The Intersection Between Child Marriage and Climate Change: An Example of Malawi

Child marriage affects 39,000 girls daily, totaling 650 million women married before age eighteen globally. While driven by poverty, tradition, and limited education, climate change is emerging as a significant new factor, particularly in developing nations such as Malawi, where 42% of girls marry before age eighteen. An estimated 1.5 million girls in Malawi are at risk due to climate-exacerbated food insecurity and displacement. This paper, using feminist theories of intersectionality, postcolonial feminism, and feminist political ecology, examines the complex link between climate change and child marriage in Malawi. It critiques existing international, regional, and domestic policies, highlighting their inadequacy in addressing this intersection. The findings emphasize the urgent need for holistic strategies that acknowledge the multifaceted nature of child marriage within the context of climate change. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the discourse on safeguarding girls’ rights and well-being, stressing the global imperative to tackle the converging challenges of climate change and child marriage

“Almond Moms” and Their Influence on College-Aged Emerging Adults: An Investigation on Eating Cognitions, Behaviors, and Psychological Wellness

The present study examines the potential psychological and behavioral impacts Almond Moms have on their college-aged children. Previous studies examining how parents influence disordered eating habits found that parental attitudes, specifically maternal attitudes, towards appearance, weight, and dieting are correlated with their children’s likelihood of engaging in disordered eating behaviors. It was hypothesized that college-aged students who report more experiences growing up with an Almond Mom will demonstrate more disordered eating habits and less positive body image. Impulsivity, socioeconomic status, and attachment were predicted to moderate the link between parental experiences and eating habits. Participants were recruited from introductory psychology courses at the University of Dayton during the fall 2024 semester and completed questionnaires measuring their parents’ behaviors and cognitions towards food, nutritional attitudes and choices, eating disorder symptomatology, exposure to the “Almond Mom” concept and nutrition-related content on social media. The study found that Almond Mom experiences have a significant effect on eating difficulties, and that relationship was mediated by nutrition-related social media consumption

Democracy and Poverty: The Nigerian Experience

This study examines the plight of the poor within the new democratic rule in Nigeria. Since the inception of democracy in 1999, there has been a sustained prosperity in terms of oil windfall that swells government\u27s revenues on the order of over $30 billion annually. For the first time in over 20 years, the GDP growth rate is 7.5 percent. The nation has accumulated an impressive foreign exchange reserve of$60 billions. This reserve is the highest ever in sub-Saharan Africa. However, this financial outlay has not resulted in improved standard of living of the broad majority of the people. The circumstances of the poor, weak, vulnerable members of society, women, disabled, elderly, chronically mentally ill, widows, children, orphanages, retirees and those with loose attachment to the labor force have not improved. There are no new genuine and meaningful anti-poverty programs that declare war on poverty. The government\u27s anti-poverty program christened as National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEED), which is supposed to be a panacea to all the ills of the society and consequently wipe out poverty only exists on paper. In the meantime, the ruling elite in the new democratic order cart away the oil windfall to foreign bank accounts and support their opulent lifestyles, while the masses continue in their misery

Use of Simulation in Dietetic Internships: A Qualitative Exploration of Program Director Attitudes and Motivations

The use of simulation holds promise for the future of dietetics education for its use as an alternative for up to 30% of the 1,000 supervised practice hours for the training of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists. Even more so, simulation is a teaching tool. When done well, simulation can challenge students in a safe environment where they can receive constructive feedback from expert guides and meaningfully reflect on their learning. The purpose of this study was to interview dietetic internship (DI) program directors on their attitudes and motivations on the use of simulation in their programs, targeting the heavily program-congested states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Three main themes emerged from this study: the live professional internship experience is considered ‘best’ to most program directors; program directors are motivated to use simulation if it will benefit students; and access to information on how to use simulation needs to be more readily available. As all directors voiced the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) and Nutrition and Dietetic Educators and Preceptors (NDEP) as their major source of information on using simulation, more resources should be made available through these channels on best-practices in using simulation to increase awareness and ease of adoption for those interested in using this type of instruction

Using Bioinformatics to Discover Novel Interactions Regulating Growth, Development, and Cancer

“Bioinformatics” utilizes computer scripts and some degree of artificial intelligence (AI) to constructively break down and process large sets of biological data into tangible results. Using bioinformatics programs like Alphafold3 and AIUPred, it is possible to break down and understand the complex interactions between transcription factors and potential repressors, activators; and the competitive nature between repressors and activators. Alphafold3 predicts three-dimensional protein confirmation and binding between or among proteins all in a probabilistic manner. AIUPred was then used to predict areas of protein-protein binding, motifs, and redox sensitivity. The resulting synergy between Alphafold3 and AIUPred was capable of correctly predicting protein interactions that have been previously empirically demonstrated. Therefore, we sought to leverage these bioinformatic programs to discover novel interactions between transcription factors like Drosophila Scalloped (TEAD in mammals), which forms activator- and repressor-complexes depending on its binding partners that play a major role in growth, development, and cancer. For proteins that are already known to interact, Alphafold3 and AIUPred provided insights at a motif- and/or residue-level, which can be corroborated with molecular level interactions amongst proteins. Furthermore, our results predicted several novel protein interactions, including cross-talk interactions between proteins belonging to two different canonical pathways involved with growth, development, and cancer. Excitingly, we hypothesize that this may shed light on the enigmatic nature of some proteins to act as a repressor in some experimental conditions, or as an activator in others. Lastly, we are currently in the process of experimentally testing these predictions using in cellulo models.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/5579/thumbnail.jp

Communities’ Perception of Tourism and the Environment in Kenya: A Case Study of Nairobi National Park

The study focuses on the community perception of tourism on the local environment in the Nairobi National Park in Kenya. It highlights not only the importance of tourism in the process of economic development, but also the environmental impacts of tourism on the surrounding communities in the Nairobi National Park. Kenya. Structured interviews were used to obtain local communities\u27 perception of Masaai and Nairobi Communities. In order to complement the interview, an in-depth interview was employed by interviewing local experts from the communities, voluntary organization, non-governmental organization, and the ministry of tourism. A purposive random sampling of 300 respondents was chosen in the Nairobi National Park. Finally this study reveals that local communities acknowledge both negative and positive impacts of tourism on the local environment. They feel, however, that the government has a major responsibility in regulating the activities of the tourism industry

Student Academic Policies Committee Minutes of the Academic Senate 2025-03-31

Approved minutes of a meeting of the Student Academic Policies Committee of the Academic Senate of the University of Dayton

Examining the causal impact of prayer on self-control and generosity

Prayer is a behavior that is characteristic of most religions and spiritualities and a practice important to many people. Although many studies have looked at a wide variety of the possible outcomes and impacts of prayer on behavior and well-being, this research hopes to study the practice of prayer and its outcomes in a more theological lens. In the Bible, the Fruit of the Spirit outlines expected characteristics of a person or community living in accordance with the Holy Spirit. The two aspects of the Fruit that will be studied as variables within this experiment are self-control and generosity. The goal of the experiment is to establish some sort of causal relationship between the practice of prayer and the variables of self-control and generosity, and the research involved will hopefully provide deeper insight into the relationships between psychology and theology

State Integrity and Democratic Governance: The Security Implications of Liberalization Policies in Africa

This article examines the levels of security/insecurity-related issues in Africa within the context of political and economic liberalization policies. It is argued that the interactive effects of internal and external systemic developments that characterize globalization processes have had serious security implications for governance in Africa. The indicators of insecurity and immiseration imply that Africa needs to reevaluate its approach to development in relation to the combined effects of national and international imperatives