It\u27s No Secret, it\u27s Racism

In the world of high level sports, it is everywhere you look. When you watch sports on television it is obvious. It is on the sideline and in the announcer’s voice. There are many objective examples that support what you are seeing and hearing, but are these examples just a coincidence? It is the reason Larry Bird is known for his cunning and witty characteristics on the basketball court and the same reason Michael Vick became known as a great quarterback for his foot speed rather than ability to read the defense. The “it” I am referring to is the social construct that depicts black athletes as physical specimens with natural ability and white athletes as witty and hardworking. The success of black athletes is often undermined by the notion that much of their ability comes naturally to them, and this ability allows them to overcome their lack of IQ within their given sport. White athletes are praised for having great leadership ability and being extremely hardworking. The notorious phrase associated with this social construct is, “White men can’t jump.” This paper will point out some of the areas in sports we see this construct, why we are conditioned to view black and white athletes this way, and the implications of it all

A computerized Langmuir probe system

For low pressure plasmas it is important to record entire single or double Langmuir probe characteristics accurately. For plasmas with a depleted high energy tail, the accuracy of the recorded ion current plays a critical role in determining the electron temperature. Even for high density Maxwellian distributions, it is necessary to accurately model the ion current to obtain the correct electron density. Since the electron and ion current saturation values are, at best, orders of magnitude apart, a single current sensing resistor cannot provide the required resolution to accurately record these values. We present an automated, personal computer based data acquisition system for the determination of fundamental plasma properties in low pressure plasmas. The system is designed for single and double Langmuir probes, whose characteristics can be recorded over a bias voltage range of ±70 V with 12 bit resolution. The current flowing through the probes can be recorded within the range of 5 nA–100 mA. The use of a transimpedance amplifier for current sensing eliminates the requirement for traditional current sensing resistors and hence the need to correct the raw data. The large current recording range is realized through the use of a real time gain switching system in the negative feedback loop of the transimpedance amplifier

Self-Induced Quasistationary Magnetic Fields

The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with temporally dispersive magnetic solids of small dimensions may show very special resonant behaviors. The internal fields of such samples are characterized by magnetostatic-potential scalar wave functions. The oscillating modes have the energy orthogonality properties and unusual pseudo-electric (gauge) fields. Because of a phase factor, that makes the states single valued, a persistent magnetic current exists. This leads to appearance of an eigen-electric moment of a small disk sample. One of the intriguing features of the mode fields is dynamical symmetry breaking

The Role of The Physical and Social Environment for Physical Activity for College Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic created significant disruptions for college students, impacting health and physical activity (PA). Changes to the PA environment presented many challenges for students.Purpose: To examine the influence of the physical and social environment on PA participation for college students during the onset of COVID-19 restrictions.Methods: This cross-sectional, mixed methods survey used an online questionnaire during the onset of COVID-19 restrictions with a volunteer sample of college students at a large university in the United States. Participants self-reported their demographics, PA level and environment for PA, and responded to an open-ended question about their PA participation during the pandemic. Correlations and independent samples t-tests examined relationships between PA and the environment. Qualitative data were scanned to identify overarching themes.Results: Participants (n = 395) were predominantly Non-Hispanic White and female. The neighborhood environment and access to PA equipment were associated with PA for both men and women. Major qualitative themes highlighted the role of the physical environment and PA. Participating in PA with friends and family was positively associated with PA for both men and women as well.Conclusions: This study provides insight on the importance of the social and built environment for encouraging and supporting PA among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic which may provide insight for distance education as higher education evolves

Investigating Gender Disparities in Internal Medicine Residency Awards

Background: Significant gender disparities persist in career advancement for physicians. Studies have highlighted the lack of female representation in awards from both academic institutions and professional societies; these awards play a role in promotions, making them a fundamental building block of success. Objectives: We aim to explore the gender breakdown among resident awards presented by several Internal Medicine residency programs across the United States in this pilot study. Our ultimate goals are to define disparities in award selection, determine what variables contribute to these disparities, and work to mitigate these variables. Methods/Research: We generated a survey in REDCap to collect retrospective data about resident award selection from academic Internal Medicine residency programs across the country. This survey gathered awards data from 2009-2019 and included variables such as gender breakdown of the program, gender of resident award recipients, and details about how awards are selected. Eight programs completed the survey; these programs were from six different states in various geographic regions. Overall 43.1 percent of residents were female. Across all residency programs and years, there were 51 distinct resident awards with 290 (39.7%) female winners. Of the 51 distinct awards, there were 10 which were awarded to female residents with the same or higher frequency as males; 6 of these mentioned words that have been differentially associated with women in medicine such as “ambulatory,” “community,” “compassion,” and “humanism.” In the 41 awards favoring males, there was only a single mention of the word “compassion,” and no mention of the others. Conclusions/Impact: This data shows a concerning disparity in gender of award winners. In the future we will collect data from more residency programs and perform a thorough investigation of selection mechanisms that may help mitigate bias in order to ultimately propose strategies to reduce these gender disparities.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/sexandgenderhealth/1007/thumbnail.jp

Extraction-scintillation medium and method of use

An extraction-scintillation medium of substantially free-flowing, porous, solid particulate matter having one or more fluors retained within the particulate matter and an extraction agent adsorbed on or bound to the surface of the particulate matter. The medium is capable of extracting one of a selected radionuclide from an aqueous stream and permits transmission of light therethrough, which light is emitted from the one or more fluors in response to radiation absorbed thereby from the selected radionuclide. A sensor system using the extraction-scintillation medium for real-time or near real-time detection of the selected radionuclide is also disclosed

Regulations to Promote Healthy Sleep Practices in Child Care

The purpose of this study was to assess state licensing and administrative regulations promoting healthy sleep practices in child care and to compare these regulations to national recommendations

States Lack Physical Activity Policies in Child Care That Are Consistent with National Recommendations

Background: Child care facilities' policies can importantly impact health behaviors of toddlers and preschoolers. Our aim was to assess state regulations promoting physical activity (PA) in child care and compare regulations to national recommendations

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 11

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs