Feminist Geopolitics: Material States

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Immigrant Entrepreneurs Creating Jobs and Strengthening the U.S. Economy in Growing Industries

The focus of this report evolved from a 2010 conference at Babson College on "Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Massachusetts" sponsored by The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) from which two key ideas emerged. One is that there is an "immigrant entrepreneurship ecology" that includes immigrant neighborhood storefront businesses; immigrant high-tech and health science entrepreneurs; immigrant non-tech growth businesses; and immigrant transnational businesses. A second idea was that these growing, non-tech industries (including transportation, food and building services) have not attracted much attention. Interestingly, these sectors can be crucial to the expansion of the green economy. Within this context, The ILC decided to look at these three sectors in Massachusetts as well as in New York and Pennsylvania.Moreover, the report dramatically illustrates how immigrant entrepreneurs look for niches in underserved markets. For example, vans and other alternatives to mass transit serve unmet transportation needs in urban areas. Food intended to be a "taste of home" for compatriots in local restaurants and grocery stores becomes popular and influences the eating habits of other Americans. Workers who enter industries like landscaping or cleaning because they don't require much English gain experience and see opportunities to start their own companies. Businesses like these add value to American life by expanding the economy rather than taking away from native businesses

Communication interventions in adult and pediatric oncology: A scoping review and analysis of behavioral targets

BackgroundImproving communication requires that clinicians and patients change their behaviors. Interventions might be more successful if they incorporate principles from behavioral change theories. We aimed to determine which behavioral domains are targeted by communication interventions in oncology.MethodsSystematic search of literature indexed in Ovid Medline, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Clinicaltrials.gov (2000-October 2018) for intervention studies targeting communication behaviors of clinicians and/or patients in oncology. Two authors extracted the following information: population, number of participants, country, number of sites, intervention target, type and context, study design. All included studies were coded based on which behavioral domains were targeted, as defined by Theoretical Domains Framework.FindingsEighty-eight studies met inclusion criteria. Interventions varied widely in which behavioral domains were engaged. Knowledge and skills were engaged most frequently (85%, 75/88 and 73%, 64/88, respectively). Fewer than 5% of studies engaged social influences (3%, 3/88) or environmental context/resources (5%, 4/88). No studies engaged reinforcement. Overall, 7/12 behavioral domains were engaged by fewer than 30% of included studies. We identified methodological concerns in many studies. These 88 studies reported 188 different outcome measures, of which 156 measures were reported by individual studies.ConclusionsMost communication interventions target few behavioral domains. Increased engagement of behavioral domains in future studies could support communication needs in feasible, specific, and sustainable ways. This study is limited by only including interventions that directly facilitated communication interactions, which excluded stand-alone educational interventions and decision-aids. Also, we applied stringent coding criteria to allow for reproducible, consistent coding, potentially leading to underrepresentation of behavioral domains

Demographic hallmarks of an overbrowsed population state in American ginseng

Effects of high deer herbivory in North America on populations of favored plant browse species have been well-documented, however since less palatable plants now dominate the understory, we asked whether these species could be vulnerable as well, and if so, what symptoms might signal that this was occurring? Using American ginseng (Panax quinquefoliusL.) as our representative less palatable understory plant, we compared two subpopulations within a single natural population that were differentially exposed to browse; one isolated from deer by growing atop a large, flat-topped boulder, and a browse-exposed subpopulation in the surrounding low-lying area. We tested the hypothesis that deer effects would be manifested in all parts of the life history; through reduced growth, survival and reproduction. In turn, we hypothesized that browse would reduce population growth rates, and that differences in stage structure of the population would be produced. Taking advantage of a 20 year record of formal demographic censusing, we showed that browse effects were manifested primarily in reduced size-specific growth, while size-specific fertility and survival were relatively unaffected by exposure to browse. Demographically, these differences in growth were sufficient to drive population size reductions of 4.5%/y in the off rock subpopulation while the on rock plants slowly increased in number. High browse off the rock resulted in high proportions of plants in a stunted juvenile state in the off rock population relative to the on rock plants. A high proportion of juveniles is therefore a clear symptom of an understory subjected to chronic overbrowsing, providing land managers a rapid way to assess whether deer could be impacting understory biodiversity. The sharp demographic contrasts we observed between browsed and unbrowsed subpopulations also implies that promotion of refugia within managed lands will likely become increasingly important management tools for biodiversity preservation as long as unchecked deer populations persis

