Search

On 29 April 2022, a new mural called 'Home is Where We Make It', designed and installed by Amrisa Niranjan, an Indo-Guyanese artist was vandalized, just three days after completion. Black spray paint attempted to cover the artist's name, and the letters 'USA' were printed over the portrait of a hijabi woman. Other signs saying 'USA' were taped to the mural and removed by police. By that same evening, the Star of David had been added across the woman's face in an attempted erasure of her presence. Drawing on an interview with Amrisa Niranjan, I discuss the implications of being Indo-Caribbean migrants at the nexus of Islamophobic, xenophobic, and sexist rhetoric that mark us as 'unbelonging'. In this paper, I address this event as part of a continuum of white supremacist racist, sexist and xenophobic violence that gets played out at the national, institutional, and interpersonal levels. This incident highlights how border policing occurs in everyday spaces, from microaggressions to overt acts of violence and erasure, in communities, universities, and even in supposed sanctuary spaces, where hatred is hidden under banners of diversity and inclusion but resurfaces in these moments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public policy innovation and adoption processes are dynamic and complex. This is no exception for the adoption of hazard mitigation policies by localities prone to natural hazards. This paper synthesizes theories about policy innovation and adoption, and literature about hazards mitigation, and proposes a theoretical framework for understanding the factors driving hazard mitigation policy adoption at the local level. Our goal is to identify the key elements and parameters of the hazard mitigation policy adoption construct as well as the relationship between them. Using the property buyout program as an example, we present case studies in the states of North Carolina and New Jersey to illustrate a proposed theoretical framework and outline the directions for future research. The case studies show promising evidence consistent with the proposed framework, covering five categories—hazard problem, social context, institutional capacity, cross-sector collaboration, and policy diffusion. In particular, as for institutional capacity, three aspects influence the uptake of buyouts, including individual capacity [e.g., geographic information system (GIS) and technical skills], organizational capacity (e.g., reducing the negative financial impact on the tax base of buyouts and encouraging an innovative culture of flood mitigation strategies), and system capacity (e.g., cooperation among local organizations). To further validate the framework, systematic research of localities with diverse characteristics of policy adopters and nonadopters is needed. Flood hazard mitigation is a policy issue with great significance for governments and thousands of flood-prone communities in the US. Local governments bear the primary responsibility of initiating actions for managing flood hazard. Our theorization exercise and the case studies on the property buyout program highlight the importance of several internal and external factors that influence decisions to pursue this hazard mitigation measure at the local level. For local floodplain managers, disaster resilience officers, and policy entrepreneurs, these findings offer pointers as to where they should focus their effort to maximize the possibility of success. Within the community, developing a comprehensive appreciation of the local flood hazard, GIS, and technical skills of local officials as well as cooperation between local organizations are essential in cultivating a culture that encourages innovative flood mitigation strategies. Externally, coordination and communication between the federal, state, and local levels, as well as learning and emulation of practices in peer communities are key for local success. In this regard, the training workshops and outreach programs of FEMA, FEMA regional offices, and its state counterparts are critical. These programs will elevate the issue on the local agenda, disseminate best practices, demystify the process, and incentivize more mitigation policy adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The designation of enterprise zones is a place-based policy that seeks to revitalize economically blighted areas. The literature on place-based policies has found mixed results regarding their effects on local payroll employment. This paper examines the causal effects of five of New Jersey's Urban Enterprise Zones (UEZs) on local payroll employment: Bayonne, Gloucester City, New Brunswick, Roselle Borough, and The Wildwoods (Wildwood City, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood, and West Wildwood). All were designated as UEZs by the state in the 2000s, and none have been previously evaluated in the academic literature. The program offers reduced local sales tax, tax credits for newly hired employees, subsidized unemployment insurance costs, worker training assistance, and tax-free purchases on capital equipment and facilities. A synthetic control approach is used with the industrial composition of local firms and poverty rate as the covariate group and no impact of UEZ status on local employment in the treatment periods of the five areas is found. These results suggest that enterprise zones may not be effective job creators for treated areas, particularly for those zones that were added long after the program's inception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A desire to shift from fossil fuels to non-carbon-emitting energy sources has become an imperative supported by national, state, and local policies. In the U.S., a diverse array of