The use of contemporary and historic diatom assemblages in the derivation of reference state communities for rivers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Reference state conditions of minimally disturbed headwaters were identified from present-day and historic diatom data of key rivers within the selected study area, with the main purpose of establishing diatom reference state communities

Sexual Attitudes as Predictors of Homonegativity in College Women

Rancorous attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men are widespread in the United States (Morrison, Parriag, & Morrison, 1999). Homonegativity is any prejudicial attitude or discriminatory behavior directed toward an individual because of his or her homosexual orientation (Morrison, McLeod, Morrison, Anderson, & O’Connor, 1997). A small amount of research has been done regarding women’s attitudes towards lesbians. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential relationship between sexual attitude expression and homonegativity. It was hypothesized that females with conservative sexual attitudes would show higher levels of homonegativity, and females with liberal sexual attitudes should show more non-homonegative expression towards lesbians. A correlation analysis supported the hypothesis (r =.73, p \u3c .01) indicating a positive correlation

The Benefits and Barriers of Physical Activity among College Students

According to the DHHS, one third of adults in the United States do not participate in enough physical activity (Coronado, Sos, Talbot, Do & Taylor, 2010). Physical inactivity is a serious health problem among university students, (Irwin, 2007, p.40). This poses a great danger to students who have serious health issues. Thirty-seven percent of the college student population is overweight, with 11 % being obese, (Berg, An, Ahluwalia, 2013, p. 389). Even though the benefits of participating in physical activity are proven to increase psychological and physiological health, many college students do not meet the minimal recommendations for physical activity (Kilpatrick, Herbert & Bartholomew, 2005). Obesity has increased among college students due to lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyle, such as long periods of sitting and inactivity (Bragg, Carolyn, Kaye & Desmond, 2009). Specifically, weight gain in the first few years of college is becoming an important concern affecting the likelihood that more young adults are, or will become obese, (Gruber, 2008, p.557). On average, weight gain is greater among college students compared to the general population (English, 2009). However, students can improve their health by including exercise 5 days each week for 30 min (English, 2009). Students have an array of physical activity options available to them through campus recreational facilities; for example, recreational sports, games, weight lifting, swimming, or outdoor activities. These activities range from moderate to vigorous intensity levels (Coronado, Sos, Talbot, Do & Taylor, 2010). While it may appear simplistic to engage in these activities, there are challenges and barriers that can impede students from reaping the benefits of physical activity. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the benefits and challenges of physical activity for college students

Debating evolutions in science, technology and society Ethical and ideological perspectives: An introduction

This article introduces the theme of the Special Issue on \u201cDebating evolutions in science, technology and society: Ethical and ideological perspectives.\u201d Its starts from the idea that new advances in science and in technology, new evolutions in society, politics and culture bring with them the need to update linguistic resources at different levels in order to be able to talk about them and accommodate new concepts. Thus they inevitably result in an impact on language and discourse that goes well beyond vocabulary and terminology. They change patterns of thinking, reasoning and conceptualizing, leading to new representations and new discourses. In particular, representation of evolutions in texts addressed to the general public involves the transfer of domain-specific knowledge to various non-specialist audiences and its recontextualization and transformation to be made accessible to the non-specialist. That is why it can never be neutral, even when the writer has the best intentions in terms of accuracy and honesty. The focus of this introductory article is in particular on the notion of discursive frame, frames being cognitive perceptual structures that either subconsciously or strategically influence participants on how to \u201chear or how to say\u201d something. It shows that framing, selecting and perspectivising are inevitable in knowledge dissemination and transmission, and argues that since they are so effective, discourse frames are a powerful ideological instrument, capable of influencing the public perception of the most crucial issues in society

Collective Impact in/for Adult Education: A Framework for Collective Action to Address Community Complexity and Resilience

We explore how adult educators may (re)position their praxis to focus on the social action goals of adult education by envisioning the possibilities of Collective Impact (CI) and evaluation capacity building. Implications emphasize the potential of achieving collective impact outcomes to address community complexity, resiliency, and systems-level change

The State of Fraternity and Sorority Life in Higher Education

Since the establishment of the first fraternity Phi Beta Kappa in 1776, fraternities and sororities have had a 200-year-old history on college campuses in the United States. Fraternity and sorority life has become an important opportunity for students to get involved, gain leadership skills, and develop into global citizens. Despite a long standing history, the threat on the sustainability of these organizations has increased over the years. Hazing, alcohol abuse, and negative media attention have created challenges for Greek-letter organizations. The purpose of this article is to explore the historical context of fraternity and sorority life, the issues that are impacting the Greek community, and provide recommendations for student affairs professionals

X-ray Observations of XSS J12270-4859 in a New Low State: A Transformation to a Disk-Free Rotation-Powered Pulsar Binary

We present XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of the low-mass X-ray binary XSS J12270--4859, which experienced a dramatic decline in optical/X-ray brightness at the end of 2012, indicative of the disappearance of its accretion disk. In this new state, the system exhibits previously absent orbital-phase-dependent, large-amplitude X-ray modulations with a decline in flux at superior conjunction. The X-ray emission remains predominantly non-thermal but with an order of magnitude lower mean luminosity and significantly harder spectrum relative to the previous high flux state. This phenomenology is identical to the behavior of the radio millisecond pulsar binary PSR J1023+0038 in the absence of an accretion disk, where the X-ray emission is produced in an intra-binary shock driven by the pulsar wind. This further demonstrates that XSS J12270-4859 no longer has an accretion disk and has transformed to a full-fledged eclipsing "redback" system that hosts an active rotation-powered millisecond pulsar. There is no evidence for diffuse X-ray emission associated with the binary that may arise due to outflows or a wind nebula. An extended source situated 1.5' from XSS J12270--4859 is unlikely to be associated, and is probably a previously uncatalogued galaxy cluster.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa