bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
She kills you in the end
Authors:   , Uphoff Abaigeal Grace
Published: November 2024

Across the slasher genre of horror films and other media, there exists the trope of the Final Girl. The Final Girl, a bookish, wary, virginal, always female figure, is the final survivor of a brutal onslaught, a systematic picking-off of her friends at the hands of a violent Killer. According to Carol J. Clover, the scholar who named the trope, the Final Girl is "the one who encounters the mutilated bodies of her friends and perceives the full extent of the preceding horror and of her own peril; who is chased, cornered, wounded; whom we see scream, stagger, fall, rise, and scream again" (201). "She Kills You in the End," a collection of essays and accompanying critical introduction, explores the complex origins of the Final Girl trope as a pseudo-male, allowing male horror audiences a figure they can both feminize when wanted and masculinize when required. However, the collection, written by a horror fan who just so happens to be a woman, argues that there exist elements of the Final Girl that lend her to a functional interpretation, one which recognizes her proximity to violence and trauma and allows women, also forced to wrestle with traumatic instances brought about by their very womanhood, an outlet through which to process their own trauma. Using the political and personal lens of autotheory as a means to view the Final Girl, the collection explores the question: with the Final Girl, though "final" and singular, is there room in her body for all of us?
Queer readings and humor in contemporary Gothic film and television
Authors:   , Burdock Erick
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] In this dissertation, I examine queer spectatorship and interpretations of popular media through queer humor. To that end, I analyze canonical Gothic texts, such as Rebecca (1938) and Interview With the Vampire (1976), alongside their film and television adaptations to determine how contemporary queer spectators can engage with these texts and how queer humor can open up opportunities to reject and make fun of hegemony, and especially its emphasis on the patriarchal nuclear family and heteronormativity. My analysis reveals that we are currently at a critical point for both the Gothic genre and queer representations in popular media. While queer audiences could once push back against "preferred" readings of classic Gothic texts through humor and "aberrant" readings, this phenomenon is no longer the case. It appears that the film industry has begun to expunge queerness from Gothic texts. While television has created a niche space where queer characters are ethically depicted for queer audiences, this change has also impacted our ability to conduct queer readings through humor. Although this change is good in some ways, since queer spectators no longer must rehabilitate villains in order to effect positive queer readings, it has also rendered these spectators passive in their consumption of mainstream media, thereby making transgression and subversion through queer readings more difficult and less impactful. In other words, queer spectators have begun to lose agency in their consolidation into mass culture, as demonstrated through an analysis of contemporary Gothic adaptations.
The impact of anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion legislation on clinicians and their decision-making and care for marginalized patients : a case study
Authors:   , Carter Nicole Lynette
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] This study was an in-depth examination of the impact of legislation that opposes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on clinicians' care for marginalized patients in an academic health system. Specifically, the research focuses on the changes initiated in Missouri during 2023, which amplified significant health disparities. This case study employs the primary qualitative method of one-on-one interviews with clinicians across different specializations to highlight how such legislation influences clinicians' perceptions and behavior toward marginalized populations. The findings reveal that anti-DEI legislation not only limits clinicians' ability to practice inclusive healthcare but also creates a climate of anxiety and uncertainty that may lead to professional disengagement or relocation. Additionally, the research demonstrates how social and legal contexts can shape healthcare delivery, which further intensifies existing disparities by restricting necessary discussions on the social determinants of health that affect patients prior to receiving healthcare within a hospital setting. This research stresses the interconnectedness of legislative actions, clinician behaviors, and healthcare outcomes and calls for a reevaluation of anti-DEI legislation that inhibits inclusive and equitable healthcare.
