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Comparison Of Pharyngeal Airway And Dentoskeletal Effects Of 2 And 4 Premolar Extraction Treatment In Adult Orthodontic Patients, Esra Genc, Ahmet Karaman

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Objective: This study aimed to compare pharyngeal airway and dentoskeletal effects of 2 and 4 premolar extraction treatments in adult patients separately for each gender. Methods: The study was conducted with 60 adults (26 males; 34 females) aged 18-35 years. Individuals were divided into 3 groups as non-extraction, 2-premolar extraction, and 4-premolar extraction. Pre-treatment (T0) and post-treatment (T1) dentoskeletal and pharyngeal airway measurements were performed on cephalometric radiographs. Results: A significant increase in nasopharyngeal airway (PNS-ad2) and anterior hyoid bone movement (CV3ai-H) was observed in the 4-extraction group; whereas in the 2-extraction group, inferior oropharyngeal airway (IAS) narrowing and hyoid …

Effectiveness Of Resin-Infiltration In Masking White Spot Lesions And Enamel Defects, Color Stability And Inhibition Of Caries Progression: A Systematic Review, Amaradri Sravya, Chandrappa Vinay, Kadidal Uloopi, Peddi Ravigna, Penmatsa Chaitanya, Spandana Cheeli

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Objective: The study aims to demonstrate the efficacy of resin-infiltration in masking white spot lesions and enamel defects, color stability, and caries progression inhibition in primary and permanent teeth. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane library, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched from 2018 to 2022 and only randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT’s) were included. The studies were analyzed regarding the clinical efficacy of resin-infiltration in masking white spot lesions and enamel defects, color stability, and inhibition of caries progression. Results: Of the 14 articles identified, 5 RCTs were included. The quality of the studies was assessed …

Schools As Geopolitical Spaces: Violence Against Education During The Bosnian War (1992-1995), Allyson Bachta

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Attacks on education have long been a feature of conflict, yet their strategic use by state and non-state actors remains underexamined. Despite global concern and growing documentation efforts by the international community, the motivations and patterns behind school attacks are not well studied. This project investigates the strategic use of such violence by Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian state and non-state armed actors during the Bosnian War (1992-1995) and challenges the assumption that attacks on schools are simply collateral damage. Drawing from political and anti-civilian violence literature, this study situates schools as both symbolic and strategic geopolitical targets, targeted not only …

It's Deeper Than Rap. Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Black Faculty With Hip-Hop Epistemologies Through Counterstory, Austin Ashe

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation study explores the experiences of Black professors who carry Hip-Hop epistemologies and utilize Hip-Hop as a method to navigate the social and structural systems within their predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Grounded in Critical Race Theory, the study utilizes narrative inquiry and counterstorytelling. The analysis involved the development of a composite counterstory featuring the fictional protagonist, Hampton Franklin. The findings highlight common experiences among participants. Findings suggest that Black faculty are insiders whose positions grant them access and influence. Second, they are outsiders that navigate hypervisibility, invisibility, and racial battle fatigue. Third, each participant was a “pedagogue of the …

On Being The Only: Using Black Feminist Thought And Hermeneutic Phenomenology To Deeply Understand Onliness As Experienced By Black Women In Stem, Karen M. Jarvis-Thorne, Karen M. Jarvis-Thorne

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

When a Black woman persists in a STEM undergraduate academic space as the only Black woman in that space, how is she shaped as a human being? How does she fare? How does the experience influence her decision making as she contemplates graduate school applications? Does the experience guide her decision to stay or leave STEM? In this study, the author used Black Feminist Thought to provide cultural and critical oversight of her engagement with Hermeneutic Phenomenology. Hermeneutic Phenomenology requires this oversight because the methodology’s theoretical foundations are grounded in Heidegger’s Nazism and should be critiqued if and when appropriate …

The Gendered Role Of Friendships For Advanced Care Planning And Health In Later Life, Zee Kee Emily Lim

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Friendship is becoming more pertinent to older adults because they are increasingly living with fewer family ties in later life due to changing social and demographic trends (Fiori et al., 2020; Verdery et al., 2019). However, friendships are not as extensively studied as compared to family relationships (Blieszner et al., 2019). Thus, additional research is needed to better understand the influence of friendships on health and health behaviors in later life.

