Indian Women’s Uplift Movements and the Dangers of Cultural Imperialism

Because women encounter unique geographic, social, political, religious, economic, and temporal conditions, applying the particular agendas of traditional western feminism to countries like India can easily become a form of cultural imperialism or lead to Orientalism. Therefore, in this essay I argue that in order to support the agency of Indian women, western feminists must step back; Indian women and men who seek women\u27s uplift must claim post-patriarchal expressions of traditional Indian culture. Tradition does and should inform modern culture. However, Indian women\u27s uplift movements and western feminism alike must utilize both ancient and modern wisdom in our quest for social justice

Sr. Jane: “Journeying” with God’s People

I interviewed Sr. Jane in December of 2017 regarding her life experiences as a woman religious. This paper includes portions of the interview where she reflected on her experiences journeying with God’s people, God’s relational presence with those who suffer, and the relationship between spirituality and politics

Salvation Through Community and Protest

This essay examines the theodicies of Nancy Pineda-Madrid, Kelly Brown Douglas, and Dorothee Soelle to strategize ways for Christians to combat rising threats to marginalized communities. Synthesizing the arguments of these three feminist Christians, I argue that only a theodicy of protest succeeds in accounting for structural injustice caused by kyriarchal relationships. As Christians come to terms with America’s current political situation, I call for a reimagining of Anselm’s salvation narrative. My protest theodicy theorizes a new Christian narrative that strives to alleviate this-worldly suffering in order to produce salvation through radical community, by “signifyin’” to disrupt power, and using protest as a form of shared power

Reproducing the Capitalist Patriarchy in the Evangelical Christian Sexual Purity Movement: A Feminist Christian’s Concern and Hope

Through a feminist lens, this essay will explore modern expressions of the conservative evangelical Christian purity movement, including Christian sex manuals, abstinence-only education programs, and purity balls. To begin, I will explain the most important facets of my own feminist theory, which draws from existentialist, socialist, and postmodern feminisms. Using this unique combination of theories, I will attempt to reconcile my deeply held Christian and feminist beliefs about sex. Finally, I will propose a solution that honors both of these important parts of my identity. I assert that the Christian purity movement Others women reinforcing a gender binary, bending to the will of capitalist power structures, and assuming unified human experience. As we strive to disrupt systems that Other women like capitalism and patriarchy, we must not Other the women whom we hope to help by assuming that we already know their experience. In order to truly love our neighbors, we Christians—and feminists—must deeply listen to the beliefs that shape their genuine convictions

Labeling Graphs with a Condition at Distance 2

Given a simple graph G (V, E) and a positive number d, an Ld(2, 1)-labelling of G is a function f V(G) [0, oc) such that whenever x, y E V are adjacent, If(x)- f(Y)l>- 2d, and whenever the distance between x and y is two, If(x) f(Y)l>- d. The Ld(2, 1)-labelling number A(G, d) is the smallest number m such that G has an Ld(2, 1)-labelling f with max{f(v) v E V} m. It is shown that to determine A(G, d), it suffices to study the case when d 1 and the labelling is nonnegative integral-valued. Let A(G) A(G, 1). The labelling numbers of special classes of graphs, e.g., A(C) 4 for any cycle C, are described. It is shown that for graphs of maximum degree A, A(G)

Supporting Paralympic wheelchair sport performance through technological, physiological and environmental considerations

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Annals of Human Biology on 25 Sep 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03014460.2016.1234644

