University at Albany, State University of New York
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Modeling Feature and Instance Interactions in Longitudinal Data for Improved Performance
No full textTabular data has been a core representation format in machine learning, widely used in high-stakes domains such as healthcare, finance, and social services. In many of these domains, data is collected longitudinally, capturing sequences of events and evolving feature values for the same entities over time. Despite its prevalence, most machine learning approaches assume mutual independence between features and independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) instances. However, these assumptions limit effectiveness in settings where features and entities exhibit complex interdependencies. Moreover, existing approaches frequently overlook a critical dimension: the real-world impact of the decisions informed by model predictions. This thesis addresses these limitations with the broader goal of improving model performance—not only in terms of aligning with ground truth labels but also in terms of enhancing outcomes. To achieve this, we propose four complementary models tailored for longitudinal tabular data: TRACE, PREVISE, REPLETE, and SECURE. TRACE models high-stakes systems as event transition networks and defines a novel sequence similarity score based on event sequences to support personalized event prediction. PREVISE constructs Bayesian networks that capture both service transitions and their links to exit, providing structured probabilistic modeling for high-stakes longitudinal systems. Building upon these foundations, REPLETE captures feature interactions by modeling temporal patterns and functional relationships between events, while simultaneously capturing instance interactions through soft clustering of entities based on shared characteristics. These relationships are embedded into a unified optimization framework that learns low-dimensional representations, which are then used as input to predictive models. REPLETE\u27s generalizability and effectiveness are demonstrated across three domains—homeless service assignment, financial service recommendation, and ICU service prediction. Our experiments show that REPLETE performs significantly well in the healthcare and social service domains and achieves performance comparable to the best-performing baseline in the financial domain. Finally, SECURE complements predictive modeling with decision-making aligned to real-world outcomes. It jointly models the likelihood of a favorable event outcome and the risk of undesirable recurrence using a tripartite event-outcome-recurrence graph, while enforcing a similarity-based neighbor constraint to ensure feasible recommendations. SECURE is evaluated in the context of homeless service assignment, demonstrating that it provides outcome-aligned recommendations that outperform baseline approaches focused solely on predictive accuracy. Together, the models introduced in this thesis represent a step forward in building predictive systems that are both accurate and socially impactful
A Strength-Based Approach to Understanding the Impact of Experiences of Discrimination Related to Identity-Based Stressors on Disordered Eating among a Sample of Sexual and Gender Diverse Individuals
Get PDFEmpirical research investigating eating disorder (ED) behaviors among sexual and gender minorities has grown substantially in recent decades, though notable gaps call for further work to clarify mixed findings regarding the experiences of this heterogeneous population. This study sought to add to our understanding of disordered eating behaviors in LGBTQIA+ participants, with a specific focus on differences between lesbian and gay (LG) versus bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other identities (BTQIA+), with the latter group remaining especially underrepresented in the literature. Study aims were firstly, to quantify ED incidence and the frequency of experiences of identity-based discrimination in sexual and gender minority respondents, and secondly, to examine the moderating roles of resilience and social support in the relationship between identity-based discrimination and eating pathology. Consistent with prominent theories of minority stress and eating pathology, it was hypothesized that BTQIA+ participants would exhibit similar or greater levels of discrimination and eating pathology than their LG peers. It was further hypothesized that intersecting minority identities, and specifically the intersection of race and gender and sexual minority status, would be associated with greater ED symptoms, and that resilience and social support would moderate the relationship between experiences of discrimination and eating pathology. As an exploratory aim, we also evaluated the factor structure of our primary measure of ED symptoms, the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory, in this diverse sample of sexual and gender minority individuals. Study participants were recruited via the online platform Prolific and grouped into two groups of LG (n = 164) and BTQIA+ (n = 233). They provided demographic information and completed measures of experiences of discrimination in daily life, disordered eating symptoms, resilience, perceived social support, and coping. Findings revealed that LG individuals reported greater symptoms of eating pathology compared to their BTQIA+ counterparts, but there were no significant differences in experiences of daily discrimination between the two groups. Holding more than one minority identity significantly impacted levels of ED symptoms in a subset of participants. Neither resilience nor social support moderated the relation between everyday discrimination and eating pathology. Furthermore, the EPSI eight-factor structure was found to be appropriate for use in LGBTQIA+ participants. This investigation provides a more nuanced understanding of the experiences of sexual and gender diverse groups regarding identity-based discrimination and eating pathology, encourages screening for EDs in this population, and may inform culturally-responsive healthcare practices that attend to the unique needs of LGBTQIA+ individuals
