oUR Air: Determining Ideal Locations for Tree Planting in Richmond, VA in Order to Deter Inequalities in Temperature

With the ever increasing effects of climate change, it is pertinent that an effective, efficient, and economic solution be reached in order to mitigate the extremity of urban heat islands. Since heat can contribute to a variety of health problems, it is very important that the unequal distribution of heat be minimized in order to promote the equal well-being within a city. One substantial and popular method of doing so is through the planting of trees, as there is research done to show that they reduce air pollution on top of reducing overall surface temperatures. This paper explores how and where tree planting will be most productive at limiting temperature inequalities within the city of Richmond by looking at various factors such as tree coverage, population density, and various social factors such as average income and race. I will also conduct research into how tree planting endeavors currently proceed in the city. Ultimately, this paper concludes that Census Tract 204 in the East End and Census Tract 608 in the West End would most benefit from an increased number of trees. At the end of the paper, I will also discuss various recommendations for how tree planting might be improved within the city of Richmond, including increased maintenance, education, and privatization of tree planting

In a Bind: Effect of Abdominal Binding on Postoperative Pain in Abdominal Surgery Patients

This evidence-based project seeks to answer the question, in patients who have undergone abdominal surgery, what is the effect of abdominal binders on postoperative pain? A literature review was conducted and ultimately, five peer-reviewed articles, comprised of three randomized controlled trials and two systematic reviews, were selected to answer this question. Each article studied the effect of abdominal binders using a “binder” and a “non-binder” group in patients who had undergone various types of open abdominal surgeries, including gynecological cancer excisions, cesarean deliveries, midline laparotomies, hernia repairs, and more. Each study used the visual analogue scale to assess patient pain throughout the postoperative period. The ultimate conclusion was that abdominal binders are effective in reducing postoperative pain in some capacity. This review guided the intervention that this evidence-based project seeks to propose: the universal use of abdominal binders in patients undergoing open abdominal surgery, barring contraindications. This recommended change in practice comes in the midst of a healthcare climate where the current use of this intervention is often patient- or facility-dependent despite the evidence detailed herein suggesting its safe and effective use. The planning, intervention, and evaluation phases of this change in practice are outlined within this paper to give insight to how practice can shift in accordance with current research

I Gotta Testify: Kanye West, Hip Hop, and the Church

The goal of this project, “I Gotta Testify: Kanye West, Hip Hop, and the Church,” is to add a new perspective to the scholarly discourse on Hip Hop and Christianity within classrooms, religious institutions, and popular culture by focusing on Kanye. We chose to focus on Kanye because he has been one of Hip Hop’s most influential artists in the past decade. Furthermore, Kanye is one of the most polarizing celebrities in America and across the globe. His music, fashion, political views, and family (which includes the Kardashians) dominate discourse on social media, blogs, television, and other forms of mass media. With the exception of Julius Bailey’s 2014 edited book, The Cultural Impact of Kanye West, there has been little scholarly work published on Kanye. Bailey’s book contained just one essay, written by Monica R. Miller, dedicated to the theme of Kanye and religion. We intended to produce a nontraditional journal issue, partly because Kanye has never adhered to traditional boundaries. We also chose this method because we wanted to provide a document suitable for both academic and popular audiences. Kanye West identifies as a Christian and primarily uses Christian themes in his music, videos, concerts, and messaging. Dr. Joshua K. Wright, Dr. Adria Y. Goldman and Dr. VaNatta S. For

Threatcasting: a framework and process to model future operating environments

Threatcasting, a new foresight methodology, draws from futures studies and military strategic thinking to provide a novel method to model the future. The methodology fills gaps in existing military futures thinking and provides a process to specify actionable steps as well as progress indicators. Threatcasting also provides an ability to anticipate future threats and develop strategies to reduce the impact of any event. This technical note provides a detailed explanation of the Threatcasting methodology. It provides the reader with its connections to the current body of work within the foresight community and then explains the four phase methodology through the use of a real-life example

Threatcasting: a framework and process to model future operating enviornments

Threatcasting, a new foresight methodology, draws from futures studies and military strategic thinking to provide a novel method to model the future. The methodology fills gaps in existing military futures thinking and provides a process to specify actionable steps as well as progress indicators. Threatcasting also provides an ability to anticipate future threats and develop strategies to reduce the impact of any event. This technical note provides a detailed explanation of the Threatcasting methodology. It provides the reader with its connections to the current body of work within the foresight community and then explains the four phase methodology through the use of a real-life example.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1040/thumbnail.jp

