It\u27s Camp : Summer Camp Culture, the Renegotiation of Social Norms and Regulation of Gender and Sexuality

Summer camps are an important part of U.S culture. 11 million children attend summer camp in the U.S.A each year. Yet, little work has been done to explore the cultural phenomenon of summer camp. At summer camps, there are many implicit and explicit norms regarding sexuality and gender. These norms, in turn, have larger implications for understanding children\u27s development of self, their gender identity, and sexuality. I study summer camp culture at Camp Delaware by interviewing former campers (often referred to as ex-campers) about their experiences. I investigate how summer camp culture both reconstructs and reifies social norms, particularly those surrounding gender and sexuality. Summer camps are an under-researched, yet highly important part of U.S culture. It is important we begin to understand how gender and sexuality function in these spaces, so we can replicate the positive effects and work to overcome the negative outcomes of such a unique locale

Trans Men’s Access to Knowledgeable Providers and Their Experiences in Health Care Settings: Differences by Demographics, Mental Health, and Degree of Being “Out” to Providers

Transgender adults face a health care system rife with stigma, including a lack of culturally responsive providers and high likelihood of discrimination and mistreatment. However, there is a gap in knowledge about trans men—those assigned a female sex at birth who identify as men or as transmasculine—including subgroups, such as trans men of color. Using data from the U.S. Transgender Survey, the largest transgender survey conducted in the United States, this study analyzes whether trans men’s access to knowledgeable providers and their experiences of mistreatment in health care were related to demographic and mental health characteristics and degree of being “out” to providers. Among 7,950 trans men, respondent race and ethnicity, education level, disability status, psychological distress, suicidality, and being less “out” were associated with assessing one’s health care provider as not knowledgeable about trans-related care. Mistreatment in health care was more common among Alaska Native/American Indian trans men; those who lived in or near poverty; those who were queer, pansexual, bisexual, or an orientation not listed; those with a disability; those experiencing distress or suicidality; and those who were more “out.” This article discusses how findings can inform culturally responsive health care interventions with trans men

Attention to infrastructure offers a welcome reconfiguration of anthropological approaches to the political

This constitutes the edited proceedings of the 2015 meeting of the Group for Debates in Anthropological Theory held at Manchester

Whole-body energy transfer strategies during football instep kicking: implications for training practices

Knowledge of whole-body energy transfer strategies during football instep kicking can help inform empirically grounded training practices. The aim of this study was thus to investigate energy transfer strategies of 15 semi-professional players performing kicks for speed and accuracy. Three-dimensional kinematics and GRFs (both 1000 Hz) were incorporated into segment power analyses to derive energy transfers between the support leg, torso, pelvis and kick leg throughout the kick. Energy transferred from support leg (r = 0.62, P = 0.013) and torso (r = 0.54, P = 0.016) into the pelvis during tension arc formation and leg cocking was redistributed to the kick leg during the downswing (r = 0.76, P < 0.001) and were associated with faster foot velocities at ball contact. This highlights whole-body function during instep kicking. Of particular importance were: (a) regulating support leg energy absorption, (b) eccentric formation and concentric release of a 'tension arc' between the torso and kicking hip, and (c) coordinated proximal to distal sequencing of the kick leg. Resistance exercises that replicate the demands of these interactions may help develop more powerful kicking motions and varying task and/or environmental constraints might facilitate development of adaptable energy transfer strategies

Insights from wildfire science: A resource for fire policy discussions

Record blazes swept across parts of the US in 2015, burning more than 10 million acres. The four biggest fire seasons since 1960 have all occurred in the last 10 years, leading to fears of a ‘new normal’ for wildfire. Fire fighters and forest managers are overwhelmed, and it is clear that the policy and management approaches of the past will not suffice under this new era of western wildfires. In recent decades, state and federal policymakers, tribes, and others are confronting longer fire seasons (Jolly et al. 2015), more large fires (Dennison et al. 2014), a tripling of homes burned, and a doubling of firefighter deaths (Rasker 2015). Federal agencies now spend $2 to$3 billion annually fighting fires (and in the case of the US Forest Service, over 50% of their budget), and the total cost to society may be up to 30 times more than the direct cost of firefighting. If we want to contain these costs and reduce risks to communities, economies, and natural systems, we can draw on the best available science when designing fire management strategies, as called for in the recent federal report on Wildland Fire Science and Technology. Here, we highlight key science insights that can contribute to the public discourse on wildfire policy and associated management of forests, woodlands, and shrublands. This information is fundamental to decisions that will promote resilient communities and landscapes facing more fire in the future

Tomographic Separation of Composite Spectra. VIII. The Physical Properties of the Massive Compact Binary in the Triple Star System HD 36486 (delta Orionis A)

Double-lined spectroscopic orbital elements have recently been found for the central binary in the massive triple, delta Orionis A based on radial velocities from cross-correlation techniques applied to IUE high dispersion spectra and He I 6678 spectra obtained at Kitt Peak. The primary and secondary velocity amplitudes were found to be 94.9 +/- 0.6 km/s and 186 +/- 9 km/s respectively. Tomographic reconstructions of the primary and secondary stars' spectra confirm the O9.5 II classification of the primary and indicate a B0.5 III type for the secondary. The widths of the UV cross-correlation functions are used to estimate the projected rotational velocities, Vsin i = 157 +/- 6 km/s and 138 +/- 16 km/s for the primary and secondary, respectively implying that both stars rotate faster than their orbital motion. We used the spectroscopic results to make a constrained fit of the Hipparcos light curve of this eclipsing binary, and the model fits limit the inclination to the range between 67 and 77 degrees. The i = 67 degrees solution, which corresponds to a near Roche-filling configuration, results in a primary mass of 11.2 solar masses and a secondary mass of 5.6 solar masses, both of which are substantially below the expected masses for stars of their luminosity. This binary may have experienced a mass ratio reversal caused by Case A Roche lobe overflow, or the system may have suffered extensive mass loss through a binary interaction, perhaps during a common envelope phase, in which most of the primary's mass was lost from the system rather than transferred to the secondary.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures in press, the Astrophysical Journal, February 1, 200

Background: A Social Framework for Big Data

This is a Background document to 'A Social Framework for Big Data', which proposes an agenda that understands how social composition and social effects are related and proposes that giving Big Data a ‘social intelligence’ requires acting with an ethic of care. The Background provides a discussion of some conceptual issues and debates related to this agenda. Both documents along with a working paper, 'Socialising Big Data: from concept to practice' are the product of an ESRC funded project, Socialising Big Data, led by Evelyn Ruppert (2013-14)

A Social Framework for Big Data

The Social Framework proposes an agenda that understands how social composition and social effects are related and proposes that giving Big Data a ‘social intelligence’ requires acting with an ethic of care. It is the product of an ESRC funded project, Socialising Big Data, led by Evelyn Ruppert (2013-14). Accompanying documents that are available are a working paper, 'Socialising Big Data: from concept to practice' and 'Background: A Social Framework for Big Data.

Focused Mid‐Crustal Magma Intrusion During Continental Break‐Up in Ethiopia

Significant volumes of magma can be intruded into the crust during continental break‐up, influencing rift evolution by altering the thermo‐mechanical structure of the crust and its response to extensional stresses. Rift magmas additionally feed surface volcanic activity and can be globally significant sources of tectonic CO2 emissions. Understanding how magmatism may affect rift development requires knowledge on magma intrusion depths in the crust. Here, using data from olivine‐hosted melt inclusions, we investigate magma dynamics for basaltic intrusions in the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER). We find evidence for a spatially focused zone of magma intrusion at the MER upper‐lower crustal boundary (10–15 km depth), consistent with geophysical datasets. We propose that ascending melts in the MER are intruded over this depth range as discrete sills, likely creating a mechanically weak mid‐crustal layer. Our results have important implications for how magma addition can influence crustal rheology in a maturing continental rift