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1. A global digital identity for all: the next evolution

   Dr Clare Sullivan and Scott Tyson (October 2023, Policy Design and Practice)

   Judith Clifton, Marcos Fernandez-Gutierrez (Ed.)

   This paper chronicles the emergence of digital identity as a legal concept, how digital identity has grown in importance at the national level over the past decades and is now poised to become even more important internationally. This work builds on existing scholarship, to consider the next evolution of digital identity from what is now essentially a national concept into a global, legal concept. The examination looks to the likely emergence of a global digital identity for individuals in the near future and asks how that could be achieved. The authors examine the use of blockchain technology as a possible foundation of a global digital identity, along with the necessary development of existing international law on individual rights to support a global digital identity for all. Blockchain is viewed as relatively more secure and it enables individuals to have more control over how their identity information is managed and used. Blockchain’s traceability pro vides advantages for government and the private sector in man aging and verifying identity. It aids the integrity of identity information and related transactions. However, it is important to note that, while blockchain has advantages, its relative immutability can lead to the creation and use of false digital identities that cannot be easily detected or corrected. As this paper discusses, this aspect can undermine the integrity and reliability of digital identity nationally and internationally. Given that blockchain tech nology is fallible, the authors argue that international law has a vital role now and in the future in recognizing the right to digital identity and establishing norms of conduct. 

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2. Confirmation of Skywalker Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock tianxing) in Myanmar Extends Known Geographic Range of an Endangered Primate

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-024-00418-6  

   Aung, Pyae Phyo; Lwin, Ngwe; Aung, Tin Htun; Htike, Thura Soe; Thompson, Carolyn; Roos, Christian; Zaw, Sa Myo; Lum, L. Zawng; Oo, Win Naing; Sau, Zung; et al (February 2024, International Journal of Primatology)

   Abstract Characterizing genetically distinct populations of primates is important for protecting biodiversity and effectively allocating conservation resources. Skywalker gibbons (Hoolock tianxing) were first described in 2017, with the only confirmed population consisting of 150 individuals in Mt. Gaoligong, Yunnan Province, China. Based on river geography, the distribution of the skywalker gibbon has been hypothesized to extend into Myanmar between the N’Mai Kha and Ayeyarwaddy Rivers to the west, and the Salween River (named the Thanlwin River in Myanmar and Nujiang River in China) to the east. We conducted acoustic point-count sampling surveys, collected noninvasive samples for molecular mitochondrial cytochromebgene identification, and took photographs for morphological identification at six sites in Kachin State and three sites in Shan State to determine the presence of skywalker gibbons in predicted suitable forest areas in Myanmar. We also conducted 50 semistructured interviews with members of communities surrounding gibbon range forests to understand potential threats. In Kachin State, we audio-recorded 23 gibbon groups with group densities ranging between 0.57 and 3.6 group/km². In Shan State, we audio-recorded 21 gibbon groups with group densities ranging between 0.134 and 1.0 group/km². Based on genetic data obtained from skin and saliva samples, the gibbons were identified as skywalker gibbons (99.54–100% identity). Although these findings increase the species’ known population size and confirmed distribution, skywalker gibbons in Myanmar are threatened by local habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. Most of the skywalker gibbon population in Myanmar exists outside protected areas. Therefore, the IUCN Red List status of the skywalker gibbon should remain as Endangered. 

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3. Genome evolution and diversity of wild and cultivated potatoes

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04822-x  

   Tang, Dié; Jia, Yuxin; Zhang, Jinzhe; Li, Hongbo; Cheng, Lin; Wang, Pei; Bao, Zhigui; Liu, Zhihong; Feng, Shuangshuang; Zhu, Xijian; et al (June 2022, Nature)

