Troubled Water: An Examination of the NPDES Permit Shield

In this comment I argue for a narrow interpretation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) permit shield by analyzing the recent federal cases addressing the shield’s scope. A narrow interpretation calls for a greater level of compliance and disclosure on behalf of the permit holder in order to invoke the shield’s protection. This argument also includes a higher standard of “reasonable contemplation” of pollutants on the part of the regulator. The first section of this comment gives a brief background of the CWA, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), and the permit shield provision. The next section presents the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) policy on the shield, and introduces foundational case law. The comment then provides an overview of the issues and court decisions that have governed the recent debate over the scope of the permit shield. Lastly, the comment considers the important implications of the court decisions and the underlying arguments surrounding the dispute. Ultimately, I find that a narrow construction should apply because this interpretation adheres most closely to the fundamental premise of the CWA—to protect the waters of the United States

Is Welfare Working? A qualitative longitudinal multi-case study on the experiences of young unemployed people engaging with Active Labour Market Policies, in the North-East of England.

This thesis explores the lived experiences of 28 young people in seven locations in the North-East of England who were unemployed and engaging with aspects of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) between 2012 and 2014. The research set out to give young people who were directly affected by these Active Labour Market Policies, particularly in the context of shifting levels of support for young unemployed people and increasing conditionality and sanctions associated to benefits, a voice about how this was impacting on them. The research adopted a qualitative longitudinal multi-case study approach. The findings document the young people’s barriers to employment and their related perspectives and experiences of the JobCentre Plus in particular as an interface of the government’s ALMPs. It was found that corrective methods to unemployment kept churning these young people between being off benefits, albeit short-term, and back on again as new claimants. It was not a simple case of young people choosing not to work; there was an inter-play between structure and agency. The structure of place and institutions that interacted with these young people shaped the choices the young people chose or were able to make. Here the research argues that the structure of agency needs to be addressed in order to tackle youth unemployment

What\u27s \u27childless\u27 got to do with it?

Childlessness is increasing in Australia and has resulted in an upsurge of media commentary on the lives of childless women, This paper investigates the use of the label \u27childless\u27 in the Australian print media by drawing meaning and understanding from these representations within the context of pronatalist ideologies. Our analysis suggests that childless(ness) is used as an irrelevant descriptor and as a discreditable attribute, which fudher serves to perpetuate negative othering stereotypes of childless women. This is particularly exemplified through the representation of Australia\u27s Prime Minister Julia Gillard by the print media. This analysis highlights the continued positioning of women in regards to their reproductive status.<br /

Navigating the terrain of lived experiences: the value of lifeworld existentials for reflective analysis

In qualitative research we are often presented with a tension between having open and fluid interviews to support staying true to the lived experiences of participants and achieving a level of abstraction from the data in order to uncover the essential structures and meanings of that particular lived experience. A way of resolving this tension is through the application of theoretical frameworks. Van Manen&rsquo;s four lifeworld existentials offer a lens through which to explore and navigate disparate interview data and uncover the essences of lived experience, without imposing categories upon the data itself. Drawing on a study exploring the lived experiences of childless women, we explore the process and principles in operationalising the existentials and discuss the potential implications for analysis and findings. The article demonstrates how Van Manen&rsquo;s lifeworld existentials present us with a holistic and valuable method for reflective practice, in coming to understand lived experience

Social connections among parents of pre-school-age children in an inner and outer area of Melbourne, Australia

AbstractParents&rsquo; social connectedness is an important factor in child health and development outcomes and has been strongly linked to place. This study aimed to compare social connectedness amongst parents in inner versus outer-suburbs of Melbourne using a mixed methods approach. Parents were recruited via playgroups, mother&rsquo;s groups and preschools and interviewed face- to-face regarding their social networks, with a second open-ended interview focusing on parents&rsquo; ideals and experiences of raising children in their current location. Parents in the two areas identified a similar number of contacts, but had differently structured networks. Outer-suburban parents were more likely than inner-suburban parents to have very few contacts, and to name their general practitioner as among their significant contacts. They were less likely to have more extended networks or to include neighbours among their contacts. Parents in both areas had met at least some of their network members through local organisations or services with outer-suburban parents having met a greater proportion of their contacts in this way. Qualitative interview data supported the network analysis revealing the different priorities parents placed on neighbours, barriers experienced in connecting with neighbours in the outer- suburbs and the consequent heavy reliance on organised activities to form social connections. The different types of social connections parents in inner and outer Melbourne made in relation to raising their preschool-aged children revealed in this study have implications for both service delivery and social planning of new developments

Use of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Protocol for Immediate Sub-Muscular Breast Reconstruction after Outpatient Mastectomy is Safe and Significantly Reduces Costs

