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Intergenerational Trauma in August Wilson’s Fences: The Lasting Effects of Systemic Racism in America
No full textFactors associated with acoustic bat presence during spring emergence in the Appalachian Mountains of western Virginia
Get PDFStudies of threats that bats face during hibernation have increased in response to white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has ravaged North American bat populations. However, impacts of WNS on bat ecology during spring emergence, when bats are potentially recovering from infection and allocating resources for reproduction, is relatively understudied. As more bat species become listed at the federal and state level, the need to understand the factors associated with spring emergence is critical for improving conservation guidelines and habitat management practices. Acoustic monitoring is an efficient method for monitoring bat presence for prolonged periods of time, giving biologists a broad picture of bat activity over time with relatively low costs compared to other methods such as mist-net surveys. I conducted acoustic monitoring and assessed factors associated with bat presence during spring emergence in Virginia using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) to compare candidate models. Additionally, I assessed bat acoustic presence by phonic group (low, mid, and high frequency calls), to understand differences between bats with different foraging strategies. My results suggest that overall, bat presence corresponded with a combination of site, date, and nightly temperature. Elevation, land cover type, and proximity to urban centers also exhibited relationships with bat activity, but relative importance of these variables were difficult to discern because they were conflated with site. Bats with high frequency calls, which includes several Myotis species with high conservation concern, were all recorded at a single site. Additional long-term monitoring should be conducted to determine if these results are consistent from year to year and to identify other sites with threatened or endangered species
Metabolic dependence of and morphological differences between tardigrade cryptobioses
No full textTardigrades are semi-microscopic invertebrate animals renowned for their ability to tolerate a wide array of environmental stressors. The chief mechanism they utilize to survive in such conditions is entrance into cryptobiosis, a state in which metabolism is substantially reduced or ceased and bioprotectant molecules are upregulated to maintain the functionality of biological materials. While the unique bioprotectant molecules utilized by tardigrades that have been elucidated to date have potential in various fields, the fundamental signaling mechanisms underpinning cryptobiosis have yet to be established. In this work, previous findings indicating that the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris relies on the reversible oxidation of cysteine thiols to mediate cryptobiosis are expanded upon. The results indicate that H. exemplaris responds to deleterious environments in a stressor-dependent fashion and that the redox state necessary for cysteine oxidation is mediated by reactive oxygen species produced in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, seemingly in a site-specific signaling mechanism
The Case for Using Composition Tomography to evaluate Perirectal Necrotizing Fasciitis: Is It Really Necessary?
Get PDFClinical reviews of Fournier’s Gangrene state that diagnostic protocol includes interpreting CT, MRI, or Ultrasound imaging along with clinical symptoms and lab findings. We think that the use of imaging techniques as a diagnostic tool is no longer needed as Fournier’s Gangrene is specific enough of a disease that clinicians can diagnose using labs and physical examination alone.
Cases of perirectal necrotizing soft tissue infection recorded at St. Marys Medical Center were reviewed. Results of physical exams and imaging were compared along with measurements of severity upon admittance and length of stay. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated if patients were delaying seeking treatment for their condition that those presenting pre-pandemic.
It was found that no additional, clinically significant, information was gained using imaging techniques, particularly CT scans, that wasn’t gathered using a physical exam. The only instances where imaging provided useful were when the patient presented to the clinical setting very early in the disease process. It was also found that a higher number of patients delayed seeking treatment due to the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic. Our sample size was too small to determine whether the number of delayed patients was statistically significant.
