Collected here are faculty and staff works, both creative and academic.
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Supremacist thinking, epistemological despair, and Christian hope
Jennifer Hockenbery
White supremacy is the result of ignorance, hatred, and systemic racism. There is an additional factor– an epistemology of despair, a view that knowledge cannot be shared and communicated between diverse people. The theology of Augustine, the fourth century African bishop, which is grounded in Jewish teachings and Christian hope, offers an evangelical message that undermines the power of this epistemology by inspiring hope for dialogue as an avenue towards ending supremacist thinking.
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McDreamy is McDead: Fan Responses to a Parasocial Breakup
Valerie Kretz
Grounded in scholarship regarding post-object fandom, parasocial breakups, and parasocial grief, this research explored tweets regarding the death of a long-running, central character on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy. A theory-driven thematic analysis revealed five major themes including: emotional expressions of grief, recovery and coping, advocating, not wanting to watch, and memorializing, each encompassing various subthemes. Fans expressed these responses with varying levels of intensity. The results suggest that there are fan responses to a parasocial breakup, especially a parasocial death, not suggested in prior studies that should be examined in future research. Furthermore, a parasocial breakup can be a powerful experience for fans even disrupting their everyday lives.
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Who Feels All the Feels? Individual Differences in Emotional Responses to and Enjoyment of Depictions of Romantic Relationships
Valerie E. Kretz
This experiment investigated relationship satisfaction and attachment orientations as moderators of emotional responses to and enjoyment of typical movie and television relationship portrayals. The effects of comedy versus drama exposure were also examined. Participants were 306 adults. Results showed that participants with higher relationship satisfaction experienced more amusement in response to the comedies and hope in response to the romantic movies than those with less satisfaction. Participants with higher attachment avoidance experienced less romantic feeling and hope in response to the romantic movies and less amusement in response to the comedies than those with less avoidance. Main effects of relationship satisfaction and attachment orientations were also found. Additionally, relationship satisfaction and attachment anxiety led to greater enjoyment whereas attachment avoidance led to lesser enjoyment. Higher relationship satisfaction led to more hopeful feelings, which led to greater enjoyment in the romantic movie conditions only. Results are discussed in light of social comparison theory and differential susceptibility to media effects.
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How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception
Laura M. Krull, Lisa D. Pearce, and Elyse A. Jennings
Using a complex religion framework, this study examines how and why three dimensions of religiosity—biblical literalism, personal religiosity, and religious service attendance—are related to young women’s reproductive and contraceptive knowledge differently by social class and race. We triangulate the analysis of survey data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) study and semi-structured interview data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) to identify and explain patterns. From the quantitative data, we find that all three dimensions of religiosity link to young women’s understandings of sex, reproduction, and contraception in unique ways according to parental education and racial identity. There is a lack of knowledge about female reproductive biology for young women of higher SES with conservative Christian beliefs (regardless of race), but personal religiosity and religious service attendance are related to more accurate contraceptive knowledge for young black women and less accurate knowledge for young White women. From the qualitative data, we find that class and race differences in the meaning of religion and how it informs sexual behavior help explain results from the quantitative data. Our results demonstrate the importance of taking a complex religion approach to studying religion and sex-related outcomes.
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“Pushing Past the Margins” with Micro-content Analysis: A Tool to Identify Gender-bias in Textbooks
Erica M. Southworth, Rebekah Cleaver, and Haley Herbst
We present Micro-content Analysis (MCA) as a tool for social studies educators to quickly review their current textbook and determine if it contains gender-biased content. Our MCA Guide and Toolkit retain traditional content analysis components in a compact manner to ensure that MCA is a time-efficient process for educators. We demonstrate how we implemented the Guide and Toolkit on a secondary world history textbook currently utilized in a Midwest high school. Our MCA Toolkit includes resources for locating information on female historical agents so educators can present gender-inclusive content to their students and rectify any gender-biased messages presented in textbooks.
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Classifying Character Degree Graphs With Six Verteces
Mark W. Bissler, Jacob Laubacher, and Mark L. Lewis
We investigate prime character degree graphs of solvable groups that have six vertices. There are one hundred twelve non-isomorphic connected graphs with six vertices, of which all except nine are classified in this paper. We also completely classify the disconnected graphs with six vertices.
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Saturation and alternate pathways in four-wave mixing in rubidium
Erik Brekke and Noah Swan
We have examined the frequency spectrum of the blue light generated via four-wave mixing in a rubidium vapor cell inside a ring cavity. At high atomic density and input laser power, two distinct frequency components separated by 116±4 MHz are observed, indicating alternate four-wave mixing channels through the 6p3/2 hyperfine states. The dependence of the generated light on excitation intensity and atomic density are explored, and they indicate that the primary process has saturated. This saturation results when the excitation rate through the 6p state becomes equal to the rate through the 5p state, giving no further gain with atomic density while a quadratic intensity dependence remains.
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A Simplicial Construction for Noncommutative Settings
Samuel Carolus, Jacob Laubacher, and Mihai D. Staic
In this paper we present a general construction that can be used to define the higher Hochschild homology for a noncommutative algebra. We also discuss other examples where this construction can be used.
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Rigid linkages and partial zero forcing
Daniela Ferrero, Mary Flagg, H. Tracy Hall, Leslie Hogben, Seth A. Meyer, Jephian C.-H. Lin, Shahla Nasserasr, and Bryan Shader
Connections between vital linkages and zero forcing are established. Specifically, the notion of a rigid linkage is introduced as a special kind of unique linkage and it is shown that spanning forcing paths of a zero forcing process form a spanning rigid linkage and thus a vital linkage. A related generalization of zero forcing that produces a rigid linkage via a coloring process is developed. One of the motivations for introducing zero forcing is to provide an upper bound on the maximum multiplicity of an eigenvalue among the real symmetric matrices described by a graph. Rigid linkages and a related notion of rigid shortest linkages are utilized to obtain bounds on the multiplicities of eigenvalues of this family of matrices.
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Television and Movie Viewing Predict Adults’ Romantic Ideals and Relationship Satisfaction
Valerie E. Kretz
The current study examined the associations between television and movie use, romantic ideals (belief in love conquers all and soul mates), and relationship satisfaction amongst adults who were currently in romantic relationships. Participants were 306 individuals aged 18 to 64. They were asked about their media use, their romantic beliefs, and their current relationship. In addition to overall time spent watching television and movies, seven specific genres were measured. Results indicated that viewing each genre of television and movie analyzed (including relationship reality TV, TV drama, TV comedy, soap opera, and romantic movie) was positively associated with romantic ideals. The results for television were not in the hypothesized direction or consistent with prior studies. Television drama and romantic movie viewing were the strongest predictors of belief in love conquers all and relationship satisfaction whereas soap opera viewing was the strongest predictor of belief in soul mates. None of these associations were moderated by age or relationship length. Additionally, mediation analyses showed that specific genres of viewing were positively associated with relationship satisfaction via romantic ideals. The implications of viewing television and movies for adults’ romantic relationships are discussed.
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Weight gain trajectory and pain interference in young adulthood: Evidence from a longitudinal birth cohort study
Jamie Lynch
Introduction: Obesity is associated with chronic pain, but the contribution of body mass index (BMI) trajectories over the life course to the onset of pain problems remains unclear. We retrospectively analyzed how BMI trajectories during the transition to adulthood were associated with a measure of pain interference obtained at age 29 in a longitudinal birth cohort study.
Methods: Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort (follow-up from 1997 to 2015) were used to determine BMI trajectories from age 14 to 29 via group trajectory modeling. At age 29, respondents described whether pain interfered with their work inside and outside the home over the past 4 weeks (not at all, a little, or a lot). Multivariable ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate pain interference according to BMI trajectory and study covariates.
Results: Among 7,875 respondents, 11% reported “a little” and 4% reported “a lot” of pain interference at age 29. Four BMI trajectory group were identified, varying in starting BMI and rate of weight gain. The “obese” group (8% of respondents) had a starting BMI of 30 kg/m2, and gained an average of 0.7 kg/m2/year. On multivariable analysis, this group was most likely to have greater pain interference, compared to “high normal weight” (OR=1.47; 95% CI: 1.15, 1.89), “low normal weight” (OR=1.44; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.85), and “overweight” trajectories (OR=1.33; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.73).
Conclusions: Obesity and rapid weight gain during the transition to adulthood were associated with higher risk of pain interference among young adults.
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Chronic Wasting Disease In Cervids: Prevalence, Impact And Management Strategies
Nelda A. Rivera, Adam L. Brandt, Jan E. Novakofski, and Nohra E. Mateus-Pinilla
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects members of the cervidae family. The infectious agent is a misfolded isoform (PrPSC) of the host prion protein (PrPC). The replication of PrPSC initiates a cascade of developmental changes that spread from cell to cell, individual to individual, and that for some TSEs, has crossed the species barrier. CWD can be transmitted horizontally and vertically, and it is the only TSE that affects free-ranging wildlife. While other TSEs are under control and even declining, infection rates of CWD continue to grow and the disease distribution continues to expand in North America and around the world. Since the first reported case in 1967, CWD has spread infecting captive and free-ranging cervids in 26 states in the US, 3 Canadian provinces, 3 European countries and has been found in captive cervids in South Korea. CWD causes considerable ecologic, economic and sociologic impact, as this is a 100% fatal highly contagious infectious disease, with no treatment or cure available. Because some TSEs have crossed the species barrier, the zoonotic potential of CWD is a concern for human health and continues to be investigated. Here we review the characteristics of the CWD prion protein, mechanisms of transmission and the role of genetics. We discuss the characteristics that contribute to prevalence and distribution. We also discuss the impact of CWD and review the management strategies that have been used to prevent and control the spread of CWD.
