Zero Waste on Instagram Through the Lens of Precautionary Consumption

The zero waste community (ZW) community on Instagram is a group of individuals who intend to lessen their environmental impact by utilizing precautionary consumption (PC) to avoid generating waste. Public figures in the ZW community advertise ZW as a simple and efficient method to take action against the ever growing plastic waste in our society. In this paper, I perform a virtual ethnographic analysis of posts shared on Instagram within the ZW community to illustrate the way in which ZW places responsibility at the individual level in order to reduce plastic waste. Next, I compare levels of industrial waste to municipal solid waste to highlight how ZW’s fascination with food plastic packaging is an inadequate approach to their environmental goals. Next, I apply a lens of precautionary consumption (PC) to examine why women may identify with the ZW community, what kinds of women are most prominently represented, and what this representation says about ZW as a method for eliminating plastic waste from our environments. In this way, I ultimately conclude that the PC utilized by the ZW community is an ineffective method to eliminate plastic waste from our environment

Diet-Regulated Anxiety

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Identification of Demand through Statistical Distribution Modeling for Improved Demand Forecasting

Demand functions for goods are generally cyclical in nature with characteristics such as trend or stochasticity. Most existing demand forecasting techniques in literature are designed to manage and forecast this type of demand functions. However, if the demand function is lumpy in nature, then the general demand forecasting techniques may fail given the unusual characteristics of the function. Proper identification of the underlying demand function and using the most appropriate forecasting technique becomes critical. In this paper, we will attempt to explore the key characteristics of the different types of demand function and relate them to known statistical distributions. By fitting statistical distributions to actual past demand data, we are then able to identify the correct demand functions, so that the the most appropriate forecasting technique can be applied to obtain improved forecasting results. We applied the methodology to a real case study to show the reduction in forecasting errors obtained

Can the Fear of Death Inspire Creativity?

The current study examined whether participant\u27s creative performance changed after they became aware of their mortality. The main hypotheses predicted that (1) participants who have highly creative personalities would show an increase in creative performance following mortality salience, (2) participants with less creative personalities would show a decrease in creative performance following mortality salience. Highly creative individuals were distinguished from less creative individuals based on their personality composition. The Consequences Test (Guilford, 1970) was used to measure creative performance. To examine whether creative performance changed after mortality salience, participants completed Form 1A of the Consequences Test, a mortality salience manipulation, and then Form 1B of the Consequences Test. Form 1A and 1B of the Consequences Test are equivalent forms. The results of this study failed to support the main hypotheses. A potential explanation for the non-significant results is that issues about mortality are not relevant to college age participants. Future research may benefit from examining the effects of mortality salience on creative performance in seniors or individuals who are terminally ill

Systems Modeling As A Means Of Building Accuate Mental Models Of Physiology Core Concepts In Undergraduate And Graduate Health Sciences Students

Accurate medical and health sciences problem solving relies upon a solid foundation of basic sciences content knowledge, primarily physiology. Yet, due to its nature as a dynamic system of interconnected, networked, concepts, physiology is often difficult for students to master. The three studies in this dissertation explore the use of a cognitive tool, systems modeling, to facilitate the development of an accurate mental model of physiology content knowledge in undergraduate and graduate physiology students. In the first study, undergraduate physiology student participation within online asynchronous peer group systems modeling activities was associated with progressive improvement on multiple choice question answer accuracy in the modeling condition versus the written discussion post condition. In the second study, graduate physician assistant students ranked systems modeling to be the top strategy for learning physiology content in the basic sciences year of study and the second to top strategy for retaining that content into the clinical year. In the third study, graduate physician assistant students demonstrated increased use of integrated core concept terms, after systems modeling activity participation, when describing the pathophysiology threshold concept of inflammation in writing. Together, these three studies provide evidence that the systems modeling strategy is an effective cognitive tool that contributes to improved student learning and retention of physiology content through visualization and subsequent refinement of the learner’s mental model of the problem space

Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group Community Based Restoration: the value of developing partnerships for salmon recovery

The collaborative process plays a critical role in habitat restoration. With support from a federal grant, the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group has been working with the Samish Nation to restore areas along the Samish River after the removal of the noxious weed knotweed. This effort has involved a collaborative strategy between the Samish and Skagit Fisheries to engage landowners and the community to achieve restoration and noxious weed control. In addition, Skagit Fisheries has a broader approach to community engagement and working with landowners to achieve restoration for salmon habitat. Case examples will be presented to showcase these efforts

Notice of Forfeiture to Incarcerated Individuals: Did the Supreme Court Get it Right in Dusenbery v. United States?

This Recent Development addresses whether or not the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires that the federal government provide actual notice of forfeiture to incarcerated individuals, and it proposes that the Supreme Court erred in its recent decision in Dusenbery

Investigating Academic Pressures on the Children of Immigrants

Immigration is a hot button issue in US society, and has been for a while now. Starting with the wave of Irish immigrants in 1815, immigrants were not necessarily greeted with open arms (History.com Editors. 2018). Throughout history, excluding immigrants and treating them poorly became a pattern. This includes the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the quota system placed into action in 1924 (History.com Editors. 2018). Immigrants have always been resisted by American society and treated accordingly. This resistance against immigrants has only grown since the 2016 Presidential election. Immigrants and their families have been stereotyped as uneducated and who “steal American jobs”. In reality, the children of immigrants face unique challenges that other children may not face, and they do so while obtaining their education. Whether it is the pressure of assimilating, culture, family, learning a new language, or even discrimination, children of immigrants face these challenges head on while balancing their life in school. While there are plenty of studies on immigration, there are very few that focus on the education of the children of immigrants. In order to investigate the pressures that are unique to these children, I examined the current literature which was available and then studied the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study directed by Alejandro Portes and Rubén G. Rumbaut. I examined the longitudinal panel study for indications of pressure from parents, culture, discrimination, and finances. In my examination and analysis, I found that there are a lot of parental and cultural pressures placed on the children of immigrants, and that discrimination, was not as big of a factor as suspected