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After Roe v. Wade overturn: how the Biden government and the MAGA government act with IVF
Full text linkThis policy memo explores the implications of the 2024 Roe v. Wade overturn on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the response of the Biden administration, bipartisan Congress, think tank, and advocacy group. IVF is a procedure that helps individuals or couples get pregnant outside the body in a lab (Yale Medicine, 2023). Following the Supreme Court of Alabama's ruling that classified frozen embryos as "children," services in Alabama faced significant restrictions, prompting federal action.
The Biden administration reacted by issuing executive orders to protect and expand access to IVF and enhancing IVF benefits for service members and federal employees. Bipartisan congressional efforts included drafting laws to regulate and protect IVF access, such as the IVF Protection Act. However, deep-seated ideological differences prevented the passing of key legislation.
The memo outlines the influence of advocacy groups, PACs, and think tanks on shaping public opinion and policy, highlighting the strategic role of IVF in the 2024 election. While Democrats position IVF and abortion rights as central campaign issues, Republicans face internal conflicts between their pro-life stance and support for IVF. The memo concludes that IVF policy will be pivotal in the presidential and congressional races, suggesting timely strategic positioning by the think tank.
This analysis underscores the complex dynamics between political, social, and ideological stakeholders in shaping national reproductive health policy
Leveraging Mathematics Specialists To Support Equity-Centered Technology Integration
Full text linkThis study explored strategies to support mathematics specialist candidates (MSCs) in developing a nuanced understanding of equity-centered technology integration in K-12 mathematics classrooms. The conceptual framework synthesized research on effective mathematics teaching practices, technology integration, and the role of mathematics specialists (MSs). Data sources included class recordings, class materials, MSCs’ work samples and survey responses, and researcher memos from a geometry content course for MSs. Using in vivo and initial coding to develop themes, followed by comparative sorting by MSCs, the analysis addressed two key research questions. Findings indicated that MSCs initially overemphasized terms like ‘access’ and ‘choice.’ However, after engaging with the EqT-tech LAT (Suh et al., 2022), they developed a more refined vocabulary and deeper understanding of equity-centered technology integration. Additionally, district policies and professional positioning significantly influenced MSCs’ agency and confidence in transferring their learning to others. The insights from this study can inform mathematics teacher educators in enhancing strategies and frameworks that better support MSCs in applying their learning in both current and future educational contexts
Examining the Role of Parent Stress in Adolescent Emotional Development and Parent-Focused Interventions
Full text linkParenting is often associated with compounding stressors that include child rearing, relationship satisfaction, financial burdens, and everyday tasks that might prove overwhelming. The COVID-19 pandemic has also introduced new stressors for parents, increasing the relevance of understanding the impact of parent stress. Such stressors might accumulate to create a persistent feeling of distress among parents that influences youth’s emotion regulation (ER) development, as well as parent participation in treatments designed to intervene on youth emotional problems and maladaptive parenting approaches. Parent stress may be particularly elevated among parents of early adolescents, as this transitional period includes new desires for adolescent autonomy and changes in parent-child relationship dynamics. Thus, Study 1 of this dissertation included 240 mothers and their 11–14-year-old adolescents, and examined the relationship between parent perceived stress and adolescent ER during early adolescence, as well as parent perceived stress during early adolescence and longitudinal development of adolescent ER from early to middle adolescence. Further, this study investigated the possible role of adolescent sex and race/ethnicity in the relationship between parent perceived stress and adolescent ER. Results showed that greater maternal perceived stress in early adolescence was associated with greater adolescent ER difficulties in early adolescence, but maternal perceived stress did not predict longitudinal changes in adolescent ER. There was not evidence that adolescent sex or race/ethnicity interacted with parent perceived stress in predicting adolescent ER. Study 2 examined another avenue by which parent stress may impact youth development, particularly the effect of parent stress on participation in and outcomes of Parent Training (PT), a common intervention approach that works with parents to improve youth emotional and behavioral problems. Study 2 was a comprehensive literature review and conceptual model that proposes a possible connection between parent stress and engagement in and efficacy of PT, particularly highlighting the importance of the type of parent stress that is considered. The conceptual model proposed suggests that while most forms of parent stress may be detrimental to engagement in and efficacy of PT, parent stress that is specifically related to child behavior problems might have motivating properties and might improve parental engagement in PT and possibly improve effects of PT on child outcomes. Recommendations for clinical practice and future research are also discussed
AN ANALYSIS OF LIN HUA’S TWENTY-FOUR PRELUDES AND FUGUES “ON READING SIKONG TU’S PERSONALITIES OF POETRY”
Full text linkLin Hua’s Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues “on Reading Sikong Tu’s Personalities of Poetry” is a set of preludes and fugues based on Sikong Tu’s poems written during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The number of existed articles introducing these preludes and fugues is limited and these articles treat the preludes and fugues as individual pieces not a whole set. In fact, there are strong connections not only between Sikong Tu’s poems and Lin Hua’s music but also between pieces within the set. I analyze the twenty-four pieces as an integral whole from the aspect of musical variety, the combination of western tonality and Chinese models, modulation, and the challenging virtuosic piano technique to help performers, scholars, and public audiences understand this work not only from its musical aspects but also from its combination of western polyphonic thinking in composition and Chinese aesthetics
MULTI-OBJECTIVE DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK FOR SMART MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
No full textDue to the explosion of waste generation rate, especially in urban areas, and acceleration of environmental degradation worldwide, waste management turns into one of the critical urban services and a great deal of attention has been devoted to municipal solid waste issues. On the other hand, the rapid development of advanced technologies and the advent of smart waste equipment in recent years, has made it possible to mitigate some of the challenges facing the conventional waste system. To enhance the added value of waste system and measure the influence of modern technologies on municipal solid waste management, many studies have been conducted on smart cities to address the main sustainability issues, such as circular economy, environmental problems, adverse social impacts, and energy consumption. This research aims to introduce a new smart municipal solid waste framework considering three main pillars of sustainability, namely, economic, environmental, and social aspects. To achieve this goal, an integrated multi-objective optimization model is developed to make the waste system more resilient against unexpected situations. Proposing a stochastic optimization model is a key enabler to improve the resiliency of the system. The focus of this study is more on sustainable and renewable energy production than safe disposal of waste materials, which significantly mitigating environmental impacts while yielding financial benefits to waste management systems. In the management of waste operations there are major challenges from transportation and logistics viewpoints, representing some of the most complicated and problematic stages within this domain. To enhance the quality of urban services and the responsiveness of the waste system, particularly in transportation and waste collection phases, this research utilizes Communication and Internet of Things technologies to reveal real needs of citizens and thereby improve the efficiency of waste management system. Moreover, this research contributes to the development of an approximate solution methodology designed to address the dynamic, uncertain, and complex nature of municipal solid waste management. The effectiveness and applicability of the proposed optimization models and solution approaches are assessed through numerical experiments conducted across various dimensions and a case study problem. The outcomes of this research can aid policymakers, practitioners, and local governments in enhancing and maintaining a resilient waste management system. This, in turn, contributes to improved efficiency and sustainability within the waste sector
Ground-Based Light Curve Follow-Up Validation Observations on TESS Object of Interest TOI-3798.01
Full text linkExoplanet candidates are planets discovered outside the defined solar system that have only been proven to exist once confirmed by additional telescope observation. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Explorers Program surveys the surrounding sky for such exoplanet candidates via transit detection and machine learning techniques. TESS Object of Interest (TOI) 3798.01 (the particular focus of this study) was marked as a candidate exoplanet by TESS around a host star (TOI-3798) in 2021. The objective of this study was to perform a follow-up validation observation of TOI-3798.01. Such follow-up validation was utilized to sufficiently determine whether the TOI was deemed a false positive or a confirmed exoplanet. George Mason University’s (GMU’s) 0.8-meter telescope was operated to collect data on TOI-3798.01, mostly in the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) data format which is used in the field of astronomy to store, transmit, and process data sets. Software such as AstroImageJ (a data science software tailored to astronomical imaging) and Ansvr (a plate-solving software for Windows operating systems) were then utilized to analyze such data and generate visualizations (particularly seeing profiles and light curve plots) to determine the existence of an exoplanet via the transit detection method. Approximately 30 minutes into the observation, the suspected transit occurred, long before the event was predicted to occur. Unfortunately, due to the absence of many of the stars provided by Gaia in the image and the apparent dimness of the others, the NEB check was inconclusive. However, in analyzing the data provided by TESS, the plot passes the visual odd/even test which is a quick and easy way to rule out eclipsing binary star systems. If validated through future studies, TOI-3798.01 would most likely be a hot Jovian with condensing Zinc Sulfide (ZnS)
