Will work for belongingness: prototypicality, uncertainty, threat and collective action tendencies

Collective action has a powerful role in shaping societies and is therefore important to examine and understand. This study examines the effects of peripheral group membership vs. prototypical group membership, uncertainty about one’s self concept, and perceived realistic threat from an outgroup on people’s willingness to engage in collective action. To assess these relationships, an online sample of Republicans and Democrats (N = 356) were recruited from Mturk. This work adapted methods from work on intergroup threat theory and uncertainty-identity theory to hypothesize that under low threat, peripheral group members would be more willing to engage in collective action under high uncertainty than low uncertainty, but prototypical group members will not differ based on uncertainty level. Additionally, it predicted that under high threat, prototypical participants would be more willing to engage in collective action under high uncertainty than low uncertainty, but that the opposite would be true for peripherals. Results were partially consistent with these hypotheses. Additionally, collective action tendencies were predicted to be generally higher when threat is higher. Results were mixed with respect to this hypothesis. This work has implications for current world events (e.g., BLM protests, capitol riots) and when and why people engage on behalf of the group

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Zero Tolerance: Is Zero Tolerance A Failed Policy?

Although, the concept of zero tolerance could result in the expulsion of a student who brought a loaded gun or a pocket knife to school, there are students who continue to bring guns to school. In this case, how has the expulsion of one student serve as a deterrent to other students not to bring a loaded gun or knife to school? Several schools in the United States have adopted the zero tolerance policy in order to deal with juvenile delinquency at school. A positive attribute is that if a potential crime is detected in time could be prevented from occurring. However, if the crime is perfected, creates an absolute new scenario, and the child could be tried and sentenced as an adult. Suffice it to say, when dealing with behavior, it is unrealistic that referring a child to the juvenile court system for an unproductive or long sentence at a juvenile detention center will improve the behavior of that child. As a result of zero tolerance, many children have become lost and fallen deeper through the cracks of society. Some schools have relinquished the zero tolerance policy, while others continue to impose it upon children. Recreational and after school activities have proven to be effective. Nonetheless, this paper will be focusing on other measures that could indeed repeal an outdated zero tolerance policy in the 21st. century

First-Generation College Students at the University of Kentucky

First-generation college students (FGCS) have been shown to graduate at lower rates than their continuing-generation counterparts even after controlling for other variables. We will attempt to examine the characteristics of FGCS and determine initiatives the University of Kentucky might enact in order to increase the graduation rates for this segment of the student population. In doing so we will discuss “promising practices” in student retention, examine programs designated by UK’s Top-20 plan as benchmark institutions, and submit a series of recommendations to better serve FGCS at the University of Kentucky

Projection-Based Reduced Order Modeling for Spacecraft Thermal Analysis

This paper presents a mathematically rigorous, subspace projection-based reduced order modeling (ROM) methodology and an integrated framework to automatically generate reduced order models for spacecraft thermal analysis. Two key steps in the reduced order modeling procedure are described: (1) the acquisition of a full-scale spacecraft model in the ordinary differential equation (ODE) and differential algebraic equation (DAE) form to resolve its dynamic thermal behavior; and (2) the ROM to markedly reduce the dimension of the full-scale model. Specifically, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) in conjunction with discrete empirical interpolation method (DEIM) and trajectory piece-wise linear (TPWL) methods are developed to address the strong nonlinear thermal effects due to coupled conductive and radiative heat transfer in the spacecraft environment. Case studies using NASA-relevant satellite models are undertaken to verify the capability and to assess the computational performance of the ROM technique in terms of speed-up and error relative to the full-scale model. ROM exhibits excellent agreement in spatiotemporal thermal profiles (<0.5% relative error in pertinent time scales) along with salient computational acceleration (up to two orders of magnitude speed-up) over the full-scale analysis. These findings establish the feasibility of ROM to perform rational and computationally affordable thermal analysis, develop reliable thermal control strategies for spacecraft, and greatly reduce the development cycle times and costs

Multifaceted contributions : health workers and smallpox eradication in India

Smallpox eradication in South Asia was a result of the efforts of many grades of health-workers. Working from within the confines of international organisations and government structures, the role of the field officials, who were of various nationalities and also drawn from the cities and rural enclaves of the countries in these regions, was crucial to the development and deployment of policies. However, the role of these personnel is often downplayed in official histories and academic histories, which highlight instead the roles played by a handful of senior officials within the World Health Organization and the federal governments in the sub-continent. This article attempts to provide a more rounded assessment of the complex situation in the field. In this regard, an effort is made to underline the great usefulness of the operational flexibility displayed by field officers, wherein lessons learnt in the field were made an integral part of deploying local campaigns; careful engagement with the communities being targeted, as well as the employment of short term workers from amongst them, was an important feature of this work

Country differences in the diagnosis and management of coronary heart disease : a comparison between the US, the UK and Germany

Background The way patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) are treated is partly determined by non-medical factors. There is a solid body of evidence that patient and physician characteristics influence doctors' management decisions. Relatively little is known about the role of structural issues in the decision making process. This study focuses on the question whether doctors' diagnostic and therapeutic decisions are influenced by the health care system in which they take place. This non-medical determinant of medical decision-making was investigated in an international research project in the US, the UK and Germany. Methods Videotaped patients within an experimental study design were used. Experienced actors played the role of patients with symptoms of CHD. Several alternative versions were taped featuring the same script with patients of different sex, age and social status. The videotapes were shown to 384 randomly selected primary care physicians in the three countries under study. The sample was stratified on gender and duration of professional experience. Physicians were asked how they would diagnose and manage the patient after watching the video vignette using a questionnaire with standardised and open-ended questions. Results Results show only small differences in decision making between British and American physicians in essential aspects of care. About 90% of the UK and US doctors identified CHD as one of the possible diagnoses. Further similarities were found in test ordering and lifestyle advice. Some differences between the US and UK were found in the certainty of the diagnoses, prescribed medications and referral behaviour. There are numerous significant differences between Germany and the other two countries. German physicians would ask fewer questions, they would order fewer tests, prescribe fewer medications and give less lifestyle advice. Conclusion Although all physicians in the three countries under study were presented exactly the same patient, some disparities in the diagnostic and patient management decisions were evident. Since other possible influences on doctors treatment decisions are controlled within the experimental design, characteristics of the health care system seem to be a crucial factor within the decision making process