Awesome

Opinions about Linguistics and Phonetics extrapolated to think about art and object-making, followed by an exposition of titles of recent work, including discussions about: stunting in All Star Cheerleading, rainbows, offset halo patterns, the common corn disease Crazy Top, failure, humility and the profound

Further Harm and Harassment: The Cost of Excess Process to Victims of Sexual Violence on College Campuses

This Note argues that in employing the Mathews v. Eldridge test to formulate the constitutional minimum process necessary to satisfy the Fourteenth Amendment in a Title IX university disciplinary hearing, federal courts have failed to adequately weigh the inevitable harm to survivors that will result from allowing one accused of sexual assault to personally cross-examine their accuser as part of the government interest at stake. Furthermore, this Note contends that any institution permitting the practice of respondents cross-examining their complainants commits sex discrimination in violation of Title IX by directly inflicting harm on its female students. Part I will provide an overview of how federal courts’ interpretation of Title IX evolved to protect students against sexual violence and harassment from their classmates and how courts have applied the Fourteenth Amendment to disciplinary hearings at public institutions of higher education. Part I will then largely focus on two recent appellate court decisions diverging on the degree of a respondent’s entitlement to cross-examination in these hearings. Part II will then examine the psychological effects of the retraumatization victims face when forced to confront their attackers in proceedings, the gender bias that may result, and how these considerations effect the Mathews analysis. Finally, Part III will assess the proposed rule offered by the Department of Education for its fairness and ability to prevent systemic gender-based bias and will offer an alternative solution for protecting the due process rights of the accused

Preparing Today’s Middle School Science Students for the Real World of Science Through Relevant and Inquiry-Based Activities

During the past several decades we have seen an increase in the demand for individuals trained in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines (Rothwell, 2013). While this is this case, according to the Bureau of Labor, the United States will see a shortage of STEM workers over the next decade, with the demand for highly trained STEM workers exceeding the minimal supply (Rothwell, 2013). In a study of bachelor and associate students in the academic year of 2003 and 2004, only 28% of bachelor students and 20% of associate students entered STEM fields (Chen & Soldner, 2013). This study took place from 2003 to 2009, and it was reported that 48% of these bachelor students and 69% of the associate students either switched to a non-STEM major, or dropped out of school. One major aspect that was found to impact attrition rates in STEM majors is precollege experiences and preparation. This issue can be directly related to the education system and its lack in preparing today’s students to fill the overwhelming amount of positions (Educator’s Voice). This is evidenced by low test performance of U.S. students as compared to those from other countries on several STEM assessment tests, which is causing the U.S. to lag behind other developed countries in the global economy. It is well established that in order to retain students in STEM majors, interest in these fields needs to be cultivated at a young age (Dejarnette, 2016). It was reported that 94% of eighth grade students chose their courses in order to prepare for a future career. If these students do not have interest or see potential in STEM fields and careers at this age, it is unlikely that these students will remain in the field (UMASS Donahue Institute, 2011). Unfortunately, however, it is very common for students to go through school not knowing the purpose of much of their learning. Specifically in middle school science classrooms, students often perform experiments where they are given step-by-step protocols where the outcome is known. However, this does not represent how science really works. The purpose of this project is to conduct a thorough literature review of current practices in STEM education in the middle school classroom. Using this information, a module appropriate for middle school science classrooms will be developed and aligned to 2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Frameworks standards. The activities in the module will be focused on practicing the real processes of science, and will also be inquiry-driven, allowing students to explore and discover for themselves. Ultimately this will allow students to see purpose in their work, become aware of the exciting world of science, become familiar with the process of science and take interest in the field. As a result, it is expected that more students will pursue STEM careers after being exposed to such modules, which will help the U.S. to improve its position in the global economy

Challenges and Opportunities in the Introduction of a Tertiary Education Program in Regional South Australia: A Case Study

This paper explores the implementation of a Bachelor of Education program in regional South Australia. Using a case study approach, this paper describes the site of implementation, with attention paid to the challenges regional locations experience in attracting and retaining suitably qualified staff. It will explore the program model and consider the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation and sustainability. At the individual level, it has provided students with an additional study option that negates the costs and stresses of relocation. At an organisational and community level, there is benefit for local schools as the provision of students and future professionals, who already have demonstrated commitment to the region, may assist in reducing staff turnover. The model presented could be adapted to similar locations, and while it is not a panacea to address regional teaching staff shortages, it offers another educational model that can help alleviate the issue

European Paediatric Formulation Initiative (EuPFI)-Formulating Ideas for Better Medicines for Children.

