Digital Commons Network^™

How Local Democratic Backsliding? Single Candidate, Pragmatism And Uncompetitive Local Head Election In Indonesia, Andi Luhur Prianto, Nina Yuslaini

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This paper will examine how pragmatism has created rational choice behavior in candidate selection. Pragmatism has resulted in single candidates for local heads, which makes local democracy uncompetitive. The research method used is an explanatory approach that aims to explain how pragmatism as a rational choice behavior in the local government head election. Data were collected, compiled and analyzed using Nvivo 12 Plus software. The results showed that political parties as political institutions are very pragmatic in the selection of candidates for local heads. The incumbents utilized the support of almost all political parties based on clientelistic and programmatic relations. …

Administrators’ Views Of Teacher Salary Changes Under The Arkansas Learns Act, Gema Zamarro, Andrew Camp, Josh Mcgee, Miranda Vernon

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

• We surveyed superintendents and principals statewide to understand their perspectives on the salary changes they implemented in response to the LEARNS Act and their future plans related to teacher compensation.
• Administrators reported that the teacher compensation changes required by the LEARNS Act are likely to help them better recruit and retain teachers.
• The primary goals administrators reported they have when designing teacher compensation include: being competitive with nearby districts, retaining existing teachers, and rewarding effective teachers.
• Administrators anticipate offering across-the-board pay increases but also appear open to implementing bonuses for effective teachers in their district.
• Most administrators, 69% of principals …

A Nearly Gapless, Highly Contiguous Reference Genome For A Doubled Haploid Line Of Populus Ussuriensis, Enabling Advanced Genomic Studies, Wenxuan Liu, Caixia Liu, Song Chen, Meng Wang, Xinyu Wang, Hairong Wei, Et Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

Populus species, particularly P. trichocarpa, have long served as model trees for genomics research, owing to fully sequenced genomes. However, the high heterozygosity, and the presence of repetitive regions, including centromeres and ribosomal RNA gene clusters, have left 59 unresolved gaps, accounting for approximately 3.32% of the P. trichocarpa genome. In this study, the callus induction method was improved to derive a doubled haploid (DH) callus line from P. ussuriensis anthers. Leveraging long-read sequencing, we successfully assembled a nearly gap-free, telomere-to-telomere (T2T) P. ussuriensis genome spanning 412.13 Mb. This genome assembly contains only seven gaps and has a contig …

A Framework For Building Strong School Culture: A Case Study On The Transformative Impacts Of Ethics Education On High School Students, Peter Cohen

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Recent education reforms to boost school accountability have overlooked the importance of school culture and have prioritized standardized academic achievement. The literature has highlighted the ways in which school culture can improve academic and behavioral outcomes for students, however, very little attention has been paid to the role of moral development in building strong school culture. The literature often neglects iterations of moral development other than character education, such as ethics education, as effective strategies for supporting students and their school environments. In an effort to fill these gaps, this thesis utilizes an auto ethnographic case study to analyze the …

High All-Cause Mortality And Increasing Proportion Of Older Adults With Tuberculosis In Texas, 2008–2020, Belinda A. Medrano, Miryoung Lee, Gretchen L. Gemeinhardt, Lana Yamba, Blanca I. Restrepo

School of Medicine Publications

Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) elimination efforts must consider the global growth of the ageing population. Here we used TB surveillance data from Texas, United States (2008–2020; total n = 10656) to identify unique characteristics and outcomes in older adults (OA, ≥65 years) with PTB, compared to young adults (YA, 18–39 years) or middle-aged adults (40–64 years). We found that the proportion of OA with PTB increased from 15% in 2008 to 24% in 2020 (trend p < 0.05). Diabetes was highly prevalent in OA (32%) but not associated with adverse outcomes. Death was 13-fold higher in OA compared to YA and was 7% at the time of diagnosis which suggests diagnostic delays. However, once TB was suspected, we found no differences in culture, smear, or nucleic acid detection of mycobacteria (although less lung cavitations) in OA. During treatment, OA had less drug-resistant TB, few adverse reactions and adhered with TB treatment. We recommend training healthcare workers to ‘think TB’ in OA, for prompt treatment initiation to diminish deaths. Furthermore, OA should be added as a priority group to the latent TB treatment guidelines by the World Health Organization, to prevent TB disease in this highly vulnerable group.

