Digital Commons Network^™

“Go, Rebuild My House”: Empowering The Church Of The Poor Through The Eyes Of Saint Vincent De Paul, Daniel Franklin E. Pilario

Vincentian Studies

Daniel Franklin E. Pilario interprets the Vincentian charism by relating the concepts of mercy, mission, and synodality to Vincent de Paul’s teaching and ministry. Pope Francis has identified these as the keys to the Church’s reform, which is meant as the Christian response to suffering. Mercy (or compassion) is God’s defining characteristic. As Vincent de Paul taught, God was incarnated as a servant of the world to relieve its pain. We, who are made in God’s image, should therefore also be defined by compassion. If we are, then our most fundamental religious practice (mission) is service to the poor. Mission …

Beyond Charity: The Development Of The Mission Of The Daughters Of Charity In Sub-Saharan Africa, Theresa Eke

Vincentian Studies

Theresa Eke recounts the history of the Daughters of Charity’s service in Africa and explains the evolution of their approach to poverty alleviation there. The Daughters learned the importance of knowing the cultures and languages of those they served. At first, they addressed poverty with donations of material goods, but later they empowered the poor, teaching them skills and helping them establish farms and businesses, particularly through helping them to purchase equipment. They learned to listen to what the poor themselves said would help them. They supported high school and university education, especially for women and girls. The Daughters also …

Fight At The Museum: An Ethnographic Study Investigating Staff And Volunteers At Wwii Museums And Memorials, Miranda Noland

Master's Theses

Museums are places where events of the past can be explained, appreciated, and understood. While efforts are often taken to provide a neutral position in the presentation of complicated and emotional historical events, there may exist external pressure to present a more overtly nationalist narrative to please a particular audience or group of funders (Fujitani 1997). This creates a conflict of interest with respect to fair, accurate, and/or honest representation (White 1997b) for museum staff to navigate.

The goal of this thesis is to investigate stories that museums are permitted to tell within the context of Japanese and American narratives …

Lack Of Inflammatory Response In Mouse Embryonic Cells To Listeria Infection, Damilola Oyebode

Master's Theses

Approximately 1 in 5 pregnancies in the United States results in miscarriage, with a significant percentage of these losses attributed to failed implantation due to immunological challenges encountered by the early embryo. Recent research has shown that key cell types within mouse blastocysts, including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and trophoblast stem cells (TSCs), exhibit remarkable resilience against the cytotoxic effects associated with viral infections and embryotoxic cytokines, such as TNFα and IFNγ, both of which are known to hinder blastocyst development. However, the immune properties of the preimplantation stage embryo, specifically the blastocyst, remain poorly understood. Using mouse cell model, …

Making Social Interactions Accessible For The Blind And Low-Vision People By Detecting Emotions Through Vocal Tone, Facial Expressions, And Body Language, Gautham Krishna

Theses

Despite the thriving research in the field of accessibility, there are several niche area where there is a need for specific solutions. One such area is social interaction. Blind and Low-Vision people (BLV) are limited in identifying emotions through verbal communication alone, which is often biased and unreliable in certain environments. Prior research illustrates the importance of body language in expressions and articulates the mechanism behind human emotions. Drawing inspiratoin from such research and various studies that were focused on emotion recognition systems, our research focused on identifying a portable accessible solution for BLV that classified emotion based on multi-modal …

Conservative Management Of A Rare Clinical Phenomenon: Paraspinal Compartment Syndrome - A Review Of Existing Literature., Mark Lagreca, Arash Badragheh, Nathan Jones, Thomas Falconiero, Brian Danshaw

Orthopedic Surgery Resident Research

INTRODUCTION: This review of case series and case reports explores conservative management strategies for paraspinal compartment syndrome (PCS), a rare clinical condition. Extremity compartment syndrome has been shown to be managed most effectively with emergent surgical release of the fascial compartment. Given the rarity of PCS and the paucity of research in the literature, some authors have suggested the possibility of conservative treatment. There has been no study to date that has specifically investigated the cases of non-operative management of PCS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: There are 16 case reports in the literature with 22 cases of PCS treated conservatively. The …

