The Reification of Hegemonic Masculinity via Heteronormativity, Sexual Objectification, and Masculine Performances in Tau Kappa Epsilon Recruitment Videos

Fraternity members constitute a large percentage of men who hold highly influential jobs in politics, large corporations, and the like. Since fraternities are limited to men-only, it is important to examine how masculinity is both rhetorically constructed and subsequently performed. Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), the fraternity with the largest amount of chapters nationwide, is the focus of my analysis. Its popularity among college campuses signifies that its recruitment is successful and that, regardless of initiation into the fraternity, many men (and women) view TKE as an example of masculinity. In my analysis, I examine TKE recruitment videos from various universities that span the Northeastern, Southern, Midwestern, and Western regions of the United States. My analysis identified five markers that indicate an abidance to hegemonic masculinity, or the varying construction of the “ideal” man that is impossible to fully achieve: dominance (ascendency), sexual objectification of women, heteronormativity, alcohol use, and recreational movement of the body. These markers demonstrate how TKE’s sustainment of hegemonic masculine ideals is problematic to society as a whole given the influence of fraternities beyond campus borders

Lyman-alpha constraints on warm and on warm-plus-cold dark matter models

We revisit Lyman-alpha bounds on the dark matter mass in Lambda Warm Dark Matter (Lambda-WDM) models, and derive new bounds in the case of mixed Cold plus Warm models (Lambda-CWDM), using a set up which is a good approximation for several theoretically well-motivated dark matter models. We combine WMAP5 results with two different Lyman-alpha data sets, including observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We pay a special attention to systematics, test various possible sources of error, and compare the results of different statistical approaches. Expressed in terms of the mass of a non-resonantly produced sterile neutrino, our bounds read m_NRP > 8 keV (frequentist 99.7% confidence limit) or m_NRP > 12.1 keV (Bayesian 95% credible interval) in the pure Lambda-WDM limit. For the mixed model, we obtain limits on the mass as a function of the warm dark matter fraction F_WDM. Within the mass range studied here (5 keV < m_NRP < infinity), we find that any mass value is allowed when F_WDM < 0.6 (frequentist 99.7% confidence limit); similarly, the Bayesian joint probability on (F_WDM, 1/m_NRP) allows any value of the mass at the 95% confidence level, provided that F_WDM < 0.35.Comment: 55 pages, 14 figures. References added, discussion of the data analysis expanded. Final version to appear in JCA

Impact of rational and experiential thinking styles on interpersonal conflict resolution among young adults

This research aimed to find the relationship between thinking styles (rational or experiential) and interpersonal conflict resolution (ICR) in young adults. A sample of 99 females and 103 males, age range 18 to 40 years, was selected via convenient and snow-ball sampling. Thinking styles were assessed using Rational-Experiential Inventory-40, and ICR was measured using Conflict Resolution Questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to predict ICR based on thinking style covariates and several relevant demographic covariates, including gender and family birth order. Rational thinking style (RTS) was most prevalent among young adults and was the strongest predictor of ICR. In addition, gender was a significant predictor. These findings may help in coaching young adults toward a well-integrated personality by using rational thinking for effective ICR

Post-WMAP Assessment of Infrared Cutoff in the Primordial Spectrum from Inflation

The recent Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) measurements indicate that there is power deficiency of the CMB anisotropies at large scales compared with the $\Lambda$CDM model. We have investigated the possibility of explaining such effects by a class of primordial power spectra which have infrared cutoffs close to the horizon scale. The primordial power spectrum recovered by direct deconvolution of the observed CMB angular spectrum indicates that the data prefers a sharp infrared cutoff with a localized excess (bump) just above the cutoff. We have been motivated to assess plausible extensions of simplest inflationary scenarios which readily accommodate similar form of infrared cutoff. We carry out a complete Bayesian analysis of the parameter space using {\it Markov Chain Monte Carlo} technique with such a class of primordial power spectra. We show that primordial power spectrum that have features such as an infrared cutoff followed by a subsequent excess in power give better fit to the observed data compared to a nearly scale-invariant power law or power spectrum with just a monotonic infrared cutoff. However, there is substantial room for improvement in the match to data and calls for exploration of other mechanisms that may lead to infrared cutoff even closer to that recovered by direct deconvolution approach.Comment: Changes to match version accepted for publication in PR

Sistahs for Success: An Adult Education Intervention Program to Increase Career Decsion Self-Efficacy for African American Women

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in career decision self-efficacy for African American women after participating in a short-term, adult education intervention program and to give voice to barriers and challenges experienced by African American women in their career development and the coping strategies they use to overcome these obstacles. In this quasi-experimental mixed methods study, a snowball sample of 20 African American women participated in a short-term adult education intervention program designed using Black feminist critical social theory and the career management model of social cognitive career theory. A pre-test-post-test control group design with delayed treatment was used to conduct the study. The sample included an experimental group (n=11) and a delayed treatment/control group (n=9) that participated in a career management information session before the intervention. Wilcoxon exact testing of Career Decision Self-Efficacy-Short Form scores revealed statistically significant differences for the experimental group (Z=-2.298, p=.010, r=.49), delayed treatment group (Z=-2.668, p=.002, r=.62), control group (Z=-2.036, p=.023, r=.48), and between post-information session and post-intervention session for the delayed treatment group (Z=-2.253, p=.012, r=.53). Documents from the discussion of career development barriers, challenges, and coping strategies were analyzed using critical Black feminist narrative qualitative analysis and the following eight themes were noted: external barriers of a) intersectionality of oppressions and b) work life balance; internal challenges of c) self-concept, d) emotions, and e) access to resources; and, coping strategies of f) personal agency, g) collective agency, and h) spiritual agency

