12466 research outputs found
Sort by
RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT OF BLACK YOUNG CHILDREN: THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICAN EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION TEACHERS AND AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES
Full text linkEarly care and education (ECE) often includes intensive family engagement constituting regular home visits, wraparound community and medical supports, child development classes for families, and advocacy opportunities for parents. This dissertation study prioritized family engagement by advancing how the field conceptualizes the race-related and cultural dimensions of family–school relationships for African American ECE teachers and economically vulnerable African American parents in ECE settings specifically. Study findings deepened qualitative understanding of relational processes in Black-majority programs and how, why, and in what culturally-grounded ways relationships between African American ECE teachers and African American families can serve as a vehicle for racial identity development. To realize this goal, African American families and African American ECE teachers can reflect on individual race-related experiences in their family history and passed down lessons for teaching and raising African American young children that developed intergenerationally. They must think critically about the collective values and beliefs that guide family-centered practices together, transmitting those values and beliefs to deepen home-school connection in joint support of African American young children’s early literacy, social and emotional growth, and positive racial identity
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 5868.01
Full text link“Our study aimed to examine and characterize data on Object of Interest 5868.01, an exoplanet detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This was done by analyzing the stellar light curve of this object. We remotely obtained ground based data from the Observatory at George Mason University(GMU). We took 280 exposures with the GMU 0.8 m telescope and reduced them using Python collaboratories, then we conducted ground based multi aperture photometry using AstroImageJ to generate a light curve. In addition, we plotted residuals and the fluxes of our target stars and adjusted trends within the data. Although our data was in some measure skewed due to low exposure and periods of imperfections from telescope movement and blurriness, we found that by using less obscured reference stars and the WIDTH_T1 Detrending Parameter, we were able to find data clear enough to work with. Therefore, the results for this study are inconclusive yet suggestive of a transit. Due to the limited scope of our research, we did not perform other detection methods such as Doppler spectroscopy or transit timing variations analysis. Though no confirmed conclusion can be reached at this time, more data should be collected to compare to the current data in order to fully confirm TOI 5868.01 as a transit.
A Postcolonial Case Study of the Assumptions, Positioning, and Perspectives of U.S. Higher Education Accreditors Operating in the Anglophone Caribbean Region
Full text linkU.S. higher education accreditation is increasingly sought by international higher education institutions (HEIs) as a quality-assurance mechanism and as a way to improve competitiveness for mobile students in the twenty-first century. When U.S. higher education accreditation is implemented outside the United States, there is the potential for the neocolonization of international higher education systems, particularly those in the Global South, because of the unexamined assumptions that underpin the accreditation process. This study utilized postcolonial theory to investigate the implicit assumptions, positioning, and perspectives of U.S. higher education accreditors that operate in the Anglophone Caribbean region. Five U.S. accreditors participated in this qualitative, instrumental case study. Accreditation-agency staff members were interviewed and accreditor policy manuals were examined, and the data was analyzed using thematic network analysis. Thirteen findings emerged from the study, which led to the following conclusions: U.S. accreditors have the potential to enact Western hegemony, institutional isomorphism, and neocolonization on international higher education systems because of the U.S. higher education norms and practices that dominate the accreditation process; U.S. accreditors could be more transparent about evaluating international HEIs against U.S. norms and standards and their inability to evaluate international HEIs within their own national, cultural, educational, and financial contexts; U.S. accreditors overstate the risks and dangers when conducting accreditation outside the United States and largely ignore those within the United States, and accreditors should have policies in place to mitigate these dangers and risks irrespective of location; and accreditors could do more to become truly global in order to operate ethically outside the United States, such as understanding educational norms and standards in international contexts, soliciting increased representation from international HEIs on site visit teams and commissions (i.e., decision-making bodies), and forming inter-national accreditation agencies so that U.S. accreditors operate in cooperation rather than isolation outside the United States
Proposed Central Asia Regional Hydroclimate Project Workshop оn Climate Change: Better Data, Modeling & Planning for Climate Adaptation in Central Asia
Full text linkThis report summarizes the third workshop on the proposed Central Asia Regional Hydroclimate Project. This series of workshops seeks to identify challenges posed by climate change in Central Asia and possible regional responses. Discussions centered on identifying already-existing data that is needed, forming new observational networks, proposing climate models with better relevance to Central Asia, and labeling challenges specific to regional research. A possible outcome of these meetings is to form a Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) project Regional Hydroclimate Project (RHP) or other program for the Central Asian region
THE IMPACT OF RACIAL SOLO STATUS IN ALLIED HEALTH