Intergenerational influences of second-generation Chinese American academic and career exploration : using a career genogram as a guiding tool
Authors:   , Chen Felice
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] Although many quantitative studies have explored career decision making for Asian- Americans, there is much less qualitative research on their lived experiences, particularly regarding intersectionalities such as second-generation immigrants. Using the Asian American Psychology of Working Theory (AAPWT; Tu & Okazaki, 2021) as a theoretical framework, this qualitative study examined how learning about their family's career history impacted secondgeneration Chinese American emerging adults' reflections about their academic and career choices. Eight emerging adults (ages 18-25) were recruited from a large metropolitan Chinatown community. The family career genogram (Chope, 2005) was used as a guiding tool throughout the semi-structured interviews, which explored the participants' understanding and reflections of career patterns and family dynamics across three generations. Discussion of their immigrant parents' pre- and post-migration experiences revealed acculturation challenges, discrimination, and sociopolitical experiences from their home country, which may have led to intergenerational emphases on financial and career stability. Results showed that second-generation Chinese American participants in this study adopted some of their immigrant families' career values, such as need for financial stability, emphasis on education, and strong work ethics, along with emphases on ability to have social impact, following own interests, and valuing happiness in their careers. Participants also discussed challenges related to first-generation college student statuses. In sum, results further challenge the Model Minority Myth (Yip et al., 2021) that perpetuates many Asian-Americans in the U.S., and showed that the career genogram exercise can provide perspectives on the academic and career exploration needs of second-generation Chinese-Americans that inform future career development practices and research.
Professionalism in urban public administration : career paths, motivations, and local government preferences for professional city managers
Authors:   , Jung Jiwoong
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] This dissertation examines the professionalism of chief-appointed administrators in U.S. local government, focusing on the factors driving their demand and supply. It investigates motivations for city managers to enhance their professionalism and identifies which local governments prefer professional administrators, using ICMA credentialing as a measure. Chapter one addresses the supply side, hypothesizing that city managers on a diagonal career path are more motivated to obtain ICMA credentials. This is tested using a dataset tracking the 10-year career paths of city managers in California, Florida, and North Carolina, and job postings from December 2021 to April 2023, confirming that externally hired city managers are more likely to possess ICMA credentials. Chapters two and three explore the demand side, hypothesizing that local governments with larger populations and significant financial challenges prefer highly professional city managers. Chapter two uses ICMA job posting data, while chapter three employs a survey of local government legislators. Both chapters find a correlation between financial conditions and the preference for professional management. This study contributes to understanding the factors influencing city administrator professionalism and offers insights into improving local government management.
Early-career secondary choral educators' conceptions of and approaches to teaching music literacy
Authors:   , Kennedy Kacey Shaul
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to explore early-career secondary choral educators' conceptions of and approaches to teaching music literacy. Additionally, the researcher explored the influences on their conceptions of and approaches to teaching music literacy. The following research questions guided this study: (a) How do early-career secondary choral educators conceive of music literacy? (b) What are the approaches early-career secondary choral educators use to teach music literacy?, and (c) What experiences influence these early-career secondary choral educators' approaches to teaching music literacy? Participants in this study were five early-career secondary choral educators in the state of Missouri who taught at least one choir in the regular school day. Findings indicated that participants considered music literacy instruction to extend beyond that of sight-reading instruction and included other skills and competencies that contributed to the development of musical independence. These teachers valued hands-on, constructivist-oriented instruction that encouraged students to develop deep, meaningful connections to the music. Participants' instructional practices were influenced by their own experiences as social constructivist learners.
The impact of perceived design similarity and consumers' IPR morality on their expected utility of legally copied products
Authors:   , Kim Seong Eun
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] Design appropriation in the fashion industry often breaches original creators' intellectual property rights (IPRs). Due to inadequate legal protection under current U.S. IPR law, many copiers can legally produce and sell similar designs, known as legally copied products (LCPs). Despite being legally sold, consumers' perceptions of LCPs vary based on their IPR morality. Some consumers may prioritize the design similarities between LCPs and original designs when evaluating the perceived value of LCPs. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how consumers perceive the utility of LCPs and how much they are willing to purchase LCPs through the lens of decision theory in the philosophy literature, utilizing the expected utility concept. This study collected 314 U.S. female consumers who were over 18 and conducted partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The study findings showed that the participants' IPR morality could weaken the positive relationship between the perceived social value and low-end LCP purchase intention. The study also found that when the participants perceived design similarities at more than a moderate level, the relationship between the perceived quality and purchase intention was positively amplified. These results have several theoretical and managerial implications. Most important to the existing literature and fashion industry, this study showed that consumers' IPR morality could shape or reshape their low-end LCP purchasing decision-making mechanisms by lowering the expected utility of LCPs.
