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Indigenous Cultural Healing in the Pacific Northwest: The Columbia River Tribes and the Potential Return of the Falls
No full textThis thesis examines the historical, cultural, and ecological significance of Celilo Falls (Wyam), a once-sacred Indigenous site on the Columbia River, and the profound impacts of its submergence by The Dalles Dam in 1957. It looks into the history of the area as well as the potential for a return of the falls in the future. Drawing from a mixed-methods approach that includes a systematic literature review and qualitative interviews with Indigenous scholars, elders, and community members, the study explores how the loss of Celilo Falls disrupted Indigenous governance, economies, and spiritual practices. It further investigates how Celilo continues to inform contemporary Indigenous activism--particularly in efforts to restore salmon populations, protect treaty fishing rights, and reassert sovereignty. Special attention is given to the concept of legal personhood for rivers, considering its potential as a model for ecological and cultural restoration in the Columbia River Basin. Grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems, this research contributes to broader conversations about environmental justice, settler-colonial infrastructure, and the decolonization of natural resource governance. Ultimately, it argues that meaningful restoration of this area must begin with and be led by the Indigenous nations historically connected to Celilo Falls
The Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics Project: probing the evolution of symbiosis across the Tree of Life
No full textWe present the Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics Project, a global collaboration to generate high quality genome sequences for a wide range of eukaryotes and their microbial symbionts. Launched under the Symbiosis in Aquatic Systems Initiative of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the ASG Project brings together researchers from across the globe who hope to use these reference genomes to augment and extend their analyses of the dynamics, mechanisms and environmental importance of symbioses. Applying large-scale, high-throughput sequencing and assembly technologies, the ASG collaboration will assemble and annotate the genomes of 500 symbiotic organisms – both the “hosts” and the microbial symbionts with which they associate. These data will be released openly to benefit all who work on symbioses, from conservation geneticists to those interested in the origin of the eukaryotic cell
Surges in the Shadows: Stock-Flow Adjustments and Public Debt Spikes
No full textThis paper investigates the drivers of public debt surges in 172 countries from 1980 to 2021, focusing on stock-flow adjustments (SFA)—discrepancies between annual debt changes and budget deficits. Using survival analysis methods, we find that a one percentage point increase in the SFA to GDP ratio raises the hazard rate of a debt surge by 16%, with stronger effects in advanced economies (28%) compared to emerging markets (15%). Conditional on an increasing debt trend, higher SFA significantly increase the probability of a debt spike materializing. We address potential self-selection with an IV approach based on fiscal transparency, emphasizing that accurate SFA estimates are critical for debt sustainability analysis and policy risk assessment. Our findings suggest policy measures to mitigate risks from hidden debt trajectories, including enhanced budgetary transparency, strengthened debt management, more effective fiscal rules, and comprehensive risk assessment frameworks
A Proposed Ehrenfeucht-Fraïssé Game Model for Natural Language Processing Generative Adversarial Networks
No full textLarge Language Models (LLM’s) (e.g., ChatGPT) constitute both a significant research area and commercial application of AI. Current major LLM’s are built on Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT) neural network architecture to perform natural language processing (NLP) tasks. Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is another popular neural network architecture, which leverages a zero-sum game between constituent neural networks within the architecture to train the GAN, and is widely used for visual data applications. This article proposes a new GAN architecture for NLP: an EF-GAN whose underlying algorithm uses Ehrenfeucht–Fraïssé (EF) games, a game-theoretic approach from model theory to determine elementary equivalence of two structures, to perform NLP tasks. Li first discusses Abstract Meaning Representation (AMR) graphs of sentences, which constitute the structure(s) by which the EF-GAN algorithm iterates over. Then, through outlining EF games and considering how such EF games can be played on AMR graphs, Li illustrates an EF-GAN’s underlying algorithm. Having described the necessary mathematical framework, Li provides a description of an EF-GAN with an EF game played between a “Spoiler neural network and a “Duplicator neural network. While it is unclear whether the proposed EF-GAN model would perform similarly to current NLP models (e.g., GPT’s), Li argues that the proposed NLP model proposed may be a viable alternative generative model for NLP and discusses refinements for the proposed model and directions for future research
The Tyrant King of the Auction House: The Disastrous “Fine Artification” of the Dinosaur