© American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists 2016, published by Springer US, available online at doi: https://doi.org/10.1208/s12249-016-0584-1The European Paediatric Formulation Initiative (EuPFI), founded in 2007, aims to promote and facilitate the preparation of better and safe medicines for children through linking research and information dissemination. It brings together the capabilities of the industry, academics, hospitals, and regulators within a common platform in order to scope the solid understanding of the major issues, which will underpin the progress towards the future of paediatric medicines we want.The EuPFI was formed in parallel to the adoption of regulations within the EU and USA and has served as a community that drives research and dissemination through publications and the organisation of annual conferences. The membership and reach of this group have grown since its inception in 2007 and continue to develop and evolve to meet the continuing needs and ambitions of research into and development of age appropriate medicines. Five diverse workstreams (age-appropriate medicines, Biopharmaceutics, Administration Devices, Excipients and Taste Assessment & Taste Masking (TATM)) direct specific workpackages on behalf of the EuPFI. Furthermore, EuPFI interacts with multiple diverse professional groups across the globe to ensure efficient working in the area of paediatric medicines. Strong commitment and active involvement of all EuPFI stakeholders have proved to be vital to effectively address knowledge gaps related to paediatric medicines, discuss potential areas for further research and identify issues that need more attention and analysis in the future.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

An Examination of the Language of Psychopaths: Differences in Prosodic Channels of Communication in Psychopathic and Non-Psychopathic Offenders

Natural speech contains a wealth of information relevant to understanding cognitive and affective psychological processes, which are reflected in both prosodic and semantic channels of communication. While differences in semantic channels have been demonstrated among psychopathic versus non-psychopathic individuals, research on the role of prosody in psychopathy is scant. The Computerized Assessment of Natural Speech protocol provides adetailed assessment of macroscopic-level prosody variables related to underlying psychological processes that have been linked to psychopathological conditions. Psychopathy is a condition that involves a number of disruptions in cognitive and affective processes, which theoretically can be tied to various aspects of speech. The present study provides a novel contribution by examining natural speech output in an offender sample in the context of a clinical interview (Psychopathy Checklist – Revised). More specifically, the present study examined variance in prosody across segments of the PCL-R interview designed to elicit both positively and negatively valenced emotional content, across high and low levels of subjective arousal, in psychopathic (n = 49) and non-psychopathic (n = 44) male offenders who were similar in terms of age, education, race/ethnicity, and IQ. Three-factor mixed MANOVAs (Group x Valence x Arousal) were conducted to evaluate differences in prosodic speech displayed by the offenders. Results indicated significant interactions between psychopathic and non-psychopathic offenders across valence and arousal conditions in terms of percentage of silence, average pause length, longest pause length, average within-utterance variation in subjectively defined pitch and articulation variables, and average rate of change in articulation across speech sample. Implications and future directions for research are discussed

The Structural Characteristics of Robustness in Large-Scale Complex Engineered Systems

Modern engineered systems are increasingly integrated into society, decentralized, and interconnected. However, scale and complexity create unique challenges in system design, such as emergent behavior and unintended consequences. This work investigates the structural characteristics of robustness in complex engineered systems by identifying patterns of under-recognized vulnerabilities at various levels of hierarchy. The work begins at the highest level of hierarchy, taking a system of systems view in order to investigate unintended consequences. Then, this work investigates the system architectures that make them prone to certain types of failures using different network modeling perspectives. Finally, this work uses network modeling to identify system elements that are key to controlling system robustness from a system behavior perspective. Altogether, this research provides a novel perspective on robustness of complex systems and presents empirical findings on general patterns of system vulnerabilities that can be used in future system-level architecture design. Applications of the work are focused on aerospace systems but can be applied in a diverse range of domains, including energy and transportation