Demographic hallmarks of an overbrowsed population state in American ginseng

Effects of high deer herbivory in North America on populations of favored plant browse species have been well-documented, however since less palatable plants now dominate the understory, we asked whether these species could be vulnerable as well, and if so, what symptoms might signal that this was occurring? Using American ginseng (Panax quinque- foliusL.) as our representative less palatable understory plant, we compared two sub- populations within a single natural population that were differentially exposed to browse; one isolated from deer by growing atop a large, flat-topped boulder, and a browse-exposed subpopulation in the surrounding low-lying area. We tested the hypothesis that deer ef- fects would be manifested in all parts of the life history; through reduced growth, survival and reproduction. In turn, we hypothesized that browse would reduce population growth rates, and that differences in stage structure of the population would be produced. Taking advantage of a 20 year record of formal demographic censusing, we showed that browse effects were manifested primarily in reduced size-specific growth, while size-specific fertility and survival were relatively unaffected by exposure to browse. Demographically, these dif- ferences in growth were sufficient to drive population size reductions of 4.5%/y in the off rock subpopulation while the on rock plants slowly increased in number. High browse off the rock resulted in high proportions of plants in a stunted juvenile state in the off rock population relative to the on rock plants. A high proportion of juveniles is therefore a clear symptom of an understory subjected to chronic overbrowsing, providing land managers a rapid way to assess whether deer could be impacting understory biodiversity. The sharp demographic contrasts we observed between browsed and unbrowsed subpopulations also implies that promotion of refugia within managed lands will likely become increasingly important management tools for biodiversity preservation as long as unchecked deer populations persist

COVID’s Counterpunch: State Legislative Assaults on PublicHealth Emergency Powers

Amid the most impactful health crisis in over a century, COVID’s “counterpunch” entails aggressive efforts by numerous state legislatures to diminish state and local public health emergency powers. It is an incredulous movement facially supported by a need to appropriately balance economic interests and rights with communal health objectives. At its political core, however, is a “power grab” by legislatures to free their constituents from extensive emergency powers (e.g., social distancing, assembly limits, and business closures). Never mind the fact that these interventions, when used effectively and constitutionally, save lives and reduce morbidity. Public health agents and activists are understandably concerned about diminutions of their express and discretionary emergency powers. Yet affirmative and strategic uses of existing legal remedies examined in this brief commentary may blunt the impact of these legislative proposals

Complexity in the Classroom Workshop: Teaching and Learning the Cynefin Framework by Applying it to the Classroom

Complex adaptive systems are both an important fundamental principle in systems engineering education and a reality of all engineering education. The Cynefin framework, as created by Snowden and Boone (2007), is a decision-making tool that helps the engineer recognize the type of system within which they are operating and then respond in a manner that is appropriate for the cause-and-effect relationships associated with that system type. The types of system, or the domains, fall into five categories and their liminal spaces: obvious, where the cause-and-effect relationships are clear to everyone involved; complicated, where the cause-and-effect relationships are clear to those who have appropriate expertise; complex, where the cause-and-effect relationships are not predictable or necessarily even visible; chaos, where there are no cause-and-effect relationships; and disorder, where it is unclear what system context should be the focus. In this hands-on SPECIAL SESSION, participants will explore a new way to teach complex adaptive systems by experiencing it. The new pedagogical application is to use a variation on the collaborative inquiry technique where learners move through one or more cycles of delving into a system (collecting evidence), experience discussion guided through the Cynefin framework, and shared reflection on the meaning of the systems domain knowledge to operating and thriving in the system. The system we will use in the special session is a multi-institutional course wherein participants will be able to explore how additional layers of complexity and their changing cause-and-effect relationships impact pedagogical decisions to create different learning experiences. The course, cardio-vascular engineering, is an example of systems engineering topics taught in a biomedical engineering environment. The facilitators of this special session include two faculty who have experience in both teaching systems engineering and in collaborative inquiry, as well as two faculty who are part of the creation and delivery of the cardio-vascular engineering course. The course is offered simultaneously over multiple institutions with a unified syllabus that accounts for learning needs and contexts of all the students. Learning objectives for the special session include: • Increase knowledge of the Cynefin framework of complex systems; • Practice a pedagogical technique for teaching systems engineering concepts; • Reflect on using systems engineering fundamental knowledge to create learning environments in different ways, particularly as the context needs of learners and industry continue to change; and • Gain exposure to a successful course taught simultaneously across multiple institutions and student levels