Gendered Discourse in the Political Behavior of Adolescents

The roots of adult civic and political participation originate in pre-adult experiences (Verba et al. 1995) and high school extracurricular activities offer students opportunities to develop interpersonal and leadership skills. In this research, we ask whether adolescents also learn gendered norms of political discourse through extracurricular activities. This project assessed gender differences in participation at the 1999 Model United Nations of the Southwest (MUNSW) at the University of Oklahoma. Important differences in participation were observed in the number and character of speaking turns taken by male and female delegates. We find that contextual factors, such as the sex of the committee chair, the issue areas addressed by the committee, and the timing of the session in the conference significantly influence who participates in the discourse, but the percentage of female participants surprisingly does not. The character of the political discourse suggests norms dominated by masculinity.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Public appraisal of government efforts and participation intent in medico-ethical policymaking in Japan: a large scale national survey concerning brain death and organ transplant

BACKGROUND: Public satisfaction with policy process influences the legitimacy and acceptance of policies, and conditions the future political process, especially when contending ethical value judgments are involved. On the other hand, public involvement is required if effective policy is to be developed and accepted. METHODS: Using the data from a large-scale national opinion survey, this study evaluates public appraisal of past government efforts to legalize organ transplant from brain-dead bodies in Japan, and examines the public's intent to participate in future policy. RESULTS: A relatively large percentage of people became aware of the issue when government actions were initiated, and many increasingly formed their own opinions on the policy in question. However, a significant number (43.3%) remained unaware of any legislative efforts, and only 26.3% of those who were aware provided positive appraisals of the policymaking process. Furthermore, a majority of respondents (61.8%) indicated unwillingness to participate in future policy discussions of bioethical issues. Multivariate analysis revealed the following factors are associated with positive appraisals of policy development: greater age; earlier opinion formation; and familiarity with donor cards. Factors associated with likelihood of future participation in policy discussion include younger age, earlier attention to the issue, and knowledge of past government efforts. Those unwilling to participate cited as their reasons that experts are more knowledgeable and that the issues are too complex. CONCLUSIONS: Results of an opinion survey in Japan were presented, and a set of factors statistically associated with them were discussed. Further efforts to improve policy making process on bioethical issues are desirable

Female Representation but Male Rule? Party Competition and the Political Glass Ceiling

A large literature has studied the context that affects womens numerical representation, but few have moved beyond numbers to study the drivers of a gender gap in political influence among elected politicians. Using panel data for the careers of 35.000 Swedish municipal politicians over six election cycles we first document the said gender gap. Women are substantially less likely to be re-elected for office, which is the most important pre-condition for obtaining influential appointments. Turing to the determinants we find that supply factors, primarily family responsibilities, explain some of this gap. Meanwhile, demand factors such as experience, age, education and income do not. Finding that competition between political parties closes the gap, we argue that a negative bias against women among party selectors thrives in contexts where meritocracy is not enforced. Positive correlations between competition and measures of competence for elected politicians of both genders further support this conclusion

An Investigation of the Self-Perceived Principal Leadership Styles in an Era of Accountability

The purpose of this descriptive, quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional study was to determine the self-perceived leadership style of principals in an era of accountability. The research instrument was the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire with added demographic questions. In addition to the determination of the self-perceived principal leadership style, the intention of this study was to determine the possible relationship of demographic variables such as principal gender, experience, ethnicity, school type (elementary, middle school, and high school), school grade, and school socioeconomic status determined by Title I on leadership styles. The participants of the study were principals from three large school districts in the state of Florida. The dependent variable was the principal leadership style categorized on the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) as transactional, transformational, or laissez-faire. The MLQ also determined the use of behaviors categorized as laissez-faire, authoritative, or participative. The independent variables were the demographic variables, principal gender, ethnicity, years of experience as a school principal, school type (elementary, middle, and high school), school grade, and school socioeconomic status defined by Title I. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and a series of Factorial ANOVAs to examine the research questions. The results found moderate differences among the demographic variables gender, ethnicity, school level, SES, and change in school grade. No differences were found between leadership styles and the years of experience for principals. The findings of the study may have significance for principals of elementary, middle, and high schools in the identification of different leadership approaches and styles in an era of accountability. The findings of the study may also provide a benefit for principals of schools examining alternative leadership methods to motivate teachers and students to improve academic outcomes

The NRF2-Dependent Transcriptional Regulation of Antioxidant Defense Pathways: Relevance for Cell Type-Specific Vulnerability to Neurodegeneration and Therapeutic Intervention

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the etiology and pathobiology of various neurodegenerative diseases. At baseline, the cells of the nervous system have the capability to regulate the genes for antioxidant defenses by engaging nuclear factor erythroid 2 (NFE2/NRF)-dependent transcriptional mechanisms, and a number of strategies have been proposed to activate these pathways to promote neuroprotection. Here, we briefly review the biology of the transcription factors of the NFE2/NRF family in the brain and provide evidence for the differential cellular localization of NFE2/NRF family members in the cells of the nervous system. We then discuss these findings in the context of the oxidative stress observed in two neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and present current strategies for activating NFE2/NRF-dependent transcription. Based on the expression of the NFE2/NRF family members in restricted populations of neurons and glia, we propose that, when designing strategies to engage these pathways for neuroprotection, the relative contributions of neuronal and non-neuronal cell types to the overall oxidative state of tissue should be considered, as well as the cell types which have the greatest intrinsic capacity for producing antioxidant enzymes

