.09; Ethnocultural Status: 28.9% NLB, 46.2% Latinx, 24.9% NLW; Gender: 65.5% Female) from the Health and Aging Brain Study‐Health Disparities (HABS‐HD) completed a neuropsychological (NP) battery and received Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) scores. Study partners completed the Physician’s Estimate of Duration for AD‐related psychiatric symptoms (e.g., mood changes, anxiety/nervousness). Diagnoses (i.e., cognitively unimpaired (CU), MCI, dementia) were conferred using HABS‐HD consensus diagnosis criteria. A subset of 756 participants (M = 57.4, SD = 4.21; 57.7% NLB, 27.6% Latinx) underwent PET imaging with Florbetaben (FBB); amyloid positivity was defined by an SUVR of 1.08. Chi‐square tests were computed to examine associations across ethnocultural groups (i.e., NLB, Latinx, and NLW) and neurocognitive diagnoses, amyloid positivity, and psychiatric symptoms. Results The NLB group had significantly higher rates of MCI and lower rates of CU based on consensus diagnoses (n = 451; MCI = 30.6%, CU = 63.2%), compared to NLW (n = 389; MCI = 14.1%; CU = 80.7%, X² = 41.20, p<.001) and Latinx groups (n = 722; MCI = 18.6%; CU = 76.2%, X² = 40.09, p<.001). The NLB group also had higher rates of psychiatric symptoms, including mood changes (X² = 17.70, p<.001), anxiety/nervousness (X² = 13.05, p = .001), and aggression/irritability (X² = 15.29, p<.001) compared to NLW and Latinx groups. In contrast, amyloid positivity and dementia rates did not significantly differ across groups (all ps>.05). Conclusion Young NLB participants in HABS‐HD had increased rates of MCI and psychiatric symptoms compared to NLW and Latinx participants. Also notable, there were no significant ethnocultural differences in amyloid positivity or dementia diagnosis. These patterns differ from those previously documented in primarily NLW samples, suggesting that psychosocial and possibly sociocultural factors may differentially affect cognitive health outcomes among middle‐aged NLB adults. Future research, with deeper sociocultural phenotyping, may help elucidate the potential mechanisms driving these differences.

Background Early onset dementia (EOD) affects people at the peak of their personal and professional responsibilities and economic productivity. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) are the most common EOD etiologies in Non‐Latinx White adults (NLW). Black and Latinx older adults bear a disproportionate burden of dementia compared to NLW, likely due to vulnerabilities that confer increased risk, such as cardiovascular factors, socioeconomic stressors, and structural racism. Little is known, however, about the prevalence and causes of EOD in Black, Latinx, and other diverse populations (DP) because most EOD studies have primarily recruited NLW individuals. Many barriers impede research participation in DP, but community‐engaged research (CER) strategies to collect diagnostic data, like blood‐based biomarkers and digital assessments, may increase access and convenience of research participation in DP. Method The BEYONDD study ( www.beyonddproject.org ), a new NIH‐funded study, is recruiting 200 DP individuals to evaluate the use of remote assessments and the impact of returning diagnostic information to participants as a more accessible research framework to understand the etiology of EOD in DP. Participants are recruited using CER strategies and screened via online platform for eligibility (age 40‐64, with concerns about cognitive or behavioral function). Participants complete the following procedures remotely and receive gift cards after completion: online questionnaires, self‐administered tablet‐based cognitive testing (Brain Health Assessment), and an in‐home blood draw for standard labs and plasma biomarkers of AD and neurodegeneration (Aβ and P‐tau217 ratios, NfL). Participants can learn their results remotely or in person. Participants are invited for more comprehensive onsite evaluation at one of 10 BEYONDD clinical centers, followed by appropriate referral to other NIH‐funded research programs. Result The study has recruited its first participants. Early participant feedback suggests that remote, accessible procedures may increase DP engagement and participation in EOD research. We expect substantial enrollment by July and will report initial results and plans for refinement of study procedures. Conclusion The importance of surmounting historic barriers to DP participation in EOD research is clear. We plan to build on the experience of this project to improve DP enrollment into ongoing and future observational research and clinical trials.

