Indiana University of Pennsylvania,Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

The goal of this study is to determine the geological character and source of the exterior stone stairs that once ascended to the south entry at Stratford Hall on the Potomac River in Virginia. The intent is to clarify the date and physical history of these stairs by determining their geologic source. Built for Thomas Lee beginning in 1738, the hall was restored in 1929–1940. At that time the stairs of the south entrance were red sandstone. These early stairs were dismantled during the restoration and stored onsite. As part of the present study, we thin-sectioned the stored stones and compared them petrographically with samples of other red sandstones used around the Chesapeake Bay in the colonial period, including Seneca sandstone from Maryland and St. Bees sandstone from England. The Stratford stairs are made of lithic arkose, which resembles Seneca sandstone significantly more closely than St. Bees sandstone both in mineralogy and in grain size. If the Stratford stairs were made of Seneca sandstone, that would push their installation date forward to at least 1802, when the Patowmack Canal on the Virginia side of the Potomac River allowed transport of Seneca sandstone by boat, avoiding the falls on the river. A more likely even younger earliest date is 1832, as that is when the improved Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was functioning on the Maryland side. This has implications for decisions about the restoration of the mansion.

Purpose The Islamic work ethic (IWE) literature has expanded across geographies and disciplines but remains fragmented on three fronts, which are (1) conceptual boundaries, (2) operationalization and (3) empirical dispersion. We, therefore, conduct a systematic review to clarify IWE's conceptual core, assess its measurement architecture and synthesize its empirical nomological network. Design/methodology/approach To achieve this objective, we conducted a systematic search on Scopus and the Web of Science, applying a rigorous selection process that yielded 122 articles published between 1988 and 2024. Findings The systematic review was conducted in three aspects covering (1) conceptualization of IWE, (2) measurement and (3) empirical applications. The conceptualization clarifies its moral architecture, boundary distinctions and scope conditions. The measurement theme reviews dominant unidimensional scales alongside emerging multidimensional instruments. The empirical applications bring together evidence on individual and organizational outcomes, determinants and antecedents and the moderating and mediating roles of IWE across contexts. There are several areas that require future consideration; those have also been critically discussed. Originality/value This review makes a three-part contribution. First, it consolidates the conceptual foundations of IWE by specifying its core tenets, distinguishing it from adjacent constructs and setting scope conditions across person, organization and institution. Second, it reviews measurement approaches, contrasting established unidimensional scales with newer multidimensional instruments. Third, it integrates dispersed empirical evidence on outcomes and determinants and clarifies the roles of IWE as predictor, moderator and mediator across contexts. Collectively, these contributions guide future research agendas.

IntroductionIn this study we aimed to develop a psychometrically validated instrument to measure college students’ trust in their instructor. Recent studies have shown that student trust is positively associated with desired outcome variables like student buy-in, engagement, final grade, and intention to persist in science. Clearly defining and measuring college students’ trust in their instructor can inform teaching strategies, enhance student performance, and create opportunities for more engaging classroom environments.MethodsWe developed, collected, and validated a measure of student trust in their instructor.Results and discussionWe established the Trust and Responsiveness in Undergraduate Student Teaching (TRUST) instrument, a 9-item, two factor model. Factor 1 is titled Classroom Trust and Factor 2 as Interpersonal Trust. This instrument contributes to the higher education community’s ongoing efforts to increase student engagement and persistence.

BACKGROUND:Using the intelligence leadership model as a conceptual framework, this study examined the relationship between organization-level safety climate and two dimensions of worker safety behavior (worker safety participation and workers safety engagement) and how this relationship could be affected by workers perceived safety leadership traits of the person in charge. METHODS:A cross-sectional study was conducted with 105 oil and gas field workers from multiple contractor companies across eight sites in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Participants completed a comprehensive 53-item self-administered questionnaire designed to assess three constructs: safety leadership intelligence (emotional intelligence [six items], rational intelligence [four items], and spiritual intelligence [six items]), organization-level safety climate (16 items), and worker safety behavior (safety participation [five items] and safety engagement [four items]). Study hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling analysis. FINDINGS:The results showed significant direct and indirect pathways between organization-level safety climate and worker safety behavior (worker safety participation and worker safety engagement), through safety intelligence leadership attributes (emotional, rational, and spiritual). Specifically, perceived person-in-charge's (PIC) leadership attributes related to emotional safety intelligence were found to both fully and partially mediate the relationship with worker safety participation and worker safety engagement respectively. CONCLUSIONS/APPLICATION TO PRACTICE:In high-risk, high-pressure environments, workers are more likely to engage in proactive safety behaviors when they perceive their leaders as empathetic, emotionally self-aware, and capable of fostering genuine interactions. This type of influence cannot be mandated by authority alone, nor achieved just by charisma; it must be earned through emotional connections.

Produced at a point of significant change in literary representations of what was called “the black experience,” the comic book series Panther’s Rage and The Black Panther Takes on the Klan each represent an ambitious collaboration between Don McGregor, the white writer of the series, and Billy Graham, the black series artist. As a revision of “black experience” novels published by Holloway House during the early 1970s, this comic book series significantly alters the ways in which mourning, memory, and mental fortitude are represented in a world of almost entirely black characters. Fighting villains who create phantasmic illusions that evoke self-doubt, The Black Panther, one of three black superheroes introduced by Marvel comics during the 1960s and 1970s, brings to light and then revises traumatic historical memories. The hero’s journey around the provinces of Wakanda, a black kingdom in Western Africa, requires the Panther to defeat a variety of villains and their proxies and to posit an alternative to revolutionary self-hatred. We learn from this journey that tradition and modernity can coexist and that traumatic memories need not repeat themselves endlessly. Instead, they can be revised and incorporated into narratives that celebrate the power of the disciplined imagination to imagine a better future.