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“The last time I came here”: Insecure Renting and Unstable Temporality in Contemporary Australian Lyric Poetry
No full textThis article examines three poems by contemporary Australian poets that use the lyric poem’s complex relationship with time to grapple with experiences of disruption, erasure and loss in relation to rented housing. Renting—once primarily a form of transitional housing, now frequently a longer-term form of housing for increasing portions of the Australian population—has been widely discussed in the context of Australia’s worsening housing crisis, but the ways in which Australian poets are responding to this crisis in their work has received little attention from literary scholars. I analyze three poems by established and emerging Australian poets whose recent work grapples with experiences of unsettled dwelling across a variety of geographical positions and forms of housing tenure: Queensland poet Zenobia Frost’s book After the Demolition; West Australian poet Tracy Ryan’s collection Rose Interior; and Victorian poet Harry Reid’s debut collection, Leave Me Alone. I explore the lyric’s unstable relationship with time and the ways in which each poet deploys this complex temporality to address a series of unsettled and unsettling experiences with attempts to construct or preserve a sense of home in rented houses
The Alternative Schoolteachers Perspectives Of African American Males\u27 Experiences In Alternative Education
No full textABSTRACT
This qualitative study explores how alternative educators perceive the experiences of African American male students in Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEPs). Guided by critical epistemology and grounded in Critical Race Theory, the research uses narrative inquiry to examine the ways in which disciplinary reassignment from traditional school settings affects Black male students. The study highlights the systemic issues that disproportionately affect African American males while addressing the larger context of educational inequality and its relationship to the school-to-prison pipeline. The results show that alternative teachers are aware of the critical need for equity-focused professional development, culturally sensitive practices, and the disruption of unconscious prejudices in alternate learning settings. The study concludes that schools should implement Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), along with Professional Development to adopt culturally relevant pedagogy, and engage in ongoing reflection to better support the academic and social outcomes of Black male students in DAEPs.
KEYWORDS: Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs, Alternative Schools, Alternative School Teachers, Critical Race Theor
Conceptualizing Black Beauty And Understanding The Effects Of Beauty Socialization
No full textThis research examines how familial beauty socialization informs black women’s conceptualizations, enactments, resistance, and rearticulations of the socially constructed mainstream beauty ideals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with forty black women (ages 18- 80) from the metro Detroit, MI area. Using grounded theory, the study found that the primary beauty socializing agents, mothers and grandmothers, have intergenerational influence and convey racialized beauty socialization practices to their daughters and granddaughters. As primary beauty socializing agents have both: experienced oppression due to their minoritized status and developed racial pride due to their engagement with ideas i.e., Black is Beautiful that prospered during the 1950s–1970s. The racialized beauty socialization messaging is contradictory from the dominant (Eurocentric) beauty culture. Also, as part of young black women’s beauty conceptualizations beauty, Michelle Obama emerged as the holistic beauty embodiment figure. Her historic role as the first African American First Lady made these women felt seen, represented, and validated in their own identities, importantly their physical appearance. For them, Obama is a beauty role model due to her conduct while in the White House, marked by grace and poise, thus providing necessary counter-narrative to the pervasive “angry black woman” stereotype. Lastly, Obama is a representation of beauty due to how she responded to criticism and bias related to her appearance. Thus, showcasing her resilience and defiance of conventional beauty standards
An Elementary Approach To A New Monotonicity Formula With Application To The Nonhomogeneous Relativistic Brillouin Electron Flow
No full textThis thesis investigates a two-phase free boundary problem arising from thestudy of relativistic Brillouin electron flow in high-powered devices such as the Radiographic Integrated Test Stand (RITS). The physical model describes electron motion along a Magnetically Insulated Transmission Line (MITL), where electrons are emitted from a cathode and propagate toward an anode under the influence of strong electric and magnetic fields. Two distinct regions—namely, the sheath region and the vacuum—are separated by a moving interface. The location of this interface is not known a priori, leading naturally to the formulation of a free boundary problem. Mathematically, the model is governed by a nonlinear elliptic partial differential equation for the relativistic factor u, derived from Maxwell’s equations and special relativity. In the sheath region, where charge density is significant, u satisfies a nonlinear PDE involving the square of its gradient. In contrast, in the vacuum region, the charge density is negligible, and the equation reduces to a homogeneous elliptic PDE. The two phases are coupled through transmission conditions at the free boundary, which enforce continuity of the potential and a nonlinear jump 80 condition on the normal derivatives. The primary aim of this work is to establish the existence, nondegeneracy, and regularity of solutions to this two-phase problem. To achieve this, we first formu- late the problem within the viscosity solution framework, which weakens regularity requirements and enables a rigorous treatment of the discontinuous interface. A generalized monotonicity formula is then developed to capture the interplay be- tween the sheath and vacuum regions. This formula serves as a central analytical tool, providing quantitative control over the solution near the free boundary. Through a combination of energy estimates, barrier arguments, and scaling techniques, we demonstrate the nondegeneracy and local Lipschitz continuity of the solution. Blow-up analysis is used to examine the asymptotic behavior near regular free boundary points, revealing linear expansion profiles. Finally, we em- ploy a Perron-type construction to prove the existence of solutions, defining the solution as the infimum of a family of admissible supersolutions. This study bridges the physical modeling of relativistic electron flows with modern mathematical techniques in free boundary analysis, contributing new in- sights to the field of nonlinear elliptic PDEs and advancing the understanding of two-phase problems with nonhomogeneous structure
