Regulating desire : the nature of exhaustion in Ali Smith’s Hotel World and Ewan Morrison’s Tales from the Mall

This article offers an ecocritical analysis of Ali Smith’s Hotel World (2001) and Ewan Morrison’s Tales from the Mall (2012). Through a combination of the world-ecology paradigm, feminist approaches, and queer theory, I argue that these texts connect normative desires to capitalism’s “organization of nature.” The opening section of the article links Nancy Fraser’s work on social reproduction to Jason Moore’s argument that nature, in world-ecological terms, provides the “free gifts” (of work, energy, and even care) necessary for capitalist productivity. Morrison’s and Smith’s texts register this dynamic, positioning hierarchy, sexism, and the uneven experience of neoliberal violence in relation to enclosure, attacks on women, and environmental destruction. I detail how Hotel World binds suburban ecology to normative regulation, while Tales from the Mall connects land clearance to the geographical organization of class inequality. I then contend that the psychological and physical exhaustion of women in both works can be understood in relation to capitalism’s reduction of nature to an appropriable resource that provides comfort and pleasure for wealthy consumers. The article ends with an examination of how the texts reject liberal fantasies of benevolent capitalist globalization in the context of Scotland specifically, indicating the need for new narratives that challenge capitalism’s ecological regime

The Effect of Embryonic Arsenic Exposure on the Sensorimotor Behavior of Zebrafish (Danio Rerio)

The goal of this study is to determine the effect of arsenic exposure on vision in zebrafish (Danio rerio). The optic system of D. rerio is ideal for examining visual defects. Their eyes are similar to eyes of humans and can therefore be useful models in studies of human eye disease. Their optic system functions similarly to humans, so it is beneficial to observe how zebrafish are affected by contaminants in the environment. Arsenic is ubiquitous in groundwater, due to its natural presence in bed rock, but is elevated by human activities. In order to see any immediate effects on vision by arsenic, a behavioral assay was used. Due to accumulation in eye tissues, we predict that visual acuity will decrease with increased exposure to arsenic. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to 0, 10, 50, and 500 parts per billion of arsenic. At five days post hatch, a striped, rotating cylindrical drum created a pattern designed to elicit the optomotor response in zebrafish. Time spent following and going against the striped pattern was calculated to determine if the optomotor response was evoked in the zebrafish. A positive value would indicate an optomotor response, and a negative value would indicate no response. The control group did not behave as expected, as they showed a negative value in response to the cylindrical drum. Statistical analyses revealed a batch effect in this data set, and the total distance travelled showed a significant difference in activity level between batch one and batches two and three. Batch one showed an unexpected positive trend in optomotor response with increased arsenic exposure, with 50 ppb arsenic treatment group following the rotational pattern of the striped drum for a longer amount of time relative to the control. Batches two and three showed no significant differences between arsenic treatments and the control group. Changes in experimental design may result in the expected control behavior, and further replication would be necessary to determine any effects of arsenic on vision in zebrafish

Communities Take Control of Crime: Incorporating the Conference Model into the United States Juvenile Justice System

Juvenile crime is one of the preeminent concerns of many Western societies today, yet the current retributive styles of justice that purport to get tough on youth crime have not been effective. In defiance of the get tough rhetoric, and despite the lack of meaningful legislative recognition, communities are adjudicating juvenile cases through alternative programs based on the Restorative Justice theory. Because of the promising effects of Restorative Justice on youth crime, New Zealand and Australia have taken the bold step of restructuring their juvenile justice systems via landmark legislation that incorporates an innovative conferencing model. The model is a facilitated mediation in which offenders, victims, families, and community members participate in the resolution of the crime. The United States should follow suit by adopting the elements of the New Zealand and Australian statutes to incorporate conferencing into its juvenile justice system

