Forced Child Labor in El Salvador: Contemporary Economic Servitude

In 2005, over half of the rural population in El Salvador was living on less than U.S. $2 dollars per day (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo 2003: 42). The harsh reality of economic subsistence obligates children in El Salvador to contribute to their family’s survival. Employers providing this frail economic lifeline inevitably acquire control over the children. This economic control is a prominent aspect of contemporary slavery and is manifested through violence or exploitation. The enslavement of children in El Salvador not only steals their youth and opportunity to receive an education, but it also places innocent beings into a dangerous work force

Introducing a Foreign Language Experience into the Elementary Curriculum: A Flex Curriculum Handbook

A handbook has been created to assist elementary educators integrating Spanish into their curriculum. Lesson plans, activities, and supplemental materials are developed based on The Standards for Foreign Language Leaming, recommended and published by the National Association of Foreign Language Teachers and are aligned to meet the Essential Academic Leaming Requirements (EALRs) adopted by The Washington State Commission on Student Leaming. Current literature and research involving the benefits of teaching foreign language to elementary children are studied

High School Influences on the Selection of Athletic Training as a Career

Context: Research suggests internships, mentorship, and specialized school programs positively influence career selection; however, little data exists specific to athletic training. Objective: We identified high school (HS) experiences influencing career choice in college athletic training students (ATS). Design: Our survey included 35 Likert-type close-ended questions, which were reviewed by a panel of faculty and peers to establish content and construct validity. Setting: Participants completed an online questionnaire at their convenience. Participants: 217 college ATS (153 female, 64 male) from a random selection of accredited programs on the east coast. We excluded minors, freshmen, and undecided majors from the study. Informed consent was implied by proceeding to the questionnaire. Data Collection and Analysis: We used descriptive statistics to analyze the data collected via a secure website. Results: Mentors were most influential in the decision of career path (62.4%;n=131/210) with 85.2% (n=138/162) reporting mentors were readily available to answer questions regarding career options and 53.1% (n=86/162) counseled them regarding HS electives. Of participants involved in an internship (41.0%;n=86/210), most developed such opportunities independently (66.3%;n=57/86). Respondents who attended traditional HS suggested providing diverse electives (71.9%;n=133/185), additional internship (53.5%;n=99/185), and mentorship (33.0%;n=61/185) opportunities to effectively educate students regarding career options. Conclusions: College ATS that gained internship experience during HS report the opportunity positively influenced their career selection. Mentors support HS students by offering insight and expertise in guiding students’ career choices. Participants suggested HS afford diverse electives with internship and mentorship opportunities to positively influence interested students towards pursuing a career in athletic training

Recurrent Tibial Tunnel Cyst Formation Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and Interference Screw Removal

A unique case of a collegiate athlete who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury leading to the formation of a synovial cyst is described. The cyst, localized over the tibial tunnel, resulted from irritation caused by the removal of interference screws

The edge of the M87 halo and the kinematics of the diffuse light in the Virgo cluster core

We present high resolution FLAMES/VLT spectroscopy of intracluster planetary nebula (ICPN) candidates, targeting three new fields in the Virgo cluster core with surface brightness down to mu_B = 28.5. Based on the projected phase space information we separate the old and 12 newly-confirmed PNs into galaxy and intracluster components. The M87 PNs are confined to the extended stellar envelope of M87, within a projected radius of ~ 160 kpc, while the ICPNs are scattered across the whole surveyed region between M87 and M86. The velocity dispersions determined from the M87 PNs at projected radii of 60 kpc and 144 kpc show that the galaxy's velocity dispersion profile decreases in the outer halo, down to 78 +/- 25 km/s. A Jeans model for the M87 halo stars in the gravitational potential traced by the X-ray emission fits the observed velocity dispersion profile only if the stellar orbits are strongly radially anisotropic (beta ~= 0.4 at r ~= 10 kpc increasing to 0.8 at the outer edge), and if additionally the stellar halo is truncated at ~= 150 kpc average elliptical radius. From the spatial and velocity distribution of the ICPNs we infer that M87 and M86 are falling towards each other and that we may be observing them just before the first close pass. The inferred luminosity-specific PN numbers for the M87 halo and the ICL are in the range of values observed for old (> 10 Gyr) stellar populations (abridged).Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 16 pages, 14 figures and 4 table

Optical and near-IR spectroscopy of candidate red galaxies in two z~2.5 proto-clusters

