Critically Assessing the Invalidity of Race Realism and Finding Solutions to Educate Society on Racial Theory

With race being a hard concept to grasp, many competing theories have arisen to explain what race is and how to categorise someone by race. The dominant explanation for race in early history has been characterised by race realism. Colloquially, race realism is the theory that scientific evidence proves race to be objectively definable by trends in geography, appearance, and most prominently, genetics. Previous research from Stanford geneticist Noah Rosenberg (2005) that looked to support this topic has relied on small sample sizes and data that had otherwise been misconducted. When Sarah Tishkoff (2009) of the University of Pennsylvania conducted the same experiments more thoroughly and with larger sample sizes, evidence contradictory to earlier experiments arose and invalidated the findings supposedly supporting race realism. Considering this, we used data from an extensive public survey to assess society’s underlying beliefs and attitudes towards race while looking to confirm that race realism had been invalidated at a social level. In alignment with the newer findings, the data we collected suggests that people of younger generations have been less and less exposed to the ideas of race realism, and all have come to the conclusion on their own that it is arbitrary to objectively define someone by race. The study showed that while these generations still socially group themselves into races as a result of ancestral and geographic history, there is no genetic property that ties them to their personal sense of identity. Thus, the study concludes by providing ways to further educate the population and avoid the pitfalls of race realism, as certain social groups in the media still back the obsolete ideas of race realism to this day

Face-to-face or distance training? Two different approaches to motivate SMEs to learn - an update

In the past, too many government-sponsored initiatives have presented learning resources that have been wasted because the target small business audience has failed to make use of them. This paper explores the issue of offering learning materials to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a manner that recognizes their working environment, mode of operation and preferred learning methods. It then outlines methods currently being tested in the UK and Ireland, and indicates preliminary findings. The two methodologies are different in that the UK (LSSB - Learning Support for Small Businesses) programme is aimed at distance learning in primarily small businesses, whilst the Irish (University of Limerick and Limerick City Enterprise Board) programme is aimed at face-to-face learning primarily in micro-enterprises. Preliminary findings are presented

Sensitivity of the Mueller matrix to the optical and microphysical properties of cirrus clouds

An adding-doubling method is employed to calculate the reflected Stokes parameters for cirrus cloud layers composed of different habits and effective sizes. The elements of the Mueller matrix are determined from the reflected Stokes parameters by considering four different incident polarization states. The sensitivity of these elements is observed by comparing different ice crystal habits, effective sizes, and optical depth. The Mueller elements are strongly dependent on habit. The three habits, aggregate, bullet rosette, and plate, are observed and the M12/M11,M43/M11 and M44/M11 elements are discussed. The wavelength used is 0.532õm, which is the lidar wavelength used on the CALIPSO satellite. The linear depolarization ratio is also discussed. The method of subtracting the two depolarization ratios, is noted as another way to possibly better distinguish ice crystal habits. The sensitivity of the Mueller matrix to effective size is also observed. For three size distributions, the Mueller elements indicate no strong dependence. This may be due to the assumption of randomly oriented ice. Also, using an absorbing wavelength might provide dependence. Finally, the Mueller elements are dependent on optical depth. For a greater optical depth, the strength of reflection increases while the polarization decreases. As the optical depth increases, any peak-like features become non-existent

Faculty Recital: Doug Lindsey and Friends

KSU School of Music presents Doug Lindsey and Friends.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1148/thumbnail.jp

Contributors to the May Issue/Notes

Notes by William B. Lawless, Timothy M. Green, Thomas J. Mitchell, John D. Ryan, Charles Boynton, John R. Baty, and Theodore P. Frericks

Mechanisms of hypertension during and after orthotopic liver transplantation in children

The aim of this study was to assess the hormonal alterations that may mediate the systemic hypertension that develops in patients during the perioperative period of orthotopic liver transplantation. We studied nine pediatric patients without previous hypertension or renal disease during six time points, starting before transplantation and ending at 48 hours after surgery. Hypertension developed in all patients in association with central venous pressures <10 mm Hg. Free water clearance was negative in all nine patients. Vasopressin levels increased intraoperatively but fell as hypertension developed. Atrial natriuretic factor levels increased as systemic blood pressure rose. A high level of plasma renin activity was observed in four patients with renal insufficiency. In six patients, postoperative 24-hour urinary norepinephrine excretion was within the normal age-adjusted range. These findings suggest that the combination of cyclosporine, corticosteroids, and, in some patients, an elevated plasma renin activity prevents the kidney from responding to the acute volume and salt overload with an appropriate diuresis and natriuresis, thus leading to systemic hypertension. The treatment of hypertension after liver transplantation may include salt restriction, diuretics, and, in those patients with a low creatinine excretion index, anglotensin coverting enzyme inhibitors. © 1989 The C. V. Mosby Company

Contradictory phylogenetic signals in the laurasiatheria anomaly zone

G.M.H. was funded by a UCD Ad Astra Fellowship. C.L. was funded by a UCD Ad Astra studentship. L.R. was funded by an SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science grant (18/CRT/6214). L.M.D. was supported in part by NSF awards 1838273 and 2032063. E.C.T. and T.L. were funded by an SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme grant (19/FFP/6790).Relationships among laurasiatherian clades represent one of the most highly disputed topics in mammalian phylogeny. In this study, we attempt to disentangle laurasiatherian interordinal relationships using two independent genome-level approaches: (1) quantifying retrotransposon presence/absence patterns, and (2) comparisons of exon datasets at the levels of nucleotides and amino acids. The two approaches revealed contradictory phylogenetic signals, possibly due to a high level of ancestral incomplete lineage sorting. The positions of Eulipotyphla and Chiroptera as the first and second earliest divergences were consistent across the approaches. However, the phylogenetic relationships of Perissodactyla, Cetartiodactyla, and Ferae, were contradictory. While retrotransposon insertion analyses suggest a clade with Cetartiodactyla and Ferae, the exon dataset favoured Cetartiodactyla and Perissodactyla. Future analyses of hitherto unsampled laurasiatherian lineages and synergistic analyses of retrotransposon insertions, exon and conserved intron/intergenic sequences might unravel the conflicting patterns of relationships in this major mammalian clade.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

9th Annual Kennesaw State University School of Music Collage Concert

KSU School of Music presents the 9th Annual Kennesaw State University School of Music Collage Concert.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1203/thumbnail.jp