“All Personnel Profit”: Domestic Labor of Military Families in the Postwar and Early Cold War Eras
Full text linkThis dissertation asks how millions of Americans managed their domestic lives in an environment that, from the outset, appeared quite hostile to family life. Military families in the United States in the middle of the twentieth century, after World War II but before overt involvement in the Vietnam conflict, served in a period that experienced unprecedented growth in the number of dependents but before the military had expanded its family support policy to care for them. Within this historical context, using categorization of domestic labor borrowed from sociological studies and an underexplored set of historical documents, “All Personnel Profit” reveals how military families resourcefully balanced three solutions to their expanded domestic challenges. They leaned on nascent military family support strategies, such as burgeoning medical care and midcentury housing projects. When these programs proved insufficient to meet broader familial concerns, military dependents engaged in mutually beneficial transactional solutions, finding solutions to their housing, care, and consumption needs among their peers, acting nearly independent of the military itself. Finally, military families benefitted from the benevolent undertakings spearheaded by military wives who worked within the waning military community structure that still demanded their uncompensated labor. This dissertation introduces a new demographic to qualitative studies of housework by uncovering additional domestic burdens levied on military families that went beyond the household work normally assigned to Americans at midcentury. In particular, frequent mandatory relocations and spousal absences exacerbated the physical, emotional, and mental labor demands of service families. Notably, this was housework that if not managed, could have potentially compromised national defense. “All Personnel Profit” also reperiodizes the history of military policy to include the postwar and early Cold War era. It gives military wives more direct credit for conceptualizing and starting today’s military family support programs. It also places enlisted wives in a new position within military social history. Whereas sociologists generally see the increase in enlisted dependents as the reason for the creation of broader family support policy, this dissertation shows instead how enlisted wives clubs initiated some of these programs as well. Lastly, by discovering work that is traditionally “invisible” being performed by military wives, we can find greater appreciation for the domestic labor being performed by their civilian sisters as well
NO WORSE FRIEND – AN INQUIRY INTO THE PRIORITIZATION AND MOVEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE THROUGH U.S. MARINE COUNTERINSURGENCY PRACTICES IN RAMADI, IRAQ 2004-2009
No full textI am a former Marine infantry officer who spent fourteen months in Ramadi, Iraq during the Second Iraq War. This project was born from my reflections on the palpable conflict between the objective of the Marine mission in Ramadi, Iraq, beginning in 2004; the practices applied to achieve that objective; and the impact of those practices on local Ramadi civilians and the city itself. I believe Marine practices caused unnecessary harm to the local Iraqi population and the Marine quest to ‘win the fight’ rendered the local population invisible and vulnerable to Marine practices which were primarily designed to find and kill the enemy while preventing Marine casualties. The purpose of this project was to better understand the emergence and persistence of Marine counterinsurgency practices that caused physical and psychological harm to the local population in contradiction to prevailing counterinsurgency theory centered on protecting the local population and gaining their support. In this study, specific Marine practices, such as observation posts, vehicle checkpoints, particular ways of patrolling, and escalation of force measures are understood as technologies designed to be repeated to produce particular outcomes. In this way, the ‘knowledge’ of who Marines are, what Marines do, and how Marines act, was embedded in and transmitted through Marine practices that were learned, taught, and tested on the battlefield. Similarly, the ‘knowledge’ of what it means to be a Marine was generated by, produced through, and inseparable from those same practices. Knowledge Management Theory was used to investigate Marine counterinsurgency practices in Ramadi, Iraq from 2004-2009 to explore how knowledge was organized, prioritized and transmitted between individual Marines and units. Knowledge management theory explores how knowledge is created, accessed, shared, and retained within an organization and tends to privilege the tacit knowledge embedded in the culture, people, processes, and technologies of an organization. This research affirms Knowledge Management theory that predicts suboptimal outcomes resulting from misalignment of an organization’s culture, people, processes, and technologies. This study was oriented on the lived experience of junior Marines, at and below the company-level, who lived and operated daily on the streets of Ramadi. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with dozens of Marines, I sought to understand what they believed about what they were doing in Iraq and how they made sense of why of they were doing it. Ultimately, I hoped to better understand what knowledge was privileged, embedded in, and transferred through which Marine counterinsurgency practices to better align those practices with strategic objectives in the future
Understanding the Utility of Complementary Alternative Medicine in the Promotion of Women’s Psychological Wellbeing
Full text linkThis dissertation is a two-part study that focuses on identifying accessible, affordable, and culturally inclusive strategies to promote women’s psychological well-being (PWB) across their lifespans. Research has demonstrated that Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM), defined as non-traditional modalities of care, often with origins outside of Western practice, that can be used together, with, or in place of formal medical or psychological treatment are becoming increasingly popular, especially among women. Despite growing popularity, empirical evidence is limited regarding the effectiveness of these strategies for improving PWB. An understanding of how CAM may uniquely support the PWB of women from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds is particularly limited. Therefore, Study 1 leveraged a nationally representative sample of 1,395 menopausal women to explicitly investigate how CAM may support Black, Asian, and White women's PWB during this transitional time of life. A psychological network analysis was employed to examine similarities and differences in the interrelationships between CAM use and PWB across the different groups. Results highlight a stronger relationship between Psychological Methods of CAM, such as meditation, mental imagery, and relaxation techniques, and PWB among menopausal women, with less evidence for associations between other forms of CAM (i.e., herbal remedies, physical methods, nutritional supplements) and PWB. Networks varied across the women, suggesting that these relationships between CAM use and PWB differ across racial groups. Study 2 examined the impact of CAM on PWB in the context of college women’s daily lives. Women (n = 352) completed a baseline assessment including demographic information, attitudes and practices regarding CAM use, and indicators of PWB. A subset (n = 40) of women who endorsed active CAM use completed eight days of daily assessments of their CAM use and PWB. In the full sample, results replicated previous literature by identifying that a positive philosophical orientation towards CAM and a higher distrust for traditional medication were associated with CAM use. Retrospective reports of CAM use in the sample were related to facets of positive mental health (i.e., higher gratitude, satisfaction with life, and meaning in life), a novel finding that extends beyond previous examinations of CAM use and symptoms of poor mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety). In the daily sample, same-day multilevel analyses demonstrated that higher frequency and duration of CAM use were associated with higher negative affect while lagged analysis showed that using CAM on a given day was related to higher levels of gratitude that night and higher levels of positive affect and gratitude the subsequent day, highlighting the dynamic relationships between CAM and PWB. Future directions, along with clinical and methodological considerations of the findings are discussed
ESCAPE Opioids: Exploring Sub-Cultural Adolescent Population Experiences of Opioids
No full textThis work is embargoed by the author and will not be publicly available until May 2026.Background: Adolescent substance misuse, specifically opioid misuse, is a complex challenge with multiple factors and environmental conditions leading to opioid misuse. The bright spot is overall adolescent substance use rates are declining. However, adolescent deaths resulting from fentanyl poisoning are increasing. This dissertation research was conducted in Berkeley County, West Virginia between May 2022 and May 2023. This site was chosen because the researcher has worked with this community in various capacities since 2019 and this county has one of the highest opioid overdose rates in the country.Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore the experience of adolescents living in a geographical environment with a high rate of opioid-overdoses to better understand under-researched risk-factors (e.g. values, norms, beliefs, attitudes, traditions) that may lead to adolescent opioid misuse in this county. The long-term goal is to inform interventions targeted specifically to address adolescent sub-population risks. Method: A systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles was undertaken in 2023. Articles published between 2013 and 2023, that focused on adolescent opioid misuse were included. A total of 14 articles were included in this review. None of the articles were intervention studies. This exploratory qualitative research methods dissertation proposal used semi-structured interviews and photovoice to explore the impact of community opioid use and associated sub-cultural experiences among adolescents attending high schools in Berkeley County, West Virginia in 2022-2023. Conclusions: The systematic review demonstrated there was little evidence in the included studies that cultural factors are regularly assessed as protective or risk factors associated with adolescent opioid use. The heavy reliance on national and state data sets, which are often published a year or more after data collection and secondary data analyses of these that are published years later presents a missed opportunity to understand current drivers of opioid use fluctuations. Additional research that further explores cultural factors, beyond race, ethnicity, nativity, and language, is warranted to improve understanding and to create culturally-responsive interventions to reduce adolescent opioid use. Through a deeper understanding of cultural factors specific to sub-populations of adolescents, culturally-responsive interventions may be designed that could significantly increase protective factors and reduce risk factors in this populations.2026-05-1