Centering culture in public engagement on climate change

Much of the communication efforts on climate change has focused on disseminating scientific projections of climate change to galvanize people into responding to the physical, natural, and biological changes being wrought on the planet by human actions. Yet, this dominant approach of public engagement has been limited because groups of people experience climate change in different ways and have very different approaches to respond to its impacts and implications, depending on their own specific cultural contexts. Arguing for a greater emphasis on culture in climate communication, we construct a culture-centered framework for a deliberative approach to public engagement on climate change. This framework is built around the four domains of Values, Place, Power, and Narrative, and illustrates how meaningful communication and action on climate change requires attention to interactions with each of these four domains. The framework has the potential to reframe environmental communication on climate change by highlighting the specific contexts of people’s lived experiences

Role of Physical Therapy in the Interdisciplinary Team for Safe Transitions for Elderly Persons (STEP)

Background: Managing an effective transition from hospital to home is challenging due to the medical complexity of multiple diagnoses and care needs, especially in low income seniors. Early hospital readmission has been linked with many factors, including impaired mobility and ineffective management of diseases. Physical therapy (PT) can have an impactful role on addressing safety with mobility and supporting education on disease management. Purpose: The purpose of this report is to describe the role of PT on an interdisciplinary care team, describe the PT intervention, highlight fall risk assessments and results, and identify leading environmental hazards and supports that can impact fall risk. Methods: The STEP care team was comprised of a medical director, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, social worker, physical therapist, pharmacist and registered dietician. PT performed a comprehensive evaluation, appropriate fall risk assessment, and home safety evaluation. Recommendations and assistance were provided to improve home safety, education and intervention were implemented to address specific needs to improve safety with mobility, care was coordinated with home health resources, and community resources were utilized to access additional needs not met by insurer coverage. Final assessments were made at time period of 30+ days in accordance with successful transition in medical care. Results: 126 out of 161 patients enrolled into the STEP program received PT. Patients were in the STEP program for an average of 42 days and received an average of 3 PT visits. The most prevalent home safety hazards identified were lack of grab bars (45%), lack of supportive equipment for shower/tub (42%), unsafe bathroom tub/shower surfaces (30%), narrow/cluttered pathways (33%), and cluttered/soiled living areas (30%). The most common supports were adequate lighting (39%), appropriate commode height (58%), stable/supportive seating (40%), clear/accessible walkways (44%), and secure floor coverings (38%). Home modification opportunities were greatest for adjustment of commode and seating heights (79%, & 2%), providing adequate lighting and chair dressing support (60%), securing floor coverings (50%), and installing night lights (50%). For ambulatory clients, fall risk assessments indicated 96% were at risk for falls. There was an average of 9% of hospitalizations in the first 30 days; however none were related to falls. Conclusion: Reasons for falls are multifactorial and require an interdisciplinary approach to have effective reduction in risk. PT has a significant role in this reduction by addressing both the physical impairments and the environmental factors. Interprofessional collaboration on patient performance in the home can be instrumental in avoiding falls and preventing early hospital readmissions for this high risk population

The cultural politics of climate change adaptation: An analysis of the tourism sector in Aotearoa New Zealand

A huge number of climate change adaptation projects are underway to manage risk and minimise vulnerability for communities and businesses. Yet, adaptation processes are often ineffective because of deeply entrenched structures of power and different value systems leading to conflicting priorities for action. This paper draws on the notion of cultural politics to understand climate change adaptation in the tourism sector of Aotearoa New Zealand, a sector that depends on the environment for its survival but neglects it for short-term gains, often precipitating maladaptation in the process. Building on insights into how and why the tourism industry – in a pre-COVID19 context – struggled to adapt to the urgent imperatives of climate change, the paper goes on to show how a culture-centred, deliberative democratic approach can be applied to identify pathways for a transition to an environmentally sustainable tourism sector that can adapt to a climate-changed and pandemic-affected world

Phylogeography of the Slimy Salamander Complex (Plethodon: Plethodontidae) in Alabama

The Plethodon glutinosus complex is composed of 16 lineages that are thought to have conserved morphological characteristics and rapid rates of diversification. Typically, these lineages are recognized as species, but the monophyly of some has been questioned. Three lineages have distributions that converge in the state of Alabama: Plethodon glutinosus, P. grobmani, and P. Mississippi. If these species are present in the state and are reproductively isolated, then we expected to recover three monophyletic lineages. If these species are present in the state, but exhibit extensive introgression, then we expected to recover sets of private haplotypes associated with each species and sets of shared haplotypes among species. We sampled 40 specimens of slimy salamanders from throughout the state. Samples were analyzed using two genes, cytochrome b (n = 38) and RPL12 (n = 17). Additionally, we added 47 cytochrome b sequences for Alabama specimens of the three species available on GenBank to examine relationships of this larger sample. We failed to recover three monophyletic lineages within any estimated gene tree and failed to recover sets of private haplotypes. Instead, haplotype-network structure revealed a single metapopulation. We conclude that Alabama contains a single species of slimy salamander, Plethodon glutinosus, with complex genetic connectivity throughout the state