Investigation of regional seismic wave attenuation and propagation in the Middle East
Authors:   , Li Duyi
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] This dissertation focuses on regional seismic attenuation studies in general but with some emphasis on the Middle East. I have several new approaches that have yielded insight into the behavior of regional seismic phase propagation. The research includes three main projects. Firstly, I developed a method combining the Two Station Method (TSM), Reverse Two Station Method (RTS), and Site Response (SS) measurements to tomographically map the attenuation quality factor Q and relative site responses for Lg and Sn waves. This method has allowed for the integration of three different observations into a single optimal model which is an important step forward in our ability to effectively measure high frequency wave attenuation as well as characterize site amplification. This method was then applied to the Caucasus. The results revealed significant lateral variations in seismic attenuation across the region, with high attenuation in Eastern Anatolia and significant lateral variations in the Lesser and Greater Caucasus regions. Notable impacts from sediments and shallow geology on regional seismic amplitudes were also observed. Secondly, the Double Two Station Method (DTSM) was employed to examine the effects of epicentral distance and source depth on Lg wave attenuation. This method is broadly applicable to regional wave propagation, but we tested this method in the northern Middle East. The findings demonstrated a positive correlation between epicentral distance and Qv measurements for certain regions, suggesting a significant influence of Sn-to-Lg conversion and possibly a deeper sampling by longer paths. The source depth of crustal events showed negligible impact on Lg attenuation. Lastly, a logistic regression model was used to produce the first quantitative Lg blockage map for the Middle East. The model identified widespread blockage in regions with oceanic crust and transition zones, such as the Mediterranean Sea and Caspian Sea. High blockage probabilities were also observed in eastern Anatolia, western Caucasus, and the Zagros fold belts. These works contribute to a better understanding of seismic wave propagation and attenuation in general and especially in the Middle East.
The experiences of using telehealth in older adults in Thailand : a mixed-methods study
Authors:   , Narasri Pawena
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] Objective: This study aimed to explore factors that influenced the intent to use telehealth and describe the experience of using telehealth among older adults in Thailand. Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used to study a convenient sample of 105 participants from the seven communities located in the same district in Bangkok, Thailand. Quantitative data included the participants' characteristics, the adapted Technology Acceptance Model Questionnaire, and the eHealth Literacy Scale. Multiple regression was used to investigate the factors affecting the intention to use telehealth. Qualitative data were obtained from 7 individual interviews which were purposefully selected from the participants in quantitative phase and analyzed the data by using thematic analysis. Results: Mean age was 68.18 [plus or minus] 4.86 years. More than half of the participants were female (67.6 percent). Most participants received telehealth services from public hospitals and used telehealth services for home isolation during COVID-19 and for monitoring chronic diseases. Participants had a high level of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and intention to use, while they had low digital health literacy level. The results from multiple regression showed that the digital health literacy level was related to more ease of use ([beta]=0.23, t=4.26, p[less than]0.001); while the ease of use was related to more usefulness ([beta]=0.37, t=5.28, p[less than]0.001). Additionally, digital health literacy has a statistically significant influence on intention to use telehealth ([beta]=0.23, t=3.31, p=0.001), whereas the perceived usefulness and ease of use was not significant influence on intention to use. Seven themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: 1) experiences using telehealth; 2) perceived usefulness; 3) perceived ease of use; 4) social influence; 5) intention to use telehealth; 6) prefer in-person visits; and 7) concerns regarding using telehealth. Data integration was discussed to provide a deeper understanding of the quantitative results. Conclusion: This study found that digital health literacy was the main factor affecting the intention to use telehealth among older adults, however, they had low digital health literacy. Mobile-based telehealth intervention via phone calls and text messages is appropriate among this population. Additionally, educating on the benefits of telehealth could enhance knowledge and potentially enhance usage. Thus, these findings contribute to the literature on telehealth usage in older adults and the need for educational interventions for older adults in low-income settings in Thailand aimed to enhance accessibility of services and achieve optimal health outcomes.
The effects of green nudge messages on customers' Pro-Environmental Behavioral Intention (PEB) in the hotel industry
Authors:   , Noh Yooin
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] This study was designed to investigate how green nudge messages can affect customer engagement in hotel green practices. This research consists of two studies. Study 1 compared the effects of five types of nudge messages (i.e., social norms, default options, green upselling, reciprocity, and no nudge messages) on hotels' PEBs. Study 2 examined the interaction effect of self-value (such as self-transcendence and self-enhancement) and hotel ratings (comparing three stars to five stars) on PEB. These elements were then paired with the most effective nudges identified in the first study. Furthermore, it also examined the moderating effect of different types of consumer individual characteristics (i.e., comfort level, green mindfulness, green skepticism, and conspicuous consumption motive). In Study 1, 244 participants were randomly exposed to all five conditions (i.e., social norms, default options, green upselling, reciprocity, and no nudge message). The finding showed that the green upselling nudge message was most effective in customers' PEB. In study 2, a total of 523 participants were randomly exposed to one of four conditions. The result confirmed two main effects, but the interaction between self-value and hotel rating on PEB was not statistically significant. Specifically, the self-transcendence value message is more likely to influence customers' PEBs than the self-enhancement value message. Furthermore, individuals are more inclined to participate in environmentally friendly behaviors while staying at a five-star hotel than at a three-star hotel. As a result of two-way ANOVA analysis, this study confirmed the moderating effect of barriers to participation (i.e., green skepticism, and comfort level) in the relationship between self-value messages and PEB. This study also confirmed that the moderated moderation effect on hotel rating, and conspicuous consumption motive between self-value and PEB was significant. Finally, the theoretical and practical contributions of this study were discussed.
Assistive technology evaluation in spinal cord diseases : facilitators and barriers
Authors:   , Rasmussen Kial-Ann
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] Spinal cord diseases (SCDs) are a set of conditions affecting the spinal cord that can cause functional deficits, disrupting people's identities, purpose, and dignity. Assistive technology (AT) is a vital intervention that enables many people with SCDs to participate in daily activities. Evaluation is the most critical phase in AT provision because all other phases are based on it. A three-round Delphi technique surveyed 18 expert AT providers to identify facilitators for and barriers to AT evaluation. In round one, participants generated ideas about relevant barriers and facilitators. These data were analyzed using conceptual content analysis to identify barriers and facilitators that became the content of the subsequent surveys. In rounds two and three, the participants ranked agreement with each item on a 7- point Likert scale and provided rank orders for the top five barriers and the top five facilitators. Participants also had the opportunity to provide qualitative feedback on each item. Stability was measured using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks tests, and consensus was measured using the interquartile range. The final analysis identified 14 facilitators and 10 barriers that achieved both stability and consensus. The top barriers to AT evaluation are largely related to system problems related to the US healthcare landscape. The top facilitators for AT evaluation are largely related to centering the user in the evaluation process.
Reintegration and decent work among United States veterans : impact of marginalization, social support, and career adaptability
Authors:   , Schmiedeler Anthony Robert
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] United States military veterans face challenges when reintegrating into civilian society. Among these difficulties often exist barriers for veterans in navigating work and career experiences. This study tested factors that may contribute to experiences of decent work and reintegration in a sample of 90 United States veterans. Utilizing the Psychology of Working Theory as a framework, veterans' social support was hypothesized to be a moderating factor in the relationship between veterans' experiences of marginalization and decent work. Additionally, decent work was examined as a potential mediator in the association between veterans' career adaptability and reintegration. Separate moderation and mediation models were tested to examine the study's hypotheses. Results did not find social support to moderate the relationship between marginalization and decent work. However, decent work significantly and partially mediated the relationship between career adaptability and reintegration. Interpretation of these findings in the context of the literature is discussed, as well as implications for practice and theory, limitations, and future directions.
Challenges to the American dollar hegemony
Authors:   , Sen Omer Faruk
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] The hegemony of the US dollar in the global financial system provides enormous leverage to the United States. As the structure of the international system moves toward multipolarity, there is an increasing number of challenges to the dollar, which poses a threat to the US-led international financial system and the United States' coercive power. In this dissertation, I focus on two mechanisms through which government policies might pose threats to this hegemony. First, I focus on countries' reserve management policies, and particularly their gold accumulation behavior. Second, I examine cryptocurrency regulations. In both metrics, I examine whether strategic gold accumulation and crypto-friendly regulations are consequences of adversary relations with the United States. In Chapter 2, quantitative analysis shows that a country's policy distance from the U.S. as well as the U.S. trade and financial sanctions have a statistically positive effect on its gold share in total reserves. In Chapter 3, relying on three case studies (Russia, Turkey, and Kazakhstan), I contextualize countries' motivation towards gold. I show that Turkey (post-2016) and Russia (post-2014) have been strategically increasing their gold reserves as a response to sanctions or strained bilateral relations, while Kazakhstan increased its gold holdings as its policy distance from the United States got wider. In Chapter 4, contrary to the conventional wisdom, I find that neither policy distance from the U.S. nor sanctions correlates with a lower likelihood of cryptocurrency bans. Surprisingly, countries that are distant from U.S. foreign policy positions have exhibited a higher propensity for implementing cryptocurrency bans. This suggests that countries' motivations to ban cryptocurrencies do not stem from their relations with the United States.
Essays on non-deal roadshows
Authors:   , Sharma Vishal
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] In this dissertation, I study a specific form of private investor communication called Non-Deal Roadshow (NDR). An NDR is a set of private meetings between a company management and an institutional investor, organized by a sell-side broker that covers the stock of the company. It offers unique research setting to study managerial behavior as the participating company in an NDR is identifiable. By contrast, in other forms of private investor communications such as broker-organized conferences, and industry days, it is challenging, due to lack of disclosures, to identify a company that participates in one-on-one meetings. I exploit the post-meeting behaviors of the NDR participants to answer two fundamental questions regarding the behavior of managers and their motivation to participate in these meetings despite potential regulatory risks. In my first essay, I ask whether managers disclose useful information during an NDR, and whether they use this channel to manage earnings expectations. I find that managers do pass information that is useful for an analyst to revise her forecast after the meeting. An NDR towards the end of the year is more informative than that during other times of the year. Managers use this communication channel to manage analyst expectations, especially when they are likely to miss earnings expectations. In my second essay, I ask whether managers gather information from investors that helps them decide whether to issue fresh capital. I find a strong association between equity capital issuance and an NDR suggesting that mangers gather information about investor appetite from these meetings which helps them in their decision to raise equity capital.
Interrogating the conceptualization and measurement of socioeconomic status : exploring a novel methodology using South African data
Authors:   , Stephen Tayla Leigh
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] This study explores various approaches to modeling socioeconomic status (SES) and examines their implications for understanding well-being outcomes in South Africa. Three modeling techniques are compared: an asset index model derived from Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), latent variable models with reflective and formative indicators for SES, and a network model revealing the interconnectedness of socioeconomic factors. Results suggest that the network model accounts for more of the variance in some components of well-being. Upon closer inspection of the network's centrality, it is clear that socioeconomic conditions are more nuanced and that adopting common modeling approaches risks overlooking these. This supports the case for examining socioeconomic conditions as opposed to socioeconomic status, suggesting that researchers must carefully consider how they operationalize and measure these constructs in light of their research objectives.
Desecularization in Turkey : historical context and current developments
Authors:   , Uzun Nihan
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] Turkey, once a model for Muslim-majority countries, has been rapidly desecularizing over the past two decades. This shift is most evident in education, aligning with Erdogan's aim to raise a "pious generation," and in state bureaucracy, followed by social life. Laws have been instrumental in implementing these institutional changes, while political rhetoric has further encouraged this shift, particularly in attitudes toward women. Based on Karpov's conceptualization, desecularization is occurring through dedifferentiation, where religion converges with other institutions, and through the deprivatization of religion, as religious beliefs are no longer seen as purely personal issues. The desecularization process can also be traced through the redefinition of boundaries due to Turkey's open-door policy with Syria and the exodus of secular youth, and through the economy with an increase in faith-based consumption and production. According to Bruce's definition of secularization, this process is evident through the rising social standing of religious institutions and their staff, which is a natural consequence of dedifferentiation. The top-down imposition of desecularization has advanced to a point where it may lead to a potential regime change.
Feature learning for supervised knowledge discovery
Authors:   , Veal Charlie T
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] In the expansive landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML), the identification and description of important data characteristics, termed features, is essential for solving complex real world problems. However, where do these features come from and how should they be used? The answer to these fundamental questions impact nearly every AI/ML approach and application. Traditionally, features have been either hand-crafted by human experts or data-driven derived through AI/ML. Herein, the notion of data driven features or, more specifically, feature learning is thoroughly investigated, inside of this dissertation, in the context of adversarial learning, open set recognition, and self supervised learning. First, I demonstrate a feature learning framework, driven by evolutionary optimization, that enables knowledge discovery with respect to adversarial learning. Second, I demonstrate an alternative feature learning framework, driven by neural metric learning and self supervision, that enables knowledge discovery with respect to open set recognition. Collectively, the capabilities of these frameworks are demonstrated on computer vision applications. Experiments illustrate domain improvements, including improved accuracy on open set recognition benchmarks and the capacity to discover meaningful patterns within unknown datasets.
