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Diet-related diseases like obesity and type-2 diabetes are on the rise. Precision nu- trition, a way to tailor dietary requirements for each individual, is heralded as a solution to these problems. However, nutritional research is held within sparse, siloed resources that rarely connect, which leads to significant barriers hindering the progress of precision nutrition. Three knowledgebases were produced as a re- sult of this work. The ABCkb 1.0 overcomes these barriers by linking 11 separate resources in the path from plants to disease through molecular mechanisms. This resource is built in Neo4j and provides a web-based interface available for browsing (https://abckb.charlotte.edu). A second knowledgebase, ABCkb 2.0 connects micro- biota information to diet and human health through the incorporation of text-mined associations from full text articles. The final knowledgebase produced links long-covid to dietary components through possible molecular mechanisms. These three knowl- edgebases promote progress in precision nutrition to tackle the rise in diet-related disease.
Social media such as Twitter enable people to interact with each other and share health-related concerns in a new and novel way, as evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person communication became inconvenient under social-distancing policies. Little attention has been paid to the impacts of health policy and local political ideology on the trends of spatiotemporal emotions related to COVID-19. This study examines 1) the spatial-temporal clustering trends of negative emotions (or spillover effects); 2) whether health policies such as social distancing policy are associated with spatiotemporal emotion patterns towards COVID-19. This article finds that: 1) COVID-19 related negative emotions detected by social media have spillover effects and that 2) counties with staying at home policy or counties which are predominantly democratic exhibit a higher rate of negative emotional tweets toward COVID-19. These results suggest that scholars and policymakers may want to consider the impacts of interventions caused by public policy and political polarization on spatial-temporal patterns of public health concerns detected by social media.
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a belt of convective systems around the equator with showers and thunderstorms, is an important feature not only to the tropical societies whose water budget depends on it, but also to the atmospheric science field to understand how will the Earth respond to a warming climate. Former studies found that annual and zonal mean ITCZ position is related to interhemispheric atmospheric heat transport (AHTtotal). The radiative imbalance at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) transported across the equator to the cooler hemisphere explains the ITCZ position and its shift. Using idealized model simulations with a ``slab'' ocean, researchers found that an increase in the interhemispheric TOA radiation contrast causes an increase in cross-equatorial energy flux by the Hadley circulation and a shift of the ITCZ towards the warmer hemisphere. The theory that relates AHTtotal and ITCZ position is called energetic theory.
In this dissertation, we analyze Tropical rain belts with an Annual cycle and a Continent-Model Intercomparison Project (TRACMIP) model simulations to test the energetic theory. TRACMIP is a project of idealized models that fill the gap between Couple Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) idealized aquaplanet projects and fully-coupled projects. TRACMIP models are thermodynamically coupled to a slab ocean. TRACMIP has idealized tropical continent setups with both present-day and quadruple CO2 (4xCO2) concentration experiments, which can help us understand ITCZ shift and potential precipitation changes over land under a warming scenario. Our findings suggested that TRACMIP simulations do not support energetic theory's expectations under a warming climate.
All of our models simulated a northward shift of ITCZ and mass transport under a warming scenario. Our models disagreed on the changes of the energy transported by Hadley cells and the total energy transported by the atmosphere. In general, the link between mass transport changes and energy transported by the Hadley cells changes broke down the most during Northern Hemisphere tropical wet season. The link between changes of the energy transported by the Hadley cells and total energy transported by the atmosphere broke down the most during Northern Hemisphere tropical dry season. Breakdown of one or both of these links caused the overall link between ITCZ shifts and total energy transport changes to break down.
We encourage more studies to be done on energetic theory and climate change. We look forward to combining energetic theory with monsoon theories to develop a self-contained tropical climate model.
