Implicit Bias in Hiring: Leveraging Avatars to Foster More Inclusive Hiring Practices

This research investigated implicit racial in-group bias in hiring and examined extended reality (XR) as a mechanism for masking visual identity cues during the interview process. By introducing avatars that obscure physical characteristics, such as race, the study extends the concept of “blind” hiring into immersive virtual environments. In our experimental design, randomly assigned participants evaluated job candidates represented by avatars that had three variations of racial identifiability (White, Asian, or racially unidentifiable avatar) and two qualification levels (strong and ambiguous). We controlled for gender by including only experienced, full-time female professionals as participants in the evaluation of female avatars that had already been validated in a prior pilot study. This approach tested whether masking race in XR-based interviews altered perceptions of candidates for two different measures of the candidate’s fit and final round interview recommendations. Across conditions, we observed no significant effects of racial congruence or implicit bias on these three dependent variables. These findings suggest that, early in the interview hiring process, avatar-mediated interviews can standardize candidate evaluations without introducing measurable racial bias. The results offer theoretical insight into the boundary conditions of implicit bias in technology-mediated hiring and practical guidance for human resource professionals considering XR-based interview tools

A Backend Database Architecture for Persistent Epilepsy Classification Records

Epilepsy affects over five million people globally each year, yet consistent clinical diagnosis remains a persistent challenge due to the lack of standardized classification workflows across medical institutions. The Four-Dimensional Epilepsy Classification (4D-EC) framework, developed by Lüders et al., provides a comprehensive structure for characterizing paroxysmal events across four dimensions: seizure semiology, epileptogenic zone, etiology, and comorbidities. Despite its clinical and educational value, no dedicated informatics platform existed to support its routine use until recently, limiting widespread adoption among clinicians and trainees. This project addresses that gap by implementing a full-stack web application that operationalizes the 4D-EC framework for clinical and educational use. The platform was developed using React (TypeScript) on the frontend and Django (Python) with a PostgreSQL database on the backend, following a three-tier architecture with RESTful API communication and token-based authentication. The application guides users through a structured, multi-step classification workflow covering all four dimensions, with adaptive page visibility based on event type, a hierarchical clinical findings database with real-time search, drag-and-drop semiological ordering, and automated summary generation. Completed features include secure multi-user authentication, full data persistence with state reconstruction, and a responsive interface built with Radix UI components. Ongoing development targets AI-powered chatbot integration for contextual guidance and terminology clarification, PDF export, edit and delete functionality for saved classifications, and comprehensive unit and integration testing. The platform is designed to reduce diagnostic inconsistency, lower the barrier to 4D-EC adoption, and support training of epileptologists by embedding the framework directly into a practical, accessible clinical tool

An Austrian Approach to Accounting Regulation: How Policy Intervention Distorts the Market for Assurance Services

This thesis applies the causal-realist method of the Austrian School of Economics to the market for assurance services in the United States. The central argument is that post-crisis accounting regulation has systematically distorted the incentive structures of independent public accounting firms in ways regulators do not predict and cannot fully control. Financial crises, properly understood through Austrian Business Cycle Theory, originate in monetary distortions rather than market failure. Post-crisis regulatory responses nonetheless target the profession rather than the underlying distortion, introducing rules that alter the institutional constraints within which auditors exercise professional judgment. The thesis develops a judgment-based equation of the firm, drawing on the ownership theory of Foss and Klein, to formalize how the introduction of an external regulatory claimant, specifically the PCAOB, reallocates decision rights, expands stakeholder claims on firm assets, and displaces the residual control exercised by firm owners. The Hayek-Lavoie power problem supplies the epistemological dimension: centralized oversight of dispersed professional judgment generates a structural knowledge gap between rulemaker and practitioner that personnel reform cannot resolve. Historical analysis of the U.S. accounting profession demonstrates that the standard narrative attributing the PCAOB’s creation to audit failure at Enron and WorldCom obscures a longer political trajectory. The pre-1933 model, in which exchange listing requirements, civil liability, and voluntary professional association standards produced independent audit as an endogenous market outcome, constitutes the appropriate counterfactual against which post-SOX regulation should be evaluated. The 1977-2002 peer review episode is recharacterized not as genuine self-governance but as delegated regulation operating under implicit threat of nationalization–a distinction with significant consequences for how the profession’s accommodating posture toward its regulators should be interpreted. Legal analysis of Free Enterprise Fund, Lucia, Cochran, and Loper Bright identifies the constitutional fault lines along which the SEC and PCAOB’s authority becomes structurally vulnerable in a post-Chevron environment. The thesis concludes by examining private equity’s entry into the profession through the alternative practice structure model. PE investment is partly an artifact of the regulatory environment the PCAOB has produced, as compliance costs and barriers to entry have increased the capital requirements necessary to compete in the public company audit market. Assessed through the JBEF and the profit-and-loss mechanism, however, PE investment is not inherently destabilizing. If it improves human capital investment and technology, the Austrian School would regard this as an efficient reallocation of resources, subject to the discipline of professional services markets

FAIRmaterials: Ontology Tools with Data FAIRification in Development

The bilingual FAIRmaterials package simplifies the creation and visualization of materials and data science ontologies. FAIRmaterials, available in the Python and R languages, addresses the complexities associated with traditional ontology editors based on manual user input such as Protege (Musen, 2015) with an intuitive workflow and easy-to-use templates, making it accessible to users both experienced and inexperienced with ontologies. The FAIRmaterials package is its ability to programatically convert simple and structured CSV inputs into rich, well-defined ontologies. This capability is designed to support the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR) (Wilkinson et al., 2016) of research data and serve as a tool in the process of data FAIRification. Its additional features, such as automated ontology merging, static visualizations, and comprehensive documentation for outputs extend its utility, making it a valuable tool for any researcher engaged in knowledge management

Are There Ecological Consequences of Urban Adaptation? A Test of Eco-evolutionary Dynamics in a Terrestrial Isopod (Oniscus asellus)

Urbanization affects many aspects of the environment with the potential to alter both ecological and evolutionary processes. However, while examples of urban evolution are accumulating, tests of urban eco-evolutionary dynamics are rare. We carried out a reciprocal transplantation experiment using the terrestrial isopod Oniscus asellus to test how adaptation to the urban heat island influenced ecological processes. As isopods are important decomposers, we asked if leaf-litter decomposition differed among reciprocal transplant treatments and used a separate laboratory experiment to isolate the effects of temperature on rates of isopod leaf consumption. We found that leaf-litter decomposition was greater in urban habitats, and that leaf consumption was elevated at higher laboratory temperatures and for rural isopods compared with urbanisopods. Although we found evidence for local adaption to both environments, fitness was lower overall within urban environments. However, urban adaptation did not feedback to influence leaf-decomposition. As fitness was depressed in urban environments, our results suggest that populations could struggle to keep pace with anthropogenic change. Additionally, our results for leaf-litter decomposition indicate that the warmed environment of cities has the potential to alter important ecological processes, but that contemporary urban adaptation does not necessarily cause further urban eco-evolutionary feedbacks

Reproducible Semantic Data Management Workflow for Materials Data Science: Generating Knowledge Graphs with Robust FAIRifcation Pipelines

Combining data from multiple sources is crucial for efficient knowledge aggregation in materials data science. FAIR data from ontology and Linked Data principles enable this. Semantic data management streamlines data exchange and aggregation, ensuring information is available and extractable. FAIRLinked and GraphDB provide solutions for consolidating, hosting, and extracting meaningful insight from multimodal data

TNF-α-Driven Changes in Polarized EGF Receptor Trafficking Facilitate Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/Protein Kinase B Signaling from the Apical Surface of MDCK Epithelial Cells

This manuscript describes a novel unconventional secretory pathway that facilitates EGF receptor (EGFR) signaling from apical membranes in polarized epithelial cells responding to immune cell mediators. Epithelial tissues provide a physical barrier between our bodies and the external environment and share an intimate relationship with circulating and local immune cells. Our studies describe an unexpected connection between the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and EGFR typically localized to basolateral membranes in polarized epithelial cells. These two molecules sit atop complex biological networks with a long history of shared investigative interest from the vantage point of signaling pathway interactions. We have discovered that TNF-α alters the functional landscape of fully polarized epithelial cells by changing the speed and direction of EGFR secretion. Our results show apical EGFR delivery occurs within minutes of de novo synthesis likely via a direct route from the endoplasmic reticulum without passage through the Golgi complex. Additionally, our studies have revealed that apical cellular compartmentalization constitutes an important mechanism to specify EGFR signaling via phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase/protein-kinase-B pathways. Our study paves the way for a better understanding of how inflammatory cytokines fine-tune local homeostatic and inflammatory responses by altering the spatial organization of epithelial cell signaling systems

A Continuous-Heat-Flux Phase Change Model for Simulating Realistic Two-Phase Unsaturated Evaporation Processes

Accurately modeling liquid-vapor mass transfer rates is essential for optimizing cryogenic fluid management processes critical to advancing future space missions. This study introduces a continuous-heat-flux phase change model proposed to simulate conditions observed in realistic two-phase unsaturated evaporation phenomena. The mass transfer rate across the two-phase interface is calculated directly based on the local interfacial continuous heat flux on both liquid and vapor phases, effectively accounting for superheated, saturated, and subcooled liquid effects without requiring any empirical tuning parameters. Moreover, phase change occurs exclusively within interfacial cells, ensuring the sharp representation of deformed evaporating interfaces with high accuracy. The proposed model is implemented using user-defined functions in ANSYS Fluent and evaluated against various benchmark evaporation problems, including Stefan and film boiling test cases with nonequilibrium (temperature other than saturation) in a single phase and in both phases. The numerical results, encompassing liquid-vapor interface evolution and temperature distributions, exhibit excellent agreement with published analytical and numerical solutions. Additionally, the model is applied to simulate the complex heat and mass transfer processes in cryogenic tank self-pressurization under two heating configurations: vapor heating and uniform heating. The results demonstrate good agreement with the tank pressure rise trends reported in the literature, validating the applicability of the model to practical evaporation scenarios

Voclosporin‐Induced Gingival Enlargement: A Case Report

The gingiva (gums) is often a site in the mouth where changes or reactions can occur in response to certain systemic medications. Some drugs, particularly those used to treat autoimmune conditions or following organ transplants, can cause the gums to grow excessively, a condition known as drug-induced gingival enlargement (also known as gingival overgrowth). In this report, we document the case of a 27-year-old woman with lupus nephritis who developed gingival enlargement after starting a medication called voclosporin. This drug is a newer treatment option for lupus nephritis, but until now had not been linked to gingival enlargement. The patient experienced significant gum swelling, bleeding, and pain, making it difficult for her to eat. After trying nonsurgical treatments with limited success, and given her objection to surgical therapy, the medication was gradually stopped in consultation with her physician. The enlargement of the gums significantly improved once the drug was discontinued. This report highlights for the first time, to the authors\u27 knowledge, the development of gingival enlargement in response to voclosporin therapy and the significant improvement of the condition upon cessation of drug usage