Engineering Porosity In Porous Organic Polymers
No full textPorous aromatic frameworks (PAFs) are a class of rigid, exceptionally stable polymers that exhibit some of the highest surface areas observed for a fully organic material. The exhibit a high-degree of reaction dependent surface area measurements, with the same reaction, the Yamamoto-type Ullmann coupling, being used to synthesize all the highest surface area examples. We investigated the reaction features responsible for differences observed in polymers with the same formal structure synthesized through different reaction routes. Our hypothesis being that differences were due to defects, or departures from the anticipated structure, in the lower surface area examples. These defects would decrease the overall rigidity of the PAF, allowing it to collapse to a denser, less porous phase. Chapter 2 reports the first measurement of native defectivity in PAFs and explores how increasingly defective structures in PAFs lead to lower surface area materials. Notably, we now understand the relationship between coupling efficiency and surface area, imparting us with an important design principle for the creation of new reaction routes towards high surface area PAFs. With the importance of coupling efficiency now known, we then explored opportunities to modify the Yamamoto-type Ullmann coupling reaction to be more economical and accessible, due to its utilization of an expensive and sensitive nickel mediator. Chapter 3 describes the Ni(COD)2-free synthesis of high-surface area PAFs via the in-situ reduction of a more cost-effective Ni(II) source. Anhydrous nickel dibromide is reduced with activated zinc in the presence of COD and bipy to reach Ni(bipy)(COD), the reactive intermediate in the conventional Ni(COD)2-mediated synthesis. The PAF produced through this route was comparable to PAF produced through the conventional synthesis. This route was generalizable to seven different monomers yielding polymers that were comparable in all but one case to those synthesized through Ni(COD)2-mediated approaches. Additionally, the use of less sensitive reagents allowed for gram-plus scale syntheses on the Schlenk line, further increasing accessibility by eliminating the need for an inert atmosphere glovebox. Mesoporous PAFs have been a system of interest for many years. The inability to synthesize them through an isoreticular-expansion style approach has historically been attributed to interpenetration growing polymer network with other polymer strands, newly enabled by the larger pores. Chapter 4 presents an alternative hypothesis, that longer-strut POPs are more defective. The effects of defects in these systems were larger unknown until recently, it is conceivable that there may be more defects present in longer strut systems. Defectivity in long-strut materials is initially investigated using an extended PPN-4 system, PPN-4-XL. The lack of solubility of digested fragments led to the exploration of alternative alkyl substituted systems. Additionally, three other extended strut systems were synthesized and their properties are compared to the shorter-strut conventional examples. The inability to differentiate between interpenetrated and collapsed defective structures illustrates the need for the development of new imaging techniques that can resolve spatial differences in amorphous systems
Identifying And Developing Intervention To Mitigate Gender Bias Among Software Developers
No full textDespite the benefits of diversity and inclusion, the software industry, particularly in FLOSS and STEM fields, suffers from low representation of women due to gender bias, discrimination, and non-inclusive environments, leading to higher attrition rates and missed opportunities for talent enrichment. My dissertation focuses on promoting diversity and inclusion in software development by identifying, quantifying, and mitigating gender biases. The first study examines the frequency and effects of gender biases, highlighting that biases in career development and task selection are most prevalent, with women and LGBTQ+ individuals disproportionately affected due to demographic and workplace factors. The second study investigates the influence of contributors\u27 gender on code review outcomes across 1,010 FOSS projects, utilizing regression models to analyze how gender and related factors impact pull request acceptance, review intervals, and participation. The third study develops SGID4SE, an automated tool for identifying gender-biased and misogynistic content in software engineering communications, achieving high precision and accuracy through a BERT-based model. Collectively, these studies provide insights, tools, and recommendations to address gender bias and foster more inclusive computing environments
Examining The Adjustment, Acculturation, And Well-Being Of International Arab Students In The United States: Implications For Policy And Practice
