Students, Universities and Employers: Why We All Win When We Promote Social Justice through SoTL

This essay discusses the benefits of promoting social justice through the scholarship of teaching and learning. We start by highlighting the prevalence of injustices and discrimination (racism, sexism, homophobia, heteronormativity) experienced on college campuses in the US. We go on to highlight the (1) outcomes associated with social justice centered teaching and learning activities and (2) ways this approach makes students more valuable to potential employers upon graduation. We conclude with a call for campus wide promotion of social justice as both micro (classroom) and macro (university) level interventions are needed to truly create equitable learning spaces

Potential economic benefits of eliminating canine rabies

Contents 1. Introduction ...................352 2. Pathways to economic impacts .................353 3. Counting the costs of canine rabies ...........353 3.1. Direct costs ...............................353 3.2. Indirect costs ............................353 3.3. Comparing regions ...................353 4. Monetizing the impacts ..............354 5. Macroeconomic impacts ..................355 6. The value of global canine rabies elimination .........355 References ..............................35

Economic Impact of the Potential Spread of Vampire Bats into South Texas

Rabies transmitted by the common vampire bat is a major public health concern in subtropical and tropical areas of Latin America, and there is some concern that the species will eventually spread into south Texas. The objective of this study was to estimate the total economic impact of the potential spread of vampire bats into south Texas. Data on livestock populations and values in the relevant counties was combined with expected mortality rates to calculate livestock losses. An IMPLAN model of the regional economy was then used to estimate the secondary impacts experienced by other businesses in the region. These impacts were combined with estimates of increased expenditures on post-exposure prophylaxis and animal tests to derive the total economic impact. We estimated the total economic impact would be $7 million to$9.2 million annually if vampire bats spread to south Texas

Context matters: Construct framing in measures of physical activity engagement among African American women

Assessment of psychosocial factors influencing health behavior typically privileges conceptual consistency (framing constructs similarly across contexts) over conceptual specificity (context-specific framing). Modest statistical relationships between these factors and health behaviors, and persistent racial disparities in health outcomes raise questions about whether conceptually consistent framing fully captures relevant predictors. Ethnographic studies suggest not - that perceptions influencing health behaviors are multifaceted and contextual. To test this, we added items querying contextualized predictors of intention to engage in leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) to a Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)-based survey and examined the psychometrics of the adapted subscales. We measured internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) and construct validity (exploratory factor analysis using polychoric correlations for ordinal data). Participants were a convenience sample of 200 African American women in a Midwestern, suburban University-affiliated family medicine practice. Reliability of the adapted subscales was notably lower than the original subscales. A two-factor model fit best for the attitudes subscale, but explained slightly less than 50% of the variance. The new items loaded strongly on one factor. A three-factor model best fit the norms subscale and accounted for around 57% of the variance. Two of the three new items loaded strongly on one factor. Factor analysis for the perceived control subscale was not possible due to low number of items; however, two of the three new items were highly correlated (.73). Including context-specific factors may improve assessment of intention to engage in LTPA. Further study of this question with a larger, representative sample is warranted

Ultra-high-field imaging reveals increased whole brain connectivity underpins cognitive strategies that attenuate pain

We investigated how the attenuation of pain with cognitive interventions affects brain connectivity using neuroimaging and a whole brain novel analysis approach. While receiving tonic cold pain, 20 healthy participants performed three different pain attenuation strategies during simultaneous collection of functional imaging data at seven tesla. Participants were asked to rate their pain after each trial. We related the trial-by-trial variability of the attenuation performance to the trial-by-trial functional connectivity strength change of brain data. Across all conditions, we found that a higher performance of pain attenuation was predominantly associated with higher functional connectivity. Of note, we observed an association between low pain and high connectivity for regions that belong to brain regions long associated with pain processing, the insular and cingulate cortices. For one of the cognitive strategies (safe place), the performance of pain attenuation was explained by diffusion tensor imaging metrics of increased white matter integrity

