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The Lookout
2372-580X
Understanding the Role of Presidential Approval on Voter Turnout and the Understanding the Patterned Coalition that Exist in Uneducated White Individuals
(2024-05-23) Eveleth, William P; Surles, Jackson Fisher; Williamson, Phillip R
Understanding why individuals vote at the rates they do, along with understanding which parties these voters will ultimately decide to cast their vote for has been a long discussion in political research. This study looks to understand and test whether presidential approval ratings have a direct correlation with increasing voter turnout throughout Presidential Elections. The study has results that provide a direct answer to that proposed correlation. Another question this study seeks to understand is what political ideology white individuals who have not obtained a high school diploma vote for and what leads to that decision. This study uses data from the American National Election Studies that dates to the 1964 Presidential Election that conducts a regression model that allows readers to understand the correlation between white uneducated individuals and which party they ultimately vote for in Presidential Elections.
A Review of Parental Bereavement Interventions: Implications for Clinical Practice, Research, and Policy
(2024-05-23) Floyd, Abigail Joan; Ramkumar, Rhea
The untimely death of a child is an incredibly traumatic experience for parents and their loved ones. It uproots every aspect of their life, leading the bereaved parents to be far more likely to have poorer physical and mental health outcomes. This traumatic form of bereavement should have comprehensive grief-focused, high-quality interventions available for parents and extended family members. The purpose of this rapid review was to explore and describe the bereavement interventions available for parents and family that have been published within the past 5 years. Records identified 123 full-text articles that were reviewed, and 14 of those were included for data extraction and synthesis, using Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group with the addition of keyword searches. The 14 articles were analyzed by evaluating description of bereaved parents, accessibility of interventions, who delivered interventions, and the type and delivery time of interventions. Four types of interventions were identified, including Web-based, community-based, hospital-based, and psychotherapy interventions. This rapid review has implications for clinical practice, research, and health care policy that can increase the availability of support and quality of interventions for bereaved parents and family members.
Identification of a novel autonomous role for Ecdysone Receptor during Drosophila ovarian germ cell differentiation.
(East Carolina University, July 2024) Jung, Lauren Elizabeth
A tightly regulated network of signals coordinates the division of Drosophila germline stem cells (GSCs) and differentiation of their daughter cells to produce viable oocytes. The steroid hormone, ecdysone, is known to promote GSC self-renewal; however, due to lack of compatible genetic tools, potential autonomous roles in the germline have not been fully evaluated. Ecdysone elicits a diverse array of transcriptional responses by binding to a heterodimeric complex composed of Ecdysone Receptor (EcR) and Ultraspiracle (Usp). To elucidate whether EcR facilitates autonomous reception of ecdysone in the germline, we built germline-compatible genetic tools to manipulate EcR levels or activity. Depleting EcR mRNA or loss of EcR ligand binding in the germline caused a loss of GSCs over time, demonstrating that it is necessary for GSC self-renewal. Further, over-expressing either EcR.A or EcR.B1 isoforms resulted in undifferentiated germ cell tumors and decreased numbers of GSCs. This is a ligand-dependent function of EcR, as over-expression of EcR that cannot bind ecdysone suppressed tumor development. By restricting over-expression to later stages of the germline, we found that EcR is sufficient to induce tumors only when over-expressed in the GSCs and early daughter cells. In tumorous ovaries, stem-like cells were also identified outside of their normal stem cell niche, suggesting that these cells remain competent to respond to BMP signals. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing to compare EcR over-expressing and Tkv over-expressing ovaries, we found remarkably similar transcriptomes in heterogenous populations of germ cells. These data suggest that EcR promotes differentiation of germ cells by directly regulating components of the BMP signaling pathway and that low levels of EcR expressed in wildtype GSCs are sufficient for ligand-dependent activation of an ecdysone-responsive transcriptional program. Altogether these data reveal a novel, autonomous role of EcR in GSC maintenance and regulation of differentiating daughter cells.