Latin America’s Indigenous Women

Latin America’s indigenous women are as diverse as the land they inhabit. Their uniqueness is shaped by belonging to groups that have their own distinct history, traditions, and identity. Yet despite this diversity, indigenous women confront the same human rights challenges: racial, gender, and socio-economic discrimination. Without ignoring the diversity of indigenous women, a better understanding of their fundamental struggles can be gained by weaving these issues together in a comprehensive narrative

Fishing for All-Stars in a Time of Global Free Agency: Understanding FIFA Eligibility Rules and the Impact on the U.S. Men’s National Team

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Housing Patterns, Academic Performance and School Choice: An Inquiry into the Relocation Experiences of African-American Families

This qualitative inquiry explored the educational relocation experiences of AfricanAmerican families residing in predominately-White and northern Gwinnett County, Georgia, who relocated to pursue improved educational opportunities for their children. For poor families or African- American families with limited resources, school choice is determined largely by where one lives. Historical oppression at the local, state and federal level has encouraged the concentration of African-American families into segregated communities and segregated housing patterns (Massey & Denton, 1998; Rice, 2009; Squires & Kim, 1995), which are often associated with educational inequality (Royce, 2009). The historical oppression and racial injustices in society challenges us to think more critically about education, curriculum and the role segregated housing patterns plays in perpetuating systematic educational inequality. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework, this inquiry explored the subjectivities and realities associated with the sociopolitical, economic, cultural, linguistic, ethical, and historical context of African-American families and the pursuit of educational equity. Despite many advancements and achievements of African-Americans during the past decades, findings of this inquiry revealed that there is more work to be done. Key findings indicate that African-American students are still underserved in educational settings and continue to experience systemic racism. Research findings also indicated that despite moving to more affluent all White suburban neighborhoods with the expectation of excellent educational opportunities, African-American families desperately need social support networks to survive and thrive in these settings. Findings from this study are significant in that they shed light on relationships between race, space, and educational equity. In so doing, this study provides new information and knowledge for policymakers, administrators, teachers and society interested in improving the education of African-American learners

Investigation into the use of NMR-based bioinformatics in determining the composition and quality of immune supplements in Australia

The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has brought prominence to the concept of immune health for individuals. A common means of attempting to do so is by incorporating immune supplements into everyday life. While immune supplements generally contain well-documented traditional herbs, knowledge about the quality and safety of these commercial products is minimal. In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulates and enforces advertising, labelling and compositional consistency of immune supplements; however, minimal pre-market assessment omits the potential harm and adulteration regularly cited in the literature. A multifaceted approach to these products’ overall safety and quality is essential in safeguarding human health. Following TGA guidelines, seventeen immune supplements were investigated for their labelling compliance with the Therapeutic Goods Order No. 92 for non-prescription medicines. Although systemic labelling non-compliance was observed throughout the products, this was not associated with their potential to cause harm. Thus, stringency in this area is not necessarily applicable to protecting consumers. More focus should be put on high throughput pharmacovigilance methods that examine immune supplements' compositional integrity and consistency. For this study, the composition of immune supplements was analysed via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy using metabolomics. NMR provides detailed ‘snap shots’ into the chemical profile of immune supplements that can be interpreted via multivariate statistics to indicate the consistency of products across numerous batches. Therefore, this thesis aims to provide an overview of the quality and safety of Australian immune supplements. At the same time, it is recognising the place of metabolomics in regulatory environments as a high throughput mechanism of quality assurance

Native Grass and Forb Establishment in Post-Agricultural Soil

Restoration of degraded and abandoned agricultural land in arid and semiarid climates is a global problem. The erratic patterns of precipitation these lands experience makes restoration of a plant community difficult. Application of supplemental irrigation and inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are two restoration techniques that have been suggested to overcome deficits in natural precipitation. The effects and the interactions of irrigation and seeding date on the ground cover of intended species and unintended exotic species were tested in a post-agricultural restoration experiment in south-central Colorado, USA. The greatest ground cover of intended species and lowest ground cover of unintended species was observed when seeds were sown in May and were irrigated at higher rates. Results suggest that the timing of sowing as well as the amount of irrigation applied are important in arid post-agricultural restoration. The effects of different AMF inoculation and water treatments on plant biomass were also tested in a manipulative greenhouse experiment. Plant biomass was not greater when inoculated with AMF, which suggests that the use of AMF in post-agricultural soil may not be worth the additional costs of implementation

A Speed-based Approach to Vestibular Rehabilitation for Peripheral Vestibular Hypofunction: A Retrospective Chart Review

BACKGROUND: Current vestibular rehabilitation for peripheral vestibular hypofunction is an exercise-based approach that improves symptoms and function in most, but not all patients, and includes gaze stabilization exercises focused on duration of head movement. One factor that may impact rehabilitation outcomes is the speed of head movement during gaze stability exercises. OBJECTIVE: Examine outcomes of modified VOR X1 exercises that emphasize a speed-based approach for gaze stabilization while omitting substitution and habituation exercises. Balance training focused on postural realignment and hip strategy performance during altered visual and somatosensory inputs. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 159 patients with vestibular deficits was performed and five outcome measures were analyzed. RESULTS: All outcomes – self-report dizziness and balance function, dynamic gait index, modified clinical test of sensory interaction and balance, and clinical dynamic visual acuity improved significantly and approached or achieved normal scores. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of modified VOR X1 gaze stability exercises, wherein patients achieved high-velocity head movement (240°/s) during short exercise bouts, with “forced use” gait and balance exercises for postural realignment and hip strategy recruitment, achieved 93–99% of normal scores for all five outcomes. These results compare favorably to the outcomes for current VR techniques and warrant further investigation