No full textThis article examines how fine art auctioneers market dinosaur fossils as art pieces to wealthy collectors, depriving the paleontological field of specimens for scientific research. Drawing from recent examples of fossils sold at fine art auctions, this article notes how rising auction prices for specimens as ‘art’ prevent museums and research institutions from acquiring specimens for research and restoration. Kolstad concludes that the art auction houses’ marketing of fossils as art is detrimental to paleontological research. To protect fossils and their scientific value, Kolstad proposes alternatives, such as selling replicas to collectors and highlighting the importance of original specimens for research. There is a “tyrant king” in the auction house—not the “tyrant lizard king” Tyrannosaurus rex—but the fine art dealer
Oregon State Rank Assessment for Howell\u27s sandwort (Sabulina howellii)
No full textOregon state conservation status assessment for Howell\u27s sandwort (Sabulina howellii) using NatureServe methodology, 202
The New Normal: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Experiences of Today\u27s Academic Nursing Faculty
No full textThere is a long-standing shortage of academic nursing faculty. This shortage limits the ability of nursing colleges to expand student enrollment, creating a barrier to addressing the nation’s need for well-trained nurses. Despite decades of targeted interventions, the faculty shortage remains a pressing challenge for nursing education and the broader healthcare system. This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of academic nursing faculty navigating dynamic educational and healthcare landscapes. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 12 full-time, doctorally-prepared faculty members with at least six years of experience, the study explored how participants responded to rapid technological advancements, increasing diversity, the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing faculty shortage. Using a constructivist lens, the analysis revealed four key themes: timing is everything, exercising agency, responding to disruptors, and reimagining the future. The findings, grounded in the theoretical frameworks of self-efficacy and agency, highlight the complex interplay between traditional pathways to academic roles, faculty role performance, and external influences shaping their professional lives. Participants described leveraging creativity and adaptability to balance evolving educational demands and shifting expectations. Their persistence was driven by a dynamic process of self-belief in their ability to succeed and proactive efforts to shape their professional trajectories. Mentorship and professional development emerged as critical supports, reinforcing their self-efficacy and agency. This study provides valuable insights into how academic nursing faculty persist and thrive, offering actionable recommendations for faculty, institutional leaders, and policymakers to address the long-term faculty shortage and enhance the sustainability of the academic nursing workforce
A Resource-Based Perspective of STEM Career Development: A Latent Class Analysis
No full textThrough technological developments and the growing concerns around climate change, the need and demand for electric vehicles has been steadily increasing. A trained and qualified STEM workforce is required to meet these demands, yet standard STEM education may not be sufficient. The STEM development program centered in the present study is a collegiate workforce development program that provides North American students with training and hands-on experience in the engineering of electric vehicles. Drawing from central principles of COR theory, the present study explores the experiences of students within the program utilizing a resource-based perspective and a mixed-methods approach. First, the qualitative barriers reported by trainees revealed that time, finances, and mental health barriers were most prominent. Next, I used latent class analysis to examine patterns of resource availability (i.e., leader support and psychological safety), resource threats (i.e., financial, time, and mental health barriers), and resource investment (i.e., hours per week at the program). The results supported a two class solution, predominantly defined by higher levels of leader support and psychological safety ( High Resources ), or lower levels of leader support and psychological safety ( Low Resources ). Key demographics (i.e., gender, race, and first generation student status) were not significantly related to class membership, nor did the average level of employment success significantly differ between classes. However, the results suggested that individuals in the High Resources class perceived less stress on average than those in the Low Resources class. The findings of the present study reiterate the importance of resources such as leader support and psychological safety. Additionally, this study provides essential insight into the experiences of student trainees within a development program and poses a number of practical recommendations to evaluate programs, promote beneficial behaviors within development programs, meet student needs, and promote student outcomes
Examining County-Level Implicit Stereotypes and Prejudice as Predictors of Racial and Gender Disparities in Incarceration Across the United States
No full textBackground: This dissertation investigated the role of local macropsychological factors - specifically, county-level implicit racial bias and implicit gender stereotyping - in shaping inequalities in incarceration across the United States. Despite overall declines in incarceration, trends in the incarceration of women and people of color (particularly Black women) show disparities compared to White men. Regional aggregations of implicit biases have been proposed as robust markers and drivers of systemic inequalities and are examined in current research.
