Digital Commons Network^™

Feedback Loops: Going Negative, Patrick Barry

Articles

Aelet Fishbach is a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business who has studied how people seek out and process negative feedback. One of the ways she has done this is through a classroom exercise in which she divides the students into two groups: feedback givers and feedback receivers. The givers are told to pair up with a receiver and communicate the following feedback in a one-on-one setting: The person's performance s unsatisfactory; improvement is needed; and there are concrete ways they can get on the right track.

Bridging Language Education Fields: An Interview With Kim Potowski, Paula Garrett-Rucks, Jason A. Kemp

Dimensions

At the beginning of the year (2024), interviewers Jason Kemp and Paula Garrett- Rucks had the pleasure of meeting with Kim Potowski over Zoom in a video- recorded, semi-structured interview to discuss Language Education. Transcripts from the recording were slightly edited and organized in the following question and response structure

Expanding Conversations: Experiential Learning Through Film In Asynchronous Online World Language Courses, Kelly F. Davidson, Karen Acosta

Dimensions

Many educators face challenges with online learning since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Online modalities became common in world language courses; however, challenges remain in creating communicative contexts. This study examined university student perceptions of an experiential learning sequence using films in Spanish and French at the intermediate level in an asynchronous online environment. Students were required to watch a movie and complete activities related to language and culture learning goals, followed by an in-depth survey about the experience. Participants expressed positive perceptions of the activities, finding them helpful in increasing interest and motivation, as well as in expanding their thinking …

Dimensions Volume 59 - Full Issue, Paula Garrett-Rucks, Jason A. Kemp

Dimensions

SCOLT Dimensions Volume 59

Fostering Novice L2 Pleasure Reading: The Role Of Comprehension, Text Difficulty, And Enjoyment, Victoria Rodrigo

Dimensions

This study reviews the effect of comprehension and perceived text difficulty in promoting reading enjoyment and interest to read more among novice learners practicing extensive and pleasure reading. Sixty-seven college students in their first semester of Spanish were asked to read a children-like story picture book in Spanish and were then given both a comprehension test and a brief perception questionnaire about how much they had enjoyed the story, how difficult they thought the reading had been, and whether they had interest to read more. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses show that (1) students’ perception on the level of difficulty …

Living In The ‘Blue Zone’ Of A Sea-Level Rise Inundation Map: Community Perceptions Of Coastal Flooding In King Salmon, California, Laurie Richmond, Kristina Kunkel

Local Reports and Publications

As sea-level rise (SLR) inundation maps proliferate, it is important to study their politics – both how they are created and how they act upon and shape various lives and places. This paper uses the example of King Salmon, CA – a rural, low-income residential area projected to be one of the most at risk to SLR on the US West Coast – to examine how a community responds to external projections showing SLR risk to their homes and businesses. Through interviews with 17 King Salmon community members and observation of a county-hosted ‘communities at risk’ workshop, we examined the …

Editor's Note, Jordan Bracewell

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

School Pronouns And The Compelled-Speech Objection, Phillip Seaver-Hall

Mercer Law Review

America’s transgender youth are entrenched in a nationwide mental health crisis. A majority of transgender teenage boys have attempted suicide at least once, and roughly a third of transgender teenage girls have done the same. To mitigate this national emergency, many public school districts have begun requiring their teachers to use transgender students’ preferred names and pronouns. Many conservatives, however, insist that such rules violate the First Amendment’s prohibition of compelled speech.

This article thoroughly dissects that argument and exposes its flaws. It examines the compelled‑speech objection through the lens of the government speech doctrine, weighs countervailing academic‑freedom concerns, proposes …

Momentum: Experiential And Public Service Learning At Mercer Law School At The 150th Anniversary And Beyond, Sarah Gerwig

Mercer Law Review

In this, the 150th year since Mercer University opened the doors of its fledgling law school, it is good to reflect. We reflect on who we are, where we came from, where we want to be in 2173, if law school and the law and humankind still exist 150 years from now.

