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How a Threat to Women's Healthcare in the U.S. Could Lead to a Liberal Shift
No full textLiterature on traditional ideas of threat, such as terrorism, primarily shows increased support for political conservatism (Jost et al., 2003; 2007), while little research exists on how broader conceptualizations of threat may increase support for liberalism. The current research aims to extend findings from Eadeh and Chang (2020), exploring how threat may influence support for liberal ideology. Two between-subjects experiments were conducted focusing on healthcare threats at the group and individual level. The preliminary study (Experiment 1) explored perceptions of threat to women’s healthcare and found healthcare threats to be perceived as similarly threatening to terrorism. Using a pretest-posttest design, the primary study (Experiment 2) explored possible shifts in political attitudes after exposure to healthcare threats. Results show an increase in liberal healthcare beliefs after exposure to the “individual” healthcare threat, but not the “group” healthcare threat. Moral foundations of care/harm (Haidt & Graham, 2007) were also explored in addition to the importance and relevance of women’s healthcare. Implications for future research on threat and political ideology are discussed
Resilience and Adaptability: A Phenomenological Study Examining Principal Retention Prior to, Amid, and Post The Covid-19 Pandemic
No full textThe purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of principals prior to, amid, and post the COVID-19 pandemic and the contextual factors that they described as being supportive or constraining for principal retention. This study collected data from semi structured interviews of a purposive sample of 10 principals with five years or more of principal experience from a large urban school district located in Southeast Texas. An inductive coding process was utilized to reveal a total of 21 themes for principals’ challenges and supports received prior to, amid, and post the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings parallel to the literature on challenges principals encounter that contribute to principal burnout. Results regarding the lived experiences of principals prior to, amid, and post the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that the principal role, challenges principals encountered, and what aided principals to overcome challenges changed over time. Participants shared that there were already challenges prior to the pandemic, but the pandemic exacerbated existing challenges making the role of a principal much more difficult even after the pandemic was over. While participants didn’t share as much support that was provided to them prior to the pandemic, they revealed a sense of unity during and in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic from their colleagues, immediate supervisors, and the school community. The findings further revealed that while a principal’s sense of purpose is a major driving force to overcome challenges and to remain in the role, district leaders can supplement their drive by providing a variety of supports that they value such as coaching and developing from their immediate supervisors along with effective two-way communication, autonomy from district leaders, and a platform for principals to collaborate
Examining the overlap between resiliency and coping measures
Full text linkResilience and coping are two distinct psychological concepts, but they are often used interchangeably in the literature (Morales-Rodriguez et al., 2021). Resilience is the ability to return to a pre-exposure physiological and psychological state during and immediately after an event, and coping is the behavior that an individual may engage in to manage stressors (Rice & Liu, 2016a). Research has consistently reported a relation between resilience and coping styles (Rice & Liu, 2016b; Wu et al., 2020); however, it is unclear if widely used measures of resilience and coping may be measuring the same construct rather than unique facets of the two constructs. This study examined associations among frequently used measures of resilience and coping to determine how much overlap may be present.
Participants were 237 students at a suburban commuter campus in Houston, Texas, and data were collected during the Fall 2022 semester. Participants were 18 – 65 years of age (M = 24.80, SD = 7.61), racially/ethnically diverse (37.34% Hispanic/Latinx/Spanish, 33.48% White/Caucasian, 10.30% Multiracial, 8.58% African American/Black/African, 6.44% Asian), and predominantly cisgender female (73.82%). Participants completed an online self-report survey including common resilience (i.e., CD-RISC 27, Resiliency Appraisal Scale, and Brief Resilience Scale) and coping (i.e., Brief-COPE Questionnaire and Brief Resilient Coping Scale) measures.