Full text linkHistorically, allied health professions have struggled with racial representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). As leaders within allied health seek to diversify their professions, many fear that the Supreme Court's recent decision to revoke universities' admittance of BIPOC through affirmative action will widen this racial representation gap. This experimental study utilized a mixed methods design to examine if solo status is a potential alternative explanation for the persistent racial representation gap in allied health professions. Solo status can be defined as the threat and fear evoked from the recognition of being the only member of a commonly stereotyped group. To evoke solo status, undergraduate participants interested in allied health were exposed to diverse or non-diverse images of allied health clinicians. During this intervention, participants were monitored for common signs of physiological and psychological stress such as heart rate, respiration rate, and cognitive vigilance. Participants were also asked to complete several instruments including a sense of belonging scale, interest in allied health scale, perceived stress scale (PSS), stereotype vulnerability scale (SVS), and the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI-6). This study found that BIPOC exposed to the non-diverse images experienced a significant increase in heart rate and respiration rate across the trial and a wider range in their cognitive vigilance scores, suggesting that solo status acted as a significant stressor. Conversely, White participants exposed to the diverse images had significantly higher cognitive vigilance with no signs of physiological stress. Previous research has identified that significant physiological and psychological stress can affect long term decision-making. Thus, this study’s findings suggest that solo status, is likely a roadblock to diversification efforts in allied health. Further, evidence has suggested that White Americans can display anti-minority tendencies when confronted with increased diversity. Therefore, these findings point to White participants being vigilant for environments in which they are not the majority. Based on these findings and the available evidence, diversity efforts should center on improving the perception of allied health spaces as diverse and welcoming to all. Additionally, diversity educational programs should seeking to confront underlying racial biases that might make some exhibit anti-minority behaviors as diversity metrics improve
Barriers and Facilitators to Sexual Orientation Disclosure in Medical Settings: Perspectives from LGBTQ Patients and Healthcare Professionals
Full text linkRecently, lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people have begun to experience increased support and competent care in US healthcare settings. Yet, research overwhelmingly demonstrates that despite a decrease of prejudicial attitudes toward this community, large health disparities still exist between heterosexual and non-heterosexual people. Further, providers do not know how to broach conversations related to the sexual identity of their patients. The goal of this dissertation is to develop a training module for both medical students and healthcare providers on how to engage patients in conversations related to their sexual identity. The following research proposal aims to accomplish this task by interviewing healthcare providers and patients who self-identify as men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW) and determine the variables in the coming out conversation. The overarching research question is: “What are the implications of sexual identity disclosure in the patient-provider relationship dynamic?” In this study, 30-45-minute interviews were conducted with 25 MSM/WSW and 16 healthcare professionals from a variety of demographics. Recruitment was accomplished with the use of purposive snowball sampling, as well as by advertising on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter), and through contacting health care providers listed in the membership directory of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality. This research has the potential to inform production of a medical communication training tool, which has implications for improving health outcomes, reducing disparities, and enhancing the overall quality of care for sexual minority patients. Keywords: LGBTQ Health, patient-provider communication, outnes
An Integrative Approach to Evaluating Metabolic Indicators in Maned Wolves (Chrysocyon Brachyurus)
Full text linkIntegrated datasets of physiology and behavior are critical to determining the impact of environmental threats on animal health. Continued advancements in biologging technology aid this effort; however, additional techniques, such as endocrinology, can help contextualize findings. Maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) experience broad-scale landscape alteration, presenting a need for reliable indices of metabolic health. I tested a protocol for long-term monitoring of metabolic health in free-ranging wildlife by integrating biologging and analysis of hair triiodothyronine (T3), a form of thyroid hormone, using captive maned wolves as a model. Hair samples were collected approximately every three months for just over one year from maned wolves (n=8) implanted with Reveal LINQ™ (Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, MN) biologgers at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, USA. Daily average heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), and daily total activity were calculated from raw biologger data. T3 was measured in guard hair via a T3 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Arbor Assays, MI), which passed analytical validations for maned wolf hair extract. To evaluate the feasibility of integrating these measures, I tested the impact of various determinants of metabolism (e.g. season, ambient temperature, activity, food intake, and body weight) on HR, HRV, and hair T3. I detected seasonal patterns in all metabolic indicators. Notably, HR increased and HRV decreased in winter, indicating increased activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and by inference, increased metabolic activity. Variation in HR and HRV was primarily explained by ambient temperature. Contrary to predictions, hair T3 was greatest in summer and lowest in winter and was positively impacted by ambient temperature. This may indicate that increased metabolic activity in winter was triggered by types of stressors that are not reflected in circulating thyroid hormone concentrations. Alternatively, apparent hormone concentrations in hair may reflect different time periods than expected or may not reflect plasma concentrations consistently. Ultimately, I demonstrate the feasibility of combining biologging metrics with analysis of T3 in hair, but also highlight the need for further investigation of hair T3 as a potential proxy of plasma T3, and of T3, in turn, as an indicator of energetic state. Because hormones are incorporated into hair as it grows, may be a particularly valuable sample type for retrospective analysis of animals’ physiological state over time. Thus, this integrated assessment of biologging parameters and endocrinology shows promise for application in situ, in combination with other ecological assessments, as the field aims to understand how free-ranging maned wolves’ meet the energetic demands of altered landscapes
