An Initial Exploration of the Undergraduate English Major Curricula Issued by the 2000-2001 Member Schools of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

Problem This study made the initial exploration of English major curricula among 101 members of the 2000-2001 Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), describing their nature and state and discerning evidence of Christian thought. Method Stewart’s (1989) Modified Categories of English Majors and Eisner’s (1991) education criticism provided frameworks to categorize all curricula and to describe a purposeful sampling of 20 selected by region, religious, and enrollment. Results Types 1.0 Straight Literature and 1.5 Primarily Literature majors represented 78% of the population and 75% of the sampling; Type 2.0 More Flexible majors represented 18% of the population and 25% of the sampling. The sampling found two structural models: the traditional tripod model (45%) and the core-and-periphery (55%). Types 1.0 and 1.5 emphasized American and English/ British literatures, Type 1.0 by genres, and Type 1.5 by surveys; Type 2.0 stressed those literatures, but proliferated writing electives. Content weaknesses included the (a) lack of goals; (b) slighting of writing, composition, and rhetoric; and (c) imbalance of 300-level courses. Strengths included (a) offering literary criticism, (b) requiring capstone/seminars, and (c) increasing writing programs. Christian thought appeared in four course categories: (a) biblical content, (b) integration, (c) major authors associated with Christianity, 5th through 19th centuries, and (d) those associated during the 20th century. Milton, Chaucer, and C. S. Lewis dominated. Conclusions The aggregate CCCU English major curriculum appeared to be: 1. Dominated by literature, especially British/English and American literatures 2. Structured in the traditional tripod of literature, composition, and grammar, or in the core-and-periphery model 3. Utilitarian-oriented toward “helping professions,” teaching, and graduate studies 4. Static with minimized composition, writing, rhetoric, linguistics, and non- traditional literatures 5. Accommodating of writing electives 6. Preserving of field-coverage in upper-level literature courses and 7. British-Christian influenced, reflecting Christian ideas through British historical, cultural, white-male perspective(s)

Affective tonal value and perceptions of risk in newspaper readership

This study tests the notion that the affective tonal value (positive or negative connotations) of language in news coverage influences perceptions among readers using reactions to news of an environmental issue as a means of evoking differences. Methods involve constructing two different mock news articles, each altered only in tone (not fact), and a post-test survey of perceptions of risk and of overall situation seriousness. Participants (348 undergraduate students) read either one story or the other and then responded to a survey immediately following. Results show significant differences in perceptions of risk toward others, but not among perceptions of risk to self. There was also marginal support for differences in perceptions of overall situation gravity. No evidence was found for an interaction between the language manipulation and any of the demographics. Results show evidence of a main effect of tonal value, and an augmented third-person effect

Relationship Between Food Insecurity, Depression, and Race/Ethnicity Among U.S. Adults Aged 60–69 Years

Abstract Food insecurity (FI) and depression among older populations in the United States are public health concerns. Although FI has declined in the United States, it is a psychosocial stressor prevalent among the growing population of adults over 60. It is unknown to what extent FI contributes to depression among racial/ethnic minorities in this population. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine the relationships between FI and race and depression among U.S. adults aged 60–69 years when adjusting for other variables. The social-ecological model was used to understand the interplay between individual and environmental factors that may contribute to FI and depression among older adults. Data from the 2015–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data sets were analyzed by performing descriptive and inferential statistical procedures. The results indicated that race and FI were statistically significant predictors of depression. Chi-square tests of independence resulted in significant relationships between race (p = .007), marital status (p = .006), income (p ˂ .001), FI (p \u3c .001), and the dependent variable depression. The overall logistic regression model was statistically significant, χ 2 (15) = 64.76, p \u3c .001. Individuals identified as non-Hispanic White and FI were more likely to be depressed (Wald = 17.45, p \u3c .001, OR = 3.96) than those who identified as food-secure White and food-secure Black. The social change implications may include improving mental health and quality of life for older adults in targeted communities by tailoring public health messaging and communication strategies to vulnerable communities where health and racial disparities are prevalent

Relationship Between Food Insecurity, Depression, and Race/Ethnicity Among U.S. Adults Aged 60–69 Years

Abstract Food insecurity (FI) and depression among older populations in the United States are public health concerns. Although FI has declined in the United States, it is a psychosocial stressor prevalent among the growing population of adults over 60. It is unknown to what extent FI contributes to depression among racial/ethnic minorities in this population. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine the relationships between FI and race and depression among U.S. adults aged 60–69 years when adjusting for other variables. The social-ecological model was used to understand the interplay between individual and environmental factors that may contribute to FI and depression among older adults. Data from the 2015–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data sets were analyzed by performing descriptive and inferential statistical procedures. The results indicated that race and FI were statistically significant predictors of depression. Chi-square tests of independence resulted in significant relationships between race (p = .007), marital status (p = .006), income (p ˂ .001), FI (p \u3c .001), and the dependent variable depression. The overall logistic regression model was statistically significant, χ 2 (15) = 64.76, p \u3c .001. Individuals identified as non-Hispanic White and FI were more likely to be depressed (Wald = 17.45, p \u3c .001, OR = 3.96) than those who identified as food-secure White and food-secure Black. The social change implications may include improving mental health and quality of life for older adults in targeted communities by tailoring public health messaging and communication strategies to vulnerable communities where health and racial disparities are prevalent

