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Changes: Understanding How Military-Connected Students Acquire Social and Cultural Capital in Higher Education
Get PDFSince the Post-9/11 GI Bill went into effect in 2009, there has been tremendous growth in the number of military-connected students enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities. In response to this influx, higher education stakeholders developed dedicated resources and services to remove barriers students often faced when transitioning from the military to civilian cultures. This study introduces a critical analysis to understand how institutions with diverse resources and services for military-connected students transition those students to a civilian higher education culture and whether those resources and services effectively facilitate this transition. Using social and cultural capital as a theoretical framework, this institutional ethnography investigated how military-connected students transitioned into higher education at four non-profit universities in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States: two campuses with military-connected student resource centers, one with a dedicated office to serve military-connected students, and one with a dedicated administrator to certify GI Bill benefits. Methods included observations of campus structures and military-connected student interactions with different campus stakeholders, semi-structured interviews with students, alumni, and campus administrators and faculty, and analysis of government, non-government organizations, and campus documents. Results indicated how some campuses created military-connected-specific services that sometimes provided social and cultural capital that primarily served to meet federal regulation requirements. The mil-con students utilizing all-encompassing services were successful as students but centered their military-connected identity without fully integrating elsewhere in the campus community. Campuses that embedded transition services for military-connected students facilitated opportunities for students to cultivate social and cultural capital in both military-connected-specific and civilian spaces to transition to campus
What is ‘Objectively Reasonable’? Resistance and Force in Police and Persons with Behavioral Health Issue Interactions
Get PDFWhile society’s expectations of policing roles have transformed over time, one of the most salient changes is within the area of policing and mental health. Encounters between American police and persons with a behavioral health issue (PBHI) have become a contentious discussion in the public forum. Therefore, studying the content and nature of these interactions is vital to improving crisis situations and other types of police-PBHI interactions. Often the specific circumstances of, and best practices for, assisting high-risk individuals are unknown to law enforcement until they encounter one another in the ‘heat of the moment.’ In these situations, officers may revert to traditional enforcement responses that increase the risk of force or excessive use of force. When officers rely on tactics that are more likely to increase aggression rather than decrease it, the negative experience can affect how citizens view police in future encounters, even if they are different officers. While citizen resistance and police use of force has been widely studied, there is still not much known about how behavioral health issues (BHI) impact the occurrences of resistance and force in police-citizen encounters. This dissertation addresses this gap by analyzing the person and interaction characteristics of PBHI and BHI incidents on resistance and force by analyzing a sheriff’s office calls for service and incident report data collected over a three-year period in a mid-size city. To better understand what characteristics, impact the occurrence of resistance and force, this dissertation uses both descriptive analyses and two types of regression analysis. Descriptive analyses revealed that while PBHI engage more frequently in resistance, police officers engaged in more severe applications of force. Logistic and multiple linear regression analyses on two types of resistance and force measurements indicate that certain characteristics such as the demeanor of PBHI, intoxication, and an officer suspecting the presence of BHI have an impact on resistance and force occurring in interactions between police and PBHI. The results from this dissertation can inform future research on the unique dynamics between police and PBHI and provide knowledge on how departments can better prepare officers to interact with those in crisis or suffering from a behavioral health issue (BHI)
Dissecting the Role of Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2) in Neuroendocrine Transdifferentiation (NE-TD) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) of Epithelial Origin.
No full textLung cancer Lung cancer is a highly prevalent and lethal disease that is responsible for a significant number of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The introduction of targeted treatments in lung cancer, like EGFR inhibitors and immunotherapies, has profoundly affected survival of NSCLC patients. Even so, the therapeutic effects of these compounds are often temporary, and resistance is regularly acquired by tumor cells to adapt to unfavorable and harmful conditions. Lineage plasticity, or the ability of cancer cells to change their physical characteristics and functions, and histological shift is emerging as important defense mechanism tumors utilize to survive treatment. For example, in response to treatment, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers (NSCLCs) can acquire neuroendocrine (NE) characteristics and transform into Small Cell Lung Cancers (SCLCs). Conventional chemotherapy can achieve short-term response in these transformed tumors, but this mechanism of resistance remains largely untreatable and results in high levels of mortality. That is why identifying molecular drivers of NE transdifferentiation (TD) is of primary importance for devising effective therapeutic interventions and reducing lung cancer associated mortality. Overexpression of the epigenetic regulator histone-lysine N-methyltransferase Enhancer of Zeste Homolog (EZH2) has been associated with the development of SCLCs and NE-TD in prostate cancer, however, EZH2 functions has not been explored in NE transdifferentiated NSCLCs. In this study, we demonstrated that overexpression of EZH2 is associated with the acquisition of NE traits in NSCLCs and other cancers of epithelial origine. We have also demonstrated that inhibition of EZH2 in NE-TD NSCLCs reverses cancer cells to a non-NE state. Lastly, we showed that EZH2 inhibition in RB proficient tumors expressing NE markers reinstates Rb function and sensitivity to CDK4/6 inhibition. Our data provide novel understanding on the role of EZH2 in NE-TD of NSCLCs. If validated in more complex model systems, these data may provide a foundation for future clinical investigations specifically targeting patients affected by tumors for which effective therapeutic options are limited
Application of Musical Narrative Theory in Chinese Piano Solo Pieces
Get PDFNarrative theory, a well-established analytical approach in literature and film studies, has increasingly been applied to musical analysis with promising results. Musical narrative theory can help us uncover the emotional depth and cultural significance of compositions, enriching our interpretation, performance, and overall appreciation of music as a powerful storytelling medium. However, its application has predominantly focused on European/Western music, leaving a gap in the analysis of Chinese music. This dissertation seeks to address this gap by applying narrative theory, drawing on Byron Almén's framework, to three selected Chinese piano solo pieces: Zhao Zhang’s Ballade (2013) and Pi-Huang (1995), and Qigang Chen ’s Instants d’un Opéra de Pékin (2000). By analyzing these works with key parameters such as form, motives/themes, meter, and tonality, in this dissertation, I identify their narrative archetypes and provide interpretations of the emotion and narrativity of the music. This study expands the analytical methods applied to Chinese piano works, offering valuable insights for performers and listeners alike. Additionally, it demonstrates how narrative theory can assist listeners who are unfamiliar with the Chinese cultural references in these pieces in understanding their emotional trajectories. Even without prior knowledge of the cultural or thematic elements embedded in a piece, listeners can use narrative theory as a guide to navigate and understand the narrativities found in Chinese music. The dissertation includes an overview of the goals of the research, a literature review, and description of the methodology in Chapter One, followed by detailed analyses of the selected pieces in Chapters Two to Four. The final chapter presents conclusions and suggests areas for future research
Assessment of Disparity Risks in Machine Learning Pipelines
Get PDFThe pervasive integration of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms across societal sectors has fundamentally transformed human interaction with technology. However, this technological advancement presents significant challenges. Research consistently reveals that these algorithms frequently amplify inherent societal biases present in datasets, resulting in ML-based systems that disproportionately impact minority populations, with particularly concerning implications in domains such as education, where decisions have lasting consequences. In response, researchers have developed various metrics and frameworks to identify outcome disparities in ML pipelines. However, these approaches face inherent limitations. Model-centric metrics, calculated over specific algorithm output spaces, are constrained by their model specificity, hindering cross-model generalization. Furthermore, these metrics are typically applied in later pipeline stages, after bias introduction. While data-centric metrics effectively detect inherent dataset biases, they fail to account for ML pipeline-specific characteristics. Additionally, the field lacks methodologies for systematic assessment of how models may amplify dataset biases. We address these methodological gaps by introducing novel approaches for assessing disparity risks in early ML pipeline stages. The research presents systematic metrics and frameworks that incorporate ML pipeline contextual specificities, advancing our understanding of algorithmic fairness. We first introduce FairEd, a systematic framework for identifying, documenting, and reporting unfairness risks. This methodology enables stakeholders to comprehend unfairness risks across environmental and analytical dimensions, providing critical insights into dataset risks, fairness notion evaluations, and mitigation effectiveness while maintaining performance metrics. Building on FairEd's insights, we develop a model-agnostic risk assessment tool, FORESEE. This decision tree-based algorithm generates predictive scores for instance-level sensitivity to protected attributes. This innovation enables stakeholders to identify discriminatory samples and predict future sample risks, overcoming model-specific assessment limitations. We then examine model selection through the lens of usable information, culminating in DispaRisk's development. This tool identifies discrimination-prone datasets and model families while enhancing bias risk explainability. DispaRisk effectively bridges data-centric and model-centric disparity metrics, offering comprehensive fairness assessment. Following DispaRisk's exploration of usable information, we explore these notions in fairness-aware contexts through the AudiRep, a framework that enables comparative analysis of Learning Fair Representations (LFR) approaches, evaluating their efficacy in reducing usable sensitive attribute information within specific ML pipeline contexts and downstream applications. This dissertation contributes by introducing novel approaches that: (i) systematically evaluate disparity risks, (ii) predict discrimination risks independent of downstream classifiers, (iii) account for pipeline-specific characteristics, and (iv) enhance explainability of model-generated disparities within specific ML contexts. These contributions advance our understanding of ML system bias, providing tools for equitable algorithm development and addressing critical gaps in timely unfairness detection. This research establishes a foundation for responsible ML system deployment across domains through comprehensive early-stage fairness assessment and mitigation frameworks
Three Essays on Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy and Political Economy
Get PDFThe first essay explores the similarities between Adam Smith and Confucius in the development of sympathetic sentiments, examining how this development situates individuals in society, the dynamic nature of finding propriety in conduct, and the various virtues individuals are encouraged to nurture. This work engages with cross-cultural perspectives, aiming at bridging diverse intellectual traditions. The theme of shared similarities between Smith and Confucius underscores the potential for harmonizing the diversity of humankind. This aligns with the broader goal of promoting cross-cultural communication and understanding, emphasising universal truths as a foundation for exploring culture-specific nuances.The second and third essays investigate the policy implications arising from Adam Smith's exceptions to the principle of natural liberty. The focus is centered on Smith's rationale behind restricting banknotes of small denominations, implementing an interest rate cap (commonly referred to as the “usury law”), and advocating for public education. It is found that Smith consistently prioritized the welfare of the entire society and national defense when endorsing interventions that curtailed individuals' natural liberty. This perspective contrasts starkly with contemporary justifications for paternalistic policies. Paternalistic interventions, solely aimed at preventing harm to the individual engaging in potentially harmful behavior, find little support within the Smithian framework, even when allowances are made for exceptions to natural liberty. According to Smith, the most effective approach to averting self-inflicted harm does not lie in legislation but rather in an individual's capacity for self-motivated learning and reflection. By consulting the “supposed impartial spectator,” one can continuously engage in self-judgment and remain aware of potential self-destructive behaviours
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 3945.01
Get PDF“The goal of this observational study is to perform follow-up investigations on a potential exoplanet discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and validate if the findings by TESS are accurate. Potential exoplanet TOI-3945.01 was discovered in 2021, and our observational study aims to confirm the existence of this exoplanet. This study was done through George Mason University’s 0.8m telescope, ansvr, AstroImageJ, and NASA’s Exoplanet Archives to create a seeing profile, light curve, dmag vs RMS, and other results to determine if an exoplanet transit has occurred. The results of our observation show that although a transit was observed, it was not within the expected ingress and egress times, and more further investigations will need to be performed to verify this transit.
Assembling Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
No full textThis work is embargoed by the author and will not be publicly available until May 2034.This dissertation is concerned with matters of diversity and representation in Hollywood’s biggest entertainment franchise of the twenty-first century. Through an evaluation of Marvel Studios’ live-action films and paratextual materials, I examine how racial and ethnic representations are constructed and commercialized in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Drawing on scholarship from cinema studies, media political economy, and critical race theory, I ask how MCU films engage with the power dynamics of visual and political representation and I interrogate their relationship to political economy. Few franchises can reach audiences quite like the MCU, which is bolstered by the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios must therefore be examined as a producer of media that are influential to our ideologies and realities. In other words, Marvel Studios is an arena in which competing ideas about diversity, race, and representation are being played out. I look to Marvel Studios and the MCU in this dissertation as part of a larger conversation on race, ethnicity, and diversity in U.S. media.2034-05-1
Destruction in El Geneina
Get PDFThis report summarizes the civilian consequences of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied Arab forces attacks on civilians in El Geneina, West Darfur between April 15, 2023 and June 27, 2024.Produced with the support of the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, United States Department of State
PREDICTING THE EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL MODIFICATIONS IN BIOMOLECULES ON THEIR BINDING AFFINITIES USING ALL-ATOM MOLECULAR DYNAMICS
Get PDFAlthough Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV) is a life-threatening pathogen with potential for epidemic outbreaks, it lacks an FDA-approved antiviral for human treatment. This dissertation seeks to study the binding of VEEV’s capsid protein nuclear localization signal (NLS) fragments to nuclear transport importin-⍺ protein and analyze the effectiveness of specific inhibitors against the virus. These goals were accomplished by probing binding on an atomistic level using Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics with solute tempering (REST). Overall, our investigation included three studies. In the first, we examined the binding of three inhibitors, G281-1485 (I0), as well as two of its congeners (I1 and I2), to the major NLS binding site of importin-⍺. These congeners were selected as potential candidates for improving binding over the original ligand following free energy perturbation simulations of several variants of I0. We saw that I0 did not form a well-defined binding pose binding diffusively to importin-⍺. I1 also formed distributed biding poses, but all of them confined to the NLS binding site of VEEV’s capsid on importin-⍺ (an “on-target” binding). Finally, I2 bound specifically forming a well-defined binding pose that however only partially overlapped the NLS binding site. In the second study, we explored the binding of NLS peptide fragments, the minNLS, KKPK, and the coreNLS, KKPKKE, to the major NLS binding site. We saw vastly different binding patterns between the two, with the minNLS exhibiting a diverse ensemble of poses, binding non-specifically and non-natively, while the coreNLS was largely bound to the major NLS binding site, with a high probability of adopting a native-like pose. From this, we derived that VEEV’s coreNLS is sufficient, though not strictly necessary, to reproduce the native pose seen in the full NLS peptide in the PDB structure, 3VE6. We also showed that the VEEV coreNLS sequence is unique among human proteins involved in nucleus traffic. Our final study combines the elements of the first two to perform competitive binding simulations of the inhibitors I1 or I2 in the presence of the coreNLS to analyze the impact they have on the binding of the peptide. Both inhibitors severely disrupt the native binding pose of the coreNLS. A major cause of this effect is masking of the coreNLS residues, rather than specific binding interactions between the inhibitors and importin-⍺. These results were supported through the free energies computations that showed both inhibitors reducing the free energy gain from coreNLS binding, with I1 producing a significantly larger loss in the coreNLS binding affinity than I2. Through the amalgamation of these results, we hypothesize that I1 and I2 may exhibit inhibitory action that is specific to the NLS of VEEV’s capsid