Articles and Scholarly Works (Duluth)
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Item Weight Stigma Toward Pregnant Patients: An Experimental Study of Medical Students(2024-04) Niemann, Alicia L; LaCaille, Lara JPeople who are overweight and obese commonly experience weight-related stigmatization, including within the healthcare system. Weight stigma from healthcare providers can lead to negative psychological and physiological outcomes for patients. This is particularly important in pregnancy care, as weight stigma is associated with pregnancy complications, even when controlling for actual weight. Previous research indicates that many medical providers harbor biases towards individuals with obesity, but few studies have explored the prevalence of weight stigma specific to pregnant patients. This study investigated the presence of implicit and explicit weight bias in a sample of medical students (N = 100; AgeM =25.83 ± 2.76). Using a between-subjects experimental design, participants were randomly assigned to either read a vignette about a pregnant patient who was normal weight or obese. Participants then completed questionnaires related to perceptions of and liking of the patient, as well as explicit attitudes about people with obesity. Knowledge about weight gain guidelines during pregnancy was also assessed. Independent samples t-tests and Cohen's d effect sizes were used to compare medical students’ perceptions and attitudes towards patients who are obese versus normal weight. Moderation analysis was used to examine the effect of medical student body mass index (BMI) on stigmatizing responses. No significant differences between vignettes was found, suggesting that implicit bias against pregnant patients who are obese versus normal weight was not identified in this sample using these measures. Weight stigmatizing attitudes were associated with medical student BMI, such that medical students with higher BMIs expressed more positive attitudes regarding caring for patients with obesity. In terms of knowledge, 68% of participants at least partially correctly reported the recommended weight gain for a patient with normal weight, with decreasing accuracy as patient BMI increased. This level of accurate knowledge is an improvement from previous research on medical student knowledge. The lack of implicit weight bias in this sample is inconsistent with previous research. This suggests that the status of weight stigma in medical providers may be improving, or that our sample’s exposure to weight sensitivity training may be impactful. The decreasing knowledge of recommended gestational weight gain as patient BMI increases is consistent with previous research.Item Effects of oxygen availability on metabolic enzyme abundances in Leptomonas pyrrhocoris(2024-04-26) Tangen, Madelyn RTrypanosomes are parasitic protozoans. Trypanosomes have a unique membrane-bound metabolic organelle called the glycosome, which contains the first seven steps of glycolysis. It is thought the glycosome formed to facilitate enzymatic overhauls that were cellular responses to altered environmental conditions. Environmental changes are more apparent for dual-host trypanosomes, but the glycosome is still found in single-host species. This led to the research question: In single-host trypanosomes, what environmental condition could potentially cause glycosomal protein abundance changes? We hypothesized that a dramatic change in oxygen levels is responsible for the overhaul of glycosomal enzymes in the single-host trypanosome species Leptomonas pyrrhocoris. Additionally, this overhaul would not be seen in metabolic enzymes located outside the glycosome. To test the hypothesis, Leptomonas pyrrhocoris cells were placed in hypoxia and normoxia conditions. Cell counting and protein collection occurred on days two, three, and six. The abundances of five glycosomal enzymes and one cytoplasmic enzyme were measured via western blotting. Significance was determined through an unpaired two-tailed t-test. Trends observed in all enzymes showed that by day three enzymatic abundance was greater in hypoxia. This trend was either maintained or amplified through day six in all but one enzyme. However, because this trend was also observed in the cytosolic enzyme, the hypothesis was rejected. The trend seen in all enzymes suggests that while a change in oxygen level does cause an enzymatic overhaul, it is not one related to the glycosome.Item Final Report of the Duluth Economic and Employment Study(1963-07) Meyers, Cecil H; Sielaff, Richard OItem Financial Background of the U.S. Savings Bond: Development of Thrift Programs of the U.S. Treasury, 1917-1924(1961) Meyers, Cecil HThe largest and most successful program yet designed to promote individual savings through Treasury policy has been the U. S. Savings bond program. At the savings bond's inception in 1935, a considerable body of experience had already been accumulated by the Treasury in the operation of thrift type programs during and after World War I. Similarities between the earlier and present thrift programs are both striking and of considerable developmental significance. Somewhat strangely, very little financial history has appeared primarily analyzing such facets of these savings programs as might naturally be of interest to economists and financial historians. This paper proposes to trace the development and formation of Treasury savings policy for individuals during the period from 1917 when the thrift program began until 1924 when the World War I phase ended. To define the boundaries of interest herein, only those non-marketable Treasury instruments designed to fit small personal portfolios are emphasized. Experiences prior to World War I are not part of this paper. Such lessons and general principles as may be derived from the fund of early thrift promotion experience will comprise the major part of this paper-particularly as these events may relate to or throw light on the savings bond program of more recent times.Item The Mesabi Range Trip: May 12, 1979(1979) Plummer, Wayne L; Marsden, Ralph WItem Optimizing a Public Transportation System based on Young Drivers’ Attitudes and the Theory of Planned Behavior Factors(PriMera Scientific Publishers, 2023-04) Seecharan, TurunaIn Duluth, the largest demographic living in poverty is 18-24-year-olds. Drivers within this age range are also over-represented in crash statistics in the state of Minnesota. Further, owning and operating a personal vehicle can be costly, especially for young drivers with no stable or high income. Sustainable commute modes include commuting with low impact on the environment, transporting more than one passenger, or replacing fossil fuels with green energy. Behavioral changes are necessary to get the maximum benefits from sustainable commuting such as encouraging the use of alternative modes of transportation like the public transportation system. Although the benefits of sustainable commuting include saving money, being eco-friendly, and having a positive social impact on society, a survey of 370 18-24-year-old drivers found that 46% choose their vehicle as their primary commuting option. This research explores the perception of young drivers in Duluth toward the use of public transportation. Based on the factors from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the study shows that even if their attitude was favorable and there existed a strong social structure, within Duluth, toward using the bus, control factors exist that impede their decision to use the bus. If these factors are not addressed, then ridership will continue to be low.Item What Do Students Think and Feel about Research?(2023-01) Conerton, Kate; David, Mags; Jones, KayleenHow do students understand and feel about the research process? This article uses student writing and drawings to uncover where undergraduate students struggle while completing research assignments for upper-division writing courses. Student-created process maps and responses to reflection questions showed frustration while developing topics, uncertainty while choosing sources, and difficulty finding time to go through a complete process in a single semester. The structure and pacing of research assignments contributed to students’ frustration with and misunderstanding of the research process. These findings point to opportunities for improving student learning through new ways of understanding and structuring student assignments.Item Recognizing spatial and temporal relationships between Neolithic earthen monuments, Earth, and sky at Cranborne Chase, Southern Britain(2023-01) Burley, Paul DCranborne Chase in southern England is a well-known area of Neolithic archaeology including numerous long barrows, the largest and longest cursus in Britain, and many other structures. This multi-disciplinary geoarchaeological research project reviews local and regional geologic and paleoenvironmental characteristics of Cranborne Chase and the adjoining South Hampshire Lowlands, with specific interest in the physiographic setting of Early- to Mid-Neolithic earthen long barrows and the Dorset Cursus. Locations, forms and architectural features of the earthen monuments are analyzed with regard to local and regional geologic, geomorphic, pedologic, topographic, paleoenvironmental, and astronomical conditions for the period of monument construction c. 3800 to 3200 BC. Cultural development in southern Britain c. the 4th millennium is reviewed in tandem with descriptions of natural physiographic and paleoenvironmental conditions that are unique to Cranborne Chase and the lowland. Historical and ethnographical information provides analogies with respect to prehistoric cultural astronomy. Spatial and temporal relationships are identified between elements of the landscape, skyscape, and monuments. Results of this study demonstrate that spatial and temporal relationships between the earthen structures and elements of the surrounding landscape, seascape, and skyscape are key to recognizing and understanding the symbolism and signification expressed by the monumental architecture. The cultural expresses spatial and temporal unification by alignment between Earth and sky, and the living and the dead. In that way, the cultural landscape is related to a Neolithic cosmology emphasizing certain elements of the observable landscape and skyscape, and belief in an astral afterlife.Item Robots, Rebukes, and Relationships: Confucian Ethics and the Study of Human-Robot Interactions(Philosophy Documentation Center, 2023-01) Elder, Alexis MThe status and functioning of shame is contested in moral psychology. In much of anglophone philosophy and psychology, it is presumed to be largely destructive, while in Confucian philosophy and many East Asian communities, it is positively associated with moral development. Recent work in human-robot interaction offers a unique opportunity to investigate how shame functions while controlling for confounding variables of interpersonal interaction. One research program suggests a Confucian strategy for using robots to rebuke participants, but results from experiments with educational technologies imply a different and potentially opposing account of shame’s role in personal development. By digging deeper into the details of Confucian theorizing about shame, I identify a unifying explanation for these apparently conflicting results. I conclude by offering suggestions for future empirical research in human-robot interactions to further investigate shame’s role in moral development.Item Siri, Stereotypes, and the Mechanics of Sexism(Western Libraries, 2022-12-21) Elder, Alexis MFeminized AIs designed for in-home verbal assistance are often subjected to gendered verbal abuse by their users. I survey a variety of features contributing to this phenomenon—from financial incentives for businesses to build products likely to provoke gendered abuse, to the impact of such behavior on household members—and identify a potential worry for attempts to criticize the phenomenon; while critics may be tempted to argue that engaging in gendered abuse of AI increases the chances that one will direct this abuse toward human beings, the recent history of attempts to connect video game violence to real-world aggression suggests that things may not be so simple. I turn to Confucian discussions of the role of ritualized social interactions both to better understand the roots of the problem and to investigate potential strategies for improvement, given a complex interplay between designers and device users. I argue that designers must grapple with the entrenched sexism in our society, at the expense of “smooth” and “seamless” user interfaces, in order to intentionally disrupt entrenched but harmful patterns of interaction, but that doing so is both consistent with and recommended by Confucian accounts of social rituals.Item Long-term Study of the Magney-Snively Old-Growth Northern Hardwood Forest, Duluth, Minnesota, USA(2022-06) Schimpf, David J; Kelly, Julia APoint-quarter measurements of trees and saplings made in a putatively old-growth Minnesota northern hardwood forest in 1961, 1980, and 2016 were analyzed by using plotless density-estimation methods, including a modified method that we developed. Stem densities of trees in 1980 and 2016 were higher than in 1961, and sapling stem density was much higher in 2016 than in each of the earlier years. Basal-area densities for both trees and trees-plus-saplings did not change significantly among years, but were higher for saplings in 2016 than in each of the other two years. Stem density and basal-area density of sugar maple increased in the tree stratum through time. The sugar maple tree population had a demographically stable size structure in each year. Sugar maple dominated the sapling stratum, increasing with time in relative densities and very strongly in absolute densities. Over the same time span yellow birch abundance declined in the tree stratum and mountain maple seemed to decline in the sapling stratum. Yellow birch mean individual size became larger with time. Basal-area densities estimated by the angle-gauge method in 2017 found standing-dead values to be about 8% of the live-stem values, with similar species compositions. Fallen large boles near the sample points in 2016 were more likely to be yellow birch than the large live trees were; in contrast, sugar maple was a smaller share of fallen large boles than of large live trees. Boles tended to have fallen toward the south, which did not match the directions in the record of strong wind gusts at Duluth International Airport. This old-growth ecosystem may hold at least 230 metric tons of organic carbon per hectare. Stem cores from red oaks showed little evidence of contamination from a steel mill that operated nearby prior to 1980, but have a somewhat elevated content of manganese. The Magney-Snively forest is an important complement to the other old-growth northern hardwoods remnants in the Lake Superior region, which differ from it by having a sizable representation of eastern hemlock.Item Annotated Literature Review for the "Importance of the Arts to Teaching and to Health" Presentation(University of Minnesota Extension, 2021-08) Tornabene, Ladona; Pelletier, MaryThis annotated bibliography serves as a supplement to the presentation, "Importance of the Arts to Teaching and to Health" that was given during NEAFCS Professional Development Day. It defines arts engagement and provides resources for the following: Importance of the arts to health, importance of the arts to education, incorporating the arts into teaching subjects such as public health and wellness, stress management, financial health, parenting, as well as integrating the performing arts in the classroom.Item Matrifocal Retentions in Ethiopian Orthodox Traditions: The Madonna as Ark & Queen Makeda as Prefiguration of Mary; with Egyptian Queen Tiye & Pharaoh Hatshepsut as reference(Taylor & Francis' African Identities, 2021-11-16) Spencer, SteffanThis article examines one of the most fascinating dynamics within the foundation story of Ethiopia’s Royal Solomonic Dynasty, the Kebra Nagast (Glory of Kings), the metaphor that connects Mother Mary with the biblical Ark of the Covenant. Throughout the Kebra Nagast, it is written that just as the Ark served as the vehicle by which the Ten Commandments of the Law were given unto humanity, so too would Mary serve as the perfected and purified vehicle for Christ. The prominence of women such as Mary and Queen Makeda (the Queen of Sheba) in the theology and polity of Ethiopia is indicative of African traditions that have been described as matriarchal, matrilineal, dual-sex and matrifocal. These traditions explain the prominence of Mary and Makeda within Ethiopian Orthodox traditions, as an African matrifocality reaching from the Old to the New Testaments, with Queen Makeda serving as a prefiguration of Mother Mary. This matrifocality is informed by pre-Axumite archeological finds of female statues in northern Ethiopia, and the historical reigns of Egyptian Queen Mother Tiye, and the Lady Pharaoh Hatshepsut. This represents a retention of women-centered African values within Ethiopian Orthodox traditions. Values once prominent and shared throughout the Nile Valley.Item The Phocian Betrayal at Thermopylae(Franz Steiner Verlag, 2019-12) Rop, JeffreyThis article makes three arguments regarding the Battle of Thermopylae. First, that the discovery of the Anopaea path was not dependent upon Ephialtes, but that the Persians were aware of it at their arrival and planned their attacks at Thermopylae, Artemisium, and against the Phocians accordingly. Second, that Herodotus’ claims that the failure of the Phocians was due to surprise, confusion, and incompetence are not convincing. And third, that the best explanation for the Phocian behavior is that they were from Delphi and betrayed their allies as part of a bid to restore local control over the sanctuary.Item The Historical Context of the Reply to the Satraps Inscription (IG IV 556)(De Gruyter, 2017) Rop, JeffreyThis article offers a new date and interpretation for IG IV 556, more commonly known as the Reply to the Satraps inscription. Most scholars associate it with the Common Peace of 362/1, and interpret it as a response to satraps seeking military aid against King Artaxerxes II during the Great Satraps Revolt. Yet the inscription contains no evidence that the satraps the inscription addresses were in rebellion. After consideration of its find location and potential authors, it better fits the historical context of the Common Peace imposed on Greece by Philip II of Macedon following his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338.Item Reconsidering the Origin of the Scythed Chariot(Franz Steiner Verlag, 2013) Rop, JeffreyThis article challenges the current scholarly consensus that the scythed chariot was developed by the Persians for use against Greek hoplites. Closer examination of the historical record reveals that the scythed chariot was a specialized device deployed only under specific battlefield conditions and used against all types of infantry and cavalry. Reviewing the information provided by Xenophon’s Cyropaedia and Ctesias’ Persica in the context of the evolution of chariotry in the ancient Near East, I argue that the most plausible origin for the scythed chariot is in the Neo-Assyrian period.Item Duct Tape Occlusion Therapy in the Treatment of Plantar Warts(2020-09) Mooers, Howard D; Jones, Kathleen A; van Scoy, Michael SABSTRACT Background: Plantar warts are generally unsightly, often painful, and they can resist typical forms of treatment. Generally, these treatments involve a combination of procedures including topical application, excision, and cryotherapy and can require numerous office visits. This paper reports on the efficacy of duct tape occlusion therapy in the treatment of plantar warts that resisted all other forms of treatment over a ten-year period. Methods: At the time the patient began duct tape occlusion therapy he had developed a 2.5 cm diameter verrucous plaque on his right heal with nine additional solitary plantar warts distributed from the head to the ball of the foot. Strips of duct tape 8-10 cm in length were applied over the affected area and changed every 1-3 days. Occasionally the warts were pared down with a razor blade. Results: A two-month treatment of plantar warts by duct-tape occlusion therapy resulted in complete disappearance of a 2.5 cm verrucous plaque and nine solitary plantar warts distributed from the heel to the ball of the foot, including warts that had never been covered by the tape. Conclusion: Duct tape occlusion therapy proved to be an effective therapy for treatment of plantar warts that had resisted repeated treatment by traditional methods.