This dissertation includes three studies that focus on the association between friendship and loneliness, advanced care planning, and cognitive function, examining the role of gender in these three studies, …

Effects Of Emotion Regulation On Reactions To Racism In Process Of Antiracism Among White Individuals, Stephanie Marando-Blanck

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The current study used multiple mediation models to explore the pathways and relationships among white privilege awareness, white emotional empathy, white cognitive empathy, white guilt, and different types of emotion regulation as predictors of individual and institutional antiracist engagement. Gaining an understanding of how white individuals experience and regulate certain racial emotions in the process of learning about their white privilege may inform antiracist trainings, diversity, equity and inclusion workshops, multicultural courses in schools, as well as counseling trainings in cultural humility. White adults (N = 170) were recruited through an online crowdsourcing platform (Prolific) and completed a brief (~20 …

Design And Development Of A Standalone Digital Holographic Microscope Employing Phase-Driven Reconstruction And Classification For Biomedical Imaging And Optical Diagnostics, Charlotte Kyeremah

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Access to advanced biomedical imaging technologies remains a significant challenge in resource-limited settings, especially for early disease detection and monitoring of diseases such as malaria, HIV, and other blood-borne diseases. Although point-of-care (POC) devices have gained popularity in global health, many rely on antibody-based tests, lateral flow strips, or optical readouts that often lack quantitative capabilities, sensitivity to early infections, or versatility in different diagnostic targets. In addition, these systems are typically dependent on disposable reagents or manual interpretation, which limits their effectiveness in remote areas. Digital Holographic Microscopy (DHM) presents a promising alternative as a label-free imaging method capable …

Multimodal Learning In Real-World Application: Enhancing Feature Representation And Training Strategies, Nana Lin

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Multimodal learning has emerged as a critical paradigm for developing intelligent systems that can understand and reason across diverse inputs such as images, text, and audio data. Despite significant advances, effective deployment of multimodal models in practice remains a challenging task. This dissertation explores how multimodal learning can be effectively applied to high-stakes, real-world scenarios, with a focus on enhancing feature representation and training efficiency. Specifically, this research investigates multimodal learning strategies in two key domains: healthcare and surveillance.

In the healthcare domain, we explored the data fusion and alignment approaches for cognitive decline diagnoses. First, we propose the LOVEMA …

Towards A New Health Politics In Kenya: Labor Organizing And Strikes By Health Workers In The Public Health Sector, Michael Scanlon

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

There has been insufficient attention by global health scholars to labor organizing by health workers, including when and why organizing occurs, what forms and strategies it takes and its implications for governance and policy. These questions are critical but largely absent in research on what has been called the “global health workforce crisis.” Kenya represents an important case study. A new constitution in 2010 expanded institutional spaces for labor organizing and decentralized governance of the health system. Both reforms had significant implications for the health workforce and strikes by health workers have been pervasive. In 2017, nationwide strikes by public …

We Don't Have A Word For “Chief”: An Examination Of Leader And Follower Fluidity In The Distribution Of Leadership, Jordan R. Weymer

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

For nearly 20 years, researchers have studied distributed leadership—the interactive web of leaders, followers, and situation—as it occurs in schools around the world. Their studies have primarily focused on the interactions of leaders and followers in task-centric situations, highlighting distributed delegation, in which, upon task completion, leaders and followers return to their traditional roles. However, very few studies have focused on the reinterpretation of leader and follower roles through distributed leadership or how this reinterpretation can dismantle traditional hierarchical power paradigms in schools. By centering on distributing leadership as leaders and followers co-initiate leadership tasks to improve teaching and …

Global Commons, Local Crises: The Ecological Embeddedness Of Global Production Networks, Christopher R. Whynacht

