Digital Commons Network^™

Sports Participation And Labor Market Outcomes: A Correspondence Study, Laura Lorena Rodriguez Ortiz

Dissertations - ALL

Discrimination contributes to gaps in employment between Whites and Blacks and increases racial inequality. Young Blacks, ages 18 to 19, are twice more likely to be unemployed compared to Whites (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). This dissertation is the first study, to my knowledge, to rely on an experimental design to examine whether participation in high school sports affects labor market discrimination. This dissertation uses a correspondence study in which 6,000 fictional resumes are sent to real job openings in Chicago, Dallas, and New York. Call-backs are recorded, and any differences in call-back rates are considered evidence of discrimination. All …

Public Administrator Aversion To Randomized Controlled Trials, Emily Bryn Cardon

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines whether public administrators are averse to randomized controlled trials, and why. More specifically, it explores whether public administrators are reluctant or opposed to conducting RCTs for the evaluation of social welfare programs in situations where they would help to answer an important and useful policy question and are feasible to conduct. While RCTs are widely used to evaluate clinical interventions and practices, they are used far less often in social policy. I first propose a conceptual framework for understanding the public administrator’s decision-making process as they contemplate whether to conduct an RCT, outlining nine factors that likely …

Parameters Autumn 2022, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Army’S Cyber Force Structure, John Fernandes, Nicolas Starck, Richard Shmel, Charles Suslowicz, Jan Kallberg, Todd Arnold

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Why America’S Army Can’T Win America’S Wars, John A. Nagl

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Since achieving victory in World War II, the United States military has a less than enviable combat record in irregular warfare. Through a detailed historical analysis, this article provides perspective on where past decisions and doctrines have led to defeat and where they may have succeeded if given more time or executed differently. In doing so, it provides lessons for future Army engagements and argues that until America becomes proficient in irregular warfare, our enemies will continue to fight us at the lower levels of the spectrum of conflict, where they have a good chance of exhausting our will to …

Can Geopolitics Help Restore Missing Tools To The U.S. Trade Toolbox?, Matthew Schaefer

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

When U.S. trade negotiators and trade litigators seek to increase market access for U.S. goods and services abroad, they look in their toolbox to see what might be the best tool. The more well-stocked the toolbox, the more possibilities for increasing foreign market access. Today, when U.S. trade negotiators look in their toolbox, they see several traditional tools missing, specifically legally-binding, comprehensive (including tariff-cutting) regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) and large package deals within the World Trade Organization (WTO). Their trade litigator colleagues face a similar circumstance of missing traditional tools, specifically the loss of binding two-level dispute …

Thoughts On Space Science Development, Yidong Gu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Space science is a large-scale activity by using space vehicles to explore the universe and natural laws and carry out special experiments, which has made great contributions to the development of contemporary science. This paper outlines the major breakthroughs in international space science, analyzes the context and new trends of space science and manned exploration activities, reviews the development achievements of space science in China in the past 20 years, puts forward existing problems and gaps, and emphasizes the strategic position of space science and its importance to China's science and technology, aerospace and the national long-term development. It is …

Between “Breaking” And “Building”: The Bridge Theory Of Research Evaluation, Fang Xu, Xiaoxuan Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

How to build "new standards" after breaking "Siwei" is a hot and difficult issue in the current reform of research evaluation, which urgently needs good theoretical and methodological support. In this context, this study puts forward the BRIDGE theory of research evaluation of scientific researchers' achievements, which is to integrate the reasonable elements in the quantitative evaluation based on SCI papers into the "new standard" based on peer review, so as to build a bridge between quantitative analysis and qualitative evaluation. The practical application of BRIDGE theory is expressed as "Six Steps", in which the second step "Recode" and the …

Innovative Measure On Achieving Common Prosperity: Carbon Transfer Payment, Peili Lu, Lanling Peng, Jiaqi Shen, Yanrui Jin, Yong Geng

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

To achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality, as well as common prosperity, is the key decision of the Chinese government. By addressing coordinated regional development and based upon balanced and reasonable distribution of income and carbon emission rights principles, the study aims to develop an equilibrium model to achieve regional carbon transfer payment. Carbon transfer payment can help adjust regional fiscal revenues so that the income distribution system is more in line with the scientific normal distribution characteristics under the common prosperity goal. Such a measure can address both equity and efficiency, balance carbon emission rights and development rights, contribute …

The Future Of The Joint Warfighting Headquarters: An Alternative Approach To The Joint Task Force, Eric Bissonette, Thomas Bruscino, Kelvin Mote, Matthew Powell, Marc Sanborn, James Watts, Louis G. Yuengert

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The US military must create standing, numbered, and regionally aligned Joint warfighting headquarters— American Expeditionary Forces (AEFs)—around a command council and a staff organized into Joint centers and cells. Calls for standing Joint force headquarters are not new, but the demonstrated military effectiveness of the Joint Task Force (JTF) model coupled with increasing service-specific resource requirements and tightening fiscal constraints have resulted in little evolution in joint force headquarters construction since the end of World War II.

Analysis of the historical record has shown that joint warfighting is best conducted with a Joint warfighting command subordinate to the geographic combatant …

Global Food Insecurity And Famine From Reduced Crop, Marine Fishery And Livestock Production Due To Climate Disruption From Nuclear War Soot Injection, Lilia Xia, Alan Robock, Kim J. N. Scherrer, Cheryl S. Harrison, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Isabelle Weindl, Jonas Jaegermeyr, Charles G. Bardeen, Owen B. Toon, Ryan F. Heneghan

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Atmospheric soot loadings from nuclear weapon detonation would cause disruptions to the Earth’s climate, limiting terrestrial and aquatic food production. Here, we use climate, crop and fishery models to estimate the impacts arising from six scenarios of stratospheric soot injection, predicting the total food calories available in each nation post-war after stored food is consumed. In quantifying impacts away from target areas, we demonstrate that soot injections larger than 5 Tg would lead to mass food shortages, and livestock and aquatic food production would be unable to compensate for reduced crop output, in almost all countries. Adaptation measures such as …

Weathering The Storm: Navigating Urban Ecologies Of Communication In Times Of Crisis, Austin Hestdalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores cities as urban ecologies of communication in which crises emerge and are given significance within the dialogic relations cultivated among public actors attempting to make a living, together, within the shared historical-cultural contexts of everyday life. To describe cities as urban ecologies of communication is to describe them in terms of urban communication and its interdisciplinary foundations in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, planning, policy, architecture, sociology, geography, and media. The first chapter introduces the challenges of urban risk and crisis management within the complex ecologies of communication constituted by cities and reviews how ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ …

Sustainable Avitourism On Curieuse Island In The Seychelles, Chesley Davis

Capstone Collection

In Seychelles, tourism is a vital part of the country’s overall economy. Increasingly, sustainable tourism is essential to conserve environments and wildlife, meet the needs of local communities and the state, and ensure the longevity of high-quality experiences for international visitors to the country. This project assesses sustainability of avitourism on Curieuse Island. The Seychelles has many endemic and pelagic birds that draw tourists from around the world, including the Seychelles Black Parrot, Seychelles Magpie Robin, and Seychelles Flycatcher. This is a mixed methods research project that entails bird biodiversity surveys, examination of birding databases, and personal observations. This study …

Random Field Modeling Of Multi-Trait Multi-Locus Association For Detecting Methylation Quantitative Trait Loci, Chen Lyu, Manyan Huang, Nianjun Liu, Zhongxue Chen, Philip J Lupo, Benjamin Tycko, John S Witte, Charlotte A Hobbs, Ming Li

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Motivation: CpG sites within the same genomic region often share similar methylation patterns and tend to be co-regulated by multiple genetic variants that may interact with one another.

Results: We propose a multi-trait methylation random field (multi-MRF) method to evaluate the joint association between a set of CpG sites and a set of genetic variants. The proposed method has several advantages. First, it is a multi-trait method that allows flexible correlation structures between neighboring CpG sites (e.g. distance-based correlation). Second, it is also a multi-locus method that integrates the effect of multiple common and rare genetic variants. Third, it models …

Inclusive Development For Social Integration : A Capability Approach To Youth-Oriented Active Labour Market Policies (Almps), Paul Ogwang Tulibaleka

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

Sub-Saharan Africa is currently experiencing a youth bulge that is expected to continue growing for a few decades. Uganda, one of the countries with the highest youth population uses an approach that emphasises education and skills development (human capital approach) alongside promoting self-employment and youth entrepreneurship in response to the labour market and employment challenges experienced by the youth. In Uganda, vocational education and training (VET), youth entrepreneurship funds, job search assistance and career guidance address unemployment and the lack of required labour market skills. However, this approach emphasises education and skills, yet the youth are treated as a homogenous …

Coercing Fluently: The Grammar Of Coercion In The Twenty-First Century, C. Anthony Pfaff