Passion can drive entrepreneurs to new heights of success and fulfilment, but the dark side can also lead to conflict with relationships and activities. Work addiction goes a step further as it demands the entrepreneur’s time and energy even when they are off the clock. This study explores the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and work addiction, leaning on the Dualistic Model of Passion. It also investigates the possibility that personality traits influence this connection. Empirical evidence suggests that obsessively passionate entrepreneurs are more likely to encounter work addiction than their less passionate counterparts. The data also supports a weak link between harmonious entrepreneurial passion and work addiction, with harmoniously passionate entrepreneurs being less susceptible to work addiction. Finally, there was minimal support for the idea that the Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) play a role in this exchange. There is a secondary nuance to this study regarding passion and addiction. It provides evidence that passion with one target can relate to addiction with another. This encourages the examination of other cross-target passion and addiction relationships.
This correlational study utilized secondary, longitudinal data to examine the extent to which student-influenced and institution-influenced factors predict the academic success and degree completion of engineering transfer students at public four-year institutions in North Carolina. The sample included students who transferred from community colleges to pursue baccalaureate degrees at UNC System institutions that offered engineering or engineering technology programs from 2009 to 2016. Based on the data structure, regression analyses were utilized to examine the factors that predict first-semester academic performance and persistence to degree attainment at the receiving institutions. The hierarchical organization of student-influenced, institution-influenced, and both student and institution-influenced factors were based on a modified version of Smith and Van Aken’s (2020) literature-based conceptual framework on engineering transfer student persistence.
Results indicated that first-term academic performance is impacted by student background, college/department of engineering characteristics, and attempted and earned hours in the first semester. Further, persistence was affected by age, the amount of transfer credit, college/department of engineering characteristics, and cumulative GPA and total earned hours at the receiving institution by the student. This study provides practical and actionable findings that will aid four-year engineering institutions in increasing the academic success and persistence of vertical transfer students pursuing baccalaureate engineering degrees.
Please email me at csgreen2@gmail.com for the Zoom link if you would like to attend.
Teacher evaluations are routinely conducted across the United States for licensure and professional development supports. However, there is limited research on the interrater reliability of these evaluation assessment systems, despite federal recommendations (Graham et al., 2012). This research explores the systematic approach to interrater reliability utilized by the Early Educator Support (EES) Office in North Carolina. The EES Office supports the Birth-through-Kindergarten (B-K) teacher licensure of over 900 early educators in both private and public sectors. The evaluators employed undergo extensive trainings and hold a B-K license themselves. As part of the training, the evaluators undergo an interrater reliability activity that requires them to rate ten fictitious profiles, using the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process (NCTEP) Rubric. This research aims to understand the evaluator response process. In this study, Many Facets Rasch Models are used to understand evaluator patterns of strictness, leniency and potential bias based on the race of teacher profile. Additionally, two of the models are compared to understand the extent that these rater response patterns are exhibited in their real caseloads of actual early educators. In conclusion, the group of evaluators do show evidence of strictness, leniency, and bias, however it is mostly exhibited by a small number of individual evaluators. It is possible to use the results to inform the professional growth of these evaluators, so that all early educators served by the EES Office receive valid, fair, and reliable teacher evaluations. Furthermore, it depicts a systematic approach to interrater reliability that could be used by other evaluation systems across the country.
Turnover in is a critically important issue as organizations seek to retain quality personnel in the face of shortages in skilled and experienced labor. However, prior research in the area has been limited and produced mixed results, which may be in part due to difficulties in operationalizing related constructs and moderators. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented employment crisis all around the world. The study is built on the premise that when employees feel that their interests are protected, and support is given to them, they will have a positive response in return. As such, this study, grounded in social exchange and reciprocity norm theories, will seek to provide additional evidence on the relationship between Perceived Organization Support and Job Embeddedness on turnover intention. Second, this dissertation will provide insight into how employees’ perception of COVID-19 has had on the forementioned constructs and employees’ productivity. Third, the study seeks to verify the moderating effect of gender, age, and ethnicity. This study seeks to understand how employees’ perceptions of the organization and their connections to their job influences their turnover intentions. This paper utilizes survey data collected from employees in various industries including accounting. While the results did not confirm interaction effects from the demographic tested, the results did affirm the impact of Perceived Organization Support and Job Embeddedness on turnover intention. Results also provided evidence of the impact of the stress related to and fear of COVID-19 to turnover intention and the impact of benefits use and benefits needed on Perceived Organizational Support. These findings extend prior research on the role organization policies and practices impact turnover intention outcomes.
Recent events in society have brought racial justice to the forefront of conversations and have prompted companies to issue statements on their stance on racial justice in America. These statements have been pervasive, with many companies touting their support for diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations and society at large. However, little is known regarding whether a stakeholder finds these statements as credible or not. This research empirically examined the perceived credibility of racial justice statements assessing the impact of race and use of charismatic leadership tactics (CLTs) in messages. A 2 (high charisma vs. low charisma) x 2 (White leader vs. BIPOC leader) experimental design was used to survey (N=1200) participants for their evaluation of racial justice statements. I found that across all conditions CLT usage significantly influenced message credibility for White and BIPOC leaders as well as White and BIPOC stakeholders. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and future research are discussed.
Despite evidence of the rapid growth of Latinx students throughout the country (Gándara, 2017; He & Yu, 2017), there has been inadequate critical examination of the educational policies and practices impacting this population and their self-identification. Teachers play a crucial role in ensuring that all students, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, receive a quality education that will equip them for post-school success in an increasingly diverse society. Studies suggest that teachers who share the racial, cultural, and/or ethnic identity of their students can play an important role in their success. Unfortunately, Latinx teachers remain starkly underrepresented within the field (Shapiro & Partelow, 2018), even though Latinx teacher representation plays a critical role in not only the academic achievement of Latinx students but is also prevalent in the solving of larger issues related to ethnic and racial identity development and consciousness (Goldhaber et al., 2019) because of the postcolonial structures in schools. Postcolonial structures are implicated by the structural inequality and racial and economic disparities that continue to plague racialized groups throughout society. In order to fulfill this role, Latinx teachers need to richly understand their Latinx identity development and consciousness.
The purpose of this autoethnographic study was to systematically examine and reflect on my lived experiences as an immigrant in the United States to better understand Latinx identity development and consciousness and the role of Latinx teachers in combating the exclusionary practices of postcolonial structures in schooling. Using Latinx Critical Theory (LatCrit) as the theoretical framework, this dissertation focuses on Latinx teachers and the impact of identity development on their role in the classroom. I examined my Latinx identity at different stages of my life and positioned this within the collective experiences of other Latinx teachers to better understand the factors that have contributed to my evaluation of self.
The data collected for this study consisted of a life timeline, transcribed journals I kept throughout my teaching career, cultural artifacts, and an individual autobiographical narrative. This highly reflective process was then analyzed thematically to identify themes and patterns that emerged from the data. The findings revealed three major themes: ongoing identity detachment, Latinx imposter syndrome, and unveiled hypocrisy in education. Ongoing identity detachment highlights my continued loss of identity. Latinx imposter syndrome depicts the feelings of doubt, fear, and fraud I had to overcome in my role as a bilingual teacher of emergent bilingual students. Lastly, unveiled hypocrisy in education captures my awareness and understanding of the marginalization and exclusion within the education system. This study has significant implications for the understanding of Latinx teacher identity development and the influence their self-perception has on their work within the classroom. Recommendations on how to further the discussion on identity development and consciousness and the role of Latinx teachers in combating the exclusionary practices of postcolonial structures in schooling are made to teacher preparation programs, school and district leaders, Latinx teachers, and for future research.
Keywords: postcolonial structures, raciolinguistic ideologies, internalized oppression, immigrant experience, Latinx teacher identity
This dissertation contains the analysis of the general lattice non-stationary Anderson parabolic model with correlated white noise. It starts form the brief description of known results about parabolic problem with local Laplacian and the detailed description of the general non-local Anderson model in the non-stationary random environment (Chapter 2). Chapter 3 is devoted to existence-uniqueness theorems for the parabolic model in the weighted Hilbert space and the solution in Feynman–Kac formula representation. The chapter 4 contains the results on the first and second moments of the solution and the spectral properties of the Hamiltonian $\mathcal{H}_2$, providing the basic information on the phase transition of the model from the regular to intermittent structure, additional results concerns the other spectral bifurcations of $\mathcal{H}_2$.