policies at multiple levels of government have helped the solar industry achieve exponential growth. These advancements, however, are mediated by local implementation processes, which might be expected to have a large impact in the context of U.S. federalism. This paper investigates the effects of two countervailing forces – policy incentives and implementation disincentives – on residential solar adoption in New Jersey. The New Jersey case study includes two complementary analyses designed to illuminate policy incentives and implementation disincentives, respectively. The first is an interrupted time-series analysis that evaluates the effects of federal and statewide renewable energy policies on residential photovoltaic (PV) growth. The second is a set of semi-structured in-depth interviews with solar industry experts, providing implementation insights from the solar industry and indirectly portraying residential customers' experiences. Results confirm that market-based instruments at the state-level play a crucial role in increasing the relative financial advantage of these systems and, thus, the attraction of residential solar PV to adopters. In addition, the behaviours of future adopters and the valuation of this technology as an investment in the housing market will impact the spread of residential PV systems in the future. Unfortunately, case study findings also confirm that an absence of standardized solar application procedures and outdated interconnection standards is a significant drag on the adoption rate. This highlights a need for policymakers to place greater emphasis on local implementation pathways in solar policy design. Options to achieve this include more robust ex-ante coordination among state and local levels of government and with industry to standardize implementation processes. While U.S. federalism may at times be constraining, our results suggest that even minimal levels of ex-ante coordination can lead to implementation gains that will have a large impact on solar diffusion outcomes. Federal and state-level financial incentives significantly impact the residential photovoltaic solar adoption rate. The absence of streamlined interconnection application procedures and outdated interconnection standards for the grid limit the residential PV adoption in New Jersey. Our findings underline the importance of paying equal attention to both policy design and to technical standards to underpin implementation processes, especially in the decentralized context of U.S. federalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is an invasive pest species that causes significant economic damage to many crops. One of the crucial aspects of management strategies rely on understanding the biology and life-table parameters of H. halys. Here, we described the temperature dependent life-table parameters of H. halys from New Jersey and Oregon. In addition, comparison with previous data was performed to provide up-to-date information. Altogether, the current data and previous reports were employed to determine developmental thresholds and estimates of optimal temperatures for H. halys population development. Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a generalist pest that causes serious injury to a variety of crops around the world. After the first detection in the USA, H. halys became a serious threat to growers resulting in significant crop damage. Understanding the effect of temperature on H. halys development will help to achieve successful control by predicting the phenological timing of the pest. Here, life table parameters (survival, development, reproduction, and daily mortality) of H. halys were evaluated for New Jersey and Oregon populations in the US. Parameters were determined from field-collected and laboratory-reared individuals. The results indicated that New Jersey populations had higher levels of egg-laying than Oregon populations and exhibited higher and earlier fecundity peaks. Survival levels were similar between populations. Linear and nonlinear fit were used to estimate the minimum (14.3 °C), optimal (27.8 °C), and maximum (35.9 °C) temperatures where development of H. halys can take place. An age-specific fecundity peak (Mx = 36.63) was recorded at 936 degree days for New Jersey populations, while maximum fecundity (Mx = 11.85) occurred at 1145 degree days in Oregon. No oviposition was recorded at the lowest (15 °C) or highest (35 °C) trialed temperatures. Developmental periods increased at temperatures above 30 °C, indicating that such higher temperatures are suboptimal for H. halys development. Altogether the most optimal temperatures for population increase (rm) ranged from 25 to 30 °C. Survival rates of H. halys at suboptimal low temperatures of 8 °C (i.e., 61%) is comparable to previous reports. The present paper provides additional data and context from a range of experimental conditions and populations. Such temperature-related H. halys life table parameters can be used to provide determine the risk to susceptible crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The market for local food has grown considerably over the course of thirty years. At the same time, even robust local food systems may reproduce injustices that have long marred corporatized food systems. In this paper, we explore the relationship of environmental justice to local food systems by asking two questions. First, are farmers markets (FMs) more likely to be found in wealthier, whiter communities? Second, are FMs providing people who are not members of socially privileged groups with an opportunity to buy food grown in accordance with organic principles? Drawing on survey data from FMs in New Jersey, we find that, although community demographics are