Black Fathersí Parenting and Young Childrenís Social-Emotional Development.

Amidst the narrative of an “epidemic of fatherlessness” in the Black community and negative stereotypes about African American fathers, historical and contemporary scholarship has continually supported that many Black fathers are quite involved with their children. Yet absent from the fatherhood literature are studies examining the heterogeneity of Black fatherhood among large samples, and how their parenting matters for their young children’s development. In this three-study dissertation using a large, representative sample, I examined how much time Black fathers spent with their young children compared to fathers in other racial/ethnic groups (N=2676), then described patterns of Black fathers’ parenting behaviors (N=1399), and lastly tested the implications of the parenting profiles on children’s social-emotional adjustment, considering children’s early temperament (N=1071). Black, Latino, and White fathers spent similar amounts of overall time engaged with their three-year-old children, after controlling for differences in socioeconomic status and family structure. Small differences emerged according to activity type such that Black and White fathers interacted more in play and cognitive stimulation (e.g., reading); Latino fathers spent the most time caregiving; and Black and Latino fathers engaged in more social activities (e.g., visiting relatives). Framed by the paternal involvement construct, I explored person-oriented patterns of Black fathers’ engagement, warmth, and control using latent class analysis. Average Involved fathers represented the largest group (41%), with all parenting behaviors close to the sample mean. The next largest cluster (25%), Low Involved-Disciplinarians, exhibited less father-child interaction with their young children, but slightly greater reports of spanking. The Highly Involved fathers (21%) spent more time with their children, especially in play and cognitive stimulation, and often expressed affection towards their child. The smallest subgroup of fathers (15%), Uninvolved, had the lowest involvement in each parenting domain. Children whose fathers belonged to the different parenting groups did not differ with respect to any of the six social-emotional adjustment subscales. However, Parenting x Child Temperament interactions emerged for two outcomes (children’s withdrawal and lack of guilt following misbehavior). Children with high emotionality had worse outcomes compared to their counterparts when their fathers were members of more involved parenting groups (Highly and Average Involved).PhDEducation and PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113464/1/tamacon_3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113464/2/tamacon_2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113464/3/tamacon_1.pd

Developing an acceptance test for non-hydrographic airborne bathymetric lidar data application to NOAA charts in shallow waters

Hydrographic data of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are typically acquired using sonar systems, with a small percent acquired via airborne lidar bathymetry for nearshore areas. This study investigates an integrated approach to meeting NOAA’s hydrographic survey requirements for nearshore areas of NOAA charts using existing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Coastal Mapping Program (NCMP) topographic-bathymetric lidar (TBL) data. Because these existing NCMP bathymetric lidar datasets were not collected to NOAA hydrographic surveying standards, it is unclear if, and under what circumstances, they might aid in meeting certain hydrographic surveying requirements. The NCMP bathymetric lidar data were evaluated through a comparison against NOAA’s hydrographic Services Division (HSD) data derived from acoustic surveys. Key goals included assessing whether NCMP bathymetry can be used to fill in the data gap shoreward of the navigable area limit line (0 to 4 m depth) and if there is potential for applying NCMP TBL data to nearshore areas deeper than 10 m. The study results were used to make recommendations for future use of the data in NOAA. Additionally, this work may allow the development of future operating procedures and workflows using other topographicbathymetric lidar datasets to help update nearshore areas of the NOAA charts

Community Structure in the United Nations General Assembly

We study the community structure of networks representing voting on resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly. We construct networks from the voting records of the separate annual sessions between 1946 and 2008 in three different ways: (1) by considering voting similarities as weighted unipartite networks; (2) by considering voting similarities as weighted, signed unipartite networks; and (3) by examining signed bipartite networks in which countries are connected to resolutions. For each formulation, we detect communities by optimizing network modularity using an appropriate null model. We compare and contrast the results that we obtain for these three different network representations. In so doing, we illustrate the need to consider multiple resolution parameters and explore the effectiveness of each network representation for identifying voting groups amidst the large amount of agreement typical in General Assembly votes.Comment: 9 pages plus 11 tables and 6 multi-part figures; Also available from http://www.amath.unc.edu/Faculty/mucha/Reprints/PhysA_UN.pdf, containing high-res map representations of the tables not in original submission

Community Structure in Time-Dependent, Multiscale, and Multiplex Networks

Network science is an interdisciplinary endeavor, with methods and applications drawn from across the natural, social, and information sciences. A prominent problem in network science is the algorithmic detection of tightly-connected groups of nodes known as communities. We developed a generalized framework of network quality functions that allowed us to study the community structure of arbitrary multislice networks, which are combinations of individual networks coupled through links that connect each node in one network slice to itself in other slices. This framework allows one to study community structure in a very general setting encompassing networks that evolve over time, have multiple types of links (multiplexity), and have multiple scales.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Includes main text and supporting material. This is the accepted version of the manuscript (the definitive version appeared in Science), with typographical corrections included her

Sex-biased gene expression and dosage compensation on the Artemia franciscana Z-chromosome

