What challenges face young professionals seeking leadership?

poster abstractA gigamap was created which utilized design thinking and people-centered design to better understand what challenges face young professionals seeking leadership. Madison Stevens was the design researcher for the project, completing the research for the Herron School of Art and Design graduate course: Methods for Design Analysis, instructed by Terri Wada. IBJ’s 2015 Forty under 40 list was identified as an optimal context with many stakeholders that could offer insights regarding leadership. Interviews were conducted utilizing different design research methods with thirteen of the stakeholders. The first round of participants gave their insights based on a developed question framework. The second round of participants built upon the first round insights, and began to order and analyze the relationships between the challenges. The final round of participants validated the data collected from the previous rounds and helped to further prioritize the core challenges, highlighting that being true to yourself is the most difficult and most important challenge. Insights were collected and the data was synthesized by visualizing the participant’s understanding through the gigamap. The gigamap demonstrates the complexity of the context, and serves as a visual tool for understanding the problem spaces that exist. The end product is a challenge statement that can be used to begin the ideation process towards actionable solutions. Based on the insights gathered from the stakeholders, you must first know yourself before you can be true to yourself. In order to know yourself you have to be able to balance the other challenges that present themselves throughout your experience as a leader. Many of the challenges contradict each other, which is why finding a balance between them is crucial. The final challenge statement is: How might we help young professionals find balance in order to stay true to themselves in their quest for leadership

Lara Ngom ii Acoli: Identifying Root Causes and the Impact of Cultural Cataclysm on Land Conflict Resolution in Nwoya District, Northern Uganda

Endemic land insecurity is a critical aspect of the negative peace presently felt by the Acoli sub-region in the wake of two decades of conflict,2 as well over two thousand instances of land disputes have been recorded in the region since the cessation of hostilities in 2006.3 This study examines the dynamics of land conflicts in Nwoya district, Northern Uganda. The research was conducted over four weeks of independent research in Nwoya district, and incorporates the perspectives of various actors involved in land conflicts and the dispute resolution process. Findings incorporate field-based information gathered primarily from interviews with key stakeholders, focus group discussions, and participant observation of six mediations in different Sub-counties of the district, though some secondary sources were included to provide context. This report endeavors to argue the following: 1) That Nwoya district faces unique challenges surrounding land, and that it is likely to be lit as the next turbulent stage for land conflicts; 2) That Acoli traditional customs and the recent cultural cataclysm resultant from internment in IDP camps have had a notable impact on the land conflict resolution process; 3) That ADR has the potential to be a strong force for land conflict justice and mitigation, but that it is currently undermined by distinct weaknesses; and 4) That the lack of standards and extensive corruption make the justice system essentially moribund in its current state. Based on these findings, this report concludes with recommendations intended to inform and improve the currently operating land conflict resolution and adjudication mechanisms, in order to better protect the land rights of vulnerable parties in Nwoya district

Gene expression of Saccharomyces cerevisiae exposed to commercial wood preservatives by DNA Microarray Analysis and RT-PCR

Creosote and pentachlorophenol (PtCP) are two commercial wood preservatives that are regulated by the EPA because of their toxicity to wildlife and humans. Cresote and PtCP have been suspected of causing cancer in humans, but that claim has not been proven. To observe changes in gene expression in organisms exposed to these compounds, a model system such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker\u27s yeast) is used. S. cerevisiae cells were exposed to a creosote concentration of 50ng/ml and to a PtCP concentration of 50uM. Since creosote and PtCP were suspended in methylene chloride and ethanol, respectively, yeast cells were also exposed separately to the solvents as controls. cDNA was prepared from a total RNA extraction of exposed and non-exposed S. cerevisiae cells and was hybridized onto microarray chips containing the entire yeast genome using Genisphere Array Kit procedures. A total of twenty microarray chips were tested (seven creosote chips, seven PtCP chips, three methylene chloride chips, and three ethanol chips) for this study. Analysis of the microarray data was done using MAGIC Tool software and Microsoft Excel to find statistical significance in gene expression. Genes showing significant changes in genes expression underwent real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to validate that their change in gene expression was correctly measured in the microarray experiment and that it is due to genetic regulation. Because creosote and PtCP have been indirectly linked to causing cancer in humans, clustering analysis in MAGIC Tool and BLAST analysis on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website compared genes with significant changes in gene expression to other genes in the S. cerevisiae genome and genes with the human genome. In both experimental treatments, creosote and PtCP, genes with roles in cell cycle regulation, drug transport, transcription regulation, and response to stress had significant changes in gene expression. RT-PCR analysis verified that the changes in gene expression could be validated. Clustering analysis in MAGIC Tool revealed highly correlated gene expression in genes associated with mitotic controls. BLASTn and BLASTp analysis confirmed that some genes with significant changes in gene expression had homology to human nucleotide and protein sequences. Overall, the results of this DNA microarray study of S. cerevisiae cells exposed to wood preservatives are a sign of the necessity for more studies to be done by the EPA and workers\u27 health associations in order to establish job/health regulations. The results of this study could be a starting point for R-1 institutions that concentrate in cancer studies

