Equitable Access Policy

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    How “Race” Is Used in U.S. Peer-Reviewed Studies of Cardiovascular Health and Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Scoping Review
    (Kinesiology Review, 2025-03-04) Justin, Tori; Shannon, Jette; Tchangalova, Nedelina
    In this scoping review, we examine whether and how race is used to explain differences in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and/or cardiovascular health (CVH) among racial/ethnic populations living in the United States in peer-reviewed research. Searching eight databases from their inception, and informed by the Population, Concept, and Context framework, our search yielded 232 studies (N = 232) published in English. Seventy-eight percent of included studies (n = 181) did not define race; 45% (n = 105) positioned White participants as the standard for CVH and CRF metrics, and only 7% (n = 17) of the studies used sociocultural explanations to discuss possible mechanisms of racial differences in CRF and CVH outcomes. Findings are interpreted as an indication of how “white logic” informs research pertaining to CRF and CVH. A series of recommendations are provided to help kinesiological scholars avoid reductionist characterizations of “race” through their research, thus better aligning with the National Academy of Kinesiology’s social justice mission.
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    Exploring Acculturative Joy in English Language Education
    (2024-04) Siebold, Connie; Fagan, Drew
    English language education has frequently centered the voices of educators rather than those of the students we seek to serve. Driven by institutional demands, the learner experience is often flattened into easily quantifiable measures that strip learners of their agency and ownership of the educational process. Rather than positioning students as vessels to be filled and measured, a student-centric narrative approach to research can illuminate critical sociocultural aspects to student success. Using the lens of Acculturative Joy, this study interviews 20 English language learners to understand their experiences of joy in the English language classroom. With an emic understanding of learner needs, we can then critically examine pedagogical practice and shift our focus to improvement of resources, thoughtful student-centric pedagogy, and equitable harm reduction in the English language classroom.
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    Connecting Spaces: Gender, Video Games and Computing in the Early Teens
    (Sage, 2023-04) Ashlock, Jennifer; Stojnic, Miodrag; Tufekci, Zeynep
    Informed by evidence that computing attitudes may be uniquely constructed in informal contexts and that the early teens are a key period for academic decision-making, we investigate lines of practice that connect computing skills, attitudes, and videogames. We compare the relationship between computer skill, computer efficacy, and activities associated with gaming using a data set of 3,868 children in middle school. The time that children spend gaming has very modest association with skill and efficacy. Accounting for the frequency with which children modify games, engage in social gaming activities, and the salience of gamer identity explains the gender gap in computer skill and significantly narrows the gender gap in computer efficacy. We find support for the argument that computer skill and efficacy are dependent on children connecting often isolated social contexts, a socially embedded characteristic of the digital divide.
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    Maryland Biology Expectations Survey (MBEX) for characterizing student epistemology in biology courses
    (2024) Hall, Kristi L.; Chatzikyriakidou, Kyriaki; Redish, Edward F.; Cooke, Todd J.
    The Maryland Biology Expectations Survey (MBEX) is a pre-post survey instrument that was designed by Hall (2013) to evaluate the changes of student epistemology occurring in an introductory biology course (Cooke et al., 2023). The MBEX addresses four epistemic themes: principles vs. facts, independence vs. authority, interdisciplinary reasoning vs. siloed thinking, and connection (= relevance) vs. isolation (Hall, 2013). The major difference between MBEX-1 statements and MBEX-2 statements resides in the interdisciplinary reasoning cluster. MBEX-1 incorporates more chemistry-related statements, whereas MBEX-2 focuses almost exclusively on math and physics. It turns out that biology students showed very favorable attitudes toward chemistry in their pre-course MBEX-1 responses, which reduced the ability of that survey to reveal any post-course changes in student attitudes toward interdisciplinary reasoning. This website includes the following files: • MBEX-1 survey • MBEX-2 survey • Cluster assignments, polarization, and correspondence of MBEX-1 and MBEX-2 statements. For further information, email either Kyriaki Chatzikyriakidou (kchatzikyriak@gmail.com) or Todd Cooke (tjcooke@umd.edu). References Cooke, T. J., Jensen, J. S., Carleton, K. L., Hall, K. L., Jardine, H. E., Kent, B. W., Redish, E.F., and Shultz, J. W. (2023). Group active engagements for facilitating principles-based learning in introductory organismal biology. American Biology Teacher 85 (6): 317–326. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2023.85.6.317 Hall, K. L. (2013). Examining the effects of students’ classroom expectations on undergraduate biology course reform. Ph.D. Dissertation in Digital Resources at the University of Maryland. https://drum.lib.umd.edu/items/91d250d1-0890-4adc-a040-6b9c9b5eff40
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    Floral traits and their connection with pollinators and climate
    (Oxford Academic, 2024-03-19) Basnett, Shweta; Krpan, Julia; Espindola, Anahi
