Colorblindness, Anti-Racism, and Education: Lessons from Mexico

On March 25, 2014, the UNM Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies Graduate Student Association (LLSS GSA), Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII), and Student Organization for Latin American Studies (SOLAS) hosted Dr. Christina A. Sue, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Christina A. Sue is Assistant Professor with the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Sue\u27s research focuses on immigration and comparative race/ethnicity (specifically identity formation, multiracialism, intermarriage, race, relations, and racial ideology), with a focus on the United States and Latin America. In this talk, Sue will discuss findings from her recent book, Land of the Cosmic Race: Race Mixture, Racism, and Blackness in Mexico, to inform the current debate over colorblindness. Colorblindness, which emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century, has become the dominant racial ideology in the United States. Supporters view colorblind ideology and related practices as an important antidote to race-conscious data gathering, affirmative action, and racial identity politics, which they perceive as fueling racism. However, opponents argue that the race-evasiveness of colorblindness is detrimental and has led to the further entrenchment of racism. As this debate continues to rage in the United States, little attention is being paid to its neighbor to the south - Mexico - which has adopted and institutionalized practices of colorblindness for nearly a century. The lack of attention to the Mexican case is unfortunate since the United States could learn a great deal from Mexico\u27s long-standing social experiment with colorblindness.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/laii_events/1072/thumbnail.jp

The Yōkai Imagination of Symbolism: The Role of Japanese Ghost Imagery in late 19th & early 20th Century European Art Volumes I-III

This dissertation explores the influence of the Japanese yōkai, or ghost, imagery upon late 19th and early 20th century Symbolist artists in Western Europe. Japanese yōkai imagery, which we find in diverse mediums such as Buddhist handscrolls, woodblock prints and netsuke, gave vivid expression to a long established belief in Japanese culture in the existence of a world of ghosts and demons existing on the thresholds and borders of material existence. Yōkai imagery represents a very distinctive genre in the visual arts of Japan and the purpose of this dissertation is to tease out the specific impact that this discrete form of imagery might have exerted upon the Symbolist imagination within the wider context of japonisme and japonaiserie in European modernism. The dissertation begins with an exploration of the concept of yōkai in Japanese culture and discusses the history of their representation in the visual arts. The second chapter turns attention to the availability of such representations to avant-garde artists particularly in France and Britain in the late 19th century. An exploration of the incidence of such yōkai imagery in private collections, exhibitions and in publications on Japanese art and culture shows that a distinctive ‘ghost’ genre was extant and accessible at this time to those artists who wished to exploit in their work. The third chapter explores the ways in which the Symbolist generation developed existing discourses on the ghostly and supernatural in European culture, why they should have engaged with this and suggests that Japanese yōkai imagery offered them an innovative, ‘exotic’ and more subtle vocabulary of discourse with which to reflect their experience of modernity. Case studies of Aubrey Beardsley, Odilon Redon, Paul Gauguin, the designers associated with Art Nouveau and artists such as Toorop, Delville and Ensor suggests that, to some extent, all these artists engaged with yōkai imagery in their own artistic practice. The dissertation concludes that evidence exists to show that this specific genre of Japanese art did, indeed, exert an impact upon Symbolist thought and practice in Western Europe and makes the case for further investigative study to confirm preliminary findings and to extend research into an area of art historical study that has hitherto been poorly researched and unappreciated

Perceptions of Virtual Team Communication Effectiveness: The Role of Team Member Identity Motives and Media Characteristics

Although much research has examined how individuals convey their identities to others at work and outcomes related to identity communication, we know little about outcomes associated with identity communication in virtual settings. In this study, we examine the relationship between professionals’ motives for communicating their identities to others and their perceptions of virtual team communication effectiveness. In doing so, we consider the moderating role of features of the communication media (information control, reach, reprocessability) on these relationships. We find that three motives (self-protection, self-creation, and self-enhancement) relate to team members’ perceptions of communication effectiveness. We also find evidence for the influence of communication media features on several of these relationships. We provide an overview of our data collection methodology and results, concluding with theoretical and practical implications

Revisiting the hypothesis of sex-biased turtle road mortality

Road mortality poses a major threat to turtle populations. Several studies have suggested that the terrestrial movements associated with nesting increase this risk for females. The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (OTCC) is home to the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre, which admits 900 or more turtles a year, with road injuries the primary cause of admission. We tested the hypothesis that road mortality in turtles is female-biased using data from injured Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata), Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina), Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii), and Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica) collected over about 126 000 km2 and admitted to OTCC’s hospital from January 2013 to October 2017. There was no difference in the number of male and female admissions of Midland Painted, Blanding’s, or Snapping Turtles (P > 0.05); however, more female Northern Map Turtles than males were admitted (P < 0.001). Admission of female turtles peaked in June during the nesting season, but male admissions were more evenly distributed throughout the season. Our admissions data provide a temporally unbiased and geographically broad snapshot of turtle–vehicle interactions that can directly inform conservation and management policies. Although our data are not equivalent to mortality rates, these results demonstrate that vehicle strikes can have a substantial impact on both female and male turtles

Effect of Blueberries on Lipid Parameters of Ovariectomized Rats

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in the nation with an associated annual health care cost of approximately 448 billion. In women, risk for CVD drastically increases when they reach menopause, partly due to elevation of cholesterol. With the side effects associated with hormone replacement therapy and other prescription medications, dietary modifications play an important role in reducing cholesterol and other CVD risk factors in postmenopausal women. This study examines the effects of blueberry (BB) on modulating lipid profile in ovariectomized (Ovx) rats. Blueberry is a rich source of phenolic compounds and has a high antioxidant capacity. Sixty-two five-month old female Sprague-Dawley rats were either sham-operated (Sham) or Ovx and randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups (n=12-13/group), Sham +control, Ovx +control, Ovx+ 2.5% BB, Ovx +5.0% BB, or Ovx +7.5%BB. After 90 days of treatment, rats were necropsied and tissue samples were collected. Total cholesterol increased due to Ovx but none of the doses of BB were able to prevent the Ovx- induced rise in serum total cholesterol. Triglycerides and liver cholesterol were not altered by Ovx or dietary treatment. The results of this study indicate that the hypercholesterolemic effects of ovariectomy are not prevented by BB.Department of Nutritional Science

‘’It just happens’. Care home residents’ experiences and expectations of accessing GP care.

Background: Care homes provide personal care and support for older people who can no longer be supported in the community. As part of a larger study of integrated working between the NHS and care homes we asked older people how they accessed health care services. Our aim was to understand how older people resident in care homes access health services using the Andersen model of health care access. Methods: Case studies were conducted in six care homes with different socio-economic characteristics, size and ownership in three study sites. Residents in all care homes with capacity to participate were eligible for the study. Interviews explored how residents accessed NHS professionals. The Andersen model of health seeking behaviour was our analytic framework. Findings: Thirty-five participants were interviewed with an average of 4 different conditions. Expectations of their health and the effectiveness of services to mitigate their problems were low. Enabling factors were the use of intermediaries (usually staff, but also relatives) to seek access. Residents expected that care home staff would monitor changes in their health and seek appropriate help unprompted. Conclusions: Care home residents may normalise their health care needs and frame services as unable to remediate these which may combine to disincline older care home residents to seek care. Care access was enabled using intermediaries -either staff or relatives-and the expectation that staff would proactively seek care when they observed new/changed needs. Residents may over-estimate the health-related knowledge of care home staff and their ability to initiate referrals to NHS professionals.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

A grounded theory analysis of the experience of therapy in the context of negative change