Research Questions: Three overarching research questions (RQ) guided this dissertation: RQ1 tested the relationship between county-level implicit racial bias and proportions of Black (relative to White) incarceration; RQ2 tested the relationship between county-level implicit gender stereotyping and the proportion of female (relative to male) incarceration; and RQ3 tested the interactive effect of implicit racial bias and implicit gender stereotyping on Black female (relative to White female) incarceration.
Hypotheses: Given prior research demonstrating positive relationships between implicit racial bias and other criminal justice outcomes (e.g., traffic stops and use of fatal police force against Black individuals), it was anticipated that counties with higher levels of implicit racial bias would exhibit higher proportions of Black incarceration. Regarding the effect of implicit gender stereotyping on female incarceration, competing hypotheses were proposed in line with the ambivalent nature of sexism. That is, either a positive punishing effect of gender stereotyping on women\u27s incarceration was anticipated, or a reductive chivalry effect on incarceration. Furthermore, considering a selective chivalry perspective, it was anticipated that chivalry may only reduce the incarceration of White women, leading to higher relative incarceration rates for Black women. Therefore, counties with higher levels of both implicit racial bias and implicit gender stereotyping were expected to have greater incarceration rates for Black females relative to White females.
Method: Twelve years (2005-2016) of publicly available archival data on implicit cognitive associations and incarceration demographics were collected from Project Implicit and The Vera Institute of Justice. For a nuanced examination of incarceration, all variables were tied back to the county level, and incarceration indicators included both admissions and populations in both jails and prisons, where possible.
Analyses: Cross-sectional and longitudinal multilevel modeling were used to test each of the hypotheses in this dissertation. Counties were clustered within states to acknowledge their state-level sentencing policies, county demographic controls were entered into each model (e.g., target group population proportions and crime rates, among others), and explicit attitudes were controlled for to test the unique impact of unconscious biases in the air of the community.
Results: Results for RQ1 suggested that counties with higher implicit racial bias had higher proportions of Black (relative to White) incarceration, but only at the prison level and in cross-sectional analyses. For RQ2, results supported both the chivalry and punishing hypotheses for female (relative to male) incarceration, where chivalry was evident in jail-level incarceration, while punishment appeared at the prison level; these findings were observed in longitudinal models but not in cross-sectional ones. Finally, RQ3 cross-sectional (but not longitudinal) models indicated that greater implicit gender stereotyping led to relatively lower (though still not equitable) levels of Black female (relative to White female) incarceration, but only in counties that were also low in implicit racial bias.
Discussion: Findings support the notion that the prejudicial cognitive biases shared across communities can affect gendered and racial representation in incarceration in both jails and prisons. Policy implications are discussed for mitigating the context-level effects of implicit prejudice on systemically disparate incarceration, and how federal data collection can be reformed to address significant barriers to conducting intersectional research on criminal justice outcomes
#Clandestini: How Italy\u27s Center-Right Parliamentary Coalition Frames the Migrant Crisis on Social Media
No full textThis dissertation examines the intersection of Italian neo-fascism, the Mediterranean migrant crisis, and digital media. Through a qualitative content analysis of the Twitter and Instagram posts made by Italy\u27s center-right parliamentary coalition from 2014-2018, this research outlines frameworks that facilitate both the physical and social deaths of migrants. Twitter is a platform on which bite-sized xenophobic messages characterize migrants as criminals, spoiled youth, spreaders of infectious disease, and future terrorists--sometimes in a contradictory fashion. Instagram is a medium for conveying Italian identity and history, which disregards the longstanding contributions of people of color, including Muslims, in Southern Italy. Comment sections serve as spaces in which content from the coalition\u27s four key politicians is both internalized and challenged. Some commenters double down on corporal punishment or repatriation measures aimed at migrants, while others show greater concern for homegrown organized crime and gendered violence. These findings are oriented within the appointment of Giorgia Meloni as prime minister, who is Italy\u27s first female executive leader and closely linked to neo-fascism. Feedback from commenters suggests that Meloni\u27s likeness helps repackage her regressive ideas about migration in a fresh and approachable way, with Meloni serving as the picture of white femininity that is under threat by foreign influence. Recommendations for resisting fascist rhetoric online include uplifting the contributions of Italians of color and reclaiming populist language that has become the domain of the far-right