We present a spectroscopic campaign to follow-up red colour-selected candidate massive galaxies in two high redshift proto-clusters surrounding radio galaxies. We observed a total of 57 galaxies in the field of MRC0943-242 (z=2.93) and 33 in the field of PKS1138-262 (z=2.16) with a mix of optical and near-infrared multi-object spectroscopy. We confirm two red galaxies in the field of PKS1138-262 at the redshift of the radio galaxy. Based on an analysis of their spectral energy distributions, and their derived star formation rates from the H-alpha and 24um flux, one object belongs to the class of dust-obscured star-forming red galaxies, while the other is evolved with little ongoing star formation. This result represents the first red and mainly passively evolving galaxy to be confirmed as companion galaxies in a z>2 proto-cluster. Both red galaxies in PKS1138-262 are massive, of the order of 4-6x10^11 M_Sol. They lie along a Colour-Magnitude relation which implies that they formed the bulk of their stellar population around z=4. In the MRC0943-242 field we find no red galaxies at the redshift of the radio galaxy but we do confirm the effectiveness of our JHK_s selection of galaxies at 2.3<z<3.1, finding that 10 out of 18 (56%) of JHK_s-selected galaxies whose redshifts could be measured fall within this redshift range. We also serendipitously identify an interesting foreground structure of 6 galaxies at z=2.6 in the field of MRC0943-242. This may be a proto-cluster itself, but complicates any interpretation of the red sequence build-up in MRC0943-242 until more redshifts can be measured.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The star formation rate at redshift one: H-alpha spectroscopy with CIRPASS

We have conducted an H-alpha survey of 38 0.77<z<1 galaxies over ~100 arcmin^2 of the Hubble Deep Field North and Flanking Fields, to determine star formation rates (SFRs), with the near-infrared multi-object spectrograph CIRPASS on the WHT. This represents the first successful application of this technique to observing high redshift galaxies. Stacking the spectra in the rest-frame to infer a total SFR for the field, we find a lower limit (uncorrected for dust reddening) on the star formation rate density at redshift z = 1 of 0.04Msol/yr/Mpc^3. This implies rapid evolution in the star formation rate density from z = 0 to z = 1 which is proportional to (1+z)^{3.1}.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 13 pages including 9 figure

Make Art Real

The Make Art Real project aims to introduce new audiences to the arts. It supports Theme II of VCU’s Quest for Distinction by promoting and fostering creative expression through innovative collaborations. The project involves displaying existing connections between art and non-art disciplines, as well as making new connections. These unusual pairings are then placed on exhibition through a lunch-time lecture series named “Unexpected_Connections,” which allow faculty, staff, and students to lead and participate in discussions about the reality of art. The lecture series is the first sustainable and reoccurring program to be held in the Depot building, a multidisciplinary facility which is intended to foster interdisciplinary collaborations. The targeted audience includes faculty, staff, students, and members of the greater VCU community

BioAfrica's HIV-1 Proteomics Resource: Combining protein data with bioinformatics tools

Most Internet online resources for investigating HIV biology contain either bioinformatics tools, protein information or sequence data. The objective of this study was to develop a comprehensive online proteomics resource that integrates bioinformatics with the latest information on HIV-1 protein structure, gene expression, post-transcriptional/post-translational modification, functional activity, and protein-macromolecule interactions. The BioAfrica HIV-1 Proteomics Resource is a website that contains detailed information about the HIV-1 proteome and protease cleavage sites, as well as data-mining tools that can be used to manipulate and query protein sequence data, a BLAST tool for initiating structural analyses of HIV-1 proteins, and a proteomics tools directory. The Proteome section contains extensive data on each of 19 HIV-1 proteins, including their functional properties, a sample analysis of HIV-1(HXB2), structural models and links to other online resources. The HIV-1 Protease Cleavage Sites section provides information on the position, subtype variation and genetic evolution of Gag, Gag-Pol and Nef cleavage sites. The HIV-1 Protein Data-mining Tool includes a set of 27 group M (subtypes A through K) reference sequences that can be used to assess the influence of genetic variation on immunological and functional domains of the protein. The BLAST Structure Tool identifies proteins with similar, experimentally determined topologies, and the Tools Directory provides a categorized list of websites and relevant software programs. This combined database and software repository is designed to facilitate the capture, retrieval and analysis of HIV-1 protein data, and to convert it into clinically useful information relating to the pathogenesis, transmission and therapeutic response of different HIV-1 variants. The HIV-1 Proteomics Resource is readily accessible through the BioAfrica website at