The Married Widow: Marriage Penalties Matter!

Marriage penalties are a controversial feature of many government policies. Empirical evidence of their behavioral effects is quite mixed. This is surprising because economic theory predicts that they should have an impact on the headship decision. We investigate the removal of marriage penalties from the surviving spouse pensions of the Canadian public pension system in the 1980s. These reforms provide a simple and transparent source of identification. Our results indicate that marriage penalties can have large and persistent effects on marriage decisions. We also present evidence suggesting that it is individuals with characteristics correlated with greater wealth who respond to the penalties.

Art-mimesis and political reality in contemporary Cuban film

This article uses the concept of “art-mimesis” to examine the reflections of two films, Juan Carlos Tabío’s El elefante y la bicicleta and Fernando Pérez’ Suite Habana, on the capacity of film to impact upon social reality in the context of the economic and political crises of the 1990s and early 2000s in Cuba. With reference to debates regarding the function of mimesis in the Cuban critical text “The Viewer’s Dialectic” by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, I argue that El elefante y la bicicleta retreats into fantasy, cutting itself off in a self-referential loop, and thus reflects the film industry’s turmoil of the mid-1990s. Suite Habana, on the other hand, represents an adaptation to crisis in the form of cheaper production techniques, and a return of revolutionary ideals in the presentation of a scenario, whereby the division between art and labor could be eradicated

High Tech | Low Tech: Teaching Augmented Fabrication in the Zoom Era

High Tech | Low Tech: Experiments in Spatial Computing for Design and Fabrication was an advanced elective offered in online format in Fall 2020. The class sought both to introduce computational skills and lead students in explorations and discussions around the emerging potential of design and fabrication that incorporate augmented reality (AR). While AR and the free Fologram mobile app that connects to Rhino/Grasshopper were the central focus, the course content was meant to foster critical consideration of design technologies through history. A theme that emerged through the semester was a critique of the architect’s fascination with and reliance on precision and hyper-control in order to create designs and communicate them reliably for construction, as well as the lost potential to elevate skill-based labor and invite serendipity in such controlled processes. The course revolved around a series of assignments, or “experiments” in the parlance of the class, that successively built confidence in the AR interface while relating to weekly topics—the history of design media, the tool’s imprint on the designed object, labor in design and construction, material tolerances, reclaimed waste and material flows. It also touched on art and social practices, with guests speakers from the art world and local craft community. Assignments were lighthearted and short-fused—an attempt to add levity and spark curiosity during anunexpectedly isolating and difficult semester. Students learned to anchor digital objects into physical space, control their appearance and orientation, and apply physics simulations. They spatially tracked their devices (and thus themselves) and made spatial recordings of movements. Finally, attaching trackable markers to simple tools, they created AR interfaces that explored how a traditional handcraft or building methods might be reinvigorated or reborn through augmentation. The course posited that AR techniques could democratize advanced fabrication (by greatly reducing cost and lowering bar to use) and reinvent construction labor by putting agency, and thus dignity, back into what are seen now as low-level construction jobs. Household items and handheld tools were brought into experiments that tended to be simultaneously infuriating, as they pushed tolerances of the phone-based app, and yet invigorating, offering windows into an expanding realm of material culture and design potential. The topic was a perfect fit for a semester when remoteness was required, new technologies for communicating were necessary, and most of us only had access to the simplest and most basic tools and supplies. Digging deeper into home, humanity, culture and craft while embracing advanced technologies built hope for the future of design in uncertain times

Abbreviated Life Cycle Analysis of Plastics in Medical Supplies

Background In 2015, 24 plastic production facilities in the United States produced 17.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e-), which is the same as what 3.8 million cars produced that year (Hamilton 2019). The incineration (controlled burning) of this plastic in 2015 emitted approximately 5.9 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e-) (Hamilton 2019). CO2e- is a measure for comparing greenhouse gases to carbon dioxide, by multiplying the amount produced by their global warming potential (Brander 2012). Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere and warm the planet over time, some are naturally occurring, and some are synthetic. The naturally occurring gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, and fluorinated gases are synthetic (Denchak 2019). The global warming created can have many disastrous effects on human health

Nanoparticle Targeting to the Central Nervous System

Drug delivery to the central nervous system is complicated by the blood-brain barrier, a vascular structure that prevents free diffusion of molecules into brain tissue. In this study, we examined the in vitro properties of a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system. We used several nanoparticle formulations, both LTP based and PLGA based, to test the cellular uptake and toxicity in microglial cells. Using immunofluorescence imaging, we show that LTP nanoparticles are taken up by microglia. We confirmed that our nanoparticle formulations are non-toxic by two cell viability assays. These results suggest that nanoparticle formulations may be a biocompatible method of delivering drugs to the brain

