Digital Commons Network^™

Microplastic Contamination In Table Salt: A Study Of Consumer Behavior In Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sk Abid Md Saad, Faijunnesa Rashid, Maisha Miskat, Mukul Chandra Sarker, Arman Khan, Mustafizur Rahman

Applied Environmental Research

Plastic particles resulting from the breakdown of bigger plastics may be introduced directly as micro- and nano-sized particles polluting the marine ecosystem, including ocean-extracted table salt. This study investigated the presence of microplastic (MP)-like particles in table salt from Bangladesh, focusing on both locally refined and commercially branded varieties. Local salt samples from Sadar and Moheshkhali Sub-district of Cox’s Bazar contained an average of 23.4 and 12 particles kg-1, respectively. In contrast, no particles were detected in commercial brands, likely due to their complex refining processes. The study also explored factors influencing local salt consumption, finding it influenced by the …

Spatial Analysis Of Socioeconomic Factors At Found Locations Of Orphaned Mammals In Champaign County, Illinois, Usa, Colleen Elzinga, Stephanie Heniff, William Sander, William Marshall Brown, Csaba Varga, Samantha Sander

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Young mammals make up a significant portion of animals brought into wildlife rehabilitation centers. Unfortunately, some of these presumed orphaned individuals are inappropriately removed from their native habitat. As such, there is a need for educational community outreach centered on the proper identification of orphaned wildlife that benefit from human intervention, while maximizing limited resources of rehabilitation facilities. This study evaluated found locations of common mammalian orphans presenting from Champaign County to the University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic, Illinois, USA, between 2015 and 2020. The found locations of the orphans (99 Virginia opossums [Didelphis virginiana], 80 common …

Methodological Challenges In Conducting Cross-Cultural/Language Research With Spanish Speakers: The Role Of The Researcher/Translator, Catherine Flores Ph.D.

The Qualitative Report

With the increase in global research, it is common for researchers to investigate topics in intercultural settings, both in their own home countries and abroad. Although findings from this research are prolific, rarely are detailed examples given or practical suggestions offered, particularly in relation to the role of the translator/researcher. The significant and often undervalued role of the translator/researcher in cross cultural/language qualitative research warrants methodological considerations at the onset and throughout the research. Nonetheless, few qualitative studies transparently report the process of how the translation findings were developed. This paper addresses this gap by examining a Latinx postgraduate student’s …

Democratic Accountability And Tax Enforcement, Joshua D. Blank, Leigh Osofsky

Faculty Publications

One of the most powerful charges that can be leveled against the IRS is that it is targeting taxpayers. Charges of political targeting have dogged the IRS for over a century, including in major controversies such as the alleged Tea Party auditing scandal in 2013. Commentators and scholars have long critiqued the IRS for focusing audit resources on some of the lowest-income Americans. And, most recently, a group of researchers estimated that the IRS audits Black taxpayers at a 2.9 to 4.7 times greater rate, as compared to non-Black taxpayers. In response, legislators demanded action, there was widespread public consternation, …

Debt, Race, And Physical Mobility, Kate Sablosky Elengold

Faculty Publications

Residents in every state in the United States can lose their driver’s license or car registration because they owe debt to the state. At least eleven million people across the United States suffer these debt-based driving restrictions at any given time. Because Americans overwhelmingly rely on personal automobiles for transportation, states, by controlling access to driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations, use debt policy to control where and how people travel. And because these laws disproportionately affect people of color, primarily Black people, this kind of regulation props up racial segregation in both location and opportunity. This Article’s first contribution is …

Cost Misperception And Voting For Public Goods, Corey Lang, Casey J. Wichman, Michael J. Weir, Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Faculty Publications

Public good provision is often determined through referendums by voters, who weigh benefits against costs. However, perceptions of benefits and costs may be incorrect, which could in turn lead to voter error and misallocation of public goods. Using real-world referendums, we evaluate voter perceptions of the private costs of providing public goods by conducting three exit polls of New England voters and an online survey of California voters. By comparing cost perceptions to actual tax incidence, we find pervasive evidence that voters misperceive costs. Fewer than 20% of voters in our samples reported perceived costs within 25% of estimated actual …