Vestibular rehabilitation for peripheral vestibular hypofunction: An updated clinical practice guideline from the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy of the American Physical Therapy Association

BACKGROUND: Uncompensated vestibular hypofunction can result in symptoms of dizziness, imbalance, and/or oscillopsia, gaze and gait instability, and impaired navigation and spatial orientation; thus, may negatively impact an individual\u27s quality of life, ability to perform activities of daily living, drive, and work. It is estimated that one-third of adults in the United States have vestibular dysfunction and the incidence increases with age. There is strong evidence supporting vestibular physical therapy for reducing symptoms, improving gaze and postural stability, and improving function in individuals with vestibular hypofunction. The purpose of this revised clinical practice guideline is to improve quality of care and outcomes for individuals with acute, subacute, and chronic unilateral and bilateral vestibular hypofunction by providing evidence-based recommendations regarding appropriate exercises. METHODS: These guidelines are a revision of the 2016 guidelines and involved a systematic review of the literature published since 2015 through June 2020 across 6 databases. Article types included meta-analyses, systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control series, and case series for human subjects, published in English. Sixty-seven articles were identified as relevant to this clinical practice guideline and critically appraised for level of evidence. RESULTS: Based on strong evidence, clinicians should offer vestibular rehabilitation to adults with unilateral and bilateral vestibular hypofunction who present with impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions related to the vestibular deficit. Based on strong evidence and a preponderance of harm over benefit, clinicians should not include voluntary saccadic or smooth-pursuit eye movements in isolation (ie, without head movement) to promote gaze stability. Based on moderate to strong evidence, clinicians may offer specific exercise techniques to target identified activity limitations and participation restrictions, including virtual reality or augmented sensory feedback. Based on strong evidence and in consideration of patient preference, clinicians should offer supervised vestibular rehabilitation. Based on moderate to weak evidence, clinicians may prescribe weekly clinic visits plus a home exercise program of gaze stabilization exercises consisting of a minimum of: (1) 3 times per day for a total of at least 12 minutes daily for individuals with acute/subacute unilateral vestibular hypofunction; (2) 3 to 5 times per day for a total of at least 20 minutes daily for 4 to 6 weeks for individuals with chronic unilateral vestibular hypofunction; (3) 3 to 5 times per day for a total of 20 to 40 minutes daily for approximately 5 to 7 weeks for individuals with bilateral vestibular hypofunction. Based on moderate evidence, clinicians may prescribe static and dynamic balance exercises for a minimum of 20 minutes daily for at least 4 to 6 weeks for individuals with chronic unilateral vestibular hypofunction and, based on expert opinion, for a minimum of 6 to 9 weeks for individuals with bilateral vestibular hypofunction. Based on moderate evidence, clinicians may use achievement of primary goals, resolution of symptoms, normalized balance and vestibular function, or plateau in progress as reasons for stopping therapy. Based on moderate to strong evidence, clinicians may evaluate factors, including time from onset of symptoms, comorbidities, cognitive function, and use of medication that could modify rehabilitation outcomes. DISCUSSION: Recent evidence supports the original recommendations from the 2016 guidelines. There is strong evidence that vestibular physical therapy provides a clear and substantial benefit to individuals with unilateral and bilateral vestibular hypofunction. LIMITATIONS: The focus of the guideline was on peripheral vestibular hypofunction; thus, the recommendations of the guideline may not apply to individuals with central vestibular disorders. One criterion for study inclusion was that vestibular hypofunction was determined based on objective vestibular function tests. This guideline may not apply to individuals who report symptoms of dizziness, imbalance, and/or oscillopsia without a diagnosis of vestibular hypofunction. DISCLAIMER: These recommendations are intended as a guide to optimize rehabilitation outcomes for individuals undergoing vestibular physical therapy. The contents of this guideline were developed with support from the American Physical Therapy Association and the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy using a rigorous review process. The authors declared no conflict of interest and maintained editorial independence.Video Abstract available for more insights from the authors (see the Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, available at: http://links.lww.com/JNPT/A369)

Training Counselors Using Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to expand experiential learning opportunities in counselor education. This article discusses how semi- and immersive VR can provide students a diverse range of experiences to increase both counseling skill and empathy development for clients with a myriad of identities, diagnoses, and presenting counseling issues. Suggestions and implications for counselor education are discussed

A Look Toward the Future: Decision Support Systems Research is Alive and Well

This commentary examines the historical importance of decision support to the information systems (IS) field from the viewpoint of four researchers whose work spans the several decades of decision support systems (DSS) research. Given this unique “generational” vantage point, we present the changes in and impact of DSS research as well as future considerations for decision support in the IS field. We argue that the DSS area has remained vital as technology has evolved and our understanding of decision-making processes has deepened. DSS work over the last several years has contributed both breadth and depth to decision-making research; the challenge now is to make sense of it all by placing it in an understandable context and by applying our analysis to the relevant issues looming in the future. One major outcome of this commentary is the identification of future trends in DSS research and what the users of these new DSS outlets can learn from the past. Trends include the increasing impact of social and mobile computing on DSS research, as well as knowledge management DSS and negotiation support systems that shift the focus to delivering more customer-centric and marketplace support