Economics of Invasive Species Damage and Damage Management

Annually, the estimated damage caused by invasive species in the United States has exceeded $100 billion, becoming one of the leading causes of environmental change and global biodiversity loss (Wilcove et al. 1998; Mack et al. 2000; Sala et al. 2000; Pimentel et al. 2005). Invasions by nonnative species highlight the undeniable link and feedback loops between ecological and economic systems (Perrings et al. 2002; Julia et al. 2007). Ecological systems determine if the conditions are suitable for invasion by nonnative species; however, economic systems help fuel the introduction of nonnative species and are themselves affected by invasive species when the ecosystem’s ability to provide services is diminished or when livestock or crops are made unmarketable (Julia et al. 2007). Invasive species have played an important role in U.S. agriculture. While some of the goods cultivated by the U.S. agricultural sector are indigenous plant and animal species, many are introduced; a minimum of 4542 species currently existing in the United States originated from outside its borders (Office of Technology Assessment 1993). Introduced species, such as corn, wheat, rice, as well as cattle, poultry, and other livestock, are all important commodities produced by the U.S. agricultural sector. Some introduced species have potential conservation values as well, providing food and shelter for native species, acting as catalysts for restoration, serving as substitutes for extinct species, and augmenting ecosystem services (Schlaepfer et al. 2011). A distinction can be drawn, then, between introduced species and invasive species. Like introduced species, invasive species are nonnative to that ecosystem; however, invasive species have the potential to cause harm, whether measured economically, environmentally, or as a human health hazard (The White House 1999)

Effects of temperature and salinity on the growth of Alexandrium (Dinophyceae) isolates from the Salish Sea

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Journal of Phycology 52 (2016): 230–238, doi:10.1111/jpy.12386.Toxin-producing blooms of dinoflagellates in the genus Alexandrium have plagued the inhabitants of the Salish Sea for centuries. Yet the environmental conditions that promote accelerated growth of this organism, a producer of paralytic shellfish toxins, is lacking. This study quantitatively determined the growth response of two Alexandrium isolates to a range of temperatures and salinities, factors that will strongly respond to future climate change scenarios. An empirical equation, derived from observed growth rates describing the temperature and salinity dependence of growth, was used to hindcast bloom risk. Hindcasting was achieved by comparing predicted growth rates, calculated from in situ temperature and salinity data from Quartermaster Harbor, with corresponding Alexandrium cell counts and shellfish toxin data. The greatest bloom risk, defined at μ >0.25 d−1, generally occurred from April through November annually; however, growth rates rarely fell below 0.10 d−1. Except for a few occasions, Alexandrium cells were only observed during the periods of highest bloom risk and paralytic shellfish toxins above the regulatory limit always fell within the periods of predicted bloom occurrence. While acknowledging that Alexandrium growth rates are affected by other abiotic and biotic factors, such as grazing pressure and nutrient availability, the use of this empirical growth function to predict higher risk time frames for blooms and toxic shellfish within the Salish Sea provides the groundwork for a more comprehensive biological model of Alexandrium bloom dynamics in the region and will enhance our ability to forecast blooms in the Salish Sea under future climate change scenarios.NOAA Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Bloom (ECOHAB) Program; Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health; National Science Foundation Grant Number: OCE-1314642; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Grant Number: 1-P01-ES021923-0

The Economic Impact of Blackbird Damage to Crops

There are nearly 1,000 species of birds in North America, some of which provide obvious economic benefits like egg production, meat production, bird watching, or hunting (American Bird Association 2016). Some bird species, however, can cause a considerable amount of damage to U.S. agriculture, with estimates of annual damage caused by birds in the United States exceeding US$4.7 billion (Pimentel et al. 2005). Blackbirds (lcteridae) are one group of birds in North America that can cause significant economic damage to commercial grain crops, and to a lesser extent vine and tree crops (Wilson et al. 1989; Dolbeer 1990; Linz et al. 2011; Anderson et al. 2013). Four species of blackbirds-red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), and brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater)-are primarily responsible for damage to sprouting and ripening grain crops (Lowther 1993; Twedt and Crawford 1995; Yasukawa and Searcy 1995; Peer and Bollinger 1997). During late winter, these species commonly can be found feeding on food present in concentrated animal feedlot operations (Dolbeer et al. 1978). For much of the year, however, these birds forage on insects, waste grain, and weed seeds, thus providing valuable ecological services