Contribution Of Fluorescent Primary Biological Aerosol Particles To Low-Level Arctic Cloud Residuals, Gabriel Pereira Freitas, Ben Kopec, Kouji Adachi, Radovan Krejci, Dominic Heslin-Rees, Karl Espen Yttri, Alun Hubbard, Jeffrey M. Welker, Paul Zieger

Michigan Tech Publications

Mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) are key players in the Arctic climate system due to their role in modulating solar and terrestrial radiation. Such radiative interactions rely, among other factors, on the ice content of MPCs, which is regulated by the availability of ice-nucleating particles (INPs). While it appears that INPs are associated with the presence of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) in the Arctic, the nuances of the processes and patterns of INPs and their association with clouds and moisture sources have not been resolved. Here, we investigated for a full year the abundance of and variability in fluorescent PBAPs (fPBAPs) …

Parallel Use Of Low-Complexity Automated Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests On Respiratory Samples And Stool With Or Without Lateral Flow Lipoarabinomannan Assays To Detect Pulmonary Tuberculosis Disease In Children, Laura Olbrich, Alexander W Kay, Stephanie Bjerrum, Bada Yang, Johanna Åhsberg, Ruvandhi R Nathavitharana, Andreas Lundh, Maunank Shah, Devan Jaganath

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (diagnostic). The objectives are as follows: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of the parallel use of low-complexity automated nucleic acid amplification tests on respiratory and stool specimens in children and lateral flow urine lipoarabinomannan amongst children with HIV versus each assay alone for detecting pulmonary tuberculosis. Secondary objectives To compare the diagnostic accuracy of low-complexity automated nucleic acid amplification tests on respiratory and stool specimens in combination versus each sample type alone. To investigate the following sources of heterogeneity: clinical setting, signs and symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis disease, screening positivity by chest …

Comprehensive Peripheral Blood Immunoprofiling Reveals Five Immunotypes With Immunotherapy Response Characteristics In Patients With Cancer, Daniiar Dyikanov, Aleksandr Zaitsev, Tatiana Vasileva, Iris Wang, Arseniy Sokolov, Evgenii Bolshakov, Alena Frank, Polina Turova, Olga Golubeva, Anna Gantseva, Anna Kamysheva, Polina Shpudeiko, Ilya Krauz, Mary Abdou, Madison Chasse, Tori Conroy, Nicholas Merriam, Julia Alesse, Noel English, Boris Shpak, Anna Shchetsova, Evgenii Tikhonov, Ivan Filatov, Anastasia Radko, Anastasiia Bolshakova, Anastasia Kachalova, Nika Lugovykh, Andrey Bulahov, Anastasiia Kilina, Syimyk Asanbekov, Irina Zheleznyak, Pavel Skoptsov, Evgenia Alekseeva, Jennifer Johnson, Joseph Curry, Alban Linnenbach, Andrew South, Enjun Yang, Kirill Morozov, Anastasiya Terenteva, Lira Nigmatullina, Dmitry Fastovetz, Anatoly Bobe, Linda Balabanian, Krystle Nomie, Sheila Yong, Christopher Davitt, Alexander Ryabykh, Olga Kudryashova, Cagdas Tazearslan, Alexander Bagaev, Nathan Fowler, Adam Luginbuhl, Ravshan Ataullakhanov, Michael Goldberg

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

The lack of comprehensive diagnostics and consensus analytical models for evaluating the status of a patient's immune system has hindered a wider adoption of immunoprofiling for treatment monitoring and response prediction in cancer patients. To address this unmet need, we developed an immunoprofiling platform that uses multiparameter flow cytometry to characterize immune cell heterogeneity in the peripheral blood of healthy donors and patients with advanced cancers. Using unsupervised clustering, we identified five immunotypes with unique distributions of different cell types and gene expression profiles. An independent analysis of 17,800 open-source transcriptomes with the same approach corroborated these findings. Continuous immunotype-based …

Impact Of Renal Cell Carcinoma Molecular Subtypes On Immunotherapy And Targeted Therapy Outcomes, Renée Maria Saliby, Chris Labaki, Tejas R Jammihal, Wanling Xie, Maxine Sun, Valisha Shah, Eddy Saad, M Harry Kane, Soki Kashima, Katherine Sadak, Talal El Zarif, Deepak Poduval, Robert J Motzer, Thomas Powles, Brian I Rini, Laurence Albiges, Sumanta K Pal, Bradley A Mcgregor, Rana R Mckay, Sabina Signoretti, Eliezer M Van Allen, Sachet A Shukla, Toni K Choueiri, David A Braun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Saliby et al. show that a machine learning approach can accurately classify clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) into distinct molecular subtypes using transcriptomic data. When applied to tumors biospecimens from the JAVELIN Renal 101 (JR101) trial, a benefit is observed with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based therapy across all molecular subtypes.

Mammographic Density Mediates The Protective Effect Of Early-Life Body Size On Breast Cancer Risk, Marina Vabistsevits, George Davey Smith, Tom G Richardson, Rebecca C Richmond, Weiva Sieh, Joseph H Rothstein, Laurel A Habel, Stacey E Alexeeff, Bethan Lloyd-Lewis, Eleanor Sanderson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The unexplained protective effect of childhood adiposity on breast cancer risk may be mediated via mammographic density (MD). Here, we investigate a complex relationship between adiposity in childhood and adulthood, puberty onset, MD phenotypes (dense area (DA), non-dense area (NDA), percent density (PD)), and their effects on breast cancer. We use Mendelian randomization (MR) and multivariable MR to estimate the total and direct effects of adiposity and age at menarche on MD phenotypes. Childhood adiposity has a decreasing effect on DA, while adulthood adiposity increases NDA. Later menarche increases DA/PD, but when accounting for childhood adiposity, this effect is attenuated. …

Mongolian Pastoralist Parents’ Experiences In Managing Their Primary School Children’S Living Arrangements, Batdulam Sukhbaatar Dr, Klára Tarkó Dr, Batkhand Sukhbaatar Mr

The Qualitative Report

Sending children, especially six-year-old ones, to school put pressure on pastoralist or herder households to balance their livestock herding needs and their children’s schooling needs at the same time. Due to remote campsites located in isolated rural areas far from any schools, pastoralists need to arrange a place for their children to stay during the school year. In this interpretive phenomenological study, we explored pastoralist parents’ experiences in managing different living arrangements for their primary school children during the school year. We conducted semi-structured interviews with five pastoralist parents from a remote county (an administrative division under a province) in …

Second Reaction: Small Things, Erin K. West

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

Words Matter: Ensuring The Inclusion Of Neurodivergent Populations In The Digital Surveillance Of Depression And Suicidal Ideation, Kathryn Egan

Dissertations - ALL

This research study investigates the linguistic characteristics of discourse related to depression and suicidal ideation among autistic women, with the aim of identifying potential biases in digital surveillance models. The inclusion of neurodivergent populations in such models is crucial for ensuring equitable representation and accurate understanding of mental health issues. Data was collected from Reddit, a popular online platform known for its diverse user-generated content. Specifically, two subreddits—r/AutismInWomen and r/aspergirls—dedicated to discussions regarding autism in women were utilized, alongside a general subreddit focused on depression (r/depression). The study employed qualitative methods such as human annotation and topic analysis using BERTopic …

Evil We Desire: Akrasia And The Ethics Of Conspiracy Rhetoric, Andrew Ridgeway

Dissertations - ALL

My dissertation reimagines the work of four prominent rhetorical theorists—Aristotle, Plato, Augustine of Hippo, and Kenneth Burke—through the lens of psychoanalysis to develop a theory of rhetorical ethics that accounts for the subject’s relationship to libidinal satisfaction, or jouissance. In each chapter, I will examine a useful example of conspiracist rhetoric, which will double as both a case study and a point of departure for a Lacanian reimaging of a prominent rhetorical theory or concept. In the first chapter, I examine the “Stop the Steal” conspiracy and the January 6th insurrection to argue that Aristotle’s description of akrasia, or moral …

Disability And Sibling Identity: An Arts-Based Inquiry, Linnea Franits

Dissertations - ALL

This exploration into how sibling disability impacts identity utilizes qualitative, arts-based methodologies to generate data and situates this knowledge in an examination of other text-based and visually-based sibling memoirs. I rely on autoethnographic techniques with photography, assemblage and photo-elicitation using family photographs and medical images to explore my narrative identity and how my sister’s impairments and disability have impacted that. Five themes became crystalized as I recursively examined the data, led by the most expansive finding that sibling disability can create an epistemology or unique way of knowing that is different from other examples of embodied knowledge. Qualities of this …

The Sociological Determinants Of Entrepreneurial Performance: A Study Of Structural Barriers, Creative Strategies, And Heterogeneity Amongst Remi Entrepreneurs In The United States, El-Java Abdul-Qadir

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation investigates the sociological determinants of entrepreneurial performance. Drawing on in-depth interview data collected from 30 individuals who identified as racial, ethnic minority, and immigrant (REMI) entrepreneurs, I focus on the mechanisms at play as they engage in entrepreneurship as a means of social and economic upward mobility. The integration of interdisciplinary theory, literature, and methodologies used in this dissertation leads to unique practical recommendations, research implications, and policy interventions. Through a qualitative investigation and analysis of data collected which captured and documented the lived experiences of REMI entrepreneurs, this dissertation explores the challenges they face on the road …

Three Essays On The Policy Process Of Subnational Industrial Policymaking In China, Shiyang Xiao

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation consists of four chapters that focus on the policy process of provincial industrial policymaking targeting the manufacturing sector in China. In the first chapter, I introduce an original dataset called the "Chinese Industrial Policy Attention Dataset" (CIPAD). CIPAD contains 612 central-level and 1907 provincial-level Chinese industrial policies issued between 2001 and 2019. A novel design of CIPAD is that the full text of each industrial policy is transformed into a distribution-of-attention vector which records the attention allocation of each policy among 155 finely segmented industrial categories in the manufacturing sector. By transforming industrial policies into distribution-of-attention vectors, CIPAD …

How Disruptions In Indirect Procurement Impact An Organization’S Adoption Of Technology, Rachel Rutkoski

Dissertations - ALL

Procurement is an essential part of supply chain management. Organizations of all sizes and in all industries depend on procurement to ensure that they buy the right product from the right supplier at the right price and time for the continuity of business operations. Since purchasing products at the right price is a critical part of the profitability of an organization, procurement has a direct impact on an organization’s bottom line. Mature, forward-thinking organizations consider eProcurement technology to be a competitive advantage to have an eProcurement technology that generates cost savings and increases productivity and the efficient use of resources. …

The Role Of Acculturation Strategies In Relation To Honor And Sexuality Attitudes, Sexism, Conservatism, And Religiosity Among Turkish Immigrants Living In The U.S., Ayse Duygu Cakirsoy Aslan

Dissertations - ALL

The purpose of this research was to understand the complex relationships between acculturation strategies and attitudes towards sexuality (particularly the specific Turkish-related concept of “namus”) in the Turkish acculturating community. Studies exploring the acculturation process of other immigrant groups in the U.S. have revealed a generally liberalizing impact of different acculturation processes on gender role and sexuality attitudes of immigrants. However, there has been very little work specifically focusing on the Turkish immigrant community, particularly in the American context. Turkey is one of the countries known to have a culture of honor, where family honor (namus) is tied to a …

Chemistry Professor Named 2024 Distinguished Researcher, Clara Turnage

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi recognized chemistry professor Nathan Hammer for his exceptional teaching, research, creativity and service during the 2024 spring faculty meeting.

Brand Market Factor And User Experience Enhanced Charging Space Design For Electric Vehicle, Hao Lu

Theses - ALL

With electric vehicles gradually replacing traditional petrol vehicles in the global market, charging stations usually provide a variety of different charging scenarios and modes to meet the needs of users in different usage scenarios. How to help brands establish standardized charging spaces in the US and China based on local user needs is a problem that needs to be solved. First, the article explores brand market (B-market) factors and user experience factors in EV charging spaces through a literature review. Second, the thesis took China and the United States, which have an advanced position in the global EV market, as …

Glittered Realities, Dramatic Bodies: Abject, Camp, And Empathy, Grace Otten

Theses - ALL

Glittered Realities, Dramatic Bodies: Abject, Camp, and Empathy explores the roles of disgust, social performance, and compassion within my art practice. This essay examines empathetic aesthetics as a tool for strengthening the relationship between the artist and the viewer, while also delving into the repulsiveness of abject art and the performative elements of Camp. Through thematic sections focusing on sculpture and video performance art, Glittered Realities, Dramatic Bodies: Abject, Camp, and Empathy illustrates how bodily experience and identity exploration contends that understanding human vulnerability and the interplay between abjection, theatricality, and empathy enriches both an art practice and worldview.

Anti-Automobile Supremacy: Social Media Narratives And The Popular Resistance Against Car-Centric Urban Landscapes, Allen Huang

Theses - ALL

The purpose of this research paper is to discover the content strategies employed by social media content creators living in North America who try to use their platforms and voices to build a popular counternarrative against the systemic framework of automobile supremacy. Automobile supremacy refers to the systemic prioritization of automobiles as the predominant mode of transportation through intentional design that justifies compulsory consumption while downplaying dangerous consequences. To understand content creator strategies, this study interviewed 25 adult social media content creators who live in North America who regularly share anti-automobile supremacy content and asked them 15 semi-structured questions to …