strongly associated with FM location, social privilege is not associated with where organic farmers sell produce, once the lens of analysis is narrowed to just communities with an FM. But although food grown without agricultural chemicals is widely available at FMs in the study area, organic farmers who accept payment via WIC or SNAP are not more likely to sell at FMs in lower-income communities, and fewer organic farmers than non-organic farmers accept payment via WIC or SNAP. The presence of organic farmers at FMs in a wide range of communities suggests that expanding access to locally sourced fruits and vegetables may be able to play a small but not insignificant role in reducing exposure to agricultural chemicals. However, organic food would be more accessible at FMs in low-income communities if more organic farmers participated in nutrition assistance programmes like WIC and SNAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding has been the most costly natural disaster over the last 2 decades within the US. Therefore, recent research has focused on more accurately predicting economic losses from flooding to aid decision makers and mitigate economic exposure. For this, depth–damage functions have commonly been employed to predict the relative or absolute damage to buildings caused by different magnitudes of flooding. Although depth–damage functions, such as those adopted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, are widely available for fluvial and coastal flooding, less work has been done to develop functions for pluvial-induced flooding. Here, we use a database containing 13.5 million claims to develop pluvial depth–damage functions. For this, recently released flood hazard data are utilized to identify claims within the database that are likely related to pluvial flooding. We employed two types of regression models to fit the depth–damage functions. Secondarily, we developed an automated valuation model (AVM) to estimate building values across the state of New Jersey. These building values were then combined with flood hazard layers in order to apply the depth–damage functions and compute an aggregate annualized loss for New Jersey. The results indicated moderate agreement between the observed damage within the state of New Jersey and that computed by applying the study-developed depth–damage curves to buildings within the state using pluvial flood hazard layers. It is anticipated that the depth–damage functions developed by this research will aid future work in more accurately quantifying the economic risks associated with flooding across the US. This research included in this paper aimed to develop a practical tool for the estimation of losses from heavy rainfall–driven flood events. Although established models exist to estimate losses from river and surge flooding, rainfall-driven flood damages are not as well understood. In order to estimate these losses, we also developed a property characteristic–driven valuation model. The production of the model gives us a property value baseline to estimate the rainfall losses against our derived damage curves. Our hope is that planners, researchers, and others may use this to estimate losses to properties from extreme rainfall events, which in turn can help to inform the allocation of resources in protecting against those events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents abstracts of papers presented to the Association for Computing Machinery Conference at Rutgers University on March 28-29, 1950, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. 'Maddida'--General Theory,' by Floyd G. Steele; 'Maddida--Design Features,' by Donald E. Eckdahl.

The mutual mitigation of selenium and mercury toxicity is particularly interesting, especially for humans. Mercury is widely recognized as a pantoxic element; all forms are toxic to all organisms. Less well known is that selenium in excess is toxic as well. The high affinity between these elements influences their bioavailability and toxicity. In this paper, we use selected species from Barnegat and Delaware Bays in New Jersey to examine variations in levels of selenium and mercury, and selenium:mercury molar ratios between and within species. We report on species ranging from horseshoe crab eggs (Limulus polyphemus), a keystone species of the food chain, to several fish species, to fish-eating birds. Sampling began in the 1970s for some species and in the 1990s for others. We found no clear time trends in mercury levels in horseshoe crab eggs, but selenium levels declined at first, then remained steady after the mid1990s. Concentrations of mercury and selenium in blood of migrant shorebirds directly reflected levels in horseshoe crab eggs (their food at stopover). Levels of mercury in eggs of common terns (Sterna hirundo) varied over time, and may have declined slightly since the mid2000s; selenium levels also varied temporally, and declined somewhat. There were variations in mercury and selenium levels in commercial, recreational, and subsistence fish as a function of species, season, and size (a surrogate for age). Selenium:mercury molar ratios also varied as a function of species, year, season, and size in fish. While mercury levels increased with size within individual fish species, selenium levels remained the same or declined. Thus selenium:mercury molar ratios declined with size in fish, reducing the potential of selenium to ameliorate mercury toxicity in consumers. Mercury levels in fish examined were higher in early summer and late fall, and lower in the summer, while selenium stayed relatively similar; thus selenium:mercury molar ratios were lower in early summer and late fall than in midsummer. We discuss the importance of temporal