Law school faculty and administration often describe our students’ ethic of public service; 1Ls (as we call them with affection) often arrive eager for opportunities to help others—and help they do. Almost every student-led organization spearheads generous annual volunteer projects, including coordinating backpack donation drives, providing holiday presents …

Digital Hearings — In Arbitration And Litigation, Colby E. Scott

Arbitration Law Review (2009 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Dobbs, Bruen, And Domestic Violence: Fewer Abortions, More Guns, And The Effects Of Both On Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Gemma Donofrio

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Microplastics In Atlantic Ribbed Mussels (Geukensia Demissa) From The Delaware Inland Bays, Usa, Jeffrey Ashley, Amanda Pilat, Ariana Ohlweiler, Connor Ogden, Priya Modi, Spencer Talbot, Caya Smith, Justin O'Pella, Gulnihal Ozbay

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Due to the prevalence of plastic pollution in coastal ecosystems, aquatic organisms are at high risk for accumulating microplastics (MPs). Filter-feeding bivalves, such as mussels and oysters, may be exposed to, and subsequently accumulate, MPs due to the high volume of water they pass through their bodies. This study assessed the levels of MPs within Atlantic ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa), a common filter feeder found along the United States Atlantic Coast, from 12 sites within Rehoboth Bay, Indian River Bay, and Little Assawoman Bay, collectively known as the Delaware Inland Bays. Composited mussels from each site were digested using potassium …

An Evaluation Of The Federal Transition Incentives Program On Land Access For Next-Generation Farmers, Megan Horst, Julia Valliant, Julia Freedgood

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Next-generation farmers face immense challenges in securing land. In recent years, some state- and federal-level land access policy incentives (LAPIs) have been implemented to address these chal­lenges. In this paper, we assess the Transition Incentives Program (TIP), an initiative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program that is funded by Congressional farm bills. TIP offers landowners two years of financial incen­tives for leasing or selling to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher (categories of farmers defined by the U.S. Department of Agri­culture). In our study, we characterize TIP partici­pants to understand where and how TIP assists …

The Wall Between Latinas And Latinos? Gender And Immigration Enforcement Attitudes Among U.S. Latina/O Voters, Álvaro José Corral

Political Science Faculty Publications

Donald Trump’s surprising level of support among U.S. Latina/o voters in 2016 and his improved performance in the 2020 election posed a puzzle for Latina/o politics scholars given his stridently anti-immigrant agenda. Although scholars have acknowledged the political gender gap between Latinas and Latino men, few studies have outlined the theoretical basis or explored the empirical existence of gender differences in Latina/o immigration enforcement attitudes. Building on the Latina politics literature documenting Latinas’ greater engagement in solidarity work with immigrants and their greater desire for cultural transmission and the maintenance of pan-ethnic identity, I test two hypotheses. The first (the …

Rolling The Dice With Disability Rights: A Critique Of The Exclusion Of Gambling Disorder From The Americans With Disabilities Act, Danielle Oberlander

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Casinos, Covid, And Coverage: Jurisprudential And Insurance Implications Of A Litigation Pandemic, Jeffrey W. Stempel

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 impacted all walks of American life. Litigation and insurance coverage disputes were no exception. In addition to the impact on dispute resolution procedure (e.g., postponed trials, masked trials, the rise of remote depositions, hearings, and oral argument), there were more than two thousand insurance coverage lawsuits spurred by pandemic-related restrictions on business operations and the resulting lost revenue.

Entertainment and retail venues not deemed “essential” were particularly impacted due to both official government orders closing or restricting operations as well as reduced customer demand stemming from fear of infection. Although some …

Investigating The Mechanisms Through Which Autophagy Controls Lipid Levels In Cyst Stem Cells., Jared Langdon

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

With an increase in the average age of the American population, incidents of age-related diseases and illnesses are rising across healthcare communities. Addressing these pathologies with a focus towards novel treatments warrants further research into their mechanistic origins. Lipid build up within cells has been correlated with increased risk for certain pathologies, namely Alzheimer's disease and type-2 diabetes (Demarco, 2020). In this study I aimed to investigate the origin of the increase in lipids, specifically we consider the effects of lipid build up on the maintenance of stem cell populations.