Not sure what I can say : the impact of politicization on rural secondary school mental health professionals' navigation of building sexual harassment
Authors:   , Wadley Katherine Ellis
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] School mental health professionals frequently encounter occupational challenges stemming from their multifaceted roles within educational institutions. These factors are compounded by a prevailing sense of uncertainty or hesitation regarding mental health services in certain school settings. Additionally, the tightening grip of state censorship laws significantly complicates the navigation of sensitive topics like sexual harassment. This interpretive phenomenological research study aims to explore the experiences of school mental health professionals, including school counselors, school-based licensed professional counselors, and school social workers, as they grapple with the complexities of addressing sexual harassment within school environments. Specifically, the research aims to address two primary inquiries: (1) What are the expectations placed on rural secondary school mental health professionals to address and/or manage sexual harassment? (2) What factors influence secondary school mental health professionals' work in navigating sensitive topics such as sexual harassment working in rural areas? To answer these questions, 13 rural secondary school mental health professionals residing in the same state participated in a singular recorded 45-60-minute semi-structured interview. Findings from this study presented with the 3 following themes: (1) Role Expectations in Addressing Sexual Harassment, (2), Ethical Navigation, and (3) Diverse Perceptions of Sexual Harassment. Within these three themes were present seven subthemes. Within Role Expectations in Addressing Sexual Harassment were the subthemes of (1) Exclusion from Policy Creation, (2) Alignment with Expected Tasks, and (3) Deviation from Expected Tasks. The theme of Ethical Navigation held the three subthemes of (1) School Climate, (2), Influence of School Policy, and (3) Community and Sociocultural Dynamics. Lastly, the theme of Diverse Perceptions of Sexual Harassment holds one subtheme of (1) Other Forms of Harassment and Violence. Implications for School Mental Health Professionals and Policy are discussed.
An initial assessement of moral attitude dynamic model for defusing culture war tensions
Authors:   , Xu Mengyao
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] This dissertation introduces Moral Attitude Dynamic Model (MADM) for defusing conflicts tensions by incorporating the key constructs of Moral Foundation Theory into The Contingency Theory of Accommodation (Contingency Theory). MADM advances Contingency Theory by incorporating both the key conceptual constructs and methodological approaches of Moral Foundation Theory. Consequently, it allows for real-time tracking and analysis of target public's attitudes towards a certain issue as it allows for the employment of computational methods. Therefore, this model could effectively inform conflicts management and political polarization. Accordingly, MADM extends the application of Contingency Theory in the context of social controversies with a long history. Moreover, this study applies MADM on defusing the tensions of two culture issues (GM food and Abortion) as an initial assessment. Concretely, issue related tweets were scraped through academic API provided by Twitter, and issue supporters' and opponents' tweets were identified by supervised machine learning classifiers for each issue respectively. Distributed Dictionary Representation, a Natural Language Processing tool was adopted for quantify supporters' and opponents' moral stances along the enhanced contingency continuum, the key construct of MADM, and multilevel linear modeling was adopted to investigate the quantified moral stances. Accordingly, pro-GM food and pro-abortion messages were constructed based on the moral stance diagnosis results and an experiment was conducted for message and model effectiveness evaluation. The experiment results show the potential of MADM as an effective tool for conflict management. The moral reframed pro-abortion message constructed based on MADM significantly decreases the participants' anger and the affective polarization. In sum, the results suggest that MADM could be a great tool for monitoring the public's opinion, developing quick responses, and evaluating the intervention. In other words, MADM could be a great tool for mitigating polarization and for real-time conflict management in the ever-changing environment.
