Unsolicited Narratives: The Experiences of Afro-Caribbean Women as Mathematics Learners and as Mathematics Educators in U.S. Institutions of Higher Education

Afro-Caribbean immigrant women are part of the brilliant makeup of Black excellence in the United States. Nevertheless, the experiences of Afro-Caribbean women as mathematics learners and as mathematics educators in U.S. institutions of higher education have yet to gain interest among researchers. These experiences are too often absent in the literature or are more times than not buried within categories such as women, foreign-born, or “Other” (Alfred & Swaminathan, 2004; Lather, 1991). When the experiences of Afro-Caribbean women are the focus of research, that inquiry rarely extends into the discipline of mathematics (Beck, 2010; King Miller, 2013) and is nearly nonexistent in examining the experiences of mathematics educators. The aim of this qualitative study, therefore, was to examine the social and contextual experiences of Afro-Caribbean women as mathematics learners and as mathematics educators in U.S. institutions of higher education. The narrative research project (e.g., Polkinghorne, 1988) employed figured worlds (e.g. Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998) and intersectionality (e.g. Collins & Bilge, 2016) as theoretical frameworks. Data collection included dialogical interviews (Kvale, 2007) and documentary data (Patton, 2002); data analysis included dialogic and categorical approaches (Charmaz, 2014; Goodall, 2000). A heuristic (Moustaskas, 1990) approach to the study included the researcher positioning herself as a guide representing the outcomes of the analysis. The analysis of the data showed that when Afro-Caribbean women enter the figured world of mathematics as learners, an actualization of their social positioning, based on practices witnessed, creates spaces for authoring their self-in-person now as mathematics educators. As the now actualized mathematics educator, Afro-Caribbean women become advocates in mentoring people who look and sound like them and use key moments to educate others about their Caribbean figured worlds. Afro-Caribbean women shared moments of how being Black, women, and immigrant in mathematics figured worlds brought both challenging and dismaying experiences as well as praiseworthy experiences. Nonetheless, as demonstrated by the participants’ narratives, having a strong sense of self, knowledge, and purpose is useful in making oppressive moments teaching and learning opportunities rather than sources of distress in their mathematics and academic figured worlds

Dynamics of Flexible Spinning Satellites with Radial Wire Antennas

A dynamic analysis is presented for a spin stabilized spacecraft employing four radial wire antennas with tip masses, a configuration first employed in the IMP-J spacecraft. The use of wires in place of the usual booms represents the ultimate in weight reduction at the expanse of flexibility. The satellite is modelled as a 14 degree of freedom system, and the linearized equations of motion are found. The lowest order vibrational modes and natural frequencies of the gyroscopically coupled system are then determined. Because the satellite spin rate is decreased by antenna deployment, a spin-up maneuver is needed. The response of the time varying mode equations during spin-up is found, for the planar modes, in terms of Bessel functions and a Struve function of order -1/4. Because tables of the latter are not readily available, the particular solution is expressed in various forms including an infinite series of Bessel functions and a particularly useful asymptotic expansion

Research study: Space vehicle control systems

From the control point of view, spacecraft are classified into two main groups: those for which the spacecraft is fully defined before the control system is designed; and those for which the control system must be specified before certain interchangeable parts of a multi-purpose spacecraft are selected for future missions. Consideration is given to both classes of problems

Women\u27s Leadership in Higher Education: Status, Barriers, and Motivators

Advancing more women into institutional leadership roles in higher education matters. Although numerous studies have documented the value of involving diverse perspectives in decision-making processes (Donovan & Caplan, 2019; Gero & Garrity, 2018; Williams, 2013; Woolley & Malone, 2011), many individuals and organizations—ranging from the corporate sector and the political realm to postsecondary education—have voiced commitments to increasing the representation of women in higher ranks, yet they have been stymied in achieving measurable results. A variety of examples in the research-based literature reflect the glacial pace of progress for women into leadership roles across a variety of fields. Examining the field of higher education, noted leadership scholars Kellerman and Rhode (2017) have debunked the myth that the oft-touted pipeline theory, which argues that over time, a larger number of women on lower rungs of organizational hierarchies will yield a larger number of women on higher ones (p.11). Yet these authors note that even after more than 30 years in which this theory has held currency, the number of women in positions of leadership and management has remained dauntingly and depressingly low (p. 11)

Identification and characterization of novel factors that act in the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway in nematodes, flies and mammals

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a surveillance mechanism that degrades mRNAs harboring premature termination codons (PTCs). We have conducted a genome-wide RNAi screen in Caenorhabditis elegans that resulted in the identification of five novel NMD genes that are conserved throughout evolution. Two of their human homologs, GNL2 (ngp-1) and SEC13 (npp-20), are also required for NMD in human cells. We also show that the C. elegans gene noah-2, which is present in Drosophila melanogaster but absent in humans, is an NMD factor in fruit flies. Altogether, these data identify novel NMD factors that are conserved throughout evolution, highlighting the complexity of the NMD pathway and suggesting that yet uncovered novel factors may act to regulate this process

Growth-Adapted Tensegrity Structures: A New Calculus for the Space Economy

We describe a novel approach to create and engineer an economically viable space habitat development technology, for deployment of a lightweight tensegrity habitat structure orbiting at Earth-Moon L2, where onboard robotic assets will use space-based materials to provide water for shielding, irrigation and life support, soil for ecosystem development, and to enable structural maintenance and enhancement. The habitat can become a tourist destination, an economic hub, and a multi-purpose research and support facility for lunar surface development and space ecosystem life sciences

Switching from premixed insulin to glargine-based insulin regimen improves glycaemic control in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes: a retrospective primary care-based analysis

Background: Insulin glargine (glargine) and premixed insulins (premix) are alternative insulin treatments. This analysis evaluated glycaemic control in 528 patients with type 1 (n = 183) or type 2 (n = 345) diabetes, after switching from premix to a glargine-based regimen, using unselected general practice (GP) data. Methods: Data for this retrospective observational analysis were extracted from a UK GP database (The Health Improvement Network). Patients were required to have at least 12 months of available data, before and after, switching from premix to a glargine-based regimen. The principal analysis was the change in HbA1c after 12 months of treatment with glargine; secondary analyses included change in weight, bolus usage and total daily insulin dose. Inconsistent reporting of hypoglycemic episodes precludes reliable assessment of this outcome. Multivariate analyses were used to adjust for baseline characteristics and confounding variables. Results: Both cohorts showed significant reduction in mean HbA1c 12 months after the switch: by -0.67% (p < 0.001) in the type 1 cohort and by -0.53% (p < 0.001) in the type 2 cohort (adjusted data). The size of HbA1c improvement was positively correlated with baseline HbA1c; patients with a baseline HbA1c ≥ 10% had the greatest mean reduction in HbA1c, by -1.7% (p < 0.001) and -1.2% (p < 0.001), respectively. The proportion of patients receiving co-bolus prescriptions increased in the type 1 (mean 24.6% to 95.1%, p < 0.001) and type 2 (mean 16.2% to 73.9%, p < 0.001) cohorts. There was no significant change in weight in either cohort. Total mean insulin use increased in type 2 diabetes patients (from 0.67 ± 1.35 U/Kg to 0.88 ± 1.33 U/Kg, p < 0.001) with a slight decrease in type 1 diabetes patients (from 1.04 ± 2.51 U/Kg to 0.98 ± 2.58 U/Kg, p < 0.001). Conclusion: In everyday practice, patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled by premix insulins experienced significant improvement in glycaemic control over 12 months after switching to a glargine-based insulin regimen. These findings support the use of a basal-bolus glargine-based regimen in patients poorly controlled on premix.Peter Sharplin, Jason Gordon, John R Peters, Anthony P Tetlow, Andrea J Longman and Philip McEwa

Randomized clinical trial of postoperative chewing gum versus standard care after colorectal resection

Background Chewing gum may stimulate gastrointestinal motility, with beneficial effects on postoperative ileus suggested in small studies. The primary aim of this trial was to determine whether chewing gum reduces length of hospital stay (LOS) after colorectal resection. Secondary aims included examining bowel habit symptoms, complications and healthcare costs. Methods This clinical trial allocated patients randomly to standard postoperative care with or without chewing gum (sugar-free gum for at least 10 min, four times per day on days 1–5) in five UK hospitals. The primary outcome was LOS. Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios for LOS. Results Data from 402 of 412 patients, of whom 199 (49·5 per cent) were allocated to chewing gum, were available for analysis. Some 40 per cent of patients in both groups had laparoscopic surgery, and all study sites used enhanced recovery programmes. Median (i.q.r.) LOS was 7 (5–11) days in both groups (P = 0·962); the hazard ratio for use of gum was 0·94 (95 per cent c.i. 0·77 to 1·15; P = 0·557). Participants allocated to gum had worse quality of life, measured using the EuroQoL 5D-3L, than controls at 6 and 12 weeks after operation (but not on day 4). They also had more complications graded III or above according to the Dindo–Demartines–Clavien classification (16 versus 6 in the group that received standard care) and deaths (11 versus 0), but none was classed as related to gum. No other differences were observed. Conclusion Chewing gum did not alter the return of bowel function or LOS after colorectal resection