Digital Commons Network^™

Diversity In Osteopathic Medical School Admissions And The Compass Program: An Update, Nadege Dady, Steven Toplan, Jeffrey Gardere, Robin Moore, Lorreen Agandi, Ulcha Fergie Ulysse, Aida Aminpour, Mckensie Gelvin, Jemima Akinsanya, Kenneth Steier

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

In the United States, the 40 colleges of osteopathic medicine and 157 schools of allopathic medicine face challenges in recruiting candidates who are underrepresented in medicine (URiM), and gaps in racial disparity appear to be widening. In this commentary, the authors provide an analysis of the data collected from 8 years of conducting a URiM recruitment and welcoming social events. The event is sponsored by a student special interest group called Creating Osteopathic Minority Physicians Who Achieve Scholastic Success (COMPASS) at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine - New York (TouroCOM-NY). The results of the 8-year data analysis supports the …

Three Papers On Intergenerational Relationships In China, Wencheng Zhang

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines the changes in China's social and demographic landscape and their effects on adult children's relationships with their elderly parents. It focuses on how modernization, urban migration, lower birth rates, and an aging population have transformed traditional filial piety norms and intergenerational expectations in Chinese society. The first paper aims to investigate the association between children’s economic status and parents’ self-rated health and examine the potential mediating mechanisms for this relationship. Utilizing the 2014 wave of the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS), this study predicted parent’s self-rated health from children’s economic status using inverse probability of treatment …

Public Perceptions About Police With Beards, Dennis F. Hale

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Critical Race Theory, Neoliberalism, And The Illiberal University, Rodney D. Coates

Journal of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies

No abstract provided.

Answering The Calls For Inclusion From St. John's Students, Natalie P. Byfield

Journal of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies

No abstract provided.

Acculturation And Intimate Partner Violence Among Kenyans In The United States, Max J. Stein, Peter Ndiang’Ui, Eunice Menja

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is abuse by a partner or spouse. This study focused on IPV among Kenyan immigrants to the United States. Several studies reported connections between IPV and cultural tensions experienced during the acculturation process. Scholars disagree whether acculturation buffers against IPV by exposing immigrants to adaptive social norms or heightens risk factors among those facing challenges acclimating to new settings. Whereas this association has been researched among Latinx and Asian communities in the United States, it is understudied among African and especially Kenyan diasporas. This descriptive study explored how acculturation and IPV among U.S. Kenyans were experienced …

Microsphere Core Technology Boosts Innovation Of Biopharmaceutical Industry Chain, Jie Wu, Weiqing Zhou, Lan Zhao, Guanghui Ma

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Advancements in life science and biotechnology have boosted the evolution of the biopharmaceutical industry with the continual emergence of biomedical products for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Microspheres, as crucial functional materials, play a significant role in the discovery, preparation, separation, and delivery of biological drugs due to their flexible size, morphology, structure, and function. This study reviews recent significant advancements in microspheres and their applications in cell culture, chromatographic separation, drug delivery, and as vaccine adjuvants. Additionally, it proposes future trends for the development of microspheres.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa Disease Severity And Outcomes Among Black Patients From Low-Income Neighborhoods At A Tertiary Care Hospital: A Retrospective Review, Anna M. Catinis, Olivia A. Gioe, Caroline Savoie, Erika Rosen, Deborah Hilton

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a debilitating, inflammatory condition of apocrine sweat glands. Black patients are disproportionately affected, a finding largely attributed to lower socioeconomic status (SES) in the literature; yet, most HS studies include majority White cohorts. We present, to our knowledge, the first retrospective review of an entirely Black patient population living in low-income neighborhoods diagnosed with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) to identify potentially modifiable factors related to disease severity and outcomes. We reviewed charts of Black patients with an encounter for HS from 2010-2020 in the New Orleans University Medical Center database. Hurley stage III (HSt III) disease was …

Perceived Neighborhood Disorder And Type 2 Diabetes Disparities In Hispanic, Black, And White Americans, Min Ying Yu, Alfredo J. Velasquez, Belinda Campos, Jennifer W. Robinette

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction: Approximately 32 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, and that number continues to grow. Higher prevalence rates are observed among certain subgroups, including members of marginalized racial/ethnic groups as well as residents of disordered neighborhoods (i.e., those with more trash and vandalism). Institutionalized discriminatory practices have resulted in disproportionate representation of marginalized racial/ethnic groups in disordered neighborhoods compared to non-Hispanic Whites. These neighborhood disparities may partially contribute to health disparities, given that signs of neighborhood disorder often relate to a general withdrawal from the neighborhood, minimizing opportunities for both physical and social engagement. Yet, research suggests variability across …

