The Human Chain Is Not About Holding Hands

As the celebratory mood of global interconnectedness wears thinner and thinner, the compression of space-time makes more apparent that we share across the planet an increasing exclusion from the official political and economic decision-making processes that have jurisdiction over our lives. At the same time, the temporal compression of the global and local is forging alternative collectivities that are often overlooked by those in the business of explaining and predicting political outcomes. Arjun Appadurai makes note of these relationships in his work on grassroots activism and the research imagination, reminding us that debates within the academy “still set the standard of value for the global professoriate” (2000, p. 2). Following this sentiment, recent events around the world should impress upon us that academic research influences policy debates over issues such as climate change, global trade relations, labor migration, and terrorism, which in turn shape the politics that inform the daily lives of both those who have access to these debates and those who do not..

Promoting Information and Visual Literacy Skills in Undergraduate Students using Infographics

Because research and communication proficiency is ubiquitous in the academic and professional world, teaching students the necessary information literacy (IL) and visual literacy (VL) skills has become increasingly important. Integrating IL and VL pedagogy into substantive coursework can enhance students’ comprehension of the material and teach them to make a meaningful contribution to public awareness and understanding of political science. Yet, faculty often find it challenging to include instruction in these skills with necessary coverage of substantive course material. This article discusses the use of an infographic assignment in an introductory American government course as a tool to teach literacy skills and to reinforce substantive course concepts. Encouraging students to distill academic research into an infographic requires them to understand the process of information creation, the role of visuals in communication, and how scholarship acts as a conversation—all key components of literacy in higher education

Dovetailing

Dovetailing is told from a limited third person point of view focused on Samantha. She is the protagonist in a group of four primary characters who include Matt, Adam, and Dylan. They are the four employees of Furniture Town and are present throughout the entire novel. Stan the Sidewinder is a local UFC fighter who is visiting his hometown (the setting of the novel), Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a promotional tour. Las Cruces is a small, shabby, and largely Catholic town near the border of Mexico. Samantha\u27s struggle to find her way while surrounded by underachieving college-aged men and an increasing awareness of the falseness and staging of reality to which she begrudgingly contributes during her job as salesperson, are the primary narrative arcs. A large part of the novel is spent introducing and exploring the setting of both Las Cruces and Furniture Town, since a major theme of the book is the fetishization of commodity and how this affects relationships and individual perspectives of their lives and the world in which they live. Dylan, Adam, and Matt, although secondary characters, have their own full narrative arcs. Dylan is attempting to work through new and unexplored homosexual feelings; Adam is recently divorced and struggling to maintain a close relationship with his young son; and Matt is dealing with an injury that has forced him into a different career and caused tension in his romantic relationship with Leslie. Ultimately, this is a story about the way real human relationships are subordinated and tainted by our relationships to the throwaway items (and jobs) of contemporary life

Understanding the Career Development of Underprepared College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the career development of underprepared college students through a framework of Relational Career Theory. Demographic information was reported for the population to help better understand these students. Specifically, the constructs of family influence, locus of control, and career decision-making self-efficacy were explored as they relate to perceived success in college. Finally, gender differences for each construct were also examined. The demographic information collected supports reported statistical information about this group in that students of a minority status and first-generation college students were overrepresented in the population. No significant relationship between the RCT constructs and perceived success in college were found. However, significant correlations between external locus of control and family expectations, financial support, and values and beliefs were found indicating that a greater family influence is related to external control. Additionally, higher levels of career decision-making self-efficacy were related to internal locus of control and informational support from family. These findings support previous research as well as theorized RCT connections. Finally, no significant differences between men and women were found. This study provides further information about underprepared college students to help practitioners better understand this population. This study also provides significant correlations between the RCT constructs of family influence, locus of control, and career decision-making self-efficacy

Fuel poverty in America and possible solutions to address it in the Texas colonias

textCommunities across the United States have almost universal access to electricity services. However, there remains a large problem with fuel poverty, where households pay a significant and disproportionate amount of their gross income on energy bills. This is often a factor in those households’ continued poverty. Fuel poverty is especially prevalent in the unincorporated and often overlooked colonias communities in South Texas, near the border with Mexico, which are characterized by a high level of poverty, a large unbanked population that don’t have or are unapproved to have bank accounts, proportionally high energy costs, and substandard housing. There are government programs and charities that assist with bills, but the cycle of fuel poverty will continue without solutions that address the source of the disproportionately high bills: energy inefficiency. Public-private partnerships are needed to sustainably finance energy efficiency improvements and to break the cycle of poverty. One potential solution is the application of microfinance concepts geared solely at home efficiency improvements, where households can build credit while alleviating their home energy bill burden.Energy and Earth ResourcesBusiness Administratio

Exercise-induced tendon and bone injury in recreational runners: A test-retest reliability study

Background: Long-distance runners are prone to injuries including Achilles tendinopathy and medial tibial stress syndrome. We have developed an Internet comprehensive self-report questionnaire examining the medical history, injury history, and running habits of adult recreational runners. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate two alternative forms of test-retest reliability of a comprehensive self-report Internet questionnaire retrospectively examining the medical history, injury history, and running habits among a sample of adult recreational runners. This will contribute to the broad aims of a wider study investigating genetics and running injury. Methods: Invitations to complete an Internet questionnaire were sent by email to a convenience pilot population (test group 1). Inclusion criteria required participants to be a recreational runner age 18 or over, who ran over 15 km per week on a consistent basis. The survey questions addressed regular running habits and any injuries (including signs, symptoms, and diagnosis) of the lower limbs that resulted in discontinuation of running for a period of 2 consecutive weeks or more, within the last 2 years. Questions also addressed general health, age, sex, height, weight, and ethnic background. Participants were then asked to repeat the survey using the Internet platform again after 10-14 days. Following analysis of test group 1, we soft-launched the survey to a larger population (test group 2), through a local running club of 900 members via email platform. The same inclusion criteria applied, however, participants were asked to complete a repeat of the survey by telephone interview after 7-10 days. Selected key questions, important to clarify inclusion or exclusion from the wider genetics study, were selected to evaluate test-retest reliability. Reliability was quantified using the kappa coefficient for categorical data. Results: In response to the invitation, 28 participants accessed the survey from test group 1, 23 completed the Internet survey on the first occasion, and 20 completed the Internet retest within 10-21 days. Test-retest reliability scored moderate to almost perfect (kappa=.41 to .99) for 19/19 of the key questions analyzed. Following the invitation, 122 participants accessed the survey from test group 2, 101 completed the Internet survey on the first occasion, and 50 were randomly selected and contacted by email inviting them to repeat the survey by telephone interview. There were 33 participants that consented to the telephone interview and 30 completed the questionnaire within 7-10 days. Test-retest reliability scored moderate to almost perfect for 18/19 (kappa=.41 to .99) and slight for 1/19 of the key questions analyzed. Conclusions: We successfully developed a self-reported, retrospective questionnaire, delivered using Internet software, providing stable and reliable answers. We demonstrate that our survey provides a relatively quick, easy to complete, and cost effective method to collect epidemiological data from recreational runners and evaluate these participants for inclusion into a genetic study

Republicans will vote against fracking - if the issue is framed the right way.

With its potential to increase tax revenues and economic development at an environmental cost, fracking is a controversial practice across the American states. In new research, Nicole Kalaf-Hughes and Andrew Kear examine why some Democrats vote for fracking and some Republicans vote for greater environmental protections. They find that how the issues are framed through messaging, spin and political communications ..

Stability of extemporaneously prepared ophthalmic solutions for mydriasis

Purpose Results of an evaluation of the physical and chemical stability of extemporaneously prepared adult and pediatric ophthalmic solutions containing combinations of phenylephrine, tropicamide, and cyclopentolate are reported. Methods A stability study was conducted to help determine the feasibility of innovative formulations to meet an unmet clinical need for combination mydriatic ophthalmic eyedrops. An adult mydriatic ophthalmic solution containing phenylephrine hydrochloride 2.5% and tropicamide 1.0% and a pediatric formulation containing phenylephrine hydrochloride 2.5%, tropicamide 0.5%, and cyclopentolate hydrochloride 0.5% were prepared using proper aseptic techniques. Triplicate samples of each formulation were stored for 60 days at refrigeration temperatures (2–8 °C) and analyzed on day 0 and days 7, 14, 28, and 60. At each time point, the stability samples were assessed by visual inspection, pH measurement, and stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Results Over the 60-day storage period, there was no significant change in the visual appearance or pH level of any of the adult or pediatric solution samples. The results of HPLC analysis indicated that all samples retained 97–102% of the initial drug concentrations for up to 60 days. Conclusion Both adult and pediatric ophthalmic formulations containing combinations of phenylephrine, tropicamide, and cyclopentolate were stable physically and chemically for up to 60 days when stored at refrigeration temperatures (2–8 °C)