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Research to date has demonstrated significant relationships between the presence of outdoor drug markets and violent crime. Scholars have neglected however, to consider the role of travel distance on the drugs/violence nexus. The current study examines whether features of the distributions of travel distance to markets of drug buyers, drug sellers, or the interaction between the two distributions predicts drug market violence levels net of surrounding community demographic structure. Reuter and MacCoun's (1992) as yet untested model about the connections between drugs and violent crime, predicts that the interaction of drug seller and buyer distance distributions from varying distances more powerfully drug market violence levels than buyer and average distance averages. This suggests that how the travel patterns of the two major participants in drug markets intersect is key to understanding differences. That model is tested here. In addition, for comparison purposes, impacts of buyer and seller travel median distances are modeled separately. This work uses 5 years (2006-2010) of incident and arrest data from the Philadelphia Police Department. Reuter and MacCoun's model will be tested using the following analytical techniques. First, a methodology for locating and bounding drug markets using a nearest neighbor, hierarchical clustering technique is introduced. Using this methodology 34 drug markets are identified. Second, hierarchical linear models examining buyers and sellers separately predict travel distances to drug markets. Arrestees are nested within markets. This technique separates influences on distance arising from arrestees from drug market distance differences. Third, how market level median travel distance affects within drug market violence is considered. Specifically, the main effects of median buyer travel distance and median seller travel distance on drug market violence are captured using separate Poisson hierarchical linear models. Finally, impacts of the interaction between buyer and seller distance, Reuter and MacCoun's (1992) focus, are explored in another series of generalized hierarchical linear models. The main findings from the dissertation are as follows: 1. Results provide partial support for Reuter and MacCoun's drug market-violence model using multiple operationalizations. Public markets--those in which buyers and sellers travel from outside their own neighborhoods--are expected to be the most violent. 2. Separate raw distance measures for buyers and sellers correlate with within-drug market violence, after controlling for community demographics. 3. A negative effect of socioeconomic status and violence holds even when modeled with drug market variables. 4. As the proportion of crack cocaine sales within drug markets increases so too does within-market violence. Conceptual implications highlight the need to investigate social ties as an intervening variable in the travel distance »» drug market violence relationship. It is not clear from this research whether the travel distances of drug offenders in some way explains the amount or strength of social ties in a drug market, which in turn serves to suppress or elevate within-drug market violence. Policy implications suggest that Reuter and MacCoun's drug market types may connect with specific policing responses. Policing efforts may not receive much support from community residents because dense social networks may discourage reporting illicit activity. Markets drawing dealers and customers from farther away, and located around commercial and recreational centers may be amenable to place-based policing initiatives and coordinated intervention strategies with multiple city agencies. / Criminal Justice

The present study explored the effects of the national and cultural contexts on students' mathematics achievement. The study also investigated the nature and magnitude of student-level (level 1), school-level (level 2), and country-level (level 3) factors that are associated with math achievement. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 datasets were used. The main predictors focusing on this study included university admission procedure and the country's culture of mindsets about intelligence at level 3, indicating extra-curricular activities at level 2, growth mindset, and resilience self-efficacy at level 1. Other than main predictors, various predictors including country's characteristics, school characteristics, school climate factors, students' demographic characteristics, and non-cognitive abilities were added in the analysis to examine the main predictors are statistically significant after controlling for other predictors. The findings of HLM analysis showed that mathematics achievement is associated with national and cultural contexts since the study found 31.30% of the total variation was accounted for level 3 in math achievement. Also, the significant findings of the study indicated that university admission procedure was significantly associated with country-mean math achievement while the country's culture of mindsets about intelligence was not at level 3. At level 2, providing extra-curricular activities in school was a significant predictor for math achievement. At level 1, a growth mindset and information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage were positively associated with math achievement. The other significant predictors for math achievement were found in the model. In addition, the study found that the compositional effect of ICT usage explained a significant amount of between schools and countries variance even after controlling for other predictors in the analysis. Moreover, the study found several counterintuitive association phenomena due to shift of meaning. These findings were explained in terms of practical and theoretical implications for policymakers, educators, and researchers to improve students' mathematics achievement. / Doctor of Philosophy / Policymakers and researchers have been concerned about the shortage of students pursuing STEM disciplines in the United States despite the increasing demand for STEM professionals. Since mathematical skills play an important role in a nation's economic development, improving mathematics performance is essential for developing professional STEM workers. Therefore, conducting a cross-national comparative study of mathematics achievement is needed to provide a useful empirical perspective and deeper understanding of mathematics performance. The present study examined the association of diverse predictors at the country-, school-, and student-level with math achievement using multilevel modeling which is also called hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). It was found that university admission procedure was significantly associated with country-mean math achievement at the country-level. Also, providing extra-curricular activities in school was a significant predictor for math achievement at the school-level and a growth mindset and information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage were positively associated with math achievement at the student-level. In addition, the study found the positive compositional effect of ICT usage at school- and country-level which indicates that developing the infrastructure of ICT in school and country should be needed to for high and sustainable students' math achievement. Moreover, the study found several counterintuitive association phenomena due to shift of meaning. These findings were explained in terms of practical and theoretical implications for policymakers, educators, and researchers to improve students' mathematics achievement.

