Do Low Income Youth of Color See "The Bigger Picture" When Discussing Type 2 Diabetes: A Qualitative Evaluation of a Public Health Literacy Campaign.

As Type 2 diabetes spikes among minority and low-income youth, there is an urgent need to tackle the drivers of this preventable disease. The Bigger Picture (TBP) is a counter-marketing campaign using youth-created, spoken-word public service announcements (PSAs) to reframe the epidemic as a socio-environmental phenomenon requiring communal action, civic engagement and norm change. METHODS:We examined whether and how TBP PSAs advance health literacy among low-income, minority youth. We showed nine PSAs, asking individuals open-ended questions via questionnaire, then facilitating a focus group to reflect upon the PSAs. RESULTS:Questionnaire responses revealed a balance between individual vs. public health literacy. Some focused on individual responsibility and behaviors, while others described socio-environmental forces underlying risk. The focus group generated a preponderance of public health literacy responses, emphasizing future action. Striking sociopolitical themes emerged, reflecting tensions minority and low-income youth experience, such as entrapment vs. liberation. CONCLUSION:Our findings speak to the structural barriers and complexities underlying diabetes risk, and the ability of spoken word medium to make these challenges visible and motivate action. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS:Delivering TBP content to promote interactive reflection has potential to change behavioral norms and build capacity to confront the social, economic and structural factors that influence behaviors

A Comparative Study of Chinese and American Musical Traditions

Music is a global tradition. Different cultures around the word have different musical traditions and histories, but all people create music for the same reason: the love of music and expressing oneself. In the spring of 2011, the Oregon State University Music Department entered into a cultural exchange program with the government of the Henan Province in China. During this tour, research was conducted considering the similarities and differences to be found between the music traditions of the United States of America and China. The Chinese approach to learning and performing music was revealed to have a difference emphasis than the American or Western approach. While the Chinese approach emphasizes mathematical precision and a dramatic performance, the American approach emphasizes artistic integrity and a polished performance. However, these differences do not separate the Chinese and American music traditions. Music requires artistic integrity, mathematical precision and performances that are both polished and dramatic. This research confirms that although cultural practice does inform musical practice, all music traditions are united through a common love of song

Authentic Assessments for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Individual student assessments, formal and informal, provide the essential framework of the exceptional education process. Mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) 2004, these laws determine the needs and programs that will be implemented for every child identified to receive exceptional education services. Collectively, norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, and authentic assessments complete a comprehensive portrayal of the student\u27s academic, behavioral, and functional needs and skills. This paper outlines the various elements of authentic assessment and how they can be implemented with individuals identified with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as well as other students. The main purpose of including authentic assessments is to build on the strengths of the individuals rather than focusing on the deficit model which is generally the criteria of the special education model (Skrtic, 1995)

Migration, political philosophy, and the real world

In Strangers in Our Midst, David Miller develops a ‘realist’ political philosophy of immigration, which takes as its point of departure ‘the world as it is’ and considers what legitimate immigration policies would look like ‘under these circumstances’. Here I focus on Miller’s self-described realist methodology. First, I ask whether Miller actually does start from the ‘world as it is’. I note that he orients his argument around a particular vision of national communities and that, in so doing, he deviates from a description of ‘the real world’. In shifting between the descriptive and prescriptive without clearly acknowledging it, Miller undermines his claim to be outlining legitimate policies ‘under these circumstances’. I also question whether Miller’s picture of ‘the real world’ takes sufficient account of past injustice and its ongoing relationship to migration regimes. I maintain that there is a fundamental tension between Miller’s commitments to his brand of nationalism on the one hand, and his version of realism on the other hand

Wildlife Trade and Human Health in Lao PDR: An Assessment of the Zoonotic Disease Risk in Markets.

Although the majority of emerging infectious diseases can be linked to wildlife sources, most pathogen spillover events to people could likely be avoided if transmission was better understood and practices adjusted to mitigate risk. Wildlife trade can facilitate zoonotic disease transmission and represents a threat to human health and economies in Asia, highlighted by the 2003 SARS coronavirus outbreak, where a Chinese wildlife market facilitated pathogen transmission. Additionally, wildlife trade poses a serious threat to biodiversity. Therefore, the combined impacts of Asian wildlife trade, sometimes termed bush meat trade, on public health and biodiversity need assessing. From 2010 to 2013, observational data were collected in Lao PDR from markets selling wildlife, including information on volume, form, species and price of wildlife; market biosafety and visitor origin. The potential for traded wildlife to host zoonotic diseases that pose a serious threat to human health was then evaluated at seven markets identified as having high volumes of trade. At the seven markets, during 21 observational surveys, 1,937 alive or fresh dead mammals (approximately 1,009 kg) were observed for sale, including mammals from 12 taxonomic families previously documented to be capable of hosting 36 zoonotic pathogens. In these seven markets, the combination of high wildlife volumes, high risk taxa for zoonoses and poor biosafety increases the potential for pathogen presence and transmission. To examine the potential conservation impact of trade in markets, we assessed the status of 33,752 animals observed during 375 visits to 93 markets, under the Lao PDR Wildlife and Aquatic Law. We observed 6,452 animals listed by Lao PDR as near extinct or threatened with extinction. The combined risks of wildlife trade in Lao PDR to human health and biodiversity highlight the need for a multi-sector approach to effectively protect public health, economic interests and biodiversity

A comprehensive performance project in horn literature, with an essay : selected Handel vocal arias repurposed as horn repertoire

At present there is a lack of music for the horn player who wishes to advance from beginning study to more difficult repertoire. This collection of fourteen pieces has been created to fit into this gap and to provide the horn player with an opportunity to develop necessary skills for advancing, including finger technique, increased range, ornamentation, and musicality. The pieces in the collection are transcribed from the da capo arias of the operas and oratorios of George Frideric Handel, according to specific criteria, and they have been edited in ways that may interest, aid, and motivate the advancing player. There are certain learning outcomes and planned goals for the études, and it is hoped that both teachers and players will find them to be of great value

How can I miss you if I don't know you're there?

How Can I Miss You if I Don’t Know You’re There? is an MFA thesis project that addresses the inevitable contradictions and tensions inherent in human/animal relationships. This work is a series of sculptural pieces installed using the tropes of museological methods of display and classification. Concentrating on invertebrates, I engage concepts like empathy, care and mothering in the context of these vilified subjects, contrary to the dominant dualisms characterized by Western, Christian, capitalist culture that hierarchize species. As I explore my entanglement with nonhuman others, attempts to convey affection blur with acts of unintentional subjugation as I implicate myself in the precarious balance between care and harm with respect to the use of living and dead organisms

Male gender promotes an increased inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide in umbilical vein blood.

OBJECTIVES: To establish gender-specific differences in maternal and fetal immune response in healthy human fetuses at term. METHODS: Forty-five women with elective caesarean sections for uncomplicated singleton pregnancies were recruited for two studies. Using a multiplex biomarker immunoassay system, unstimulated maternal and fetal plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1ra, IL-6, IL-8, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were measured from one study population. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cytokine response was measured in a second study. RESULTS: There were no significant gender differences in either maternal or fetal unstimulated plasma cytokine concentrations, but concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly greater in male fetal LPS-stimulated samples than in female fetal samples. CONCLUSIONS: Blood of male fetuses mounts a larger pro-inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This heightened response could be a critical pathway in promoting premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and may be associated with life long differential gender response to infection

“You Think You’re Helping Them, But They’re Helping You Too”: Experiences of Scottish Male Young Offenders Participating in a Dog Training Program

increasingly popular in a range of contexts. Dog training programs (DTPs) are the most popular form of AAI in custodial contexts; prisoners often have multiple needs and DTPs seem to facilitate a diverse range of positive outcomes, including improvements in well-being, behavior, and offending behavior. However, evidence on the efficacy of prison-based DTPs is still limited and these evaluations often lack detail or methodological rigor. We examined the experiences of male young offenders (N = 70) using thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted following completion of a DTP. The themes that emerged indicated a broad range of inter-related experiences and positive outcomes. The most prevalent theme related to their experiences with Dogs (including feelings and attitudes), and there were perceived improvements categorized as: Positive Effects (including mood and well-being), Motivation, Charitable Purpose, Self-Efficacy, Improved Skills, Impulsivity, and Emotional Management. These themes mapped well onto outcomes previously identified in research on DTPs, and to the program’s core aims of improving behavior, educational engagement, employability, and well-being. The diversity and nature of these themes indicates that DTPs have considerable potential to engage and benefit those individuals with multiple needs, such as young offenders, and ultimately to achieve positive long-term outcomes with significant social, health, and economic impact