The Family Connection: Examining the Transitional Impact on Family Members of Returning Citizens Reentering Society

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to define and measure more extensively the personal barriers of family members of returning citizens recently released from incarceration in the United States. Also sought was examining the returning citizen\u27s family members\u27 perspectives of their issues relating to their loved ones in the reintegration process and how their challenges and barriers impacted their desire to provide transitional support to the returning citizen. The theory guiding this study is Bowen\u27s family system theory as it suggests that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their family, as the family is an emotional unit. Participants were recruited through the purposive sampling technique. Data collection was done through interviews, document analysis and reflective journal. The transcendental phenomenology approach was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that returning citizens had exceptional challenges that resulted from both the returning citizen and the family being unprepared for the needs and demands of the former offender and the changes experienced within the family as family members attempted to adapt to their return. Support from extended family members, the community, and reentry programs is essential to the returning citizen\u27s successful reintegration, yet most families in this study reported sparse support from these groups. Family members must be included in the pre-release planning stage of the returning citizen, where they can adequately address any concerns, expectations, and potential issues they may have in the reentry process

Review: Critical Care : Architecture and Urbanism for a Broken Planet

Today, architecture and urbanism are capital-centric, speculation-driven, and investment-dominated. Many cannot afford housing. Austerity measures have taken a disastrous toll on public infrastructures. The climate crisis has rendered the planet vulnerable, even uninhabitable. This book offers an alternative vision in architecture and urbanism that focuses on caring for a broken planet. Rooted in a radical care perspective that always starts from the given, in the midst of things, this edited collection of essays and illustrated case studies documents ideas and practices from an extraordinarily diverse group of contributors.Focusing on the three crisis areas of economy, ecology, and labor, the book describes projects including village reconstruction in China; irrigation in Spain; community land trust in Puerto Rico; revitalization of modernist public housing in France; new alliances in informal settlements in Nairobi; and the redevelopment of traditional building methods in flood areas in Pakistan. Essays consider such topics as ethical architecture, land policy, creative ecologies, diverse economies, caring communities, and the exploitation of labor. Taken together, these case studies and essays provide evidence that architecture and urbanism have the capacity to make the planet livable, again

An Investigation of How Black STEM Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Approach the National Science Foundation Merit Review Process

This qualitative inquiry explored the ways in which US-born, Black faculty member participants in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) interact with the National Science Foundation (NSF). Eight Black HBCU STEM faculty members with a range of involvement in NSF-related activities were individually interviewed. Topics of discussion with participants included their prior experiences with NSF, their understanding of the merit review process, and their understanding of their personal and institutional relationships with NSF and the STEM community. Two broad findings emerged from the conversations. The first was that issues of communities and social identity were important to the participants’ work as research scientists. Participants prioritized advancing people and communities over advancing the knowledge of ambiguous, disembodied scientific disciplines, and some participants were motivated by interests in social justice. However, participants maintained strong identities as scientists and the discussions provided no evidence that other social factors influenced their application of the scientific method. The second major finding dealt with the role participants perceived their institutions playing in their involvement with NSF. All participants described challenges associated with pursuing research in HBCU environments and, in some cases, the institutional challenges served as the motivation for participants’ projects, with varying consequences. Finally, this study developed and refined a theoretical framework for explaining the underrepresentation of HBCUs in NSF funding streams. In developing this framework, a brief history of the origination of HBCUs, NSF, and the NSF merit review process is presented

DQTunePipe: a Set of Python Tools for LIGO Detector Characterization

When LIGO\u27s interferometers are in operation, many auxiliary data channels monitor and record the state of the instruments and surrounding environmental conditions. Analyzing these channels allows LIGO scientists to evaluate the quality of the data collected and veto data segments of poor quality. A set of scripts were built up in an ad hoc fashion, sometimes with limited documentation, to assist in this analysis. In this thesis, we present DQTunePipe , a set of Python modules to replace these scripts and aid in the detector characterization of the LIGO instruments. The use of Python makes the analysis method more compatible with existing LIGO tools. DQTunePipe improves data quality analysis by allowing users to select specific detector characterization tasks as well as providing a maintainable framework upon which additional modules may be built. The nature of the Python DQTunePipe code allows the addition of new features with great simplicity. This thesis details the structure of DQTunePipe, serves as its documentation at the time of this writing, and outlines the procedures for incorporating new features

Plantar Fasciitis: Steroids or PRP?

Abstract Objective: The aim of this review is to compare the therapeutic effects of corticosteroids injections and platelet rich plasma therapy in the treatment for chronic plantar fasciitis that is refractory to conventional treatment options, using the Foot Function Index (FFI) score as an indicator of improvement Design: Meta Analysis Methods: A search of PubMed and CINAHL was performed in 2021 using the terms “‘plantar fasciitis’, and ‘prp or platelet rich plasma’ and ‘corticosteroids’ and ‘foot function index.’” Three articles were chosen to be included in qualitative synthesis. Results: Studies from Peerbooms et al, Ugurlar et al, and Tabrizi et al were analyzed. Conclusion: Corticosteroids are better than PRP in the short term, PRP is better up until 12 months. Neither treatment is efficacious after the 12 month period

3D Bioprinted Sustained-Release Platform for Intravaginal Delivery of Probiotics

• Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) is the most prevalent vaginal infection, affecting 30% of reproductive age women in the United States and worldwide. • BV is characterized by a shift in the vaginal microbiome from a dominance of Lactobacilli to the overgrowth of vaginal pathogens (specifically Gardnerella vaginalis). • Some common complications include adverse pregnancy outcomes and increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases. • Current treatment primarily involves antibiotics, but this is ineffective due to high antibiotic resistance and BV recurrence rates of 50%. Thus, a more permanent cure is sought. • Lactobacilli probiotics are a promising alternative to antibiotics. They have shown success in reestablishing healthy flora, inhibiting pathogen growth, and reducing recurrence. • Probiotics have been administered both orally and intravaginally, but vaginal delivery is preferred. • Unfortunately, present vaginal dosage forms require frequent administration, thereby decreasing user adherence and efficacy. • Only one sustained release probiotic dosage form, in the form of pod intravaginal rings, has been published to date. However this design leads to discomfort and is susceptible to biofilm formation. • Therefore, an intravaginal probiotic delivery platform capable of sustained release and that offers women flexibility in dosage forms is necessary

Evaluating National Football League Draft Choices: The Passing Game

Recruiting competent personnel is crucial for the success of any organization, especially in competitive sports where the success of teams depends upon the quality of players selected. This paper examines whether football executives are able to forecast who will be the most successful quarterbacks and wide receivers. Our data base is constructed from the NFL drafts between 1974 and 2005. We use a variety of measures to determine the success of the players selected in those drafts. We conclude that, although their ability to rank the future performance of players is less than perfect, football executives are very successful in evaluating the talent of athletes. There was no evidence that teams that selected Awell@ also had competitive success.sports forecasts; personnel forecasts; National Football League; sports economics

The development of hybrid lipid-polymer nanoparticle architectures for the sustained-release of small hydrophilic molecules

Introduction: Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) have been utilized as drug delivery vehicles for a variety of applications. However, achieving sustained-release of small hydrophilic agents is a primary challenge for their use in prolonged delivery applications. Objective: This study investigates how novel lipid-polymer hybrid particle architectures can be used to improve the release profile of small hydrophilic encapsulants. Here, PLGA NPs were produced via electrospraying and emulsions. Particles with a core-shell architecture were produced via coaxial electrospraying and the ability of this architecture to sustain release was examined. In addition, we combined polymeric core-shell NPs with a lipid coating to improve biocompatibility, biofunctionalization, and particle release kinetics. Methods: PLGA NPs incorporating rhodamine B (RhB) as a model small molecule hydrophilic agent, were produced using electrospraying and double emulsion techniques. The PLGA NPs were coated with a lipid layer using either gentle hydration (post-synthesis, two-step), or self-assembly through emulsion (in situ, one-step). The total loading of RhB and the release profiles were determined via fluorescence spectroscopy, while physiochemical characteristics were investigated via scanning electron microscopy. Results: Polymeric and lipid-polymer hybrid particles formed via emulsion were relatively monodisperse with diameters ranging from 100-400 nm, while particles formed via electrospraying were more polydisperse with diameters ranging from 100-1000 nm. Electrosprayed coaxial and lipid-coated NPs sustained the release of RhB and demonstrated high encapsulation efficiency (EE) (~90%). In contrast, emulsion particles had a lower EE of ~70%, with the two-step lipid-coated particles exhibiting RhB leaching and a significantly lower EE of ~25%. Conclusions: Our data suggest that the novel polymeric core-shell lipid coated NP architecture shows promise to sustain the release of small molecule hydrophilic agents, and we look forward to conducting functionality experiments with chemotherapeutic agent. Future work will also evaluate NP morphology using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS)

ENGL 0111 - Integrated Reading & Writing - Language and Communication

This OER packet contains the course materials for ENGL 0111 - Integrated Reading & Writing that introduce the ways in which reading and writing work together. Good writers are good readers. When you know HOW reading and writing work, and more importantly, you know what to look for as a reader and writer, your reading will become stronger, and your writing will become more advanced. You will write with the reader in mind, and you will read looking for writer’s tips and tricks! This text introduces fundamental strategies to enhance both reading and writing skills that will help you succeed in college-level courses, as well be a successful communicator in life.https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pv-open-education-resources/1010/thumbnail.jp