Writing to Rhythm: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Exploring The Effects of Orchestral vs. Electronic Music on Third Graders\u27 On-Task Performance during Creative Writing

This paper was a research assignment for the purpose of a masters\u27 degree requirement through the University of Mary Washington\u27s College of Education. The graduate author both designed and implemented the research in her internship-placement classroom. The present research paper is a qualitative comparative study exploring the effects of two different types of easy-listening music--orchestral and instrumental--on the on-task performance of 23 thirdgraders during creative writing. The research took place over the course of three weeks, in which students received three different treatments (one each week) in which they had fifteen minutes to complete a pre-determined writing prompt. The first week was the control, or silent treatment. Week two was the first experimental treatment--the orchestral music--followed by final week with electronic music. Using three tools of qualitative measurement: student surveys, observation notes, and composition analysis, the researcher concluded that the data was highly illustrative of individual preference with regard to background music promoting on-task performance. There was not just one treatment that proved favorable or unfavorable to the majority of participants

Litigation to Access Health Services: Ally or Enemy of Global Public Health?

Background: Some scholars and global health advocates argue that litigation is a strategy to advance public health care, especially in those countries that do not have specific legislation to guarantee access to basic health care services. However, strategic litigation has another side, known as judicialization of the right to health, particularly present in the Latin American region where most countries incorporate the right to health into their constitutions, but their citizens still struggle with health disparities. Objectives: Considering these two perspectives on litigation in health care, this paper examines the phenomenon of litigation in health care and its impact on public health in Brazil, where there is an ambiguous process of litigation in health care. Methods: Comparing the literature of both the use of strategic litigation for advancing public health and the judicialization of the right to health, this paper develops an ethical analysis of the impacts of strategic litigation for individuals and societies, using Brazil’s public health care system and its policies as case-study of the impact of court decisions on the management of the system. Findings: Supporters of strategic litigation present experiences in African countries using this strategy to access a specific medical service led to enforce the creation of health-related policies by authorities and policymakers. However, in Brazil, a country with the right to health guaranteed by its Constitution, strategic litigation creates access to health care for some individuals, but also results in complex sociomedical challenges with significant impact for public administration and distributive justice. Conclusions: Strategic litigation can lead to ambiguous results, which will depend on the local context and the existence or not of public health services and health-related policies. When this strategy is considered, ethical analysis helps to understand how litigation can both benefit and damage individuals’ health and the public health system in the complex context and diverse reality of Brazil. As a result, strategic litigation must be considered from an ethical perspective of prudence and discernment in a close interaction with the local reality, its particular circumstances, culture, policies, and laws

Formation and Identification of Small Microplastics and Nanoplastics

Plastic production has continued to increase globally and is now a major contaminant across different environments and water systems. Plastic pollution consists of large intact pieces, but also small, fragmented pieces of plastic, termed microplastics (mm) and nanoplastics (um). Small micro- and nanoplastics display different properties than the larger plastic pieces, prompting further chemical investigation and concern related to human and environmental health. We recently determined that using a solubilizer, small microplastics and nanoplastics form readily in water. We used common stock and real-world plastics, such as polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polypropylene, and polycarbonate. We analyzed how different mixing techniques, solubilizer concentration, and plastic types affect particle size. We also probed the role of the solubilizer after creating nanoplastics and methods to identify the presence of nanoplastics in water. Small micro- and nanoplastics are created by forceful hand shaking, and ultrasonic mixing can be used to make smaller particles. Organic solvents extracted the majority of certain solubilizers and extended heating was also effective for the removal of the solubilizer. We have used Nile Red as an indicator of the presence of nanoplastics in pure water. We expect that these findings will expand research abilities on these plastic particles, especially those made from real-world plastics. The ease of this nanoplastic formation regardless of technique is also concerning, as it suggests they are more abundant and bio-available in natural environments than currently estimated

Utilizing Virtual Reality To Introduce Hospice And End-Of-Life Approaches

Research poster describing the following: The objective of this study was to assess changes in students’ comfort with talking about and caring for patients at EOL. A gap in the degree of instruction regarding palliative care in pharmacy curricula has been identified. The use of a virtual reality experience (VRE) has been shown to increase students’ understanding of and empathy for older adults with age-related conditions. We created a two-part palliative care series embedded into the 3rd professional year curriculum. Part one discussed perceptions of death and deprescribing at end-of-life (EOL). Part two used the Embodied Labs® VRE to follow a patient receiving a terminal diagnosis, enrolling in hospice, and coming to terms with death. Students (n=57) were administered a pre-survey prior to the VRE, and a postsurvey following completion of the VRE.https://dune.une.edu/pharmprac_facpost/1009/thumbnail.jp

The Effects of COVID-19 Restrictions and Community-Based Participatory Research, Delays in Project Self Recruitment

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp22/1128/thumbnail.jp

Psychometric Properties of the Adolescent and Young Adult Men – Health Indicators Scale (AYAM-HIS)

The goal of this current study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the AYAM-HIS among a select sample of AYAMs, a priority population experiencing disparate health outcomes compared to women. These preliminary results indicate that AYAM-HIS yielded reliable and valid data, thus providing a means to measure indicators of health behaviors and possible outcomes within this population. The AYAM-HIS can provide the necessary information to assess current health behaviors so as to provide a foundation from which interventions can be designed. Future research into reducing survey fatigue related to AYAM-HIS and testing with diverse populations are warranted

Ages for illustrative field stars using gyrochronology: viability, limitations and errors

We here develop an improved way of using a rotating star as a clock, set it using the Sun, and demonstrate that it keeps time well. This technique, called gyrochronology, permits the derivation of ages for solar- and late-type main sequence stars using only their rotation periods and colors. The technique is clarified and developed here, and used to derive ages for illustrative groups of nearby, late-type field stars with measured rotation periods. We first demonstrate the reality of the interface sequence, the unifying feature of the rotational observations of cluster and field stars that makes the technique possible, and extends it beyond the proposal of Skumanich by specifying the mass dependence of rotation for these stars. We delineate which stars it cannot currently be used on. We then calibrate the age dependence using the Sun. The errors are propagated to understand their dependence on color and period. Representative age errors associated with the technique are estimated at ~15% (plus possible systematic errors) for late-F, G, K, & early-M stars. Ages derived via gyrochronology for the Mt. Wilson stars are shown to be in good agreement with chromospheric ages for all but the bluest stars, and probably superior. Gyro ages are then calculated for each of the active main sequence field stars studied by Strassmeier and collaborators where other ages are not available. These are shown to be mostly younger than 1Gyr, with a median age of 365Myr. The sample of single, late-type main sequence field stars assembled by Pizzolato and collaborators is then assessed, and shown to have gyro ages ranging from under 100Myr to several Gyr, and a median age of 1.2Gyr. Finally, we demonstrate that the individual components of the three wide binaries XiBooAB, 61CygAB, & AlphaCenAB yield substantially the same gyro ages.Comment: 58 pages, 18 color figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal; Age uncertainties slightly modified upon correcting an algebraic error in Section

Leadership for the negentropic online enterprise

This paper focuses on the negative or opposite of entropic disintegration as understood in physical sciences and applies this, metaphorically, to the online enterprise. Negentropic behaviours are those that bring re-integration, renewal, and eventual positive states to the institution. Online learning, which has now been a staple in most college and university strategic plans, has the potential for significant negentropic impact on the enterprise of higher education within individual institutions. Here we focus on how to apply negentropic theoretical constructs to the leadership of online enterprises with the expectation of increased positive forward motion for the higher education institution.Este artículo trata el fenómeno opuesto a la degradación entrópica, tal como se entiende en las ciencias físicas y lo aplica, de manera metafórica, a las empresas online. Las conductas neguentrópicas son aquellas que aportan reintegración, renovación y, finalmente, estados positivos a la organización. El aprendizaje online, que ha resultado ser un pilar básico de los planes estratégicos de la mayoría de universidades e institutos, tiene el potencial para un gran impacto neguentrópico en los centros de educación superior dentro de instituciones individuales. En este artículo nos centramos, fundamentalmente, en cómo la aplicación de la neguentropía contribuye al liderazgo de las empresas online, a la espera de que la tendencia positiva se traslade a los centros de educación superior

Evaluation of Participation and Environments for Individuals with Disabilities: An Evidence-Based Practice Project Bailey

This Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) project considered the following question: What measures are available to evaluate participation and environmental supports and barriers for individuals with disabilities and what are their psychometric properties