Embrace the good, refuse the bad: Haitian American children's selective engagement with the United States

This qualitative research study investigates the perceptions of children, parents, and staff members at a Boston multi-service nonprofit for Haitian immigrants. It is an exploration of how children cultivate their identity, and how a center for immigrants functions in the current sociopolitical climate. There is an evidentiary lacuna of qualitative explorations on children of immigrants’ perceptions and health. The COVID-19 pandemic makes this issue even more temporally relevant, as new data suggests structural factors make marginalized groups, such as people of color and immigrants, more vulnerable to infection and death. This study will contribute to the body of work on children of immigrants’ health by 1) analyzing the unique child perspective, as opposed to focusing entirely on adults or using quantitative child measures, 2) employing qualitative data to create more robust depictions of lived experiences, 3) and situating data in the particular Haiti/U.S. historical, political relationship. This study’s methodology includes ethnographic participant observation during regular visits to a nonprofit organization for immigrants (Fanmi Nou) over the course of several months, semi-structured video interviews with children, parents, and staff members of this organization, and content analysis of documents produced by Fanmi Nou. Through different waves of migration to the United States, children of Haitian immigrants have lived bicultural lives. In the last four years, however, biculturalism and transnationality have come under growing assault. As a reactionary response to overt hostility, parents, staff members at Fanmi Nou, and children themselves, actively promote a Haitian identity in children. Living under an administration characterized by its hostility to immigrants, Haitian American children pick and choose which aspects of American life to welcome and which to reject. Through a multi-service nonprofit organization, these children and their families selectively engage with the U.S. political, educational, and social systems. I argue that these children and this organization strategically support the healthy development of self under these new restrictions

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN ESG INVESTING: FINANCIAL EFFECTS OF FRANCE’S ENERGY TRANSITION FOR GREEN GROWTH ACT

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is gaining popularity in the finance sector by incorporating positive social impact and quantitative and qualitative risk factors. Investors using ESG strategies are assessing the impact of this shift on portfolio returns, and governments are regulating ESG data reporting. This study builds on prior research to (1) determine the impact of government reporting standards on ESG investment outcomes and long-term returns of portfolios and (2) address changes in the returns of ESG-focused investment strategies using the largest French companies before and after the implementation of the Energy Transition for Green Growth Act, a 2016 French law impacting ESG reporting standards. The results outline differences in returns between high and low-scoring ESG portfolios in France and changes in these portfolios before and after the regulation passed. The report concludes that France’s regulation increased average ESG scores but did not have a statistically significant impact on the average returns from ESG-focused portfolios.Bachelor of Business Administratio

Designing an Integrated Environment for Artificial Intelligence

The SHELLEY RESEARCH GROUP (part of the Illinois Wesleyan Intelligence Network on Knowledge -IWINK) has been in existence for several years, and has benefited immensely from various student contributors who have added such components as robotic arm control, cross platform networking, an artificially intelligent tic-tac-toe player, and an interactive teaching tool demonstrating the functionality of artificial neural networks. What is lacking, however, amidst these undergraduate contributions to the SHELLEY Project, is an effective means of integrating existing components into a single cohesive functional unit, let alone any easy means of making further contributions within a simple unified context. The focus of this research has been to design an all-encompassing structure for incorporating the different components of SHELLEY (both existing and future). Because we must operate under the assumption that we cannot predict what future contributions will be made to SHELLEY, nor how these components will be used, this integrated environment must be both flexible and expandable in such a way as to not confine future projects. The approach to artificial intelligence that the SHELLEY RESEARCH GROUP has taken relies heavily upon interaction with the surrounding environment. For this reason, many of the existing components are devices for receiving input from SHELLEY\u27S surroundings (such as vision cameras) or acting upon the surroundings (such as robotic arms). Thus, we can assume that future contributions will fall under two primary categories: additional devices (either cognitive, modules, such as neural networks, or interactive devices, such as cameras or arms), or intelligent agents (such as tic-tac-toe players, or navigation systems) that will use these devices. The environment must then be flexible in two manners -allowing for the addition of further devices, and providing a task management mechanism for accessing these devices. The solution is to use a modern operating system model where the devices that SHELLEY uses to interact with her environment correspond to computer hardware devices and their drivers, the intelligent agents are analogous to processes that run on the system and use the devices, and the administrator, which coordinates these agents and their usage of devices, can be compared to the kernel of the modern operating system

Improved Understanding of the Modeled QBO Using MLS Observations and MERRA Reanalysis

The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) dominates the variability of the tropical stratosphere on interannual time scales. The QBO has been shown to extend its influence into the chemical composition of this region through dynamical mechanisms. We have started our analysis using the realistic QBO internally generated by the Goddard Earth Observing System Version 5 (GEOS-5) general circulation model coupled to a comprehensive stratospheric and tropospheric chemical mechanism forced with observed sea surface temperatures over the past 33 years. We will show targeted comparisons with observations from NASAs Aura satellite Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis to provide insight into the simulation of the primary and secondary circulations associated with the QBO. Using frequency spectrum analysis and multiple linear regression we can illuminate the resulting circulations and deduce the strengths and weaknesses in their modeled representation. Inclusion of the QBO in our simulation improves the representation of the subtropical barriers and overall tropical variability. The QBO impact on tropical upwelling is important to quantify when calculating trends in sub-decadal scale datasets

Elevated fear states facilitate ventral hippocampal engagement of basolateral amygdala neuronal activity

Fear memory formation and retention rely on the activation of distributed neural circuits. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and ventral hippocampus (VH) in particular are two regions that support contextual fear memory processes and share reciprocal connections. The VH → BLA pathway is critical for increases in fear after initial learning, in both fear renewal following extinction learning and during fear generalization. This raises the possibility that functional changes in VH projections to the BLA support increases in learned fear. In line with this, fear can also be increased with alterations to the original content of the memory via reconsolidation, as in fear elevation procedures. However, very little is known about the functional changes in the VH → BLA pathway supporting reconsolidation-related increases in fear. In this study, we used in vivo extracellular electrophysiology to examine the functional neuronal changes within the BLA and in the VH → BLA pathway as a result of fear elevation and standard fear retrieval procedures. Elevated fear expression was accompanied by higher BLA spontaneous firing compared to a standard fear retrieval condition. Across a range of stimulation frequencies, we also found that VH stimulation evoked higher BLA firing following fear elevation compared to standard retrieval. These results suggest that fear elevation is associated with an increased capacity of the VH to drive neuronal activity in the BLA, highlighting a potential circuit involved in strengthening existing fear memories

ENTOMOPHAGY Understanding New Zealand Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Eating Insects

While the ecological, economic, and social benefits of entomophagy are well documented, adoption of this food source in many Western countries has been slow. Understanding consumers’ attitudes towards entomophagy is important in determining if and how edible insects will be accepted as a food product in the future. This research determined the dominant discourses that exist towards entomophagy in New Zealand. Q methodology, which provides both a technique and philosophical principles for studying individuals’ judgments, attitudes, and points of view about a topic, was used to identify dominant consumer discourses. The objective of the study was to describe representations of different dominant participant viewpoints. Thirty-four participants living in Dunedin sorted a set of statements about entomophagy. The comparison of sorts across participants in a factor analysis enabled the identification of statistically similar participant viewpoints, which were then interpreted using the rich qualitative data obtained in interviews after card-sorting. Five different discourses were identified: ‘Enthusiastic adventurers’, ‘Benefit seekers’, ‘Disgusted disavowals’, ‘Tolerable but restrained’, and ‘Secure resolute’. In addition to practical insights about how insects could be positioned in the marketplace, the identification of these discourses adds to a limited literature on entomophagy attitudes. Future research that measures the prevalence of these discourses via a nation-wide representative survey would allow researchers to determine who holds these viewpoints, which would have useful implications for developing an insect industry

Influence of Solute Charge and Hydrophobicity on Partitioning and Diffusion in a Genetically Engineered Silk-Elastin-Like Protein Polymer Hydrogel

The influence of solute hydrophobicity and charge on partitioning and diffusion in physically crosslinked networks of a genetically engineered SELP polymer was investigated. A series of fluorescent dyes were used to assess the impact of solute charge and hydrophobicity on release behavior. The mechanism of solute release from the SELP hydrogel appeared to vary as a function of dye hydrophobicity. The extent of FITC attachment to amine-terminated G4 dendrimers influenced SELP hydrogel partitioning more than dendrimer diffusion properties. Results suggest the possibility of controlling solute release from SELP hydrogels by modifying the hydrophobicity and surface charge of drugs and drug/polymer conjugates as well as the possibility of “designing-in” solute-specific interactions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78240/1/1235_ftp.pd

Controlled release from zein matrices: Interplay of drug hydrophobicity and pH

Purpose: In earlier studies, the corn protein zein is found to be suitable as a sustained release agent, yet the range of drugs for which zein has been studied remains small. Here, zein is used as a sole excipient for drugs differing in hydrophobicity and isoelectric point: indomethacin, paracetamol and ranitidine. Methods: Caplets were prepared by hot-melt extrusion (HME) and injection moulding (IM). Each of the three model drugs were tested on two drug loadings in various dissolution media. The physical state of the drug, microstructure and hydration behaviour were investigated to build up understanding for the release behaviour from zein based matrix for drug delivery. Results: Drug crystallinity of the caplets increases with drug hydrophobicity. For ranitidine and indomethacin, swelling rates, swelling capacity and release rates were pH dependent as a consequence of the presence of charged groups on the drug molecules. Both hydration rates and release rates could be approached by existing models. Conclusion: Both the drug state as pH dependant electrostatic interactions are hypothesised to influence release kinetics. Both factors can potentially be used factors influencing release kinetics release, thereby broadening the horizon for zein as a tuneable release agent