How Individuals’ Perceptions of Health-Related Content on Social Media are Shaped: The Impact of Information Sources and Message Characteristics

Social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and X, serve as major sources of health-related information. However, the credibility and accuracy of this information remain a critical concern. This study used a 2 x 3 between subject experiment design to examine the effects of two information sources (individual influencers, nonprofit organizations) and three message types (general message, message with statistics, message with testimony) on perceived credibility and engagement. Participants were recruited through two primary channels to ensure a diverse and engaged sample. First, an email invitation was distributed by the head of the Butler University Honors Program to all students within the program, targeting academically high- achieving individuals. Second, the survey link was shared via a personal LinkedIn post, where it gathered over 1,600 impressions, expanding the reach beyond the university community and into a broader professional and social network. These methods helped attract a sample with varying backgrounds while maintaining a level of educational engagement appropriate for the study’s focus on credibility and health communication. Based on responses from 113 participants recruited via LinkedIn and email, results showed that nonprofit organizations were generally perceived as more credible than individual influencers. Statistical messages increased engagement when shared by nonprofits, while testimonials were more effective for increasing engagement when shared by influencers. Additionally, statistical content significantly increased participants’ likelihood of seeking more information, regardless of source. However, message type had no significant effect on perceived completeness of information. These findings offer actionable insights for designing more trustworthy and engaging health communication on social media

The Spartan Mirage; A Study into Spartan Women

A myth has been perpetuated about the Greek city-state of Sparta which has shrouded it in a mirage. This mirage can make it difficult to determine what Sparta was truly like, which includes the reality of its women. Scholars tend to present Spartan women within extremes that either showcase them as no different from other women or as the ones holding all the power. Spartan women were key in passing on important values to their children such as to die bravely in battle or not come home at all. By looking into Spartan women, we can find strong evidence that they were different from women at that time, but we must look closer to see what “different” truly implies. For this paper, I plan to closely examine sources to draw the strongest conclusions about what it meant to be a Spartan woman and peel back the Spartan mirage

Sympatric Behavior of Tree Squirrels in an Urban Environment

The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) are ubiquitous in urban ecosystems like university campuses despite the habitat loss and fragmentation often associated with urbanization. While populations of both species usually do not overlap in their native geographic ranges, gray and fox squirrels are sometimes forced into coexistence in urban habitats where fewer green spaces are available. The coexistence of both species at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana refutes the competitive exclusion principle, and niche partitioning is likely necessary for them to coexist. This study assessed the activity patterns of fox and gray squirrels at Butler to determine if the two species partition the campus spatially or temporally to avoid interspecific competition. Different areas of a survey transect established throughout campus were characterized spatially into “high” or “low” canopy areas based on percentages of tree canopy cover, and observations of both species were made during three different time periods throughout the day. An analysis of observations between species in different canopy groups and at different times of day found evidence for spatial partitioning. In the summer, gray squirrels were more frequently active in high canopy areas, while fox squirrels were more frequently active in low canopy areas. There was little evidence for temporal partitioning throughout the day, as the activity of both species did not typically vary between time periods. Behavior of fox and gray squirrels did change between seasons. In the fall and winter, fox squirrels were equally active in high canopy areas as they were in low canopy areas, and they outnumbered gray squirrels in both types of habitat. Gray squirrels remained more active in high canopy areas as they were in low canopy areas. The difference in variation between seasons indicates temporal partitioning may occur seasonally

The Interaction Between Phonological Reading Skills and Executive Functioning in Adults with Cochlear Implants

Little research has been conducted concerning the interaction between phonological reading skills (the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of language) and executive functioning (a set of processes that are necessary for the cognitive control of behavior) in adults with hearing loss. The current study examined the potential association between phonological reading skills, hearing loss, and executive functioning in post-lingually deaf and hard of hearing adults who use cochlear implants. Two hypotheses were tested: 1) adult cochlear implant users have weaker executive functioning and phonological reading skills compared to their hearing peers; 2) adults with hearing loss who use cochlear implants will rely on executive functioning more to complete phonological reading tasks when compared to the TH group of participants. Design: Thirty-one post-lingually deafened older adults with cochlear implants (CIs) and 43 peers with age-typical hearing (TH) completed measures of phonological reading skills from the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE-2) and measures of executive functioning skills from The Learning, Executive and Attention Functioning Scale (LEAF). Results: A one-tailed t-test revealed that the Hearing group had significantly higher scores than the adults with cochlear implants on the TOWRE-2 Test (t(69) = 1.96, p = .03). However, there were no significant group differences on subscales of the LEAF, suggesting that participants across groups self-reported comparable levels of executive functioning. Scores on the basic reading skills subtest from the LEAF were negatively correlated with non-words correct from the TOWRE-2 Test for the Hearing group (r(38) = -.37, p = .02). In contrast, the measures of executive functioning from the LEAF did not correlate with the TOWRE-2 phonological reading tasks for the adults with cochlear implants. Conclusions: Overall, these findings suggest that neither group of adults used executive function skills during the phonological reading test. The hearing adults used phonics skills to make sense of non-words but adults with cochlear implants did not. These findings contribute to our understanding of hearing loss and phonological reading skills. Future studies are needed to investigate potential barriers to phonological processing and reading in children with dyslexia and hearing loss

