Access Verses Equality of Educational Experiences: Race, Social Status and Navigating the Suburban Terrain

In 1954, due to the prevalence of structural inequalities, the Brown v. Board of Education ruling sought to equalize educational opportunities for African American students by granting them access to predominantly White school districts (Bell, 1980; Gunier, 2004; Ladson-Billings, 2004). The ideology was that African American students would excel academically in predominantly White schooling environments because these establishments were known for housing quality resources that better support upward mobility, including postsecondary matriculation (Arriaza, 2003; Farmer-Hinton, 2008; Ladson-Billings, 1995; Stanton-Salazar & Dornbusch, 1995; Stanton-Salazar, 1997). In 1976, the Chapter 220 legislation erupted in Milwaukee as a subsidiary of Brown. Chapter 220 allowed African American students who resided in urban areas to access predominantly White suburban school districts and White students who lived in the suburbs were granted access to specialty schools in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) (Dahlk, 2004; Nelsen, 2014). Similar to Brown, the goal of Chapter 220 was to ensure an equitable schooling experience for students of color. In 1976, the Brown Deer School District (BDSD) was one of the first suburban districts to voluntarily comply with the Chapter 220 law. However, due to minimal students being transferred across district lines to attend MPS, the school district was mandated to increase its Chapter 220 participation in 1984 (Nelsen, 2015; Stolee, 1993). Since then, the BDSD has transitioned to a majority-minority school district and the Chapter 220 law expired in 1995 (Department of Public Instruction, 2019; Bonds, et al., 2009). Yet, no research has been conducted to thoroughly critique the desegregation laws of Brown and Chapter 220. Furthermore, no research has examined the schooling experiences of African American students who attend the desegregated suburban school district of Brown Deer. Therefore, through a Critical Race Theory (CRT) lens, this study analyzes the Brown and Chapter 220 legislations and illuminate their limitations in supporting the academics of African American student populations. Furthermore, also through a CRT framework, this study explores the experiences of 18 African Americans who graduated from Brown Deer Middle High School (BDMHS) between 2012-2018 to better understand their racialized schooling experiences. Their narratives shed light on the manner in which racialized hierarchies were established and permeated at BDMHS and how study participants perceived such exclusionary structures, policies and practices to have negatively implicated the experiences of the majority of the African American students who attended the suburban high school

Evaluation of extruded-expelled low-fat soybean flour in flour blends and the effects on bread and dough development

The research detailed in this document focuses on the performance of a partially defatted soybean flour called low-fat soybean flour (LSF). This soybean flour type has not received widespread application as a food ingredient. This has resulted from a lack of information available on the performance of LSF in a variety of food systems. Based upon its compositional and functional properties, LSF has shown potential for use in a flour blend. Past studies have focused on the usage of flour blends containing wheat flour partially replaced by an oilseed or legume flour. Wheat-soy flour blends have mostly been studied for use in yeast-leavened bread production. These blends have been able to enhance the protein content of yeast-leavened breads; however, favorable and unfavorable alterations to dough and bread development have been observed. In an effort to determine whether LSF could make favorable contributions to bread systems when used in a flour blend with wheat, several studies were performed in comparison to blends of wheat and defatted soy flour (DSF). For all experiments, wheat flour was replaced by soybean flour up to 12% based on weight and/or equivalent protein;To understand the protein-water interaction character of LSF in a flour blend, water-holding capacity (WHC) was examined. WHC was evaluated for blends at 2, 4, 6, and 12% replacement of wheat flour based on weight and equivalent protein. Findings showed that wheat-LSF blends had very similar WHC character to wheat-DSF blends. Dough development testing using a 10-g mixograph was performed on flour blends at the replacement levels of 2, 6, and 12%. The parameters of mix (peak) time, rate of development, and shear force during development were quantified. Dough development testing was conducted with and without the use of the dough conditioners, sodium stearoyl-lactylate and calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate. Wheat-LSF blend required longer mixing; however, these mix times were decreased after dough conditioner use. Effects on the physical and sensory properties of yeast-leavened bread were evaluated after making bread using the specified wheat-soybean flour blends at 2, 6, and 12% replacement of wheat flour. The physical properties loaf weight, loaf volume, crumb firmness, and crust/crumb color were evaluated. Sensory evaluation of bread crumb was accomplished using an 11-member sensory panel. Panelists provided sensory perception data for the perceived intensity of the following bread attributes: bread aroma, nutty aroma, crumb firmness, bread flavor and nutty flavor. Nutty flavor was associated with breads that contained soybean flour. Overall wheat-LSF breads had similar physical and sensory properties to wheat bread that did not contain any soybean flour. Most results from this research have been attributed to the presence of approximately 10% oil in the LSF