From intentions to insights : Black teachers' experiences at an intentionally diverse Kansas City charter school
Authors:   , Hardwick Spencer Herbert
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] This study seeks to answer the research question of what narratives Black educators share about their experience at a Kansas City Diverse-by-Design charter school, a specific education model that emphasizes practices around voluntary inclusion. As we collectively reflect on the various impacts of the landmark Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. Board of Education, the intention of this work is to better understand a specific subset of charter schools known for their progressive mission and intentions to create a public education system that directly addresses the impacts of modern school resegregation. I pursue this work through a Critical Race Theory framework and interviewed six Black teachers at an intentionally diverse charter school in Kansas City with the aim of discerning how their evaluation of the school's practices impacted their work as well as the students and community more broadly. Three composite counter-narratives were developed to encapsulate the key themes from the participants' experiences within this system: 1) a healthy respect and awareness for diversity, equity, and inclusion, coupled with a strong desire for greater cultural awareness, 2) a profound sense of belonging, contrasted by unique dynamics among different subgroups of teachers and parents, and 3) a challenging environment marked by a notable lack of support in several areas, insufficient academic preparedness for students, yet a prevailing sense of optimism about the school's overall direction. The study concludes with a wide-ranging discussion around the implications of this work as well as recommendations for education practitioners in urban education.
Social-cognitive predictors of psychological well-being among college students with Autism Spectrum Disorder : application of the social cognitive well-being model
Authors:   , Hu Xiaotian
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] The current study tested and extended Lent's (2004) unifying social cognitive career theory of well-being among a sample of 219 college students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Structural Equational Modeling (SEM) was used to examine the interplay among contextual support (i.e., environmental supports), cognitive variables (i.e., self-efficacy, outcome expectations), personality traits (i.e., positive affect), and behavioral variables (i.e., goal-directed activity) as hypothesized in unifying SCCT wellbeing model. Results indicated that the SCCT well-being model provide a good fit to the data. Additionally, we proposed and tested a modified SCCT well-being model that incorporates internalizing symptoms (anxiety and depression), which are highly prevalent in the autistic population. This modified model not only fits the data well but also explains a greater variance in life satisfaction for autistic college students compared to the original model. The comparison of academic and life satisfaction between our sample and neurotypical populations, as reported in existing literature, reveals that while academic satisfaction levels are similar, autistic students experience lower life satisfaction. Implications for research and practice were discussed in relation to enhancing academic and life satisfaction among college students with ASD.
Chain-of-query prompting pipeline for improving small-scale language models in multi-hop open-domain question answering
Authors:   , Akula Rithika
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown to exhibit robust performance in multi-hop open-domain question-answering (ODQA), which is often attributed to the large number of parameters and extensive training. While smaller-scale language models (LMs) offer a more cost-effective approach for real-world applications, these LMs are often challenged with maintaining factual responses in multi-hop ODQA settings. In this thesis, we introduce a novel prompting approach viz., Chain-of-Query (CoQ), that is designed to enhance smaller-scale LMs by decomposing complex queries into context-based subqueries for robust ODQA in multi-hop settings. Our CoQ prompting approach creates an efficient pipeline that integrates with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) LMs for optimizing the retrieval process through multiple query generation, thereby adding external knowledge to the LM with small amount of context. We show how our CoQ approach can substantially boost the performance of small-scale LMs against state-of-the-art LLMs using metrics like Exact Match (EM) and F1 score, making it a valuable advancement for complex QA tasks. Lastly, we discuss some future research directions and extensions of our work to generative models and conclude by discussing some applications of our pipeline to improve open-source availability of powerful small-scale Language Models.
Adaptive open-set active learning with distance-based out-of-distribution detection for robust task-oriented dialog systems
Authors:   , Goruganthu Sai Keerthana
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] The advancements in time-efficient data collection techniques such as active learning (AL) have become salient for user intent classification performance in task-oriented dialog systems (TODS). In realistic settings, however, traditional AL techniques often fail to efficiently select targeted in-distribution (IND) data when encountering newly acquired outof- distribution (OOD) user intents in the unlabeled pool. In this thesis, we introduce a novel adaptive open-set AL framework viz., AOSAL for TODS that combines a distance-based OOD detector using an adaptive false positive rate threshold along with an informativeness measure (e.g., entropy) to strategically select informative IND data points in the unlabeled pool. Specifically, we utilize the adaptive OOD detector to classify and filter out OOD samples from the unlabeled pool, then prioritize the acquisition of classified IND instances based on their informativeness scores. To validate our approach, we conduct experiments that display our framework's flexibility and performance over multiple distance-based approaches and informativeness measures against deep AL baselines on benchmark text datasets. The results show that our AOSAL consistently outperforms the baselines on IND classification and percentage of acquired IND samples, demonstrating its ability to improve the robustness of task-oriented dialog systems. AOSAL shows a notable 13.41 percent increase in IND accuracy at a 24 percent budget size compared to the baseline, demonstrating its superior ability to effectively manage and utilize in-distribution data in task-oriented dialog systems.