trends in biomonitoring projects, variations in levels of mercury, selenium, and the molar ratios as a function of several variables, and the influence of these on risks to predators and humans eating the fish, and the eggs of gulls, terns. Our data suggests that variability limits the utility of the selenium:mercury molar ratio for fish consumption advisories and for risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate change impact appears as a decreasing or increasing monotonic trend in hydro-meteorology time series records due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions causing to global warming and climate change impacts. On the other hand, there may be abrupt changes in the form of jumps in these series due to natural and engineering activities. Although trend identification methods are rather common in the literature, jump determination conventional methodologies are rather rare and their applications present some restrictive asumptions like the serial independence and normal (Gaussian) probability distribution function (PDF). The methodology presented in this paper is away from each of such assumptions and it depicts the minimum number of upcrossing along horizontal truncation levels within the time series variation domain. The applications of the methodology are given for annual Danube River discharge records, Romania; New Jersey rainfall and temperature records, USA; monthly rainfall records and Van Lake level fluctuations, Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic fluorinated compounds have been detected in various environmental media and biota. Some of these compounds are regulated locally (e.g., perfluorononanoic acid maximum contaminant level in drinking water by the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection), nationally (e.g., perfluorooctanoic acid maximum acceptable concentration in drinking water by Health Canada), or internationally (e.g., Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants). Globally, regulators and researchers seek to identify the organic fluorinated compounds associated with potential adverse effects, bioaccumulation, mobility, and persistence to manage their risks, and, to understand the beneficial attributes they bring to products such as first responder gear, etc. Clarity is needed to determine the best analytical method for the goal of the analyses (e.g., pure research or analysis to determine the extent of an accidental release, monitoring groundwater for specific compounds to determine regulatory compliance, and establish baseline levels in a river of organic fluorinated substances associated with human health risk prior to a clean‐up effort). Analytical techniques that identify organic fluorine coupled together with targeted chemical analysis will yield information sufficient to identify public health or environmental hazards. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:331–351. © 2020. W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). KEY POINTS: This paper provides new and important clarity on fluorine‐containing compounds, their uses, toxicological, chemical, and physical properties in relation to environmental occurrence, analysis, and how the interpretation of the analytical data is critical to effective regulation. To effectively protect public health and the environment, efforts must focus on those fluorinated compounds that pose the greatest risk, which necessitates an understanding of exposure pathways and determination of the concentration of the hazardous substance therein. Since national and internationally accepted standards do not always exist, this paper addresses analytical approaches so that fluorinated organic compounds can be identified and quantified appropriately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gloves can serve as barriers to decrease the transfer of microorganisms from hands to food. Glove changing by food vendors is particularly important when handling paper currency, as bills can carry and transmit microbes from person to person. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) To ascertain the extent to which gloves are changed after monetary transactions in food vendors at a major mall in New Jersey; and (2) to document the level of bacterial contamination and the presence of coliform bacteria on paper currency handled by these vendors. This study was conducted with two phases: Phase 1, in which 10 min of observation of food workers was completed followed by a monetary sample collection and testing, and Phase 2, in which 1 h of observations were conducted. During Phase 1, gloves were changed after 4 (2.3%) of the 174 transactions. All the dollar bills collected from all 17 vendors during Phase 1 exhibited bacterial contamination. The number of CFUs ranged from 1.18 × 10 to 1.13 × 10, and bills collected from 6 of the 17 vendors (35.3%) tested positive for coliform bacteria. In Phase 2, gloves were changed after 3.35% of the 1193 transactions observed. This study makes the critical connection between the lack of compliance by food workers with the health code, and the contaminated money they may be handling while dispensing food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports that the New Jersey Law Institute is very much interested in the application of automatic searching devices to legal literature. A series of brief mimeographed papers has been prepared, discussing various phases of the problems such as "The Structure of Systems for Automatic Literature Searches," which discusses requirements for the successful use of automatic search devices; "Analysis of Some Problems in Probability Arising from Automatic Literature Searching"; and "Some Problems in Search Cost as Measured in Work and Time."

