As the ravens watch: exploring the oracle

I believe in the process in which the artist never works alone but always in collaboration with the elements of chance. As an artist I live and work everyday collaborating with chance, from reading my cards to creating ethereal birds. As I sew pieces together, the thread becomes another element of the image by chance, stitches to lines, lines to pattern. Chance leads the birds to portraying their own personality as they are each created, one’s head tilts to the right while another sits tall with dignity. This work is about the connection to the subconscious, my connection to it through what I see, people I know, games I play, what I dream. Through objects based on historical divination practices, I offer a chance for the viewer to journey inward to examine her own subconscious. This is not a declaration of the validity of these practices. “Can one explain the magic of life to someone who cannot perceive it in the smallest everyday things?” -Rosa Luxemborg. It is up to the viewer how these games of chance are interpreted in their own life. I search for truth. But truth to me is not constant. It moves like the phases of the moon, circling, waxing, and waning. Tomorrow may hold answers that are different than today’s. I believe that we know much more than our conscious brains reveal. By connecting to the subconscious we gain access to the depths within ourselves. May the birds guide us to the next level of awareness

A vagrant Subantarctìc fur seal Arctocephalus tropicalis found in the Comores

A juvenile Subantarctic fur seal, Arctocephalus tropicalis was caught near the island of Anjouan, Comores, about 500 km off the east coast of Africa, on 20 August 1990. This record represents a northerly extension by some 1800 km of the recorded east coast range. The breeding colonies of this species are on temperate islands north of the Antarctic Polar Front. The dosest colonies are on Amsterdam Island and the Prince Edward islands, nearly 4000 km south-west and south, respectively of this sighting

Locus of Control and Health Promotion for Marginalized Populations

Socioeconomic health disparities in the United States have remained largely unchanged for decades. This remains the case even for preventable illness and disease. Current health behavior theories and interventions rely on the perception of control over one’s fate to achieve desired behavior. In low-income and other marginalized populations, however, hopelessness and the perception of having limited control may make interventions less effective. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the role of the locus of control (LOC) as defined by the degree to which one believes outcomes are determined by external forces such as chance or authority figures as an adaptive response to poverty. Using cross-sectional survey methodology, 136 U.S. adult participants were recruited through snowball sampling to anonymously complete measures of the Multidimensional Locus of Control, the Health Promoting Lifestyles II, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Hierarchical regression and bivariate analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Study results found that chance LOC mediated the relationship between socioeconomics and health lifestyles, while it was as associated with less healthy lifestyle choices than external authority figures (powerful others). Internal LOC was not found to provide any psychological protection from anxiety and depression for low socioeconomic populations. Recommendations included the need for additional studies to understand the role of LOC as it relates to health beliefs, behavior, and psychological well-being of marginalized populations

Responding to expectation

Some early emergent findings and reflections upon 'Responding to Expectation', a 12-month empirical research project undertaken in the 2007-8 academic year. The study itself had two principal aims. Firstly, to further contemporary understandings of student expectations of, and motivation(s) for, undergraduate law study. Secondly, to examine the extent to which contemporary student experiences of undergraduate law study met both their initial expectations and motivations.Learning and Teaching Institute, University of Cheste

Luminous Intensity for Traffic Signals: A Scientific Basis for Performance Specifications

Humnan factors experiments on visual responses to simulated traffic signals using incandescent lamps and light-emitting diodes are described

Introducing Environmental Policy at Augustana: A Comparative Study of Sustainability Practices at Small Liberal Arts Colleges

This study analyzes environmental practices and policy at higher education institutions and examines the process it takes to implement them from student advocacy to administrative recognition that results in the implementation of sustainable plans, programs, and structures for the college in order to produce a feasible proposal for sustainable development at Augustana College. The authors conducted interviews with five colleges that have achieved sustainability in various ways and are largely similar to Augustana in religious affiliation, cultural background, and location: Kenyon, Knox, Luther, Moraine Valley Community College, and Oberlin. The goal from these interviews was to generate ideas from colleges like Augustana to show that Augustana is also capable of sustainable change. At the end of the study, the authors developed a sustainable policy proposal tailored for Augustana that was based on common trends identified from the five colleges, including college sustainability programs, informal and formal organization, ratings and certifications, and sustainable structures

Responding to expectation? A examination of student expectation and subsequent experience of undergraduate study

This presentation discusses two emperical research studies- 1)responding to expectation and 2) expectation, experience and the conceptualisation of HE. It covers motivation for undergraduate study, motivation relating to choice of subject, expectations of higher education, and students' experiences.Funded by the Learning and Teaching Institute small grant scheme

Broadscale coral disease interventions elicit efficiencies in endemic disease response

The presence and abundance of reef-building corals are crucial to the long-term existence of Caribbean coral reef ecosystems, providing both direct and indirect, local and global, ecological, economic, and social benefits. In 2014, stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was first identified in southeast Florida and remains endemic to the region, while continuing to spread throughout the Caribbean. Effective in situ intervention treatments using antibiotic paste can halt lesion progression on Montastraea cavernosa up to 90% of the time. This study investigated intervention activities over a three-year period to identify efficiencies in disease response. Since May 2019, 1,037 corals, \u3e85% of which were M. cavernosa, were treated during disease intervention dives in southeast Florida. Treated coral density, the number of treated corals per meter along a dive track, was significantly higher in the first year compared to subsequent years and displayed annual peaks in late summer each year. Season significantly influenced treatment density, leading to higher values in the wet season across all years, 2019 to 2022. Areas of highest treatment density were identified between Haulover Inlet and Government Cut near Miami and Hillsboro Inlet in northern Broward County. Areas with the highest treatment density were only identified in the first year, suggesting that broadscale interventions may have decreased disease prevalence in subsequent years. Results indicate that in endemic areas with sporadic and dynamic disease prevalence, intervention efforts should be weighted proportionally across space and time to maximize intervention efficiency. This study provides optimistic results for the potential of interventions reducing disease prevalence and supports that disease interventions are an effective coral restoration tool that can decrease the increasing burden on post hoc coral restoration

Strategic advertising of online news articles as an intervention to influence wildlife product consumers

Changing human behavior is essential for biodiversity conservation, but robust approaches for large scale change are needed. Concepts like repeat message exposure and social reinforcement, as well as mechanisms like online news coverage and targeted advertisements, are currently used by private and public sectors, and could prove powerful for conservation. Thus, to explore their potential in influencing wildlife consumption, we used online advertisements through Facebook, Google, and Outbrain, to promote news articles discussing the use of a Critically Endangered antelope (the Saiga tatarica) as a traditional Chinese medicine in Singapore. Our message, tailored to middle-aged Chinese Singaporean women, framed saiga horn products as being no longer socially endorsed. Through advert performance and in-depth analyses of Facebook user engagement, we assessed audience response. Our message pervaded Singapore's online media (e.g., our adverts were shown almost five million times; and the story ran on seven news outlets), and resulted in widespread desirable audience responses (e.g., 63% of Facebook users' engagements included identifiably positive features like calls for public action to reduce saiga horn consumption, anger at having unknowingly used a Critically Endangered species, and self-pledges to no longer use it; only 13% of engagements included identifiably negative features). This work shows that targeted dissemination of online news articles can have promising results, and may have wide applicability to conservation