15849 research outputs found
Sort by
Rethinking the Relationship between Capitalism and Environmental Sustainability: Locating Nigeria within the Globe
Get PDFThe relationship between capitalism and environmental sustainability and how problems arising from this relationship can be resolved globally and locally is vital for those with economic and environmental concerns. The environment that provides human beings with essential survival needs has to be preserved if these needs are expected to be available for future generations while also being enough for the present generation of human beings. One obstacle to protecting the environment is climate change due to global warming. What is responsible for global warming that ultimately leads to environmental unsustainability? This study pursues this question by rethinking the relationship between the capitalist economic system and the phenomenon of environmental sustainability. It does so through an analysis and description of the complex operative mechanisms of the capitalist economic system, which impacts the environment. This study discovers that the concept of a market economy oriented towards profit-making is central to the capitalist economic system and fittingly mirrors the unsustainable relationship between human beings and the natural environment. Originating from the West, capitalism spreads its influence beyond the West. The success of its continued progress has been the failure of a sustainable environment. This failure transverses the global coasts as much as it devastates the local terrains, such as the Nigerian context. The solution to the problem that capitalism creates cannot be found within the capitalist economic system. A fundamental alteration in capitalism is exigent. New approaches to economic and social relationships need to be adopted. One outstanding approach is found in the indigenous philosophy of Ubuntu—a concept that emphasizes the need for collaborative thinking, doing, and living. This resource is valuable for local and global policymakers, economists, and environmentalists searching for solutions to international and regional environmental crises
Jazz Scale Patterns with Abjad and Lilypond
Get PDFBackground
Jazz method books often advise students to “learn it in all keys,” yet most present examples in only one or two keys (if that, as they start from C, the easiest key, and usually stop there). For many classically-trained players—especially those who check fingerings, enharmonics, and voice-leading by reading—the absence of complete, notated materials is a barrier. While most scales can be internalized as Whole (W) / Half (H) step patterns, important exceptions (e.g., harmonic and melodic minor, octatonic, whole tone, and blues) are aided by having notated patterns in front of us. Aims
To generate clear, consistent notation-first worksheets for common jazz scales in every key; to display each scale’s step pattern beneath the notes; and to automate transposition and engraving so practice and self-checking require no manual setup.
This is part of a long-term journey to become fluent in jazz improvisation by incorporating AI to automate the boring parts so I can focus on practicing (and listening). Methods
A generative engraving pipeline -- using GKT (my initials) the author and Chat-GPT5 -- was implemented with Abjad (3.25) for score construction and LilyPond for rendering. Scales are defined once (rooted on C) using W/H patterns, with explicit handling of exceptions (e.g., W+H in harmonic minor; alternating H–W / W–H for octatonic; all-whole steps for whole tone; fixed pitch sets for blues and pentatonics). The program transposes to any pitch class, selects a sensible key signature (major/minor), beams eighths, prints the scale/chord label at bar start, and inserts a system break after every second measure to yield two scales per staff line. Evaluation
Correctness was checked across 12 keys by (a) verifying pitch sequences and step labels against scale definitions, (b) confirming first notes begin on beat one with complete measures, (c) inspecting enharmonic spelling under the chosen key signature, and (d) informal practice trials to assess readability and page economy.
These 12-key versions are all provided as downloadable and printable scores. Results
My tool automatically produces full worksheets per key for major and modes, melodic and harmonic minor, whole tone, octatonic (half–whole and whole–half), blues, and pentatonic scales. Each chart shows two scales per system with embedded W/H patterns, enabling musicians to practice and check their knowledge in every key—addressing a persistent gap in jazz pedagogy where materials rarely show all keys. Acknowledgments
This work was inspired in part by the Jamey Aebersold play-along series and its long-standing emphasis on practicing in all keys. His Jazz Handbook is a genius work that should be studied by all musicians (not just those interested in jazz)
Artificial Intelligence in the Management of Leukemia
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Recently, given the demonstrated ability of AI to accurately characterize complex pathologies, AI has been proposed to be of use in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of leukemias given their genetic complexity and subtype heterogeneity, array of treatments, and need for relapse detection. AI has several potential applications in the management of leukemia. First, it can be used to detect leukemia; using AI to detect nuances in lab values can ensure these deadly cancers are never missed. Second, AI can be used to risk-stratify patients and personalize treatments; leukemias are among the most genetically complex cancers with well-characterized risk profiles, however, tailoring treatments remains a challenge despite our advances. And third, AI can be used for surveillance and relapse management; there is a role for AI in predicting risk of relapse and determining when an MRD+ patient needs treatment (as not all cells detected can cause relapse), then tailoring treatment plans for patients who ultimately relapse.
METHODS: PubMed was indexed in May 2025 using the search terms “artificial intelligence” and “leukemia” together. Articles published within the last two years were selected and those deemed highly relevant/applicable (n = 46) were included.
RESULTS: The application of AI in the treatment of leukemia is largely limited to diagnosis, specifically via routine clinical data and ancillary testing. While intriguing, the use of AI in the leukemia risk stratification, treatment planning, and relapse detection is largely unexplored.
CONCLUSION: AI has great potential to improve several aspects of leukemia management. However, it is currently underutilized and most AI usage in the management of leukemia is focused on initial detection and diagnosis. We believe the real power of AI lies in optimizing treatment intensity to reduce toxicity and likelihood of relapse
Epistemic Injustice: A Portraiture of Doctoral Socialization
No full textThe purpose of this study is to understand the socialization experiences of international women students from the Global South, pursuing doctoral degrees in Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) in the U.S. PWIs have a long history of marginalizing systems of knowledge (epistemology) of racialized populations while propagating for and universalizing the White, Eurocentric worldviews in curriculum and pedagogical practices. As a result, this exacerbates the marginalization, isolation, and exclusion of the epistemic capitals and worldviews of racialized students. Two research questions guided this qualitative study: 1) How do international women students from the Global South experience doctoral socialization in PWIs in the U.S.? 2) How do their experiences inform their agency and academic persistence? By focusing on the learning experiences of women students enrolled in doctoral programs in the humanities and social sciences fields, the study aimed to understand whether and to what extent these experiences were shaped by epistemic injustice and its facets of epistemic marginalization, exclusion, and violence. The study was also interested in understanding how women students from the Global South enact their agency to resist and push back against those forms of epistemic injustice perpetuated and deeply rooted in PWIs in the U.S. In doing so, the study adopted portraiture and pláticas as both rooted in Chicana Feminist epistemology: Portraiture as a humanizing methodology that informs the methodological design of the study and the pláticas as the main method of data collection. The findings of the study showcase how epistemic injustice manifests itself in doctoral education as a repressive apparatus of PWIs in the U.S., leading to worsening experiences of epistemic neglect, erasure, and marginalization for women doctoral students from the Global South. The study concludes by offering some viable recommendations for campus policy, classroom practice of pedagogy and curriculum, and research. The recommendations hope to make doctoral socialization, and the landscape of higher education at large, more globally conscious and culturally nuanced and relevant for an improved learning experience for international women students from the Global South in the U.S
Interrogating the Dispersal Process and Relevant Genes in Vibrio fischeri
No full textBiofilms are aggregates of bacteria encased in a matrix that shields bacteria from environmental hazards. These structures are formed in response to cues from the environment and drive colonization of new niches. Biofilms can be both beneficial and detrimental. Largely, research focuses on biofilms that have negative outcomes in clinical, environmental, and economical settings. However, the value of beneficial biofilms is recognized and studied. The marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri is part of a model system for studying symbiotic biofilms in a eukaryotic host. V. fischeri produces a transient biofilm at the surface of a specialized light organ and then disperses from the biofilm in order to enter the light organ crypts. Biofilm formation of V. fischeri has been extensively studied, but the process of biofilm dispersion (or seeding dispersal) is understudied. The field also lacks specific tools to study the dispersal process. Here, I identified a gap in knowledge and pursued the development of an assay to study biofilm dispersal of V. fischeri in an in vitro setting. To study the dispersal of V. fischeri, I modified a microscopy based time-lapse imaging assay originally developed to study Vibrio cholerae. Using the time-lapse assay, the whole biofilm formation and dispersal process of V. fischeri was observed. After demonstrating the assay was sufficient to capture this process, I investigated the mechanisms controlling dispersal. Previous studies have shown that calcium is a positive signal for biofilm formation. In the time-lapse assay, it was shown that calcium is required for V. fischeri wild-type strain ES114 to stably attach and form biofilms. The effects of calcium were mediated through the diguanylate cyclase CasA, which senses calcium. Overexpression of CasA led to a defect in dispersion that was dependent on production of the bacterial second messenger c-di-GMP (Bis-(3’,5’)-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate), as a point mutation in the catalytic GGDEF domain, required for c-di-GMP production, largely restored biofilm dispersion. Secondly, I demonstrated that the dispersal factor dbfS, a homolog to the gene discovered in V. cholerae, was also active in V. fischeri. When dbfS was deleted in V. fischeri, biofilms studied in a time-lapse assay had impaired dispersion compared to the WT squid isolate ES114. Inhibition of dispersion in a dbfS mutant was reliant on transcription factor VpsR. Further, a dbfS mutant in V. fischeri also had increased biofilm formation under shaking liquid conditions, a migration defect, and dysregulated bioluminescence. The migration defect was independent of the transcription factor VpsR. These data suggest that DbfS regulates much more than dispersion and may have broad implications for V. fischeri colonization of E. scolopes
The Gay Dating Experience: Partner Selection and Self-Compassion in Short and Long-Term Dating Application Behaviors
Get PDFThis study examined the potential of a self-compassion mindstate intervention on queer men’s virtual partner selection behaviors to encourage resilience in offset to previous unfavorable experiences. This study also explored how partner-seeking contexts (short-term, “hook-up”, and long-term, romantic) influence judgement. Participants were randomly assigned to a self-compassionate mindstate induction or a control group. Afterward, using a within-subjects, repeated measures approach, participants evaluated faux profiles within both partner-seeking contexts on a series of measures (“Attractiveness” ratings, “Confidence of Pursuit” ratings, and “Yes” swipes). The initial hypotheses were unsupported. When including identity-relevant covariates in the model, I found main effects of education and of self-compassion belief strength. Further, I found an interaction between those likely to experience racial discrimination and the self-compassion mindstate manipulation. These findings emphasize the importance of exploring partner selection within the context of user identity. Particularly, experiences of identity-based discrimination that may compound with other forms of minority stress, and formative experiences that influence partner pursuit, like education. The self-compassion belief strength outcome, and the interaction of racial discrimination likelihood with the self-compassion manipulation, arise key considerations as to factors that may influence the efficacy of the self-compassionate mindstate, and its expected manifestations in participant behaviors
The Impact of Child and Parent Trauma Exposure on a School-Based Trauma-Focused Child Intervention
Get PDFNational statistics demonstrate that vast majority of Latine youth living in low-income neighborhoods in the United States experience on-going trauma exposure throughout their life. However, most trauma-focused therapies were designed without considering the impact that experiencing new trauma exposure during treatment may have on treatment effectiveness, limiting our understanding of the potential attenuation caused by new traumatic experiences. In addition, most youth research has focused on the impact of child trauma exposure, with little attention given to the impact of parental trauma exposure on child treatment outcomes despite the salient role that parents play in child development. In particular, little is known about the impact of parental trauma exposure on parental warmth. Using a sample of predominantly Latine immigrant-origin students from a low-income background, this study investigated the respective effects of parent and child trauma exposure, before and during treatment, on child depression, PTSD, and anxiety symptoms pre- and post-intervention. The study also investigated the link between parental trauma exposure and parental warmth. Study findings demonstrated that high parent lifetime trauma exposure attenuated child-report depression treatment effects, such that only children with parents with low lifetime trauma exposure experienced significant improvements in depression severity. There was also a main effect of parent-report child lifetime trauma exposure on parent-report child PTSD, such that children in the “high trauma” group were reported to have higher PTSD severity compared to children in the “low trauma” group. There was no impact of new trauma exposure during treatment found in this study. In addition, parent trauma exposure was not found to be significantly associated with parental warmth. These findings highlight the value of integrating an assessment of parental trauma history in child trauma treatment research as it may diminish the effectiveness of such treatments and the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying the impact of trauma exposure on child mental health outcomes among Latine youth living in a low-income, high-trauma context
Jewish College Students\u27 Experiences of Belonging, Identity, and Inclusion within Campus DEI Initiatives
Get PDFJewish college students navigate complex identities within higher education, often facing challenges related to antisemitism, exclusion, and the omission of religious identity within many Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This qualitative narrative inquiry explores the lived experiences of Jewish undergraduate students at public universities across the United States, examining their perceptions of belonging and the effectiveness of campus DEI initiatives in addressing their needs. Grounded in Jewish Critical Theory (JewishCrit), this study analyzes semi-structured interviews with 11 Jewish students, identifying five key themes: Belonging and Community, Intersectionality and Identity, Experiences with Antisemitism, Institutional Responses and DEI Initiatives, and the Impact of External Events. Findings reveal that while Jewish student organizations serve as essential spaces of refuge and connection, institutional DEI efforts frequently neglect Jewish identity, contributing to a sense of invisibility and marginalization. This study highlights the need for universities to adopt a more holistic approach to diversity—one that includes religious identity alongside race, gender, and sexuality—ensuring that Jewish students feel seen, valued, and fully integrated into the academic community. By amplifying student voices and situating their experiences within broader socio-political contexts, this research provides critical insights and actionable recommendations for fostering a more inclusive and supportive campus climate for Jewish students and other religious minorities
