Of Monsters and Men: Deconstructing Patriarchal Relationships While Redefining Family in Seville

After growing up with an abusive, alcoholic, narcissist for a father, I did not realize how abnormal my perception of family was until I studied abroad in Spain at age 19. The healthy family dynamics of my hosts–a Sevillan family of five who mirrored the structure of my childhood family unit of Mom, Dad, my sister, brother, and me–challenged my notion of home as a place of survival and of paternal figures as monsters. This experience led me to the questions: Do patriarchal societies inherently create monsters that we have to face or are the monsters the exception? How do paternal figures become monstrous? And in the end, does that mean they deserve forgiveness

Human Rights in Russia and the Former Soviet Republics: Disability Rights

Disability rights are often ignored in discussions of human rights. Recently, however, scholars and activists have begun producing a body of literature on disability rights in Russia and the former Soviet bloc states. Much of the literature focuses on children’s rights with an emphasis on the right to inclusive education. The literature addressing adult issues includes articles considering civil society, civil rights, and community integration. Finally, several articles address the intersection of disability rights with gender rights and ethnic minority rights

Immigrants or Elites?: Contextualizing the Motivation of the Rural American Vote in the Trump Era

The rural American vote was central to Donald Trump’s presidential victory in 2016. In an attempt to unpack the strongest motivators for rural Americans who voted for Trump, analyses explored the importance of anti-immigrant and anti-elite sentiment using a subset of rural participants in the 2016 American National Elections Study. Through a combination of quantitative data work, qualitative case studies and an extensive literature review, it was found that both anti-immigrant and anti-elite sentiments are indicators of a vote for Trump. However, the research and analyses suggest anti-immigrant sentiment is a stronger indicator

The Prevalence and Impact of Dysmenorrhea in Young Women within the United States

International research suggests dysmenorrhea is a common problem among young adult women, with a significant impact on their daily functioning. However, limited research has been conducted on dysmenorrhea in young women in the U.S. The current study analyzed the prevalence, impact, and treatment of dysmenorrhea among 976 young adult women living within the U.S. Using a cross-sectional design, a questionnaire based on previous literature was created. It was then distributed to women between the ages of 18-28 through university email and participant initiated social media distribution. The mean age of participants was 22.27, 85% endorsed dysmenorrhea. Seventy percent of women rated their average menstrual cramping as moderate to severe on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale, and 70% endorsed experiencing at least one incidence of severe pain within the last 6 months. Moderate positive correlations were found between level of menstrual cramping and limitations in work around the home, physical activity, and social leisure activity. Additionally, 32% endorsed a moderate to severe impact on school. Despite high levels of pain, 49.4% of participants with dysmenorrhea had not discussed their symptoms with a healthcare provider within the last year. Forty-six percent of participants indicated it was not at all helpful to speak to their healthcare provider about their menstrual cramping. Participants endorsed using an average of 4.75 treatment strategies for their menstrual cramping, a majority of which were home remedies. Greater pain was moderately correlated with more treatment strategies used. This study suggests moderate to severe dysmenorrhea may be highly prevalent in the United States amongst college educated young women. Moderate to severe dysmenorrhea effects daily activities, and yet is not likely to be discussed at length with healthcare providers

A Comparison Pilot Study of Motor-level Electrical Stimulations for Lowering Postprandial Glucose Levels

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of three Motor-level Electrical Stimulation (MES) parameters, NMES, Russian current, and low-rate transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) on non-diabetic healthy subjects’ postprandial glucose levels, heart rate, and oxygen consumption (VO2). Background: MES has been shown to improve glucose tolerance and glucose uptake in both animals and humans. The effects of MES include increasing the following: heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen uptake, ventilatory capacity, muscle bulk, muscle oxidative process, and muscle glycogen depletion. Recently, MES has been shown to improve blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes. However, limited research is available that comprehensively compares varying MES parameters on the effects of postprandial glucose levels. Methods: Twenty-eight healthy student subjects were randomly assigned to either the NMES, Russian current, TENS, or control group without any MES. Subjects participated in an overnight fast of at least 8 hours and had their fasting blood glucose measured. Subjects were given a glucose supplement to drink within 10 minutes, rested in supine for 30 minutes then the second glucose level was taken. Subjects received a 30 minute treatment intervention followed by the third blood glucose measurement. Subjects then rested an additional 30 minutes followed by obtaining the final blood glucose measurement. VO2 levels were monitored every 30 seconds, and heart rate was monitored every 3 minutes throughout the 90 minute study. Results: There were no significant differences between groups on glucose levels and heart rates throughout the study. The Russian group demonstrated a statistically significant increase up to 10% in VO2 compared to the control group. Conclusion: MES seems to have no effects on postprandial glucose levels in non-diabetic healthy subjects. While 30-minute MES treatment did not change the heart rate, Russian current significantly increased the VO2. Our findings indicate Russian current may have the potential to be applied to mimic exercise better than NMES or TENS. Further research is required to explore the effects of Russian current on blood glucose levels in people with T2D

The Potential of Sexual Consent Interventions on College Campuses: A Literature Review on the Barriers to Establishing Affirmative Sexual Consent

In light of the new California legal mandate for affirmative sexual consent in higher education institutions, the current sexual consent literature merits review. This review examines perceived peer norms, traditional sexual scripts, and rape myths specific to consent. In particular, we describe findings about indirect, nonverbal communication and token resistance among young adults; we also connect sexual consent to rape myths about accidental or unintentional sexual behavior, perceived miscommunication, and preexisting sexual relationships. Based on these findings, we assert that additional research and interventions are needed to address barriers that hinder young adults from establishing affirmative sexual consent. We refer to the body of literature on sexual assault prevention. This literature sheds light on potential avenues for developing affirmative sexual consent interventions and evaluating their effectiveness

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun: Unceded Territories

Book Review: Karen Duffek and Tania Willard, eds. Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun: Unceded Territories. With contributions by Glenn Alteen, Marcia Crosby, Jimmie Durham et al. Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing and Museum of Anthropology at UBC, 2016. 182 pp.; 85 ills (chiefly color). Hardcover $45.00 (9781927958513

The magic lens box: simplifying the development of mixed reality games

Mixed Reality games are becoming more and more popular these days and offer unique experiences to the players. However, development of such games typically still requires expert knowledge and access to Mixed Reality toolkits or frameworks. In this paper, we present the so-called Magic Lens Box that follows a different approach. Based on standard hardware The Magic Lens Box enables game designers with little technological background to create their own Mixed Reality games in a simple yet powerful fashion. We further outline the development process of the magic Lens Box, describe the conceptual model behind it and discuss three games that have been developed with our system. Evaluation of these games shows the viability of our approach, enabling the creation of a variety of rather different Mixed reality games while keeping the development process simple

Förvirring – en framgångsrik metod att kontrollera inomhuslevande mottfjärilar

Förvirring – en framgångsrik metod att kontrollera inomhuslevande mottfjärilar, Vad vi kan finna i maten: Tre mycket vanliga mottfjärilar, kvarnmott (Ephestia kuehniella), mandelmott (Ephestia cautella) och indiskt mjölmott (Plodia interpunctella) angriper matprodukter över hela världen och orsakar stor skada i fabriker, lagerlokaler och i hem. Fram till väldigt nyligen bekämpades angrepp med kemiska bekämpningsmedel, t.ex. med metylbromid. En ökande insikt om mänsklig hälsovådlighet och insekters ökade resistens mot insekticider ledde till ett förbud mot användning av dessa kemikalier. Alternativa metoder krävs nu för att minska skadeinsekters angrepp. En alternativ metod är att använda feromoner. Feromoner och möjligheten att använda dem i kontrollsyfte: Innan parning avger honan hos alla de tre nämnda arterna en specifik doft (feromon) som attraherar hanar. De tre arternas feromon består av två till fyra olika ämnen som gör doften artspecifik (tillhör endast en art). Dessa närbesläktade mottfjärilar har emellertid samma huvudkomponent i sina feromoner ((Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadienylactetat) och denna ensam fungerar relativt väl för samtliga arter. ”Förvirring” är en metod som numera vinner mer och mer mark hos odlare över hela världen. Den övergripande hypotesen är att genom att sprida ut ett moln av det artspecifika doftämnet hindra hanen att hitta doftspåret till honan. Därigenom hindras parning och populationen minskar eller dör ut. Förvirringsmetoden används oftare utomhus i odlingar men dess effekt inomhus har inte hittills blivit undersökt. Vi redovisar här försök på hur förvirring har minskat antalet mottfjärilar i olika typer av lokaler, i kvarnar (kvarnmott), i husdjursfoderlager (Indiskt mjölmott) och i en chokladfabrik (mandelmott) och som tyder på att förvirring är en mycket lovande alternativ metod mot skadeangrepp av mottfjärilar. Förvirring i kvarnar och chokladfabriker: Tre kvarnar har behandlats med förvirring där populationsstorleken har mätts genom att räkna antalet fångade hanar i feromonfällor. Fällfångster minskade drastiskt i alla lokaler och jämförelser mellan år visar att metoden fungerar bättre under en längre tid (cirka 20 månader). Feromonkoncentrationen mättes med en bärbar elektroantennograf (EAG) som visade att feromonhalten ökade direkt efter uppsättandet av feromonavgivarna och att feromonet var jämnt fördelat över hela lokalerna. Färre mott kunde observeras i lokalerna och antalet kundreklamationer minskade under de år försöken pågick. I chokladfabriken kunde vi även fånga mandelmott i vattenfällor som ett oberoende mått på populationsstorleken. Fångster i dessa fällor visade en signifi kant nedgång av populationen av mandelmott. Av dessa förvirringsförsök kan vi sammanfatta att denna metod har stor möjlighet att, på ett miljövänligt sätt, kunna minska populationer av dessa tre inomhuslevande mottfjärilar