Microaggressions can adversely impact the relational quality of interracial couples comprised of Black women and White men. Microaggressions are verbal, non-verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities that convey negative racial slights to individuals of color (Sue et al., 2007). Although couple and family therapists are implored to discuss microaggressions within therapy, a specific intervention to explore this dynamic is lacking. However, a lifemap could be utilized by therapists who assist interracial couples. Lifemaps are a client-constructed pictorial detailing the life events of a specific personal trajectory (Hodge, 2005b). This intervention has been used to ascertain an individual's spiritual awareness, but they have not been modified in the clinical literature to assess an individual's racial awareness. The theoretical framework for modifying spiritual lifemaps into racial lifemaps is Critical Race Theory (CRT). The themes of endemic racism and voices of color within CRT are particularly insightful for exploring the experiences of interracial couples. This paper will provide a composite case study of Black women married to White men demonstrating the use of racial lifemaps to address unresolved microaggressions and strategies for future microaggressive experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall–runoff modeling is commonly employed by hydrologic engineers for the purpose of determining a runoff hydrograph. Historically, hydrologic methods utilizing unit hydrograph theory and basin averaged parameters have been used to obtain results. Of the available unit hydrograph methods, the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) procedure has gained widespread popularity and is commonly used by the professional community. Recent advancements in both computing power and accessibility to high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) have made 2D hydraulic rainfall–runoff modeling feasible. Version 6 of the Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) allows users to input a precipitation boundary condition used in combination with both curve number and Manning's n layers for the purpose of modeling the rainfall–runoff relationship over a 2D terrain using hydrodynamic equations. The goal of this study was to simulate runoff hydrographs using both a hydrologic method (NRCS, via HEC-HMS) and a hydraulic method (via HEC-RAS) and then to compare results to measured values recorded at a USGS gauging station. A total of 29 watersheds were analyzed. Eleven of the watersheds had more than one historical storm, leading to a total of 45 rain events that were investigated. Analysis showed that neither technique produced consistently accurate results compared to historical data. The hydraulic (HEC-RAS) simulations produced average peak flow and runoff depth errors of 103% and 67% respectively, with 23 and 21 of 45 simulations overestimating the peak flow and total runoff depth, respectively. The hydrologic (HEC-HMS) simulations had average peak flow and runoff depth errors of 105% and 81% respectively, with 28 and 31 out of 45 simulations overestimating the peak flow and total runoff depth. In general, peak flow results for both models tended to improve for simulations involving larger watershed areas, larger flow return periods, and larger rainfall events. Total runoff depth results tended to improve only for larger rainfall events. This paper shows that rainfall–runoff modeling using a hydraulics-based approach yields better results with respect to both peak flow and direct runoff estimations. This is significant because if adopted by the professional community, it would lead to a fundamental shift in the approach that the practicing engineering community takes while performing this sort of analysis (peak flow prediction used for hydraulic structure design, volume estimation used for the reservoir, and stormwater management design). As higher resolution terrain information as well as various watershed features become more readily available, the results of the hydraulic modeling should theoretically improve. Ultimately, standard hydrologic methods involving unit hydrograph theory may become obsolete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual violence is well documented as a major problem on college campuses, and the delivery of service and programs at institutions of higher education (IHE) has proliferated over recent years. However, the implementation of these efforts has often outpaced the field's work in developing evaluation models. Many institutions depend on campus climate surveys for data to inform their efforts, yet there are multiple data points that can be accessed to provide a more holistic picture of efforts to address sexual violence on campus. The data ecosystem framework provided by Driver-Linn & Svenson (2017) offers a comprehensive approach for assessing efforts to address campus sexual violence (CSV), but implementation models are needed that connect evaluation and practice, take local context into account, and lead to changes on campus. This paper presents a case study from a multisite university to describe the process of implementing a "data ecosystem" to assess the institutions' efforts to effectively address CSV, and how the data was used by practitioners and administrators. The collaborative, utilization-driven model has provided valuable data to inform the delivery of services and programs across the university yet has