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Recuperative Rhetorics: A Novel Framework for Rhetorical Analysis
No full textThis presentation will go over the key aspects of my thesis project, detailing the creation of a novel framework for rhetorical analysis, dubbed Recuperative Rhetorics. The framework draws from the work of several activist organizations, artistic traditions, and qualitative research methods, amalgamated together in order to provide both pointed and broad insights into rhetorical texts, moves, and movements. The framework is, per the foundations it is built upon, political in nature, with primary insights and concerns regarding the situating of rhetorical works (their interactions and motivations) within spheres of hegemony and power, and how those works have/will evolve within those spheres overtime. It also is meant to be trans-disciplinary in scope and method, able to be used as a tool and lens within and between various academic foci as something that is generative and flexible for any researcher who engages with it
Gender Differences Emotions Regulations in Work vs Relationship Situations
No full textThis study explores gender differences in emotion regulation in the context of work versus relationship situations. With existing research on emotion regulation, the difference between work and relationship contexts have not been examined. It was predicted that participants would demonstrate more emotional response (and less emotional regulation) in a work situation versus a relationship situation. An online survey with work- and relationship-related videos was distributed to participants. After watching the video, they responded to the Emotion Regulation Scale (ERQ; Gross and John, 2003) and demographics. The results approached significance in the expected direction. They also suggested that complex emotional expressions in intimate partner relationships are influenced by societal expectations and individual experiences. Gender differences were not found, but challenges in male recruitment and the need for stronger stimuli are acknowledged. The study calls for future research in this area of psychology to enhance our understanding of emotional regulation strategies
Academic Self-concept Differs by Type of Social Comparison at a Hispanic Majority Institution
No full textPeople naturally compare themselves to others; this process can support or deter goal attainment. Social comparison (Festinger, 1954) may affect college students’ academic performance (Hermann et al., 2016). This study aimed to examine differences in self-concept based on methods of social comparison for Hispanic students at a Hispanic Majority Institution (HMI). Across two studies, upward identification was the most frequent method of social comparison, except when the comparison was about GPA. Thus, we tested how social comparison for this question was related to confidence in academic ability. Participants who selected downward identification (M=89.32, SD=7.93) reported higher confidence in their academic abilities and lower self-doubt (M=2.54, SD=0.92). This study found that Hispanic students at an HMI typically see their peers as better off but still similar to them in important ways. Additionally, downward identification appeared to be the most beneficial form of social comparison in terms confidence in academic abilities
It’s All About Me: How Narcissism Impedes Facial Recognition
No full textIndividuals high in Dark Triad traits (D3: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) are more likely to be involved with and witness crimes. As an individual difference, little research has examined the relationship between these traits and recognition memory. To fill this gap, we conducted three experiments. In E1, participants took the Short Dark Triad (SD3) survey followed by a memory recognition task consisting of faces and scenes. E2 mirrored E1 but replaced the scenes with houses to provide a more difficult stimulus. Results showed a significant facial recognition disadvantage for those high in narcissism, but not Machiavellianism or psychopathy. To distinguish between differences in face-specific or socially-relevant processing, E3 will present four conditions in which stimuli will be studied and tested either all upright, all inverted, upright-inverted, or inverted-upright. Findings will assist law enforcement who rely on individuals high in D3 for eyewitness, informant, or defendant testimony
IS ON SITE EVAPORATION A FEASIBLE SOLUTION FOR PRODUCED WATER MANAGMENT FOR OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT?
Get PDFThe last decade witnessed a major transformation of global energy balances. A prime example of is the oil market shift from an era of high oil prices and concerns about short supplies to an era of lower oil prices and supply abundance. This paradigmatic shift in supply dynamics was triggered by the U.S. shale oil revolution; this massive boom in unconventional oil production has turned the U.S. into the world’s largest producer, ahead of both Russia and Saudi Arabia. The result has been an upending the global oil market, aside from geopolitical issues, the shale revolution has had far-reaching implications for the U.S. economy. Much of the increase in domestic production is attributable to hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” in the shale formations ranging from Texas to North Dakota.
The shale oil industry, however, faces existing challenges such as strict capital discipline, further productivity gains, and environmental issues. In relation to environmental issues, one such undesirable byproduct generated from oil and natural gas production is produced water (PW). Due to the large volume produced, managing it creates challenges, creating its own business entity. Historically PW was considered a waste and was managed accordingly. PW now is gaining ground on having value and the entire produced water management segment is drawing a lot of attention. How operators can reduce the reliance on trucking and deep-water injection of the produced water waste will be the key to a sustainable future for the United States Oil and Gas industry. In this study, we examined the economy and environmental benefits of adopting evaporation as a viable method of PW management strategy, in the context of cost analysis and the number of trucks reduced to haul PW for disposal.
