An Exploratory Study of Classroom Diversity and Cultural Competency

This exploratory study compares the effectiveness of multicultural training across two classrooms of counselors-in-training at a predominately white institution—one which was homogenous in class composition; the other which was diverse in class composition. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between classrooms and that individual students demonstrated statistically significant change in perceived multicultural competence. Such findings highlight the need for ongoing research that explores influence of classroom composition on cultural competency training for counseling graduate students

An Exploratory Study of Classroom Diversity and Cultural Competency

This exploratory study compares the effectiveness of multicultural training across two classrooms of counselors-in-training at a predominately white institution—one which was homogenous in class composition; the other which was diverse in class composition. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between classrooms and that individual students demonstrated statistically significant change in perceived multicultural competence. Such findings highlight the need for ongoing research that explores influence of classroom composition on cultural competency training for counseling graduate students

Injury associated with methamphetamine use: A review of the literature

This paper reviews the literature exploring issues around methamphetamine and injury. There was a paucity of peer reviewed quantitative research and a lack of large scale epidemiological studies. Further sources described cases and others described injury risk as part of an overall review of methamphetamine misuse. Thus, a number of limitations and potential biases exist within the literature. The main areas where associations were noted or extrapolated with methamphetamine use and injury were around driving and violence. Other associations with injury related to methamphetamine manufacture. There was also circumstantial evidence for third party injury (that is injury to those not specifically involved in drug use or drug manufacture); however, the available data are inadequate to confirm these associations/risks

Is Hilbert space discrete?

We show that discretization of spacetime naturally suggests discretization of Hilbert space itself. Specifically, in a universe with a minimal length (for example, due to quantum gravity), no experiment can exclude the possibility that Hilbert space is discrete. We give some simple examples involving qubits and the Schrodinger wavefunction, and discuss implications for quantum information and quantum gravity.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 1 figur

Barlean\u27s Organic Oils: rezone & expansion: environmental impact assessment

In the spring of 2010 Barlean\u27s Organic Oils, LLC. applied to Whatcom County to rezone 35 acres on their 40 acre property from rural-5 (R5A) to Light Impact Industrial (LII). The purpose the rezone is to expand their processing facilities and warehousing storage capacity. Barlean\u27s is a fish oil and flax seed oil processing plant located in Whatcom County, WA. Specifically, Barlean\u27s Organic Oils, LLC. headquarters and processing facilities are located on the southwest 10-acres of their 40-acre square property, northeast of the Slater Road and Lake Terrell Road junction. Barlean\u27s is adjacent to ConocoPhillips\u27 crude oil refinery to the west, privately owned rural county residents on the north and east, and the Lummi Nation Reservation to the south. In February of 2011, Whatcom County approved the rezone of 35 acres of the Barlean\u27s property. Before the rezone, Barleans\u27 processing facilities were operating under conditional use permits (CUP1993-0036, CUP1997-00002 and CUP2000-00024) and were restricted to the southwest 10 acres. The rezone changed 35 acres of Barleans\u27 property from a R5A zone to a LII zoning designation. The zoning has been approved by the county but the buildings that Barlean\u27s intends to construct on the rezoned land have yet to be permitted. There are four 20,000 square foot buildings Barlean\u27s plans to add outside the originally developed 10-acre area as well as two additional pre-approved 20,000 and 5,000 square foot facilities on the existing 10 acres. These buildings will house a protein plant, dry boat storage, seed storage, packing plant, material warehousing and office space. In addition, Barlean\u27s plans to build a 27,000 square foot, four-foot deep drainage pond on the southeast corner of the property to account for impervious surface water runoff. The drainage pond will be located within the new LII zone between a category IV wetland area and the proposed material warehousing building (Figure 4). An employee nature walk and a 25-foot wide quick growing native plant buffer is planned to the north and east sides of the rezone area to mitigate encroaching expansion toward the neighbors (Figure 4) In all, the new operational LII zone will include 35 acres, leaving a five acre triangular plot on the northeast corner of the property that will remain a R5A zone for future residential use (Figure 2)