limitations and requires a wide range of resources to sustain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1993, a glimpse into Newark’s history of enslavement was accidentally resurrected when New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) construction workers uncovered a nineteenth-century interracial burial ground. Despite public protests to halt construction and conduct an in-depth archaeological study, NJPAC officials continued construction, arguing that the site was not a “real” African burial ground. Highlighting the relationship between urban renewal, historic preservation, and Black land dispossession, this paper argues that Black Newarkers’ activism to define the Trinity Church Cemetery as an African burial ground served as a radical political act in legitimizing their place within an evolving Newark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paul A. Stellhorn Undergraduate Paper in New Jersey History Award was established in 2004 to honor Paul A. Stellhorn (1947-2001), a distinguished historian and public servant who worked for the New Jersey Historical Commission, the New Jersey Committee (now Council) for the Humanities, and the Newark Public Library. The Stellhorn Awards consist of a framed certificate and a modest cash award, presented at the New Jersey Historical Commission's Annual Conference. The Award's sponsors are the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance; the New Jersey Historical Commission, New Jersey Department of State; Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries; and the New Jersey Caucus, Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. The Stellhorn Award Committee members are Richard Waldron (chair), Mark Lender, and Peter Mickulas. The advisory committee consists of Ron Becker, Karl Niederer, Elsalyn Palmisano, and Fred Pachman. Click here for more information. The following paper was one of two 2020 winners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paul A. Stellhorn Undergraduate Paper in New Jersey History Award was established in 2004 to honor Paul A. Stellhorn (1947-2001), a distinguished historian and public servant who worked for the New Jersey Historical Commission, the New Jersey Committee (now Council) for the Humanities, and the Newark Public Library. The Stellhorn Awards consist of a framed certificate and a modest cash award, presented at the New Jersey Historical Commission's Annual Conference. The Award's sponsors are the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance; the New Jersey Historical Commission, New Jersey Department of State; Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries; and the New Jersey Caucus, Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. The Stellhorn Award Committee members are Richard Waldron (chair), Mark Lender, and Peter Mickulas. The advisory committee consists of Ron Becker, Karl Niederer, Elsalyn Palmisano, and Fred Pachman. Click here for more information. The following paper was one of two 2020 winners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze the performance of wireless networks subject to random loss. In this regard, we revisit our TCP Congestion Control Enhancement for Random Loss (CERL) mechanism that has been introduced earlier in a previous study. We call our new developed TCP variant as CERL Plus (CERL+). TCP CERL+ is a modification of TCP Reno at sender-side. TCP CERL+ is a new generation that works similarly as TCP CERL but its main idea is to use a dynamic threshold in terms of RTT. In doing this, we employ the average RTT and its minimum measurements made over the connection to estimate the queue length of the bottleneck link. As a result, we can use this queue length to evaluate the congestion status and distinguish it from the random loss status. This in turn would not reduce the window size leading to enhance the performance of the proposed algorithm in the sense of increasing the amount of data transmission. Additionally, CERL+ alleviates the congestion in the bottleneck obviously. In this paper, we present simulation experiment for TCP CERL+ considering a two-way transmission assuming a heavy load and wide range of random loss rates compared to TCP NewReno, TCP New Jersey + , TCP mVeno, TCP Westwood + , TCP Cubic and TCP YeAh using the network simulation ns-2. Simulation results prove that CERL+ outperforms other TCP variants and achieves excellent throughput gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential to reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of offshore wind technology through the use of digitalized financial innovations made possible by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Specifically, this paper proposed a novel application of DLT to crowdsource project finance for clean energy projects. An introduction to DLT technology and some of its potential applications is provided first. Next, the potential to move from a more centralized, top-down energy system to a more decentralized, two-way transactive energy system enabled by DLT is discussed. Within this new energy system framework, the idea of crowd-sourced equity funding of the capital cost of renewable energy is introduced. The impact of crowdfunded equity on the LCOE is then explored via the creation of a theoretical offshore wind installation off the coast of New Jersey. An existing offshore wind capital cost model is modified for use in the U.S., and an existing wind annual energy production model is utilized to provide