Digital Phobia: An Inquiry For Mapping The Unseen Dimension Of New Digital Anxiety, The ‘Digiphobia’, Amarjit Kumar Singh ,Library Assistant, Md. Arshad Ali , Professional Assistant, Dr. Pankaj Mathur, Deputy Librarian,

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Background: As technology continues to advance, individuals' interactions with digital platforms have become integral to daily life. Amidst this technological evolution, a novel concern emerges—Digital Phobia, hereafter referred to as “Digiphobia.” This phenomenon, although not previously explored in scholarly literature, necessitates an in-depth investigation due to its potential impact on individuals' well-being. Our research employs a two-step methodology to investigate its existence, implications, and manifestations.

Introduction: This research paper introduces and proposes the term "Digiphobia" as a comprehensive conceptualization of anxiety arising from interactions with digital spaces, applications, and environments. The proliferation of digital technologies has led to the emergence …

Pastoral Leaders’ Perception Of Obesity And Their Role Within Faith-Based Organizations, Darren D. Moore, Clinton E. Cooper, Charles Williams

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of pastoral leaders regarding obesity and health within faith-based organizations (FBOs). In this study, the authors focused on gaining additional insight regarding how pastoral leaders conceptualize and make sense of their roles in terms of health promotion within FBOs. Utilizing a qualitative research methodological approach, specifically Qualitative Description, authors administered a qualitative survey to 12 participants which yielded three emerging themes: (1) perceived scope, (2) understanding and use of resources, and (3) defining obesity through pastoral leaders’ perspectives. In the study, investigators discuss clinical implications and provide recommendations.

“Your Brain Isn’T All Backwards”: Asexual Young Women’S Narratives Of Sexual Healthism, Anna Sheppard, Emily S. Mann, Carla A. Pfeffer

The Qualitative Report

Scholarship on asexuality is a growing but underexplored area in the social sciences. In the U.S., asexual people (i.e., individuals who do not experience sexual attraction) navigate a society in which being a sexual person is regarded as a normal and even compulsory aspect of human health and subjectivity. Utilizing an asexual subsample from a broader study of queer young women, this article integrates Foucault’s theorizing around sexuality and repression with scholarship on healthism to examine how discourses of sexual healthism operate among asexual young women in the U.S. South. We argue that in rejecting theories of sexual repression and …

Exploring The Nexus Of Cybercrime, Money Laundering, Ethics And Deterrence In The Age Of Smart Machines, Leila Halawi, Robert Bacon

Publications

As societies transitioned from the industrial era to the post-knowledge age, marked by the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), the volume and accessibility of information experienced unprecedented growth. This transformation led to the ‘AI Age,’ where smart machines became paramount. Simultaneously, it marked an era of innovation and automation, promising greater efficiency and presenting novel challenges. In this dynamic landscape, cybercrime found fertile ground to evolve and adapt. It expanded its scope from early computer intrusions to many activities, from data breaches and ransomware attacks to identity theft and financial fraud. Money laundering, too, evolved in tandem, capitalizing on …

Divisive Or Descriptive?: How Americans Understand Critical Race Theory, Alauna Safarpour, Kristin Lunz Trujillo, Jon Green, Caroline High Pippert, Jennifer Lin, James N. Druckman

Political Science Faculty Publications

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has become a flashpoint of elite political discord, yet how Americans actually perceive CRT is unclear. We theorize that Republican elites utilized a strong framing strategy to re-define CRT as an “empty signifier” representing broader racial and cultural grievances. Using a survey and a pre-registered experiment among U.S. adults (N = 19,060), we find that this strategy worked. Republicans exhibit more familiarity with CRT and hold more negatively valenced (and wide ranging) sentiments toward CRT, relative to Democrats. Moreover, compared to teaching the legacy of racism in schools, Republicans are significantly more opposed to teaching CRT …

Mendelian Randomization With Incomplete Measurements On The Exposure In The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study Of Latinos, Yilun Li, Kin Yau Wong, Annie Green Howard, Penny Gordon-Larsen, Heather M Highland, Mariaelisa Graff, Kari E North, Carolina G Downie, Christy L Avery, Bing Yu, Kristin L Young, Victoria L Buchanan, Robert Kaplan, Lifang Hou, Brian Thomas Joyce, Qibin Qi, Tamar Sofer, Jee-Young Moon, Dan-Yu Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mendelian randomization has been widely used to assess the causal effect of a heritable exposure variable on an outcome of interest, using genetic variants as instrumental variables. In practice, data on the exposure variable can be incomplete due to high cost of measurement and technical limits of detection. In this paper, we propose a valid and efficient method to handle both unmeasured and undetectable values of the exposure variable in one-sample Mendelian randomization analysis with individual-level data. We estimate the causal effect of the exposure variable on the outcome using maximum likelihood estimation and develop an expectation maximization algorithm for …

