Innocents and gilt: American satire in the Confident Years, 1873-1915

Under the recent shadow of the Civil War and the failures of Reconstruction, popular writers mocked the national naiveté that led to major distortions in the American cultural self-image. In this dissertation, I study the socially and politically motivated satire of the era between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the First World War. For too long, scholarship in this area has focused almost exclusively on three major satirists and social critics from the Gilded Age: Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Mark Twain. Though I do include some of Mark Twain’s lesser-known later writing as a lens through which to re-examine what is arguably the greatest work of American satire, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main objective here is to interrogate lesser-known works by other authors of the period, famous as well as relatively unknown. My dissertation aims to uncover neglected works by more famous authors like William Dean Howells and Charlotte Perkins Gilman; to refresh our thinking about writers such as Charles Chesnutt, Finley Peter Dunne, and Edward Bellamy; and to reveal the satirical depths of overlooked figures like Marietta Holley and Mary E. Bradley Lane. Given the parallels between the Confident Years and the United States in the early twenty-first century, in-depth review of the satire of the earlier period seems not only timely but vital.2020-11-07T00:00:00

Location Determinants of Food Manufacturing Investment: Are Non-metropolitan Counties Competitive?

Food manufacturing site selection is determined by infrastructure, agglomeration, product and input markets, labor markets, and fiscal attributes of local communities. This article examines how these factors influence location decisions across the rural-urban continuum in the lower forty-eight states of the U.S. Negative binomial regression and spatial clustering methods are used to forecast new food processor location patterns at the county level, 2000-2004. Remote rural areas are at a comparative disadvantage with respect to attracting food processors, but non-metropolitan counties with economic links to urban core areas may be attractive investment sites for footloose, supply, and demand-oriented food manufacturers.firm location, food manufacturing, negative binomial regression, spatial clustering, Community/Rural/Urban Development, R1, R3,

The challenges in the transition to adulthood for foster care youth: a literature review

The years of emerging adulthood are oftentimes filled with both happiness and anxiety while youth move toward adult roles and responsibilities. According to Courtney and Dworsky (2006), a subset of American emerging adults, those who are transitioning out of foster care face greater vulnerability than do their peers in the general population in a number of issues. As a result, this paper reviewed the literature on the challenges faced by these former foster youth, namely relationships, well-being, substance use, education, employment and finances. Limitations of this extant research are noted along with directions in future research on programs designed to facilitate these former foster youth\u27s transition. Lastly, real-world implications of the findings are discussed

The mass-L_x relation for moderate luminosity X-ray clusters

We present measurements of the masses of a sample of 25 moderate X-ray luminosity clusters of galaxies from the 160 square degree ROSAT survey. The masses were obtained from a weak lensing analysis of deep F814W images obtained using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). We present an accurate empirical correction for the effect of charge transfer (in)efficiency on the shapes of faint galaxies. A significant lensing signal is detected around most of the clusters. The lensing mass correlates tightly with the cluster richness. We measured the intrinsic scatter in the scaling relation between M_2500 and L_X and find the best fit power law slope and normalisation to be alpha=0.68+-0.07 and M_X=(1.2+-0.12)10^14M_sun (for L_X=2x10^44 erg/s). These results agree well with a number of recent studies, but the normalisation is lower compared to the study of Rykoff et al. (2008b). One explanation for this difference may be the fact that (sub)structures projected along the line-of-sight boost both the galaxy counts and the lensing mass. Such superpositions lead to an increased mass at a given L_X when clusters are binned by richness.Comment: accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal; 15 pages, 11 figure

Determination of below-ground vegetation and water use model parameters for a revised South African hydrological baseline land cover.

Master of Science in Hydrology. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Pietermaritzburg, 2018.The combination of both natural and anthropogenic activities have caused significant changes to the natural land cover which have impacted on the hydrological responses. The assessment of the magnitude of these land use change impacts on the hydrological response is important for sound water resource management, and is largely dependent on the baseline land cover used. The development of an updated natural vegetation map of South Africa by SANBI (2012), together with improved field based measurements of natural vegetation water use in recent studies, has led to the assessment of this map as a new hydrological baseline for South Africa. The proposed new baseline provides an opportunity to address the concerns raised about the current Acocks’ (1988) baseline used in South Africa. This study has provided estimates of the below-ground related vegetation and water use ACRU parameters for the proposed new baseline. These below-ground parameters estimated include the seasonal variations of the distribution of active roots in topsoil and subsoil horizons (ROOTA and ROOTB), the effective rooting depth (EFRDEP). The new and refined set of below-ground land cover ACRU input parameters will contribute to an improved and reliable baseline against which to assess any changes. As it was impractical to produce field-based measurements for the large number of natural vegetation species, and as it was not possible to form new spatial observations of theses below-ground root structures, the refined parameterisation of the below-ground component in ACRU was based primarily on review of measured values from past literature. The ROOTA values were estimated based on the vertical root distributions for various vegetation growth forms from previous studies together with the A-horizon soil depths of the vegetation clusters that constitute the baseline land cover. The effective rooting depth (EFRDEP) values were estimated by applying a linear regression relationship, relating rooting depths to Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP) for each baseline cluster. The study also involved a sensitivity analysis of the land cover input parameters to the ACRU Agrohydrological Model to determine the parameters to which the model is most sensitive

A Pilot Study Exploring Gender Differences in Residents’ Strategies for Establishing Mentoring Relationships

BACKGROUND: Mentoring is important throughout a physician's career and has been noted to be particularly important during residency training. Other studies suggest that women may experience difficulty in finding mentors. PURPOSE: This study explored gender-specific differences in residents' mentoring experiences. METHODS: The authors conducted two focus groups at the University of Pittsburgh in July, 2004. One group was composed of 12 female residents; the other was composed of nine male residents. Discussions were audiotaped and transcribed. Two investigators coded the transcripts and identified emerging themes. RESULTS: Residents of both genders cited multiple barriers to mentoring. Men's strategies for finding mentors were more numerous than women's and included identifying mentors through research, similar interests, friendship, and networking. Female strategies were limited and included identifying mentors through "word of mouth" and work experiences. Women described more passive approaches for finding a mentor than men. CONCLUSIONS: Female residents may lack strategies and initiatives for finding mentors. Residency programs should create opportunities for residents to develop mentoring relationships, with special attention paid to gender differences

Communication of Recommendations for the Disposal of Unused Prescription Opioid Medications by Stakeholders in the News Media

Objective The opioid epidemic is a national public health emergency that requires a comprehensive approach to reduce opioid-related deaths. Proper and timely disposal of unused prescription opioids is one method to deter improper use of these medications and prevent overdose. The objective of this study was to understand how recommendations for disposing of unused prescription opioids, including both take-back programs and toilet disposal, are communicated to the public. Methods Two hundred sixty-three US newspaper articles published between January 1, 2014, and June 30, 2017, containing information on opioids and take-back programs were found using LexisNexis. Using content analysis, articles were coded for the presentation of and recommendation for opioid disposal practices, beliefs about environmental harm from toilet disposal, and additional strategies to reduce opioid supply. The entity responsible for the statement was also captured. Results Take-back programs were presented as a recommended disposal strategy for unused prescription opioids in 88.6% of coded articles. Toilet disposal was presented as a recommended disposal strategy for unused prescription opioids in 3.4% of articles and as harmful to the environment in 16.0% of articles. Individuals from health care, government, and law enforcement were primarily involved in discussing opioid disposal practices. Conclusions Although toilet disposal is recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for disposal of unused prescription opioids when a take-back program is not readily available, it was infrequently presented or recommended in news media articles. These results highlight the importance of improving communication of FDA guidelines for opioid disposal in the media, particularly by health care providers, government employees, and law enforcement officials