Framing Ethnicity: How Ideological Threats Shape State Policies towards the Ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia
Get PDFPost-colonial multiethnic societies still face significant challenges in nation-building today. Not only do countries follow different paths in dealing with ethnic diversity, but many also shift their strategies across time. State policies towards the ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia, including accommodation, integration, marginalization, and assimilation, vary along two dimensions: the state’s discrimination towards the ethnic Chinese and the room for negotiation between the state and the ethnic Chinese in formulating these policies. Based on puzzling empirical observations on differing levels of changes in state policies towards the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s, my research aims to explain what drove the varied degrees of policy changes across the three cases. More broadly, what factors explain the different levels of policy changes across cases in the post-colonial contexts? To address these questions, my dissertation conducts a critical juncture analysis to investigate how the state’s ideological framing of the ethnic Chinese as communists in the formative years of the three cases—roughly from the 1950s to the 1960s—triggered varying levels of policy changes and how such framing strategy shaped their trajectories of nation-building in the long run. My arguments are composed of three parts. First, I argue that communist ideology plays a critical role in the formulation of state strategies toward ethnic Chinese. Second, I treat framing as the core step linking communism with Chineseness. By performing the core tasks of framing, state elites deliberately altered the nature of the “Chinese problem” to an ideological issue; their efforts to conflate Chinese ethnicity with communist ideology served as a master frame guiding the state’s moves to formulate policies towards the ethnic Chinese in the three cases. Third, I locate state elites’ ideological framing of the ethnic Chinese as communists during the critical juncture from the 1950s to 1960s as the main driving force generating the differing levels of changes in state policies towards the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s. Specifically, variations in the framing strategy, driven by varying levels of threats posed by the ethnic Chinese as “communists,” give rise to the different levels of changes in state policies towards the ethnic Chinese across cases. Such causal effects are mediated through the combination of two key factors: the urgency of communist threats and the tractability of the Chinese ethnicity. Furthermore, I identify two subtypes of critical juncture across the three cases, namely, the generative type in Indonesia and the activating type in Malaysia and Singapore, given the different conditioning effects of critical antecedents on the critical juncture as well as a legitimation mechanism linking the critical juncture and the legacies it generates all three cases share in common. My research not only contributes to the existing political science literature on ethnic politics and sociological studies of group threats and framing but also sheds new light on our understanding of the effects of ideology on ethnicity in post-colonial multiethnic states
School Contexts and the Construction of Literacy Practices and Identities among Middle School Students of Color
Get PDFThis dissertation investigates how middle school students of color construct and negotiate their literacy identities within an urban public school\u27s institutional, classroom, and online contexts. The study is situated at Oakville Middle School, a culturally and linguistically diverse setting that reflects the complexities of adolescent literacy education in contemporary urban environments. The research explores how students\u27 literacy practices are shaped by their interactions with school structures, pedagogical approaches, peer dynamics, and digital platforms and how these experiences influence their development as literate individuals.
The study responds to the persistent challenge of educational inequity, particularly the disconnect between students\u27 cultural identities and the dominant norms of school-based literacy instruction. Many students of color encounter instructional models that fail to affirm their home languages, digital literacies, and lived experiences, resulting in disengagement, reduced confidence, and fragmented literacy development. The research problem centers on how such disconnections constrain literacy identity formation and how specific school contexts foster more inclusive, empowering engagements with literacy.
The study employed a qualitative, multi-perspective design. Data collection included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, structured interviews, artifact analysis, and reflective research memos over a nine-month period. Participants included three focal students, five teachers, two teacher leaders, three parents or guardians, and one school administrator. Grounded in sociocultural and multimodal frameworks, the study examined how students interact with texts, technologies, and learning environments in physical classrooms and online spaces.
Findings revealed that students are active agents in co-constructing literacy environments that are meaningful and reflective of their identities. In institutional and classroom contexts, enabling conditions such as culturally responsive teaching, restorative practices, flexible scheduling, and student choice supported deeper engagement and literacy growth. In contrast, restrictive structures, punitive discipline, and culturally disconnected curricula limited participation and suppressed student voice. Online contexts emerged as a critical yet complex space in students\u27 literacy journeys.