Exploring Women’S Education And Employment Opportunities In India, Syria, And The Philippines, Emma R. Sarcol, Ines Coutinho, Elle Maguire, Helen C. Collins, Patricia A. Jolliffe Dr

The Qualitative Report

The implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 marked a new chapter in global development and laid the foundations for addressing inequalities that hinder holistic progress. However, gender gaps pose a significant threat to achieving these goals. Project DREAM (Developing Resilience, Education, Aspiration, and Motivation) sought to explore women’s sense of aspiration, achievement, and lived experience in India, Syria, and the Philippines, as well as develop pilot interventions to address gender disparities. Semi-structured interviews with 69 young women from India, Syria, and the Philippines informed the development of three interventions, namely an aspiration and job skills workshop …

Examining The Role Of Mononormative Beliefs, Stigma, And Internalized Consensual Non-Monogamy Negativity For Dehumanization, David L. Rodrigues, Thomas R. Brooks, Rhonda N. Balzarini, Amy C. Moors, Diniz Lopes

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Interest in consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationships has been increasing in the general population in recent years. However, given the cultural dominance of monogamy and the normative expectations often imposed through socialization (i.e., mononormativity), people in CNM relationships may experience negativity, which can become internalized and harm their individual and relationship health. The present study investigated if mononormativity beliefs and CNM relationship stigma were associated with more dehumanization and if internalized CNM negativity was an underlying mechanism for these associations. Results showed that participants who endorsed more mononormative beliefs and CNM relationship stigma also reported more internalized CNM negativity. In turn, …

From Grey To Green: Reflections On Establishing An Urban Garden At Trinity College Dublin, Mariana P. Silva, Anangi Sumalde, Eleanor Flora Mullen, Simon Benson, Rachel Joanne Goodband, Conor O'Reilly, Nour Boulahcen

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

Urban gardens can be a part of the combined efforts of many to combat climate change and the associated risks posed by rapid urbanisation. These gardens can take shape on private, communal, or institutional scales, including urban educational campuses, where the teaching of sustainable gardening along with general knowledge about nature and ecology can benefit students, staff, and the wider community. This reflective piece centres on the experience of developing the Trinity Urban Garden (TUG) at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. While hoping to overcome the worry that the tiny, seemingly inhospitable plot may not allow for a garden to …

Subnational Probabilistic Projections Of Fertility: Rethinking From Latin America, Lucia Andreozzi

Journal of Demography

General trends in fertility, mortality, and migration can be discerned and projected into the future with reasonable results, however, there is considerable uncertainty attached to each specific trend from a particular country or region. Then, subnational projections then represent a special chapter within the demographic projections. After introducing subnational projections and its close relationship with the fertility, this work proposes as the main objective to project fertility rates at the subnational level for Argentina using a probabilistic method; the bayesian hierarchical model (BHM), and then compare the results with the point estimates of deterministic projections published by the national organism …

Exploring Dress, Gender, And Bodily Capital Through Pre- And Protohistoric Funerary Contexts: Case Studies From Southwestern Europe, Francisco B. Gomes, Catarina Costeira, Anna Maria Desiderio, Arianna Esposito, Giacomo Bardelli

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

While uneven in their scope and reach, studies of dress and dress complements (fibulae, belt buckles, buttons, etc.) have a significant tradition within the broader study of the pre- and protohistory of Mediterranean Europe. Many of these studies, however, have had a strong focus on the typology of the dress complements and ornaments themselves, either as chronological indicators, ethnic markers, or both. In more recent years, however, a shift in research agendas has ushered in the introduction of new perspectives and new ways of thinking about dress and bodily adornment.

This contribution explores one such perspective in particular — namely, …

Electrochemical Investigations Of Polyvalent Vs Monovalent Binding On Dna Sensors And Synthesis Of Dna Oligonucleotides Capable Of Oxidative Crosslinking, Jeremy David Mendez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes two projects: i) experiments aimed at electrochemically differentiating polyvalent binding and monovalent binding of “DNA stars” on gold electrodes ii) experiments to synthesize DNA oligonucleotides that are capable of crosslinking under electrochemical control. We describe the design, synthesis and purification of “DNA stars”, and their binding to gold electrodes displaying complementary strands functionalized with a “redox reporter”, methylene blue. Square wave voltammetry was utilized to compare the effect of binding of complementary strand and various DNA stars. Though we were able to distinguish the binding of complementary strand and DNA stars, we could not conclusively state this …

Ua19/16/2 Athletics Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases regarding general activities of the WKU Athletics Department for 2024.