Males and females of Artemia franciscana, a crustacean commonly used in the aquarium trade, are highly dimorphic. Sex is determined by a pair of ZW chromosomes, but the nature and extent of differentiation of these chromosomes is unknown. Here, we characterize the Z chromosome by detecting genomic regions that show lower genomic coverage in female than in male samples, and regions that harbor an excess of female-specific SNPs. We detect many Z-specific genes, which no longer have homologs on the W, but also Z-linked genes that appear to have diverged very recently from their existing W-linked homolog. We assess patterns of male and female expression in two tissues with extensive morphological dimorphism, gonads, and heads. In agreement with their morphology, sex-biased expression is common in both tissues. Interestingly, the Z chromosome is not enriched for sex-biased genes, and seems to in fact have a mechanism of dosage compensation that leads to equal expression in males and in females. Both of these patterns are contrary to most ZW systems studied so far, making A. franciscana an excellent model for investigating the interplay between the evolution of sexual dimorphism and dosage compensation, as well as Z chromosome evolution in general

Low-Background gamma counting at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility

The next generation of low-background physics experiments will require the use of materials with unprecedented radio-purity. A gamma-counting facility at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility (KURF) has been commissioned to perform initial screening of materials for radioactivity primarily from nuclides in the 238U and 232Th decay chains, 40K and cosmic-ray induced isotopes. The facility consists of two commercial low-background high purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. A continuum background reduction better than a factor of 10 was achieved by going underground. This paper describes the facility, detector systems, analysis techniques and selected assay results.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to NIM

Influencia del sedentarismo en las desviaciones raquídeas de la población escolar de Léon

Nuestra investigación trata de evaluar los hábitos sedentarios, en los escolares de 10 y 14 años de una zona de León, y su influencia en las desviaciones raquídeas. Para la obtención de los hábitos nos basamos en el tets de Medoza, R. también se realizó una evaluación física de los niños para observar las desviaciones raquídeas. En el tratamiento de la información se utilizó el análisis de la varianza univariante y multivariante, además del análisis de componentes principales y análisis discriminante. Llegando a la conclusión, respecto al tiempo de televisión que el día de la semana que más tiempo dedican los niños a ver la televisión es discrimante de los escolares que tienen desviación raquídea

Temporal Trends and Drivers of Mountain Lion Depredation in California, USA

Increasing human populations and expanding development across the globe necessitate continual progress in understanding and mitigating human–wildlife conflict. California, USA has the largest human population and at least half of the state is suitable mountain lion (Puma concolor) habitat. The juxtaposition of high human abundance within and adjacent to mountain lion habitat make California relevant for understanding human–large carnivore conflict. We compiled 7,719 confirmed incidents of mountain lions depredating domestic animals over a 48-year period (1972–2019) to examine temporal trends in mountain lion depredations as well as factors influencing annual depredation rates at the county level. Linear regressions demonstrated that the overall number of depredation events and those involving pets (e.g., dogs [Canis lupus familiaris] and cats [Felis catus]) and small hoofstock (primarily sheep [Ovis aries] and goats [Capra aegagrus hircus]) have increased significantly over time with small hoofstock comprising the majority of depredations. Poisson regression models revealed human density and agricultural productivity were negatively associated with increasing depredation rates while amount of suitable habitat and number of mountain lions removed in the previous year were positively associated with increasing depredation rates. In general, our results point to smaller-sized hoofstock operations in areas of suitable mountain lion habitat as key factors in predicting mountain lion depredations in California. Further, the permanent removal of offending individuals appears to increase the potential for conflict in the following year. Broadly speaking, improving husbandry standards for pets and small hoofstock living in areas occupied by large carnivores may be the most effective way to reduce human–predator conflict in California and elsewhere

The scorpionfly (Panorpa cognata) genome highlights conserved and derived features of the peculiar dipteran X chromosome.

Many insects carry an ancient X chromosome - the Drosophila Muller element F - that likely predates their origin. Interestingly, the X has undergone turnover in multiple fly species (Diptera) after being conserved for more than 450 MY. The long evolutionary distance between Diptera and other sequenced insect clades makes it difficult to infer what could have contributed to this sudden increase in rate of turnover. Here, we produce the first genome and transcriptome of a long overlooked sister-order to Diptera: Mecoptera. We compare the scorpionfly Panorpa cognata X-chromosome gene content, expression, and structure, to that of several dipteran species as well as more distantly-related insect orders (Orthoptera and Blattodea). We find high conservation of gene content between the mecopteran X and the dipteran Muller F element, as well as several shared biological features, such as the presence of dosage compensation and a low amount of genetic diversity, consistent with a low recombination rate. However, the two homologous X chromosomes differ strikingly in their size and number of genes they carry. Our results therefore support a common ancestry of the mecopteran and ancestral dipteran X chromosomes, and suggest that Muller element F shrank in size and gene content after the split of Diptera and Mecoptera, which may have contributed to its turnover in dipteran insects