Analysis And Application Of The Offense-Defense Theory: Russia, Ukraine, And History., Kirby Ballard

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Political scientists and government advisors have long sought to understand what influences conflicts and how to predict them. Despite constant war, a commonly used empirical theory that can answer this question has not emerged. The majority of theories created are either conflict-specific or not empirically testable. Considering these factors, I sought out a theory that would help me better understand Russia's choice to invade Ukraine in the spring of 2022. I selected the offense-defense theory due to its many attempts to explain territorial conquest, the likeliness of conflict, and overall losses. The main focus of the theory is to explain …

10 The Illusion Of Democracy In Fashion Industry, Deniz Atik, Zeynep Ozdamar Ertekin

Marketing Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Changes To Digital Commons Author Dashboards, Alice Sherwood

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

To provide better service to the growing, and increasingly international, Digital Commons community, Google Maps on  Digital Commons Dashboards Digital Commons Dashboards and Author Dashboards was replaced with Bing Maps. Readership Activity Maps will continue using Google Maps. Although these maps may look slightly different, there is no difference in their functionality.

A Pathway To World Law? International Solidarity As Key To Overcoming Our Current Global Crises, Obiora C. Okafor

Articles & Book Chapters

This article analyzes the extent to which international solidarity is key to overcoming our current global crises; a goal that must be achieved in robust measure if humanity is to have a chance at successfully constructing the kind of deeply integrated world society that is a pre-condition for the emergence and global acceptance of world law properly so-called. In developing its argument, it devotes the first three sections to relatively in-depth explanations of three concepts that are key to an understanding of the issues at hand, namely: the identity and nature of our current global crises; the idea of world …

Dielectric Properties Of Polycrystalline And Single-Crystal Magnesium Oxide At High Temperatures, Alan Devoe, Hung Trinh, Fatih Dogan

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The electrical properties of high-purity magnesium oxide (MgO) samples sintered between 1500 and 1650°C were investigated up to 800°C. Dielectric constant, loss tangent and electrical conductivity were measured between 25 and 800°C. Optimum electrical properties were obtained for the sample sintered at 1600°C. The impurities in polycrystalline and single crystal MgO were discussed to understand their effect on electrical properties and the role of grain boundaries. Higher dielectric losses of polycrystalline samples as compared to the single crystal MgO were attributed to the presence of grain boundaries. MgO could be a useful dielectric material for capacitor applications up to 600°C.

No. 14, March 2024: Advancing Coherence: Aligning Educator Preparation With California’S English Learner Roadmap Policy, Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D., Anaida Colón-Muñiz, Ed.D., Elvira G. Armas, Ed.D.

Education and Policy Briefs

The purpose of this brief is to support English Learner success by encouraging stronger alignment between educator preparation efforts in IHEs and TK-12 policies and practices The current study explores the implementation and alignment of core concepts of the California English Learner Roadmap (ELR) in institutions of higher education (IHEs) – where the majority of California’s future educators are being prepared to serve our students. Researchers conducted a rigorous inquiry process to analyze the degree to which educator program expectations for teaching, school counseling, and administration/leadership are aligned to the ELR. Findings reveal that that there is currently insufficient alignment …

Using Ubuntu As A Research Paradigm To Unpack How Ghanaian Novice Teachers And Their Collaborators Engaged Virtually In Collaborative International Qualitative Research, Adeline M. Borti, Rakesh K. Maurya, Ivy S. Jones-Mensah, Thilina I. Wickramaarachchi

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

The article details how Ubuntu was incorporated into each step of the research project, shares the authors’ experiences and key learnings, and provides recommendations for researchers utilizing Ubuntu as a research paradigm. Ubuntu is an ancient African philosophy emphasizing a way of life grounded in interdependence, collaboration, harmony, and community. In recent years, researchers have incorporated Ubuntu as a research paradigm to decolonize research in a sub-Saharan African context. The present article used international collaborative qualitative research conducted virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic to demonstrate the application of Ubuntu as a research paradigm for conducting research in the African context. …

