Travel as pedagogy: embodied learning in short-term study abroad

In this paper I discuss a model for creating embodied learning opportunities in study abroad curricula, which purposefully uses students’ physical movement through foreign landscapes to inform and enhance their understanding of local social, political, economic, cultural, and historical phenomena. Pedagogical tactics include: challenging and reframing the common distinction between “important” and “unimportant” instructional times and places; loosely structured itineraries that allow for greater student autonomy and collaboration; seeking multiple vantage points (both geographic and textual) from which to observe and analyze locations; purposeful and attentive travel between study locations that helps connect cognitive to visceral experience. These tactics help students cultivate the ability to read landscapes, a skill that them to understand a landscape not only as historical narrative but also as a social actor that influences and is influenced by the everyday practices of people who inhabit it. To demonstrate these strategies, I discuss how they were implemented in a recent short-term study abroad program to various sites within the former Yugoslavia.Costello, B. (2020). Travel as pedagogy: embodied learning in short-term study abroad. En 6th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'20). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. (30-05-2020):1417-1424. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd20.2020.11312OCS1417142430-05-202

Astrology in action: Culture and *status in unsettled lives

Why do people practice astrology? Why in particular are women, along with members of other low-status groups such as racial and ethnic minorities and working class individuals, more likely to be associated with astrology? In contrast to existing explanations of astrological belief, which focus on the psychological, educational, or spiritual deficiencies of astrologers, I focus on the uses of astrology as a cultural material from which people construct strategies for navigating everyday life, and which may have particular social relevance for those with less social power. My descriptive account of astrological beliefs and practices is constructed from in-depth qualitative interviews with people who believe in and practice astrology to varying degrees, written first-hand accounts of astrological practice and beliefs, and observation of organized astrological activities. Additionally, I draw upon results from a survey of local astrological beliefs and practices (N=93) as well various sources of nationally representative data to supplement my portrait of astrology\u27s public. In my analysis of the various dimensions of astrological practice, which advances our understanding of the consumption and mobilization of culture more generally, I find that people use astrology to construct strategies of action (Swidler 2001), strategies of interaction (pertaining to the rehearsal and performance of self), and strategies of emotion (pertaining to emotional self-regulation). As such, astrology serves as a resource for performing the social and emotional labor typically relegated to women in both the family and the labor market. Moreover, although astrology operates as a constraint insofar as astrologers are compelled to manage the stigma attached to their practice, it also provides access to an alternative moral discourse through which individuals may express their deep ambivalence towards hegemonic normative science

Fractal analysis for distinguishing between microscopic images of normal prostate tissue and high grade prostate cancer

Bibliography: p. 86-89Some pages are in colour

Astrology in action: Culture and *status in unsettled lives

Why do people practice astrology? Why in particular are women, along with members of other low-status groups such as racial and ethnic minorities and working class individuals, more likely to be associated with astrology? In contrast to existing explanations of astrological belief, which focus on the psychological, educational, or spiritual deficiencies of astrologers, I focus on the uses of astrology as a cultural material from which people construct strategies for navigating everyday life, and which may have particular social relevance for those with less social power. My descriptive account of astrological beliefs and practices is constructed from in-depth qualitative interviews with people who believe in and practice astrology to varying degrees, written first-hand accounts of astrological practice and beliefs, and observation of organized astrological activities. Additionally, I draw upon results from a survey of local astrological beliefs and practices (N=93) as well various sources of nationally representative data to supplement my portrait of astrology\u27s public. In my analysis of the various dimensions of astrological practice, which advances our understanding of the consumption and mobilization of culture more generally, I find that people use astrology to construct strategies of action (Swidler 2001), strategies of interaction (pertaining to the rehearsal and performance of self), and strategies of emotion (pertaining to emotional self-regulation). As such, astrology serves as a resource for performing the social and emotional labor typically relegated to women in both the family and the labor market. Moreover, although astrology operates as a constraint insofar as astrologers are compelled to manage the stigma attached to their practice, it also provides access to an alternative moral discourse through which individuals may express their deep ambivalence towards hegemonic normative science

Does Manual Abdominal Pressure During Colonoscopy Put Endoscopy Staff and Patients at Risk? Experiences of Endoscopy Nurses and Technicians.