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Notions of Global Production Networks (GPNs) are popular approaches to studying the complex, dispersed, and socially embedded production of goods and services. Yet, these concepts have largely struggled with incorporating environmental resources, risks, and actors. My dissertation leverages insights from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to contextualize ecological elements of production as coequal participants with social stakeholders. I describe how GPNs are ecologically embedded and nested within the natural environment. I draw from ANT to develop a GPN framework that internalizes ecological dimensions. The second chapter in this dissertation develops these ideas and provides theoretical framing for further empirical chapters. The third …

Blackloving: The Culturally Responsive Engagement Practices Of Black Middle School Principals, Deandra L. Williams

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Black students are highly capable of learning and contributing to society when school communities are built on a foundation of love and there is meaningful school–family engagement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how Black middle school principals engaged with Black families using BlackLoving culturally responsive family engagement practices as Black students transitioned from elementary to middle school in Boston Public Schools (BPS). The researcher employed Black Indigenous methodology, in the form of talking circles and memoing, to gather the stories of four former Black Boston public school principals (who were all men) and to explore their …

The Pure Yang-Mills Field, James Glimm

Department of Applied Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

We construct a pure Yang-Mills quantum gauge field theory. The construction is based on the axial gauge, ghost states, the BRST framework and the entropy production maximizing Gribov extension of the Hamiltonian, with a loop expansion to all finite orders for the dynamics. The construction is established by renormalized perturbation theory to finite order. Reflection positivity and the reconstruction theorem are established. Hilbert space convergence of renormalized perturbation theory is a consequence of the reconstruction theorem. All Osterwalder-Schrader axioms are verified. A two-sided mass gap exists in the energy spectrum for the weak coupling limit of low temperature. The conditions …

Open Science Is Coming To Theory Construction: The Case Of Document Analysis, Sarah R. Bostrom, Gina L. Levalley, Katrina Cooley, Richard E. Niemeyer

The Qualitative Report

Growing concerns about the reproducibility of scientific findings have led to efforts to enhance the transparency and rigor of social science research. Improving the accuracy and precision of theory development and adopting Open Science practices, such as open data, are widely considered effective means to achieve these ends. However, current Open Science practices primarily target quantitative methodologies and tend to ignore qualitative methods, like document analysis, due to perceived insurmountable obstacles. Since document analysis is often crucial for constructing accurate and precise theories, the inability to integrate Open Science practices with qualitative research methods undermines the effectiveness of these solutions …

Exploring Technology-Enhanced Learning: A Comparative Study Of Online And Offline Interactive Practices In The Iranian Higher Education System, Naser Rashidi, Mohamad Reza Farangi, Ali Hosseini

The Qualitative Report

This study explored how interactive teaching and learning are enacted through technology-enhanced methods in Iran’s higher education system. Using an exploratory qualitative design, it investigated the pedagogical strategies employed by instructors and examined whether these practices align with the principles of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) across online and in-person contexts. Data were collected through the analysis of 263 class reports and 37 semi-structured interviews with university instructors. Thematic analysis using MAXQDA revealed six cohesive and interpretive themes: fostering human connection, empowering student voices, learning as dialogue, adaptive teaching, multimodal engagement, and feedback as dialogue. These themes reflect a holistic view of …

Institutionalized Bullying In Tertiary Institutions In Nigeria And Perceived Mental Health Impacts: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study, Chika Bosah, Casey Mace Firebaugh, Tara R. Zolnikov

The Qualitative Report

Institutionalized bullying is when bullying moves beyond individual instances of bullying and is culturally embedded in an institution, such as a school or workplace. This type of bullying has not been thoroughly examined in tertiary school settings in Nigeria. This phenomenological qualitative study examined the experiences of tertiary students (from four different institutions in Nigeria) and their experiences of institutionalized bullying to determine if and to what extent this practice is occurring. There were (n=48) tertiary students engaged in open-ended, semi-structured interviews in Nigeria in 2022. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and thematically analyzed. Overall, this study found that institutionalized bullying …

Learning How To Interview For Qualitative Research, Kathryn Roulston, Brigette A. Herron, Caprial Farrington

