Social Problems are Social: Empirical Evidence and Reflections on Integrating Community Psychology into Traditional Curriculum

The paper will describe the development and impact of a course that exemplifies the principles and values of community psychology, but does so outside the bounds of a community psychology program or concentration in a large, diverse, public university. The class, Community Engagement for Social Change, has two aims: to teach undergraduates that social problems have social causes, and to engage students in a range of social problem-solving approaches that incorporate that understanding. It accomplishes these aims by introducing a “multi-level analysis” of social problems, using a case study of the social problem of poverty, and requiring that all students complete 20 hours of service in community organizations. The development of the class required strategic thinking and significant retooling in order to attract and promote learning across a broad range of students. It has now been offered each semester for seven years, and has evolved into an opportunity for the first author and her graduate students to integrate social justice-oriented teaching and research. For the past three years, the authors have been engaged in a longitudinal project evaluating the impact of the class on student outcomes. This paper provides an overview of this course, and describes lessons learned from two sources: (1) the experience of teaching and refining the class, and (2) the longitudinal dataset collected from students who did and did not take the course. Data show that the class is effective in shifting attitudes both specific to poverty and more generally to social problems. Results also show that implicit bias did not shift over the course of the semester, and that individual and systemic attributions for social problems are only moderately related. We hope that sharing our experience is useful to those interested in similar coursework in other institutions that lack an explicit focus on community psychology

Social Problems are Social: Empirical Evidence and Reflections on Integrating Community Psychology into Traditional Curriculum

The paper will describe the development and impact of a course that exemplifies the principles and values of community psychology, but does so outside the bounds of a community psychology program or concentration in a large, diverse, public university. The class, Community Engagement for Social Change, has two aims: to teach undergraduates that social problems have social causes, and to engage students in a range of social problem-solving approaches that incorporate that understanding. It accomplishes these aims by introducing a “multi-level analysis” of social problems, using a case study of the social problem of poverty, and requiring that all students complete 20 hours of service in community organizations. The development of the class required strategic thinking and significant retooling in order to attract and promote learning across a broad range of students. It has now been offered each semester for seven years, and has evolved into an opportunity for the first author and her graduate students to integrate social justice-oriented teaching and research. For the past three years, the authors have been engaged in a longitudinal project evaluating the impact of the class on student outcomes. This paper provides an overview of this course, and describes lessons learned from two sources: (1) the experience of teaching and refining the class, and (2) the longitudinal dataset collected from students who did and did not take the course. Data show that the class is effective in shifting attitudes both specific to poverty and more generally to social problems. Results also show that implicit bias did not shift over the course of the semester, and that individual and systemic attributions for social problems are only moderately related. We hope that sharing our experience is useful to those interested in similar coursework in other institutions that lack an explicit focus on community psychology

The role of ν\nu-induced reactions on lead and iron in neutrino detectors

We have calculated cross sections and branching ratios for neutrino induced reactions on ^{208}Pb and ^{56}Fe for various supernova and accelerator-relevant neutrino spectra. This was motivated by the facts that lead and iron will be used on one hand as target materials in future neutrino detectors, on the other hand have been and are still used as shielding materials in accelerator-based experiments. In particular we study the inclusive ^{56}$Fe(\nu_e,e^-)$^{56}Co and ^{208}$Pb(\nu_e,e^-)$^{208}Bi cross sections and calculate the neutron energy spectra following the decay of the daughter nuclei. These reactions give a potential background signal in the KARMEN and LSND experiment and are discussed as a detection scheme for supernova neutrinos in the proposed OMNIS and LAND detectors. We also study the neutron-emission following the neutrino-induced neutral-current excitation of ^{56}Fe and ^{208}Pb.Comment: 23 pages (including 7 figures

Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay in 136^{136}Xe with EXO-200

We report on a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe with EXO-200. No signal is observed for an exposure of 32.5 kg-yr, with a background of ~1.5 x 10^{-3} /(kg yr keV) in the $\pm 1\sigma$ region of interest. This sets a lower limit on the half-life of the neutrinoless double-beta decay $T_{1/2}^{0\nu\beta\beta}$($^{136}$Xe) > 1.6 x 10$^{25}$ yr (90% CL), corresponding to effective Majorana masses of less than 140-380 meV, depending on the matrix element calculation

Estimating HIV Incidence among Adults in Kenya and Uganda: A Systematic Comparison of Multiple Methods

CITATION: Kim, A. A. et al. 2011. Estimating HIV incidence among adults in Kenya and Uganda : a systematic comparison of multiple methods. PLos ONE, 6(3): e17535, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017535.The original publication is available at http://journals.plos.org/plosoneBackground: Several approaches have been used for measuring HIV incidence in large areas, yet each presents specific challenges in incidence estimation. Methodology/Principal Findings: We present a comparison of incidence estimates for Kenya and Uganda using multiple methods: 1) Epidemic Projections Package (EPP) and Spectrum models fitted to HIV prevalence from antenatal clinics (ANC) and national population-based surveys (NPS) in Kenya (2003, 2007) and Uganda (2004/2005); 2) a survey-derived model to infer age-specific incidence between two sequential NPS; 3) an assay-derived measurement in NPS using the BED IgG capture enzyme immunoassay, adjusted for misclassification using a locally derived false-recent rate (FRR) for the assay; (4) community cohorts in Uganda; (5) prevalence trends in young ANC attendees. EPP/Spectrum-derived and survey-derived modeled estimates were similar: 0.67 [uncertainty range: 0.60, 0.74] and 0.6 [confidence interval: (CI) 0.4, 0.9], respectively, for Uganda (2005) and 0.72 [uncertainty range: 0.70, 0.74] and 0.7 [CI 0.3, 1.1], respectively, for Kenya (2007). Using a local FRR, assay-derived incidence estimates were 0.3 [CI 0.0, 0.9] for Uganda (2004/2005) and 0.6 [CI 0, 1.3] for Kenya (2007). Incidence trends were similar for all methods for both Uganda and Kenya. Conclusions/Significance: Triangulation of methods is recommended to determine best-supported estimates of incidence to guide programs. Assay-derived incidence estimates are sensitive to the level of the assay's FRR, and uncertainty around high FRRs can significantly impact the validity of the estimate. Systematic evaluations of new and existing incidence assays are needed to the study the level, distribution, and determinants of the FRR to guide whether incidence assays can produce reliable estimates of national HIV incidence.http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0017535Publisher's versio

A simple radionuclide-driven single-ion source

We describe a source capable of producing single barium ions through nuclear recoils in radioactive decay. The source is fabricated by electroplating 148Gd onto a silicon {\alpha}-particle detector and vapor depositing a layer of BaF2 over it. 144Sm recoils from the alpha decay of 148Gd are used to dislodge Ba+ ions from the BaF2 layer and emit them in the surrounding environment. The simultaneous detection of an {\alpha} particle in the substrate detector allows for tagging of the nuclear decay and of the Ba+ emission. The source is simple, durable, and can be manipulated and used in different environments. We discuss the fabrication process, which can be easily adapted to emit most other chemical species, and the performance of the source

A liquid xenon ionization chamber in an all-fluoropolymer vessel

A novel technique has been developed to build vessels for liquid xenon ionization detectors entirely out of ultra-clean fluoropolymer. We describe the advantages in terms of low radioactivity contamination, provide some details of the construction techniques, and show the energy resolution achieved with a prototype all-fluoropolymer ionization detector.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Genome-Wide Haplotype Changes Produced by Artificial Selection during Modern Rice Breeding in Japan

During the last 90 years, the breeding of rice has delivered cultivars with improved agronomic and economic characteristics. Crossing of different lines and successive artificial selection of progeny based on their phenotypes have changed the chromosomal constitution of the ancestors of modern rice; however, the nature of these changes is unclear. The recent accumulation of data for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in rice has allowed us to investigate the change in haplotype structure and composition. To assess the impact of these changes during modern breeding, we studied 177 Japanese rice accessions, which were categorized into three groups: landraces, improved cultivars developed from 1931 to 1974 (the early breeding phase), and improved cultivars developed from 1975 to 2005 (the late breeding phase). Phylogenetic tree and structure analysis indicated genetic differentiation between non-irrigated (upland) and irrigated (lowland) rice groups as well as genetic structuring within the irrigated rice group that corresponded to the existence of three subgroups. Pedigree analysis revealed that a limited number of landraces and cultivars was used for breeding at the beginning of the period of systematic breeding and that 11 landraces accounted for 70% of the ancestors of the modern improved cultivars. The values for linkage disequilibrium estimated from SNP alleles and the haplotype diversity determined from consecutive alleles in five-SNP windows indicated that haplotype blocks became less diverse over time as a result of the breeding process. A decrease in haplotype diversity, caused by a reduced number of polymorphisms in the haplotype blocks, was observed in several chromosomal regions. However, our results also indicate that new haplotype polymorphisms have been generated across the genome during the breeding process. These findings will facilitate our understanding of the association between particular haplotypes and desirable phenotypes in modern Japanese rice cultivars

Measurement of the rate of nu_e + d --> p + p + e^- interactions produced by 8B solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Solar neutrinos from the decay of $^8$B have been detected at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) via the charged current (CC) reaction on deuterium and by the elastic scattering (ES) of electrons. The CC reaction is sensitive exclusively to nu_e's, while the ES reaction also has a small sensitivity to nu_mu's and nu_tau's. The flux of nu_e's from ^8B decay measured by the CC reaction rate is \phi^CC(nu_e) = 1.75 +/- 0.07 (stat)+0.12/-0.11 (sys.) +/- 0.05(theor) x 10^6 /cm^2 s. Assuming no flavor transformation, the flux inferred from the ES reaction rate is \phi^ES(nu_x) = 2.39+/-0.34 (stat.)+0.16}/-0.14 (sys) x 10^6 /cm^2 s. Comparison of \phi^CC(nu_e) to the Super-Kamiokande Collaboration's precision value of \phi^ES(\nu_x) yields a 3.3 sigma difference, providing evidence that there is a non-electron flavor active neutrino component in the solar flux. The total flux of active ^8B neutrinos is thus determined to be 5.44 +/-0.99 x 10^6/cm^2 s, in close agreement with the predictions of solar models.Comment: 6 pages (LaTex), 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter