BYU ScholarsArchive (Brigham Young University)
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The Truth of Our Historic Encounter : Curating Networks of the Past in Colson Whitehead\u27s The Underground Railroad
Full text linkWhat unites the critical response to Colson Whitehead\u27s 2016 novel The Underground Railroad is universal interest in the text\u27s attitude towards historical truth. I contend that critics fixate so much on the issue of truth that they miss how the novel offers an alternative to historic truth in the form of an aesthetic encounter. During her employment as a living exhibit in North Carolina\u27s Museum of Natural Wonders, protagonist Cora despairs at the apparent absence of truth. Despite the overt manipulation of history to justify white imperialism in the museum, Cora experiences a transcendent moment of refuge when she works the exhibits in reverse order, starting in slavery and ending in Africa. When performing in the Africa exhibit, Cora experiences an unusual sensation of calm and refuge. This moment occurs despite the gross inaccuracies of the museums designed to reinforce white imperial ideology. Cora\u27s experience suggests that the novel cares more about the aesthetic experience of history rather than its material realities. I argue that Cora\u27s genuine refuge serves as a blueprint for the whole novel. Looking at Whitehead\u27s novel as strictly satirical ignores its moving depictions of growth and determination while conversely treating it as a simple vehicle for truth overlooks Whitehead\u27s unraveling of institutional forms of history-making through what I call the novel\u27s exhibitive structure. This exhibitive structure allows Colson Whitehead\u27s Underground Railroad to occupy a middle space between speculative satire and what I call speculative immediacy. We can see how Whitehead critiques institutional history while also offering an alternative as we trace how the novel employs a musealized form. Underground Railroad represents the encounter with history through Cora\u27s pursuit of freedom where her brief moments of refuge are found in the aesthetics of a community. In conversation with Zadie Smith\u27s approach to attunement, I show how the text argues for the importance of useful delusions that communities can use to construct their histories in empowering networks that can be mobilized for the renegotiating of identity, agency, and personhood. Historical attunement opens future research into how art translates to conceptual innovation, personal transformation, and political action. The truth of our historic encounter in Whitehead\u27s novel is embedded in aesthetic practices of determination, hope, and belonging that offer a genuine refuge amidst so many states of possibility
Pilot Study for Examining the Physiological Effects of Sustained Attention in a Structured Online Mindfulness-Based Course
Full text linkMindfulness-based interventions (MBI\u27s) and courses have emerged as widely recognized approaches for promoting mental health, improving cognitive functioning, and fostering overall well-being. This pilot study explored the effects of a 15-session, online, structured mindfulness course on sustained attention and subjective well-being, utilizing both objective and subjective measures. The study aimed to determine whether participants\u27 sustained attention, assessed via a smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) task, improved after completing the online course. Subjective attention was measured using the Attentional Control Scale (ACS) and a single item from the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), while subjective well-being was assessed using the Survey on Flourishing (SURF). A randomized controlled design was employed, with participants assigned to either the intervention group (Mindfulness for Humans course) or a control group receiving psychoeducational resources. Results showed no significant improvement in objective sustained attention (SPEM) or subjective attention control (ACS, ASRS) from pre- to post-intervention compared to the control group. However, increased course engagement was associated with higher post-intervention well-being scores, highlighting the importance of participant engagement in online MBI\u27s and courses. Although the course did not yield significant differences in attention measures between groups, both groups showed improvements in subjective well-being over time. These findings suggest that while a brief online mindfulness course may offer benefits in well-being, maximizing engagement could be critical for enhancing its effectiveness
Power Series Rings over Noncommutative Rings: Symmetry, Reversibility, and Semicommutativity
Full text linkLet R be an associative, unital ring. One topic of interest is to assert R has some property, then determine what properties the polynomial ring R[x] and the power series ring R[[x]] are guaranteed to have. There are many relaxations of commutativity in rings. For example, a ring is said to be symmetric if abc = 0 implies acb = 0 for all a, b, c ∈ R. We discuss a certain construction of symmetric rings that we hope will yield the existence of a symmetric ring R such that the set of nilpotent elements in the power series ring R[[x]] does not form an ideal – a much weaker condition than symmetry. We also construct rings that are semicommutative and reversible: R is semicommutative if ab = 0 implies arb = 0 for all a, b, r ∈ R and R is reversible if ab = 0 implies ba = 0 for all a, b ∈ R. Along the way we will touch on reductions systems, Mathematica and Python coding, and SAT solvers
The Effect of Lexical Characteristics on Speech Pausing for People With Broca\u27s Aphasia
Full text linkThis study examines the connection between speech pause patterns and the lexical characteristics of the words that follow. Speech samples of 16 people with moderate Broca\u27s aphasia and 16 age-matched neurologically healthy controls were evaluated in terms of word length, word frequency in the English language, syntactic category, and articulatory complexity. In general, people with aphasia (PWA) produced pauses more frequently before monosyllabic, very high frequency words with lower articulatory complexity, most of which were content words. The length of these pauses did not significantly correlate with any of the lexical factors examined in this study. The control group had similar results, producing most of their pauses before monosyllabic, very high frequency words with lower articulatory complexity; with the exception that more of their pauses preceded function words. Controls also had significant positive correlation between pause duration and word frequency, and negative correlation between pause duration and articulatory complexity. While this study did not find significant correlations between pause length and lexical factors for PWA, these findings contribute to the general knowledge of prosodic behavior of PWA, which will be useful in designing future clinical treatments for PWA
Innovations in Sample Handling Automation to Increase Accessibility of Sample-Limited Proteomics
Full text linkInnovation is the vehicle that drives scientific research forward in virtually every field. Advances in genome sequencing propelled the human genome project to completion in 2003 and set the stage for the era of proteomics. Now decades of innovation in liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) have improved sensitivity sufficiently to enable single-cell proteomics and other sample-limited studies. Single-cell proteomics reveal patterns of gene expression that are often obscured by bulk-scale proteomics, leading to the identification of new protein biomarker candidates. Sensitive targeted proteomics is the key to successful translation of low-abundance protein assays into clinical applications. With a rapidly growing interest in sample-limited proteomics, there is a need to increase accessibility of nanoLC-MS workflows. The work presented in this dissertation focuses on the development of accessible systems to automate sample preparation and LC separation for single-cell and targeted proteomic workflows. It outlines our efforts to adapt a low-cost pipetting robot to emulate the sample preparation process outlined in nanoPOTS method for single-cell proteomics. Using this system, we compared the standard nanoPOTS sample preparation method with a simplified method for faster sample preparation. The simplified method reduced the preparation time from ~18 down to 6 h while maintaining comparable proteome coverage (~2000 proteins identified from 70 HeLa cells). To enable autosampling for nanowell chis and other custom workflows, we developed an open-source software package capable of integrating a variety of modular LC components. Using this software, we modified a commercial pipetting robot for nanoscale autosampling and LC applications. We used the modified system to identify ~800 proteins from 250 pg injections of HeLa digest. We also applied our experience with custom LC configurations to automate enrichment of affinity enrichment for targeted measurements of low-abundance biomarkers. We packed an affinity enrichment trap column in house and performed online enrichment of 100-fmol injections of synthetic peptides corresponding to HER2 (a known breast cancer biomarker)
Oral Care Education in Sušice Hospital
No full textIntroduction: Poor oral hygiene contributes to systemic health issues and reduced quality of life. Despite its significance, oral care is often neglected in hospital settings due to time constraints, lack of supplies, and inadequate training. Nurses play a crucial role in patient oral care, yet many feel unprepared due to gaps in education and institutional support. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase the knowledge of oral care practices among healthcare providers at Sušice City Hospital by leveraging targeted educational programs. The project sought to equip nurses with the knowledge and skills needed to prioritize and effectively implement oral care routines for patients.
Methods: A pre-post education quality improvement project was conducted with 20 nurses from Sušice City Hospital. Participants completed a pre-education survey assessing their oral care knowledge and practices, attended an educational session, and then completed a post-education survey. The intervention aimed to measure improvements in knowledge and the perceived importance of oral care.
Results: Post-education, more nurses recognized the necessity of daily oral care (pre=9, post=15) and its role in preventing conditions like pneumonia, osteoporosis, and kidney disease. Barriers such as time constraints and supply shortages were noted. Participants suggested implementing visual aids and structured reminders to motivate patient adherence to oral care routines.
Discussion: The intervention improved nursing staff’s knowledge and awareness of oral care, though practical barriers remained. Future efforts should focus on sustainable training programs and institutional policy changes to reinforce oral hygiene as a critical aspect of patient care
When Racist Jokes Go Unchecked: The Plight of Asian Americans at the Hands of Fellow Americans
Full text linkAsian American people are often the target of unchecked racist jokes levelled by fellow Americans. Because of the model minority myth, racism towards Asian Americans has received less attention than that of other minority groups. Stereotypes furthered by racist jokes may seem innocuous, but they lead to mental, emotional, and potentially physical harm. Victim blaming is a common response to objections levied by Asian American people and this process leads to further psychological damage for the offended. The favored profile of an American is white, heterosexual, and male. Divergence from this model leads to prejudice, a response that is taught to Americans from an early age, especially in forums like online gaming. Increased awareness of the racial subjugation of Asian American people can lead to changed sensitivities, altered norms, and eventually racial equality
Making a Career of Humanity: Implications of Activism for Mental Health
Full text linkCollective action in society, or activism, may increase psychological distress of participants and societies. Multiple studies regarding this relationship of activist behavior and mental health among marginalized or minority groups were reviewed. Certain variables might decrease or even reverse this effect of activism on mental health. Activist behavior that is more passionate and low-risk could improve psychological well-being. Social identity theory explains that increased identification with a group may improve mental health. Despite social identity, activist behavior of itself may also increase feelings of self-actualization, or the feelings of joy that come from personal growth. Such participation in activism may also lead to feelings of hope and empowerment. The implications of activism for mental health can direct practitioner care and individual involvement. Although research on activism has been limited in regard to allies (i.e., activists not identified with the movement they support) and conservative activists, findings indicate that low-risk political activism can improve the mental health of participants
Exploring the Effects of Red-Light Camera System Policy on Intersection-Related Crashes
No full textThe number of traffic-related fatalities in the United States is 2.3 times higher than the average rate of 28 other high-income countries (Yellman 2022). Some municipalities have implemented Red Light Camera Systems (RLCSs) to improve intersection safety. However, the effectiveness of these cameras is a topic of ongoing debate, and recent policy shifts have resulted in their widespread removal (Ebeling, 2013). This study investigates the causal impact of a statewide ban on RLCSs in Texas, focusing on how the deactivation of these cameras affects intersection-level crash frequency. Utilizing a difference-in-differences framework, we compare intersections impacted by the ban with those that were not. The findings are not statistically significant. However, the large confidence intervals include economically significant effects