Preparing Future Counselors to Work with BIPOC Identified Males: The Integration of Hip Hop in Counselor Education

This study used a narrative inquiry to examine how BIPOC-identified male counselor educators integrated Hip Hop in their counseling practices and teaching to promote healing. The results of the study suggest Hip Hop offers modes of expression and modes of connection useful in counseling practice and in the training of future counselors. Practical implications for the use of Hip Hop in counselor education classrooms and counseling sessions are explored

Better Workers, Better Elections? Electoral Management Body Workforces and Electoral Integrity Worldwide

Building better elections is a central task for the study of democracy and democratisation. Despite this, there have been no cross-national studies on the staff who manage and implement elections: electoral management body (EMB) workforces. This article provides the first macroscopic worldwide picture of workforce characteristics, human resource management practices and employee outcomes, and analyses the effects they have on electoral integrity, based on original international surveys of electoral management bodies (EMBs) (n = 51) and electoral officials (n = 2029). Drawing from the human resource management literature, a framework is developed to explain how these factors might interact with EMB performance. Analysis demonstrates them to be highly related. Adding data on human resource management practices and employee outcomes improves explanatory models designed to predict the performance of EMBs. Chiefly, EMBs that enable greater opportunities for employees to be involved in decision-making processes perform better. Recruitment practices, job satisfaction and levels of stress are also important

Hastings-Levitov aggregation in the small-particle limit

We establish some scaling limits for a model of planar aggregation. The model is described by the composition of a sequence of independent and identically distributed random conformal maps, each corresponding to the addition of one particle. We study the limit of small particle size and rapid aggregation. The process of growing clusters converges, in the sense of Caratheodory, to an inflating disc. A more refined analysis reveals, within the cluster, a tree structure of branching fingers, whose radial component increases deterministically with time. The arguments of any finite sample of fingers, tracked inwards, perform coalescing Brownian motions. The arguments of any finite sample of gaps between the fingers, tracked outwards, also perform coalescing Brownian motions. These properties are closely related to the evolution of harmonic measure on the boundary of the cluster, which is shown to converge to the Brownian web

VLBA Imaging of the OH Maser in IIIZw35

We present a parsec-scale image of the OH maser in the nucleus of the active galaxy IIIZw35, made using the Very Long Baseline Array at a wavelength of 18 cm. We detected two distinct components, with a projected separation of 50 pc (for D=110 Mpc) and a separation in Doppler velocity of 70 km/s, which contain 50% of the total maser flux. Velocity gradients within these components could indicate rotation of clouds with binding mass densities of ~7000 solar masses per cubic parsec, or total masses of more than 500,000 solar masses. Emission in the 1665-MHz OH line is roughly coincident in position with that in the 1667-MHz line, although the lines peak at different Doppler velocities. We detected no 18 cm continuum emission; our upper limit implies a peak apparent optical depth greater than 3.4, assuming the maser is an unsaturated amplifier of continuum radiation.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Barium abundance in red giants of NGC 6752. Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium and three-dimensional effects

(Abridged) Aims: We study the effects related to departures from non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) and homogeneity in the atmospheres of red giant stars in Galactic globular cluster NGC 6752, to assess their influence on the formation of Ba II lines. Methods: One-dimensional (1D) local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and 1D NLTE barium abundances were derived using classical 1D ATLAS stellar model atmospheres. The three-dimensional (3D) LTE abundances were obtained for 8 red giants on the lower RGB, by adjusting their 1D LTE abundances using 3D-1D abundance corrections, i.e., the differences between the abundances obtained from the same spectral line using the 3D hydrodynamical (CO5BOLD) and classical 1D (LHD) stellar model atmospheres. Results: The mean 1D barium-to-iron abundance ratios derived for 20 giants are _{1D NLTE} = 0.05 \pm0.06 (stat.) \pm0.08 (sys.). The 3D-1D abundance correction obtained for 8 giants is small (~+0.05 dex), thus leads to only minor adjustment when applied to the mean 1D NLTE barium-to-iron abundance ratio for the 20 giants, _{3D+NLTE} = 0.10 \pm0.06(stat.) \pm0.10(sys.). The intrinsic abundance spread between the individual cluster stars is small and can be explained in terms of uncertainties in the abundance determinations. Conclusions: Deviations from LTE play an important role in the formation of barium lines in the atmospheres of red giants studied here. The role of 3D hydrodynamical effects should not be dismissed either, even if the obtained 3D-1D abundance corrections are small. This result is a consequence of subtle fine-tuning of individual contributions from horizontal temperature fluctuations and differences between the average temperature profiles in the 3D and 1D model atmospheres: owing to the comparable size and opposite sign, their contributions nearly cancel each other.Comment: Minor typos corrected. Accepted for publication in A&A (9 pages, 3 figures, 6 tables

Rural Food Pantry Users’ Stigma and Safety Net Food Programs

Increasing numbers of individuals in our community have been seeking local food pantry assistance. Previous studies of food pantries found that users show low rates of governmental aid receipt, especially in rural areas. We assessed evidence that suggests that post-recession need has mitigated rural reluctance to pursue government assistance. The inadequacy of government and local food assistance to address the problem of food insecurity in our community is discussed