Synthesis and characterization of 3,5 trifluoromethyl Tpm with a metal carbonyl complex

Tris(pyrazolyl)methane (Tpm) ligands have a central carbon with 3 pyrazole rings attached. These were discovered in 1970 and have since been synthesized with many substituents on the rings. Based on the parent structure, my goal was to synthesize a fluorinated Tpm derivative. By adapting existing procedures, I have synthesized a Tpm derivative with trifluorinated methyl groups in the 3 and 5 positions of the pyrazole ring. The fluorinated ligand is expected to be electron withdrawing and exhibit interesting chemistry when bound to a metal center. Future directions of the project will be discussed

Boycotts, Backlash, and Beer: The Impact of Brand Partnerships on Political Polarization in the United States

In an election year with political instability happening around the world, there are many lessons to be learned about businesses’ role in exacerbating or helping to calm these politically wild times. This research aims to uncover the mysteries that lie at the intersection of the corporate and political worlds by investigating if, and how, political stability is heightened by various brand practices, including but not limited to marketing efforts, social media posts, and influencer collaborations. This paper utilizes the lens of the 2023 Bud Light collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and the effects this partnership had on American political polarity. Learning more about this intersection will shine a light into possible remedies for political polarization and provide more insight on the adverse effects and practical implications of it within our country as a result of various brand practices. Additionally, this research explores how brand practices can best operate moving forward in our politically divisive climate

‘Dark Grandmothers,’ The Art of the Individual over the Craft of the Collectives: A Case Study of Klaas Rommelaere and his Madams

An examination of Belgian artist Klaas Rommelaere with a focus on his internationally renowned embroidered sculpture series, Dark Uncles (2020). Despite his role as the artist and the public face of the craft-based collaborative project, Rommelaere’s physical involvement is minimal when compared to “the madams,” the true executors of Rommelaere’s labor-intensive craftwork. This raises critical questions about authorship and reception in contemporary art, particularly the institutional reliance on the individual artist as a figurehead to promote collective craftsmanship. By analyzing Dark Uncles through a post-structural feminist lens and considering the liminality of craft production under capitalism, the paper highlights the marginalization of women’s labor in art and culture and the reinforcement of the Western model of the artist as a single, celebrated figurehead. In doing so, Rommelaere’s oeuvre serves as a case study of the ongoing tensions between ‘art’ and ‘craft,’ as well as the systemic challenges faced by crafts(wo)men in the contemporary art space

A Grotesque Beacon of God’s Grace in “A Temple of the Holy Ghost”

The faith of Flannery O’Connor, a Catholic writer, creates a unique tension within her short stories, between the grotesque aspects of the natural world and the sanctity of the divine. Her work “A Temple of the Holy Ghost” exemplifies this tension as a young female narrator encounters an unexpected transformative experience after her two cousins see a “hermaphrodite”[1] at a local “freak show.” In “A Temple of the Holy Ghost,” Flannery O’Connor employs the hermaphrodite character as a vessel for the narrator to explore the mysterious virtue of purity as she matures both literally and spiritually. In doing so, O’Connor calls readers to adopt a perception of sacramentality upon the physical world

Repairing Activist-Academic Relationships: Defining Methods to Improve Reciprocity and Movement Building in Degrowth

The degrowth movement, advocating for an eco-socialist restructuring of world economies, has failed to find a political foothold in American politics. This is despite growing support in Europe and positive, yet limited, reception in Canada. Previous literature diagnoses the American degrowth movement with confused and ineffective rhetoric, inhospitable intramovement politics, and too little scholarly support. In this article, I argue differently. I focus on the relationships between academics and activists within American degrowth, understanding academic-activist relationships to be historically extractive but also generative and didactic. Using semistructured interviews with academics and activists, and discourse analysis of the press coverage of degrowth, I define the state of academic-activist relationships as severely underdeveloped and uncooperative. Finally, I find that significant reforms to higher education’s opacity, exclusivity, and extractive productivity, and that encouraging activists to proactively center their narratives in the movement, may improve the lax reciprocity and slow movement building of American degrowth