Our results show that evaporation to reduce PW volume for brine disposal is a economically sound strategy. When coupled with the environmental factors (i.e., redirect water back into the hydrological cycle, the reduction of trucks on a roadway to the disposal), it is also a path for operators to increase sustainability in O&G development. From the case studies per region, it is evident that, the higher the truck and disposal all-in costs are, the higher value the evaporation strategy yield, even with a smaller evaporation percentage. The reduction of volumes that are sent over the road and to a disposal will assist in limiting the constraints explained and more forecasted that could bootstrap future production growth plans
NAVIGATING EARLY LITERACY INSTRUCTION: AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION
Get PDFThis autoethnography explores early literacy instruction through the lens of a Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) teacher in a high-quality Pre-K program in South Central Texas. The author highlights the benefits and challenges associated with explicit and systematic early literacy instruction using critical reflections, anecdotal stories, and content analysis. The research examines instances in which curriculum interpretation led to less effective lesson planning and a desire for early literacy resources. The study shares the impact of teacher collaboration, instructional support, and misinterpretation of a used curriculum, shedding light on the experiences of teaching early literacy instruction
Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessments of Produced Water Treatment Technologies for Beneficial Reuse
Get PDFProduced water (PW) is a bulk portion of byproduct generated during oil and gas extraction operations and can be potentially reused for various purposes. However, the treatment costs and associated environmental issues call for a multitude of factors for proper management. This research aims to evaluate the viability of technologies for treating PW in terms of their technical performance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental considerations. Technologies evaluated include well-established processes such as electrodialysis (ED), electrodialysis reversal (EDR), ion exchange, chemical oxidation, electrocoagulation (EC), chemical coagulation (CC), nanofiltration (NF) etc. Associated case studies have been studied. However, except EC and CC, other technologies fail to purify highly saline PW for beneficial reuses, such as Permian Basin PW. Among those five technologies, EC and CC are most cost-effective processes as their costs are 0.26/m3, respectively. They are the most environmentally friendly as they consume less energy and since the treated water is eligible for onsite reuse, there are no air emission and traffic issues associated with transportation. Whereas, the most expensive one is the NF process and its cost ranges between 4.0407/gallon and the NF process that has been indicated in this paper is not eligible to treat Permian Basin PW up to any of the reuse criteria. Coagulation, flocculation processes and specific electrodialysis setup can be applied as pretreatment. However, there is no sufficient evidence to support their success. Two series of operations have been proposed. One of them is a combined electrocoagulation-microfiltration-membrane distillation process and another one is a series operation consisting of hydrocyclone, coagulation/flocculation, MVC, membrane bioreactor, and UV/H2O2 process. The required costs of these technologies have been discussed and concluded that the PW that contains total dissolved solids (TDS) value exceeding 100,000 mg/L, cannot be treated up to the standard for beneficial purposes like irrigation, livestock feeding at low cost. The estimated cost for the successful series operation is approximately $1.01/bbl. Since such series of operation can provide reusable water for multiple purposes, these can be considered as environment friendly technologies
A Comparative Analysis of the Interpretability of LDA and LLM for Topic Modeling: The Case of Healthcare Apps
Get PDFThis study compares the interpretability of the topics resulting from three topic modeling techniques, namely, LDA, BERTopic, and RoBERTa. Using a case study of three healthcare apps (MyChart, Replika, and Teladoc), we collected 39,999, 52,255, and 27,462 reviews from each app, respectively. Topics were generated for each app using the three topic models and labels were assigned to the resulting topics. Comparative qualitative analysis showed that BERTopic, RoBERTa, and LDA have relatively similar performance in terms of the final list of resulting topics concerning human interpretability. The LDA topic model achieved the highest rate of assigning labels to topics, but the labeling process was very challenging compared to BERTopic and RoBERTa, where the process was much easier and faster given the fewer numbers of focused words in each topic. BERTopic and RoBERTa generated more cohesive topics compared to the topics generated by LDA
Approaches of Digital Pedagogies for the Appreciation and Preservation of Local Trans and Multilingual Cultural Heritages
Get PDFIn an effort to provide culturally and linguistically relevant Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) programs in the United States, several language programs have turned to creating digital language learning and teaching materials using various data sources, digital tools, methodologies, cultural practices, digital humanities platforms and projects, as well as Open Educational Resources (OER). This facilitates innovative knowledge production that preserves local translingual and multilingual cultural heritages and identities of Spanish HLLs from multiracial backgrounds in the US in analog and online spaces. Current initiatives in multilingual, decolonial, postcolonial Digital Humanities (DH) are pushing back against the aporias in the digital age through ethical production and representation of subjects, cultures, languages and stories that have been othered, marginalized, excluded or misrepresented (Risam, 2019: 141). Furthermore, SHL sociolinguists encourage the development of critical language and cultural awareness among Spanish HLL student populations. This approach allows students to “develop a consciousness of the political, social, and economic power structures that underlie language use and the distribution of the so-called prestige and non-prestigious varieties” and “validate(s) and express(es) the diversity of students’ cultures, including US-based heritage cultures” (Beaudrie & Wilson, 2022: 67). With this in mind, in this panel, experts in the fields of SHL, DH and OER will present an OER for introductory SHL classes that connects learning and teaching materials using digital technologies and tools while also centering personal, local, and regional cultural community knowledge of South Texas to encourage production of their own stories and resources in the digital cultural record and an appreciation and preservation of their trans and multilingual identities and cultural heritages. Additionally, this panel will discuss the steps being taken by the R1 HSI university funding the development of this OER to infuse open pedagogy principles across disciplines in order to cultivate deeper student engagement