Endoscopy staff suffer work-related musculoskeletal disorders at a rate greater than or comparable to nurses and technicians in other subspecialities, which may be attributable to the widespread use of manual pressure and repositioning during colonoscopy. In addition to negatively impacting staff health and job performance, colonoscopy-related musculoskeletal disorder injuries may also signal potential risks to patient safety. To assess the prevalence of staff injury and perceived patient harm relating to the use of manual pressure and repositioning techniques during colonoscopy, 185 attendees of a recent national meeting of the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates were asked to recall experiencing injuries to themselves or observing injuries to other staff or patients during colonoscopy. A majority of respondents (84.9%, n = 157) reported either experiencing or observing staff injury, whereas 25.9% ( n = 48) reported observing patient complications. Among respondents who perform manual repositioning and apply manual pressure during colonoscopy (57.3%, n = 106), 85.8% ( n = 91) reported experiencing musculoskeletal disorders from performing these tasks; 81.1% ( n = 150) reported no awareness of colonoscopy-specific ergonomics policies at their facility. Results highlight the relationship between the physical job requirements of endoscopy nurses and technicians, staff musculoskeletal disorders, and patient complications, and suggest that implementation of staff safety protocols may benefit patients as well as endoscopy staff

Transparency in peer review:Exploring the content and tone of reviewers' confidential comments to editors

PURPOSE: Recent calls to improve transparency in peer review have prompted examination of many aspects of the peer-review process. Peer-review systems often allow confidential comments to editors that could reduce transparency to authors, yet this option has escaped scrutiny. Our study explores 1) how reviewers use the confidential comments section and 2) alignment between comments to the editor and comments to authors with respect to content and tone. METHODS: Our dataset included 358 reviews of 168 manuscripts submitted between January 1, 2019 and August 24, 2020 to a health professions education journal with a single blind review process. We first identified reviews containing comments to the editor. Then, for the reviews with comments, we used procedures consistent with conventional and directed qualitative content analysis to develop a coding scheme and code comments for content, tone, and section of the manuscript. For reviews in which the reviewer recommended "reject," we coded for alignment between reviewers' comments to the editor and to authors. We report descriptive statistics. RESULTS: 49% of reviews contained comments to the editor (n = 176). Most of these comments summarized the reviewers' impression of the article (85%), which included explicit reference to their recommended decision (44%) and suitability for the journal (10%). The majority of comments addressed argument quality (56%) or research design/methods/data (51%). The tone of comments tended to be critical (40%) or constructive (34%). For the 86 reviews recommending "reject," the majority of comments to the editor contained content that also appeared in comments to the authors (80%); additional content tended to be irrelevant to the manuscript. Tone frequently aligned (91%). CONCLUSION: Findings indicate variability in how reviewers use the confidential comments to editor section in online peer-review systems, though generally the way they use them suggests integrity and transparency to authors

Uncovering Ganymede's past: Tectonics at Nippur/Philus Sulci

Observations of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede by Voyager and Galileo revealed fractures and evidence of strike-slip faulting, leading to studies for the mechanisms of these structures focused on extensional tectonism and gravitational tidal stresses. In this analysis, we investigate the geologic history of Ganymede in the area of Nippur/Philus Sulci (175◦E, 36.9◦N) by examining Galileo high-resolution data available for this region (~100 m/pixel) and conducting a tidal stress investigation of Ganymede’s past. Several crosscutting bands of light terrain in the Nippur/Philus Sulci site show varying degrees of tectonic deformation, ranging from smooth and less distorted bands to highly grooved and deformed terrain. The chronology of tectonic activity implied by mapped crosscutting relationships reveals three eras of distinct geologic activity: 1. Ancient, 2. Intermediate and 3. Youngest. Indicators of shear deformation are found throughout all ages of terrain, but mapped early-stage indicators of strike-slip features are exclusively located in intermediate and youngest terrain. An investigated offset feature in intermediate-aged terrain corresponds in slip direction to the predictions from modeling stresses of a higher past eccentricity. However, the en echelon structures found in a younger geologic unit do not align in slip direction with typical first-order R Riedel shears. This suggests that these features might have formed through another process and the observed en echelon folds could be passive structures, which can be created through relatively rapid large displacement on a fault. Through modeling of Ganymede’s past tidal stresses, we can conclude that a past higher eccentricity (e > 0.02) could have distorted the Nippur/Philus Sulci region in its second, intermediate phase of main deformation, yielding a stress field conducive to shear failure of the icy upper crust. New data from NASA’s Juno mission, as well as future observations by ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission and NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, will further aid our understanding of the tectonic history of Ganymede and improve the resolution of tectonic feature analysis