Marianismo:Challenging Traditional Mexican-American Roles For Women, Clarissa Aileen Montalvo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

While plentiful research has examined Machismo as a gender role norm for Mexican men, little has examined the role of women’s traditional Marianismo roles. Research identifies 5 “pillars” of Marianismo: family, virtuosity, subordination, self-silencing, and spirituality. I was interested in whether adhering to some traditional pillars of Marianismo (e.g., family) allow women to break away from other, more oppressive pillars (e.g., subordination, self-silencing). I tested whether traditional Marianismo beliefs impact women’s general mental health, and whether differences in traditional beliefs influence the degree to which women can be challenged to push back against more negative pillars by focusing on the …

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity And Virologic Failure Among People With Hiv: A Cohort Study In All Of Us Research Program, Fanghui Shi, Ruilie Cai, Buwei He, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Xueying Yang Ph.D., Sharon Weissman, Bankole Olatosi Ph.D., Jiajia Zhang Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background: Sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) are at higher risk of HIV incidence compared to their heterosexual cisgender counterparts. Despite the high HIV disease burden among SGMs, there was limited data on whether they are at higher risk of virologic failure, which may lead to potential disease progression and increased transmission risk. The All of Us (AoU) Research Program, a national community-engaged program aiming to improve health and facilitate health equity in the United States by partnering with one million participants, provides a promising resource for identifying a diverse and large volunteer TGD cohort. Leveraging various data sources available through …

The Dynamic Risk Factors Of Cardiovascular Disease Among People Living With Hiv: A Real-World Data Study, Ziang Liu, Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Xueying Yang Ph.D., Haoyuan Gao, Shujie Chen, Sharon Weissman, Bankole Olatosi Ph.D., Xiaoming Li Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background: This study aims to investigate the incidence and dynamic risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among people living with HIV (PLWH).

Methods: In this population-based statewide cohort study, we utilized integrated electronic health records data to identify adult (age ≥ 18) who were diagnosed with HIV between 2006 and 2019 and were CVD event-free at the HIV diagnosis in South Carolina. The associations of HIV-related factors and traditional risk factors with the CVD incidence were investigated during the overall study period, and by different follow-up periods (i.e., 0-5yrs, 6-10yrs 11-15yrs) using multivariable logistic regression models.

Results: Among 9,082 eligible …

Implementing Youth Mental Health First Aid Training In Cooperative Extension Programs, Anne Marie Iaccopucci, Monica M. Lobenstein, Kendra M. Lewis, Kea Norrell-Aitch

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Mental health challenges for youth continue to be a growing concern. Youth- serving organizations have the potential to play a significant role in recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in youth. The Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training course is widely used to equip adults working with youth with skills to support mental health and de-escalate crisis situations. Cooperative Extension is a trusted organization in many local communities nationwide that delivers YMHFA. Program Leaders from 11 states, representing all five regions of Cooperative Extension, describe their successes and challenges in implementing YMHFA. Experienced program leaders suggest …

An Evaluation Of Health Rocks! With A Control Group, Dan Wang, Yunqi Wang, Maria R. De Guzman, Yan R. Xia, Kieu-Anh T. Do, Zhenqiao Yang

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Youth substance use challenges their health and well-being. There is research and practical need for rigorous evaluation of substance use prevention programs in prompting positive youth development. This study examined the program effectiveness of Health Rocks!, a youth substance use prevention program, with a quasi-experimental two-factor mixed evaluation design. We gathered data from 584 participants (i.e., 475 youth in the treatment group and 109 youth in the control group) and conducted paired-sample t-tests for each group to compare youth substance use-related outcomes before and after the training. Results showed that youth in the treatment group reported significant increases in substance …

