Fungible commodities

This is an unbound portfolio printed using polymer plates on the vandercook press, in Providence, Rhode Island. The portfolio was created as a supplement for fungible commodities, a series of three multimedia installations

Promoting Health Education and Literacy in Rural Tennessee: The Go-Packs Pilot Project

Little Milligan Elementary School in rural Carter County, Tennessee was provided with health literacy resources in the form of health education Go-Packs––easily implementable lessons contained in a small storage tote––as part of the community project requirement of the James H. Quillen College of Medicine Rural Primary Care Track Curriculum. These Go-Packs included detailed lesson plans and accompanying materials that were designed to facilitate health education in the classrooms by providing easily deployable lessons for the teachers to utilize. Four Go-Packs were provided for hygiene, oral health, tobacco use, and nutrition that teachers used to augment instruction during teachable moments that arose in their classrooms. Our objective was to determine whether the development and implementation of these Go-Packs increased the amount of health education delivered to the students and determine what barriers persist to provide health education in the classroom. Participants were randomly assigned a number which they placed on their pre and post surveys. A focus group was also conducted to better understand the faculty’s experience utilizing the Go-Packs and where improvements could be made. A paired sample t-test showed no significant differences in pre and post attitudes of teachers at the school. The focus group and survey questions identified the need to improve the usability of specific Go-Packs, map the Go-Packs to state mandated curriculums and target Go-Pack usage towards non-core instructors

Creativity and the computer nerd: an exploration of attitudes

This study arises from our concern that many of our best art and design students are failing to make the most of the opportunities provided by IT because of their fear or dislike of computers. This not only deprives them of useful skills, but, even more importantly, deprives many IT based developments of their input. In this paper we investigate the relationship between attitudes to creativity and to computers among students. We quickly discard an approach based on theories of personality types as philosophically and educationally problematic. An approach based on the self-concept of artists and designers, in relation to their own creativity and to their feelings about computers, offers more hope of progress. This means that we do not try to define the attributes of "creative people". Rather, we ask what creativity means to students of art and design and relate these responses to their attitudes to computers. Self-concept depends on how the subjects see themselves within society and culture, and is liable to change as culture changes. One major instrument of cultural change at the present time is the growth of IT itself. We then describe a first attempt at using a psychological method - Kelly's Repertory Grids - to investigate the self-concept of artists and designers. It is hoped to continue with this approach in further studies over the next few years

Mobilising Knowledge: Determining key elements for success and pitfalls in developing Community Based Tourism

Community based tourism (CBT) has often been cited as an alternative to mass tourism and an approach for tourism to become more sustainable. If developed well, CBT can become a poverty alleviation mechanism and a way to access improvements in quality of life, providing empowerment and greater economic benefit to individuals in local communities. Despite the plethora of literature on CBT and evaluation of models, there is little analysis of the facilitators and barriers to achieving it. Through the use of case studies in both academic and grey literature, this paper serves as an instructive review of the CBT literature to synthesise the key elements of success and the challenges

Contribution of the physical environment to socioeconomic gradients in walking in the Whitehall II study

Socioeconomic gradients in walking are well documented but the underlying reasons remain unclear. We examined the contribution of objective measures of the physical environment at residence to socioeconomic gradients in walking in 3363 participants (50-74years) from the Whitehall II study (2002-2004). Individual-level socioeconomic position was measured as most recent employment grade. The contribution of multiple measures of the physical environment to socioeconomic position gradients in self-reported log transformed minutes walking/week was examined by linear regression. Objective measures of the physical environment contributed only to a small extent to socioeconomic gradients in walking in middle-aged and older adults living in Greater London, UK. Of these, only the number of killed and seriously injured road traffic casualties per km of road was predictive of walking. More walking in areas with high rates of road traffic casualties per km of road may signal an effect not of injury risk but of more central locations with multiple destinations within short distances ('compact neighbourhoods'). This has potential implications for urban planning to promote physical activity

Simulated Basic Skills Training: Graduate Nursing Students Teaching Medical Students: A Work in Progress

For a number of years, Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) students have taught interested 1st year medical students to perform intramuscular injections prior to their participation in community flu clinics. When several 4th year medical students needed documentation of competency in intravenous (IV) cannulation prior to participating in an elective rotation at another institution, the Medical School\u27s Dean of Students called the Director of Interdisciplinary Partnerships in the Graduate School of Nursing to request assistance. In fact, all medical students need IV therapy training prior to graduation, not just those who seek out visiting clerkships at other medical schools. Integration of IV training into the Undergraduate Medical Education Surgery Clerkship Curriculum supports the clinical objectives of the Surgery Clerkship along with the developing use of simulation within in the medical school. This need led to the development of this interdisciplinary simulation education initiative. Presented at the 2008 Society on Simulation in Healthcare Conference

Infrastructure transformation as a socio-technical process - Implications for the governance of energy distribution networks in the UK

This paper seeks to uncover and examine the complex set of governance challenges associated with transforming energy distribution networks, which play a key enabling role in a low carbon energy transition. We argue that, although the importance of such infrastructure networks to sustainability and low carbon transitions in the energy, water and mobility sectors is clear, there is relatively little understanding of the social and institutional dimension of these systems and appropriate governance strategies for their transformation. This may be because the prevalent model of infrastructure governance in the energy and other sectors has prioritised short term time horizons and static efficiencies. In this paper we draw on the social shaping of technology literature to develop a broader understanding of infrastructure change as a dynamic socio-technical process. The empirical focus of the paper is on the development of more flexible and sustainable energy distribution systems as key enablers for the UK's low carbon transition. Focusing on electricity and heat networks we identify a range of governance challenges along different phases of the 'infrastructure lifecycle', and we draw lessons for the development of governance frameworks for the transformation of energy infrastructure more generally

Manual / Issue 14 / Shadows

Manual, a journal about art and its making. Shadows. This anti-visibility is not the same as being invisible, rather it is the power to operate against systems of imperial domination, including the gaze. It asks: How do we force the gaze to surrender? What if explanation were off the table? By enabling a petit marronage that can be expressed in the visual and symbolic use of shadow, the gaze is challenged. This issue of Manual and the accompanying exhibition (opening at the RISD Museum Fall 2020) posit that the right to opacity de-burdens contemporary work by artists who identify as Black and/or queer and/or feminist and/or non-binary and/or OVER IT—whatever sociocultural constriction “it” signifies. Opacity extends to artists who are simply not interested in explaining themselves or offering the emotional labor that is expended for inclusion. This right says, “I have given enough.” It also legitimizes and reclaims the shadow as a place of refuge, instead of being a place from which to escape. –Anita N. Bateman The RISD Museum’s fourteenth issue of Manual shines a light on the shadow, centering the black body as a site of possibility, liberatory self-awareness, radical non-conformity, and joyful defiance. This issue serves as a companion to the exhibition Defying the Shadow. Manual 14: Shadows opens with an excerpt on the shadow from W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk, followed by an introduction by Dr. Anita N. Bateman, who elucidates: “Operating in the shadow comes with a legacy of resistance, both in spiritual and ideological forms.” Softcover, 108 pages. Published Fall/Winter 2020 by the RISD Museum. Manual 14 (Shadows) contributors include: Andrea Achi, Emanuel Admassu, Anita N. Bateman, Makeda Best, Gina Borromeo, Rashayla Marie Brown, Shuriya Davis, Akwaeke Emezi, Tayana Fincher, Melanee C. Harvey, Kate Irvin, Sade LaNay, Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Dominic Molon, Oluremi C. Onabanjo, Kevin Quashie, Matthew Shenoda, and Leslie Wilson. This issue complements the RISD Museum exhibition Defying the Shadow, curated by Dr. Anita N. Bateman.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdmuseum_journals/1040/thumbnail.jp

Seismically invisible fault zones: Laboratory insights into imaging faults in anisotropic rocks

Phyllosilicate‐rich rocks which commonly occur within fault zones cause seismic velocity anisotropy. However, anisotropy is not always taken into account in seismic imaging and the extent of the anisotropy is often unknown. Laboratory measurements of the velocity anisotropy of fault zone rocks and gouge from the Carboneras fault zone in SE Spain indicate 10–15% velocity anisotropy in the gouge and 35–50% anisotropy in the mica‐schist protolith. Greater differences in velocity are observed between the fast and slow directions in the mica‐schist rock than between the gouge and the slow direction of the rock. This implies that the orientation of the anisotropy with respect to the fault is key in imaging the fault seismically. For example, for fault‐parallel anisotropy, a significantly greater velocity contrast between fault gouge and rock will occur along the fault than across it, highlighting the importance of considering the foliation orientation in design of seismic experiments

Developmental pathways to autism: a review of prospective studies of infants at risk

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, and the presence of restrictive and repetitive behaviors. Symptoms of ASD likely emerge from a complex interaction between pre-existing neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities and the child's environment, modified by compensatory skills and protective factors. Prospective studies of infants at high familial risk for ASD (who have an older sibling with a diagnosis) are beginning to characterize these developmental pathways to the emergence of clinical symptoms. Here, we review the range of behavioral and neurocognitive markers for later ASD that have been identified in high-risk infants in the first years of life. We discuss theoretical implications of emerging patterns, and identify key directions for future work, including potential resolutions to several methodological challenges for the field. Mapping how ASD unfolds from birth is critical to our understanding of the developmental mechanisms underlying this disorder. A more nuanced understanding of developmental pathways to ASD will help us not only to identify children who need early intervention, but also to improve the range of interventions available to them