Feminists Uniting Continuously Kicking Ass

Writings and artwork depicting the objectification of women by the mass media and society at large.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/feminist_zines/1009/thumbnail.jp

Acute and Chronic Effects of Smoking on Inflammation Markers in Exhaled Breath Condensate in Current Smokers

Background: Long-term cigarette smoking is associated with pulmonary inflammation, but the acute effects of smoking have been less well studied. Analysis of the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) can provide noninvasive markers that might be indicative of inflammation. Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine whether the pH, electrical conductivity and the levels of ammonium and interleukin 8 (IL-8) of EBC were altered in smokers and whether they changed after smoking a single cigarette. Methods: We included 19 healthy nonsmokers (controls), 29 asymptomatic smokers, 10 patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) {[}Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stages (GOLD) stages II-III], and 10 patients with exacerbated COPD. In 13 smokers, EBC was also analyzed before and after smoking. EBC was obtained during 10 min tidal breathing with a cooled RTube (TM). pH was determined after deaeration with argon. Results: Acute smoking did not alter the pH or ammonium and IL-8 levels, but raised conductivity. As in COPD patients, the pH was significantly decreased in chronic smokers with a history of at least 10 pack-years compared to controls. Conclusions: EBC can be used to detect the acute and chronic effects of smoking. The increased conductivity of EBC after smoking suggests acute inflammatory effects. The reduced pH in chronic smokers shows cigarette-induced inflammation. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base

Being at home with privacy : privacy and mundane intimacy through same-sex locative media practices

Smartphones have ushered in new forms of locative media through the overlay of global positioning system digital media onto physical places. Whereas mobile communication research has focused on corporate, hierarchical, or government surveillance, emerging studies examine the ways locative media practices relate to privacy and surveillance in everyday, intimate contexts. Studies of same-sex forms of intimacy in and through locative media practices have largely attended to the growth and use of male hook-up apps, but have overlooked same-sex female relationships. Beyond hook-up apps, mundane forms of intimacy in same-sex relationships have also received scant attention. This article draws from a broader ethnographic study in Australia over three years exploring the use (and non-use) of locative media in households as part of their management of privacy, connection, and intimacy with family and friends. By moving the discussion about intimacy beyond hook-up apps, this article focuses on locative media practices of use and non-use by female same-sex couples

The Power of Appearance: Students’ Impression Management within Class

Although educational research acknowledges that social perception processes are relevant for understanding but also evaluating situations, the topic of impression management (IM) has achieved only little attention so far. Individuals have discussed rather as passively exposed to the mechanism of social interaction and perception processes. This contribution changes perspectives and addresses the question of conscious impression management within classes. The chapter asks whether students use self-presentation tactics in order to deliberately navigate the impression their teachers should have of them. By means of an empirical study, country- and gender-specific differences with regard to impression management were found. Likewise, students with a high educational aspiration and good school grades scored higher or at least differently on impression management than students with a low educational aspiration level and low school grades. And students with a high educational aspiration but low grades try to overcome this discrepancy by means of personally adapting to the teachers’ expectations. Even though the influence mechanism of impression management on school success cannot conclusively be answered, this paper opens new perspectives on the scientific discourse of social inequality as well as teaching quality and discusses implications for teacher education

Transient Simulations for Radio Surveys

Several new radio facilities have a field of view and sensitivity well suited for transient searches. This makes it more important than ever to accurately determine transient rates in radio surveys. The work presented here seeks to do this task by using Monte-Carlo simulations. In particular, the user inputs either a real or simulated observational setup, and the simulations code calculates transient rate as a function of transient duration and peak flux. These simulations allow for simulating a wide variety of scenarios including observations with varying sensitivities and durations, multiple overlapping telescope pointings, and a wide variety of light curve shapes with the user having the ability to easily add more. While the current scientific focus is on the radio regime, with examples given here from the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa, the simulations code can be easily adapted to other wavelength regimes.Comment: Minor updates to plot