Dropping out of school is a major concern as high school graduation credentials have been used as an important measurement tool to define post-secondary success. Numerous researchers presented a multitude of factors that predict dropouts at individual and school levels. Curriculum track choice, or high school course-taking sequence, defines students' schooling career and ultimately the post-secondary path that they choose (Plank, DeLuca, & Estacion, 2008). Scholars have debated on various outcomes related to dropouts influenced by various curriculum choices, namely academic, career and technical education (CTE), dual enrollment, and general curriculum. Several argued students following academic tracks are more likely to graduate. Others claim that CTE benefits students who are at-risk and suppresses dropout likelihood (Rumberger & Sun, 2008). New vocationalism or dual enrollment has proven successful at reducing dropout rates. This study attempted to investigate the influence of curriculum track and CTE program areas on dropout likelihood while controlling for possible individual differences. Analysis was conducted via Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling (HGLM) due to the nested data structure of Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS). Variables included were academic background, academic and career aspiration, school-sponsored activity participation, school minority composition, school average student socio-economic status (SES), school type (private or public), school urbanicity, CTE courses offered at the school, and demographic indicators (gender, race, and SES). Findings reflect higher dropout likelihood among general curriculum participants than academic and occupational concentrators after controlling for all possible individual differences. Dual concentrators had 0% dropout rate, and therefore comparison with other curriculum tracks was not possible via HGLM analysis. Results suggest substantial importance of academic background, post-secondary education plans, and school-sponsored activity participation in predicting dropout likelihood. Comparing CTE program areas, Family and Consumer Sciences, Human Services, Public Services, Health and Education (Human Services area) participants were more likely to drop out than other program areas while Technology Education participants were less likely to drop out than Human Services and 2 or more CTE program area participants. Results suggest 9th grade overall GPA and school-sponsored activity participation as substantial predictors of dropout likelihood among occupational concentrators. Variability across schools was insignificant. / Ph. D.

Families play a key role in psychiatric emergency services (PES). Given the cost of PES in terms of dollars and restrictiveness, clients, families, providers, payers, and policymakers involved in these services need more understanding of how families affect these key PES outcomes. Marriage and family therapy theories offer frameworks for understanding family and provider system dynamics in PES. This study explores how family presence and family quality influence restrictiveness and cost of PES dispositions, and how they moderate the effect of suicide risk, homicide risk, and inability to care for self on those outcomes. The sample of 306 clients and 33 clinicians was drawn from the records of a mobile PES unit serving a rural area. A regression-based, quantitative methodology, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), was employed to explore associations between restrictiveness and client risk and family factors, as well as differences in dispositions between PES clinicians. In order to extend practical implications, the same questions were also examined in monetary terms by translating restrictiveness into cost of dispositions. Results show inability to care for self and suicide risk to be the strongest predictors of increased restrictiveness and cost. Family quality appeared to reduce restrictiveness but not cost and only when not considering interactions with individual risk factors. When interactions were considered, family quality exhibited a statistically significant disordinal interaction with inability to care for self. That is, when clients were unable to care for self, positive family quality worked toward increasing restrictiveness and cost, perhaps due to families seeking help for the client. However, when clients were able to care for self, positive family quality worked in the opposite direction (i.e., toward reducing restrictiveness and cost). Theoretical and practical implications of this interaction were considered. There was found no significant variability in dispositions and associated costs between clinicians, which may be evidence of standardized clinician training and procedures. Non-standardized instrumentation, lack of comparison with other programs or sites, and limited cell sample size are limitations of the study. This study shows the complexity of family systems in PES and provides basis for recommendations for future research and clinical practice. / Ph. D.

This dissertation focuses on the development and testing of a conceptual framework for student motivation in mathematical discussion. Specifically, this document integrates Yackel and Cobb's (1996) framework with aspects of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), as described by Ryan and Deci (2000). Yackel and Cobb articulated the development of students' mathematical dispositions through discussion by facilitating student autonomy, incorporating appropriate social norms and co-constructing sociomathematical norms. SDT mirrors these factors and describes a similar process of self-regulation through fulfillment of the individual needs of autonomy, social relatedness, and competence. Given the conceptual overlap, this dissertation examines the connection of SDT with mathematical discussion with two studies. The first study examined the effect of student frequency of explaining mathematics on their perceived autonomy, competence and relatedness. Results of HLM analyses found that more frequent explanation of mathematics had a positive effect on students' perceived mathematics autonomy, mathematics competence, and relatedness. The second study used a triangulation mixed methods approach to examine high school geometry students' classroom discourse actions in combination with their perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Results of the second study suggest a higher perceived sense of autonomy is indicative of more engagement in mathematical talk, but a measure of competence and relatedness are needed for such engagement to be fully indicative of mathematical discourse. Rather, students who lacked a measure of perceived competence or relatedness would cease participation in mathematical discussion when challenged by peers. While these results need further investigation, the results of the second study provide evidence that indicates the necessity of fulfilling all three SDT needs for engagement in mathematical discussion. Evidence from both the first and second studies presented in this dissertation provides support for the conceptual framework presented. / Ph. D.

Introduction: Les études populationnelles sur le cancer nécessitent un recensement de référence fiable et exhaustif, en théorie possible à partir d'un recueil histologique. Méthode: Depuis 2005, toutes les structures d'anatomopathologie des Alpes-Maritimes adressent les codes ADICAP des tumeurs malignes et invasives et identifiants patients. L'exhaustivité pour les cancers du sein et colorectaux des 50-75 ans a été évalué par méthode de capture recapture en modélisation log-linéaire et en Bayesien à partir des cas communs ou non dépistés et vus en Réunion de Concertation Pluridisciplinaire. RésultatUn programme d'assurance qualité a permis de s'assurer de la fiabilité des données recueillies.L'estimation de l'exhaustivité était de plus de 90 % pour les cancers du sein et colorectaux des 50-75 ans. Les taux observés sur le département des Alpes-Maritimes, comparés aux taux estimés en France, se sont révélés cohérents.Enfin, la base a été utilisée pour déterminer l'existant les lésions prénéoplasiques du col de l'utérus avant la vaccination anti-HPV. ConclusionCe travail conclut à l'intérêt d'un recueil histologique des cas de cancers incidents. / Introduction Cancer population studies require reliable and complete baseline data, which should theoretically be available by collecting histopathology records.Method Since 2005, all histopathology laboratories from Alpes-Maritimes address ADICAP codes for invasive cancer and patient identifiers. The completeness of such a collection was evaluated using capture-recapture analysis based on three data sources concerning breast and colorectal cancers with the number of cases which were common or not between sources recording screened, diagnosed and treated cancers in the French Alpes Maritimes districtResult Data quality for the ADICAP code database may be considered satisfactoryThe estimated completeness of cancer records collected from histopathology laboratories was higher than 90%.Rates observed in the Alpes-Maritimes, compared with estimated rates in France have proven consistent. Rates of CIN for the entire female population of the Alpes-Maritimes in 2006 has been established.Conclusion A verified and validated histopathology data collection may be useful for cancer population studies.

Children exposed to trauma experience many negative outcomes including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fortunately, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for PTSD. Theoretically it may be that not only do children do better in treatment when their parents are involved, but that there is also a reciprocal relationship such that as children improve their parents feel better as well (and vice a versa). Using data from a randomized trial (Scheeringa & Weems, 2014), this thesis used Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to test if change in child PTSD symptoms mediates change in parent depression symptoms, and vice a versa, across treatment sessions. Results indicated that maternal depression mediates child PTSD symptoms, and that the reciprocal relationship is present. However, this was only true when child PTSD symptoms were measured by parent report. The addition of this reciprocal relationship finding to the literature and future directions are discussed.