Digital tools such as Raz-Kids, Epic, and Google Docs allowed students to personalize their learning, collaborate with peers, and express their ideas in multimodal ways. These platforms enabled students to revise work at their own pace, experiment with voice and tone, and integrate personal interests like music, art, and social media into their academic work. However, disparities in digital access and inconsistent instructional support also revealed the fragility of these online spaces as equitable learning environments.
The findings demonstrate that fostering strong literacy identities among students of color requires intentionally designing learning environments that affirm who students are, what they bring, and how they communicate. Online and in-person contexts must be structured to support student agency, cultural relevance, and relational trust. The implications of this study extend to curriculum development, school leadership, and teacher education, urging a rethinking of literacy instruction as a dialogic, inclusive, and student-centered endeavor. By foregrounding youth voice and context, this research offers a pathway toward more equitable and humanizing models of literacy education
Modulation of Glutamate Receptor Expression in Health and Disease
Get PDFGlutamate is a neuronal excitatory transmitter found abundantly within the hippocampus that has vital functions rooted in learning, memory, and cognition. Overabundance or improper regulation of glutamate can have detrimental effects on neuronal function, with previous research indicating its implications in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, a portion of Alzheimer’s disease pathology is connected directly to increased levels of the amyloid plaque buildup in the postsynaptic space, leading to impairment in glutamate clearance by astrocytic glutamate transporters GLT-1 and GLAST. Amyloid plaques are just one of many contributors to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, with circadian rhythm disruption being another. Circadian rhythm refers to the body’s internal “biological clock” and regulates environmental, hormonal, and behavioral changes within a 24-h period. These circadian rhythms are controlled by clock genes located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus as well as in other portions of the brain, such as the hippocampus. The activation of NMDA glutamate receptors found in CA1 pyramidal cells in the hippocampus may have circadian oscillations, with subunits GluN1, GluN2A, and GluN2B contributing to the regulation of synaptic transmissions and events. The expression of these subunits at differing light cycles: light/dark vs. dark/dark may provide insight into the circadian modulation of these glutamate receptors. The modulation of glutamate by differing mechanisms, such as increased amyloid plaques and disrupted circadian cycles, can provide insight into the onset of AD and the implication of glutamate-related neurotoxicity in its pathology
Chess Not Checkers: A Contemporary Analysis on Judicial Retirement and Lingering Justices in the Modern U.S. Supreme Court
Get PDFIn an era where the Court is particularly partisan, Justices choosing to stay on longer due to these motivators is lowering the legitimacy the Court has with the general public. First, partisan effects and interests are explored in regard to how the Court has gotten partisan and the effect that has on judicial retirement. Then, interest groups and their effect on judicial retirement is looked into. Next, it is shown why judicial retirement is significant, and the factor that these external forces play into it is explained. Finally, some recommendations for change regarding the High Court, since there is reform needed in order to preserve the legitimacy of the Court during a time where it is becoming lower and lower
Below to Beyond Human: Social Death to Ego Birth During The Black Psychedelic Experience
Get PDFPrior to the modern day green light to research psychedelics, it has been consumed for its offered experience for centuries in indigenous traditions. Research today insists that psychedelics assist greatly with self healing and self discovery. The “self-healing” in its extreme form is often labeled as “ego death”, which is defined as “surrendering to our self-subjected identity”. I will argue that the present definition for ego death is inaccurate without the integration of sociological concepts and race theory. Social death, a term coined by Orlando Patterson, suggests that black individuals aren’t accepted as fully human in our social institutions and other authors such as Frank Wilderson agrees on that sentiment and even extends it further by stating that we shouldn’t desire to become human either. Using this theoretical context, I believe that black psychedelic experience is vastly unique and offers an extension to ego death by introducing an “ego birth”. Given that black individuals were never considered human, how could the modern definition of ego death apply to their experience? There is no such thing as “self-subjected identity” when social institutions are the reason for that subjection in the first place. It then certainly doesn’t apply to black individuals who don\u27t possess an identity at all according to Wilderson and Patterson. My extension will seek to explore and connect ego death in context with social death as well as explaining ego birth as the prominent difference between white and black psychedelic experience. Relationship with suffering also differs between the two experiences that will be closely analyzed with the understanding of social death and Abdul R. JanMohamed ’s The Death Bound Subject
Effects of Actualized Language Policy on Ukrainian Stability, 1989-2022
Get PDFThis dissertation seeks to generate a new perspective of the complicated relationship between actualized policy and stability through looking at Ukraine’s language policies and stability in a mixed manner approach that includes both primary and secondary sources. Russia justified its irridentist activities through claiming to protect Russian nationals within Ukraine’s borders: language policies within Ukraine appear to be a trigger for Russian antagonism. Neither Russian irridentism nor Ukrainian nationalism are being considered as right or wrong in this dissertation: the intent is to highlight trends, patterns, and perceptions in alignment with Ukrainian language policy. This dissertation does not present a definitive answer to questions of how policy affects stability; it aspires to open discussion for alternative means for both retroactively assessing policies while proposing approaches wherein a state can further improve implementing potentially contentious policies using basic change management techniques that are being broadly implemented in the rapidly changing modern corporate world.