Threatcasting in a Military Setting

The intersection of digital and physical security is critical to the future security of our military and national defense. Coming technological advances widen the attack plain over the next decade including cyber, physical and kinetic vulnerabilities. Visualizing what the future will hold and what new threat vectors will emerge is a task that traditional military planning mechanisms struggle to accomplish given the wicked problem space. Helping to understand and plan for the future operating environment is the basis of a research effort known as Threatcasting. Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society in collaboration with the Army Cyber Institute at West Point use the threatcasting process to give researchers a structured way to envision and plan for risks ten years in the future. For many organization the scope of this problem can seem overwhelming. Threatcasting, as an analytic technique, focuses on the intersection between cyber and physical domains and how it can revolutionize or paralyze the future. Threatcasting uses inputs from social science, technical research, cultural history, economics, trends, expert interviews, and even a little science fiction. These inputs allow the creation of potential futures. By placing the threats into an effects based model (e.g. a person in a place with a problem), it allows organizations to understand what needs to be done immediately and also in the future to disrupt possible threats. The Threatcasting framework also exposes what events could happen that indicate the progression towards an increasingly possible threat landscape. Threatcasting draws strength from futures studies, a field that provides theoretical and applied tools designed to shed light on deep uncertainties and complexities that futures hold. Foresight tools are rooted in exploratory, rather than predictive, methods of futures thinking, learning, and strategy as a means to prepare and plan for long-term outcomes that are difficult to imagine and impossible to predict. Such methods often stand in contrast to causal, linear, ‘plan and predict’ thinking that characterizes many contemporary practices of making and knowing futures. As national security and technological possibilities change rapidly, new threats and opportunities become ever present. Threatcasting is a means to make-sense and anticipate military futures so that relevant institutions are able to anticipate, manage, navigate uncertainty and complexity ahead. This chapter will use the weaponization of artificial intelligence as a case study to walk readers through the research technique and results. Specifically, we will outline two case studies where the technique was applied with specific results. One case study focuses on the digital and physical supply chain in private industry (Cisco Systems) and the second investigates similar threats to the military’s supply chain (Military Logistics Officers). The weaponization of any organization\u27s supply chain and logistics systems poses a significant threat to national and global economic security. The very systems that are the engine of economies and the lifeline of goods and services to the world’s population could and most probably will be turned against the very people and organizations that they serve. This new threat landscape and associated challenges will affect industry, militaries and governments through loss of revenue, productivity and even loss of life. This weaponization will allow adversities whether they are criminal, state sponsored, terrorists or hacktivists to transform these systems from engines of productivity to enemies on the inside. Upon reading this chapter, the student/practitioner will: - Have an understanding of the threatcasting methodology so to be able to apply it against other problems of interest - Appreciate the close ties between the advancement of technology and the effect to society, economies, and national security - Apply the Threatcasting methodology to the specific problem of supply chains and the weaponization of Artificial Intelligence - Create powerful narratives and fact-based illustrations to provide decision makers on the resultshttps://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1022/thumbnail.jp

The logic and legitimacy of bank supervision: the case of the bank holiday of 1933

The U.S. banking holiday of March 1933 was a pivotal event in 20th century political and economic history. After closing the nation’s banks for nine days, the newly inaugurated Franklin D. Roosevelt administration restarted the banking system as the first step toward national recovery from the global Great Depression. In the conventional narrative, the holiday succeeded because Roosevelt used his political talents to restore public confidence in the nation’s banks. Such accounts, however, say virtually nothing about what happened during the holiday itself. In this article, we reinterpret the banking crises of the 1930s and the 1933 holiday through the lens of bank supervision, the continuous oversight of commercial banks by government officials. Through the 1930s banking crises, federal supervisors identified troubled banks but could not act to close them. Roosevelt empowered supervisors to act decisively during the holiday. By closing some banks, supervisors made credible Roosevelt’s claims that banks which reopened were sound. Thus, the union of FDR’s political skills with the technical judgement of bank supervisors was the key to the solving the banking crisis. Neither could stand alone, and both together were the vital precondition for further economic reforms—including devaluing the dollar—and with them, Roosevelt’s New Deal

Interview with Edith Litton

An interview with Edith Litton regarding her experiences in a one-room school house.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/ors/1189/thumbnail.jp