Destruction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on whole apples via single and sequential application of chemical sanitizers

This study was conducted to determine if single and sequential application of selected chemical sanitizers can achieve a 5-log reduction in Escherichia coli O157:H7 populations on apple surfaces. Sanitizers were utilized with and without mild heat to determine if increased temperatures would have an effect on sanitizer efficacy. Apples were spot-inoculated with a non-pathogenic strain of E. coli O157:H7, immersed in a sanitizer for 2 min and rinsed in distilled water for 5 sec. Chemical sanitizers used for single application were chlorine (200 ppm), hydrogen peroxide (5%), sodium bicarbonate buffer (pH 11.5), 1.5% H2O2 + 1.5% lactic acid, Tsunami100[superscript trademark symbol] (80 ppm) and ProSan[superscript trademark symbol] (1%). Among these chemical sanitizers, chlorine, 5% hydrogen peroxide, 1.5% hydrogen peroxide + 1.5% lactic acid, sodium bicarbonate buffer and Pro-San[superscript trademark symbol] were used sequentially on apple surfaces for 2 min per sanitizer. Bacterial populations were enumerated by duplicate plating on Tryptic Soy agar (TSA) and Sorbitol MacConkey agar (SMA) after 24 or 48 hr incubation at 35 or 370C. Populations of E. coli O157:H7 on apples immersed in (single) chemical sanitizers at 250C were reduced by 1.35 to 3.07 log10CFU/apple (TSA) and 1.82 to 3.77 log10CFU/apple (SMA). Log10 reductions for single treatments applied at 550C were 1.46 to 3.72 log10CFU/apple (TSA) and 2.31 to 3.90 log10CFU/apple (SMA). Sequential treatments at 250C eliminated E. coli O157:H7 by 2.10 to 3.17 log cycles based on TSA counts and 1.47 to 3.01 log cycles based on SMA counts. At 550C, E. coli O157:H7 populations were eliminated by 2.59 to 3.54 log cycles (TSA) and 1.96 to 3.27 log cycles (SMA). Single application of 1.5% hydrogen peroxide + 1.5% lactic acid and sequential application of chlorine (200 ppm) and 1.5% hydrogen peroxide + 1.5% lactic acid at 550C achieved the highest reductions of E. coli O157:H7 populations on apple surfaces at 3.90 and 3.27 log cycles (SMA), respectively. Results suggest that single and sequential application of chemical sanitizers were not effective in achieving a 5-log reduction of E. coli O157:H7 on whole apples based on conditions of the present study but can reduce the populations of the pathogen by approximately 4-log

Are Government Websites Achieving Universal Accessibility?: An Analysis of State Department of Health and Human Services' Websites

Research reports that the search for health information is the fourth most popular activity being done on the web (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2004). However, for disabled persons, barriers experienced when interfacing with the Internet may cause healthcare websites to be inaccessible to them. This study explores the level of accessibility of healthcare websites and the relationship between accessibility and usability by determining how compliant state department of health and human services websites are with accessibility and usability guidelines. A content analysis of each state's department of health and human services website was conducted. Results revealed that state department of health and human services websites are not very compliant with accessibility guidelines, are somewhat compliant with usability guidelines, and overall are not very accessible. The findings also indicate that there is a significant moderate relationship between accessibility and usability which suggests that the two concepts are interconnected

Building up Steam as Consumers: Women, Rice Cookers and the Consumption of Everyday Household Goods in Japan

This chapter discusses the increasingly important role played by women as everyday consumers in post-war Japan, focusing on their consumption of household and kitchen appliances, specifically the electric rice cooker. Two key areas are explored. First, I investigate the development, production and consumption of this appliance. The electric rice cooker was developed by Japanese manufacturers from the mid-1950s, and was at the time unique to the Japanese manufacturing sector and the Japanese consumer market. It rapidly achieved significance in both domestic and export markets.1 The analysis will focus on the rice cooker’s development and impact in the Japanese market during the post-war years as a key example of the importance of everyday household appliances in the history of gender and consumption in Japan, impacting on women’s roles inside and outside the home. The chapter will show that although the rice cooker was in many ways a humble product, it had a revolutionary impact on Japanese women’s primary role as housewives. Second, the chapter places the case-study of the rice cooker within a broader context, discussing the role played by Japanese women as key consumers of appliances and as a gendered consumer group. It will explore the significance of housewives as a consumer group in Japan during the post-war decades, the associated gendering of consumer practices, and the extent to which housewives, as the holders of the purse-strings within the Japanese nuclear household, were empowered by the establishment of the breadwinner-homemaker model

Chemical Plants Remain Vulnerable to Terrorists: A Call to Action

U.S. chemical plants currently have potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities as terrorist targets. The possible consequences of these vulnerabilities echo from the tragedies of the Bhopal incident in 1984 to the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 and, most recently, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Findings from a 2004 nationwide participatory research study of 125 local union leaders at sites with very large volumes of highly hazardous chemicals suggest that voluntary efforts to achieve chemical plant security are not succeeding. Study respondents reported that companies had only infrequently taken actions that are most effective in preventing or in preparing to respond to a terrorist threat. In addition, companies reportedly often failed to involve key stakeholders, including workers, local unions, and the surrounding communities, in these efforts. The environmental health community thus has an opportunity to play a key role in advocating for and supporting improvements in prevention of and preparation for terrorist attacks. Policy-level recommendations to redress chemical site vulnerabilities and the related ongoing threats to the nation’s security are as follows: a) specify detailed requirements for chemical site assessment and security; b) mandate audit inspections supported by significant penalties for cases of noncompliance; c) require progress toward achieving inherently safer processes, including the minimizing of storage of highly hazardous chemicals; d) examine and require additional effective actions in prevention, emergency preparedness, and response and remediation; e) mandate and fund the upgrading of emergency communication systems; and f) involve workers and community members in plan creation and equip and prepare them to prevent and respond effectively to an incident

Calculational benchmark comparisons for a low sodium void worth actinide burner core design

Recently, a number of low void worth core designs with non-conventional core geometries have been proposed. Since these designs lack a good experimental and computational database, benchmark calculations are useful for the identification of possible biases in performance characteristics predictions. In this paper, a simplified benchmark model of a metal fueled, low void worth actinide burner design is detailed; and two independent neutronic performance evaluations are compared. Calculated performance characteristics are evaluated for three spatially uniform compositions (fresh uranium/plutonium, batch-averaged uranium/transuranic, and batch-averaged uranium/transuranic with fission products) and a regional depleted distribution obtained from a benchmark depletion calculation. For each core composition, the flooded and voided multiplication factor, power peaking factor, sodium void worth (and its components), flooded Doppler coefficient and control rod worth predictions are compared. In addition, the burnup swing, average discharge burnup, peak linear power, and fresh fuel enrichment are calculated for the depletion case. In general, remarkably good agreement is observed between the evaluations. The most significant difference is predicted performance characteristics is a 0.3--0.5% {Delta}k/(kk) bias in the sodium void worth. Significant differences in the transmutation rate of higher actinides are also observed; however, these differences do not cause discrepancies in the performing predictions

A phantom-based method to assess X-ray table mattress interface pressures

Background Pressure redistribution performance of X-ray table mattresses can influence the development of pressure ulcers in at risk populations. Interface pressure analysis, with human participants, is a common method to assess mattresses. This approach has limitations that relate to the lack of standardisation between and within humans. Aim To develop and validate an anthropomorphic phantom-based method to assess X-ray table mattress interface pressures as an index of mattress performance. Methods A phantom simulating an adult head, pelvis and heels, was 3D printed from X-ray Computed Tomography image data and attached to a metal frame 175cm in length. Dry sand was added to the phantom head, pelvis and heels to represent a range of human weights. Pressure distribution was assessed using XSensor. Phantom validation was achieved by comparing phantom mattress interface pressure characteristics, for 5 human equivalent weights, against 27 sets of human mattress interface pressure data. Results Using the correlation coefficient R, phantom and human pressure data showed good correlation for the five phantom weights (R values: head=0.993, pelvis=0.997 and heels= 0.996). Conclusion A novel method to test X-ray mattresses for interface pressure was developed and validated. The method could have utility in the testing of X-ray mattresses that are in routine use and for new mattress development. Phantom interface pressure data could be provided by manufacturers to help inform procurement decisions when matching mattress characteristics to medical imaging demands and the underlying patient populations