Addressing Persistent Challenges in Nanotoxicology Exposures : Techniques for in situ Characterization

Nanoparticles (NPs), defined by their size (1-100 nm), are increasingly incorporated into commercial and industrial products due to their high surface area and unique properties. They can be designed for specific applications by manipulating composition, size, shape, and surface functionalization. As NP production and complexity increases, there is a need to rapidly assess relevant parameters to prioritize hazard testing and ultimately predict behavior upon release into the environment. Robust and reproducible characterization of toxicity and physicochemical properties of NPs in solution are needed for reliable model development. In this dissertation, I address significant challenges regarding NP dispersion consistency and characterization of NP properties. Current practices of NP dispersion preparation that utilize sonication to break apart agglomerates were evaluated for consistently across nanotoxicology studies, and it was determined that they vary greatly in the type of ultrasonicator used, total energy input, and reporting of associated metadata. To facilitate comparison across studies, I demonstrate a method to deliver equivalent energy to NP dispersions using three different ultrasonicator systems with various power settings and dispersion media. This can improve uniformity of NP exposures for better reproducibility of toxicity and characterization data. The hydrophobicity of NPs, a key property determining environmental fate and bioavailability, was evaluated with two potential methods optimized for use with NPs, hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) and dye adsorption, and compared results to those obtained using the octanol water partitioning method commonly used for organic and dissolved chemicals. Measures of hydrophobicity were determined for both agglomerated and surface functionalized NPs. Finally I address the need for a quantitative measure of redox behavior of NPs to inform the design of catalytic nanomaterials as well as to model potential toxic interactions. The use of methylene blue (MB) as a colorimetric probe to quantify the catalytic redox behavior of NPs is proposed in Chapter 4. The redox assay was compared to modified abiotic methods to evaluate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (dichlorofluorescein diacetate, DCFH-DA) and antioxidant capacity (Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity, TEAC) of NPs to determine relationships and trends based on methodology used and NP properties. The studies presented in this dissertation provides the basis for improved reproducibility of NP exposures for toxicity data and addresses clear data gaps for determining fate and toxicity descriptors of NPs. This work will contribute to comprehensive NP characterization that is ultimately needed for predictive fate and toxicity models for sustainable nanotechnology development

Revisiting Current Strategies for Primary Prevention of Motorcycle Collisions in Jamaica

Motorcycle Road Traffic Collisions place a heavy burden on emergency medical ‎services in Jamaica. We explore the existing strategies and legislative policies that ‎may prevent or reduce the severity of these injuries in Jamaica. This is an important ‎aspect of health care as it may minimize the impact of these preventable injuries on ‎the limited resources of the health services.

Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer: Outcome data statistical report 2008

This statistical report represents a quarter of a century of data collection, from 1982 until 2007, from the Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer (QCGC), located at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and Mater Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. This report is the culmination of over a year’s work in compiling and analysing prospectively collected data from patients’ management, and would not have been possible but for the dedication and hard work of the gynaecological oncologists who work under its banner. The QCGC has the largest and most detailed gynaecological cancer database of records in Australia, and quite possibly the world. Perusal of these reports shows survival curves out to 192 months, or 16 years. Mr Jackson collated the data and edited this report, Mr Tripcony performed detailed statistical analyses, and Dr Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan helped in interpreting and discussing the findings. This of course provides invaluable information not only on standard five-year survival and median survival but also on long term survival. The database software used, the clinical administration system or CAS from Mirrabooka Systems Pty Ltd (http://www.mirrabooka.com/cas.shtml) has provided the means to accumulate this extensive and detailed collection of data. A number of interesting findings have come out of this analysis. For each site, we have compared the outcomes for two nine-year periods, 1984-1993 and 1994-2003. It is reassuring to see that for ovarian and uterine cancer the outcome in terms of survival has improved significantly with time. The analysis of ovarian cancer showed some very interesting results. The amount of residual disease left at the end of cytoreductive surgery was a very powerful determinant of survival, second only to disease stage. The results presented here are in respect to all stages of ovarian cancer. It was realised that nil residuum would do extremely well because it would contain all of the stage I and stage II cases. However, this has also been shown to be the case for stage IIIC ovarian cancer; it seems that with stage IIIC of the disease, unless residual disease is reduced to less than one centimetre, there is little beneficial effect on survival. Detailed figures are not presented here as they will be the subject of a separate scientific publication, however, it does suggest that to date gynaecological oncologists have been too conservative in our approach to ovarian cancer surgery