Sketchnotes as an Analytical Tool in a Large Qualitative Study

I will discuss using a technique called sketchnotes to render concepts pictorially and keep track of emerging themes in a dataset of 3 million words from discussions with more than 850 participants. I will show samples of sketchnotes from the project and discuss their value in working with a large set of complex qualitative data

Participatory Qualitative Research Methodologies in Health: A Review

Participatory Qualitative Research Methodologies in Health is an edited collection of essays on the methodologies, challenges, and opportunities of participatory research. It provides guidance in designing and executing participatory studies, and thoughtful examinations of the ethical and practical issues of research partnerships, with particular attention to marginalized or vulnerable people

Book Review of Global Security in the Twenty-First Century: The Quest for Power and the Search for Peace by Sean Kay

This thoroughly updated edition of Global Security in the Twenty-First Century offers a balanced introduction to contemporary security dilemmas throughout the world. Sean Kay assesses the impact of the global economic crisis on international security and considers how the range of thinking about power and peace has evolved in relation to major flashpoints including in the Middle East, Asia, and Eurasia. Kay builds on the first and second edition’s emphasis on the roles of trade and technology, the militarization of space, the privatization of security, the use of sanctions, ethnic conflict, and transnational crime. This edition goes even farther to incorporate traditional thinking about national security in the context of human rights, democracy, population, health, environment, energy, and especially education. The author includes full updates on emerging challenges out of Iraq, Russia, and viral diseases in the context of larger strategic questions like the rise of China and America’s “pivot” to rebalance its priorities toward Asia. Writing in an engaging style, Kay integrates traditional and emerging challenges in one easily accessible study that gives readers the tools they need to develop a thoughtful and nuanced understanding of global security

Book Review of Right of Boom: The Aftermath of Nuclear Terrorism by Benjamin E. Schwartz

Right of Boom: The Aftermath of Nuclear Terrorism is Benjamin Schwartz’s first book. An ex-U.S.-government official, Schwartz presents a hypothetical scenario in which an unknown terrorist organization uses an Improvised Nuclear Device to attack Washington D.C. The book explores the possible consequences of such an attack on U.S. domestic and foreign policy, as well as upon the rest of the world. Schwartz projects outcomes by considering how past interactions and crises involving nuclear weapons have been handled. Thus, the book serves as a history of nuclear security interspersed with extrapolations into the future of nuclear terrorism, based on historical precedents related to nuclear weapons and terrorism

The Effect of Supplementing Rumen Undegradable Unsaturated Fatty Acids on Marbling in Early-Weaned Steers

The objective of this study was to determine if supplementation of a rumen undegradable unsaturated fatty acid (FA) source would improve marbling in early-weaned steers. All steers (Angus, n = 23 and Angus × Hereford, n = 24) were weaned at 150 ± 5 d of age. Steers were blocked by BW and breed then randomly assigned to either control (CON; 1.5 kg of corn gluten feed (CGF), n = 23) or a rumen undegradable fat isocaloric supplementation (RUF; 200 g of Megalac-R in 1.06 kg of CGF, n = 24) for 110 d (fed 5 d/wk). All steers had ad libitum access to pastures throughout treatment. Steer BW and blood samples were collected at 0, 55, and 110 d of supplementation, and real-time carcass ultrasound measurements were collected at d 110. Following treatment, steers were transported to Oklahoma State University for finishing and subsequent harvesting at a commercial plant. All data were analyzed using PROC MIXED procedure of SAS either as a repeated measures or ANOVA, depending on response variables. There were no significant changes in BW from beginning of treatment to harvest due to treatment. Ultrasound data showed that RUF steers tended to have more intramuscular fat (P = 0.08) than CON steers at d 110. Serum FA concentration showed a treatment × day interaction (P \u3c 0.02) on 16:0, 18:0, 18:1 c-9, 18:2, 20:4, and total FA. These specific FA concentrations increased throughout treatment in CON steers, but there was a greater increase in the concentration of RUF steers. Serum triglyceride and cholesterol concentrations were increased (P \u3c 0.01) on d 55 and 110 in RUF steers compared to CON steers. Serum leptin concentration in RUF steers was greater (P \u3c 0.01) than CON steers at d 110. Marbling scores of the RUF carcasses tended (P = 0.09) to be higher than CON carcasses. There was a tendency (P = 0.09) for increased percent total lipids in RUF steaks compared to CON steaks. There was also a tendency (P = 0.06) for RUF steers to have an increased percentage of 20 - 30 um adipocytes in their intramuscular depots compared to CON steers. The results of this study indicate that supplementation of rumen undegradable unsaturated FA may positively impact marbling deposition in early-weaned steers

The Effects of Acute Ethanol Treatment on the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus in Adult Male Mice

Light is the primary entraining signal for the mammalian circadian clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Light entering the eye leads to release of glutamate directly onto SCN neurons where it binds to N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors initiating a cascade of cellular processes that ultimately modulates clock phase. SCN neurons show a 24-hour rhythm in neuronal activity that peaks in the middle of the day when isolated in a brain slice preparation. Treatments that phase-shift the SCN clock in vivo have been shown similarly to shift this rhythm of neuronal activity in vitro. Here, I have investigated the effects of ethanol on circadian rhythms in SCN brain slices. My experiments have found that acute application of glutamate [1mM] in the early night to mouse SCN brain slices causes a mean phase-delay of 2.7 hours. Co-application of ethanol blocks this phase-delay in a dose dependent manner, with a maximum effect at 20mM. Ethanol could affect the glutamate-initiated pathway through one or more mechanisms including the prevention of glutamate and/or its co-agonists from binding to the NMDA receptor. Experiments, however, show that high levels of glutamate are not able to overcome ethanol’s blocking effects. Similarly, excess concentrations of glycine and D-serine, the two potential co-agonist candidates, do not prevent ethanol’s block. Additional experiments showed that high concentrations of glycine applied in the early subjective night caused a phase-advance of 3.4 hours, indicating the presence of glycine receptors in the SCN that are capable of modulating clock phase. Experiments involving strychnine, a glycine receptor antagonist, revealed that when applied alone in the early subjective night resulted in a phase delay of 2 hours. The mechanism behind strychnine’s phase shifting abilities is unknown. This study has shown that ethanol at a physiologically relevant level has the ability to block glutamate induced phase delays. Though the specific mechanism through which it acts has not been identified, this study suggests ethanol does not interfere with binding of glutamate, nor its co-agonist, to the NMDA receptor. In addition to the ethanol work, my study has shown the phase-shifting effects of glycine and strychnine, two previously unknown phenomena

Organization for National Security

Important changes were made in the whole structure for national security when Congress passed the National Security Act of 1947. During the past two years most of us in the armed forces have become more or less familiar with these changes and with their impact on all phases of military operations