The Female Variation of Autism Spectrum Disorder - An fMRI Study

Objective: Despite the fact that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a common psychiatric issue and an abundance of research is available, knowledge about special symptomatic and behavioral features in respect to the female sex/gender is still scarce. The present study ‘The Female Variation of Autism Spectrum Disorder - An fMRI Study’ aimed to investigate neural correlates of recognition and interpretation of complex social emotions in women and girls with ASD and compare results to typically developed girls and women. Participants & study procedure: Groups of 9 female individuals with high functioning ASD and 9 healthy female controls were compared during two fMRI paradigms, one examining physical pain and one investigating 'social pain' in form of the complex social emotion of empathic embarrassment. Participants were asked to rate multiple pictures according to how physically painful they thought a situation was for another person or to how embarrassed they thought a depicted protagonist felt in either a situation, in which he/she was aware of the embarrassment, or a scenario, in which the target person was not aware of the fact that something embarrassing was happening. Results: Comparing the healthy control group with the individuals affected by ASD, no differences in their judgment and therefore their ratings towards the levels of physical pain were found. However, the fMRI scans showed lower activation of the anterior insula and brainstem in subjects affected by autism compared to controls. For the socially painful situations, there was a significant difference between groups especially for the stimuli depicting unaware embarrassment situations, with typically developed females rating these scenarios as less embarrassing while ratings of girls with ASD remaining high, suggesting they had difficulties taking on the other person's perspective. On a neural level, compared to controls the ASD-group exhibited lower activation of the left insula, an important part of the brain’s network for processing social-emotional clues. Conclusion: Females with high functioning ASD are able to distinguish physically and socially painful situations as such. Their brain scans show signs of vicariously experienced emotions by activation of neural pathways known to process social-emotional matters. However, the neural activation of some important regions, especially the anterior insula, is less intense than in healthy controls. This suggests that individuals with ASD have difficulties entirely taking over a person's perspective and realizing that someone can't feel embarrassed about something he/she is not aware of

Men Don\u27t Talk : Examining the Dynamics of Men\u27s Co-resident Relationships in Assisted Living

Women outnumber men in assisted living (AL). This gender imbalance promotes the feminization of AL settings and affects men’s social experiences, particularly their co-resident relationships. AL research connects peer relationships to resident well-being and suggests gender that influences co-resident interactions. Yet, few studies have specifically examined men’s social experiences in AL. This analysis aimed to: (1) learn how men experience co-resident relationships in AL; and (2) identify the factors shaping these peer relationships. The analysis utilized qualitative data collected from two AL settings. Data collection involved participant observation and informal and formal in-depth interviews. Analysis was informed by principles of Grounded Theory Method and shows high variability in men’s co-resident connections. A range of individual- and facility-level factors promoted or constrained relationship development. Gender remains pivotal in structuring men’s social engagements. Individual- and facility-level factors often intersected with gender and influenced men’s social lives. Ultimately, co-resident relationships are consequential for men in AL

Silicon Fertilization in Rice and Wheat: Dynamics with Trace Elements and Effect of Silicate Slag Granular Size on the Release Pattern of Monosilicic Acid in Soil

Studies were conducted to evaluate the impact of silicon (Si) fertilization on the uptake of harmful trace elements in Louisiana rice production system, and document the effect of silicate slag granular size on its ability to supply Si in wheat. The influence of silicate slag and lime on the uptake and translocation of harmful trace elements in rice grain was determined. Results showed that both slag and lime had similar effects on pH at five of the nine sites investigated. Soil Si was significantly (P \u3c0.001) increased with application of silicate slag at all sites. Lime and silicate slag had no effect on the concentration of trace elements in soil. However, increasing Si rates were negatively correlated with arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) concentration in rice grain. The release pattern of monosilicic acid (H4SiO4) from wollastonite and silicate slag was compared in a wheat greenhouse study. Maximum release of Si from these materials were observed within the first 30 days after application and thereafter remained steady until 120 day after treatment application when a decline in soil Si became evident. Silicon extracted from soils treated with fine and ungraded silicate slag showed the greatest increases in soil Si when compared to wollastonite and the coarse and pellet slag materials. Wheat Si uptake was also higher for the fine silicate slag followed by ungraded silicate slag and wollastonite. But wheat yields were higher in the wollastonite treatments compared to silicate slag treatments. Among the different granular sizes of silicate slag, fine and ungraded materials resulted in higher wheat grain yield than coarse and pellet. In a field study, different granular sizes of silicate slag were applied at increasing rates to establish optimum Si application rate for wheat in Louisiana. The application of 1.8 and 3.6 Mg ha-1 of fine material was sufficient to increase wheat grain yield in three out of four sites studied. It is likely that application of Si in Louisiana agriculture has the potential to improve rice grain safety, by x limiting uptake of harmful trace elements and also improve grain yield in wheat cultivated on Si deficient soils

Silicon Fertilization in Rice:Establishment of Critical Silicon Level and Its Impact on Availability of Nutrients in Soils of Louisiana

While silicon (Si) fertilization is widely practiced in paddy rice production, the establishment of critical soil Si levels has remained understudied. This study was undertaken to: 1) determine the critical soil Si level for rice production in Louisiana using different extraction procedures, and 2) document the relationship between plant-available Si and select essential plant nutrients in soil and their uptake by rice. Field trials were established at 12 sites across Louisiana from 2013 to 2015. Si was applied as silicate slag (SiO3, 14% Si) at the rates of 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 Mg ha-1. Agricultural lime was also applied at (2 and 4 Mg ha-1) to evaluate the liming effect of slag in the main treatments. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Soil samples collected at harvest were analyzed for pH, soil Si, heavy metals and plant-essential nutrients. Rice straw and panicle were analyzed for Si content; while panicle was analyzed for heavy metals and plant-essential nutrients. Analysis of variance and correlation analysis were performed for all measured variables using SAS 9.4. Slag application significantly increased the soil pH up to 1.4 units (p\u3c0.05) in several sites. Rice grain yield was significantly (p\u3c0. 1) increased in several sites by slag application, with the highest average grain yield obtained at application rates ranging between 1-4 Mg ha-1. The critical Si levels in soil ranged from 11.8 mg kg-1 (0.01 M CaCl2) to 771 mg kg-1 (0.1 M citric acid). The Si content in rice straw was negatively correlated with the panicle P (r = -0.25), S (r= -0.38), As (r = -0.33) and Cd (r = -0.39) but positively correlated with its Mn (r = 0.35) content. In general, soils with high initial Si and pH gave minimal responses to Si fertilization, while the Si content of soils with low initial Si was increased. Soil Si did not interfere with the uptake of most plant-essential nutrients, but the decrease in As and Cd contents of panicle shows that Si fertilization could be essential for improving grain quality of rice

The leadership of the UMC as a prophetic community for the holistic transformation of post-conflict Liberia

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1368/thumbnail.jp

Posology in children oral liquid medication studies in Liberia

The determination and implementation of appropriate dose(s) and dosing in children for effective therapeutic outcome devoid of medication errors is a concern to health practitioners and regulatory authorities. This study surveyed children oral medications on the Liberian pharmaceutical market for appropriate dose, dosing and delivery devices. In the qualitative work, caregivers were interviewed and surveys were conducted in pharmacies for oral medications and the quantitative phase involved the evaluation of the delivery devices. The result of the survey showed that 95.7% of caregivers followed instructions provided at the point of dispensing or as on label of product. Survey result showed that 56% of the oral medicinal products have specific direction for usage while 73% have the inscription “as directed by the physician”, either alone or in combination with specific direction for use. Medicines with delivery device as cup were 80.94% and those with teaspoons were 1.79%, while 17.28% do not have any form of delivery device. And 53.11% of the medicinal products provided instruction for delivery of the  medicines in “teaspoonful”, though they did not contain teaspoon neither were the cups graduated in “teaspoonful” format. Volume calibration of the various “5.0 ml” teaspoons showed statistically significant differences (P< 0.05), while the cups volume capacities at 5.0 ml was found to be 5.200 ± 0.326 ml. The large volume cups showed significant  differences (P<0.05) at the 5.0 ml graduation and only 25.5% of the mothers were able to accurately measure out 5.0 ml in the cups.Keywords: Medication error, posology, delivery devices, medical error, children oral medication