Geochemical Analysis of Carboniferous Carbonates and Implications for Ocean Oxygenation
Full text linkThe Carboniferous Period (358－298 Ma) was an important time in Earth history, where events such as the expansion of large terrestrial forests, the recovery of marine and terrestrial life after the Late Devonian extinction events, and significantly low carbon dioxide levels changed the trajectory of life and climate. This change is partly reflected in the carbon isotope record, where there is a major positive perturbation in the Tournaisian δ13C record, known as the TICE or K-O excursion. This excursion is well-recorded globally, with prominent sections in North America, China, Belgium, and Russia. In North America, the most prominent records of this excursion are on the western open ocean margin, but little is known about TICE expression in the interior epeiric seas of North America and how epeiric sea processes can modify global δ13C signals. In this study, we generate a new δ13C curve for the Tournaisian of the Williston Basin from three cores in North Dakota that cover the majority of the Lodgepole Limestone and the Mission Canyon Limestone. Samples from these cores (the Sjol, TI-W, and Irgens cores) were cut and polished into thick sections. Specific fabrics, such as gray mudstone, gray wackestone, skeletal fragments, and black mudstone and marlstone were targeted when drilling for carbonate powders. Diagenesis was evaluated by visual inspection of the degree of primary textural preservation and through a regression analysis between δ13C and δ18O values, where little correlation was found, thus signaling a lack of isotopic resetting in these samples. Importantly, in the three cores, a sharp rise in δ13C from ~0‰ to ~+5‰ is recorded, followed by a prolonged peak where δ13C values reach nearly +9‰. This is followed by a progressive decline back to values of ~+1‰, which are maintained at the top of the composite section. These data affirm that the TICE excursion was found in the Williston Basin, with δ13C values reaching a remarkable and prolonged peak of nearly +9‰. Compared to pre-existing records from around the globe, the peak of δ13C values during the TICE excursion in the Williston Basin is substantially higher, and the Williston Basin δ13C record does not capture the two-pronged nature of the excursion that is seen in the open ocean sections of Nevada. These differences are ultimately due to: (1) local epeiric sea organic carbon burial in restricted, low-oxygen environments that modified the global δ13C signal, and (2) a nearly 270 ft. stratigraphic gap in our sampling of the TI-W core, which we plan to fill in with future sampling. Observed differences in δ18O values between the Williston Basin and global records are also due to enhanced evaporation and high salinity waters prevalent in the Williston Basin. This new expanded TICE record from the Williston Basin emphasizes the important influences of epeiric sea processes on the δ13C record and lays the groundwork for future research into Carboniferous Earth history
Examining the Role of Interoception in Disordered Eating and Posttraumatic Stress
Full text linkInteroception involves the perception of the internal state of the body. Accumulating research indicates the importance of interoception across psychological disorders. The following two studies explored interoception as a possible transdiagnostic risk factor underlying comorbid eating disorders (EDs) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In study one, structural equation modeling was used to examine an interoceptive pathway from trauma exposure to comorbid PTSD-ED, as well as specific symptom relationships hypothesized to relate to atypical interoceptive functioning. In study two, interoception was measured using two methods: self-report and neuroimaging. Correlations between these methods of measurement, trauma history, and PTSD and ED symptomatology were examined. Results of both studies found atypical interoceptive functioning was associated with PTSD and ED symptoms; the mistrust of body sensations may be particularly relevant to the comorbidity
Universities as Complex Systems: Data, Power Laws, and an Agent-Based Model
Full text linkUniversities consist of students, faculty and staff, interacting through multiple layers of organization and on a variety of time scales. They are complex adaptive systems (CAS) yet the bulk of scholarship on higher education analyzes them using conventional social science methods, with little work that tries to understand them using complexity tools and methods such as agent-based models.Here I take a CAS approach. I first explore the sizes of U.S. universities and document significant positive correlation among important variables like acceptance rates, locations in urban/rural settings, the presence of law and medical schools, research and development expenditures, and sizes of host cities/locales. Next, I use computational social science (CSS) ideas to look for signatures of complexity in data on U.S. universities. Specifically, power-law size distributions are found in certain financial aspects of university performance – the distribution of endowments. Finally, I develop a computational ABM that reproduces some of these patterns of size and growth of universities, based on R&D expenditure and interactions among competing universities. This research demonstrates, both empirically and computationally, that new and dynamic methods can be used to study universities. It shows how agent-based models can be used to explore questions related to university growth and the interactions between the environment and various university characteristics. This dissertation argues that static, equilibrium methods are ill-suited for modeling the heterogeneous behaviors of universities. It highlights how public policy planners, legislatures, and university administrators might better manage universities to achieve their stated goals. This approach takes a step toward providing university decision-makers with modern computational tools that can be used for ‘what if’ type analyses, leading toward more informed decisions, thereby shaping the future of higher education