The Qualitative Report

A key component of qualitative methods coursework has been the interview assignment, which typically prepares scholars to conduct in-person, individual, and open-ended interviews. This study examined what novice researchers did and learned during an interview assignment in an introductory qualitative methods course. Interview transcripts and reflections from 12 graduate students who enrolled in an online or face-to-face section of the course were analyzed. Findings review students’ reflections on the process of conducting the interview project, beginning with the preparation phase, what they discussed concerning how the interviews transpired and their experiences of the transcription process. The article reports on how …

アダムとエバの「堕落」にまつわる疑問について, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Spiritual Proficiency

エデンの園で起こった堕落について疑問を思ったことはありませんか？なぜ、堕落と救い主による贖いが救いの計画の中で要の位置を占めるのに、神様は、知恵の実を食べるなと、はっきり命じておられたのでしょうか。この記事がそのためのヒントを与えてくれるかもしれません。

Braingenebot: A Framework For Variant Prioritization And Generative Pretrained Transformer-Informed Interpretation Across Polygenic Risk Score Studies, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) are widely used to assess genetic susceptibility in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research. However, the rapid expansion of PRS studies has led to dataset-specific biases-stemming from factors like population makeup, genotyping methods, and analysis pipelines-that result in inconsistent variant prioritization and limit generalizability and reproducibility. To address these challenges, we propose a transductive learning framework that integrates multiple PRS datasets for more robust risk variant prioritization, incorporating genome-wide association study (GWAS) priority scores as biologically informed priors. Additionally, we introduce BrainGeneBot, an AI-driven tool leveraging generative pretrained transformers with retrieval-augmented generation technology to streamline genomic analyses in …

Effect Of Seasonal Variability In Methane Emissions And Iron Redox Chemistry At Terrestrial-Aquatic Interfaces, Hermes C. Ruiz

Master's Theses

Methane (CH₄) emissions at terrestrial–aquatic interfaces (TAIs) are significant contributors to the global carbon budget, yet the mechanisms driving methanogenesis remain poorly understood. Limited data exist on how seasonal variations and redox processes influence CH₄ fluxes in these dynamic ecosystems. This study addressed two questions: (1) How are CH₄ fluxes in riverine floodplains and adjacent hillslopes impacted by seasonal variations? (2) What roles do metal redox processes (e.g., iron (Fe)) play in regulating methanogenesis?

In-situ CH₄ flux and solid-phase Fe speciation were quantified in East River, CO, under flooded and drained conditions. Groundwater chemistry, gas flux, and soil physical properties …

Crisis Convergence, Sarah Medina Camiscoli

Northwestern University Law Review

Progressive jurists and legal scholars have called the Supreme Court’s doctrine of colorblind constitutionalism that dismantled affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard (SFFA) a crisis for constitutional democracy. However, scholars have not yet tended to students, particularly students mobilized for racial justice, to understand their interpretation of this race-evasive ideology and what insights those mobilized students might offer in this pivotal moment. Given the fact that a small coalition of dissenting conservative jurists, scholars, and mobilized students—the Federalist Society—spent decades crafting the doctrine, scholarship, and resources that drive colorblind constitutionalism …

Transforming Student Coaching To Support Students' Personal, Academic, And Professional Success: Insights From The Student Success Coaching Programme, Abdellatif Atif, Tony Hall, Larissa Lamb, Michelle Millar, Majella Perry

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

The University of Galway introduced Student Success Coaching (SSC), a core commitment of an institution-wide innovation programme, Designing Futures. Designing Futures received significant government funding of €7.57m in 2020 to enhance the student experience through enterprise-engaged education, research-led learning, and cross-faculty teaching. An integral part of Designing Futures, SSC constitutes the holistic development element of the wider university programme, applying design thinking principles to support students’ personal, academic, and professional success. It encourages students to recognize their strengths and natural talents and navigate successful transitions into university life and community. Firstly, this paper outlines how design thinking theories and principles …

