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A Preliminary Evaluation of the Effects of Unfamiliar Music and Focus on Mood
Get PDFIn this study researchers evaluated whether self-reported moods would be differentially affected by the focus of attention (i.e., focusing on the music vs. focusing on one’s own mood), and whether unfamiliar music from different periods would differentially affect reported moods. Participants (N = 75) were assigned to two focus conditions randomly and filled out the Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS) while listening to nine music selections representing three different musical periods. Results showed that focusing on music rather than one’s own internal mood elicited a higher magnitude of mood responses, and that people tended to experience differences in mood as a function of different composers. Limitations and future directions of the study are further discussed
Urban understandings: exploring potential coercion in Lincoln Park’s gentrification process
Get PDFWhile much research has been carried out on the topic of gentrification over the past several decades, little to no economic research has been conducted on the potential presence of coercion within the process. In this paper, we define coercion as any attempts by third parties, whether government or private entities, to artificially accelerate the natural housing cycle. In studying this, we examine Lincoln Park as a case study, a Chattanooga neighborhood that was once a bastion of culture and security for the Southern African American community, by employing a two-pronged approach. On the qualitative front, we interview community and city leaders, as well as employ investigative journalism in researching the existing literature, including books and newspapers, on the history of Lincoln Park. Quantitatively, we build and conduct a survey among the residents of the neighborhood, allowing us to run empirical analyses upon the data. Combing the two approaches, we construct a holistic study of the potential presence of coercion within Lincoln Park’s housing and development process. In the end, while we find examples of coercive efforts on the part of the city of Chattanooga as it relates to Lincoln Park as recently as the past decade, these efforts do not seem aimed at accelerating the natural housing cycle, meaning they do not meet our criteria of coercion. Thus, as we have defined it, we do not find coercion within the context of Lincoln Park’s gentrification process
Species diversity of Coleoptera populations in an urban garden in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Get PDFInsects are an essential part of the function of ecosystems. The majority of entomological faunistic research has been conducted primarily in rural areas due to high diversity, space for bulky traps, and less outside influence from human activities. However, the need for time-series insect biodiversity data, in rural areas and urban areas alike, is paramount in the wake of our current sixth mass extinction event. Previous research has shown that the greater Chattanooga area is comprised of a diverse population of insects in the Coleoptera (beetles) order, and as shown in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s (UTC) Insect Collection. However, no systematic collection has been done in urban areas within the city limits of Chattanooga. Therefore, in order to fill this gap in data, using a Malaise trap, I collected six months (from March to September of 2022) worth of Coleoptera specimens in the urban garden situated in front of Holt Hall on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s campus (35°02\u2750.4 N, 85°17\u2746.7 W). This project yielded 352 individuals, with 63 morphospecies identified in 23 families (Appendix I). Out of the 23 families sampled, the families that had the highest frequency during the entire collection period included Coccinellidae (22), Staphylinidae (13), and Mordellidae (12). Ecological factors including the diets of the beetles collected and the plant composition of the garden during each collection month were used to predict why specific families were more prevalent than others. Without establishing this baseline data, researchers will have a difficult time estimating any changes in or demonstrating progress, recovery, or destruction of Coleoptera populations in the future. The beneficial nature of this study’s findings can be maximized through the yearly repetition of Coleoptera collection at this site. Further, expanding this study across more urban green spaces within Chattanooga (and Hamilton County) can give us a greater understanding of what beetles Chattanooga supports, and how time and the continuation of harmful anthropogenic activities are affecting Coleoptera populations
A tale from Esterad: an examination of the political power of fantasy
Get PDFThe following is a short craft essay on the political nature of the fantasy genre followed by an original short story. The craft paper situates the reader in the discourse of fantasy being political or apolitical before shifting into a discussion of how Tolkien, Le Guin, and Sapkowski explore political ideas through their works. After, there is a brief section where the thought process going into the short story is explored before launching into the creative piece. The piece is five chapters long and explores a refugee crisis caused by a civil war in the fantasy world of Esterad
Exploring the Impact of Religious Upbringings on Sexual and Gender Minority Youth
Get PDFSexual and Gender Minority Youth (SGMY) growing up in religious households that are not affirming of their sexual identity experience unique stressors pertaining to the strained relationship between organized religion and the LGBTQ+ community. This review aims to define the impacts from those upbringings, examine protective factors, and provide a basis for solutions to a nationwide crisis. Limitations, suggestions for future research, and real-world implications are then discussed, especially pertaining to prevention and intervention programs to support those who identify as SGMY
Tales of the keyworld: an examination of the study and application of craft theory for writers
Get PDFThe following consists of a craft essay focused on character and close third-person narration and a novel excerpt. The craft essay begins with a discussion of what craft theory is and how it is useful to writers when used together with reading analysis. It then synthesizes the conversation around close third-person narration and character and applies it to a close reading analysis of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. The novel excerpt comes from the middle of a work in progress and concerns members of the Keyworld, a fantastical sub-layer of the modern world unknown to most humans
Understanding the Work Demands, Resources, and Barriers to Achieving Optimal Well-Being in Immigrant Workers
Get PDFAccording to recent reports of immigrants working in poor conditions worldwide, the International Committee of Health (ICOH, 2021) has declared the immediate need to create scientific evidence to encourage a preventive culture in occupational health for migrant workers. In 2019, 470,125 immigrants lived in Tennessee, of which 43% are Latino, and Spanish the most common language (76%). The present study aims to identify the work-demands, resources, and barriers to achieve optimal well-being in immigrant workers with a sample recruited from Chattanooga and the surrounding area. Participants will be recruited through convenience and snowball sampling with the inclusion criteria of being at least 18 years old and working full time in a manual labor job with hourly pay or project-based/contract for at least 5 years. The participants will form three focus groups of eight members each, based on evidence concluding that code and thematic saturation can be found in focus group research designs with three to six focus groups (Guest et al., 2017). To structure the discussion and data gathering, a semi-structured questionnaire in Spanish will be composed of three sections: Perceived hazards at work, which will contain questions like “Have you encountered any materials or instruments at work that you believe are harmful to your health?”. Resources to protect well-being, which will contain questions like: “Do you have any strategies to protect your health while at work?”. And barriers to access to needed resources for optimal well-being, which will include questions like: “Are there any additional resources or support that you wish you had access to at work to enhance your well-being?”. The data gathered will be analyzed using Thematic Analysis to identify themes in a data-driven, bottom-up, and a deductive approach. Two coders with Spanish proficiency will achieve consensus of interpretations while coding the data and identify themes that share common ideas. The researcher expects to find demands, resources, and barriers like prior research, but also aim to explore novel factors not identified in empirical research, such as perceived access to care, physical and psychological connectedness to long exposure, and surveillance of diseases. With immigration increasing worldwide, leaders of organizations need to seriously consider the opportunity this presents to identify and hire diverse talent, as well to acknowledge the resources they need to be happier and productive (Fang et al., 2022)
Industry spotlight: Talent acquisition challenges in manufacturing
No full textThe manufacturing industry is facing a shortage of skilled workers, which is hindering its growth and competitiveness. To address this issue, companies are adopting various strategies to attract and recruit workers into the industry. These strategies include offering competitive wages and benefits, providing training and development opportunities, partnering with community organizations, and promoting the industry as a viable career option. Additionally, companies are leveraging technology and automation to make manufacturing jobs more attractive and less physically demanding. Despite these efforts, the industry still faces challenges in attracting younger generations and diversifying its workforce. Companies are realizing that it is crucial to continue to innovate and adapt their recruitment strategies to meet the changing needs and expectations of the workforce
The social and emotional impacts of children and adolescents in foster care
Get PDFFoster care is a substitute form of care in which children are placed away from their biological families and/or guardians. The scope of this literature review examines 39 scholarly articles (i.e., journals, reviews, meta-analyses, and reports) ranging from the years 1997-2021 of children and adolescents between the age range of six months old to young adulthood. We explore different factors that contribute to adverse child and adolescent outcomes in foster care, such as physical home environment, placement instability, the role of foster parents, and support systems; all which play a key role in the overall foster care experience of youth. These factors, in turn, have been related to children and adolescents developing an array of mental and social issues such as lack of interpersonal relationships, an increased risk for developing mental health disorders, self-esteem issues, and a lack of stability for future endeavors. Lastly, limitations and future research directions are further discussed along with the implications of the findings
Deep learning-based framework for traffic estimation for the MLK Smart Corridor in downtown Chattanooga, TN
Get PDFIn this Thesis we introduced a deep learning-based framework for vehicles detection, tracking, movement direction identification, and speed estimation. We chose YOLOv7 for objects detection given its ability to run up to 160 fps. We trained YOLOv7 to detect and classify vehicles into four classes with a reported mean average precision of 0.69. For re-identification, we refined the DeepSort tracker, a tracking-by-detection model. We incorporated a Siamese network in place of its default feature extractor. Both models were trained on the UA-DETRAC dataset, tested on KITTI, revealing a 71\% reduction in the IDSW rate with our revision. Movement direction classification, an offline system component, utilized a similarity-based trajectory method with specific spatial constraints. Finally we combined image perspective transformation with objects scaling to estimate speed with an error of 0.516 mph. Our comprehensive framework offers potential in applications like travel time estimation and benchmarking speed data