Bridging the Data Divide: Understanding State Agency and University Research Partnerships within SLDS

This report examines this question through an analysis of state agency-university researcher partnerships that exist in State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS). Building state agency-university researcher partnerships is an important value of SLDS. To examine state agency-university researcher partnerships within SLDS, our analysis is guided by the following set of questions based on 71 interviews conducted with individuals most directly involved with SLDS efforts in Virginia, Maryland, Texas and Washington. The findings from this analysis suggest that each state’s SLDS organization and governance structure includes university partners in differing ways. In general, stronger partnership efforts are driven by legislative action or executive-level leadership. Regardless of structure, the operation of these partnerships is shaped by the agency’s previous experience and cultural norms surrounding the value and inclusion of university researchers

BINARY EDWARDS CURVES IN ELLIPTIC CURVE CRYPTOGRAPHY

Edwards curves are a new normal form for elliptic curves that exhibit some cryp- tographically desirable properties and advantages over the typical Weierstrass form. Because the group law on an Edwards curve (normal, twisted, or binary) is complete and unified, implementations can be safer from side channel or exceptional procedure attacks. The different types of Edwards provide a better platform for cryptographic primitives, since they have more security built into them from the mathematic foun- dation up. Of the three types of Edwards curves—original, twisted, and binary—there hasn’t been as much work done on binary curves. We provide the necessary motivation and background, and then delve into the theory of binary Edwards curves. Next, we examine practical considerations that separate binary Edwards curves from other recently proposed normal forms. After that, we provide some of the theory for bi- nary curves that has been worked on for other types already: pairing computations. We next explore some applications of elliptic curve and pairing-based cryptography wherein the added security of binary Edwards curves may come in handy. Finally, we finish with a discussion of e2c2, a modern C++11 library we’ve developed for Edwards Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Bridging the Data Divide: Understanding State Agency and University Research Partnerships within SLDS

This report examines this question through an analysis of state agency-university researcher partnerships that exist in State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS). Building state agency-university researcher partnerships is an important value of SLDS. To examine state agency-university researcher partnerships within SLDS, our analysis is guided by the following set of questions based on 71 interviews conducted with individuals most directly involved with SLDS efforts in Virginia, Maryland, Texas and Washington. The findings from this analysis suggest that each state’s SLDS organization and governance structure includes university partners in differing ways. In general, stronger partnership efforts are driven by legislative action or executive-level leadership. Regardless of structure, the operation of these partnerships is shaped by the agency’s previous experience and cultural norms surrounding the value and inclusion of university researchers

Faith and family in the Antebellum Piedmont South

This dissertation examines the cultural and religious dynamics of the North Carolina Piedmont's non-planter social order. I look in depth at the modernizing elements of antebellum religion, particularly the sensibility of liberality that accompanied institutional development, how church disciplinary procedures adapted to changing social reality, and the formation of middle class style nuclear families under the aegis of evangelical prescription. In addition to using denominational records, I utilize four diaries of ordinary Piedmont residents in extended explorations of how individuals enacted in their private lives the public lessons of evangelicalism. I conclude that an evangelical ethic developed that existed alongside the dominant planter ideology, and that ethic formed the basis for both unity, and dissent, in the late antebellum period

Examining the psychosocial health of black sexual minority men

Research suggests that Black sexual minority men (BSMM; i.e. non-heterosexual and non-straight) experience more depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders than their White gay and Black heterosexual counterparts. Little is known about the factors that influence the psychosocial health of BSMM. The limited research conducted with men who have sex with men and Black men in generalsuggests that ethnic and sexual identity development; exposure to violence, discrimination, and harassment (VDH); and coping skills may influence the psychosocial health of BSMM. The primary aim of this study was to examine the relationships between depression, anxiety, identity development (operationalized as Black identity achievement and internalized homonegativity), exposure to VDH, and coping skills. A cross-sectional convenience sample of 61 BSMM completed a battery of assessments designed to explore these relationships. The average age of participants was 31 years old, 77% were homosexual, and 77% identified as gay. To assess statistical associations between dependent and independent variables multiple linear regression analysis was used to answer the following research questions: 1. Are internalized homonegativity and VDH significantly positively associated with depression and anxiety? 2. Is Black identity achievement significantly negatively associated with depression and anxiety? 3. Is there an interaction effect between internalized homonegativity and Black identity achievement on depression and anxiety? 4. Does coping skill level moderate the associations between depression and anxiety and internalized homonegativity, VDH, and Black identity achievement? The construct internalized homonegativity is multifaceted, multidimensional, and nuanced, and therefore difficult to operationalize in appropriate sociocultural context. Thus, it is important that tools available to measure this construct have established validity and reliability for this specific subgroup. Thus, a secondary aim of this study was to evaluate construct validity and reliability among BSMM of the internalized homonegativity inventory (IHNI). This aim was achieved by establishing translation and criterion-relation validity. The IHNI was minimally altered to better suit a specific subpopulation, BSMM. Factor analysis revealed a slightly better performance of the altered IHNI as compared to the original. Experience of VDH and internalized homonegativity explained a large portion of the variability in depression and anxiety scores, findings in line with other similar and related studies. A high percentage of the sample screened positive for likelihood of both depression and anxiety. Violence, discrimination, and harassment appeared to be chronic among participants in the current study. These findings offer further validation of the IHNI for use among BSMM and provides additional data on factors influencing the mental health of BSMM. Further validation research and investigation of factors influencing the psychosocial health of BSMM is needed

