Mapping Alternative Masculinities: Development, Validation, and Latent Profile Analysis of a New Masculinity Measure

Prominent measures of masculinity focus on traditional masculine norms, such as high aggression, low emotional expression, and heteronormativity. However, recent qualitative research has indicated that a variety of men embrace alternative forms of masculinity that include unique characteristics not represented by traditional norms. I developed the Alternative Masculinity Measure (ALT-M) to address this gap. The ALT-M was designed to measure individual differences on constructs derived from a modern, socially progressive representation of masculinity. Concepts, scales, and items were developed primarily from readings of qualitative research on alternative masculinities. Nine dimensions with 14 items each was sent to 15 experts for content validity assessment. A final pool of 101 items distributed across 9 constructs (10 -12 items per scale) was distributed to undergraduate males at Western University (N = 497). Participants also completed the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI-46; Parent & Moradi, 2009), the Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992), the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Short Form (TEIQue-SF; Petrides, 2009) and the HEXACO Personality Inventory-short version (Ashton & Lee, 2009) for construct validation purposes. Item descriptive statistics and separate factor analyses were inspected for each construct to evaluate unidimensionality. One scale was removed due to its inability to adequately represent a homogeneous set of items. The other 8 scales displayed evidence of unidimensionality and were analysed together using a combination of Exploratory Structural Equation Model (ESEM) with a target rotation and CFA. Weak items, defined as items with loadings below .30 on their hypothesized scales or high loadings on other scales were removed one at a time using an iterative process. During this process, another full scale and multiple items were removed. In the end, I retained 7 scales with 6 items each, for a total of 42 items. All items load strongly on their scales (range .414 - .823) and have low cross-loadings on other scales. The seven remaining scales are labelled Homophilia, Emotional Openness, Cooperation, Avoidance of Physical Aggression, Reticence, Gender Egalitarian, and Intimacy Orientation. A higher order factor structure reveals all scales load significantly onto a latent “progressive masculinity” construct, loadings range from .506 - .771. Final CFA and ESEM models show good level of fit. Average scores for the scales and full measure were created and compared to the scale and full measure scores of the CMNI, revealing a good level of convergent and discriminant validity. In order to evaluate the distinctiveness of the ALT-M from the CMNI, these two instruments were compared in terms of their relationships with the HEXACO, Aggression Questionnaire, and Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. Strong evidence of construct distinctiveness is provided. Finally, a Latent Profile Analysis was conducted on the measure, revealing four unique masculinity profiles that differ in shape, ethnic composition, and trait aggression levels. Overall the ALT-M has sound psychometric properties and can be used to delineate multiple unique masculinities. It will benefit from future cross validation in terms of its factorial structure and profiles

Introducing risk management into the grid

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are explicit statements about all expectations and obligations in the business partnership between customers and providers. They have been introduced in Grid computing to overcome the best effort approach, making the Grid more interesting for commercial applications. However, decisions on negotiation and system management still rely on static approaches, not reflecting the risk linked with decisions. The EC-funded project "AssessGrid" aims at introducing risk assessment and management as a novel decision paradigm into Grid computing. This paper gives a general motivation for risk management and presents the envisaged architecture of a "risk-aware" Grid middleware and Grid fabric, highlighting its functionality by means of three showcase scenarios

Quantum-inspired computational imaging

Computational imaging combines measurement and computational methods with the aim of forming images even when the measurement conditions are weak, few in number, or highly indirect. The recent surge in quantum-inspired imaging sensors, together with a new wave of algorithms allowing on-chip, scalable and robust data processing, has induced an increase of activity with notable results in the domain of low-light flux imaging and sensing. We provide an overview of the major challenges encountered in low-illumination (e.g., ultrafast) imaging and how these problems have recently been addressed for imaging applications in extreme conditions. These methods provide examples of the future imaging solutions to be developed, for which the best results are expected to arise from an efficient codesign of the sensors and data analysis tools.Y.A. acknowledges support from the UK Royal Academy of Engineering under the Research Fellowship Scheme (RF201617/16/31). S.McL. acknowledges financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant EP/J015180/1). V.G. acknowledges support from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) InPho program through U.S. Army Research Office award W911NF-10-1-0404, the U.S. DARPA REVEAL program through contract HR0011-16-C-0030, and U.S. National Science Foundation through grants 1161413 and 1422034. A.H. acknowledges support from U.S. Army Research Office award W911NF-15-1-0479, U.S. Department of the Air Force grant FA8650-15-D-1845, and U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration grant DE-NA0002534. D.F. acknowledges financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grants EP/M006514/1 and EP/M01326X/1). (RF201617/16/31 - UK Royal Academy of Engineering; EP/J015180/1 - UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; EP/M006514/1 - UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; EP/M01326X/1 - UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; W911NF-10-1-0404 - U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) InPho program through U.S. Army Research Office; HR0011-16-C-0030 - U.S. DARPA REVEAL program; 1161413 - U.S. National Science Foundation; 1422034 - U.S. National Science Foundation; W911NF-15-1-0479 - U.S. Army Research Office; FA8650-15-D-1845 - U.S. Department of the Air Force; DE-NA0002534 - U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration)Accepted manuscrip

Mammographic image restoration using maximum entropy deconvolution

An image restoration approach based on a Bayesian maximum entropy method (MEM) has been applied to a radiological image deconvolution problem, that of reduction of geometric blurring in magnification mammography. The aim of the work is to demonstrate an improvement in image spatial resolution in realistic noisy radiological images with no associated penalty in terms of reduction in the signal-to-noise ratio perceived by the observer. Images of the TORMAM mammographic image quality phantom were recorded using the standard magnification settings of 1.8 magnification/fine focus and also at 1.8 magnification/broad focus and 3.0 magnification/fine focus; the latter two arrangements would normally give rise to unacceptable geometric blurring. Measured point-spread functions were used in conjunction with the MEM image processing to de-blur these images. The results are presented as comparative images of phantom test features and as observer scores for the raw and processed images. Visualization of high resolution features and the total image scores for the test phantom were improved by the application of the MEM processing. It is argued that this successful demonstration of image de-blurring in noisy radiological images offers the possibility of weakening the link between focal spot size and geometric blurring in radiology, thus opening up new approaches to system optimization.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

Optically controlled grippers for manipulating micron-sized particles

We report the development of a joystick controlled gripper for the real-time manipulation of micron-sized objects, driven using holographic optical tweezers (HOTs). The gripper consists of an arrangement of four silica beads, located in optical traps, which can be positioned and scaled in order to trap an object indirectly. The joystick can be used to grasp, move (lateral or axial), and change the orientation of the target object. The ability to trap objects indirectly allows us to demonstrate the manipulation of a strongly scattering micron-sized metallic particle

Virginia Peregrine Falcon monitoring and management program: Year 2014 report

The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) was believed to be extinct as a breeding species in Virginia by the mid-1960s. Intensive management efforts since the late 1970s have resulted in a known breeding population that has now exceeded 20 pairs. However, most known breeding pairs currently nest on artificial structures and reproductive performance continues to be erratic. The primary objective of this program is to continue to monitor population trends and to improve reproductive performance through active management. The ultimate goal of the program is to recover a population that is self-sustaining. The Virginia breeding population supported 26 known pairs during the 2013 breeding season. Since 1982, the population has exhibited a steady recovery with an average doubling time of 5.4 years. Fifty-six nesting structures were surveyed for Peregrine Falcon activity during the 2013 breeding season. Occupied nesting structures included 10 peregrine towers, 1 ground nest, 1 bridge, 1 navigation tower, and 2 fishing shacks on the Delmarva Peninsula; 6 bridges, 1 power plant stack, and 1 high-rise building in the coastal plain; and 3 natural cliff sites in the mountains. Twenty-six falcon pairs made breeding attempts producing 91 eggs and 50 chicks known to have survived to banding age. The reproductive rate was 2.0 chicks/occupied territory and 2.0 chicks/active territory. Nine falcons representing 18% of the chicks produced in the state were translocated from the coast to the mountains during the 2013 breeding season. This included 8 females and 1 male. All translocated chicks originated on bridges that have a history of poor fledging success. Birds collected from bridge territories were transported to Hogback Mountain in Shenandoah National Park and released in a hacking program

Virginia Peregrine Falcon monitoring and management program: Year 2012 report

The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) was believed to be extinct as a breeding species in Virginia by the mid-1960s. Intensive management efforts since the late 1970s have resulted in a known breeding population that has now exceeded 20 pairs. However, most known breeding pairs currently nests on artificial structures and reproductive performance continues to be erratic. The primary objective of this program is to continue to monitor population trends and to improve reproductive performance through active management. The ultimate goal of the program is to recover a population that is self-sustaining. The Virginia breeding population supported 25 known pairs during the 2011 breeding season. Since 1982, the population has exhibited a steady recovery with an average doubling time of 5.4 years. Fifty-six nesting structures were surveyed for Peregrine Falcon activity during the 2011 breeding season. Occupied nesting structures included 10 peregrine towers and 2 fishing shacks on the Delmarva Peninsula; 6 bridges, 1 retired ship, 1 power plant stack, and 1 high-rise building in the coastal plain; and 4 natural cliff sites in the mountains. Nineteen falcon pairs made breeding attempts producing 59 eggs and 40 chicks that survived to banding age. Reproductive rate was 2.1 chicks/occupied territory and 2.63 chicks/active territory. Of 14 clutches that were followed completely from laying to fledging, 46 of 49 (93.8%) eggs hatched, 36 of the 44 (81.8%) chicks survived to banding age, and at least 19 fledged successfully. Fourteen falcons representing 35% of the chicks produced in the state were translocated from the coast to the mountains during the 2011 breeding season. This included 5 females and 9 males. Three of these chicks originated on bridges that have a history of poor fledging success. The remaining chicks were from towers along the Delmarva Peninsula. Birds collected from territories were transported to Franklin Cliffs in Shenandoah National Park, and Grandview in New River Gorge National River. The management strategy initiated in 2006 to utilize productivity along the Delmarva to fuel targeted hacks in the mountains was continued in 2011. This strategy meets the objective of both repopulating the mountain range and reducing impacts to sensitive waterbirds

Policy Recommendations for Meeting the Grand Challenge to End Homelessness

This brief was created forSocial Innovation for America’s Renewal, a policy conference organized by the Center for Social Development in collaboration with the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, which is leading theGrand Challenges for Social Work initiative to champion social progress. The conference site includes links to speeches, presentations, and a full list of the policy briefs