Spiritual Literacy: a New Concept for a New Reality

The idea of literacy is prevalent in today’s society, especially among librarians.There is much discussion of technological literacy and the digital divide. There are volumes written on cultural literacy and how we interact with different groups such as younger generations. There are books dedicated specifically to literacy in the 21st century. There are growing specialized “literacies” but none dealing with religion, per se. It is critical that librarians are aware of spiritual undertones inherent in information, in order to provide balanced information to patrons

Madoff Ponzi Scheme Exposes The Myth of the Sophisticated Investor

On June 29,2009, Bernard L. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in a federal penitentiary for his role in a multinational Ponzi scheme of historic proportions — some $64.8 billion (which included estimated gains from apparently bogus investment returns). The criminal charges against Madoff included securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, international and domestic money laundering, and perjury. Many of Madoff\u27s investors were regarded as sophisticated investors. Since its adoption in 1933, the Securities Act affords an exemption from the registration requirements for issuers who offer securities to sophisticated investors because these investors have the resources and financial expertise to obtain access to, and evaluate, disclosures concerning the offering they deem significant for their respective investment decisions. Thus, the federal statute recognizes that because sophisticated investors can fend for themselves, they do not require the protections that the registration provisions are designed to provide. At the very least, sophisticated investors would have been expected to act in their own interests and would have had the means to do so. Then why did so many sophisticated investors — institutional and individual — fall prey to Madoff\u27s fraud? Were these institutions and individuals unable to fend for themselves, or in the face of reports that Madoff strongly discouraged questions, were they simply unwilling to fend for themselves? If sophisticated investors cannot (or will not) fend for themselves, is there any rationale for continuing to view the private offering transaction as one for which there is no practical need for registration or for which the public benefits are too remote

African American Female Narratives and Identity Development: A Case Study of Language, Literacy, and Identity Development in the Beauty Salon

This four-month case study explored the connections among language, literacy, and identity development of five African American women as they shared narratives within a beauty salon context. The questions that guided the study were: (a) What language and literacy practices are enacted in the beauty salon? (b) In what way do African American women narrate their experiences? (c) What stories are shared by African American women in the salon? (d) What are the effects on the listeners of the narratives shared in the salon? and (e) How are social and cultural identities (co)constructed and performed in the narratives? The narratives were analyzed using Reissman’s (2008) dialogic/performance analysis approach. The Identities in Practice framework applied, situated the work in relation to the four contexts for identity development (figured worlds, positionality, spaces for authoring, and making world through serious play) outlined in Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain’s (2008). The findings supported previous findings that storytelling events and the use of narratives were the primary means for African American women sharing their lived experiences in the beauty salon. This corroborated with findings from Richardson (2003) and others focused on African American female language and literacy practices. Three themes emerged from the narrative data, which reflected challenges the women experience in their social, racial/cultural, and gendered conversations and experiences. Additionally, two focal participants’ narratives were examined to explore the ways identity was performed through their use of language in the narratives. The analysis indicated Kelly and Pam were strongly affiliated to social and cultural identities that included identities about motherhood, gender equity, and activists in the Black community. The importance of this research is to continue to explore the ways African American women build and shape their identities through language. Schools across the nation are neglecting the power and uses of language to build up the language and literacy resources of children that arrive to school with a history of oral traditions. Presenting school contexts as a space of authoring would undoubtedly create greater equity and access for others to learn about their lived experiences that make up a part of their educational experiences

Structural Modeling of Marine Reserves with Bayesian Estimation

Structural models can assess the effectiveness of fishery management prospectively and retrospectively. However, when only fishery-dependent data are available, structural econometric models are highly nonlinear in the parameters, and maximum likelihood and other extremum-based estimators can fail to converge. As a solution to these estimation challenges, we adapt Bayesian econometric methods to estimate a dynamic structural model of marine reserve formation. Using simulated data, we find that our approach is able to recover structural biological and economic parameters that classical estimation procedures fail to recover. We apply the approach to real data from the Gulf of Mexico reef-fish fishery. We test the effects of the Steamboat Lumps Marine Reserve on population growth and catchability for gag, a species of grouper. We find that after four years, the reserve has neither produced statistically significant losses in sustainable yield nor statistically significant gains in biological production.Marine reserves, marine protected areas, Bayesian econometrics, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Environmental Economics and Policy, C11, Q22,

Bayesian Bioeconomics of Marine Reserves

We use Bayesian econometric methods to estimate dynamic bioeconomic models of marine reserve formation using simulated data and real data from the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery. We test the effects of reserves on fish growth and catchability.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The efficacy of chlorhexidine gluconate in reducing ventilator-associated pheumonia

Respiratory assistance devices bypass essential host defenses and allow these pathogens direct access to the lower respiratory tract and hinder these defense systems to effectively clear respiratory pathogens (1). Mechanical ventilation in the presence of dental plaque with respiratory pathogens has the potential to lead to ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Ventilator-associated pneumonia is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units. VAP influences increasing need for medical treatment and hospital length of stay (LOS) (2-4). Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) have been found to be the most expensive site per infection with 13% of all infections accounting for 29% of the total recorded cost (5). The purpose of this systematic review is to perform a comprehensive literature search to identify published randomized clinical trials relating to the efficacy of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) oral rinse in preventing VAP. CHX has been identified as the "gold standard" to reduce the number of microorganisms. This review also addresses the importance of oral health and the increased risk of respiratory infections from colonization by harmful pathogens within the oral mucosa. Clinical trials relating to the hypothesis in question were evaluated using Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist for validity. Quality and strength of each randomized clinical trial were evaluated based on the requirements of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Nine bibliographic databases, from 1965-2012 were used to conduct the literature inquiry. Ten studies included populations greater than or equal to 18 years of age and admitted to the intensive care unit receiving mechanical ventilation. The patients were, ventilated due to either trauma, undergoing elective cardiothoracic surgery, or from some other form of surgery, at risk for VAP. In one study, CHX oral rinse decreased microbial colonization of the respiratory tract and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) in patients who underwent open-heart surgery and were intubated less than 24 hours. Yet the difference was not significant in patients intubated more than 24 hours who had a higher amount of bacterial colonization (6). Modulation of oropharyngeal colonization by the use of oral chlorhexidine has reduced the number of ICU-acquired HAP in selected patient populations such as those undergoing coronary bypass grafting, but its routine use is not recommended until more data become available (7). Findings from several studies suggest a significant decrease in the incidence of total nosocomial respiratory infections and systemic antibiotic use in patients who underwent open heart and used a CHX oral rinse as compared with ventilator patients who did not use the rinse; there was also a 65% decrease (13% vs. 4%) in the overall nosocomial infection rate in the chlorhexidine group (7,8,9). Using 2% chlorhexidine solution presents the strongest evidence for decreasing VAP (10,11). From Scannapieco and colleagues' study we can conclude that twice daily is not necessarily better than once daily, but maybe a four times daily regimen with 2% instead of 0.12% CHX does make a difference in reducing the incidence of VAP (12)