Introduction: ERAS protocols are associated with decreased postoperative stays, reduced opioid use, lower rates of postoperative nausea and vomiting, and lower overall costs to institutions and healthcare systems The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of an ERAS approach on mastectomy with implant-based subpectoral reconstruction (IBR) with respect to procedure cost and 30-day complication rates for both ambulatory surgery patients and patients hospitalized overnight Methods: Study Type: Retrospective chart review analysis Subjects: Patients over age 18 undergoing nipple-sparing mastectomy or skinsparing mastectomy with subpectoral IBR at a single institution. Study Cohorts: ● ERAS: same-day surgery at an ambulatory surgical center ● Overnight hospital admission control group ● Surgeries performed by 2 breast surgeons and 3 plastic surgeons Analysis Plan: ● ERAS compared to control group, divided by surgical modality (nipple sparing vs. non-nipple sparing mastectomy) ● Demographics, comorbidities, 30-day complications, and cost analyses were examined. ● Direct costs were defined as patient-specific costs, such as pharmacy costs, and radiology charges. Indirect costs included a facility-derived multiplier added to the encounter to cover fixed expenses such as salaried labor, and building overhead. Conclusions: ● There were no significant differences in 30-day complication rates between patients whose mastectomy with reconstruction procedure was at an ambulatory surgical center (utilizing our ERAS protocol) and patients whose operation was at a hospital facility with a planned overnight admission. ● Social factors were the main determinant for identifying those patients who could be safely discharged from an ambulatory setting from those requiring a planned admission. ● On average, a 30% cost saving can be expected with the application of ERAS principles and a same-day surgery approach

Speech v. Conduct, Surcharges v. Discounts: Testing the Limits of the First Amendment and Statutory Construction in the Growing Credit Card Quagmire

This article examines First Amendment speech concerns and related issues of statutory construction raised by anti-surcharge statutes that prohibit merchants from imposing surcharges on credit card purchases, but allow them to offer discounts to cash-paying customers. The article uses the split of authority created by the November 2015 opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Dana\u27s Railroad Supply v. Florida and the September 2015 decision by the Second Circuit in Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman as a timely springboard for analyzing these issues. In September 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Expressions Hair Design and oral argument occurred in January 2017. These cases not only test the fundamental dichotomy in First Amendment jurisprudence between speech and conduct, but also the extent to which courts should provide narrowing constructions to rescue otherwise unconstitutional statutes. Furthermore, the article argues that no-surcharge laws detrimentally affect not only the right of merchants to speak, but also the unenumerated First Amendment right of consumers to receive speech directly affecting their pocketbooks. Finally, the article concludes that no-surcharge laws smack of the worst kind of governmental paternalism--a protection of credit card companies\u27 corporate interests at the expense of consumers

Development of undergraduate teaching assistants as effective instructors in STEM courses.

This study examined the development of peer mentoring skills and deepening of content knowledge by trained and supported undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) working with students in entry-level STEM courses across nine departments at a large research intensive U.S. university. Data were collected from two sources: a survey with 10 items requesting 5-point Likert-type responses and an open-ended reflection written by each UTA to process their experiences. The survey responses were analyzed by comparing rates of agreement across the 10 items. Statements from the reflections were categorized by research question and descriptively labeled to capture the essence of implied or explicit meaning. UTAs reported developing stronger pedagogical skills and fostering metacognitive approaches to learning, as well as benefitting personally from improved communication skills. UTAs also indicated they have deepened their own knowledge of content in their discipline and learned to use more strategies for becoming a better learner

Undergraduate teaching assistant impact on student academic achievement.

This study evaluated the impact that trained and supported undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) may have had on the academic achievement of students in the first semester of an introductory chemistry course for science and engineering majors. Framed by the concepts of Lave and Wenger’s Community of Practice and Wheeler, Martin and Suls’ Proxy Model of Social Comparison , the study used an untreated control group with dependent post-test only design. Covariates related to student academic achievement and contextual variables were also collected and used to build models for the final exam core outcome variable. Hierarchical linear models indicated that having a UTA gave students with above-average college GPA a statistically significant boost on final exam score. More importantly, having a UTA was associated with persistence into the next course in the two-semester introductory chemistry sequence, regardless of academic achievement

Kinetic analysis of the aerobic degradation of chlorinated ethenes by the mycobacterium ELW-1 and chlorinated ethanes and ethenes by rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC® 21198™

Bioremediation of chlorinated ethenes by the augmentation of contaminated soils with microorganisms is a proposed method of reducing contaminant concentrations in groundwater. To determine the viability of using ELW-1 or R. rhodochrous for groundwater remediation, kinetic analyses of transformation rates must be performed. The focus of this research was to determine: 1) the specific rates of contaminant transformation when ELW-1 was exposed to chlorinated ethenes, 2) if R. rhodochrous has the ability to transform chlorinated ethenes and ethanes and 3) kinetic parameters of cometabolic processes using a modified Monod model to account for decrease in cell activity over time. Degradation rates for ELW-1 include 5.1 μmol/mg TSS-d for vinyl chloride (VC), 0.2 μmol/mg TSS-d for cis-Dichloroethene (c-DCE), and 4.1 μmol/mg TSS-d for trichloroethene (TCE). Chlorinated ethenes and ethanes were successfully degraded by R. rhodochrous with rates for VC, c-DCE, and TCE at 19.5 μmol/mg TSS-d 3.1 μmol/mg TSS-d and 0.1 μmol/mg TSS-d respectively. Transformation capacity analyses were performed with ELW-1 and TCE giving an estimated capacity of 0.04 mg TCE/mg TSS. A cometabolic transformation capacity model was also successfully fit to experimental data for the transformation of c-DCE by ELW-1