We conclude that CT scans are not needed in diagnosing Fournier’s Gangrene unless the disease is in its early stages. This should result in more rapid diagnosis and treatment in the operating room. This is especially important when hospital resources are short and the patient presents in an advanced disease state; relevant to the ongoing Sars-CoV-2 pandemic
The comparison of different wetland fish assemblages over time
Get PDFWetlands provide essential ecosystem services. Historically, we have drained and filled 73% of wetlands for agricultural use throughout the United States from the 1780s to the 1980s (Dahl, 1990). A nationwide focus on restoring wetlands has since occurred. Literature on restored/mitigated wetlands is rife with examples that do and do not support the same ecosystem services as natural wetlands (Langston, 1997; Meil, 2014). Restoration of wetlands occurred at the Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area (GBWMA) over several decades. Various sections of the wetland were classified by age, water depth, and vegetation. One hypothesis was that differences in fish assemblage would be observed based on the age of wetland assemblage. Fishes were sampled using Hoop nets in five wetland areas using proportional randomized sampling locations. Each location was sampled multiple times from March–May of 2023. We compared sampling efforts to find an efficient method for study replication. We also used Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) to see if an overlap in species composition was present between various sites. Differences between fish assemblages were driven by age, water depth, and habitat types. Sites that were similar in age and water depth had similar fish assemblages. Species specific growth rates were calculated to compare the health of different fish assemblages
An analysis of corporate social responsibility and real earnings management
Get PDFReal earnings management (REM) is costly in the form of intense loan restrictions, increased interest expense, and public scrutiny. Nevertheless, companies still practice REM. Based on agency and stakeholder theories, this research predicts that as a company’s CSR score increases, REM will decrease, and this association will become more negative when a critical mass of females on the board of directors exists and when a board-level CSR committee is present. This study also predicts that when a company offers an executive incentive plan based on CSR metrics, REM will decrease, and the relationship will become more negative with a critical mass of females on the board of directors and in the presence of a CSR committee. This study investigates S&P 500 companies from 2017 through 2022. Stata statistical software from StataCorp LLC is used to analyze data gathered from Compustat, CSRHub, and hand-collected data from SEC proxy statements, forms DEF 14A, using OLS regression. The results suggest that CSR-linked executive compensation, the presence of a critical mass of females on the board of directors, and the presence of a board-level CSR committee are important governance tools to mitigate REM. This study contributes to the limited coverage of research on CSR-based incentive plans and its association with REM. This study also demonstrates the complexity of these relationships by finding support that CSR committees act as a governance-related moderator that can provide additional monitoring over CSR and REM
Assessing the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on organizational commitment: An examination of the role of temporal focus
Get PDFThis study explores how organizational commitment is associated with employee satisfaction regarding the human resource management (HRM) practices of training/development and compensation. Drawing on Affective Events Theory (AET), this research also examines the role of past temporal focus as a moderating variable of the proposed relationships. During times of historically low unemployment rates below 4% in the United States (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024), organizations face major challenges in hiring and retaining employees to fill existing job vacancies (Conklin, 2022). Overall organizational stability (i.e., productivity and financial capabilities) is maintained when skilled employees are successfully recruited and trained as employees of the organization (Faloye, 2014). However, tens of millions of workers in the U.S resigned from their jobs as part of the “Great Resignation” seeking better working conditions, higher wages, and improved career prospects (Iacurci, 2023; Kaplan, 2021). Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate of 62.5 percent (Statista, 2024) remains “persistently low” (Hornstein et al., 2023). This study uses a cross-sectional survey design to assess how HRM functions (training/development and compensation) are associated with affective commitment and continuance commitment. The survey was created in Qualtrics and distributed via Prolific. For this study, it is predicted that employee satisfaction with training programs and compensation policies is positively associated with higher levels of affective commitment and continuance commitment. The analysis also assesses whether the individual’s past temporal focus moderates the relationships between HRM practices and organizational commitment. The four hypotheses regarding direct relationships between satisfaction with HRM practices and organizational commitment were supported. Also, the moderating variable (past temporal focus) significantly weakened the relationship between compensation satisfaction and affective commitment. Post hoc analysis was conducted using the control variables of age, education, and tenure. Overall, the results of this study offer practical direction for utilizing HRM strategies to improve organizational commitment, while also increasing understanding of the potential role of certain aspects of the individual’s disposition (i.e., temporal focus). Interpretations of this study’s findings, in relation to HRM and employee engagement literature, are presented. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are also provided
Interview Questions for Reiki and Well-Being Project
Get PDFThis is the first set of questions that was asked during the course of these interviews. Questions span conversations about an individual\u27s family and upbringing, direct experiences with Reiki, Reiki\u27s relationship in their daily lives, and demographic questions. To replicate a portion of these materials, please cite this document and its associated URL.https://mds.marshall.edu/reikiconversations/1000/thumbnail.jp
Posthuman Representations in Wall-E
No full textThe 2008 film WALL-E portrays a society where technology reigns. Seven hundred years after Earth became inhospitable, humans live aboard a spaceship called the Axiom. Human existence is reliant on the technology the ship possesses, making it an integral part of the human identity and the continuance of humanity itself. In this talk, I argue that WALL-E depicts a society governed by the laws of posthumanity, warning against complete dependence on technology while outlining the ways humans both benefit from and are hurt by the technological advancement of contemporary society. This posthuman society establishes a new form of human identity that is reliant on the presence of technology, asserting that it is impossible to be solely human in a technologically diverse world and calling into question the boundaries of humanity itself even while arguing there is no way to reverse these changes to the human identity.
After a brief literature review, I position WALL-E in the context of cyborg and posthuman theory. I focus on the relationships between humans and robots in the film, claiming that both entities take on the characteristics of the other. I conclude by examining the return to Earth at the end of the film and the images that appear during the credits, performing a close reading of the continued reliance on robots as evidence of humanity’s unending dependence on technology