A Red Awakening: An Analysis of China’s Quest for Global Dominance through Economic Alternative Warfare Methods

In the 2023 annual meeting of China’s parliament, Chinese President Xi made it clear to his political leaders and the world that he was preparing for war. This should come as no surprise after analysis of China\u27s grand strategy points clearly to the intent to surpass the U.S. as the premier global superpower in all respects. China has been building towards this goal for years through untraditional methods of warfare, forcing the national security community to reevaluate its own strategy and assess the Chinese threat through a different lens. This thesis seeks to address one specific area in which China has been successfully undermining U.S. interests through an untraditional yet effective method, economic warfare. With a 2022 GDP of 18.1 trillion dollars and the figure rising year upon year, China’s mammoth economy can no longer be pushed under the political rug by U.S. decision-makers and this paper evaluates the current and future implications of this reality and provides considerations for a path forward that emphasizes the need for responses rooted in a deep understanding of the enemy that protects U.S. interests from the immediate threat and potential conflicts to come

Women in the Leadership of Church Worship Upholding and Manifesting Biblical Principles of Their God-given Design

Despite the existing literature and changes in church governments that promote women in leadership roles of church worship, there remains a gap that specifies the biblical feminine qualities of women in worship leadership. These specifics should clarify the manifested characteristics of those women in leadership who exhibit the biblical distinctness of their gender from that of the male gender. Historical study shows in past generations that many denominations have banned women from such leading roles because of the interpretation of Scripture pertaining to the man being the head over the woman. This stance has been changing in the 21st century with the significant and influential pressure for reform of the Women’s Liberation Movement. The writing of books, theses, and dissertations by Christians on the subject have also greatly influenced significant changes in viewpoints within the body of Christ. This study of clarification for biblical characteristics of a female in the leadership of church worship is because the unbiblical characteristics of modern society promoted for females in leadership are permeating many churches of all denominations and/or non-denominational churches in an alarming manner. This qualitative study examines the issue of discerning God’s desire of characteristics and their manifestations for women in worship leadership, primarily through the lens of the Bible. Along with the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, it also considers relevant literature from Christian exposition, secular sociology, psychology, and archived visuals. This paper will expose the biblical uniqueness and celebration of the female role and her gifts to be used for God’s glory

Community Formation and Effective Leadership in African American Churches in High-poverty Communities

African American church traditions were reputable for serving “the least of these (Matthew 25:35 - 46) (TLOT) through intentional, Bible-based community fellowship and relationship. However, African American churches are moving away from community ministries to inside worshiping that does not fulfill God\u27s agenda. As a result, the phenomenon of serving in isolation versus serving through community formation is incrementally deviating from the biblical worldview. This qualitative phenomenological study explores, community formation and effective leadership in African American churches in high-poverty communities in the aggregate city of Newark, NJ. This research aims to explore community formation and effective leadership in African American churches in high-poverty communities. At this stage in the research, a servant-leader profile is generally defined as Ministry leaders with proven character, doxological motives, and a passion to fulfill the divine agenda of Jesus (Howell, Jr., 2003, pp. 296–301). The following general findings of this research were: 1) “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14), especially when serving in urban America; 2) Effective Christian leadership in HPC is a direct result of a leader’s authentic relationship with Jesus, their clear calling, and passion to serve; 3) Bygone African American church traditions are the possible solution to effective church leadership in HPC based on this study’s findings. The servant-leader theory aligns with the biblical worldview and Shepherd motif doctrine steering this study (Ezekiel 34:1 – 6, 23, 37:24; Jeremiah 3:15, 10:21; Psalm 23, 78:70 – 72; Matthew 25:35 – 46; John 10:11 – 15; Hebrews 13:20)

Potential Adverse Cardiovascular Side Effects Following mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination

The COVID-19 vaccine, regarded as a triumph by some and a danger by others, has been studied due to the presence of adverse cardiovascular side effects experienced by some individuals following vaccination. Incidence and prevalence rates of these effects are examined by various demographic factors, primarily age and sex. The most prevalent adverse cardiovascular effects noted are myocarditis, pericarditis, cardiovascular disease, tachycardia, hypertension, palpitation, and acute myocardial infarction. Due to the novelty of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, many health studies have focused their data analysis on age or sex characteristics, however many excellent opportunities for future research are necessary to understand the full impact of the vaccine on adverse cardiovascular outcomes at the population level

Avoiding the Cliff: A Case Study Exploring a Community-Based Program Working with Young Adults with Disabilities

When young adults with disabilities (YAWD) age out of the system, they face what has colloquially been termed “the cliff,” which symbolizes the sudden drop in services that occur as they transition out of high school; needs previously met at school are left unaddressed. Multiple options have been suggested to meet these needs, including employment, vocational rehab, sheltered workshops, supported employment, postsecondary education, and volunteering. Despite this, options for YAWD remain limited, especially when they have intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to understand how Top Crops, a community-based program in Bowling Green, KY, helps meet the needs of young adults with intellectual disabilities after they complete high school. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological model was the theory that guided this study, as the program allows participants to engage with community members across multiple contexts. Data were collected through observation, document analysis, and semistructured interviews with participants, parents, and program directors. Categories were developed from the data and used to identify how Top Crops addresses the needs of young adults with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, findings revealed that Top Crops helps to meet some of the parents’ needs and influences the community’s perception of the capabilities of YAWD

Parenting Styles of Biological Parents with and without a History of Childhood Trauma

This paper details a survey examining the impact of childhood trauma on the future parenting style of biological parents. This study included 65 parents (58 Mothers, 7 Fathers) with (n=27) and without (n=38) a history of childhood trauma. Parents were surveyed using the Parental Style Measure (Kim, Zang, & Lee, 2015) and the Early Trauma Inventory-Self-Report- Short Form (Bremner 2007) to determine parenting style and whether the participant had a history of childhood trauma. Also, parents were asked to report the number of years from the resolution of the trauma until the commencement of parenting to determine if the demonstrated parenting style was impacted by the length of time. The data showed that parents with a history of emotional childhood trauma were significantly less likely to utilize authoritative parenting. Additional analysis revealed that the longer the length of time from the resolution of the trauma until the commencement of parenting, the greater the likelihood that the participant would use authoritative parenting. These results emphasize the vast impact that trauma can have on an individual’s life, but the hope that comes from healing and time

Appalachian Mountain Religion

The Southern Appalachian Mountains are steeped with deeply held, and individually personal, religious beliefs. The diverse influences upon the region during their settlement have blurred the lines between folklore, Christianity, and other belief systems. This research uses primary and secondary sources to identify how those cultural beliefs have become infused into mountain religion and what makes the various denominational churches of the region reflect each other and their cultural identity more than their broader national conventions. Settlers brought forms of Christianity with them into the mountains, but it did not look like the Christianity that had developed in the colonies. It came with mystic traditions, Granny Women, healing, and lore and married itself right into the American Indian traditions of the people they met when they settled the land. As more common denominations grew and spread throughout Southern Appalachia, they did not develop without reflecting the unique mountain culture around them. What makes mountain religion so fascinating is the way the mountain culture permeates even the strictest, most fundamental-leaning bodies of believers while a biblical worldview inserts itself into the minds of skeptics and unbelievers. A challenge with understanding the culture of Appalachia and the impact on religion is its limited historiography. Appalachia is only now in a revisionist period of history that started in the late twentieth century. As revisionist history continues and primary sources are objectively analyzed and rediscovered, a clearer picture of the anomaly that is Appalachian Mountain religion will likely emerge. Moreover, as the barriers that have historically isolated the Southern Appalachian region are torn down, the future of mountain religion is a story waiting to be told

Gender Bias and Children’s Literature: Understanding Natural Gender Language and Grammatical Gender Language within Gender Development

The purpose of this research is to understand how gender bias is developed through language. Gender is represented within the human language in different forms such as in nouns, verbs, and/or pronouns that represent female and/or male versions of certain words (DeFranza et al., 2020). Each language consists of a degree of gendered language which is grammatical gender language, natural gender language, a combination of grammatical gender and natural gender, and genderless language (Prewitt-Freilino et al., 2012). This quantitative content analysis approach aims to understand how gender biases are represented in children’s literature in both grammatical gender language and natural gender language. The research questions how gender biases are found in both natural gender and grammatical gender languages within children’s literature. Then questions if there are any differences in these biases. This research compares gender biases within children’s literature in the natural gender language and the grammatical gender language. The content analysis uses children’s literature from the New York Public Library’s Best Books Lists for 2022 and 2021. For the natural gender language, the research uses English books from the lists and Spanish for the grammatical gender language. The study analyzes each book’s main character’s gender, target audience, and whether they are enforcing gender stereotypes. The first finding revealed that both lists of books had more female main characters than any other gender. Another finding is that the majority of both book lists did not enforce gender stereotypes. Lastly, if any books were reinforcing gender stereotypes, they were most likely to be female over male. In conclusion, there are more similarities than differences found between the two languages. For future research on this topic, the researcher would suggest comparing a larger variety of books and more than two degrees of gender languages

Characterization of the Aspergillus flavus rdiA gene with a rdi1∆ mutant of C. neoformans

Several members in the Aspergillus genus produce aflatoxin, the most potent naturally occurring carcinogen known. Regulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis has been studied for several decades as this mycotoxin is currently regulated by the USDA. While all the biosynthetic steps have been characterized, much remains to be elucidated regarding the regulatory network controlling its production. Expression data show that A. flavus rdiA clusters with the aflatoxin pathway-specific transcriptional regulator aflR. Deletion of rdiA resulted in increased septation interval and branching as well as severely decreased AF production. The ∆rdiA mutant phenotype is similar to the rdi1∆ mutant of C. neoformans and the bem4∆ mutant in S. cerevisiae that exhibits a severe growth defect on minimal medium, a moderate growth defect on complete medium, and a cold temperature sensitivity phenotype. Interestingly, A. flavus rdiA expression at least partially rescues the cold-sensitive phenotype of the S. cerevisiae bem4∆ mutant. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that in contrast to S. cerevisiae, the mutant of C. neoformans RDI1 exhibits discernable morphological phenotypes, similar to the rdiA mutant of A. flavus. Therefore, we will complement the rdiA mutant of A. flavus to confirm the observed phenotypes in A flavus. Furthermore, we will complement the C. neoformans rdi1∆ mutant with A. flavus rdiA to establish the identity of the A flavus rdiA gene

Poster 3

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