First Egg Dates Of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta Bicolor) Nesting In Boxes In West Michigan Advanced With Increasing Spring Temperatures Between 1993 And 2018, Michael P. Lombardo, Nathaniel Wagner, Jared M. Laughlin, Sango Otieno, Levi Rosendall, Clara Voetberg, Alejandro Hoban

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

Many bird species have advanced their first egg dates in response to recent milder winters and increases in spring temperatures. Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) begin egg laying earlier in warmer springs at most, but not all, study sites. We examined whether Tree Swallows that nested in boxes in west Michigan responded to an increase in spring temperatures from 1993 to 2018 by advancing their first egg dates. May, but not April, mean daily temperatures got significantly warmer from 1993 to 2018. We found that the first egg dates, but not mean first egg dates, of both second year …

Deep Reinforcement Learning For Online Scheduling Of Photovoltaic Systems With Battery Energy Storage Systems, Yaze Li, Jingxian Wu, Yanjun Pan

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A new online scheduling algorithm is proposed for photovoltaic (PV) systems with battery-assisted energy storage systems (BESS). The stochastic nature of renewable energy sources necessitates the employment of BESS to balance energy supplies and demands under uncertain weather conditions. The proposed online scheduling algorithm aims at minimizing the overall energy cost by performing actions such as load shifting and peak shaving through carefully scheduled BESS charging/discharging activities. The scheduling algorithm is developed by using deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG), a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithm that can deal with continuous state and action spaces. One of the main contributions of …

Temperature Forecasts For The Continental United States: A Deep Learning Approach Using Multidimensional Features, Jahangir Ali, Linyin Cheng

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurate weather forecasts are critical for saving lives, emergency services, and future developments. Climate models such as numerical weather prediction models have made significant advancements in weather forecasts, but these models are computationally expensive and can be subject to inaccurate representations of complex natural interconnections. Alternatively, data-driven machine learning methods have provided new dimensions in assisting weather forecasts. In this study, we used convolutional neural networks (CNN) to assess how geopotential height at different levels of the troposphere may affect the predictability of extreme surface temperature (t2m) via two cases. Specifically, we analyzed temperature forecasts over the continental United States …

Wilson’S Disease Presenting As Status Epilepticus: A Case Report, Iqra Athar, Neelma Naz Khattak, Hania Batool, Tehreem Farah, Tashfain Shifa, Zukhruf Zayian

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

ABSTRACT

Wilson’s disease (WD) is a rare disorder of copper metabolism, caused by a mutation in the ATPB7 gene, resulting in a defect in copper elimination leading to its accumulation in various organs, with the liver being the most common. Here, we describe a case of a 19-year-old boy who presented with a history of hallucinations and status epilepticus. Initial investigations were normal, but due to a rising trend in alanine transaminase (ALT), a slit lamp examination was performed, revealing Kayser-Fleischer (KF) rings in the eyes. The patient was diagnosed with WD due to the presence of these KF rings …

Effects Of Maternal Subclinical Hypothyroidism On Neurodevelopment Of Offspring- An Animal-Based Study, Sabah Farhat, Syeda Sadia Fatima, Mehir Un Nisa Iqbal, Fazal Arain

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

ABSTRACT

Background and objective:

Maternal subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, including cognitive and neuropsychiatric effects. This study aimed to assess the impact of maternal SCH on young rats, examining behavioral and gross brain structure changes, and evaluating reversibility after levothyroxine treatment.

Methods:

This experimental animal study was conducted at the Aga Khan University for a duration of 10 months. The study was approved by the Ethical committee for Animal Care and Use. Fourteen female Sprague Dawley rats were grouped into Treated (induced with SCH, treated with levothyroxine), Untreated (induced with SCH, no …

Recent Literature, Claire M. Stuyck

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.