CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS AND POLITICAL MILITARY RELATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THREAT RESILIENCY

On November 21, 2022, Dr. Carrie Lee, associate professor and Chair of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the US Army War College, presented on Civil-Military Relations and Political Military Relations in the Context of Threat Resiliency. The key points discussed included the importance of good civil-military relations, how they are critical in establishing resiliency, and some of the threats that require good civil-military relations.   Received: 2022-12-05Revised: 2022-12-0

Formative Assessment for Middle School Mathematics Instruction: An Evidence-based Approach to Evaluating Teacher Posing, Pausing, and Probing Moves

This study involved empirical investigation of a moves-based conceptualization of teacher practices of planning, enacting, and reflecting on formative assessment (FA) in mathematics classrooms in a high-needs school district in California. A qualitative case study of six middle school mathematics teachers’ practices of posing questions, pausing to foster equity of participation and quality of response, and probing student thinking, the study provides empirical evidence of qualitatively distinct levels of teacher posing, pausing, and probing moves. The study utilized a National Research Council-based educational assessment design framework that employed construct maps, multi-faceted items design, and scoring guides to examine teacher practice and to provide feedback protocols for teachers engaged in FA. Guided by the 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, the study provides evidence for content validity and tools for future rater reliability investigations. The study found levels of teacher questioning practice, operationalized as posing, pausing, and proving moves, could be represented along generalized continua in the context of middle school mathematics instruction. The study’s work toward the development of a teacher learning progression framework in the formative assessment domain has implications for establishing an empirically-based, common grammar of practice in mathematics instruction and preparation

The Art and Media Communications course : a case study of one teacher’s perspective

This study investigates the teaching experience of one Texas high school visual art teacher as she integrates the Arts and Media Communication course into her curriculum for the first time. Through an open-ended interview and class observation, this case study inquires how the teacher teaches the lessons and curriculum. This study examines literature on learning theories, digital and media literacy and technology in the secondary art classroom. The explanations of the results highlight the efficacy of the course and how the students responded to the projects. The findings of this study suggest that technology is an effective tool for the Art and Media Communications class and a student-centered instructional approach works well for this course. Therefore, it is proposed that teachers, principals, school districts and other community organizations may find that art and technology curricula are valuable, assessable, and supported.Art Educatio

Assessing The Magnitude and Impact of Seawater/Pore Water Exchange in Salt Marsh Systems

Submarine groundwater discharge is a hydrological process that is important to study and understand as it impacts biogeochemical processes and hydrological cycles. Particularly in coastal salt marsh systems, it is an important process to analyze as these systems serve as crucial interfaces between terrestrial and marine waters and particulates. There is evidence that these systems, typically thought to have little exchange across the interface due to impermeable sediments, could actually allow for significant flow of water and particulates at shallow depths. In order to measure and quantify this flow, a method using 224Ra as a tracer has been tested. The extensive, gas-filled root system present in salt marshes could be a significant factor in an increased water/particulate circulation. This root system could also allow for oxygen gas exchange between roots and sediment and lead to rapid redox oscillations. Metal binding onto iron oxide nanoparticles under ambient conditions was studied using centrifuge filtration and ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) to better understand the potential transport of redox reactive species

Blueberry Fruit Development and Splitting

Rain-related splitting of blueberry fruit is a problem facing growers in the southeastern United States and causes an estimated profit loss of up to 20% ($300-$500 per acre). Studies of this phenomenon in other thin-skinned, soft, fleshy fruit showed that no single or set of related physiological or anatomical property explained splitting. Similar research on blueberry fruit was inconclusive, thus a different approach was suggested. l sampled five cultivars at various stages of development distributed across acknowledged split-resistant (SR) and split-susceptible (SS) categories including both rabbiteye and southern highbush types. Several developmental studies were completed at the light microscope level that allowed us to analyze apoplast to symplast ratios (A:S ratio) and thus allowed a study of anatomical features that should be strongly influenced by physiological/hydrostatic phenomena. Several hypotheses of A:S ratios were tested resulting in the observed correlations that (1) at the attachment end of the fruit, the SR ratios were lower than the SS ratios and (2) at the floral end, the SR ratios were bracketed by the SS ratios. These correlations are consistent with an interpretation that (1) a higher A:S ratio increases the amount of hydrophilic (wall) material for water uptake and (2) extremes in A:S ratios compromise the structural integrity of the fruit tissue

en/Gendered Hierarchies: Representations of Nation, Gender, and Class in the Work of Miwa Yanagi and Yoshiko Shimada

The topic of this thesis is Japanese women artists from the contemporary period, withaparticularfocusontheworkofMiwaYanagiandYoshikoShimada. Itquestions and problematizes the position of Japanese women artists in art historical and feminist art historical scholarship. Its main concern is the absence of feminist and gender theory in the interpretation and criticism of Japanese women’s art and, the hitherto, non­ articulation of a Japanese feminist art practice. The approach taken is largely feminist in orientation, which will serve to: 1) consider culturally specific conditions for discussing a Japanese visual practice from the perspective of feminist and gender theory; and 2) speculate on gender, race, and class construction in Japan’s modem period. This thesis suggests that theories of nation, gender, class, and economy as they developed in Japan’s modem period are central to feminist evaluations of gender and power in contemporary Japanese art