An Autoethnographic Dialogue With Motherhood Literature, Maya Autret, Brad Van Eeden-Moorefield

The Qualitative Report

This autoethnography represents the first author’s journey as a mother and doctoral student researching mothers’ experiences in contending with the demands of work and family. Reading across different pockets of empirical motherhood literature (work-family conflict, contemporary motherhood, maternal gatekeeping, and intensive motherhood) I became troubled by how women’s realities were reflected. Pushing back against traditional methods that endorse separating my researcher identity from my maternal self, I draw on autoethnographic method to dialogue with this literature. This approach empowers me to speak out as a novice scholar uncomfortable with aspects of literature, while also navigating training in the use of …

Esg As A Test Case For The Convergence Thesis In Corporate Law: Notes From India, Rudresh Mandal

LL.M. Essays & Theses

This paper uses four concepts key to the ESG agenda – investor stewardship codes, corporate purpose, independent directors and ESG disclosures – to examine which way the corporate convergence pendulum is swinging in India. It finds that none of the aforesaid concepts are examples of perfect convergence or perfect divergence. Instead, they lie somewhere in the convergence-divergence matrix – India’s investor stewardship codes and framework on independent directors are examples of formal convergence but functional divergence, and her corporate law provisions on corporate purpose and ESG disclosure are functionally convergent, but formally divergent. The dichotomies in the analysis are explained …

Exploring The Vernacular Architecture In The Eastern Commercial And Tourism Districts Of Mueang Chiang Mai, Aumpika Amloy

Asian Review

This research article aims to analyze the vernacular architecture in  the commercial and tourist districts of eastern Chiang Mai, covering the Chang Moi, Wat Ket, and San Pa Khoi districts. The methods of study are field surveys, historical documentation, and architectural analysis focusing on exploring the architectural elements, materials, and design principles that shape the urban environment in Mueang Chiang Mai. The study results identified six vernacular architecture styles in the study areas: wooden houses, wooden shophouses, wooden-concrete houses, wooden-concrete shophouses, concrete houses, and concrete shophouses. First, the vernacular architecture was built mainly from wood, representing the use of natural …

Social Protection System: A Case Study Of Migration And Families Left Behind In Ban Sandin, Lao Pdr, Kritsada Theerakosonphong

Asian Review

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Declaration on Strengthening Social Protection, serves as a policy framework guiding the international agenda of ASEAN member countries. This emphasis on social protection within the regional bloc is aligned with the United Nation's global agenda, particularly, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This presentation analyzes the social protection system in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), exploring traditional and innovative coping mechanisms and how they reflect community social dynamics. Drawing on case studies of families left behind and insights from fifteen additional informants in Ban Sandin, Lao PDR, this article synthesizes scholarly literature to …

Effects Of Covid-19 Policy On Air Quality In Lagos State, Nigeria, Chika Floyd Amaechi, Alex Enuneku, Ugochinyere Stephanie Amadi, Akus Kingsley Okoduwa

Applied Environmental Research

The decrease in air quality has been a major concern in the world for decades, and it has continued to worsen with toxic gases accumulating at exponential rates. The atmosphere has been heavily polluted as a result of anthropogenic activities, and these activities were greatly reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic when a lockdown policy was imposed. The study area, Lagos, is the state in Nigeria with the highest population count, making it most susceptible to the spread of the coronavirus and, as such, having the strictest policy regulations. This study seeks to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown policy …

Assessing The Short- And Long-Term Health Effects Of Nitrogen Dioxide In Agadir, Morocco: A Who Airq+ Model Application, Youssef Bouchriti, Mohamed Ait Haddou, Abderrahmane Achbani, Amal Korrida, Hasnaa Sine, Jamila Rida, Mohamed Boukrim, Belkacem Kabbachi

Applied Environmental Research

Epidemiological studies have revealed that exposure to atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) increases the risk of acute and chronic diseases. This study used the WHO AirQ model to assess both the short- and long-term impacts of NO2 on human health in the city of Agadir in Morocco. The mean NO2 values were obtained from measurements taken at two locations. This study assessed the long- term health effects of NO2 on natural all-cause mortality (LT-ACM), mortality due to respiratory diseases (LT-RD), and morbidity due to chronic obstructive pulmo-nary disease (LT-COPD), as well as the short-term health impacts of NO2 on natural all-cause …

Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Land Surface Temperature, Urban Heat Island, And Potential Heat Stress Risk Areas Assessment For Tropical Inland City And Coastal City In Thailand, Thar Htet Aung, Sakpod Tongleamnak, Rasamee Suwanwerakamtorn

Applied Environmental Research

Global warming and rapid urban growth, compounded by the urban heat island (UHI) effect, are posing substantial challenges for urban populations and ecological well-being due to increased heat stress risks. This study aimed to analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of land surface temperature (LST), UHI, and potential heat stress risk areas (PHSRA) in two distinct cities, an inland city, Nakhon Ratchasima, and a coastal city, Si Racha, during the summer. Geoinformatics techniques and Crichton’s Risk Triangle method were employed, using updated demographic data and Sentinel-3 data from 2017 to 2022. The findings indicate that the inland city daytime average LST values …

Breaking The Vicious Cycle Fragmenting National Law, Ryan Vacca, Peter S. Menell

Faculty Publications

One of the most troubling and increasingly overlooked problems plaguing the federal judiciary has been the reduction of throughput at the Supreme Court and the resulting fragmentation of national law. The imperative to resolve circuit splits has taken a back seat as the Court grapples with high-profile battles and the relentless crush of certiorari petitions. This fuels confusion and greater fragmentation of national law. Add in the general expansion of national law, and the vicious cycle intensifies.

This Article proposes a solution for expanding structural capacity to address fragmentation that does not require legislative reform or constitutional amendment. It utilizes …

From Private To Public: Lateral Transfer Student Experiences, Melissa P. Stough, Diane C. Elliott

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

The phenomenon of student movement between higher education institutions has received considerable attention due to its widespread occurrence and impact on academic trajectories. While extensive research has focused on vertical transfer, such as transitions from community colleges to four-year institutions, less scrutiny has been directed towards lateral transfer, involving shifts between institutions at similar academic levels. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the factors influencing lateral transfer, specifically from private four-year colleges to public four-year institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened interest in this understudied area, with indications of increased lateral transfers in its aftermath. Leveraging data …

Teachers' Perspectives On The Impact Of Interactive Read Aloud Strategies For Comprehension Skills Of Saudi Kindergarten Students: A Mixed Method Study, Riham Alsultan

All ETDs from UAB

Reading comprehension is a very integral element of encouraging lifelong learning amongst kindergarten students. The main objective of this research is to investigate teachers’ perspectives on the effectiveness of interactive read-aloud (IRA) in improving reading comprehension skills amongst kindergarten students in Saudi Arabia. The study's overarching aim was to determine how interactive reading-aloud strategies employed by Saudi kindergarten teachers during interactive read-aloud time impact Saudi kindergarten students' overall comprehension skills through the perceptions of teachers regarding the effectiveness of these strategies. To achieve this objective, the researcher employed a mixed-method research design, a combination of both quantitative and qualitative strategies. …

Access To And Service Utilization Of Alabama Medicaid's Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver Program, Sarah Lee Bowler

All ETDs from UAB

Background: Much research has been done investigating health disparities in the field of publicly-funding family planning. However, no longitudinal analysis has been conducted to examine the impact of Alabama Medicaid’s Section 1115 demonstration waiver on access to care, experience of barriers reported by enrollees, and repeat utilization of services. Methods: Medicaid enrollment and visit claims data were used to answer the questions related to access and service utilization. Annual Plan First survey data were used to investigate the experience of barriers to care among enrollees. For all three research questions, descriptive statistics were calculated, and linear probability models were used …

[Mis]Representing “India” And Other Colonial Territories In Donne’S Poetry: An Insight Into Colonialism’S Multifaceted Aspects, Urnisha Dutta

All ETDs from UAB

Colonial objects in Donne’s poems embrace multifaceted attributes, offering diverse reading perspectives. Considering their multifaceted aspects, it becomes impossible for a reader to ignore his poems’ interdisciplinary qualities. They often embrace philosophical, religious, political, and historical connotations. The colonial objects, appearing as “black” characters, silent women, or colonized territories in his poems, generate East-West binaries, Western subject consciousness, Eastern [mis]representations, world polarizations, and color contrasts. His female bodies’ misogynistic/sexual portrayal frequently ends in pulling up colonial references, associating their bodies with colonial landmasses. They often associate with his spiritual consciousness, complicating reading and textual interpretations. Critics thus cannot take a …

Educational Interventions For Managing Ethical Problems In Occupational Therapy: A Survey, Brenda S. Howard, Payton Berger, Mckayla Hendricks, Allison Moll, Erin Rusconi, Abigail Shamdin, Julia Swindeman, Zoe Chasnick

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Little is known about how to mitigate moral distress within occupational therapy, but ethics education may reduce its impact by providing practitioners with tools for managing ethical problems. This study aimed to explore the impact of ethics education on managing ethical problems among occupational therapy practitioners within the first five years of practice using a pre-existing survey dataset collected in the spring of 2020. The investigators examined the formats and types of ethics education practitioners reported they received and how helpful they found that education. Investigators analyzed correlations between education and confidence with ethical problem-solving using Spearman’s rho. Results included …

Ot/Ota Student Intraprofessional Collaboration: A Multi-University Remote Design, Karen Probst, Amy L. Brzuz, Geralyn Wallace

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Fostering intraprofessional collaboration (intraPC) between occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students is an integral piece of occupational therapy education programs. The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) even expanded upon intraPC standards in their 2023 standards version. Despite the importance of intraPC activities, barriers exist to their implementation such as time, cost, and logistics. However, it is still important for OT program faculty to identify what types of intraprofessional education activities are a good fit for their program to ensure compliance with standards and prepare students for future collaboration. A quantitative cross-sectional design was used to …

Queer Baltimore: An Unlikely Home For All, Anna K. Trull

Honors College Theses

At the time Baltimore’s queer community emerged, much of the country did not accept anyone who identified as gay. Appearing during the 1940s, gay bars then paradoxically expanded following the Pepper Hill raid in 1955. The thesis builds upon the work of Lucas Hilderbrand (Duke UP, 2023) and Susan Ferentinos (“Maryland LGBTQ Historic Context Study,” 2020) to argue that the physical infrastructure of gay bars and the neighborhoods that developed around them drove the creation of a public culture in Baltimore out of LGBTQ subcultures. It uses a geospatial database based on oral histories and newspaper archives to analyze neighborhoods …

Latina Mothering As Diaspora Mission : The Role Of Latina Immigrant Mothers In The Religious Identity Formation Of The Next Generation, Rebekah R.S. Clapp

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Sharing The Rules Of Life : Forming Intentional Communities That Create Mature Disciples Of Christ, James Andrew Mcwilliam Barnett

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Empowering Families: The Role Of Labor Unions In Advancing Paid Family Leave Policy, Madison Goza

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Enacted in 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was the first substantial piece of federal legislation offering job-protected, unpaid leave to Americans. Since then, several states have passed laws offering an expansion of these protections including paid leave options, but no further policies have been adopted federally. Americans in need of these expansions are looking to a social force capable of advocating for such policy adoptions: organized labor. Thus, labor unions offer a case of interest to economists, political scientists, and sociologists in search of the expansion of federal workplace protections. Using both comparative legal and policy analysis …

Violence Against Women And Abortion Access: A Content Analysis Of The Impact Of The Overturning Of Roe V. Wade On Victims Of Domestic And Sexual Violence, Salika Vummarao

Honors Undergraduate Theses

On June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned, effectively eliminating the federally protected right to an abortion. Following the overturning, several state-specific restrictions or bans on abortion were passed, creating increasingly difficult conditions for people seeking an abortion. Research shows that abortion bans and restrictions disproportionately affect victims of sexual and domestic violence. Hence, this study aims to understand the specific impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade for victims of domestic and/or sexual violence by analysis of news articles. This issue has not been researched in depth, creating a gap in our understanding. The database NexisUni was …

Participatory Video As A Capacity-Building Tool On Disaster Risk Reduction Management: The Case Of A Philippine Rurban Youth Group In Bay, Laguna, Trina Leah T. Mendoza, Benjamina Paula G. Flor

Journal of Public Affairs and Development

This study aimed to explore a youth-led participatory video (PV) process as a strategy for building the capacity of youth in disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) in a Philippine urban community. The study’s main research problem is: What constitutes a youth-led PV process? Specifically, it aimed to 1) describe a youth-led PV production process, 2) identify emergent characteristics of a youth-led PV process, and 3) examine features that explain how a PV process capacitates youth in DRRM. A series of DRRM and PV training workshops were conducted from January to March 2019 with a selected group of youth in Barangay …

Essential Omega‐3 Fatty Acids Are Depleted In Sea Ice And Pelagic Algae Of The Central Arctic Ocean, Katrin Schmidt, Martin Graeve, Clara J.M. Hoppe, S Torres‐Valdes, Nahid Welteke, Laura M. Whitmore, Philipp Anhaus, Angus Atkinson, Simon T. Belt, Tina Brenneis, Robert G. Campbell, Giulia Castellani, Louise A. Copeman, Hauke Flores, Allison A. Fong, Nicole Hildebrandt, Doreen Kohlbach, Jens M. Nielsen, Christopher C. Parrish, C Rad‐Menéndez, Sebastian D. Rokitta, Sandra Tippenhauer, Yanpei Zhuang

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Microalgae are the main source of the omega‐3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), essential for the healthy development of most marine and terrestrial fauna including humans. Inverse correlations of algal EPA and DHA proportions (% of total fatty acids) with temperature have led to suggestions of a warming‐induced decline in the global production of these biomolecules and an enhanced importance of high latitude organisms for their provision. The cold Arctic Ocean is a potential hotspot of EPA and DHA production, but consequences of global warming are unknown. Here, we combine a full‐seasonal EPA and DHA dataset …

Production And Preservation Of Organic Carbon In Sub-Seafloor Tephra Layers, Jack Longman, Hayley R. Manners, Thomas M. Gernon, James Mcmanus, Martin R. Palmer, Steven J. Rowland, Paul A. Sutton

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The deposition of volcanic ash into the ocean initiates a range of chemical and biological reactions. During diagenesis, these reactions may enhance the preservation of organic carbon (OC) in marine sediments, which ultimately promotes CO2 sequestration from the ocean-atmosphere system. However, this interpretation is reliant on a small number of studies that make a link between tephra and OC burial. Here, we compare organic and inorganic geochemical data from tephra-bearing marine sediments from three sites that differ widely in their location, age, and composition. We show that OC is buried in, and proximal to, tephra layers, in proportions higher than …

Active Deformation Across The Western Anatolian Extensional Province (Türkiye) From Sentinel-1 Insar, Manuel-Lukas Diercks, Ekbal Hussain, Zoe Mildon, Sarah Boulton, Milan Lazecky

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Quantifying interseismic deformation of fault networks which are predominantly deforming in a north-south direction is challenging, because GNSS networks are usually not dense enough to resolve deformation at the level of individual faults. The alternative, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), provides high spatial resolution but is limited by a low sensitivity to N-S motion. We study the active normal fault network of Western Türkiye, which is undergoing rapid N-S extension, using InSAR. Since most faults in the study region are normal faults, we overcome the low N-S sensitivity by focusing on the vertical deformation component, which presents its own challenges. …

Aquatic Connectivity: Challenges And Solutions In A Changing Climate, Paul A. Franklin, Tea Bašić, Phil I. Davison, Katie Dunkley, Jonathan Ellis, Mayuresh Gangal, Alexia M. González-Ferreras, Catherine Gutmann Roberts, Georgina Hunt, Domino Joyce, C. Antonia Klöcker, Rachel Mawer, Timo Rittweg, Velizara Stoilova, Lee Frank Gordon Gutowsky

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The challenge of managing aquatic connectivity in a changing climate is exacerbated in the presence of additional anthropogenic stressors, social factors, and economic drivers. Here we discuss these issues in the context of structural and functional connectivity for aquatic biodiversity, specifically fish, in both the freshwater and marine realms. We posit that adaptive management strategies that consider shifting baselines and the socio-ecological implications of climate change will be required to achieve management objectives. The role of renewable energy expansion, particularly hydropower, is critically examined for its impact on connectivity. We advocate for strategic spatial planning that incorporates nature-positive solutions, ensuring …