Jessel et al. (Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17, 727-745, 2024) demonstrated that results from the performance-based, interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) had strong correspondence when compared to typical IISCA procedures and produced positive outcomes with resultant functional communication training procedures. On the basis of the assumption that functional analyses may include potentially adverse events insofar as they deliberately and repeatedly arrange conditions suspected to evoke dangerous behavior, Jessel and colleagues argued in favor of aligning functional analysis procedures with guidelines of trauma-informed care. We replicated and extended Jessel et al. (Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17, 727-745, 2024) by conducting a performance-based IISCA with three children with autism referred for behavioral services due to dangerous behavior and by evaluating a comprehensive skill-based treatment informed by the performance-based IISCA. The skill-based treatment resulted in the eventual elimination of dangerous behavior and the acquisition of multiple important skills, with caregivers implementing treatment sessions for two of the three participants. Assessment and intervention procedures and outcomes were socially validated by all participating families.

Background Judgment is an aspect of executive functioning that is critical to many aspects of daily functioning, and often affected in older adults with cognitive decline. The Test of Practical Judgement (TOP‐J) evaluates judgment related real‐world issues that may arise in aging populations. The current study investigates the incremental validity of the TOP‐J—i.e., the degree to which the TOP‐J adds unique and meaningful information to a clinical assessment beyond other executive functioning tests which are often used as proxies for judgment. Methods Participants (N = 97, Mage = 74.73; 74.2%female) who were classified as cognitively unimpaired (CU), subjective cognitive decline (SCD), or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) completed comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, which included the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (64‐card version) and Delis‐Kaplan Executive Function System tests of Verbal Fluency and Trail Making Test, Condition 4. Incremental validity was assessed through hierarchical linear regression analysis and was measured by the addition of the TOP‐J (Forms A, B, a composite of A + B), above these widely used executive functioning tests, with clinical diagnosis (CU, SCD and MCI) as the outcome. Results The addition of the TOP‐J A was statistically significant (R² = .299, F(1,90) = 3.95, p = 0.05) and added incremental validity to predict diagnosis (∆R² = .031, p = 0.05). The addition of the TOP‐J forms A + B composite also was significant (R² = .307, F(1,90) = 4.99, p = 0.03, and added incremental validity(∆R² = .038, p = 0.03), while the TOP‐J B trended toward significance (∆R² = .024, p = 0.08). Conclusion Our results suggest that including the TOP‐J within neuropsychological evaluations of older adults can enhance diagnostic accuracy and provide clinically valuable information beyond what is derived from traditional executive functioning tests. Considering potential adverse impacts of impaired judgement abilities in the context of neurodegenerative disease, it is of utmost importance to improve the detection of diminished practical judgment skills to increase the protection of vulnerable populations and to prevent potential financial, social, and other areas of exploitation that may occur.

In this paper, we propose an integrated modified harmonic mean estimator (IHME) for nested and non-nested model selection problems in spatial panel data models with entity and time fixed effects. We formulate the IHME based on the integrated likelihood functions obtained by analytically integrating out the high-dimensional entity and time fixed effects from the complete likelihood functions. To investigate the finite sample properties of the IHME, we design a comprehensive simulation study that allows for both nested and non-nested model selection exercises in some popular spatial panel data models. Our simulation results show that the IHME has excellent finite sample performance and outperforms some competing estimators in terms of precision. We provide an empirical application on the US house price changes to show the usefulness of the proposed IHME in a model selection exercise.

Objective Research examining (MCI) criteria in diverse and/or health-disparate populations is limited. There is a critical need to investigate the predictive validity for incident dementia of widely used MCI definitions in diverse populations. Method Eligible participants were non-Hispanic White or Black Bronx community residents, free of dementia at enrollment, with at least one annual follow-up visit after baseline. Participants completed annual neurological and neuropsychological evaluations to determine cognitive status. Dementia was defined based on DSM-IV criteria using case conferences. Cox proportional hazard models assessed predictive validity for incident dementia of four specific MCI definitions (Petersen, Jak/Bondi, number of impaired tests, Global Clinical Ratings) at baseline, controlling for age, sex, education, and race/ethnicity. Time-dependent sensitivity and specificity at 2–7 years for each definition, and Youden’s index were calculated as accuracy measures. Results Participants (N = 1073) ranged in age from 70 to 100 (mean = 78.4 ± 5.3) years at baseline. The sample was 62.5% female, and educational achievement averaged 13.9 ± 3.5 years. Most participants identified as White (70.0%), though Black participants were well-represented (30.0%). In general, MCI definitions differed in sensitivity and specificity for incident dementia. However, there were no significant differences in Youden’s index for any definition, across all years of follow-up. Conclusions This work provides an important step toward improving the generalizability of the MCI diagnosis to underrepresented/health-disparate populations. While our findings suggest the studied MCI classifications are comparable, researchers and clinicians may choose to consider one method over another depending on the rationale for evaluation or question of interest.