Deliberate development of asset frontiers in innovative manufacturing businesses

Manufacturing companies need to be innovative to ensure long term success. This requires organisations to reconcile the conflicting temporal demands of a dynamic business environment and the more gradual development of infrastructure, systems and people. This challenge is explored by examining the relationship between a firm’s innovation propensity and the profile of its portfolio of manufacturing resources. The Theory of Performance Frontiers is used to characterise the capability profile arising from a firm’s suite of assets and resources. The theory contends that the distance between a firm’s operating frontier (OF) and its asset frontier (AF) is related to the manufacturing unit’s ability to be agile and flexible. A new measure is developed and validated that represents the gap between the frontiers – the OF-AF Gap. The organisation’s innovation propensity is shown to have a negative impact on firm performance unless it is accompanied by a correspondingly large OF-AF gap. It is therefore important that the gap is actively managed by addressing its three constituent elements. Firstly, organisational learning should be planned along the technological trajectory of the business ahead of current needs. Secondly, product development resources should be balanced between exploitative and explorative projects, with exploration grounded in the fertile areas created by prior knowledge-acquisition activities. Thirdly, justification for investment in physical assets should not be limited to project-related benefits, but should incorporate the capability-building value new equipment brings to the organisation. The acquisition of equipment that has capability beyond immediate project-specific requirements then becomes more justifiable in a financial environment where return-on-investment is king. The research concludes by developing a simple tool that allows an organisation’s OF-AF gap to be enumerated on a normalised scale. This unlocks the potential for firms to benchmark themselves against industry norms and to numerically incorporate the capability-building value of asset investments in financial justifications

Video games can develop graduate skills in higher education students: a randomised trial

This study measured the effects of playing commercial video games on the development of the desirable skills and competences sometimes referred to as ‘graduate attributes’. Undergraduate students in the Arts and Humanities were randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group. Previously validated, self-report instruments to measure adaptability, resourcefulness and communication skill were administered to both groups. The intervention group played specified video games under controlled conditions over an eight week period. A large effect size was observed with mean score change 1.1, 1.15, and 0.9 standard deviations more positive in the intervention group than the control on the communication, adaptability, and resourcefulness scales respectively (p = 0.004, p = 0.002, and p = 0.013 for differences in groups by unpaired t-test). The large effect size and statistical significance of these results support the hypothesis that playing video games can improve self-reported graduate skills. The findings suggest that such game-based learning interventions have a role to play in higher education

KInNeSS: A Modular Framework for Computational Neuroscience

Making use of very detailed neurophysiological, anatomical, and behavioral data to build biological-realistic computational models of animal behavior is often a difficult task. Until recently, many software packages have tried to resolve this mismatched granularity with different approaches. This paper presents KInNeSS, the KDE Integrated NeuroSimulation Software environment, as an alternative solution to bridge the gap between data and model behavior. This open source neural simulation software package provides an expandable framework incorporating features such as ease of use, scalabiltiy, an XML based schema, and multiple levels of granularity within a modern object oriented programming design. KInNeSS is best suited to simulate networks of hundreds to thousands of branched multu-compartmental neurons with biophysical properties such as membrane potential, voltage-gated and ligand-gated channels, the presence of gap junctions of ionic diffusion, neuromodulation channel gating, the mechanism for habituative or depressive synapses, axonal delays, and synaptic plasticity. KInNeSS outputs include compartment membrane voltage, spikes, local-field potentials, and current source densities, as well as visualization of the behavior of a simulated agent. An explanation of the modeling philosophy and plug-in development is also presented. Further developement of KInNeSS is ongoing with the ultimate goal of creating a modular framework that will help researchers across different disciplines to effecitively collaborate using a modern neural simulation platform.Center for Excellence for Learning Education, Science, and Technology (SBE-0354378); Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-01-1-0397); Office of Naval Research (N00014-01-1-0624

Learning Strategies, Age, Gender and School-location as Predictors of Students’ Achievement in Chemistry in Rivers State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effect of cooperative and individualized learning strategies age, gender and school-location on Students’ achievement in chemistry. 370 Senior Secondary, SS II students from six public secondary schools participated in this study. The study adopted the 3x2x2x2 factorial pretest posttest quasi-experimental and control design. The topic of instruction was thermochemistry on which a 35-item multiple choice chemistry achievement test, CAT instrument was developed with a cronbach alpha reliability value of 0.78 and used for data collection. Mean, ANOVA, t-test and regression were the statistical tools for data analyses. Learning strategies was found to have significant effect on students’ achievement in chemistry. The treatment strategies were found to be better strategies for higher achievement in chemistry as confirmed by the Scheffe’s multiple comparison ad-hoc analysis in the following trend of cooperative &gt; Individualized &gt; conventional learning strategies. They are therefore; recommend for adoption and implementation to school heads and science teachers in particular at the beginning on trial basis and subsequent incorporation into the system. Age, gender and school-location were individually at very close average mean margins and combined, found to have significant effect on students’ achievement in chemistry. Relatively, the trend of effect was as follows; learning strategies&gt;school-location&gt;gender&gt;age. However, age relatively did not significant effect. Keywords: Learning strategies, Age, Gender, School-location, and Chemistry Achievement