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

To illustrate the logic and grammar of coercion, this analysis relies on decision-theory methods, such as game theory, that examine the strategic decision-making process in interactions with adversaries and partners. The intent here is not to offer predictive models of rational-actor behavior. Rather, the intent is to use game-theory and similar approaches to understand how coercion works better. This analysis considers competitive interactions between actors that have discrete and qualifiable, if not quantifiable, preferences and who behave rationally, though this analysis acknowledges the behavior that is considered rational is frequently informed by nonrational social, cultural, and psychological factors. Considering these …

Criminal Justice Update - August 2022, Patrick Mahoney

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office (no updates this month)

• Updates from the PA Legislature (no updates this month)

• Updates from the Courts

  • U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure (no updates this month)

  • PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

  • PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

A Mixed Method-Approach To Exploring Human Organ Trafficking And Its Policy Implications, Jeslyn Huynh

Dissertations (2016-Present)

Human organ trafficking, which involves the exploitation, coercion, illegally purchasing or selling of organs, has become a primary international concern. According to the United Nations, legally available organs for transplants only accommodate roughly 10% of the global industry demand. The shortage in organ supply means a new patient is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes worldwide even as 20 patients die every day in the United States alone waiting for an available organ. Previous researchers have found empirical support for significant relationships between human organ trafficking and its adverse globalized effects. Using primary and secondary data, the main …

Police Brutality In The United States Of America And Nigeria; A Comparative Analysis, Oludayo Philips Famakin-Johnson

Dissertations (2016-Present)

The recent spate of incidents regarding excessive use of force by law enforcement in the United States against mostly unarmed African Americans has elicited protests across the country. The ensuing outrage about police brutality brought to national attention the discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system. It also demonstrated that human rights violations by law enforcement are not an exclusive experience of developing nations, which are expected to look up to countries like the United States as a model for standard policing. Extant research, however, indicates excessive use of force is a common phenomenon in every country, including the United …

Evaluation Of The Time To Ask Program At St. Croix Regional Family Health Center, Mary Lindsey Smith Phd, Evelyn Ali Bs, Tyler Egeland Ba

Substance Use Research & Evaluation

The goals of the Time to Ask (TTA) education and quality improvement program are to increase the capacity of the interprofessional care team to effectively, efficiently and compassionately discuss alcohol use with their patients through screening, brief intervention, and referral (SBIRT) as well as to expand regular screening and monitoring of unhealthy alcohol use at the practices. This infographic is a summary of a participant feedback following the TTA program at St. Croix Regional Family Health Center. For more information, please contact Lindsey Smith at [email protected]

The Unity Of Hobbes’S Philosophy: Science, Politics, And God?, Zachary Vereb

Faculty and Student Publications

This paper re-examines the dispute concerning Hobbes’s religious beliefs in light of his natural philosophy. First, I argue that atheistic readings of Hobbes can be more plausibly defended provided interpreters make use of a methodological unity thesis. Second, I suggest that theistic readers of Hobbes have good reason to favor the autonomy thesis. I conclude by highlighting how a re-examination of the theism dispute motivates reconsideration of the role of Hobbes’s natural philosophy and scientific methodology vis à vis politics. Maintaining the unity thesis as a methodological device can shed important light on the politics and methods of Leviathan. More …

Researching Appointment Robbery: Voices From The Street, Arthur Gregory Vasquez

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation is composed of three papers that will examine three topics related to the main research project of examining whether or not CPTED strategies have an effect on the decision to participate in appointment robbery. The first paper examines the difficulties in gaining access with the hard-to-reach population of active offenders. The second paper will provide examples of ethical dilemmas that the qualitative researcher faced while in the field. The third paper will explore whether or not criminals were deterred from deciding to engage in criminal activity due to an implementation of a CPTED strategy. These three papers together …

Perspectives On Living Shorelines: Marine Contractors And Agents In Southeast Virginia, Michelle Covi, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

No abstract provided.

De Novo Heterozygous Variants In Slc30a7 Are A Candidate Cause For Joubert Syndrome, Monica Penon-Portmann, Mohammad K Eldomery, Lorraine Potocki, Dana Marafi, Jennifer E Posey, Zeynep Coban-Akdemir, Tamar Harel, Christopher M Grochowski, Hailey Loucks, Walter Patrick Devine, Jessica Van Ziffle, Dan Doherty, James R Lupski, Joseph T Shieh

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Joubert syndrome (JS), a well-established ciliopathy, is characterized by the distinctive molar tooth sign on brain MRI, ataxia, and neurodevelopmental features. Other manifestations can include polydactyly, accessory frenula, renal, or liver disease. Here, we report individuals meeting criteria for JS with de novo heterozygous variants in SLC30A7 (Chr1p21.2). The first individual is a female with history of unilateral postaxial polydactyly, classic molar tooth sign on MRI, macrocephaly, ataxia, ocular motor apraxia, neurodevelopmental delay, and precocious puberty. Exome sequencing detected a de novo heterozygous missense variant in SLC30A7: NM_133496.5: c.407 T > C, (p.Val136Ala). The second individual had bilateral postaxial polydactyly, molar …

