Transforming Personal Narrative Through the Art of Dolls: An Arts-Based Inquiry Into the Power of Heuristic Expansion

The basis of this arts-based research project was to explore the importance of personal narrative and integration of new thought through doll making. Through the exploration of the history of dolls, a new understanding of the importance of narrative, visual culture, material culture, and pop culture arose. The body of work presented considers this redefining of personal narrative through the creation, documentation, and reflection of doll making, over the course of six months. It is through the dolls and accompanying narratives that recognition of a shift in conceptualization occurs. The research methods used were A/R/Tography and apprenticeship with the Professional Doll Makers Art Guild, through which the extrapolation of new ways of thinking emerged. Contemporary doll artists inspire, and echo the importance of narrative within the production of their artwork. I strive to discover the world of a doll maker through the eyes of a researcher while integrating narrative and redefining my personal narrative through development of new realizations

ANALYSIS OF CHANGING METHODS OF VERTICAL COORDINATION IN THE PORK INDUSTRY

This study examines the motivation behind contracts and vertical integration in the pork industry, and simulates the effects of potential improvements in coordination. Incentives related to lowering costs of measuring and sorting hogs, and protecting against opportunistic behavior associated with specific assets, can result in hog quality improvements. A framework for simulating the effects of increased coordination through contracts and vertical integration was developed and used to evaluate potential improvements in leanness. Although simulations suggest only modest changes in pork prices and supplies, gains in consumers' surplus could be substantial for larger demand shifts due to quality improvements.Contracts, Hogs, Lean pork, Simulation model, Vertical coordination, Vertical integration, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

Social Workers and Client Resistance Behaviors

The study aimed at exploring the extent that social workers feel competent and confident to respond to client resistance behavior. A quantitative technique using a survey questionnaire, including a standardized scale adapted by the researchers, was used to gather information regarding social workers\u27 level of preparedness to respond to client resistance behaviors. Data was collected using Qualtrics from 137 participants, and 116 were analyzed (21 contained incomplete data). Data was analyzed utilizing SPSS. The results of two Independent Samples T-tests indicated that there is a significant difference between social workers who have less than 6.47 years of experience and those who have 6.47 or more years of experience in terms of their level of preparedness to respond to client resistance behavior (p=0.018), but not between those with higher (e.g., Master\u27s) versus lower (e.g., Bachelor\u27s or less) levels of education. This finding appears to indicate that confidence/competence in dealing with client resistance behavior is not obtained through education, but rather through on-the-job experience and over many years. Implications for micro and macro social work practice include the need for additional education during Bachelor\u27s and Master\u27s social work courses, as well as training related to client resistance behavior during field placements and early in social workers\u27 careers

Indigenous Adolescent Girls\u27 Empowerment Network (IMAGEN)

The Population Council has developed and tested a cache of tools—which can be modified by and for Native communities—for organizations seeking to more intentionally serve girls. The tools allow programs to systematically gauge within their own communities the barriers and opportunities that exist for Native adolescent girls. This realization and opportunity sparked the creation of the Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN). The Network was conceived as a means of bringing together Native American–serving organizations that have the enthusiasm and capacity to adopt, document, and share evidence from programs that build on Native girls’ innate talents, while addressing the multiple challenges they face. The first steps toward building this network were taken during IMAGEN’s inaugural workshop at the Population Council headquarters in New York City in March 2017, attended by nine participants from six organizations covering different parts of Indian Country

Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN): Adapting the Girl Roster™ for Lakota communities

This brief reports on a first-of-a-kind meeting between the Population Council’s GIRLCenter and organizations such as the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society (WBCWS) that work locally with Native American communities to understand the specific needs of adolescent girls in Indian Country. This followed an inaugural meeting of the Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN) with its wealth of insight concerning the needs of the Native communities they serve, and the GIRL Center’s myriad programmatic tools and resources that have been tried and tested in global settings for several decades. The IMAGEN Approach is an adaptable process that links these two worlds, with the overarching goal of helping those organizations that are ready to incorporate girl-centered programming do so in a sustainable and impactful way. The brief describes workshops held on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, community insights and lessons learned, and next steps in girl-centered program design

Implementation and Outcomes of the New York State YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program: A Multisite Community-Based Translation, 20102012

Weight loss and physical activity achieved through the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) have been shown to reduce type 2 diabetes risk among individuals with prediabetes. The New York State Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) delivered the 16-week evidence-based model at 14 YMCAs. A mixed methods process and outcomes evaluation was conducted

Comparing and Combining Lexicase Selection and Novelty Search

Lexicase selection and novelty search, two parent selection methods used in evolutionary computation, emphasize exploring widely in the search space more than traditional methods such as tournament selection. However, lexicase selection is not explicitly driven to select for novelty in the population, and novelty search suffers from lack of direction toward a goal, especially in unconstrained, highly-dimensional spaces. We combine the strengths of lexicase selection and novelty search by creating a novelty score for each test case, and adding those novelty scores to the normal error values used in lexicase selection. We use this new novelty-lexicase selection to solve automatic program synthesis problems, and find it significantly outperforms both novelty search and lexicase selection. Additionally, we find that novelty search has very little success in the problem domain of program synthesis. We explore the effects of each of these methods on population diversity and long-term problem solving performance, and give evidence to support the hypothesis that novelty-lexicase selection resists converging to local optima better than lexicase selection

Clostridium difficile outbreaks: Prevention and treatment strategies

The incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) have increased dramatically over the past decade. Its treatment, however, has largely remained the same with the exception of oral vancomycin use as a first-line agent in severe disease. From 1999 to 2004, 20,642 deaths were attributed to CDI in the United States, almost 7 times the rate of all other intestinal infections combined. Worldwide, several major CDI outbreaks have occurred, and many of these were associated with the NAP1 strain. This ‘epidemic’ strain has contributed to the rising incidence and mortality of CDI. The purpose of this article is to review the current management, treatment, infection control, and prevention strategies that are needed to combat this increasingly morbid disease

Elevation of a Full-Thickness Mucoperiosteal Flap Alone Accelerates Orthodontic Tooth Movement

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if elevation of a full-thickness mucoperiosteal flap alone decreases the amount of bone around teeth and accelerates mesial tooth movements. Methods: Seven beagle dogs were fitted with orthodontic appliances to protract the mandibular third premolars. Both mandibular second premolars were extracted. Then, using a randomized split-mouth design, one side of the mandible had a full-thickness mucoperiosteal flap elevated on the buccal aspect of the bone extending from the distal of the third premolar to the mesial of the first premolar; the other side of the mandible did not receive flap surgery. Tooth movements were analyzed over an eight-week period with calipers and radiographs. The amount and density of bone were analyzed using μCT; bone remodeling was evaluated with histologic sections. Results: Experimental tooth movements measured intraorally were significantly greater (25%) than control tooth movements (3.86 mm versus 3.09 mm). A similar 31% increase in tooth movement on the experimental side was seen radiographically. Medullary bone mesial to the third premolar showed a significantly lower (8%) bone volume fraction and apparent density on the experimental side than on the control side. Histologic sections of the bone showed no distinct differences in the number of osteoclasts or osteoblasts when comparing the experimental and control medullary bone. Conclusions: Elevation of a full-thickness mucoperiosteal flap alone resulted in a decrease in medullary bone and accelerated tooth movement