Community-based Rehabilitation Training after stroke: Protocol of a pilot randomised controlled trial (ReTrain)

Introduction: The Rehabilitation Training (ReTrain) intervention aims to improve functional mobility, adherence to poststroke exercise guidelines and quality of life for people after stroke. A definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) is required to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of ReTrain, which is based on Action for Rehabilitation from Neurological Injury (ARNI). The purpose of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility of such a definitive trial and inform its design. Methods and analysis: A 2-group, assessor-blinded, randomised controlled external pilot trial with parallel mixed-methods process evaluation and economic evaluation. 48 participants discharged from clinical rehabilitation despite residual physical disability will be individually randomised 1:1 to ReTrain (25 sessions) or control (exercise advice booklet). Outcome assessment at baseline, 6 and 9 months include Rivermead Mobility Index; Timed Up and Go Test; modified Patient-Specific Functional Scale; 7-day accelerometry; Stroke Self-efficacy Questionnaire, exercise diary, Fatigue Assessment Scale, exercise beliefs and self-efficacy questionnaires, SF-12, EQ-5D-5L, Stroke Quality of Life, Carer Burden Index and Service Receipt Inventory. Feasibility, acceptability and process outcomes include recruitment and retention rates; with measurement burden and trial experiences being explored in qualitative interviews (20 participants, 3 intervention providers). Analyses include descriptive statistics, with 95% CI where appropriate; qualitative themes; intervention fidelity from videos and session checklists; rehearsal of health economic analysis. Ethics and dissemination: National Health Service (NHS) National Research Ethics Service approval granted in April 2015; recruitment started in June. Preliminary studies suggested low risk of serious adverse events; however (minor) falls, transitory muscle soreness and high levels of postexercise fatigue are expected. Outputs include pilot data to inform whether to proceed to a definitive RCT and support a funding application; finalised Trainer and Intervention Delivery manuals for multicentre replication of ReTrain; presentations at conferences, public involvement events; internationally recognised peer-reviewed journal publications, open access sources and media releases

Further development and flight test of an autonomous precision landing system using a parafoil

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and NASA Johnson Space Center are jointly conducting a phased program to determine the feasibility of the autonomous recovery of a spacecraft using a ram-air parafoil system for the final stages of entry from space to a precision landing. The feasibility is being studied using a flight model of a spacecraft in the generic shape of a flattened biconic that weighs approximately 120 lb and is flown under a commercially available ram-air parafoil. Key components of the vehicle include the global positioning system (GPS) guidance for navigation, a flight control computer, an electronic compass, a yaw rate gyro, and an onboard data recorder. A flight test program is being used to develop and refine the vehicle. The primary flight goal is to demonstrate autonomous flight from an altitude of 3,000 m (10,000 ft) with a lateral offset of 1.6 km (1.0 mi) to a precision soft landing. This paper summarizes the progress to date. Much of the navigation system has been tested, including a heading tracker that was developed using parameter estimation techniques and a complementary filter. The autoland portion of the autopilot is still in development. The feasibility of conducting the flare maneuver without servoactuators was investigated as a means of significantly reducing the servoactuator rate and load requirements

Glycolytic and Gluconeogenic Growth of \u3cem\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/em\u3e O157:H7 (EDL933) and \u3cem\u3eE. coli\u3c/em\u3e K-12 (MG1655) in the Mouse Intestine

Escherichia coli EDL933, an O157:H7 strain, is known to colonize the streptomycin-treated CD-1 mouse intestine by growing in intestinal mucus (E. A. Wadolkowski, J. A. Burris, and A. D. O\u27Brien, Infect. Immun. 58:2438-2445, 1990), but what nutrients and metabolic pathways are employed during colonization has not been determined. In this study, when the wild-type EDL933 strain was fed to mice along with an EDL933 ΔppsA ΔpckA mutant, which is unable to utilize tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates and gluconeogenic substrates for growth, both strains colonized the mouse intestine equally well. Therefore, EDL933 utilizes a glycolytic substrate(s) for both initial growth and maintenance when it is the only E. coli strain fed to the mice. However, in the presence of large numbers of MG1655, a K-12 strain, it is shown that EDL933 utilizes a glycolytic substrate(s) for initial growth in the mouse intestine but appears to utilize both glycolytic and gluconeogenic substrates in an attempt to maintain colonization. It is further shown that MG1655 predominantly utilizes glycolytic substrates for growth in the mouse intestine whether growing in the presence or absence of large numbers of EDL933. Data are presented showing that although small numbers of EDL933 grow to large numbers in the intestine in the presence of large numbers of MG1655 when both strains are fed to mice simultaneously, precolonization with MG1655 affords protection against subsequent colonization by EDL933. Moreover, in mice that are precolonized with EDL933, small numbers of MG1655 are able to grow rapidly in the intestine and EDL933 is eliminated. In situ hybridization experiments using E. coli-specific rRNA probes showed that while MG1655 is found only in mucus, EDL933 is found both in mucus and closely associated with intestinal epithelial cells. The data are discussed with respect to competition for nutrients and to the protection that some intestinal commensal E. coli strains might afford against infection by O157:H7 strains