Preliminary Results of the Louisiana Sex Offender Treatment Program

The purpose of this study was to offer preliminary support for the Louisiana Sex Offender Treatment Program (LSOTP) in addressing the needs of juvenile sex offenders. Research objectives were (1) to offer statistical evidence for reductions in anxiety, depression, cognitive distortion and negative attitudes towards women comparing a group of 21 adolescents, 12 of whom received services as usual and nine of whom participated in the LSOTP. A controlled experimental evaluation design was utilized. The juvenile sex offenders were randomly assigned to the experimental group for 12 weeks receiving treatment services and a control group receiving care “as usual” in a residential group care program. Participants in the experimental group experienced statistically significant decreases in cognitive distortions related specifically to rape and molestation.The results of this study offer preliminary support of the LSOTP as a best practices alternative to other treatment modalities

Tourism Innovation: Integrating Ginseng into Spa Development: A Case Study of Sunmore Ginseng Health Spa in Kamloops, BC, Canada

Although innovation research has built a solid ground in the realms of nature science and technology, for examples, innovation study in the field of engineering looks at the development of new processes; innovation study in the field of medicine focuses on the development of new devices, drugs and practices, it has not obtained its proper respect as a critical topic in social science, particularly in tourism research. Innovation study in tourism is surprisingly limited and still in a phase of infancy. The purpose of this study is to further explore the notion of innovation in the context of tourism based on earlier scholars’ research. To provide more practical and industrial insights into the understanding of how innovation works in tourism, our researchers conduct a case study of Sunmore Ginseng Health Spa to examine its application of the established innovation concepts and paradigms, as well as the fitness for Abernathy and Clark’s innovation model. Sunmore Ginseng Spa, a health spa in Canada, is located in Kamloops, BC. It is operated as a day spa. The spa is characterized by four functioned suites with the themes from Chinese ancient philosophy: Gold, Wood, Water and Fire. The services offered at Sunmore spa include Swedish massage, aromatherapy massage, reflexology, body wrap, salt glow, facials, and ginseng steaming and sauna. The study found Sunmore Ginseng Health Spa fits well the right upper quadrant of the model which is named ‘architectural innovation’. In line with the ‘experience economy’, Sunmore Ginseng Health Spa may also be considered a good example of ‘experience innovation’. In addition, the research also identified several emergent themes from tourism innovations such as service differentiation, ‘high-tech. and high- touch’, and experience innovation in the experience economy. Future research should further look into the main drivers of tourism innovation, the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship, the development of innovation models for specific service sub-sectors, as well as the roles of innovation in the experience economy

Cardiorespiratory requirements of the 6-min walk test in patients with left ventricular systolic disfunction and no major structural heart disease

The six-minute walk test (6-MWT) is widely used to assess functional status in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The aims of the present study were: (1) to compare metabolic gas exchange during the 6-MWT in older patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and in breathless patients with no major structural heart disease (MSHD); (2) to determine the exercise intensity of the 6-MWT relative to peak oxygen uptake; (3) to establish the accuracy and reproducibility of the Metamax 3B ergospirometer during an incremental workload. Twenty four older patients with LVSD (19 male; age 76 ± 5 years; BMI 27 ± 4), and 18 patients with no MSHD (12 male; age 75 ± 8 years; BMI 27 ± 4) attended on consecutive days at the same time. Patients completed a 6-MWT with metabolic gas exchange measurements using the Metamax 3B portable ergospirometer, and an incremental cycle ergometry test using both the Metamax 3B and Oxycon Pro metabolic cart. Patients returned and performed a second 6-MWT and an incremental treadmill test, metabolic gas exchange was measured with the Metamax 3B. In patients with LVSD, the 6-MWT was performed at a higher fraction of maximal exercise capacity (p = 0.02). The 6-MWT was performed below the anaerobic threshold in patients with LVSD (83 %) and in patients with no MSHD (61 %). The Metamax 3B showed satisfactory to high accuracy at 10 W and 20 W in patients with LVSD (r = 0.77 - 0.97, p < 0.05), and no MSHD (r = 0.76 - 0.94, p < 0.05). Metabolic gas exchange variables measured during the 6-MWT showed satisfactory to high day-to-day reproducibility in patients with LVSD (ICC = 0.75 - 0.98), but a higher variability was evident in participants with no MSHD (ICC = 0.62 - 0.97). The Metamax 3B portable ergospirometer is an accurate and reproducible device during submaximal, fixed rate exercise in older patients with LVSD and no MSHD. In elderly patients with LVSD and no MSHD, the 6-MWT should not be considered a maximal test of exercise capacity but rather a test of submaximal exercise performance. Our study demonstrates that the 6-MWT takes place at a higher proportion of peak oxygen uptake in patients with LVSD compared to those with no MSHD, and may be one reason why fatigue is a more prominent symptom in these patients