   Abstract Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) is the world’s most important non-cereal food crop, and the vast majority of commercially grown cultivars are highly heterozygous tetraploids. Advances in diploid hybrid breeding based on true seeds have the potential to revolutionize future potato breeding and production 1–4 . So far, relatively few studies have examined the genome evolution and diversity of wild and cultivated landrace potatoes, which limits the application of their diversity in potato breeding. Here we assemble 44 high-quality diploid potato genomes from 24 wild and 20 cultivated accessions that are representative of Solanum section Petota , the tuber-bearing clade, as well as 2 genomes from the neighbouring section, Etuberosum . Extensive discordance of phylogenomic relationships suggests the complexity of potato evolution. We find that the potato genome substantially expanded its repertoire of disease-resistance genes when compared with closely related seed-propagated solanaceous crops, indicative of the effect of tuber-based propagation strategies on the evolution of the potato genome. We discover a transcription factor that determines tuber identity and interacts with the mobile tuberization inductive signal SP6A. We also identify 561,433 high-confidence structural variants and construct a map of large inversions, which provides insights for improving inbred lines and precluding potential linkage drag, as exemplified by a 5.8-Mb inversion that is associated with carotenoid content in tubers. This study will accelerate hybrid potato breeding and enrich our understanding of the evolution and biology of potato as a global staple food crop. 

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4. Engineering Leadership Identity: A Qualitative Approach to Understand the Intersection of Engineering and Leadership Identities

   Annand, Emma; Kwapisz, Monika B.; Schell, William J.; Hughes, Bryce E.; Tallman, Brett (May 2019, ASEE annual conference exposition)

   Leaders in industry and government are calling for increasing innovation in STEM fields to maintain the nation's economic competitiveness [15]. Solving today's complex challenges will require cooperation among experts from many fields. Successful leaders must harness the diverse capabilities of teams composed of these experts and be technically skilled. Undergraduate engineering students can fill this need by learning how to be effective leaders during their formation as engineers. Unfortunately, many engineering students graduate with little development of leadership skills; engineering educators do not currently have a sufficient understanding of how engineering students develop into leaders. This NSF ECE supported project seeks to improve educators’ understanding of the interaction between leadership and engineering identities in the formation of undergraduate engineers. This work postulates that a cohesive engineering leadership identity should exist at the intersection of engineering and leadership identities. Now entering its second year the project is wrapping up its quantitative phase and is beginning the qualitative phase of investigation. This paper discusses the process of developing the qualitative research protocols used to explore identity formation in groups of undergraduate engineers at three different campuses. The discussion shows the formation of the protocol using prior work in leadership and engineering identity constructs from both this project and the literature. The protocol development, methods, and findings from early interviews are presented. Initial findings suggest several factors are important to engineering educators interested in developing engineers who are ready to lead. The findings include evidence of some level of conflict between engineering identity and leadership identity as well as further evidence of engineering students’ compartmentalization of leadership as outside of engineering. In addition, this paper includes the learning outcomes of three REU students who joined the project to assist with the development of the qualitative protocol. The REU students made significant contributions to initial data collection as participants and observers. The REU students were the lead authors of this paper. 

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5. Development of Leadership Self-Efficacy: Comparing Engineers, Other STEM, and Non-STEM Majors

   https://doi.org/10.1109/fie.2018.8658493  

   Hughes, Bryce E.; Schell, William J.; Tallman, Brett (October 2018, 2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE))

   The purpose of this work in progress research paper is to examine the differences in leadership self-efficacy among engineering undergraduates and their peers in other fields, and understand how leadership self-concept changes from the first through the fourth year of college. This study conceptualizes engineering formation as a professional identity development process, cultivated through participation in engineering communities of practice. The guiding hypothesis is that experiences that contribute to engineering identity, which focus on the development of technical mastery, conflict with the development of leadership self-concept. This work presents preliminary analysis of the differences between engineering undergraduates and their peers with regard to their leadership experiences during college. Preliminary results reveal a complex picture of the differences between engineering students and their peers in other STEM and non-STEM fields. Engineering students have the highest leadership self-efficacy of all three groups by the end of the fourth year of college, which mirrors differences in self-rated leadership skills at college entry. However, differences in leadership experiences during college vary among these three groups, and not consistently with their leadership self-efficacy. Engineers are least likely to participate in a leadership training during college and to value becoming a leader after college. Among engineering students, students who participate in internships, undergraduate research, and collaborate with peers report higher leadership. Leadership is unrelated to plans to enter engineering as a career. 

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