The regime change in the free exercise of religion debate

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-34).Religious litigation in the modern era at the Supreme Court level falls into two separate regimes that delineate specific trends emanating from and acting upon religious policy. Each regime contains its own set of ideas, interests, and institutions that characterize the nature and extent of religious freedom under the law. The first regime began with the incorporation of the First Amendment's religion clauses and represents a period of stability and equilibrium among the Court, Congress, and the involved interest groups. However, the Court's ruling in Employment Division v. Smith (1990) destroyed that equilibrium and marked the beginning of a new regime characterized by uncertainty and complexity. Within that second regime, the Court and Congress are locked in a battle over policy-making authority, while interest groups that were former rivals now have joined together for the promotion of free exercise. Today, the second regime is still in place and the complexity surrounding the free exercise debate continues to grow

The Beauty of Hatred: The McDonogh Three’s Untold Stories

The Beauty of Hatred is a dissertation written to share the lived experiences of three primary participants of the educational desegregation movement of New Orleans public schools through a qualitative research approach. The methods used in this research were focus group interviews and document analysis. Two interviews were conducted to gather information about the events of the November 14, 1960 desegregation and their reflections on how it shaped their lives. The participants recalled life events from their experiences desegregating McDonough 19 in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans. This study focuses on the primary experiences of Gail Etienne, Leona Tate, and Tessie Prevost. As six year olds, these women faced isolation and hatred unknown to most children their ages. The methodology used in this study to discover themes that emerged and support the historical information from the time period and evidence of Interest Convergence one of the tenets of Critical Race Theorist. The counterstories provided by these women gave an additional perspective to historical information and allowed them to share one of the most important and significant parts of their childhood

The Contribution of Selected Instructional Methods Toward Graduate Student Understanding of Crisis Communication

Providing quality instruction that meets students’ learning needs is an issue facing teachers of agriculture in higher education. A considerable amount of research has been devoted to assessing the effectiveness of various instructional methods, but the research is inconclusive in identifying a singular method of instruction that works well with all individuals. The purpose of this study was to examine students’ perceived value of instructional methods in contribution towards their understanding of and confidence in risk and crisis communication content and practices. This study also compared students (N = 30) from two semesters to determine if new instructional methods incorporating new technology (i.e., Second Life) impacted the knowledge, comprehension, and self-confidence of students. In this descriptive survey research, the data revealed that students did not identify one singular instructional method as being most beneficial and influential, but found a combination of instructional methods influenced their self-confidence. No significant differences were found in changes in students’ content knowledge scores or end-of-course degree of confidence scores

Design and Benchmark Testing for Open Architecture Reconfigurable Mobile Spirometer and Exhaled Breath Monitor with GPS and Data Telemetry.

Portable and wearable medical instruments are poised to play an increasingly important role in health monitoring. Mobile spirometers are available commercially, and are used to monitor patients with advanced lung disease. However, these commercial monitors have a fixed product architecture determined by the manufacturer, and researchers cannot easily experiment with new configurations or add additional novel sensors over time. Spirometry combined with exhaled breath metabolite monitoring has the potential to transform healthcare and improve clinical management strategies. This research provides an updated design and benchmark testing for a flexible, portable, open access architecture to measure lung function, using common Arduino/Android microcontroller technologies. To demonstrate the feasibility and the proof-of-concept of this easily-adaptable platform technology, we had 43 subjects (healthy, and those with lung diseases) perform three spirometry maneuvers using our reconfigurable device and an office-based commercial spirometer. We found that our system compared favorably with the traditional spirometer, with high accuracy and agreement for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC), and gas measurements were feasible. This provides an adaptable/reconfigurable open access "personalized medicine" platform for researchers and patients, and new chemical sensors and other modular instrumentation can extend the flexibility of the device in the future

Female meadow voles have a preferred mating pattern predicted by photoperiod, which influences fertility

In a previous study, Meek and Lee (26) found that female meadow voles mated within three distinct time periods after pairing with a male, and fertility was influenced by the time of mating and photoperiod. In the present studies, we tested the hypothesis that different patterns of mating would correlate with high and low fertility. We found two very different patterns of mating were correlated with high fertility. Females housed in long daylengths (long day; 14 h light/day) and mating within 48 h of pairing with a male, received few mounts, intromissions, and intromissions per ejaculatory series, with very short interintromission intervals. All long-day females utilizing this mating pattern ovulated, and 86-100% produced litters. We suggest this pattern of mating is associated with spontaneous estrus. In contrast to long-day females mating within 48 h, females housed in short daylengths (short day; 10 h light/day) and mating between 14-48 h after pairing with a male, received significantly more short mounts and intromissions, with longer interintromission intervals. These short day females all ovulated and 86% produced litters. We suggest that this pattern of mating is associated with an induced estrus. Short-day females that did not exhibit this pattern of mating (66%) produced far fewer litters. We discuss two mechanisms by which fertility may be inhibited in most short-day females.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30434/1/0000055.pd

Use of Short Messaging Service to Improve Follow-Up for Abnormal Pap Test Results in Minority and Medically Underserved Women in North Carolina: Questionnaire on Attitudes and Acceptability

Background: An estimated one in eight cervical cancer cases are due to a lack of follow-up care for abnormal Pap test results. Low rates of completion of follow-up care particularly affect low-income minority women. The burden of cervical cancer could be reduced through interventions that improve timely colposcopy follow-up and treatment of abnormal screening results. Mobile communications via text messaging present a low-cost opportunity to increase rates of clinic return among women referred to follow-up after obtaining abnormal screening results. Objective: Our aims were to determine the acceptability and feasibility of using text messaging to increase completion of follow-up care following abnormal cervical cancer screening (Pap test) results and to examine factors that may affect the acceptability and use of text messaging to increase communications between health care providers (HCP) and low-income minority women. Methods: The study participants were 15 low-income women who had undergone a Pap test within the preceding 12 months. Semistructured interviews, including open- and closed-ended questions from a validated questionnaire, were conducted by phone or in person. Responses to closed-ended survey items were tabulated, and descriptive statistics were generated using Microsoft Excel. Responses to the open-ended questions were coded and analyzed using NVivo 11 qualitative analysis software. Results: Nearly all participants (14/15, 93%) were comfortable receiving a text message from an HCP stating that their Pap test results were available (<40 years: 100%; ≥40 years: 86%). Over half (8/15; 53%) of the participants were comfortable receiving a text message stating that their Pap test results were abnormal, although many preferred to receive such information via a phone call (6/15; 40%). Most participants (9/15; 60%) believed that receiving a text reminder would make them more likely to attend their appointment. The preferred method for receiving a reminder appeared to vary by age, with older women preferring telephone reminders over text messaging reminders. Analysis of open-ended questions suggested that text messaging appeals to some women due to its wide use and convenience for communicating with HCPs. However, women cited concerns about the confidentiality of messages and barriers to understanding the messages, including the physical capacity to read and accurately interpret the content of the messaging. Conclusions: Most participants indicated a willingness to receive text messages from their HCPs about cervical cancer screening results and believed that text messages were the best way to remind them of appointments for follow-up care. Potential concerns could be addressed by excluding explicit references to the nature of the appointment in the text message in order to avoid disclosure of sensitive health information to unauthorized individuals. Although text messaging seems promising to improve adherence to timely follow-up, personal preferences should be considered by allowing patients to opt-out of text communications

Advancing and translating knowledge: a systematic inquiry into the 2010–2020 mental health and psychosocial support intervention research evidence base

Abstract Background and study objectives MHPSS is increasingly seen as a critical component to effective and responsible humanitarian programming. This review examines the extent to which MHPSS research generated since 2010 has contributed to the public health evidence base and how this has influenced and impacted programming and policy in humanitarian settings. Methods This mixed-method study included a scoping literature review (n = 50) and a consultation process with qualitative key informant interviews (n = 19) and online survey responses (n = 52) to identify the facilitating and inhibiting factors for the two areas of inquiry and to understand the broader context in which knowledge is generated and taken up. The interviews were thematically analysed and the survey responses were descriptively analysed. Results The review identified a rapidly growing evidence base that has evaluated a range of MHPSS interventions. However, few studies examined long-term impacts of interventions, there was limited direct evidence on outcomes for children and adolescents and whole family approaches, and there were minimal replications of the same approach that could test efficacy across settings and population groups. A general shift was identified in the consultation process away from a focus on disorder towards the more positive aspects of wellbeing. However, there remained a mismatch in many studies included in the literature review, whereby the interventions were broad, community-based but the outcome measures used still focused on changes in symptoms of mental disorders. Conclusion The evidence base for MHPSS has grown significantly over the last 10 years. However, several knowledge gaps remain, as does the divide between research and practice. Moving forward, MHPSS intervention research needs to be more responsive to the needs on the ground