Using Digital Participatory Research to Foster Glocal Competence: Constructing Multimedia Projects as a Form of Global and Civic Citizenship

Digital Participatory Research (DPR) combines grass-roots participatory research and photojournalism, asks students to investigate assets and issues within their community, and facilitates civic participation by using problem-posing and praxis-orientated methods. Although there is a vast amount of research documenting the impact of DPR at the local level, there is limited research about the use of this methodology to facilitate global competence. This study presents the results from a multi-case study analysis of two groups simultaneously engaging in the DPR project; one in Miami, Florida and one in Kingston, Jamaica. This research study examines whether this methodology helps contribute to glocal citizenship. In this case the term glocal citizenship mergers civic and global competence and helps students understand how local and global influences interact in their everyday lives. Westheimer and Kahne’s (2004) three kinds of citizenship and Landorf and Doscher’s (2015) three global outcomes were applied to individual interview data, observational field notes, and transcripts of digital media. This study found that students’ projects often offered solutions at the personally-responsible and participatory level. When they addressed issues that would raise issues about systemic global issues, they did not include information that would challenge systems of power and oppression. Also, while students did not learn substantive content to promote global awareness, they did participate in global engagement opportunities and recognized aspects that they shared with their international peers

The role of brain estrogen receptor activation in motivation for cocaine in pregnant Sprague Dawley rats

Cocaine use during pregnancy can have severe consequences for both the mother and baby. In nonpregnant individuals, the sex steroid hormone estradiol acts via its receptors in the brain to enhance motivation for cocaine in females; however, no studies to date have investigated this mechanism in pregnant individuals. To address whether brain estrogen receptor activation is required for motivation to seek cocaine during pregnancy, pregnant rats were first implanted with an intracerebroventricular cannula connected to a subcutaneous pump delivering either the estrogen receptor antagonist ICI or vehicle. Motivation for cocaine was assessed using conditioned place preference (CPP) testing. During this test, rats were repeatedly conditioned with cocaine (10 mg/kg; initially non-preferred chamber) and saline (initially preferred chamber) across six consecutive days. A CPP score was then calculated as the change in time spent in the cocaine-paired chamber post- versus pre- conditioning. Unexpectedly, vehicle-implanted animals failed to show a CPP for cocaine, therefore we could not draw firm conclusions regarding estradiol’s role in motivation for cocaine. Future directions include expanding the sample size of animals that are scored using a secondary pretest based on preliminary data suggesting that a secondary pretest may be more indicative of true side preferences

Case Report: Effects of Therapeutic Exercise on a Patient with Metastatic Osteosarcoma and Pathological Fracture

Purpose: The purpose of this case report is to demonstrate how conditioning exercise for patients with active metastatic neoplasms can improve quality of life (QoL) after a pathological fracture of lumbar vertebrae. Spinal metastasis, in this case from breast cancer, is primarily asymptomatic, and therefore, difficult to detect during early stages. Detection and diagnosis usually occur after initial manifestation of a pathological fracture leading to debilitating effects. Complications with metastatic bone cancer and surgical contraindications may bring patients into outpatient physical therapy to address the pathological fractures and QoL for patients. Case Description & Methods: The patient is a 44-year old female, diagnosed with breast cancer in Sept 2019. Following a pathological fracture in the L1 vertebrae, she was diagnosed with thoracic and lumbar spine bone cancer in Nov 2019. On evaluation, she had completed a round of radiation therapy, home health physical therapy, and was currently taking Zometa to improve bone health. The patient was unable to receive surgical tumor removal intervention due to location and metastasis. She had an active lifestyle before her diagnosis, but an excessive increase in heart rate was now contraindicated for the patient, contributing to psychosocial factors. She was fearful of sit-to-stand (STS) motion due to her mechanism of injury. Interventions included gentle manual therapy and exercises avoiding end-range motion and a home exercise program consisting of lumbopelvic stability and stretches. Education provided on energy conservation. No mobilizations were performed. Results: After 6 sessions in 3 weeks of physical therapy consisting of therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular reeducation, and therapeutic activity, the patient showed improvements in strength, decreased neurovascular symptoms into the lower extremity, and increased endurance. The patient was wearing a thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO) less frequently. The patient’s Modified Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score change from 46% (severe disability) to 38% (moderate disability) is reflective of improved functional capacity. At re-assessment, she was able to perform single-limb balance testing with fair control and 5xSTS in 20.2 seconds. Strength increased half grades in L LE. Flexibility testing revealed 90/90 hamstring length increase from 15° to 0°. The patient had (-) slump test and hyposensitivity to L LE to L1-L2 dermatome compared to the initial evaluation of hyposensitivity in all L LE dermatomes and bilateral (+) slump test; she reported ability to sit without increasing neurovascular symptoms. Discussion: The current literature has good evidence for low-level functioning patients. This is because more debilitated patients have more to gain compared to their higher functioning counterparts with similar or less severe diagnoses. Psychosocial factors including previous activity level could be appropriate qualitative studies of improved quality of life in patients with cancer. The patient was seen in outpatient, giving her control over her HEP. Her internal motivation and willingness to perform ADLs and walk regardless of physical therapy intervention may have been threats to internal validity and resulted in gains with or without therapeutic interventions or education. Further controlled studies could assist in more quantitative measures and improved validity. Conclusion: Breast cancer is one the most common cancer in females which can lead to metastasis into other body regions including bone. While therapists are frequently trained to screen out non-musculoskeletal pain, including cancer, it is less common for therapists in the outpatient orthopedic setting to see patients rehabilitating low back pain dues to active cancer. With contraindications to tumor removal, these patients can improve quality of life through medical interventions and physical therapy as indicated. It is important to know the effectiveness of such interventions while following all contraindications and precautions for this population, especially with an unpredictable course of the disease.https://soar.usa.edu/casmspring2020/1002/thumbnail.jp