From Classroom To Community: Service-Learning And The Sustainable Development Goals, Genejane M. Adarlo, Jeannette Nina Delos Reyes, Kevin Christopher Go, Genesis Kelly Lontoc, Nota F. Magno, Mark Anthony D. Abenir, Sabrina Kate Paner-Montiel, Noelle Flores

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is crucial for equipping individuals with the competences needed to address the pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges of our time. Despite the recognized potential of service-learning in cultivating competences that can promote sustainable development, there is a lack of empirical research exploring the development of these competences among students. Hence, this study examined the effectiveness of service-learning as a pedagogical approach to ESD in fostering essential competences among students. The research involved 43 groups of students, who engaged in addressing various sustainable development issues through service-learning. A thematic analysis of students’ written reflections revealed …

I Am Gay And Catholic: An Analysis Of Identity Integration In Lgbtq+ Members Converting To Catholicism, Maria Julian

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This article examines the negotiation of sexual and religious identities among Catholic members of the LGBTQ+ community. I explore context-specific identity negotiation to determine how and why, in a time of “cultural warfare” within the Catholic Church surrounding the acceptance of LGBTQ+ participants, LGBTQ+ members choose to convert to Catholicism. Through semi-structured interviews conducted with members of the LGBTQ+ community, I identify and discuss several themes based on the identity integration process of these individuals: (1) Experiencing “The Call” (the initial interest in Catholicism), (2) Encountering the Religious “Other” (association with a welcoming and enduring Catholic LGBTQ+ Community), (3) Immersion …

Ua19/16/2 Soccer Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and game statistics for WKU soccer team in 2024.

The Relative Impacts Of Peer Disapproval, Parental Disapproval, And Perceptions Of Risk On Adolescent Marijuana Use, Sean P. Varano, Pamela Kelley, Laurie Becker

Justice Studies Faculty Publications

Adolescent drug use has consistently been a concern for researchers and policymakers for decades as its early onset and continued use can lead to a variety of negative life outcomes. Concerns related to marijuana use have emerged in recent years as states have begun to change laws regarding recreational cannabis use. The current study uses data from a cohort of students in Massachusetts to understand how these changes may impact marijuana use. Findings from this study suggest that nearly three years after the first recreational marijuana retail center opened, the protective features of parental norms toward marijuana use may no …

An Exploration Of Factors Influencing Emerging Adults’ Decision-Making Regarding Family Intentionality, Samantha Mckee

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to gain an understanding of factors that may influence emerging adults’ decision-making regarding family intentionality. Specifically, it aimed to answer two research questions: 1) What factors influence an emerging adults’ decision-making regarding family intentionality? 2) Is there a correlation between the number of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) an individual has experienced and their desire to have children? This study also examined how ACEs are factored into the different systems of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and how they affect the child at each level. This study utilized a sequential quan-->QUAL design, combining …

Strategies For Integrating Aging And Older Adulthood Into Counselor Training, Matthew C. Fullen, Jordan Westcott, Kailey Bradley, Natese R. Dockery, Jungeun Lee, Rumbidzai Mushunje, Afroze N. Shaikh

Adultspan Journal

Following recent changes to Medicare mental health law, counselors will have expanded opportunities to work with older adults. Historically, there has been a dearth of counselor training dedicated to counseling older adults, necessitating greater attention to understanding and applying best practices for preparing counselors to serve older adult clients. Looking to professions that have a longer history of serving older adults, specifically gerontology, social work, and geropsychology, we describe approaches to training counselors to work with older adults that may prove helpful for the counseling profession.

Uni Lgbt* History, Hunter Thompson , Compiler/Editor

UNI Proud Documents

This project aims to provide the future of queer activists of this campus a better picture of the roots of activism on this campus. I think of this project as my own personal version of The Celluloid Closet, but instead of old movies it's old Northern Iowan articles. There has always been resistance at UNI, and this document hopes to show that resistance. It is however by no means complete, as often resistance has to occur in the shadows. What this work is hours and hours of searching the archives of The Northern Iowan, for those brief snapshots …

The Impact Of Censorship On Covid-19 Policy Formation In The United States, Victor Wallis

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.