The Influences of Social Media: Depression, Anxiety, and Self-Concept

The current study examined correlations between social media use and its effects on depression, anxiety, and changes in self-concept through quantitative and qualitative data. Variables included in the analysis of Study 1 were depression, anxiety, time spent using social media, number of platforms used, perception of addiction, and type of use. Study 1 showed no significant correlations between social media used and depression or anxiety, however observational analyses of correlation tables revealed a relationship between time spent using and number of platforms used; time spent using and perception of addiction; time spent using and perception of addiction; time spent using with active use; and perception of addiction with active use. Discussed are the implications of student\u27s perceptions of social media addiction and the active use of social media. Given the gaps in literature related to social media\u27s effects on self-concept, study 2 was used to gain qualitative analyses of student\u27s interrelated beliefs of social media and its impacts on the formation and maintenance of self-concept. Students also explored similarities and differences between influential factors, such as internal and external components. The respondents reported an awareness of addiction-like behaviors, and identified both protective and risk factors of social media. Pathways of risky or protective social media engagement were introduced as a further topic of study

The Implementation and Evaluation of Self-Advocacy Programming for College Students

The existence of barriers for college students living with disabilities is expansive and far-reaching; however, Field, Sarver, and Shaw (2003) and Walker and Test (2011) indicate that the development of self-advocacy skills increases the likelihood of overall academic success. It is vital that disability support services on college campuses recognize and develop programming to provide students with opportunities to increase their self-advocacy skills. This research assesses the effectiveness of self-advocacy workshops offered through an office of disability support services at a mid-sized regional university in the southeast. Causal agency theory and the ecological model of self-determination guided the development of a pre-test/post-test, which assesses the effectiveness of the workshops. Data collected provide insight into how effective the workshops are for current students, if participants’ prior utilization of services in high school affects their initial measured confidence in self-advocacy at the pre-test, and what modifications are necessary for optimum programming in the future. Analyses indicate that the self-advocacy workshops were effective in increasing participants’ confidence in their own levels of self-advocacy. Nearly half of the measures from the pre-test/post-test were significant at the p \u3c .001 and p \u3c.01 levels. The ecological model of self-determination, intersectionality, and standpoint theory inform the semi-structured interviews, with findings suggesting that participants’ perceptions of their own confidence in self-advocacy are influenced by experiences of marginalization, salience of social identities, and perceptions of disability(ies). Confidence in self-advocacy is influenced by, and is simultaneously influencing, each system within participants’ socio-ecological environments

Abbreviated Life Cycle Analysis of Medical Supplies

Background In 2015, 24 plastic production facilities in the United States produced 17.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e-), which is the same as what 3.8 million cars produced that year (Hamilton 2019). The incineration (controlled burning) of this plastic in 2015 emitted approximately 5.9 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e-) (Hamilton 2019). CO2e- is a measure for comparing greenhouse gases to carbon dioxide, by multiplying the amount produced by their global warming potential (Brander 2012). Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere and warm the planet over time, some are naturally occurring, and some are synthetic. The naturally occurring gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, and fluorinated gases are synthetic (Denchak 2019). The global warming created can have many disastrous effects on human health. Healthcare waste contributes to 10% of greenhouse gas production in the United States (Hsu, et al. 2020). In the medical field, billions of pounds of medical supplies are discarded yearly. Although some of these items are used and cannot be used again, many are unused or even expired. Many of these items are made up of mostly plastic. A life cycle analysis is an evaluation method defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “a method used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product through its life cycle encompassing extraction and processing of the raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, use, recycling, and final disposal” (Hill 2013). This method can be used to calculate and compare emissions saved or produced throughout the entire life of the product, in addition to other impacts such as energy consumption, land use, or cost

The Influences of Social Media: Depression, Anxiety, and Self-Concept

The current study examined correlations between social media use and its effects on depression, anxiety, and changes in self-concept through quantitative and qualitative data. Variables included in the analysis of Study 1 were depression, anxiety, time spent using social media, number of platforms used, perception of addiction, and type of use. Study 1 showed no significant correlations between social media used and depression or anxiety, however observational analyses of correlation tables revealed a relationship between time spent using and number of platforms used; time spent using and perception of addiction; time spent using and perception of addiction; time spent using with active use; and perception of addiction with active use. Discussed are the implications of student\u27s perceptions of social media addiction and the active use of social media. Given the gaps in literature related to social media\u27s effects on self-concept, study 2 was used to gain qualitative analyses of student\u27s interrelated beliefs of social media and its impacts on the formation and maintenance of self-concept. Students also explored similarities and differences between influential factors, such as internal and external components. The respondents reported an awareness of addiction-like behaviors, and identified both protective and risk factors of social media. Pathways of risky or protective social media engagement were introduced as a further topic of study