inputs into a LCOE model. Finally, the potential impacts that DLT based crowdfunded equity may have on cost of debt, debt tenor, and debt-to-equity ratio are also input into the LCOE model in order to examine the range of potential impacts it may have on offshore wind LCOE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of ChatGPT 3.5 in November 2022 ignited a sensation in the academic community, leaving many astounded by its capabilities. This new release more closely emulates human responses than its predecessors. Among its remarkable capabilities, it can answer questions, catalog items in MARC21, recommend reading lists, and make suggestions on a wide array of topics. To assess ChatGPT’s efficacy in aiding library users, the authors of this paper conducted an experiment comparing ChatGPT’s performance with that of librarians in answering reference questions. Thirty questions were randomly selected from the transaction log of the reference inquiries between June 1, 2023 to July 31, 2023 at the Rider University Libraries. These queries constituted 34% of the total user questions during this two-month period. The authors compared the answers by ChatGPT and those by reference librarians for their accuracy, relevance, and friendliness. The findings indicate that reference librarians markedly outperformed their robotic counterpart. An evident issue arises from ChatGPT’s deficiency in understanding local policies and practices. This consequently hinders its ability to provide satisfactory answers in those areas. OpenAI posits that ChatGPT’s proficiency can be enhanced through targeted fine-tuning using locally specific information. At the moment, ChatGPT remains a great tool for librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This study conducts a pilot test analyzing reports from New York, New Jersey, and California and uses textual analytics to reengineer government performance audit reporting. It advocates a performance audit database that can facilitate easier access and extract relevant information from lengthy reports in a timely manner. The study presents a framework to identify the commonalities and differences in terminologies used by sampled states, evaluates and extracts relevant content from the reports according to Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards requirements, and constructs a taxonomy specific to government performance audits. Furthermore, this study investigates the disclosure quality by examining linguistic and similarity features, such as report length, specificity, readability, comprehensibility, and content similarity. This paper raises attention to a key legislative task that requires reporting reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth homicide by police in the U.S. remain a public health and safety concern. The purpose of this paper was to understand the impact of police killings on the lives of the family and community of youth victims. Participants were representative of 10 youth killed by police in 2016 and 2017 in seven cities and three states in Northeast U.S., including New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. Thirty-five adults participated in this research. This study utilized an in-depth interview design, along with in-depth and public interviews for data collection. Grounded theory approaches were used for data analysis. Findings produced several major themes surrounding the experiences of survivors of youth homicide by police, including living with trauma, meaning of state violence, holding police accountable, and limited resources and support following police killings. These themes were indicative of the mental, emotional, and social challenges experienced by survivors of youth homicide by police. Implications for service providers and researchers who work with families and communities of youth victims of police homicide are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multivariate failure time data are frequently analyzed using the marginal proportional hazards models and the frailty models. When the sample size is extraordinarily large, using either approach could face computational challenges. In this paper, we focus on the marginal model approach and propose a divide‐and‐combine method to analyze large‐scale multivariate failure time data. Our method is motivated by the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System (MIDAS), a New Jersey statewide database that includes 73,725,160 admissions to nonfederal hospitals and emergency rooms (ERs) from 1995 to 2017. We propose to randomly divide the full data into multiple subsets and propose a weighted method to combine these estimators obtained from individual subsets using three weights. Under mild conditions, we show that the combined estimator is asymptotically equivalent to the estimator obtained from the full data as if the data were analyzed all at once. In addition, to screen out risk factors with weak signals, we propose to perform the regularized estimation on the combined estimator using its combined confidence distribution. Theoretical properties, such as consistency, oracle properties, and asymptotic equivalence between the divide‐and‐combine approach and the full data approach are studied. Performance of the proposed method is investigated using simulation studies. Our method is applied to the MIDAS data to identify risk factors related to multivariate cardiovascular‐related health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)