Enabling the simulation of helium transport in lithium for fusion devices
Authors:   , Heins Mason Philroy
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] Nuclear fusion is a potential source of abundant, carbon-free energy. However, creating a nuclear fusion device with the ability to efficiently produce energy is a challenge to modern engineering. The tokamak is a device that has been designed to produce power through nuclear fusion. Finding the best materials for the construction of these fusion devices is difficult, as the plasma in these devices reaches temperatures that exceed the temperature of the core of the sun. Tungsten is a material being considered for the divertor component of the tokamak. However, tungsten will still receive surface damagefrom hydrogen and helium ions. Using flowing lithium to shield the tungsten divertor may reduce the surface damage to the solid divertor. Lithium also has a positive effect on the confinement of the plasma. To more fully understand the interactions of lithium with helium in fusion devices, molecular dynamics simulations may be performed. In order to perform molecular dynamics simulations, an interatomic potential is needed to characterize the force between lithium and helium (the product of the fusion reaction). We develop a lithium-helium interatomic potential which is then used to predict the diffusion coefficient of helium in lithium as well as simulate the depth distributions of helium in lithium. This interatomic potential can be further used to simulate more complex helium-lithium systems and even simulate lithium-helium-tungsten systems. The interactions of helium with lithium-coated divertors may then be studied in more detail.
VECA : reliable and confidential resource clustering for volunteer edge-cloud computing
Authors:   , Yeddulapalli Hemanth Sai
Published: November 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2025] Volunteer Edge-Cloud (VEC) has a significant potential to support scientific workflows in user communities contributing volunteer edge nodes. However, managing heterogeneous and intermittent resources to support machine/deep learning (ML/DL) based workflows poses challenges in resource governance for reliability, and confidentiality for model/data privacy protection. There is a need for approaches to handle the volatility of volunteer edge node availability, and also to scale the confidential data-intensive workflow execution across a large number of VEC nodes. In this thesis, we propose VECA, a reliable and confidential VEC resource clustering solution featuring three-fold methods tailored for executing ML/DL-based scientific workflows on VEC resources. Firstly, a capacity-based clustering approach enhances system reliability and minimizes VEC node search latency. Secondly, a novel two-phase, globally distributed scheduling scheme optimizes job allocation based on node attributes and using time-series-based Recurrent Neural Networks. Lastly, the integration of confidential computing ensures privacy preservation of the scientific workflows, where model and data information are not shared with VEC resource providers. We evaluate VECA in a Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) cloud testbed that features OpenFaaS and MicroK8S to support two ML/DL-based scientific workflows viz., G2P-Deep (bioinformatics) and PAS-ML (health informatics). Results from tested experiments demonstrate that our proposed VECA approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods; especially VECA exhibits a two-fold reduction in VEC node search latency and over 20 percent improvement in productivity rates following execution failures compared to the next best method.
Exploring internship barriers at a midwestern HBCU : a qualitative study
Authors:   , Garrett-Jordan Elizabeth
Published: November 2024

This dissertation explores the participation dynamics of BIPOC students in voluntary paid internships at a Midwestern HBCU, highlighting critical systemic barriers and the effectiveness of support systems. The study was prompted by a recognized gap in engagement among BIPOC students despite available internship opportunities. This research aimed to identify and analyze the barriers, motivations, and institutional supports affecting these students' decisions to engage in internships, contributing to the discourse on equitable access to such programs. Employing a qualitative methodology and constructivist paradigm, I gathered data through interviews with current and past internship participants and qualified non-participants. The results revealed systemic barriers, support system effectiveness, and student motivations. Factors that hindered internship participation included financial constraints, inadequate institutional support, and limited social capital. The study further highlights how robust mentorship and comprehensive career services could mitigate these barriers. The implications suggest targeted institutional strategies at HBCUs to foster inclusivity and accessibility of internships and to adopt and evaluate policies that address the specific challenges faced by BIPOC students. Academic policies might better integrate internship experiences seamlessly into the curriculum in ways that ensure these opportunities are both visible and attainable to all students, irrespective of their socioeconomic backgrounds.