Forward: Racial Justice In A Changing World, R. May Hiatt, Lillian Pieper

Northwestern University Law Review

On October 25th, 2024, the Northwestern University Law Review hosted its annual symposium, titled Racial Justice After SFFA v. Harvard. The Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina (collectively, SFFA) marked a seismic shift in equal protection law, dismantling the practice of race-conscious admissions that had existed for almost half a century The symposium sought to address the impact and ramifications of this historic ruling, and through four panels, seven essays, and a keynote speech from Janai Nelson, President of …

Toward A Perpetual Practice Of Affirmative Action, Sheldon Bernard Lyke

Northwestern University Law Review

Despite perceptions that affirmative action is “dead” following the Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA), this Essay argues that affirmative action remains crucial for addressing racial bias in admissions processes. This Essay examines the strict scrutiny standard, which requires that any use of race must serve a compelling government interest and be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. Courts have interpreted the narrowly tailored prong of this standard to include a logical end point requirement, which mandates that race-conscious measures must have a clear and limited …

Constitutional Futurisms, Jeremiah Chin

Northwestern University Law Review

How do we reckon with the past? The Supreme Court’s recent embrace of originalism as a mode of constitutional analysis relies almost exclusively on a view of history and tradition that would bind us to an understanding of principles and ideals that legitimized the exclusion of minority voices. Cases such as New York State Pistol and Rifle Ass'n v. Bruen use flavors of originalism as a framework to define rights and governmental powers through their historical antecedents, but this broad standard of interpretation is notably absent in the Court’s recent discussions of histories and traditions of racism in the United …

Infrastructure Equality, Deborah N. Archer, Yuvraj Joshi

Northwestern University Law Review

The United States’ racialized geographies have left communities of color with systematically inferior essential infrastructure that perpetuates their social and economic exclusion. From roads, public transportation, and sewage systems, to banks, high-speed internet, and high-quality public schools, people and communities of color have limited access to the fundamental infrastructure necessary to lead socially and economically vibrant lives. This Essay introduces “infrastructure equality” as a unifying framework to address the critical intersection of physical, social, and legal infrastructures that feed racial inequality. Drawing on multidisciplinary research, it argues that infrastructure—the interconnected and vital system of physical structures, networks, and social institutions—should …

Expression Graph Network Framework For Biomarker Discovery, Yang Liu, Jason Huse, Kasthuri Kannan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Biomarker discovery for complex diseases, such as cancer, hinges on uncovering molecular signatures that capture intricate, interconnected relationships within biological data-a challenge that traditional statistical and machine learning methods often fail to meet due to the complexity of high-dimensional gene expression profiles. To overcome this, we introduce the expression graph network framework (EGNF). This cutting-edge graph-based approach integrates graph neural networks with network-based feature engineering to enhance the predictive identification of biomarkers. EGNF constructs biologically informed networks by combining gene expression data and clinical attributes within a graph database, utilizing hierarchical clustering to generate dynamic, patient-specific representations of molecular interactions. …

Preparation, Development, And Refinement Of The Interview Protocol In Qualitative Research, David C. Coker, Adebowale Akande

The Qualitative Report

Interview protocols are by far the most common method utilized in qualitative research data collection. Novice and experienced researchers, from working on dissertations to grant proposals or other publications, often lack detailed interview design methods, as many educational programs do not require specific coursework on interview protocols and question development. To improve qualitative research, we make a proposal to incorporate an interdisciplinary approach that operationalizes three stages: preparation, development, and refinement. Preparation involves mapping the extant literature to define broad, narrow, and focused topics to write actionable standards, goals, and objectives. Development uses instructional design and educational psychology to construct …

Access To Information On Toddler Family Development Program And Family Participation In Child Growth And Development, Dita Dhammayanti, Demsa Simbolon, Lissa Ervina, Yusran Fauzi

Kesmas

The comprehension of the Toddler Family Development (TFD) Program among families in Indonesia remains limited, likely due to insufficient access to information and low participation rates. Limited participation can negatively affect a family’s ability to support optimal child growth and development. This study examined the relationship between access to information on the TFD Program and family participation in child growth and development. Using secondary data from the 2019 Program Performance and Accountability Survey in Indonesia, the cross-sectional analysis included 21,497 respondents. The results revealed an association between access to information on the TFD Program and family participation in child growth …