Negative change occurring during psychotherapy is relatively underresearched and current theories take little account of social context. Eight clients and four therapists were interviewed about their therapy experience when reliable score deterioration on an outcome measure was observed, with the aim of generating a Grounded Theory model of negative change. The emerging model identified three major themes: a context of adversity, the therapeutic experience, and help withdrawn (within the context of positive outcomes). Difficulties included wanting therapy to provide more advice, talking about distressing issues, relationship difficulties, ambivalence, and a wish for support instead of change. Client context merits increased attention. Changes in outcome measures used, more diverse supervision models, training to use outcome measures constructively, and sensitive, routine analysis of negative change are indicated. Increased availability of therapies able to address clients’ interpersonal and social context and a wider choice of therapy type would allow interventions to better fit the individual in context

Does this Feel Empowering? Using Métissage to Explore the Effects of Critical Pedagogy

The extent to which critical pedagogy disrupts the relations of dominance inside postsecondary classrooms, or empowers students to take socially just action beyond the classroom has been debated and challenged for decades. Through the use of métissage, an interpretive inquiry method that affords collaborative interrogation of individual narrative writings, we five participants in the same critical pedagogy course conducted a post-course inquiry project in order to explore what we had learned through the course. Through this inquiry project, we have come to a deeper understanding of critical pedagogy praxis. Ultimately, what we learned through the use of this inquiry method maintains important implications for postsecondary educators

The impact of therapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia on intelligence quotients; results of the risk-stratified randomized central nervous system treatment trial MRC UKALL XI

&lt;p&gt;Background: The MRC UKALLXI trial tested the efficacy of different central nervous system (CNS) directed therapies in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). To evaluate morbidity 555/1826 randomised children underwent prospective psychological evaluations. Full Scale, verbal and performance IQs were measured at 5 months, 3 years and 5 years. Scores were compared in; (1) all patients (n = 555) versus related controls (n = 311), (2) low-risk children (presenting white cell count (WCC) &#60; 50 × 109/l) randomised to intrathecal methotrexate (n = 197) versus intrathecal and high-dose intravenous methotrexate (HDM) (n = 202), and (3) high-risk children (WCC ≥ 50 × 109/l, age ≥ 2 years) randomised to HDM (n = 79) versus cranial irradiation (n = 77).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Results: There were no significant differences in IQ scores between the treatment arms in either low- or high-risk groups. Despite similar scores at baseline, results at 3 and 5 years showed a significant reduction of between 3.6 and 7.3 points in all three IQ scores in all patient groups compared to controls (P &#60; 0.002) with a higher proportion of children with IQs &#60; 80 in the patient groups (13% vs. 5% at 3 years p = 0.003).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusion: Children with ALL are at risk of CNS morbidity, regardless of the mode of CNS-directed therapy. Further work needs to identify individuals at high-risk of adverse CNS outcomes.&lt;/p&gt

Barriers and facilitators to asthma self-management in adolescents:a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies

BACKGROUND: Many adolescents have poor asthma control and impaired quality of life despite the availability of modern pharmacotherapy. Research suggests that poor adherence to treatment and limited engagement in self-management could be contributing factors. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review of the barriers and facilitators to self-management of asthma reported by adolescents using a narrative synthesis approach to integrate the findings. DESIGN: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched for all types of study design. Full papers were retrieved for study abstracts that included data from participants aged 12-18 years referring to barriers or facilitators of asthma self-management behaviors. RESULTS: Sixteen studies (5 quantitative and 11 qualitative) underwent data extraction, quality appraisal, and thematic analysis. Six key themes were generated that encompassed barriers and/or facilitators to self-management of asthma in adolescents: Knowledge, Lifestyle, Beliefs and Attitudes, Relationships, Intrapersonal Characteristics, and Communication. CONCLUSIONS: There is a pressing need to prepare adolescents for self-management, using age-appropriate strategies that draw on the evidence we have synthesized. Current clinical practice should focus on ensuring adolescents have the correct knowledge, beliefs, and positive attitude to self-manage their illness. This needs to be delivered in a supportive environment that facilitates two-way communication, fosters adolescents' self-efficacy to manage their disease, and considers the wider social influences that impinge on self-management. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016; 9999:XX-XX. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc