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Exploiting Vulnerability: Human Trafficking as a Tool of Genocide
Get PDFThis thesis examines the relationship between human trafficking and genocide, arguing that when trafficking is used with the intent to destroy a targeted group, it should be understood and prosecuted as an act of genocide. While international law traditionally treats genocide and human trafficking as distinct crimes, historical and contemporary evidence reveals significant overlap in their mechanisms, motivations, and outcomes. Through a thematic analysis of three case studies, this research demonstrates how trafficking has been systematically employed to further genocidal objectives, including displacement, exploitation, cultural erasure, and the destruction of communities. The case studies are the genocide of Indigenous peoples in North America during the colonization and founding of America; the genocide of Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War; and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. This thesis concludes with a call to action to expand the legal interpretation of genocide to include human trafficking when used as a mechanism of group destruction
H.B. 22-1326: Analysis of Colorado’s Fentanyl Policy
Get PDFFentanyl is one the most potent drugs on the market, its synthetic nature makes it is one of the deadliest at the lowest quantities. Many of its injectors are entirely unaware of its existence when they consume cocaine, methamphetamine, Xanax, ecstasy, and heroin. Nationwide and within Colorado, the use of synthetic fentanyl has perpetuated a crisis that threatens the health and safety of numerous communities, with both fatal and non-fatal overdoses continually on the rise. In 2022, Colorado passed H.B. 22-1326, aimed at curbing fentanyl deaths and non-fatal overdoses, by further criminalizing fentanyl possession. Understanding the effectiveness of felony-heavy drug policies similar to this one is crucial in order to implement measures to curb the impact that fentanyl bears. Additionally, analyzing the significance of this measure in more ways than just death counts provides insight into secondary and tertiary effects, such as those on communities of color. Looking into two alternate policy strategies, as well as observing pre and post-implementation data from each, can provide important clarity on what elements of a fentanyl policy have compelling results that should be instituted in measures in the future. Adherence to the recommended policy changes and strategies will aid in minimizing the adverse impacts that fentanyl may have, as it continues to be synthetically manufactured and distributed
Lab Practical: CW Basics
Get PDFHow do you position the sample in the resonator? How do you select the center field for a spectrum? How do you select the modulation amplitude? How do you select the microwave power
Participant 04 – Chichewa, English, Hebrew, and Chilapalapa
Get PDFAn interview with Innocent Mvundula, a multilingual graduate student at the University of Denver, about the benefits and challenges of multilingualism in education as part of Professor Kamila Kinyon\u27s Multilingual DU study
When Catalogers and Archivists Come Together: The Creation of the Metadata Justice in Oklahoma Libraries & Archives Symposium
Get PDFThe Metadata Justice in Oklahoma Libraries & Archives Symposium is an event focused on improving metadata and description for historically overlooked communities in library and archival collections. This event is a result of collaboration between people working in libraries and archives in an environment that has traditionally kept library and archives work separate. Two members of the 2023 Planning Team discuss the symposium’s inception, event logistics, successes, opportunities for growth, and the impact that this symposium has on the Oklahoma library and archives community
AI in Search Engines: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
No full textThis paper examines the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) models in search engines, exploring their accuracy, reliability, and ethical implications. Testing popular AI-enhanced search engines and AI models, including Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s AI Overview, DuckDuckGo’s AI Chat, and Perplexity, this paper compares their performance in answering factual and reasoning-based questions. Results revealed that while AI models generally provide accurate responses to straightforward queries, they often struggle with complex or reasoning-based questions. Solutions proposed to address these challenges include providing enhanced user control, improved ethical standards for AI data training, separation of traditional search engines and AI models, and promoting the use of alternative search engines and tools outside of the commercially used products. These solutions aim to improve user trust, transparency, and information reliability in AI-enhanced or powered search products. The findings are a call to action to encourage a balanced approach to integrating AI in search engines, prioritizing user choice, ethical considerations, and accuracy to create a more dependable search experience
Sequence Specificity of Non-Structural Protein 15 from SARS-CoV-2
No full textThe SARS-CoV-2 virus was recently able to cause a global pandemic, largely due to the asymptomatic period that occurs during initial infection. During this period, patients are infectious but do not exhibit symptoms, resulting in the unintentional spread of the virus. This occurs because the virus effectively avoids detection by the immune system during the early stages of infection, and as symptoms are the result of immune system activation, they never manifest. Non-structural Protein 15 (Nsp15) is one of the tools the virus uses to remain undetected, via its degradation of Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs) that would otherwise be recognized by the immune system. Specifically, the PAMP targeted by Nsp15 is the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) intermediate that necessarily results from replication of the viral genome in positive sense single-stranded RNA ((+)-sense ssRNA) viruses like SARS-CoV-2. Nsp15 preferentially cleaves the (+)-sense strand of this dsRNA complex, although the exact sequences targeted by Nsp15 within that strand have been difficult to identify. In this work, the dinucleotide sequence specificity of Nsp15 is investigated using small, single stranded RNA substrates in which two nucleotides have been systematically altered across all 16 possible dinucleotide combinations, thus covering the entire sequence space for dinucleotides. Denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (dPAGE) was used to generate the primary experimental dataset, providing a systematic ranking of the dinucleotide specificity of Nsp15. Trends and anomalies that were observed in these results were further investigated by employing AlphaFold3 (AF3) as a tool, where structures of all 16 substrates individually bound to Nsp15 were generated. Correlations between the predicted models and experimental results were then used to form molecular hypotheses about Nsp15 sequence specificity.
Because Nsp15’s role is intimately tied to the nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a general background on viruses will first be provided. A more in-depth discussion of Nsp15 biology and its defining characteristics will then follow, after which the results of experimentation and its subsequent AlphaFold3 analysis will be presented and discussed
Developing a Comprehensive Cognitive Model of Math Achievement
No full textRecently, downward trends have been reported in U.S. children’s math performance following school disruptions during COVID-19 amidst longstanding concerns for instruction and curricula within the subject. In support of efforts to remedy these declines, the current work presents two studies dedicated to identifying cognitive factors that are most strongly related to math performance, and which therefore offer promising potential targets for assessment and intervention. Both studies use data from the Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center, which includes participants ages 8 - 16 and multiple well-validated measures of all constructs of interest. Study 1 tests three alternative latent cognitive models of math performance including a comprehensive range of cognitive skills previously implicated in math. Results suggested that the best fitting model, which accounted for virtually all the variance in calculation and math problem solving skills, includes a quantitative pathway, verbal pathway, spatial pathway, and executive functioning/speed pathway. While all four cognitive domains were significantly correlated with math scores, both the quantitative and verbal pathways were uniquely related to math performance across age in this sample with all cognitive factors included in the model, suggesting that these skills may be particularly important to assess in screening and to target in interventions. To support such efforts at screening and intervention, Study 2 then focuses on identifying the component skills of the quantitative pathway that are most strongly related to math scores. In particular, Study 2 offers a novel approach to organizing and analyzing domain-specific numerical cognition measures by dissecting them according to their task requirements and examining their unique relations with math performance. First, a proposed four-dimensional model was tested, wherein tasks were organized based on the stimuli that they used (i.e., symbolic or non-symbolic) and the responses they required from participants (i.e., exact or approximate). This model was not supported by examination of correlations, nor an exploratory factor analysis, which yielded a one-factor solution. Given the lack of evidence supporting the existence of groupings/components of numerical cognition, math scores were regressed on all of the numerical cognition measures entered into the model together to explore whether certain measures were more strongly related to math scores than others. Higher scores on two non-symbolic exact number tasks were significantly related to math scores (β=.23-.43, p\u3c.01) while approximate non-symbolic, approximate symbolic, and exact symbolic tasks were not related to math scores Overall, it was surprising that two non-symbolic tasks outperformed symbolic tasks in predicting math scores, given that math problems utilize symbolic values. This finding suggests that instruction using mixed symbolic and non-symbolic quantities may best support math learning. Taken together, these two studies indicate that a range of cognitive skills are implicated in math performance, highlighting the complexity of math learning. Within this context, the results suggest that special attention should be paid to language skills and numerical skills involving exact quantities and mixed stimulus representations (i.e., symbolic and non-symbolic) when designing assessments and interventions, given the unique relations between these cognitive domains and math scores
Population Genetic Diversity in Two Biological Systems
No full textPopulation genetic analysis can be used to answer questions about population structure and composition in many biological systems. Recent improvements to sequencing technologies have made population genetic studies more accessible than ever before. Many of the same techniques can be applied to different biological systems, but some analyses may differ depending on how genetically divergent the populations in question are. Here, we describe two unique projects using next-generation genome sequencing, each looking at population structure at different levels of genetic divergence: the first involved determining interspecific population structure between two species of hybridizing field cricket using a novel sequencing method, and the second involved analyzing intraspecific population differentiation of a grassland restoration species to refine seed sourcing strategies in the western US
