Land of the Free, Home of the Racist: Exploring the Narrative of America’s Racial Prejudice

“Land of the Free, Home of the Racist: Exploring the Narrative of America’s Racial Prejudice” by Jillian Fox, ’19. Fox uses a racist incident that occurred at Denison University in the late 1970s to explore the work of womanist theologian and Denison University graduate Kelly Brown Douglas. After recounting the incident, she explores Douglas’ response at the time as well as her later work, much of which stems from ancient notions of national exceptionalism, ethnocentrism, and white racial pride. Fox continues to discuss the implications of exceptionalism as it pertains to Manifest Destiny, which the author in turn connects to current racial attitudes, divides, and injustices in the United States. Fox concludes with an exhortation to overturn the white supremacy that has so harmed black people as well as those who do not conform to the royal consciousness, against which God must be situated

A Rural PhD Candidate and the Grace of Community

This paper is an autoethnographic analysis of my experiences as a PhD candidate resident in a rural area of South Australia: a circumstance that is not unique but certainly rare. According to Ellis, Adams, and Bochner (2011), research that uses an autoethnographic approach describes and analyses personal experiences in order to understand cultural experiences. My circumstance as a highly-educated beneficiary of government subsistence presents a unique research opportunity: namely, to document social policies as both a recipient and an educated investigator. The aim of this paper is to expose the robust challenges that arise when individuals, who are reliant on a meagre income, engage with academic pursuits (Brook & Michell, 2012) in the hope of speaking back some truth to power (Said, 1993). It is hoped that the autoethnographic research undertaken here provides insights into the real personal and detrimental cultural impact of existing neoliberal policy as it relates to rural residents trying to break out of welfare dependency

A qualitative study exploring whether emotion work conducted by health visitors has an influence on their assessment and identification of children in need of care and protection?

There is an increased understanding that experiencing adversity in childhood can have a significantly negative impact on the long-term developmental wellbeing of children and young people, as well as their families and communities. Political and societal ambition is that such adverse experiences and their consequences are eradicated through preventative and early intervention measures taken by health, education, and social care practitioners on the identification of a child(ren) who requires support. Professionals working with children have become increasingly proficient in this type of work however no professional is infallible. As a result, many children and young people living with adverse circumstances can go unnoticed. For some this includes experiencing harm which often only comes to light when they have been significantly or fatally injured. Every child living in the United Kingdom is aligned with the universal health visiting service following birth to school entry. Health visitors play an essential role in “searching for health needs” through the “surveillance and assessment of the population’s health and wellbeing” (Nursing & Midwifery Council [NMC] 2004, page 11) . Such universal contact based on these core principles mean that health visitors are ideally positioned to identify children living in challenging situations but, like others, they can find this difficult on occasions. The purpose of this study is to explore whether health visitors view the emotion work they carry out as part of their role has an influence on their ability to assess, identify, and respond to children in need of care and protection. STUDY – METHOD: The study has been progressed qualitatively, using a reflexive ethnographic approach to interviews as the main data collection and analytic method with short periods of office-based observation. 16 health visitors who managed caseloads of between 100-450 pre-school children were observed and interviewed to understand their experiences, values, and beliefs. Gee’s (2014) toolkit was used to critically analyse the discourse shared during the interviews. FINDINGS: The emergent findings demonstrate that health visitors can be conceptualised as ‘applied clinical anthropologists’ in the way they develop relationships with families to gain access to their home environments. The approach taken is to gather information to the depth required for a social, bioecological assessment (Bronfenbrenner 2005) of a child in the context of their family and community system. Health visitors are welcomed by most families and are often successful in assessing and responding to child need. However, at times, the level of engagement necessary can be overwhelming for both the health visitor and parent/carer. This influences the level of child centred assessment obtained. The study has demonstrated that the influences on the work of the health visitor can be interpreted through a complex interplay of theoretical concepts. Firstly, Bourdieu’s “theory of practice” (Bourdieu & Wacquant 1992, page 4) provides the basis on which to understand why challenges and barriers arise during the relational work of the health visitor with the child and family. Secondly, Gross’ (2014) Emotion Regulation Framework and Hochschild’s (1983) theory of Emotional Labour, are utilised to consider how health visitors and families respond emotionally to these challenges. The study then goes on to demonstrate what impact these responses can have on the assessment of children. RECOMMENDATIONS: Implications for practice are that health visitors require increased rates of supervision. This should include an observational element. Educational programmes for health visitors, require a focus on promoting professional wellbeing with learning sessions on unconscious bias. Research and learning developments are suggested to influence assessment and decision-making practice. Research with other professional groups and children & families is recommended to build on the findings of this study in order to influence future safeguarding policy and practice to protect children

Insulin Sensitivity and Metabolism in Bovine Muscle Treated with β-Adrenergic Agonists

A limited number of ß-adrenergic agonists (ß-AA) are currently used for redirecting dietary energy from adipose tissue accretion towards muscle growth. At the end of typical feedlot finishing, cattle have depressed insulin sensitivity, similar to type II diabetes in humans. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of a known βv3-AA (BRL 37344) to a novel ß-AA (Experior) on muscle metabolism in vitro. We hypothesized that Experior would attenuate insulin insensitivity by promoting glucose metabolism in muscle. The M. longissimus lumborum (LL) was removed from the 9th to 11th rib from four steers. From the LL samples, muscle strips were dissected parallel to muscle fiber orientation. The conversion of glucose to glycogen, COv2, and lactate was tested in muscle strips incubated for 90 min with 50 μM Experior, 50 μM BRL 37344, or no β-AA (Control), and different insulin concentrations. Incubation time was established by a preliminary experiment that determined the effect of different incubation times (30 min, 60 min, 90 min) on glycogen, COv2, and lactate production. There were no (P > 0.05) insulin concentration x treatment effects, insulin concentration effects, and no significant effect of treatment on lactate production. There was a significant treatment effect of conversion of glucose to glycogen (P < 0.001) and COv2 (P = 0.018). BRL 37344 caused 62% lower glycogen production compared to Control samples, and 50% lower glycogen production compared to Experior samples. Control samples produced 4.3 nmol/100 mg·90 min, Experior samples produced 3.1 nmol/100 mg·90 min glycogen, while BRL 37344 samples produced 1.6 nmol/100 mg·90 min. BRL 37344 elicited 23% more COv2 than Experior, and 41% more COv2 than Control samples. Control samples produced 171.3 nmol/100 mg·90 min COv2, Experior samples produced 222.9 nmol/100 mg·90 min COv2, while BRL 37344 samples produced 292.6 nmol/100 mg·90 min COv2. Experior did not have a consistent effect on glycogen or COv2 production. We discovered the presence of ßv3- AR in muscle, since there was a distinct response of the muscle strips to BRL 37344. The relative insensitivity of bovine muscle to insulin is consistent with insulin resistance observed in feedlot cattle

Effect of sequence and metal ions on UVB-induced anti cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer formation in human telomeric DNA sequence

Irradiation of G-quadruplex forming human telomeric DNA with ultraviolet B (UVB) light results in the formation of anti cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) between loop 1 and loop 3 in the presence of potassium ions but not sodium ions. This was unexpected because the sequences involved favor the nonphotoreactive hybrid conformations in K+ solution, whereas a potentially photoreactive basket conformation is favored in Na+ solution. To account for these contradictory results, it was proposed that the loops are too far apart in the basket conformation in Na+ solution but close enough in a two G-tetrad basket-like form 3 conformation that can form in K+ solution. In the current study, Na+ was still found to inhibit anti CPD formation in sequences designed to stabilize the form 3 conformation. Furthermore, anti CPD formation in K+ solution was slower for the sequence previously shown to exist primarily in the proposed photoreactive form 3 conformation than the sequence shown to exist primarily in a nonphotoreactive hybrid conformation. These results suggest that the form 3 conformation is not the principal photoreactive conformation, and that G-quadruplexes in K+ solution are dynamic and able to access photoreactive conformations more easily than in Na+ solution

Promoting Healthy Eating and Sustainable Lifestyles

The Healthy Eating and Sustainable Lifestyle group focuses on educating students and community members and directing individuals to making healthier dietary choices. We plan to achieve this goal through the Healthy Transition Day that will target this problem, intended to educate and involve students and community members around Grand Valley. This idea involves incorporationing the SAP into GVSU’s transition week. With Healthy Transition Day, students have the ability to tour the farm and learn how to get involved during their time at Grand Valley. We have conceptualized two additional solutions that would take more time, resources, and planning in order to implement. One of these ideas is the Nutrition and Wellness course that would take place at the SAP. In this course, students would be able to earn course credits while learning hands on how to have a healthier lifestyle. Additionally, we drafted an idea of creating a healthy cooking club on campus. The club would be for groups of students or faculty to meet at the SAP and learn hands-on by preparing, cooking, and enjoying nutritious meals and teach the group how fun, easy, and affordable it can be

Experience of fathers with babies admitted to neonatal care units: A review of the literature

There is a growing understanding of the role and place of men in maternity care generally and for fathers of babies in neonatal care in particular. This review offers a systematic narrative review on issues affecting fathers, whose babies are admitted to neonatal units. Twenty-seven papers in the review highlighted four key themes: stress & anxiety; information; gender roles and emotions