Even though there were significant correlations among many of the measures (r’s = -.36 - .61, all p’s < .05), with effect sizes ranging from small to large, results suggest that the measures captured at least some unique aspects of the constructs. Future research would benefit from examining individual items in the measures to further understand what is shared and what is unique in commonly used measures of resilience and coping, as well as how to use these results in an operationalized way for individuals outside of trauma-informed care.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on social capital
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on all aspects of society, including social relationships and connections. In this study, I investigated the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on social capital. Using a quantitative approach, I measured various dimensions of social capital, focusing on social trust, social networks, and civic connections before, during, and after the pandemic to explore the changes caused by the pandemic on social capital. After careful analysis of 119 responses using SPSS, I found that social trust results in unique patterns with strong bonding within familiar circles like family, neighbors, and government's institutions, while a low level of trust was evident regarding diverse groups. In terms of social networks, family relationships thrived during the pandemic, and new friendships emerged, showing a strong indicator of bonding and bridging social capital. However, a decrease was observed in deeper friendships during and after the pandemic. Nevertheless, participants expressed satisfaction with their means of contacting others during the pandemic and 80% of participants were willing to continue using the same mode of communication in the post-pandemic era. Amidst the upheaval, civic engagement displayed a slight increase, particularly in ethnic associations, religious-affiliated groups, seniors, and youth groups. However, the pandemic circumstances led to a general reduction in participation in civil society organizations. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted various dimensions of social capital. The findings of this study have important implications for policymakers, community leaders, and individuals as we navigate the challenges of the pandemic and work to build stronger, more resilient communities in the post-pandemic world
Presentation is Everything: Repackaging Information to Streamline the ETD Process
Full text linkPresented PaperFrom the time our library began accepting ETDs, all resources related to them – templates, format guidelines, submission information, and help videos – have been housed in a LibGuide to which all students are directed. While this put everything in a convenient location, students were not taking the time to view the material. As a result, all but a small percentage of students came to the required formatting appointment with no clue what they were doing. As the sole librarian who oversees the submission of ETDs for the university, working with students who don’t take advantage of the information provided to them can be both frustrating and time-consuming. After several semesters of dealing with this problem, I began to consider how to get students to actually engage with the myriad resources available, to streamline the process and prevent unnecessary stress. I ultimately decided to create a tutorial to present the same information in a different format, breaking it into steps and using videos, images, quizzes, and interactive activities to clarify the process and make the information more memorable. I plan to share my experience designing and implementing a mandatory tutorial created in Articulate for use by graduate students prior to ETD formatting appointments, which has led to a significant increase in student preparedness and overall efficiency in the formatting and submission process. The presentation will include an explanation of the various types of information included in the tutorial and how it was presented to students, discussion of some of the most noteworthy findings, both data-driven and anecdotal, and mention of lessons learned so others might benefit when conducting similar projects
Connectedness among Autistic Individuals via Online Gaming
No full textChallenges in establishing relationships are a primary feature for individuals with Autism (ASD; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). However, gaming has evolved to meet many of the social needs historically met through one’s immediate environment (Frederick & Jan, 2014). There is emerging evidence that the connections established online are valuable for Autistic individuals who play social video games online (Domahidi et al., 2018). Little is known about the perceptions of loneliness, closeness, and connectedness by Autistic individuals who have online relationships through gaming. This study examines whether Autistic individuals who play online games and who have more online than in-person friends report greater levels of closeness and connectedness and lesser levels of loneliness. Additionally, correlational analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between participants self-reported total number of friendships and these aspects of relationship quality. Results of the study analysis show that there were no significant differences between groups regarding levels of closeness or loneliness. Participants with more online friends reported significantly greater social closeness to their online friends and all friends (both online and face-to-face than participants who had more face-to-face relationships, but no significant difference in the perceived closeness of face-to-face relationships. Lastly, connectedness was found to be more strongly associated with the overall number of relationships, whereas loneliness and closeness were not significantly associated with the number of reported relationships. The study then discusses these findings considering the insight they provide into the attributes of relationships valued within the Autistic gaming community
Analysis of Mutations in the Pma1 Plasma Membrane Atpase Proton Pump That Suppress a Temperature Sensitive Growth Defect Phenotype Of Vacuolar Membrane Atpase Proton Pump Deficient Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
No full textThe P-type proton pump, Pma1p and the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) proton pump play significant roles in balancing pH homeostasis in eukaryotic cells. In budding yeast, the PMA1 gene is critical for yeast survival, whereas mutations compromising V-ATPase activity cause conditional lethality. The yeast VMA21 gene encodes for the chaperone protein Vma21 that is required for complete assembly of the multisubunit V-ATPase complex. The loss of vacuolar acidity due to deficiency of V-ATPase activity has been linked to disrupted growth phenotypes. Yeast vma21 deficient mutants exhibit sensitivity to cold temperatures, CaCl2 and acetic acid. This sensitivity can be suppressed by a Pma1-G158S mutation suggesting an interdependence between Pma1p and the V-ATPase. In this study, we address how Pma1-G158S mutation affects wildtype and V-ATPase deficient cells in response to changes in extracellular conditions. Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology, we performed site-directed mutagenesis of G158 in an attempt to analyze structure-function relationships at this amino acid position. Our observations suggest that mutations at this position may regulate aging phenotype and cellular dysfunctions in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and multicellular eukaryotes.
Academic Self-Efficacy, Perseverance, and Growth Mindset: Impact on First-Generation Student Success
No full textFirst-generation students are faced with a variety of challenges in their quest for a college degree. Because of the unique hurdles they face, this population experiences challenges with navigating the college experience and is at a higher risk of not completing college. The purpose of this sequential mixed-methods study was to examine whether academic self-efficacy, perseverance, and growth mindset can predict first-generation student success. A sample of first-generation students was recruited from a multi-campus community college system in Texas. Ninety-three students completed three questionnaires: College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES), Short Grit Scale (Grit-S), and the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Questionnaire (Self-Theory). To capture the voice of first-generation students, eight individuals agreed to take part in semi-structured interviews. Although the results of the quantitative portion of the study did not find that the composite score on CASES, Grit-S, or the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Questionnaire (Self-Theory) could predict student success, the results from the qualitative portion of the study suggested the participants felt that academic self-efficacy, perseverance, and growth mindset contributed to student success. Additional research is needed to explore factors that contribute to first-generation student success
Identification and prioritization of factors associated with health workforce resilience with analytic hierarchy process
Full text linkThis study aims to understand the public health workforce's resilience status by identifying and prioritizing factors associated with health workforce resilience. When not managed effectively, poor performance and, thus, inferior public health could be observed due to high stress levels or elevated adversity in the workplace. I conducted a comprehensive and systematic literature review to understand the influencing factors of public health worker resilience. This paper reports the resilience factors, categorizes whether they are individual characteristics or external environmental factors, and suggests the corresponding interventions that could enhance the resilience of the public health workforce.
To understand the influencing resilience factors of public health workers, I did a comprehensive and systematic literature review. The study analyzed the importance of influencing factors of public health resilience using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This paper aims to prioritize resilience factors resource allocation to improve public health workforce resilience
Evolutionary Algorithms for Analysis of Disease Risk Based on Multiple Factors
No full textMany machine learning methods have been utilized in the past two decades to analyze disease risk based on multiple risk factors. The most common goal is to produce a model that predicts whether or not a given patient will develop a severe disease, and most of these models are neither explainable nor easily interpretable. This thesis develops a set of evolutionary algorithms that produce models of disease risk that are explainable and interpretable, which in fact appear to directly state the percent risk of disease for any given set of factors, and which are as good as other machine learners at predicting overall patient risk as measured by area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. A simple, single-parent model is developed first, then multiple-parent models are developed to speed convergence. A proof of concept is made using COVID-19 data, and then the evolutionary algorithms are used to make unique predictions about disease risk in cases of diabetes and heart disease