Objectives To investigate the effect of precarious employment (PE) on the risk of diagnosed chronic musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among Swedish workers in occupations with strenuous working conditions. Methods This nationwide register-based cohort study included workers registered as living in Sweden in 2005, aged 21–60 at the 2010 baseline. Three samples were included: workers with high biomechanical workload (n=680 841), repetitive work (n=659 422) or low job control (n=703 645). PE was evaluated using the SWE-ROPE (2.0) construct, which includes: contractual insecurity, temporariness, multiple jobs, income and collective bargaining agreement from 2010. Three exposure groups were created: PE, substandard and standard employment (SE). MSD data were obtained from outpatient registers (2011–2020). Cox proportional-hazards models estimated crude and adjusted sex-specific HRs with 95% CIs. Various outcomes were investigated for the different samples. Results Among workers with heavy biomechanical workload, results suggest increased risks of back MSDs in PE compared with those in SE. No association was found between PE and tendonitis in repetitive work, but PE was associated with an increased Carpal Tunnel Syndrome risk among men. Among workers with low job control, PE was associated with increased risks of soft tissue disorders among men and fibromyalgia among women. Conclusions PE was associated with an increased risk of MSDs among workers with strenuous working conditions, with variations depending on disorder and sex. The findings suggest a differential exposure to biomechanical workload within occupations. Targeted interventions and strengthened workplace safety regulations are needed to protect the musculoskeletal health of workers in PE.

In this chapter, I argue that Roberto Schwarz’s writing can produce a wholly new reading of contemporary Israeli literature. I use Schwarz’s insistence on the primacy of the literary (when thinking about literary works) to read Assaf Gavron’s 2013 novel The Hilltop, to problematize the too-quick of a reading of it in terms of familiar political oppositions, thereby missing the novel’s original thinking. I argue reading the novel via Schwarz’s conception of structural reduction—in which the critic must invent a social theory that will account for the work’s dominant formal property—allows this newness to emerge. I argue that The Hilltop is to be understood as combining two antagonistic strands of Israeli fiction: on the one hand, the more playful “post-national” metropolitan works of the 1990s (as in the writing of Orly Castel-Bloom); and the more earnest political-literary writing of the 1980s–2000s (as in the writing of David Grossman or Nir Baram). I argue that the novel’s structural reduction is strongly related to a sense of misplacedness; and the collision of these two contradictory strands in the novels is the strongest example for this misplacedness. I end the essay by suggesting that, the real subsumption under capitalism of Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands, is the social form to which this structural reduction is correlated. As such, the novel allows us to understand the theft of Palestinian land by Israel, as part of a larger contradiction: the development of capitalism.

Scaling minerals, such as barite, can cause detrimental consequences for oil/gas pipelines and water systems, but their formation can be inhibited by organic chelators such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Here, we resolve how EDTA affects sorption and desorption of Pb at the barite (001) surface using a combination of X-ray scattering and microscopy measurements. In the presence of EDTA, Pb incorporated in the topmost part of the barite surface and adsorbed as inner-sphere complexes on the surface. In barite saturated solutions containing [Pb] ≥ 100 μM, overgrowth films grew along step edges. These films were exclusively monolayer thick, indicating that their growth was a self-limiting process. Approximately half of the Pb was removed after 14.5 h reaction with a Pb-free EDTA solution where most of the desorption occurred to adsorbed Pb rather than incorporated Pb. Dissolution proceeded primarily via step retreat and etch pit formation in EDTA, but in deionized water, the secondary phase was quickly removed within 3 min. Together these results suggest EDTA binds to both the surface and Pb in solution, which limits Pb sorption. However, EDTA binding to the surface also inhibits removal of the secondary phase that formed at higher Pb concentrations.

The translation of the Bible message from the original language to a receptor language has been challenging due to the lack of equivalent words in the receptor language to convey the exact meaning of the original language. This can sometimes distort the original meaning and create ambiguity in the receptor community. In some Akan dialects such as Asante-Twi, Akuapim-Twi, and Bono-Twi, the translation of Genesis 1:1-3 presents recognizable translational challenges when compared with the Masoretic Text. For instance, all the selected Akan dialects translated the Hebrew word bereshit, “In the beginning,” as independent in relation to other parts of the first sentence. However, this paper argued that rendering "bereshit," with no indication of the temporal dependent relationship function of the clause within the sentence thus without any circumstantial sense, limits the meaning of the sentence and is inconsistent with the source text. Employing grammatical and syntactical analysis, the paper identified some translational inconsistencies in the selected Akan mother-tongue Bibles and accordingly proposed alternative renderings for readers.