Ukraine’s language policies are assessed in the framework of Ukrainian stability using a generic rubric. Information to provide the necessary framework is derived from mixed sourcing: databases with detailed numbers for casualties and incidents are considered next to interviews, news articles, and “watch dog” reports. The concept of stability is derived from Ake’s (1975) parameters and operationalized through quantifying scores of definitive factors that affect stability. Policy process is considered, but the actualized policy (assessed as a fused understanding of policy de facto and de jure) is being compared to stability with the hypothesis that moderate permissiveness in language policy provides the best opportunity for highest levels of stability within a multi-cultural state. This dissertation will present five of Ukraine’s language policies which were passed by parliament and signed into law. The first was implemented in 1989, prior to departing the USSR, and the final law considered was the 2019 law which triggered international concern and a perception of marginalizing minority language speakers.
The academic study of language policy has historically been under the purview of those studying linguistics or education; however, is of interest for those interested in politics and stability for multiple reasons. First, language is often our initial means of communicating with others: what we say and how we say it says a lot about us. Language is often tied with our identity, and theories of linguistic determinism assert that language shapes our perceptions. Second, language is a primary means of communicating, and policies about means for communication are of utmost importance. Effective communication is one of the most challenging skills for any leader to predictably possess. Third, while Russia did assert that they did not want Ukraine to join NATO, they also extensively used the argument that they needed to protect Russians in Ukraine. Russia had used a standard of language to identify national identity within the Soviet Union, and one area of continued consideration within the sector of Political Science is the evolving applicability and understand of the Nation State and how it should be interpreted, supported, and recognized.
Results of the dissertation indicate that there appears to be a correlation between actualized policy when it has been politicized and stability within the state. However, there is no authoritative confirmation of causation; further studies should be able to use this foundation to build a greater understanding of which variables may affect probable causation
Big House, from Conjoined States
No full text“Big House” is the third section from Conjoined States, a novel that depicts the United States’ dependence on forced labor, incarceration, and surveillance. In 1971, two years after Ohio’s governor deploys the National Guard to violently suppress a protest in Columbus, Ella Schmidt and her parents relocate to Cleveland, where they experience renewed displacement due to racism. The child of an Austrian father and Barbadian mother, Ella endures bullying in middle school but finds solace in high school in the writings of Jane Addams. Inspired by Addams’s career in social work, Ella dreams of repairing Cleveland’s abandoned houses so their former residents can return. Two people believe Ella’s plan could change the city: her outspoken Puerto Rican classmate, Rita Lugo, who insists Cleveland will benefit from Ella’s presence no matter what; and Mrs. Leonardi, a teacher who offers to help Ella enact her plan—but only in exchange for intel that could lead to Rita’s arrest. Informed by Critical Race Theory and loosely based on Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, “Big House” combines real accounts of police brutality with imagined details that empower the surveillance state, offering a glimpse of what happens when schools and churches operate as intelligence arms for the police
Reflections on Cover Songs: Replies to Polite
Get PDFBrandon Polite poses a number of interesting criticisms of my account of cover versions. Some I am happy to acknowledge and take on board, but with others I feel he goes too far. I take this chance to clarify and extend my account