The genetic architecture of reproductive differences in workers of Africanized and European honey bees, Apis mellifera

The Western Honeybee (Apis mellifera) displays a special form of social behavior called eusociality. The evolution of its reproductively specialized castes and social behavior from a solitary ancestor may be explained by the reproductive ground plan hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts a relationship between the variation of ovary size and -activity and social behavior. At the phenotypic level, ovary size has been associated with a whole set of behavioral phenotypes, known as the pollen hoarding syndrome. While many of these phenotypes are potentially influenced by regulatory pathways, involving juvenile hormone and vitellogenin, the exact genetic links between ovary size determination and social behavior are still unknown. To test the generality of the hypothesized genetic linkage between reproductive and social behavior, I investigated the genetic architecture of ovary size differences between Africanized and European honey bees. Two backcrosses of a hybrid queen and Africanized drones that resulted in transgressive worker ovary phenotypes were studied for pleiotropic effects of existing behavioral QTL and potential new QTL with a combination of SNP and microsatellite markers. Analyses show small but significant effects on ovary size for some of the behavioral QTL, as predicted by the reproductive ground plan hypothesis. In addition, I detected two new QTL of major effect on ovary size. I describe potential candidate genes for the QTL and suggest that the detected major and minor effects could reflect genetic control of caste divergence and worker division of labor, respectively, representing two distinct stages of honey bee social evolution that may be connected via female reproductive physiology

Review of Military Necessity: Civil-Military Relations in the Confederacy by Paul D. Escott

This article is a review of the book Military Necessity: Civil-Military Relations in the Confederacy by Paul D. Escort

Review of What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War by Chandra Manning

This article is a review of the book What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War by Chandra Manning

Evangelicals and 'Domestic Felicity' in the Non-Elite South

The present examination suggests that the forces that shaped non-elite southern families did so independently of planter hegemony, and that adherence to faith led to middle-class family styles before industrial forces began to work in the rural South. Through the use of tract societies, Bible societies, newspapers, Sunday Schools, and other tools of the publishing market, evangelical sources served as a channel for middle-class ideas about families and social relations; sources not implicated in the maintenance of patriarchal power. Non-elite southern whites who consumed these sources enacted evangelical lessons in the creation of new familial forms

Traditional martial arts and children with ADHD : self-perceptions of competence

"The overall purpose of this study was to explore the influences that traditional martial arts may have on the self-perceptions of children with ADHD. Specifically, two foci were examined. First, this research study explored and described the aspect of self-perceptions of competence that children with ADHD experience. Second, it explored and described the process of participation in a traditional martial arts program of training by children with ADHD and what influences the program had on the children and their feelings regarding ability and success. Using a case study design, seven students with ADHD from grades 3, 4, and 5 participated in the 15-week study. Through pre-intervention and post-intervention parent and student interviews, weekly verbal debriefings, weekly observational protocols, and bi-weekly parent phone contacts, insight was gained about the influences of traditional martial arts on the self-perceptions of competence of children with ADHD. While results indicated that many characteristics seemed to be present in most of the students that participated in the study, more specific themes linked all of the students with regard to their individual levels of self-perceptions of competence. Additional outcomes regarding students' personal feelings and increased skill development during the training were also demonstrated and observed."--Abstract from author supplied metadata