Increasing the Number of Black Health Professionals: A Case of Commitment and Belief in Students

The infant mortality rate is as high as ever in the Black community; dental care is yet nil or almost non-existent for the vast majority of Black children; and hypertension continues to be a major problem in the Black community. Hence, even as we approach the 21st Century, healthcare in the Black community is yet, as the song stated in the movie, Casablanca, it\u27s still the same old story. There is seldom, if ever, a single solution to a catastrophic problem, but some kinds of solutions do stand out as logical and effective. Training Black physicians, who would be privileged to practice in their community, could contribute greatly to health awareness and healing in the Black community. Unequivocally, there is a definite need to increase the numbers of Blacks in the health professions, in as much as their underrepresentation in such fields is directly related to poor healthcare and services available to Black Americans. However, here again it\u27s still the same old story in that the percentage of people of African descent in the health professions in the United States remains statistically and significantly low. Nevertheless, we continue to hear prestigious medical schools say, We would love to increase our percentage of students of color, but we just can\u27t find them, plus they are so poorly academically-prepared when they leave high school, as well as college

Literatura y otras artes - Hip Hop, Eminem and his multiple identities

Además del lado perverso que muestra Eminem en muchas de sus canciones, también existe un lado personal en él que queda prácticamente desconocido. Por ello, nosotros en este trabajo proponemos un análisis de estos distintos “yo”, precedido por la descripción de los cuatro elementos que componen esta tribu urbana, los que consideramos los eventos clave en la historia del hip-hop y un panorama de los principales países y sus MCs para detallar su importancia.Besides the evil self Eminem shows in many of his songs, there is a personal side in him which may remain practically unknown. Therefore, in this work we propose an analysis of these different selves, preceded by a description of the 4 elements which conform this urban culture, what we consider the key events in hip-hop history and a tour over the main countries and its MCs to detail their relevance

A hypothesis on improving foreign accents by optimizing variability in vocal learning brain circuits

Rapid vocal motor learning is observed when acquiring a language in early childhood, or learning to speak another language later in life. Accurate pronunciation is one of the hardest things for late learners to master and they are almost always left with a non-native accent. Here I propose a novel hypothesis that this accent could be improved by optimizing variability in vocal learning brain circuits during learning. Much of the neurobiology of human vocal motor learning has been inferred from studies on songbirds. Jarvis (2004) proposed the hypothesis that as in songbirds there are two pathways in humans: one for learning speech (the striatal vocal learning pathway), and one for production of previously learnt speech (the motor pathway). Learning new motor sequences necessary for accurate non-native pronunciation is challenging and I argue that in late learners of a foreign language the vocal learning pathway becomes inactive prematurely. The motor pathway is engaged once again and learners maintain their original native motor patterns for producing speech, resulting in speaking with a foreign accent. Further, I argue that variability in neural activity within vocal motor circuitry generates vocal variability that supports accurate non-native pronunciation. Recent theoretical and experimental work on motor learning suggests that variability in the motor movement is necessary for the development of expertise. I propose that there is little trial-by-trial variability when using the motor pathway. When using the vocal learning pathway variability gradually increases, reflecting an exploratory phase in which learners try out different ways of pronouncing words, before decreasing and stabilizing once the ‘best’ performance has been identified. The hypothesis proposed here could be tested using behavioral interventions that optimize variability and engage the vocal learning pathway for longer, with the prediction that this would allow learners to develop new motor patterns that result in more native-like pronunciation

Lewis Grassic Gibbon: Uncovering the morning star

No abstract available

Second Time Round : Fugal Memory in Ciaran Carson’s For All We Know

Peer reviewedPostprin

Electronic structure of FeSe monolayer superconductors

We review a variety of theoretical and experimental results concerning electronic band structure of superconducting materials based on FeSe monolayers. Three type of systems are analyzed: intercalated FeSe systems A_xFe_2Se_{2-x}S_x and [Li_{1-x}Fe_xOH]FeSe as well as the single FeSe layer films on SrTiO_3 substrate. We present the results of detailed first principle electronic band structure calculations for these systems together with comparison with some experimental ARPES data. The electronic structure of these systems is rather different from that of typical FeAs superconductors, which is quite significant for possible microscopic mechanism of superconductivity. This is reflected in the absence of hole pockets of the Fermi surface at \Gamma-point in Brillouin zone, so that there are no "nesting" properties of different Fermi surface pockets. LDA+DMFT calculations show that correlation effects on Fe-3d states in the single FeSe layer are not that strong as in most of FeAs systems. As a result, at present there is no theoretical understanding of the formation of rather "shallow" electronic bands at M points. LDA calculations show that the main difference in electronic structure of FeSe monolayer on SrTiO_3 substrate from isolated FeSe layer is the presence of the band of O-2p surface states of TiO_2 layer on the Fermi level together with Fe-3d states, which may be important for understanding the enhanced T_c values in this system. We briefly discuss the implications of our results for microscopic models of superconductivity.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, minor typos correcte

Ultrasonic Songs of Male Mice

Previously it was shown that male mice, when they encounter female mice or their pheromones, emit ultrasonic vocalizations with frequencies ranging over 30–110 kHz. Here, we show that these vocalizations have the characteristics of song, consisting of several different syllable types, whose temporal sequencing includes the utterance of repeated phrases. Individual males produce songs with characteristic syllabic and temporal structure. This study provides a quantitative initial description of male mouse songs, and opens the possibility of studying song production and perception in an established genetic model organism

“Lost in Translation? Transnational American Rock Music of the Sixties and its Misreading in 1980s China”

Excerpt from The Power of Culture: Encounters between China and the United States, edited by Priscilla Robert