Research-based assessment affordances and constraints: Perceptions of physics faculty

To help faculty use research-based materials in a more significant way, we learn about their perceived needs and desires and use this information to suggest ways for the Physics Education Research community to address these needs. When research-based resources are well aligned with the perceived needs of faculty, faculty members will more readily take them up. We used phenomenographic interviews of ordinary physics faculty and department chairs to identify four families of issues that faculty have around research-based assessments (RBA). First, many faculty are interested in using RBAs but have practical needs around how to do so: how to find them, which ones there are, and how to administer them. They want help addressing these needs. Second, at the same time, many faculty think that RBAs are limited and don't measure many of the things they care about, or aren't applicable in their classes. They want assessments to measure skills, perceptions, and specific concepts. Third, many faculty want to turn to communities of other faculty and experts to help them interpret their assessment results and suggest other ways to do assessment. They want to norm their assessment results by comparing to others and interacting with faculty from other schools to learn about how they do assessment. Fourth, many faculty consider their courses in the broader contexts of accountability and their departments. They want help with assessment in these broader contexts. We also discuss how faculty members role in their department and type of institution influence their perceived wants and needs around assessment.Comment: submitted to Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Researc

The evolution of inverted magnetic fields through the inner heliosphere

Local inversions are often observed in the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF), but their origins and evolution are not yet fully understood.Parker Solar Probe has recently observed rapid, Alfvénic, HMF inversions in the inner heliosphere, known as ‘switchbacks’, which have been interpreted as the possible remnants of coronal jets. It has also been suggested that inverted HMF may be produced by near-Sun interchange reconnection; a key process in mechanisms proposed for slow solar wind release. These cases suggest that the source of inverted HMF is near the Sun, and it follows that these inversions would gradually decay and straighten as they propagate out through the heliosphere. Alternatively, HMF inversions could form during solar wind transit, through phenomena such velocity shears, draping over ejecta, or waves and turbulence. Such processes are expected to lead to a qualitatively radial evolution of inverted HMF structures. Using Helios measurements spanning 0.3–1 AU, we examine the occurrence rate of inverted HMF, as well as other magnetic field morphologies, as a function of radial distance r, and find that it continually increases. This trend may be explained by inverted HMF observed between 0.3–1 AU being primarily driven by one or more of the above in-transit processes, rather than created at the Sun. We make suggestions as to the relative importance of these different processes based on the evolution of the magnetic field properties associated with inverted HMF. We also explore alternative explanations outside of our suggested driving processes which may lead to the observed trend

On Integer Cordial Labeling of Some Families of Graphs

An integer cordial labeling of a graph $G(p,q)$ is an injective map $f:V\rightarrow [-\frac{p}{2}...\frac{p}{2}]^*$ or $[-\lfloor{\frac{p}{2}\rfloor}...\lfloor{\frac{p}{2}\rfloor}]$ as $p$ is even or odd, which induces an edge labeling $f^*: E \rightarrow \{0,1\}$ defined by $f^*(uv)=$$\begin{cases}1, f(u)+f(v)\geq 0\\0,\hspace{0.1 cm}\text{otherwise}\end{cases}$ such that the number of edges labelled with 1 and the number of edges labelled with 0 differ at most by 1. If a graph has integer cordial labeling, then it is called integer cordial graph. In this paper, we have proved that the Banana tree, $K_{1,n} \ast K_{1,m}$, Olive tree, Jewel graph, Jahangir graph, Crown graph admits integer cordial labeling.

Local food partnerships in Wales

In 2022 the government in Wales became the first of the four UK nations to fund the development of multi-sectoral food partnerships in all local authority areas. This report presents an analysis of the background, plans and early progress taking place in twenty-two local authority areas in Wales