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On the Tightrope: Multivocality Use by Extremist Ideological Groups on Digital Platforms
Full text linkFinancial support was provided by the University of Oklahoma Libraries' Open Access Fund.Extremist ideological groups strategically communicate across platforms and face the decision of whether to diversify their focus to appeal to a broader audience or narrow it down to achieve specific objectives. One approach involves adopting multivocality: communicating about diverse issues but emphasizing a limited set of issues on each platform. Using qualitative and computational analyses of social media communications (203,730 tweets) of extremist ideological groups (N = 44), Study 1 found that most extremist ideological groups engage in multivocality by emphasizing different issues on their X feed compared to their website. Study 2, a controlled, randomized laboratory experiment of individual reactions to a simulated ideological group's online messaging (N = 196) indicated that when these groups adopt a multivocal strategy, viewers perceived the messages and the group as less credible but recalled and disseminated the messages more.Ye
Sample preparation and cleanup methods for clinical top-down proteomics
Full text linkFinancial support was provided by the University of Oklahoma Libraries' Open Access Fund.Introduction
The investigation of different proteoforms in clinical samples is a promising approach to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of diseases. Furthermore, proteoform analysis holds great potential for identifying disease-specific biomarkers and targets for personalized medicine. Despite advances in top-down proteomics (TDP) instrumentation, sample preparation and cleanup remain challenging. Work in this area has focused on developing rapid, cost-effective, and less-labor-intensive protocols aimed at minimizing the introduction of artefactual modifications to endogenous proteoforms or bias in proteoform recovery during sample processing.
Area covered
To inform the selection of sample processing approaches in clinical TDP, this review summarizes state-of-the-art targeted (i.e. affinity and non-affinity-based enrichment) and untargeted (i.e. gel-based fractionation) sample preparation protocols. In addition, currently available offline and online sample cleanup procedures (e.g. dialysis, solid-phase extraction, filter-aided sample preparation, precipitation, and solid-phase protein preparation) are reviewed, highlighting their effectiveness for desalting and/or detergent removal.
Expert opinion
TDP demonstrates great potential in the clinical setting due to its ability to capture disease-specific proteoforms commonly overlooked in traditional diagnostic assays. The establishment of standardized guidelines for reproducible clinical TDP workflows is essential to leverage advances in sample preparation techniques and analytical instrumentation to facilitate wider adoption of TDP for clinical applications.Ye
Species Transformation and Social Reform: The Politics and Biopolitics of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's Evolutionary Theory
Full text linkJean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829) is well known as a pre-Darwinian proponent of evolution. But much of what has been written on Lamarck, on his ‘Lamarckian’ belief in the inheritance of acquired characters, and on his conception of the role of the will in biological development mischaracterizes his views. Indeed, surprisingly little in-depth analysis has been published regarding his views on human physiology and development. Further, since Robert M. Young’s signal 1969 essay on Malthus and the evolutionists, Darwin scholars have sought to place Darwin’s work in its social and political context; however, this has yet to be done adequately for Lamarck. In this dissertation I seek to address this gap. I examine Lamarck’s comments on human intelligence, physiology, and moral agency, and place them in the context of prevailing debates in France about the physiology of mind and morals and the future of the nation. I show how Lamarckian ideas about biological melioration—particularly in relation to social and political reform—served as both an aspirational standard and as rhetorical fodder for physicians, hygienists, and public health reformers throughout the nineteenth century who adapted evolutionary ideas into justifications for the primacy of medical authority in societal reform and regeneration. Even amongst those who were not prepared to embrace the idea that evolution was the mechanism of speciation, it was widely accepted that living organisms displayed a remarkable level of plasticity in their physiology and morphology, and that altering them physically could have far-reaching effects on functioning, social behavior, and overall wellbeing. This conviction was at the root of what would, over the course of the nineteenth century, give rise to various efforts to create a reformed and regenerated France by improving its people, including through hygienic reform, medical interventions, and the management of various pathologies that were believed to be hereditary, including ‘degeneration.’ In short, Lamarckian biology played a major role in what Michel Foucault termed biopolitics, including in its eugenic aspects. Thus, I argue that Lamarckian biology should be evaluated not just as a pre-Darwinian evolutionary theory, but as a contribution to ongoing debates about the importance and possibility of effecting political change via medico-biological management and alteration of the human body and species
TRANSPORTATION JUSTICE IN PLANNING: MEASURING AND MAPPING TRANSPORTATION EQUITY IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY AND OKLAHOMA CITY
No full textThis study investigates transportation equity in Oklahoma through a multi-scalar, data-driven approach that connects academic theory with local planning practice. The study addresses disparities in mobility and accessibility that disproportionately affect marginalized populations, particularly in auto-dependent areas like Oklahoma County and Oklahoma City. It comprises three components: a systematic literature review, a county-level transportation equity assessment, and a city-level transit gap analysis. The literature review synthesizes 86 studies from 2000 to 2023, highlighting evolving definitions, key equity frameworks, and methodological trends. Findings reveal growing attention to mobility justice, spatial disparities, and the intersection of transportation with health, environmental, and socio-demographic factors. However, recent declines in equity-focused publications suggest a need for renewed focus, especially in light of emerging mobility technologies and climate challenges. The second component applies the Transportation Justice Threshold Index Framework (TJTIF) to evaluate transportation equity across 20 municipalities in Oklahoma County. Using demographic, socioeconomic, land use, and transportation data, the study identifies justice areas such as Arcadia, Valley Brook, and Woodlawn Park, where interventions are most urgently needed. It also flags transitional areas like Nichols Hills and Lake Aluma that may face future equity risks. The final section assesses transit gaps in Oklahoma City by comparing transit demand and supply at the block group level. Using spatial analysis in R and ArcGIS Pro, the study finds a mismatch between high-need areas and existing transit infrastructure, exposing significant transit deserts. The research concludes with policy recommendations to enhance equity through improved public transit coverage, multimodal integration, and inclusive planning strategies. The integrated approach, combining literature review, index-based spatial analysis, and transit desert mapping, offers a replicable framework for addressing transportation justice in similarly auto-centric cities
AN ANALYSIS OF RED SLIPPED CERAMICS FROM CLEMENT (34MC8): A MULTI-MOUND CENTER IN SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA
No full textClement (34MC8) is a multi-mound ancestral Caddo center located in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. The site is comprised of at least two mounds, multiple structures, and midden areas. The site was first excavated by the WPA in 1941 and subsequently by the OU field school during the summer of 2008. The Clement site has an abundance of ceramics including extremely well-crafted red slipped ceramics which comprise about 30% of the total ceramic assemblage. The focus of this thesis is these red slipped ceramics. I analyzed 2,164 sherds for this study. Only diagnostic, rim or decorated, red slipped ceramics were included in this analysis. Physical attributes such as thickness, weight, decoration type, motifs, slip thickness, and slip color were recorded. LA-ICP-MS analysis was completed at the University of Missouri Nuclear Research Reactor (MURR) on thirty red slipped sherds and four possible pigment sources to understand the chemical composition and materials used in red slip. These attributes were recorded to better understand possible communities of practice among potters at Clement. The results of my analysis are used to understand slip groups based on composition, different usage of the site throughout time, purpose of red slipped ceramics at Clement, and production of red slipped ceramics. Through my analysis I aim to specifically answer the following questions: (1) What contexts are red slipped ceramics in at Clement? (2) How are red-slipped ceramics at Clement being made? (3) what does compositional analysis of red-slipped ceramics explain about communities of practice among potters at or around Clement
EFFICIENCY VERSUS EFFECTIVENESS: WHY DO NUCLEAR WEAPON PROGRAMS COST MORE AND TAKE LONGER THAN THEY DID DURING THE COLD WAR ERA?
No full textUnited States nuclear weapons are high reliability engineered systems managed by high reliability organizations that make up what is collectively referred to as the Nuclear Security Enterprise. In the Post-Cold War era, there was a monumental shift in nuclear weapons policy from increasing effectiveness of underground system testing, new design, and innovation to sustainment and enhancing fiscal efficiency through management controls. However, absent from high reliability systems and organizations literature are studies of effectiveness versus efficiency and the balance of management controls. Instead, the high reliability systems and organization literature describes intense concentrations in areas such as safety, security, reliability, error reporting, high functioning public-private partnerships, continuous organizational self-evaluation, mission-driven cultures, and specialized expertise as theoretical features leading to effective outcomes. Thus, this dissertation integrates a management controls reforms-as-routines framework into a Black Box Model of Implementation on a high reliability organization responsible for nuclear weapons to generate and explore an observational measure of labor resources spanning a 21 fiscal year timeframe. The output is utilized to explore the primary empirical research question: Over time, how have changes in reforms for management controls in the Post-Cold War Era impacted the distribution of resources across the Nuclear Security Enterprise? The empirical results illustrate a larger increase in the labor resources implementing management controls reforms than the technical resources responsible for the United States Nuclear Deterrence Mission. The results are useful to high reliability system and organization theorists as an empirical case study regarding the implications of shifting the balance between policy priorities of cost, schedule, and performance in a resource constrained environment. Furthermore, these results should inform policymakers and other high reliability organizations responsible for high reliability engineered systems in the United States that increasing management controls may not be the preferred mechanism to improving effectiveness of mission outcomes
A NEEDS ANALYSIS STUDY OF NON-STANDARD CERTIFIED OKLAHOMA CAREER TECHNOLOGY CENTER TEACHERS’ IMPRESSIONS OF SELF-EFFICACY IN CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
No full textThis needs analysis, cross-sectional, observational study examined the relationship between Oklahoma Career Technology Center instructors’ certification type, standard vs. non-standard, and self-efficacy in classroom management. Thirty CTE teachers in nine of the twenty-nine Oklahoma Career Tech districts were surveyed using an adapted form of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). Results indicate non-significant but conforming results for the classroom management portion of the TSES, Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale among standard and non-standard Oklahoma Career Tech instructors. Though significance was not established, trends in these results align with broader findings in the field associated with K-12 teachers, and support implementation of programs to retain these second-career and/or non-standard certification teachers (SC/NCTs)
FAMILY AND INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY
No full textThis dissertation consists of three chapters focused on family and intergenerational mobility. Chapter 1 examines an under-explored determinant of intergenerational mobility: racial assortative mating. Our unique identification strategy leverages two historical events - changes in the marriageable Black population during the Second Great Migration and the landmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia. The interplay of these events presents exogenous shocks to marriage market conditions that are conducive to interracial marriages, thereby reducing racial assortative mating. We find a pronounced, negative relationship between racial assortative mating and mobility. We further show that the negative mobility impacts associated with assortative mating might be channeled through factors such as social network formations, neighborhood characteristics, and family structure. Finally, we also uncover a significant heterogeneity in the effects across the income distribution. The negative effects are more markedly pronounced for children from low-income families than for children from more affluent families. Such a pattern is consistent with the differential influence of alternative mechanisms across the income distribution. Chapter 2 explores the important role of environmental factors, specifically sunlight exposure, in shaping intergenerational educational mobility. Our findings reveal a significant and positive relationship between sunlight exposure and educational mobility, but this effect is predominantly driven by its influence on the educational mobility of sons. In contrast, sunlight exposure appears to have a negligible or even negative effect on daughters’ educational mobility. We suggest that these heterogeneous effects may be mediated by factors such as fertility rates, lifetime maternal mortality risk, mental health, and time preference. Specifically, individuals in regions with more sufficient sunlight exposure tend to experience higher fertility rates, a lower risk of maternal mortality, better mental health, and lower levels of patience. These factors may, in turn, influence parental investment in their children’s education, contributing to the observed gender-based heterogeneity in the impact of sunlight exposure on educational mobility. Child gender could affect not only intergenerational mobility but also family stability. In Chapter 3, we explore the heterogeneous effects of having a firstborn daughter on the likelihood of divorce using the causal forest method. Our causal forest model reveals substantial heterogeneity in the effect of daughters on divorce, with the mother’s age at first marriage being the most important factor driving this heterogeneity. The daughter effect varies significantly both across different maternal characteristics and over time. For mothers who were older than 30 at their first marriage, having a firstborn daughter significantly increased divorce risk, but this effect has diminished. Conversely, mothers who married at 25 or younger are increasingly likely to divorce after having a firstborn daughter. As for middle-married mothers, child gender has no significant impact on their likelihood of divorce. These patterns demonstrate the interplay of son preference and income constraints in shaping the daughter-divorce relationship. Compared to early-married mothers, late-married mothers are more susceptible to social pressure for sons but less impacted by child-rearing costs. Over time, as son preference has declined and the cost of raising daughters has increased, the positive daughter effect on divorce has shifted from being primarily driven by late-married mothers in the 1960-1969 childbirth cohorts to early-married mothers in the post-1980 childbirth cohorts
Hot Topics in Earth Science: Development and Evaluation of a Climate Change-Centered Professional Development Program for Secondary Science Teachers
No full textThere is a limited window to address global climate change (GCC) if we want to avoid the most severe impacts (Millar et al., 2017). This time window has almost closed, with little actual progress made toward significant changes in policy or consumption patterns. Simultaneously, misinformation and disinformation campaigns still influence the general understanding of GCC. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) include the integration of climate change education into elementary and secondary science as a critical component (NGSS Lead States, 2013) but some states—such as Oklahoma—fail to meet the science standards set by NGSS (e.g. Colston & Ivey, 2015). Teachers might avoid these topics owing to several (perceived) barriers (Ennes et al., 2021; Li et al., 2021): 1. Time constraints 2. Lack of support (institutional, curricular, societal) 3. Complexity of the science In order to improve the teaching of climate change science, any professional development (PD) program that addresses climate change at the forefront of its topics should also seek to address these barriers by providing implementable resources and strategies. Hot Topics in Earth Science (HTES) was a PD developed for in-service secondary science teachers (Grades 6-12) in central Oklahoma. It had a dual focus on pedagogical and curricular approaches to teaching climate change science at the secondary level and the associated content. Techniques were discussed explicitly by facilitators and modeled by subject matter experts through content designed to challenge and broaden teachers’ conceptual understandings related to climate change science. Teachers were encouraged, with the support of science education personnel, to develop high-context lesson sequences to facilitate with their students throughout the academic year. Here we present a summary of our approach to the PD, samples of teacher products and responses over the course of the PD, and a reflection on successes and areas of improvement for similar PDs in the future