HIV/AIDS

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a disease in which the virus attacks and depletes the CD4+ T cells leading to a weakened immune system in which a pMersin can no longer fight pathogens. This weakening of the person\u27s immune system makes them more susceptible to opportunistic infections and malignancies (Coffin & Swanstrom, 2017). In the initial acute HIV infection period the person usually does not show symptoms but is highly infectious which can allow for transmission unknowingly (Center for Disease Control and PrevenBon, 2017). HIV can eventually progress to AIDS without treatment. Admission to the hospital can expose this person to many opportunistic pathogens and complicate treatment plan. In Columbus, Ohio, at Grant Medical Center there is a need for better understanding of HIV and the impact it can potentially have on patients who are acutely ill in the critical care setting which is why this topic was chosen

The Financial Impact of Charter Schools on School Districts

Charter schools are new or converted schools “chartered” by agents of the state, which offer families options in addition to those choices available through their school district

Rethinking conflict resolution research in post-war Bosnia and Hercegovina: A genealogical and ontological exploration

This thesis explores how research is implicated in the constitution of post-war environments, and gives an account of being and becoming a researcher in post-war Bosnia. My main contention is that when peace and conflict researchers conduct research in post-war contexts, their presence, practices, and the consequential production of knowledge and representations, have political effects. I argue that the implications of this have not been fully explained, acknowledged, or problematised within Conflict Resolution, which tends to rely on research approaches and assumptions taken from ‘normal’ science. This thesis suggests how reflexivity and alternatives methodologies, including visual research might be used to represent the emotional, sensory, and often intangible elements of post-war realities. It enacts an engagement in the politics of research and uses reflexive writing and visual methods to draw attention to the importance of the relational aspects of research in postwar environments. Visual journeys are also used to argue that visual methods can provide a way of revisiting the epistemological and ontological assumptions about lived experiences and realities in post-war settings. The thesis is based upon one year of ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in Bosnia, and is also informed by eighteen months of volunteer work with a Bosnian Community Centre in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Managing access to the Internet in public libraries in the UK – the findings of the MAIPLE project

Paper presented at the Annual International Conference on Library and Information Science, 4-7 August 2014, Athens, Greece. One of the key purposes of the public library is to provide access to information. In the UK, information is provided in printed formats and for the last decade via public access Internet workstations installed as part of the People’s Network initiative. Recent figures reveal that UK public libraries provide approximately 43,000 computer terminals offering users around 83,000,000 hours across more than 4,300 service points. In addition, increasing numbers of public libraries allow users to connect devices such as tablets or smart phones to the Internet via a wireless network access point (Wi-Fi). How do public library staff manage this? What about users viewing harmful or illegal content? What are the implications for a profession committed to freedom of access to information and opposition to censorship? MAIPLE, a two-year project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has been investigating this issue, as little was known about how UK public libraries manage Internet content control including illegal material. MAIPLE has drawn on an extensive review of the literature, an online survey which all UK public library services (PLS) were invited to complete (39 per cent response rate) and case studies with five services (two in England, one in Scotland, one in Wales and one in Northern Ireland) to examine the ways these issues are managed and their implications for staff. This paper will explore the prevalence of tools such as filtering software, Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs), user authentication, booking software and visual monitoring by staff and consider their efficacy and desirability in the provision of public Internet access. It will consider the professional dilemmas inherent with managing content and access. Finally, it will highlight some of the more important themes emerging from the findings and their implications for practitioners and policy makers

Characterizing the Linguistic Chameleon: Personal and Social Correlates of Linguistic Style Accommodation

© 2016 International Communication Association Linguistic style accommodation between conversationalists is associated with positive social outcomes. We examine social power and personality as factors driving the occurrence of linguistic style accommodation, and the social outcomes of accommodation. Social power was manipulated to create 144 face-to-face dyadic interactions between individuals of high versus low power and 64 neutral power interactions. Particular configurations of personality traits (high self-monitoring, Machiavellianism and leadership, and low self-consciousness, impression management and agreeableness), combined with a low-power role, led to an increased likelihood of linguistic style accommodation. Further, greater accommodation by low-power individuals positively influenced perceptions of subjective rapport and attractiveness. We propose individual differences interact with social context to influence the conditions under which nonconscious communication accommodation occurs

Regulating internet access in UK public libraries: legal compliance and ethical dilemmas

Purpose – This paper aims to consider selected results from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded “Managing Access to the internet in Public Libraries” (MAIPLE) project, from 2012-2014. MAIPLE has explored the ways in which public library services manage use of the internet connections that they provide for the public. This included the how public library services balance their legal obligations and the needs of their communities in a public space and the ethical dilemmas that arise. Design/methodology/approach - The researchers used a mixed-method approach involving a review of the literature, legal analysis, a questionnaire survey and case studies in five public library authorities. Findings - UK public library services use a range of methods to regulate internet access. The research also confirms previous findings that filtering software is an ubiquitous tool for controlling access to and protecting library users from “inappropriate”, illegal and harmful internet content. There is a general, if sometimes reluctant, acceptance of filtering software as a practical tool by library staff, which seems to contrast with professional codes of ethics and attitudes in other countries. The research indicates that public library internet access will be a valued service for some time to come, but that some aspects of how public library services regulate internet access is currently managed can have socially undesirable consequences, including blocking legitimate sites and preventing users from accessing government services. Education could play a greater part in helping the general population to exercise judgement in selection of materials to view and use. This does not preclude implementing stricter controls to protect children, whilst allowing public libraries to continue providing a social good to those who are unable to otherwise participate in the digital age. Research limitations/implications – The response to the survey was 39 per cent meaning that findings may not apply across the whole of the UK. The findings of this study are compared with and supplemented by other quantitative sources, but a strength of this study is the depth of understanding afforded by the use of case studies. Originality/value - This paper provides both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of how internet access is managed in UK public libraries, including how library services fulfil their legal obligations and the ethical implications of how they balance their role in facilitating access to information with their perceived role as a safe and trusted environment for all members of their communities. The findings add to the international discussion on this issue and stimulate debate and policy making in the UK

Identifying linguistic correlates of power

Previous work on social power modelling from linguistic cues has been limited by the range of available data. We introduce a new corpus of dialogues, generated in a controlled experimental setting where participant roles were manipulated to generate a perceived difference in social power. Initial results demonstrate successful differentiation of upwards, downwards, and level communications, using a classifier built on a small set of stylistic features

Developing a model for e-prints and open access journal content in UK further and higher education

A study carried out for the UK Joint Information Systems Committee examined models for the provision of access to material in institutional and subject-based archives and in open access journals. Their relative merits were considered, addressing not only technical concerns but also how e-print provision (by authors) can be achieved – an essential factor for an effective e-print delivery service (for users). A "harvesting" model is recommended, where the metadata of articles deposited in distributed archives are harvested, stored and enhanced by a national service. This model has major advantages over the alternatives of a national centralized service or a completely decentralized one. Options for the implementation of a service based on the harvesting model are presented

Linguistic Style Accommodation Shapes Impression Formation and Rapport in Computer-Mediated-Communication

Communication accommodation theory predicts that social power plays an important role in influencing communicative behaviors. Previous research suggests these effects extend to linguistic style, thought to be a non-conscious aspect of communication. Here, we explore if these effects hold when individuals converse using a medium limited in personal cues, computer-mediated-communication (CMC). We manipulated social power in instant messaging conversations and measured subsequent interpersonal impressions. Low power induced greater likelihood of linguistic style accommodation, across between- (Study 1) and within-subjects (Study 2) experiments. Accommodation by those in a low power role had no impact on impressions formed by their partner. In contrast, linguistic style accommodation by individuals in a high-power role was associated with negative interpersonal impressions formed by their lower power partner. The results show robust effects of power in shaping language use across CMC. Further, the interpersonal effects of linguistic accommodation depend upon the conversational norms of the social context