Sunspot Activity and Ocean Temperature

In this activity students analyze and compare two graphs to determine if there is a correlation between solar activity and ocean temperature. They discover that by comparing the results from data that has been collected since the 1800's to the present, scientists have found a possible pattern. For example, there are many instances when the average ocean surface temperature and sunspot activity were at a high or low at about the same time. The source of the controversy is that there are also times in which a correlation is not seen in the data. Educational levels: High school, Middle school

The Northern Lights: Aurora Triangulation from Photographs

In this activity students use photos to determine parallax angle shifts and to calculate auroral height. They are following the work of the Norwegian scientist Carl Stormer, who used a similar technique to find out how high up aurora were located. Stormer made the photographic process an exacting science by carefully designing procedures and mathematical techniques to minimize many different sources of experimental error. This is one of a series of activities that will help students understand how the Northern Lights work, what causes them, and how to observe them. Educational levels: High school, Middle school

The Northern Lights: Estimating Heights with a Clinometer

In this activity students apply direct measurement of angles and length to determine height. They will use the tangent ratio and a clinometer, an easy-to-make instrument that allows one to estimate the height of an object such as a building, tree, or flag pole by using the properties of a right triangle. This is one of a series of activities that will help students understand how the Northern Lights work, what causes them, and how to observe them. Educational levels: High school, Middle school

Cosmic Rays and Sunspot Numbers

In this activity students analyze and compare two or more graphs to determine if there is a correlation between sunspot number and the variation of cosmic ray flux. They discover that cosmic rays are very energetic particles, mostly protons and electrons, that enter the solar system from the depths of interstellar space and that although the Earth's magnetic field partially shields us from these particles, so too does the much more extended solar wind with its own magnetic field. This is a three-part lesson in which students will construct line graphs displaying the cosmic ray flux and sunspot numbers for a period of time, and then determine if there is a correlation. In order to compare these two sets of data, students will need to scale the data in order to visualize the results. Teacher and student notes for the graphing calculator are included. Educational levels: High school, Middle school

Postindustrial elite and non-elite insecurities

Two growing conflicts, peculiar to postindustrial societies, challenge the ability of elites to keep postindustrial politics manageable. These are (1) a conflict between elites and those non-elites who remain reasonably well integrated in the productive and social orders of postindustrial societies but who feel themselves vulnerable to elite personnel decisions they regard as arbitrary and uninformed – ‘insiders’; (2) a conflict between insiders and the many persons in postindustrial societies who are more or less unemployable for objective or subjective reasons and located in strictly marginal or wholly superfluous work and dependency statuses – ‘outsiders’. Both conflicts impede the managerial roles of elites and raise questions about how postindustrial societies can be sustained without suffering organizational paralysis and the socioeconomic retrogression that would accompany it

Bending the Binary: Effects of Nonbinary Gender Media Representations on Disposition Formation and Media Enjoyment

Today, the issue of gender plays a larger role in our social discussions than in the past. Over the last decade, new and groundbreaking television shows and movies that showcase gender nonconforming characters and plots that challenge traditional gender roles have become more common. The aim of the present study was to examine the potential effects of gender-neutral representations in media programming and particularly whether different representations of gender might influence audience attitudes toward characters and overall enjoyment of the media. Affective Disposition Theory and Moral Foundations Theory were used as a framework for understanding people\u27s perceptions of gender-neutral media characters. The project involved a pretest/posttest experimental method with random assignment of participants to one of three conditions. Participants completed a pretest including measures of moral modules and trait empathy among other characteristics during week one. The next week, they were assigned to read one of three versions of a dramatic plot synopsis in which the gender of the main character was male, female or ambiguous. After reading the assigned synopsis, participants reported their disposition toward the main character in the stimulus and their enjoyment of the synopsis. Results indicated that depictions of gender that don\u27t activate traditional male and female gender schemas can have a negative influence on the participants\u27 initial dispositions toward the character. The gender representation in the stimulus was not related to reported enjoyment of the plot. Intrinsic moral modules appeared to influence participants\u27 dispositions toward the main character and their enjoyment. However, different modules were important to each of the different outcomes. Implications of the findings are discussed

Democratic elitism and western political thought (2009)

"Many political thinkers have viewed democratic elitism as closing a democratic road they believe is or should be open-ended. Their view of democratic possibilities reflects the auspicious circumstances of Western societies during the past several centuries and especially since World War II. However, it involves a conflation of liberal and democratic values. I examine why and how this has occurred, and I argue that liberal and democratic values must be more clearly separated in today's dangerous world. In step with Schumpeter, democracy must be regarded as a method or instrumental value that in some but by no means all circumstances promotes the ultimate liberal value of actively individualistic free people." (author's abstract