No full textThis paper explored Arab international students studying in the United States to see whether they face acculturation stress, adjustment, or well-being issues. I found that my sample (N=95) experienced moderately high well-being distress and acculturative stress. However, the sample showed resilience and positive adjustment in all aspects, psychological (M=34.7), social (M=38.5), and academic (M=37.4). Moreover, well-being score from a modified GHQ survey came with high SD, indicating some students were dealing with serious mental issues, while others were doing well (M=42.92, SD=5.52). The majority of my participants were males (74.7%), single (75.8%), and graduate students (50.5%). Chi-square analysis found a significant difference in cultural distance between males and females χ²(2, N = 200) = 53.20, p \u3c .001. Females (75%) report lower cultural distance than males (66.2%). Additionally, the independent t-test found no difference between sex and the use of coping strategies.I conducted various regression modeling for each adjustment subscale and found significance in the predictability of acculturation stress on academic, social, and psychological adjustments. I also conducted a moderation analysis to see if adjustments moderate the relationship between acculturation and well-being. I found conditional effects for Academic adjustment, showing a slope with a 1SD increase, as academic adjustment increased, Acculturation reduced GHQ scores (low AA (b = -.139, p \u3c .001). I did not find any significant moderation for social or psychological adjustments on well-being. Lastly, I recommend that future researchers conduct more in-depth studies on Arab international students, as they are an underrepresented group in the acculturation literature. My study contributes to the literature on acculturation stress, supporting the ABC model by extending its application to the Arab population
Puissance du faux: False Memory and Death in Ingmar Bergman’s A Passion
No full textIn the early stages of development for A Passion (En Passion, 1969), Ingmar Bergman describes Fårö Island, where the film would be shot, as “the setting for the Kingdom of Death” (Bergman 1990/1994, 304). Building on Gilles Deleuze’s concept of the puissance du faux (power of the false), presented in Cinema 2: The Time-Image, this article’s author develops a reading of A Passion in which death no longer operates in a traditional sense—as the definitive terminus of its antithesis, life—but is considered as a function of memory. In this revised conception, death is transformed so that it no longer represents the point at which life ceases to be but is rather a continual process of becoming-death. The author suggests that most characters of Bergman’s film represent this becoming-death through a continual fabrication of false memory that asserts a singular narrative and thereby collapses the multiplicity of the puissance du faux, in which there is a “simultaneity of incompossible presents, or the coexistence of not-necessarily true pasts” (Deleuze, 1985/1989, 131). A Passion offers more than an image of death, however: it also provides a line of flight from the Kingdom of Death through the disavowal of false memory, which the author explores in the final section of this article
The Role of Churches in Enhancing Cancer Screening Adherence: A Focus on Faith-Based Health Literacy Among African American Women
Get PDFBackground: It is estimated that cancer is the second leading cause of death for African American women in the United States. One study revealed that Black women have a 1 in 3 chance of developing cancer with a 1 in 6 chance of mortality. Research has shown a lower breast cancer screening adherence among women in cultural minorities and faith-based communities. The importance of spirituality and religion as an influential factor on Black community members’ beliefs about health and medicine must be considered as churches are pillars of social support within Black American communities.
Methods: A search for studies about the involvement of churches in cancer screening and education was conducted and 47 articles were identified through PubMed. Selection criteria included African American women, cancer screenings, and the role of the church in health literacy. Ten studies were selected and reviewed to identify common trends.
Results: This review revealed that peer health education and community health workers, especially when associated with churches, had a positive impact on African American women’s perspective of cancer screening. These interventions are associated with increased screening adherence. Programs tailored to a specific community and delivered via faith-based communities are effective in improving health literacy.
Conclusion: Churches are a source of trusted social support that can serve as an avenue for improving cancer knowledge. Additional support is necessary to maintain programs that facilitate communication about health education. Further research is needed to determine the most effective utilization of churches to support cancer prevention, screening, and care
Enhancing Patient Education: Evaluating the Efficacy of a Video-Based Diagnostic Tool for Hand and Wrist Conditions
Get PDFIntroduction
Improving patient understanding of health conditions before consultations can enhance readiness, comprehension, adherence, and outcomes. This study evaluates whether a physician-designed interactive video helps patients self-diagnose one of thirteen common hand and wrist conditions before consulting a specialist. Developed collaboratively with hand specialists and patients, the video guides users through a structured decision-making process to identify their condition. We hypothesize that patients who utilize the video-based diagnostic tool prior to their appointment will be more likely to correctly identify their diagnosis.
Methods
Fifty-six patients were randomized into control and experimental groups. The control group selected a diagnosis from a list of thirteen conditions without guidance, while the experimental group used the interactive video beforehand. Patients were recruited from a single physician\u27s practice at a Midwest tertiary care academic institution. Eligibility required that patients were 18 years or older, without a prior diagnosis or history of the condition. Also, patients’ condition needed to be included in the diagnosis list. Those with medically related careers were excluded.
Results
The control group correctly identified their condition 22.22% of the time (n=27), while the experimental group achieved 51.72% accuracy (n=29). The difference approached statistical significance (p=0.023).
Discussion/Clinical Significance
Interactive video tools appear to significantly improve diagnostic accuracy, enabling more informed discussions with healthcare providers. Further research should explore long-term impacts on satisfaction, adherence, and outcomes. Pre-visit knowledge may reduce consultation times, promote conservative management, and enhance decision-making. By empowering patients to understand their condition, interactive tools can potentially improve engagement and patient outcomes