Nomadic Culture And The Pre-Islamic Era Of Turkic Civilizations: A Study Of Shamanism, Lifestyle, And A Modern Societal Reinterpretation, Atagun Ilhan

Theses - ALL

This thesis serves as an exploration of my cultural heritage during the pre-Islamic era of the Turks. I find this topic particularly significant because the pre-Islamic era often receives little attention in Turkey's cultural discourse, and there are even efforts to erase this era, largely influenced by the indoctrination policies of Islamic-driven Turkish governments. My aim is to delve into the cultural, religious, and diverse modes of living of the pre-Islamic nomadic Turkic people who inhabited Eastern Asia. The investigation begins by elucidating Nomadism within its geographical context. Furthermore, it delves into cultural and religious aspects such as shamanism, temples, …

Selling Water To A Fish: Study Of The Visual Narrative In Tourism Advertising, Ziwei Aletta Ren

Theses - ALL

In the new era dominated by visual culture, the realm of tourism increasingly relies on artistic tales to brand and market destinations. The power of storytelling, intertwined with art, can invite viewers to create psychological and emotional connections with corners of the world yet unexplored. This thesis explores the profound role of visual narratives in tourism advertising, revealing how they forge emotional and psychological connections between viewers and unexplored places. From the historical roots of advertising in ancient civilizations to the modern digital age, visual narratives have evolved to meet the changing desires of travelers, emphasizing authenticity and immersive experiences. …

The Effects Of Classification Versus Observation During Category Learning, Enoch Sarakpo

Theses - ALL

We report a category-learning experiment that examines the learning outcomes of classification and observational training methods across three category structures. Thus, we crossed training (classification vs. observation) and category type (natural vs. featural vs. relational). Some subjects classified the stimuli (side-by-side bird pairs) and received corrective feedback after each response, whereas others studied these stimuli, wherein they were presented with the corresponding category label. The posttest was an endorsement task made up of repeated and novel items. We did find an observation training advantage, as subjects in the observation training were better in the natural and relational categories for the …

A Systematic Review Of The Acceptability Of Functional Behavior Assessments And Behavior Intervention Plans, Siani Ym Amidon

Theses - ALL

Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP) are assessment and intervention procedures that are used to address maladaptive behaviors among school children and youth. Kazdin (1977) defined intervention acceptability as the subjective evaluation and judgment of intervention success, which can impact intervention development, effectiveness, and usage. Given the limited research in the field, the purpose of this systematic review was to explore the extent to which acceptability assessments have been conducted regarding FBAs and BIPs and how this information may be used to inform intervention development or modification. PsycINFO and ERIC(EBSCO) database searches identified 11 studies, including a …

Indigenous Artistic Activism And The (Re)Envisioned Landscape: Decolonizing Settler Land Knowledge, Hannah Lorell Sparks

Theses - ALL

In this thesis I investigate mimetic Indigenous artwork as a productive site of settler colonial disruption. More specifically, I attend to the potential of these artworks to disorient romantic habits of viewing landscapes. Framed as a critique of settler logics, I argue that the underlying ideologies of Euro-American romantic landscape art have tracked from the 19th-century to today to produce an illusory, aestheticized view of nature as grand and empty, distancing settlers from the material realities of land use and the violence of settler colonialism. In a contributory attempt to decolonize settler understandings of and relations to land, I look …

Social Closeness And Body Mass Index: Implications For Adolescent Suicide, Megan Milligan

Theses - ALL

Research on Body Mass Index (BMI) as a predictor of adolescent suicidality has been mixed, and though some extant findings point to an association between elevated BMI and suicide, it remains unclear how suicidality differs between categorical weight groups (i.e., healthy weight, overweight, obese weight determined by BMI percentile). Adolescents with elevated BMI face disproportionate risk for social rejection and bullying, both of which predict suicidality. Thus, more information is needed regarding between-group differences in suicide-related outcomes by weight status and potential social factors that may be protective across weight groups. The present study leveraged a nationally-representative dataset to examine …

Black Walnut Tree Health Distribution In An Urban Landscape, Gabriel Smith

Theses - ALL

Food access and climate change are two of the greatest challenges facing an increasingly urbanized society. Within cities, trees play a critical role for people and the planet, providing solutions to food insecurity and closing the metabolic rift. Trees provide food for human and non-human communities, shelter for biodiversity, and microclimate regulation. In this context, the health of trees is paramount because of the connection between species health and the capacity to provide services. Eastern black walnut (BW) trees (Juglans nigra) are an important and underutilized native nut tree in the Northeastern US. The kernel has the highest protein content …