Comparing Virtual And In-Person Delivery Modes Of A Preschool Stem School Readiness Program During The Pandemic, Yaebin Kim, Courtney E. Lyons, William P. Evans, Dan Weigel

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

This study describes the transition of a preschool STEM school readiness program from in-person to virtual programming during the early pandemic phase, examines in-person and virtual program data to understand the effectiveness of these two program delivery modes, and presents lessons learned from this abrupt transition. Results suggest that in-person and virtual classes were effective and equivalent on parent ratings and program monitoring variables. Future study will be needed to fully determine the cost-benefit impacts of in-person, virtual, and hybrid program delivery models on STEM school readiness and other family engagement programs.

News You Can Use— Helping Older Adults Make Informed Food Choices, Chih-Cheng Lu, Sarah Francis

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

This cross-sectional study investigates the impact of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) Nutrition Education With Seniors (NEWS) program on the food-related challenges faced by older adults. The study used quarterly evaluations spanning 2012 to 2022, focusing on the application of newsletter information; 3,281 surveys were completed. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were employed for sociodemographic analysis, while z-tests with Bonferroni correction compared column proportions. Respondents were primarily female (64.5%), aged 60-69 (52.1%). Many encountered a decreased food supply (47.1%), yet experienced no impacts from these changes (47.3%.) Most used NEWS information for food choices (79.7%) and resource management (83.9%), …

Changes In Nutrition, Food Safety, And Physical Activity Behaviors: A Comparison Between The Peak Health And Performance And Teen Cuisine Curricula, Tyler B. Becker, Ronald J. Gibbs Jr.

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

This study compared the Peak Health and Performance curriculum (PHP) to the Teen Cuisine curriculum (TC) on improving nutrition, food safety, and physical activity (PA) behaviors among youth. The quasi-experimental study was conducted in Michigan middle and high schools and included 1007 5th- through 12th-grade students, who participated in either the PHP or the TC curriculum. There were 465 students in the PHP group and 495 students in the TC group. Nutrition, food safety, and PA behaviors were surveyed before and after each program. Individual curriculum pre- and post-scores were compared using a paired t-test, and between-group changes were examined …

Understanding Extension-Library Partnerships: Results From A Three-State Survey, Noah Lenstra, Gary Deziel

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

When attending to community needs, collaboration across community organizations yields outcomes that are dynamic and sustaining. Given the interest in collaboration across organizations, and the desire to understand how these partnerships occur, this study sought to explore the collaborative efforts of Extension and public libraries in three states: Kentucky, North Carolina, and Vermont. Foundational information was gathered regarding programming within this partnership, alignment of efforts, and the experiences of partnering from the perspectives of both Extension and library staff, including successes and challenges. Most considered collaboration an expansion to their reach and determined that results included enhanced engagement through cooperation, …

Montclair Magazine (Fall/Winter 2024), Montclair State University

Montclair: The magazine of Montclair State University

No abstract provided.

Head-On, Alex Fisher

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

The Association Between Childhood Trauma And Adulthood Depression And Posttraumatic Symptoms. Mediated Through Emotion Regulation And Perceived Social Support., Josue David Luna Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Depression and posttraumatic stress are two psychological consequences commonly reported by adults exposed to adverse childhood experiences. High prevalence of childhood adversities in the United States is a significant concern. Despite this, the specific causal mechanisms connecting childhood adversity to adult psychopathology remain undiscovered and require further research. This research aimed to determine whether perceived social support, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression, two alternate forms of emotion regulation, would independently mediate the link between adverse childhood experiences and psychopathology in adulthood among a sample of U.S. Hispanic students. A total of 814 undergraduate students completed an anonymous online battery of …

Relative Uptake Of Tomato Carotenoids By In Vitro Intestinal And Prostate Cancer Cells, Nancy E Moran, Brianna Alexander, Shivi Garg, Nathan Marchant, Noor A Hason

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Consumption of tomatoes and tomato carotenoids is associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Prostate tissue accumulates tomato carotenoids, including lycopene, β-carotene, and phytoene. Phytoene accumulation is relatively greater in the prostate than that of lycopene, but the metabolic determinants of tissue carotenoid profiles are poorly understood.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in stability, cellular uptake, and clearance of phytoene compared with lycopene or β-carotene by prostate and intestinal cells may explain differences in observed tissue carotenoid profiles.

Methods: Gene and protein expression for carotenoid metabolism in prostate cell lines were analyzed …

Are Prediction Models Moving Closer To Clinical Application In The Diagnosis Of Type Of Diabetes In Youth?, Fida Bacha

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Distorted Narratives In The Treatment Program Complex, Evelyn Lia Malavé

Fordham Law Review

Problem-solving courts and alternatives to incarceration have been both celebrated as successful attempts to address the factors that lead to defendants’ involvement in the criminal legal system and critiqued as ineffective reforms that worsen mass incarceration. Specifically, critiques of the “treatment program complex” have tended to focus on how it harms defendants by exposing them to higher levels of incarceration if they fail to complete court mandates. But these critiques have failed to account for another way the treatment program complex harms defendants: by suppressing their voices regarding what kind of help they need and how they are affected by …

Compelling Compliance: An Analysis Of Methods For Enforcing New York’S Compulsory Education Law As Applied To Haredi Yeshivas, Kaitlyn Sivertsen

Fordham Law Review

This Note explains recent findings that many of New York’s Haredi yeshivas are failing to comply with the compulsory education laws and advocacy for the state to heighten enforcement. It examines other community members’ opposition to this belief and numerous legal challenges. This Note advances legal scholarship by pointing out that although these debates regarding education and religious freedom are important, in the context of New York’s Haredi yeshivas, they are futile without also recognizing that New York’s statute does not provide for efficient means of enforcement. There is little to no existing literature on this specific issue. Thus, this …

Exploring Keebet Von Benda-Beckmann's Legal Pluralism In Slum Transformation: An Ethnographic Study Of Urban Revitalization In Indonesia, Imam Koeswahyono, Diah Pawestri Maharani, Nadyah Maylika Rahmawati, Ika Ismudyahwati

The Indonesian Journal of Socio-Legal Studies

Slum areas in Indonesia present a significant challenge, with government programs such as the National Slum Upgrading Program (NSUP) aiming to address urban poverty and improve living conditions. Despite the implementation of formal policies, the interplay between legal frameworks and local practices often determines the success of such initiatives. Drawing on Keebet von Benda-Beckmann’s theory of legal pluralism, this research examines the transformation of slums into productive and sustainable zones, focusing on Kampung Jodipan, Kampung Heritage Kajoetangan, and Kampung Kreatif Dago Pojok. These case studies reveal how formal legal systems interact with informal norms and community-driven practices in achieving urban …

Question-Attentive Review-Level Explanation For Neural Rating Regression, Trung Hoang Le, Hady Wirawan Lauw

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recommendation explanations help to improve their acceptance by end users. Explanations come in many different forms. One that is of interest here is presenting an existing review of the recommended item as the explanation. The challenge is in selecting a suitable review, which is customarily addressed by assessing the relative importance or “attention” of each review to the recommendation objective. Our focus is improving review-level explanation by leveraging additional information in the form of questions and answers (QA). The proposed framework employs QA in an attention mechanism that aligns reviews to various QAs of an item and assesses their contribution …

User Acceptance Of Advice By Ai Agents: Expectation-System Fit Perspective, Jingyuan Cai, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Algorithms have increasing influence on our daily decisions, especially when the recommendations are presented by human-like AI agents. This study applies the Theory of Effective Use to investigate how the fit between the user’s role expectation for an AI agent and the agent’s interaction style impacts AI advice adoption. We proposed a new concept termed Perceived Expectation-System Fit (PESF) and empirically examined its impact on user perceptions and advice acceptance. We found that low PESF reduces advice acceptance by diminishing cognitive and affective trust in the AI agent. Furthermore, increased algorithm transparency increases PESF's impact on decision-making. Our findings provide …

December 2024 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

The Inclusion Of Metacognition In Source Evaluation Instruction, Anthony Tardiff

Communications in Information Literacy

Though the ACRL Framework holds metacognition as crucial to exercising information literacy, its emphasis was reduced from prominence in early drafts to a single mention in the final document. At the same time, few of the frequently-taught sets of source evaluation criteria include a step for self-awareness. This raises the question: do librarians explicitly teach metacognitive concepts when they teach source evaluation? Online library guides about source evaluation from various colleges and universities in Washington state were analyzed, and librarians who taught source evaluation were surveyed to determine whether and to what extent metacognitive concepts were included as part of …

Thinking And Doing Beyond Science And Risk Communication As Mere Transmission, Inez Z. Ponce De Leon

Department of Communication Faculty Publications

I look back on my professional experience as both bench and social scientist, and examine my misun derstandings of science communication as a field, which were fueled by my ideologically-driven stance on the primacy of the bench sciences over all other fields of study. I begin with my work as a molecular biologist, continue with my socialization into the social sciences at the PhD level, and narrate my ex periences as a researcher attempting to break down the notion of science and risk communication as mere vessels for sharing scientific information. I do this by discussing my research findings, and …

Understanding The Association Between Neighborhoods And Adolescent Sleep: Evidence From Add Health, Sam J Neally, Breanna J P Rogers, Yangyang Deng, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, Qian Xiao, Kosuke Tamura

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Research suggests that perceived neighborhood social environments (PNSE) may contribute to gender and race/ethnicity-based sleep disparities. Our study aimed to examine associations between PNSE factors and adolescents' sleep patterns. As a secondary aim, we examined how gender and race/ethnic groups might moderate these associations.

METHOD: Data came from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n=5158; mean age=15.34 years). Four self-reported sleep outcomes were created: 1) sleep duration (hours/night), 2) short sleep (≥8 hours [reference] vs <8 >hours), 3) parental set bedtime (10:00 PM/earlier [reference] among girls vs by 11:00PM vs by/after 12:00AM), and 4) sleep satisfaction (enough …

Genetic Architecture Of Cerebrospinal Fluid And Brain Metabolite Levels And The Genetic Colocalization Of Metabolites With Human Traits, Ciyang Wang, Chengran Yang, Daniel Western, Muhammad Ali, Yueyao Wang, Chia-Ling Phuah, John Budde, Lihua Wang, Priyanka Gorijala, Jigyasha Timsina, Agustin Ruiz, Pau Pastor, Maria Victoria Fernandez, Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (Dian), Alzheimer’S Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (Adni), Daniel J Panyard, Corinne D Engelman, Yuetiva Deming, Merce Boada, Amanda Cano, Pablo Garcia-Gonzalez, Neill R Graff-Radford, Hiroshi Mori, Jae-Hong Lee, Richard J Perrin, Laura Ibanez, Yun Ju Sung, Carlos Cruchaga

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Brain metabolism perturbation can contribute to traits and diseases. We conducted a genome-wide association study for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain metabolite levels, identifying 205 independent associations (47.3% new signals, containing 11 new loci) for 139 CSF metabolites, and 32 independent associations (43.8% new signals, containing 4 new loci) for 31 brain metabolites. Of these, 96.9% (CSF) and 71.4% (brain) of the new signals belonged to previously analyzed metabolites in blood or urine. We integrated the metabolite quantitative trait loci (MQTLs) with 23 neurological, psychiatric and common human traits and diseases through colocalization to identify metabolites and biological processes implicated …