Defining Young Adulthood

Young adulthood is a unique developmental period that occurs between the ages of 18 and 25 years, during which there are key developmental tasks that allow the young adult to participate in self-exploration and identity formation. Currently, among various organizations there are differing definitions and age range inclusions for young adulthood, which cause confusion during program development, healthcare service delivery, and research. Young adulthood should be categorized separately from adolescence and adulthood, because young adults have lower rates of healthcare utilization and worse health outcomes related to preventable causes of morbidity and mortality than the surrounding age groups. Young adults experience relatively high rates of injuries, mental health issues, substance use, and sexual/reproductive health conditions. Due to their increased likelihood of risk-taking behavior and related poor health outcomes, young adults are in a vulnerable state. Nurse practitioners, specifically family nurse practitioners, can best meet the health needs of young adults as they are trained to provide whole-person care while emphasizing education and health promotion across the life continuum. Moving forward, nurse practitioners can and should be leaders in providing healthcare services to young adults to improve their health outcomes

VALUING RISK TRADEOFFS AND VOLUNTARY INSECTICIDE REDUCTION

Farmer's willingness to voluntarily reduce insecticide use is not considered when regulatory approaches to environmental protection are proposed. Regulations that require behavior that would voluntarily be undertaken are excessive and economically inefficient. Using survey data from a contingent valuation scenario, we demonstrate the willingness of crop producers in four Midwestern states in the U.S. to trade yield losses for environmental risk reduction by eliminating an insecticide application. The mean acceptable yield loss for a sample of 1,138 producers in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio is $8.25 per acre. Acceptable yield loss increases with the rated importance of environmental goods (fish, birds, mammals, native plants and endangered species), with formal education and with farming experience. Willingness to pay increase with total expenditure on herbicides and insecticides up to$89 per acre, then decreases as total expenditure continues to rise. We approximate that crop farmers in the four states are willing to give up over $420 million in yield losses, or about 4 percent of total sales of corn and soybeans, to guarantee protection of eleven environmental goods from moderate insecticide risk. Uncertainty about risks, dominance of regulatory approaches and economic pressures undercut voluntary reductions in insecticide use.decision models, agriculture, environmental protection, risk, contingent valuation, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Genetic and Other Contributions to Alcohol Intake in Rhesus Macaques ( Macaca mulatta )

The etiology of alcoholism and alcohol abuse, like many other complex diseases, is heterogeneous and multifactorial. Numerous studies demonstrate a genetic contribution to variation in the expression of alcohol-related disorders in humans. Over the past decade, nonhuman primates have emerged as a valuable model for some aspects of human alcohol abuse because of their phylogenetic proximity to humans. Long-term, longitudinal studies of rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ) have provided much insight into environmental influences, especially early life experiences, on alcohol consumption and behavior patterns that characterize alcohol intake later in life. It is not known, however, whether there is a genetic component as well to the variation seen in alcohol consumption in rhesus macaques. A significant genetic component to variation in alcohol consumption in rhesus macaques would show for the first time that like humans, for nonhuman primates additive genetic influences are important. Moreover, their use as a model for alcohol-related disorders in humans would have even greater relevance and utility for designing experiments incorporating the expanding molecular genetics field, and allow researchers to investigate the interaction among the known environmental influences and various genotypes. Methods : In this study, we investigate factors contributing to variation in alcohol consumption of 156 rhesus macaques collected over 10 years when subjects were adolescent in age, belonging to a single extended pedigree, with each cohort receiving identical early rearing backgrounds and subsequent treatments. To measure alcohol consumption each animal was provided unfettered simultaneous access both to an aspartame-sweetened 8.4% (v/v) alcohol-water solution, the aspartame-sweetened vehicle, and to water for 1 hour each day during the early afternoon between 13:00 and 15:00 in their home cages for a period of 5 to 7 weeks. We use multiple regression to identify factors that significantly affect alcohol consumption among these animals and a maximum likelihood program (ASReml) that, controlling for the significant factors, estimates the genetic contribution to the variance in alcohol consumption. Results : Multiple regression analysis identified test cohort and rearing environment as contributing to 57 and 2%, respectively, of the total variance in alcohol consumption. Of the remaining 41% of the variance about half (19.8%) was attributable to additive genetic effects using a maximum likelihood program. Conclusion : This study demonstrates that, as in humans, there are additive genetic factors that contribute to variation in alcohol consumption in rhesus macaques, with other nongenetic factors accounting for substantial portions of the variance in alcohol consumption, Our findings show the presence of an additive genetic component and suggest the potential utility of the nonhuman primate as a molecular genetics tool for understanding alcohol abuse and alcoholism.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66182/1/j.1530-0277.2006.00044.x.pd