Quantifying the shifted baseline in breeding bird communities for Native American tribes relocated to Oklahoma

Ecosystem services are often recognized for their importance in productivity (e.g., Nitrogen fixation) or biosphere support (Oxygen production from photosynthesis). Cultural ecosystem services (e.g., biodiversity appreciation) are no less important to human well-being but are undervalued when incremental losses go unrecognized by subsequent generations. This phenomenon referred to as generational amnesia or more commonly a shifted baseline of biodiversity understanding. The baseline serves as a control for what is considered normal in that ecosystem and what changes are measured against. Shifted baselines are especially damaging in cultures for which a connection to Nature is emphasized as a point of identity. In the United States, the forced relocation of Native Americans to Oklahoma Territory in the 19th and 20th centuries represents an extreme shifted baseline that severed important biodiversity connections in a single generation. The main purpose of this study was to quantify shifted baselines of breeding bird biodiversity for multiple Native American tribes now based in Oklahoma. The data used for this project was collected through eBird, a volunteer-based citizen science database, from fifteen different tribes who currently have jurisdictions in Oklahoma. Additionally, data from geographic regions where these tribes are originally from prior to their relocation to Oklahoma was also collected. We used beta diversity to quantify estimates of bird community difference and loss between ancestral and Oklahoma lands. Results showed eleven of the fifteen tribes experienced a community dissimilarity over 50% between their ancestral lands and Oklahoma areas. This means these tribes experienced a change in over half of the bird communities, ancestral baseline species, they encountered upon relocation to Oklahoma. This not only shows a significant shift in bird communities experienced by the tribes, but could also provide insight to other drastic shifting baselines these tribes had to endure upon their forced removal from their ancestral lands.Robert E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement ProgramNational Institute of Food and Agriculture (U.S.)Natural Resource Ecology and Managemen

Peer Support through Community Building

This poster describes the progress and lessons learned as a result of newly implemented Faculty Mentoring Program in the IUPUI Herron School of Art and Design

Viewing A Local Flora Digitally

In a world of increasing ‘plant blindness,’ many people, including university students, lack the background to recognize the native flora of a region. However, the availability of digital teaching and learning resources such as Moodle’s H5P activities increases the usefulness of online learning for even such experiential topics as field botany. Viewing local flora digitally is a project to create an online resource that will outline the recognition characters of the most species-rich families found in the Interior of BC, as well as many of the most common flowering plant species. The objective of this project was threefold: (1) to build a digital resource, available to both future TRU students and the greater community, (2) foster our own knowledge and appreciation of the Kamloops flora, and (3) develop the skills to build digital education resources. By working collaboratively, we were able to cover 21 of the most species-rich flowering plant families. For each flowering plant family included, this resource has outlined the recognition characters, unique features, and provided local examples of the family. Information was incorporated into interactive H5P activities and summative quizzes that serve to engage the student and reinforce the content. The activities and quizzes built in Moodle have the potential to be transferred to a more public domain, through platforms such as WordPress. The events of the last year have shown the importance of online teaching and learning resources. Not only has this project allowed us to develop the necessary vocabulary and skills to recognize our local flora but has allowed us to contribute to a resource that can be used by future students and the public. The development of accessible science helps not only the university but the community in which TRU resides

Rethinking Brain Health

poster abstractProject Supervisor: Youngbok Hong “Safe And Effective Deprescribing of Anticholinergics (SEDA)” project, led by Regenstrief Institute and IU Center for Aging and Eskenazi, focuses on patient safety harms from medications with anticholinergic effects. Drugs with anticholinergic effects have been implicated in cognitive impairment in older adults. The Rethinking Brain Health research project was conducted in the course of Collaborative Action Research in Design. Our team adopted a people-centered design approach, aimed to develop a behavioral and cultural understanding of brain safety issues related to anticholinergic medication. At the beginning of the research, we identified the key stakeholders as patients, family and community support, caregivers, registered nurses, care coordinators, pharmacists, primary doctors, and geriatricians in order to understand the complexity of the problems from multiple perspectives and a systematic view. The poster identifies 3 different personas that exemplify the major characteristics from the patients interviewed such as their communication with their provider, the sources of support, and their quality of life. It also shows the relationship between the patient and providers. By using research methods, we were able to gain a contextual understanding of the behaviors and the needs of patients and caregivers. This gigamap poster serves as a tool to reveal the interconnectedness of the problems associated with the patients’ experience with anticholinergics from the perspective of both the patient and provider. A deep understanding of the problems associated with anticholinergics helped us to identify the opportunity areas as assisting the patients’ support system in playing an active role in health decisions, assisting the patient in taking ownership of their health decisions and developing a holistic approach to treatment options, and creating a better information system between providers. Framing the problems into opportunities allows the SEDA team to take the next appropriate actionable steps in identifying appropriate solutions

Buffalo Reading List

This reading list gathers together literature focused on buffalo (also known as bison) to support ongoing efforts to restore this iconic species to its keystone cultural and ecological role. The books and articles compiled here are grounded in a wide range of academic disciplines and approaches, representing many distinct ways of thinking about buffalo within the realm of Western sciences. This is not intended to be an exhaustive account of what is known about buffalo, much of which is held in Indigenous knowledge systems and communities. This academic list is designed as a resource for those working towards buffalo restoration, including conservation practitioners, researchers, parks and government officials, and Tribal communities. It is divided into categories according to either discipline or thematic focus, each containing a subset of pertinent literature. Topics include the paleobiology of bison, histories of buffalo loss, relationships between Indigenous Peoples and buffalo, buffalo restoration and reintroduction, buffalo ecology, buffalo and climate change, governance and human dimensions of buffalo, bison and cattle, bison as livestock, and the genetics of bison. This list is intended as a living document to grow with the increasingly rich scholarship on buffalo, and will be updated regularly

Obesogenic home food availability, diet, and BMI in Pakistani and White toddlers

Individuals of South Asian ethnicity have an increased risk for obesity and related diseases. Foods available in the home during the first 1000 days (conception to 24 months old) are an important determinant of diet, yet no study has examined the association of early‐life home food availability (HFA) with later diet and obesity risk in South Asian households. We examined whether obesogenic HFA at 18 months of age is associated with dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) at 36 months of age in low‐income Pakistani and White households in the United Kingdom. In this prospective birth cohort study (Born in Bradford 1000), follow‐up assessments occurred at 18 (n = 1032) and 36 (n = 986) months of age. Variety and quantity of snack foods and sugar‐sweetened beverages (SSBs) in the home and consumed were measured using the HFA Inventory Checklist and food frequency questionnaires, respectively. BMI was calculated using measured length/height and weight. Multinomial logistic regression models examined associations between HFA and tertiles of dietary intake, and multivariable linear regression models assessed associations between HFA and BMI. Pakistani households had a greater variety and quantity of snack foods and SSBs available compared with White households. Variety and quantity of snack foods and SSBs in the home at 18 months were positively associated with children's intake of these items at 36 months, but associations between HFA and BMI were null. Reducing obesogenic HFA during the first 1000 days may promote the development of more healthful diets, though this may not be associated with lower obesity risk during toddlerhood

Two distinct secretory vesicle–priming steps in adrenal chromaffin cells

The calcium-dependent activator proteins for secretion, CAPS1 and CAPS2, facilitate syntaxin opening during synaptic vesicle priming