Prediction of core body temperature from multiple variables

This paper aims to improve the prediction of rectal temperature (Tre) from insulated skin temperature (Tis) and micro-climate temperature (Tmc) previously reported (Richmond et al., Insulated skin temperature as a measure of core body temperature for individuals wearing CBRN protective clothing. Physiol Meas 2013; 34:1531–43.) using additional physiological and/or environmental variables, under several clothing and climatic conditions. Twelve male (25.8±5.1 years; 73.6±11.5kg; 178±6cm) and nine female (24.2±5.1 years; 62.4±11.5kg; 169±3cm) volunteers completed six trials, each consisting of two 40-min periods of treadmill walking separated by a 20-min rest, wearing permeable or impermeable clothing, under neutral (25°C, 50%), moderate (35°C, 35%), and hot (40°C, 25%) conditions, with and without solar radiation (600W m−2). Participants were measured for heart rate (HR) (Polar, Finland), skin temperature (Ts) at 11 sites, Tis (Grant, Cambridge, UK), and breathing rate (f) (Hidalgo, Cambridge, UK). Tmc and relative humidity were measured within the clothing. Tre was monitored as the 'gold standard' measure of Tc for industrial or military applications using a 10cm flexible probe (Grant, Cambridge, UK). A stepwise multiple regression analysis was run to determine which of 30 variables (Tis, Ts at 11 sites, HR, f, Tmc, temperature, and humidity inside the clothing front and back, body mass, age, body fat, sex, clothing, Thermal comfort, sensation and perception, and sweat rate) were the strongest on which to base the model. Using a bootstrap methodology to develop the equation, the best model in terms of practicality and validity included Tis, Tmc, HR, and 'work' (0 = rest; 1 = exercise), predicting Tre with a standard error of the estimate of 0.27°C and adjusted r2 of 0.86. The sensitivity and specificity for predicting individuals who reached 39°C was 97 and 85%, respectively. Insulated skin temperature was the most important individual parameter for the prediction of Tre. This paper provides novel information about the viability of predicting Tc under a wide range of conditions, using predictors which can practically be measured in a field environment

Q2Q_2-free families in the Boolean lattice

For a family $\mathcal{F}$ of subsets of [n]=\{1, 2, ..., n} ordered by inclusion, and a partially ordered set P, we say that $\mathcal{F}$ is P-free if it does not contain a subposet isomorphic to P. Let $ex(n, P)$ be the largest size of a P-free family of subsets of [n]. Let $Q_2$ be the poset with distinct elements a, b, c, d, a<b, c<d; i.e., the 2-dimensional Boolean lattice. We show that $2N -o(N) \leq ex(n, Q_2)\leq 2.283261N +o(N),$ where $N = \binom{n}{\lfloor n/2 \rfloor}$. We also prove that the largest $Q_2$-free family of subsets of [n] having at most three different sizes has at most 2.20711N members.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure

A Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov-type lemma for systems with certain state-dependent constraints

In this note, a result is presented that may be considered an extension of the classical Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov (KYP) lemma. Motivated by problems in the design of switched systems, we wish to infer the existence of a quadratic Lyapunov function (QLF) for a nonlinear system in the case where a matrix defining one system is a rank-1 perturbation of the other and where switching between the systems is orchestrated according to a conic partitioning of the state space IRn. We show that a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a QLF reduces to checking a single constraint on a sum of transfer functions irrespective of problem dimension. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our conditions reduce to the classical KYP lemma when the conic partition of the state space is IRn, with the transfer function condition reducing to the condition of Strict Positive Realness

Study Protocol: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Patient Navigation-Activation to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities

Abstract Background Cancer health disparities affecting low-income and minority patients are well documented. Root-causes are multifactorial, including diagnostic and treatment delays, social and financial barriers, and poor communication. Patient navigation and communication coaching (activation) are potential interventions to address disparities in cancer treatment. The purpose of this clinical trial is to test the effectiveness of an intervention combining patient navigation and activation to improve cancer treatment. Methods/Design The Rochester Patient Navigation Research Program (PNRP) is a National Cancer Institute-sponsored, patient-level randomized trial (RCT) of patient navigation and activation, targeting newly-diagnosed breast and colorectal cancer patients in Rochester, NY. The goal of the program is to decrease cancer health disparities by addressing barriers to receipt of cancer care and promoting patient self-efficacy. The intervention uses trained, paraprofessional patient navigators recruited from the target community, and a detailed training and supervisory program. Recruited patients are randomly assigned to receive either usual care (except for baseline and follow-up questionnaires and interviews) or intervention. The intervention patients receive tailored assistance from their patient navigators, including phone calls, in-person meetings, and behind-the-scenes coordination of care. A total of 344 patients have been recruited. Outcomes measured at three month intervals include timeliness of care, patient adherence, patient satisfaction, quality of life, self-efficacy, health literacy, and cancer knowledge. Discussion This unique intervention combining patient navigation and patient activation is designed to address the multifactorial problem of cancer health disparities. If successful, this study will affect the design and implementation of patient navigation programs. Trials Registration clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT00496678http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78254/1/1471-2407-10-551.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78254/2/1471-2407-10-551.pdfPeer Reviewe