    Floral characteristics vary significantly among plant species, and multiple underlying factors govern this diversity. Although it is widely known that spatial variation in pollinator groups can exert selection on floral traits, the relative contribution of pollinators and climate to the variation of floral traits across large geographical areas remains a little-studied area. Besides furthering our conceptual understanding of these processes, gaining insight into the topic is also of conservation relevance: understanding how climate might drive variation in floral traits can serve to protect plant–pollinator interactions in globally change conditions. We used Rhododendron as a model system and collected floral traits (corolla length, nectar volume and concentrations), floral visitors and climatic data on 21 Rhododendron species across two continents (North America, Appalachians and Asia, Himalaya). Based on this, we quantified the influence of climate and pollinators on floral traits using phylogeny-informed analyses. Our results indicate that there is substantial variation in pollinators and morphological traits across Rhododendron species and continents. We came across four pollinator groups: birds, bees, butterflies and flies. Asian species were commonly visited by birds, bees and flies, whereas bees and butterflies were the most common visitors of North American species. The visitor identity explained nectar trait variation, with flowers visited by birds presenting higher volumes of dilute nectar and those visited by insects producing concentrated nectar. Nectar concentration and corolla length exhibited a strong phylogenetic signal across the analysed set of species. We also found that nectar trait variation in the Himalayas could also be explained by climate, which presented significant interactions with pollinator identity. Our results indicate that both pollinators and climate contribute and interact to drive nectar trait variation, suggesting that both can affect pollination interactions and floral (and plant) evolution individually and in interaction with each other.
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    Hello World! Building Computational Models to Represent Social and Organizational Theory
    (2024) Grand, James A.; Braun, Michael T.; Kuljanin, Goran
    Computational modeling holds significant promise as a tool for improving how theory is developed, expressed, and used to inform empirical research and evaluation efforts. However, the knowledge and skillsets needed to build computational models are rarely developed in the training received by social and organizational scientists. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide an accessible introduction to and reference for building computational models to represent theory. We first discuss important principles and recommendations for “thinking about” theory and developing explanatory accounts in ways that facilitate translating their core assumptions, specifications, and ideas into a computational model. Next, we address some frequently asked questions related to building computational models that introduce several fundamental tasks/concepts involved in building models to represent theory and demonstrate how they can be implemented in the R programming language to produce executable model code. The accompanying supplemental materials describes additional considerations relevant to building and using computational models, provides multiple examples of complete computational model code written in R, and an interactive application offering guided practice on key model-building tasks/concepts in R.
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    Supporting Cultural Rights and Indigenous Sovereignty through Archival Repatriation
    (PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 2024-09-21) Sorensen, Amanda H.; Bull, Ia; Marsh, Diana; Lee, Samantha
    Primary source materials are irreplaceable cultural resources for the communities in which they originated, particularly when they derive from Native and Indigenous communities (Parezo 1999). These communities have been disenfranchised from their own information, data, and knowledge through the evidentiary and collecting practices of historical anthropological researchers, as well as the actions of archives, museums, and other collecting institutions. Knowledge extraction, wherein practitioners collect data for their own uses without appreciation of originating community perspectives or needs to access the data, was frequent in the early years of the discipline (First Archivists Circle 2007; Christen and Anderson 2019, 92-3). This localized information (regarding religious or ceremonial practices, for example) was dispersed to archives worldwide via what scholars have called an “archival diaspora” (Punzalan 2014a), effectively removing archives from the hands of originating communities. Furthermore, anthropologists have at times created field records in the context of assimilation and genocide, or through imbalanced and unethical power relations (O’Neal 2014). These historical factors underscore the ethical responsibility of archivists and data curators to provide community access to archival and unpublished information. There is a strong need for political and legal anthropologists, cultural heritage professionals, and policy writers to not only center human rights in ongoing research, but also to place Indigenous Knowledge Systems at the core of their efforts (O’Neal 2019, 50). We argue that the repatriation of archival materials (including physical repatriation but also encompassing ownership transfer or shared stewardship) is crucial to protecting “moral and material interests” embedded in community knowledge, language, storytelling, survivance, and the wider “cultural life of the community” (United Nations 2007).
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    Quantized topological energy pumping and Weyl points in Floquet synthetic dimensions with a driven-dissipative photonic molecule
    (Nature Physics, 2024-02-26) Sridhar, Sashank; Ghosh, Sayan; Dutt, Avik
    Topological effects manifest in a wide range of physical systems, such as solid crystals, acoustic waves, photonic materials and cold atoms. These effects are characterized by `topological invariants' which are typically integer-valued, and lead to robust quantized channels of transport in space, time, and other degrees of freedom. The temporal channel, in particular, allows one to achieve higher- dimensional topological effects, by driving the system with multiple incommensurate frequencies. However, dissipation is generally detrimental to such topological effects, particularly when the systems consist of quantum spins or qubits. Here we introduce a photonic molecule subjected to multiple RF/optical drives and dissipation as a promising candidate system to observe quantized transport along Floquet synthetic dimensions. Topological energy pumping in the incommensurately modulated photonic molecule is enhanced by the driven-dissipative nature of our platform. Furthermore, we provide a path to realizing Weyl points and measuring the Berry curvature emanating from these reciprocal-space (k-space) magnetic monopoles, illustrating the capabilities for higher-dimensional topological Hamiltonian simulation in this platform. Our approach enables direct k-space engineering of a wide variety of Hamiltonians using modulation bandwidths that are well below the free-spectral range (FSR) of integrated photonic cavities.
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    Characterization of Magnetorheological Impact Foams in Compression
    (MDPI, 2024-06-14) Choi, Young; Wereley, Norman M.; Wereley, Norman M.
    This study focuses on the development and compressive characteristics of magnetorheo- logical elastomeric foam (MREF) as an adaptive cushioning material designed to protect payloads from a broader spectrum of impact loads. The MREF exhibits softness and flexibility under light compressive loads and low strains, yet it becomes rigid in response to higher impact loads and ele- vated strains. The synthesis of MREF involved suspending micron-sized carbonyl Fe particles in an uncured silicone elastomeric foam. A catalyzed addition crosslinking reaction, facilitated by platinum compounds, was employed to create the rapidly setting silicone foam at room temperature, simplify- ing the synthesis process. Isotropic MREF samples with varying Fe particle volume fractions (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%) were prepared to assess the effect of particle concentrations. Quasi-static and dynamic compressive stress tests on the MREF samples placed between two multipole flexible strip magnets were conducted using an Instron servo-hydraulic test machine. The tests provided measurements of magnetic field-sensitive compressive properties, including compression stress, energy absorption capability, complex modulus, and equivalent viscous damping. Furthermore, the experimental investigation also explored the influence of magnet placement directions (0◦ and 90◦) on the compressive properties of the MREFs.
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    Adaptive magnetorheological fluid energy absorption systems: a review
    (Institute of Physics, 2024-03-01) Bai, Xianxu 'Frank'; Zhang, Xinchi; Choi, Young; Shou, Mengje; Zhu, Guanghong; Wereey, Norman M.; Wereley, Norman
    In the last two decades, magnetorheological (MR) fluids have attracted extensive attention since they can rapidly and continuously control their rheological characteristics by adjusting an external magnetic field. Because of this feature, MR fluids have been applied to various engineering systems. This paper specifically investigates the application of MR fluids in shock mitigation control systems from the aspects of three key technical components: the basic structural design of MR fluid-based energy absorbers (MREAs), the analytical and dynamical model of MREAs, and the control method of adaptive MR shock mitigation control systems. The current status of MR technology in shock mitigation control is presented and analyzed. Firstly, the fundamental mechanical analysis of MREAs is carried out, followed by the introduction of typical MREA configurations. Based on mechanical analysis of MREAs, the structural optimization of MREAs used in shock mitigation control is discussed. The optimization methods are given from perspectives of the design of piston structures, the layout of electromagnetic coil, and the MR fluid gap. Secondly, the methods of damper modeling for MREAs are presented with and without consideration of the inertia effect. Then both the modeling methods and their characteristics are introduced for representative parametric dynamic models, semi-empirical dynamic models, and non-parametric dynamic models. Finally, the control objectives and requirements of the shock mitigation control systems are analyzed, and the current competitive methods for the ideal ‘soft-landing’ control objectives are reviewed. The typical control methods of MR shock mitigation control systems are discussed, and based on this the evaluation indicators of the control performance are summarized.