The Conditional Mode In Parametric Frontier Models, William C. Horrace, Hyunseok Jung, Yi Yang

Center for Policy Research

We survey formulations of the conditional mode estimator for technical inefficiency in parametric stochastic frontier models with normal errors and introduce new formulations for models with Laplace errors. We prove the conditional mode estimator converges pointwise to the true inefficiency value as the noise variance goes to zero. We also prove that the conditional mode estimator in the normal-exponential model achieves near-minimax optimality. Our minimax theorem implies that the worst-case risk occurs when many firms are nearly efficient, and the conditional mode estimator minimizes estimation risk in this case by estimating these small inefficiency firms as efficient. Unlike the conditional …

Meaning-Mating And Hyphenated Actualizing In Individual-Organization Units: Lived Experiences Of Organization Development Practitioners Learning And Carrying Out The Philosophy Of Organization Development, Brian Lee Chapman

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Individuals have been organizing for millennia. The purpose of this study was to investigate what it means for individuals and organizations to each experience how an exposure to the instrumentalized philosophies of one impacts the internalized philosophies of the other. This phenomenological investigation focused on the lived experiences of Organization Development (OD) practitioners with learning and carrying out the philosophy of OD. Individual conversations with six participants during fourteen separate interview sessions were phenomenologically carried out, analyzed, and interpreted. The experiences articulated during these conversations elucidate two concepts not found during the literature review – meaning-mating and hyphenated actualization. These …

Circulating Trophoblast Numbers As A Potential Marker For Pregnancy Complications, Brielle Crovetti, Mohamad Ali Maktabi, Hadi Erfani, Tachjaree Panchalee, Qun Wang, Liesbeth Vossaert, Ignatia Van Den Veyver

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Objective: To explore the potential of circulating trophoblasts (TBs) as a non-invasive tool to assess placental health and predict obstetric complications.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of 369 women who enrolled in our original cell-based NIPT (cbNIPT) study. The number of circulating TBs recovered from the maternal blood samples was recorded and expressed as fetal cell concentration (FCC). We evaluated if FCC can be used to predict pregnancy outcomes such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), fetal growth restriction, placental abruption, preterm labor, and pregnancy loss.

Results: Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to find …

Outcomes Associated With Timing Of Neurologic Dysfunction Onset Relative To Pediatric Sepsis Recognition, Alicia M Alcamo, Scott L Weiss, Julie C Fitzgerald, Matthew P Kirschen, Laura L Loftis, Swee Fong Tang, Neal J Thomas, Vinay M Nadkarni, Sholeen T Nett

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Objectives: To compare outcomes associated with timing-early versus late-of any neurologic dysfunction during pediatric sepsis.

Design: Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional point prevalence study.

Setting: A total of 128 PICUs in 26 countries.

Patients: Less than 18 years with severe sepsis on 5 separate days (2013-2014).

Interventions: None.

Measurements and main results: Patients were categorized as having either no neurologic dysfunction or neurologic dysfunction (i.e., present at or after sepsis recognition), which was defined as Glasgow Coma Scale score less than 5 and/or fixed dilated pupils. Our primary outcome was death or new moderate disability (i.e., Pediatric Overall [or Cerebral] …

J Mich Dent Assoc August 2022

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Monthly, The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association brings news, information, and feature articles to our state's oral health community and the MDA's 6,200+ members. No publication reaches more Michigan dentists! In this August 2022 issue, the reader will find the following original content:

• A cover story on choosing to partner with a Dental Service Organization (DSO)
• A conversation with three dentists on how and why they are involved with organized dentistry.
• A 10-Minute EBD on the efficacy of vacuum-formed removable orthodontic retainers
• News you need, an Editorial, a report from our ADA Trustee and regular department articles, Dentistry and …

Modern American Propaganda: An Institutional History, Douglas Morrow

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy is the primary government institution in charge of overt, foreign-directed propaganda. This paper argues that the institutional culture of this institution was born and came to fruition in the period 1941-1953, and has not significantly changed since. That institutional culture includes a fierce adherence to a “strategy of truth,” with aesthetic norms being reserved and largely unemotional as a result of positioning themselves in moral and aesthetic opposition to Nazi and early Cold War Communist propaganda. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s decision to staff these nascent institutions with artists, poets, …