Evaluating the impact of land tenure and titling on access to credit in Uganda:

"The theorized impact of land tenure and titling on access to credit has produced mixed results in the empirical literature. Land tenure and titling is hypothesized to increase access to credit because of the enhanced land security provided and the newfound ability to use land as collateral. Using land as collateral and obtaining access to credit are paramount concerns in Uganda and in all of Africa, as greater emphasis is placed on the need to modernize the agricultural system. This paper uses a new approach in evaluating whether land tenure and titling have an impact on access to credit for rural households in Uganda. The new approach includes comparisons across four categories: (1) households who have customary land with versus without a customary certificate, (2) households who have freehold land with versus without a title, (3) households with a title or certificate having freehold versus customary tenure, and (4) households without a title or certificate having freehold versus customary tenure. Each comparison is then evaluated for the impact on access to any form of credit, formal credit, and informal credit. This analysis allows for an in-depth look into which element, tenure or title, is impacting access to credit and to which type of credit, formal or informal. To conduct this analysis, matching techniques are used, including propensity score matching and the Abadie and Imbens matching method. These two methods contain both strengths and weaknesses that allow the results to support to one another. The only significant finding of the matching was a positive impact on access to credit of freehold without title over customary without certificate. Results imply that tenure, not title, impacts credit access for rural households in Uganda." from authors' abstractLand tenure, Land titling, Rural credit, Land management,

Comparing Sexual-Minority and Heterosexual Young Women’s Friends and Parents as Sources of Support for Sexual Issues

The present study provides a comparative analysis of sexual-minority and heterosexual emerging adult women’s experiences seeking support for sexual issues from parents and friends. Participants included 229 college women (88 sexual-minority women; 141 heterosexual women), ranging in age from 18 to 25 years of age, who provided written responses to an inquiry about a time they went to friends and parents for support for a issue related to their sexuality. Responses indicated that the majority of participants had sought support from either a parent or a friend and that mothers and female friends were more likely involved that fathers or male friends, respectively. Sexual issues that participants reported discussing with parents and friends were inductively grouped into five categories: dating and romantic relationships, sexual behavior, sexual health, identity negotiation, and discrimination and violence. Issues that were discussed differed based on sexual orientation identity and the source of support (parent or friend); they did not differ by age. Participants generally perceived parents and friends responses as helpful, though sexual-minority participants perceived both parents and friends responses as less helpful than heterosexual participants. Overall, results suggest both similarities and differences between sexual-minority and heterosexual young women’s experiences seeking support for sexual issues from parents and friends

Lateral Line Analogue Aids Vision in Successful Predator Evasion for the Brief Squid, Lolliguncula Brevis

Cephalopods have visual and mechanoreception systems that may be employed to sense and respond to an approaching predator. While vision presumably plays the dominant role, the importance of the lateral line analogue for predator evasion has not been examined in cephalopods. To test the respective roles of vision and the lateral line analogue, brief squid, Lolliguncula brevis, were observed in the presence of summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, under light and dark conditions with their lateral line analogue intact and ablated. Hair cell ablation was achieved through a pharmacological technique used for the first time on a cephalopod. The proportion of predator-prey interactions survived was significantly higher in the light non-ablated and light ablated groups compared with the dark ablated group. The mean number of interactions survived varied across treatment groups with the light non-ablated group having significantly more success than the light ablated, dark non-ablated and dark ablated groups. These findings demonstrate that although vision is the primary sense, the lateral line analogue also contributes to predator evasion in squid

How Differing Diagnoses Impact Patients\u27 Views on Eating Disorder Recovery

We surveyed 143 former eating disorder patients about what being fully recovered from an eating disorder means and what factors helped them attain recovery. In addition to basic demographic information, participants were asked eight key questions, such as: “How would you personally define the concept of being fully recovered from an eating disorder?” There were differences by diagnosis in what eating disorder patients believed being “fully recovered” meant as well as what treatment factors they felt were most helpful. For example, those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa were most likely to report that life changes/focusing on something more important/ having purpose were the factors that most affected the maintenance of their eating disorder recovery. Those who were diagnosed with bulimia nervosa were most likely to report that support and accountability affected their recovery the most. Those diagnosed with binge eating disorder equally reported that the factors life changes/focusing on something more important/ having purpose, support and accountability, and skills/intervention most affected their recovery. Those diagnosed with other specified feeding and eating disorders equally reported that the factors continuation of care/therapy, support and accountability, and skills/intervention most affected their recovery

A Systematic Review of Academic Discourse Interventions for School-Aged Children with Language-Related Learning Disabilities

Purpose: This systematic review synthesized a set of peer-reviewed studies published between 1985 and 2019 and addressed the effectiveness of existing narrative and expository discourse interventions for late elementary and middle school-aged students with language-related learning disabilities. Method: A methodical search of the literature for interventions targeting expository or narrative discourse structure for students ages 9-14 with group experimental designs identified 33 studies, seven of which met specific criteria to be included in this review. Results: An 8-point critical appraisal scale was applied to analyze the quality of the study design and effect sizes were calculated for six of the seven studies; equivocal to small effects of far transfer outcomes (i.e., generalizability to other settings) and equivocal to moderate near transfer outcomes (i.e., within the treatment setting) were identified. The most effective intervention studies provided explicit instruction of expository texts with visual supports and student generated learning materials (e.g., notes or graphic organizers) with moderate dosage (i.e., 180-300 minutes across 6-8 weeks) in a one-on-one or paired group setting. Greater intervention effects were also seen in children with reading and/or language disorders, compared to children with overall academic performance difficulties. Conclusions: A number of expository discourse interventions showed promise for student use of learned skills within the treatment setting (i.e.,near transfer outcomes), but had limited generalization of skills (i.e., far transfer outcomes)

Spaceflight modulates gene expression in the whole blood of astronauts

Astronauts are exposed to a unique combination of stressors during spaceflight, which leads to alterations in their physiology and potentially increases their susceptibility to disease, including infectious diseases. To evaluate the potential impact of the spaceflight environment on the regulation of molecular pathways mediating cellular stress responses, we performed a first-of-its-kind pilot study to assess spaceflight-related gene-expression changes in the whole blood of astronauts. Using an array comprised of 234 well-characterized stress-response genes, we profiled transcriptomic changes in six astronauts (four men and two women) from blood preserved before and immediately following the spaceflight. Differentially regulated transcripts included those important for DNA repair, oxidative stress, and protein folding/degradation, including HSP90AB1, HSP27, GPX1, XRCC1, BAG-1, HHR23A, FAP48, and C-FOS. No gender-specific differences or relationship to number of missions flown was observed. This study provides a first assessment of transcriptomic changes occurring in the whole blood of astronauts in response to spaceflight

A Letter Writing Assignment for Leadership Development: Creating Stakeholder Connection for Policy Advocacy

The purpose of this article is to share with leadership educators a writing exercise designed to provide doctoral students enrolled in an Administrative and Policy Leadership course an opportunity to gain experience with building collective will for policy advocacy on a social justice issue. This article describes the use of a letter writing assignment including the background and justification for using letter writing rather than other forms of writing across the curriculum, instructions for students to complete the assignment, and examples and ideas for grading and providing constructive and instructive feedback to leadership students. The article concludes with recommendations and potential assignment modifications for leadership educators that choose to adopt this type of writing assignment within their leadership training curriculum