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Whose Story is it, Now? Re-examining Women’s Visibility in 21st Century Secondary World History Textbooks
Erica M. Southworth, Jenna Kempen, and Melonie Zielinski
In 2005 Clark, Ayton, Frechette, and Keller (2005) conducted a content analysis study on secondary world history textbooks to determine whether women’s inclusion had increased or decreased between 1960s, 1980s, and 1990s. They reported women’s severe marginalization in the texts even though the percentages of women’s inclusion had increased over the course of the decades. We conducted a replication study of the content analysis performed by Clark et al. from a feminist research lens and analyzed 2000 and 2010 editions of the same textbooks to determine if female inclusion had increased. Our findings revealed that very little to no progress has been made towards the equitable inclusion of women. We conclude by urging social studies educators to advocate for gender-based content reforms in state and national social studies exams as an avenue for obtaining gender-balanced textbooks.
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Revealing the ‘social consequences of unemployment’: the Settlement Campaign for the Unemployed on the Eve of Depression
Abigail Trollinger
This article analyzes the strategy and rhetoric of the National Federation of Settlements’ 1928 project on unemployment. During the Hoover years settlement workers assembled an extensive catalog of case studies, which offer a glimpse into the home life of the jobless and their families at the beginning of the Great Depression. From their research the NFS Committee on Unemployment published a series of books and articles that depicted the unemployed as the undeserving victims of economic change, and called for policies to protect them. Throughout, settlement workers focused on the families of the unemployed, drawing on gendered notions of work and family and lifting up policies that protected male breadwinner households. Thus, settlement leaders re-cast unemployment as a social, rather than an economic, problem. In all, settlement research, writing, and reception presented a skeptical voting public with a palatable argument for social insurance that brought the experiences of the jobless to the voting public and to policymakers, demonstrating a process of “policymaking from the middle.” In so doing, they redeemed the newly unemployed and the insurance plans intended to protect them.
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You Lead Like a Girl: Gender and Children’s Leadership Development
Alexa J. Trumpy and Marissa Elliott
Recent leadership initiatives encourage children, particularly girls, to defy gender stereotypes. Yet, those creating and participating in these initiatives, like all members of our culture, have their own gender biases, have received gender socialization, and live in a society where the masculine is more valued than the feminine. We conducted participant observation of two gender-segregated leadership summer camps to examine how camp counselors and directors teach leadership to boys and girls. We find counselors unintentionally reinforce gender stereotypes and promote gender-typical behavior while attempting to break down these same stereotypes and behavioral expectations. We argue the gender-segregated environment leads to a problematic “separate but equal” approach to thinking about leadership that advances the individual abilities of boys and girls but does less to decrease gender disparities in emotional development, physical competition, or leadership styles. This research contributes to our understanding of how well-intentioned organizations and authorities, seeking to minimize gender disparities and develop strong leaders, unwittingly reproduce gender differences and perpetuate gender inequality.
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Catastrophe Bonds: An Interview with Oliver Ressler
Brandon Bauer and Oliver P. Ressler
An Interview with Brandon Bauer and Oliver Ressler on the occasion of his exhibition at St. Norbert College and the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay: "Catastrophe Bonds", the first survey of Oliver Ressler‘s work in the United States. The exhibition focuses on forms of grassroots democracy as well as economic and political alternatives to the existing state of global affairs. This interview was published in the book that accompanied the exhibition.
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On the absence of a normal nonabelian Sylow subgroup
Mark W. Bisslier, Jacob Laubacher, and Corey F. Lyons
Let G be a finite solvable group. We show that G does not have a normal nonabelian Sylow p-subgroup when its prime character degree graph Δ(G) satisfies a technical hypothesis. Δ(G)">
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Influence of the geographic distribution of prion protein gene sequence variation on patterns of chronic wasting disease spread in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Adam L. Brandt, Michelle L. Green, Yasuko Ishida, Alfred L. Roca, Jan Novakofski, and Nohra E. Mateus-Pinilla
Managing and controlling the spread of diseases in wild animal populations is challenging, especially for highly social and mobile species. Effective management would benefit from information about disease susceptibility, allowing limited resources to be focused on areas or populations with a higher risk of infection. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects cervids, was first detected in Colorado. In 2002 CWD was detected in Illinois and Wisconsin and has since spread through many counties. Specific nucleotide variations in the prion protein gene (PRNP) sequence have been associated with reduced susceptibility to CWD in white-tailed deer. Though genetic resistance is incomplete, the frequency of deer possessing these mutations in a population is an important factor in disease spread (i.e. herd immunity). In this study we sequenced 625 bp of the PRNP gene from a sampling of 2433 deer from Illinois and Wisconsin. In north-central Illinois where CWD was first detected, counties had a low frequency of protective haplotypes (frequency < 0.20); whereas in northwestern Illinois counties, where CWD cases have only more recently been detected, the frequency of protective haplotypes (frequency > 0.30) was much higher (p < 0.05). Protective haplotype frequencies varied significantly among infected and uninfected geographic areas. The frequency of protective PRNP haplotypes may contribute to population level susceptibility and may shape the way CWD has spread through Illinois. Analysis of PRNP haplotype distribution could be a powerful tool to assess CWD risk and best allocate resources to contain and reduce the spread of infection.
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Properties of the Secondary Hochschild Homology
Jacob Laubacher
Abstract. In this paper we study properties of the secondary Hochschild homology of the triple (A, B, ε) with coefficients in M. We establish a type of Morita equivalence between two triples and show that H•((A, B, ε);M) is invariant under this equivalence. We also prove the existence of an exact sequence which connects the usual and the secondary Hochschild homologies in low dimension, allowing one to perform easy computations. The functoriality of H•((A, B, ε);M) is also discussed.
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Bar simplicial modules and secondary cyclic (co)homology
Jacob Laubacher, Mihai D. Staic, and Alin Stancu
Abstract. In this paper we study the simplicial structure of the complex C•((A, B, ");M), associated to the secondary Hochschild cohomology. The main ingredient is the simplicial object B(A,B, "), which plays a role equivalent to that of the bar resolution associated to an algebra. We also introduce the secondary cyclic (co)homology and establish some of its properties (Theorems 3.9 and 4.11).
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Knowledge Asymmetries and Service Management: Three Case Studies
Jamie O'Brien and John Walsh
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how information systems are used by knowledge-intensive service firms and identify their effects on client–provider interactions. The paper uses data from case studies of service-related departments of three multinational firms. We identified several broad trends present in all three case companies. The required degree of knowledge specialisation, coupled with the ability to leverage knowledge created during service interactions resulted in high degrees of knowledge asymmetries between service provider and clients, which led to clients becoming the recipients of knowledge rather than co-creators. Differences between the cases related to the varying degrees to which information systems had been used to support service interactions. We therefore provide a model that outlines three key phases of activity. Individualisation involves the categorisation and location of tacit knowledge. This was followed by the codification and leveraging of service interactions through standardisation. Finally, the ability to provide alternative, more customised services, was achieved through modularisation. Increasing levels of specialisation of labour resulted in increasing knowledge asymmetries between service provider and client, reducing the need for client participation and co-production. Firms progress through three stages of development using information systems to support leveraging knowledge required for service delivery. The findings are based on case studies of departments within three multinational firms and would benefit from further empirical testing. The paper contributes to the existing literature in several ways. It focusses specifically on knowledge-intensive service firms, where labour is highly specialised. It gives information systems an explicit and significant role in examining how service elements may be leveraged. Finally, it outlines an exploratory model for managing this process.
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Both Reintroduction and Recolonization Likely Contributed to the Re-establishment of a Fisher Population in East-central Alberta
Gilbert Proulx, Keith B. Aubry, Adam L. Brandt, Jessica R. Brandt, Benjamin N. Sacks, Jun J. Sato, and Thomas L. Serfass
Recently, Stewart et al. (2017) investigated the origins of contemporary fisher populations in the Cooking Lake Moraine (CLM) of east-central Alberta, Canada, where fishers (Pekania pennanti) from Ontario and Manitoba, Canada were reintroduced in the early 1990s. To address this objective, Stewart et al. (2017) compared microsatellite alleles from extant fisher populations in the CLM to those from Ontario, Manitoba, and other Alberta populations. They reported that the CLM population clustered with adjacent native Alberta populations, consistent with recolonization, but also that 2 of 109 microsatellite alleles in the CLM occurred only in the source populations from Ontario and Manitoba. Rather than allowing for the possibility that these alleles descended from reintroduced fishers, the authors speculated that they represented random mutations among fishers that recolonized the area naturally from nearby populations in Alberta, and concluded that the reintroduction had failed completely. We disagree with this conclusion for 2 reasons. We contend it is more likely that the 2 alleles represent a genetic signature from the individuals released during the reintroduction, rather than being the result of mutations. We further suggest that, irrespective of the genetic legacy of introduced fishers in the recovered population, the presence of reintroduced fishers in the CLM may have helped facilitate natural recolonization of the area by fishers from surrounding areas. In our view, Stewart et al.’s (2017) findings do not demonstrate conclusively that the reintroduction program failed; on the contrary, we argue that their findings indicate that reintroduced fishers likely contributed to the long-term persistence of fishers in the CLM. The uncertainty surrounding this case underscores the importance of genetic monitoring following reintroductions.