Quantum Correlations in Systems of Indistinguishable Particles

We discuss quantum correlations in systems of indistinguishable particles in relation to entanglement in composite quantum systems consisting of well separated subsystems. Our studies are motivated by recent experiments and theoretical investigations on quantum dots and neutral atoms in microtraps as tools for quantum information processing. We present analogies between distinguishable particles, bosons and fermions in low-dimensional Hilbert spaces. We introduce the notion of Slater rank for pure states of pairs of fermions and bosons in analogy to the Schmidt rank for pairs of distinguishable particles. This concept is generalized to mixed states and provides a correlation measure for indistinguishable particles. Then we generalize these notions to pure fermionic and bosonic states in higher-dimensional Hilbert spaces and also to the multi-particle case. We review the results on quantum correlations in mixed fermionic states and discuss the concept of fermionic Slater witnesses. Then the theory of quantum correlations in mixed bosonic states and of bosonic Slater witnesses is formulated. In both cases we provide methods of constructing optimal Slater witnesses that detect the degree of quantum correlations in mixed fermionic and bosonic states.Comment: 46 pages, 4 eps figure

Sport and exercise medicine consultants are reliable in assessing tendon neovascularity using ultrasound Doppler

Objective: Several lower limb tendinopathy treatment modalities involve identification of pathological paratendinous or intratendinous neovascularisation to target proposed co-location of painful neoneuralisation. The ability to reliably locate and assess the degree of neovascularity is therefore clinically important. The Modified Ohberg Score (MOS) is frequently used to determine degree of neovascularity, but reliability has yet to be established among Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) consultants. This study aims to determine inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of an SEM consultant cohort when assessing neovascularity using the 5-point MOS. Method: Eleven participants (7 male and 4 female) provided 16 symptomatic Achilles and patella tendons. These were sequentially examined using power Doppler (PD) enabled ultrasound (US) imaging by 6 SEM consultants who rated neovascular changes seen using the MOS. Representative digital scan images were saved for rescoring 3 weeks later. Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the MOS was examined using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Kappa Agreement scores. Results: Neovascular changes were reported in 65.6% of 96 scans undertaken. ICC for inter-rater reliability was 0.86 and Fleiss Kappa 0.52. ICC for intra-rater reliability was 0.95 and Weighted Kappa 0.91. Conclusions: Neovascular changes were present in two-thirds of symptomatic tendons. Excellent SEM consultant inter-rater and intra-rater reliability was demonstrated. These findings support the use of PD-enabled US to assess neovascularity by appropriately experienced SEM consultants. Furthermore, future interventional research using a similarly experienced SEM consultant cohort can be undertaken with assurance that assessment of neovascularity will be reliable

The Possibilist Transactional Interpretation and Relativity

A recent ontological variant of Cramer's Transactional Interpretation, called "Possibilist Transactional Interpretation" or PTI, is extended to the relativistic domain. The present interpretation clarifies the concept of 'absorption,' which plays a crucial role in TI (and in PTI). In particular, in the relativistic domain, coupling amplitudes between fields are interpreted as amplitudes for the generation of confirmation waves (CW) by a potential absorber in response to offer waves (OW), whereas in the nonrelativistic context CW are taken as generated with certainty. It is pointed out that solving the measurement problem requires venturing into the relativistic domain in which emissions and absorptions take place; nonrelativistic quantum mechanics only applies to quanta considered as 'already in existence' (i.e., 'free quanta'), and therefore cannot fully account for the phenomenon of measurement, in which quanta are tied to sources and sinks.Comment: Final version with some minor corrections as published in Foundations of Physics. This paper has significant overlap with Chapter 6 of my book on the Transactional Interpretation, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press: http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item6860644/?site_locale=en_US (Additional preview material is available at rekastner.wordpress.com) Comments welcom

Selection for genetic markers in beef cattle reveals complex associations of thyroglobulin and casein1-S1 with carcass and meat traits

Genetic markers in casein (CSN1S1) and thyroglobulin (TG) genes have previously been associated with fat distribution in cattle. Determining the nature of these genetic associations (additive, recessive, or dominant) has been diffi cult, because both markers have small minor allele frequencies in most beef cattle populations. This results in few animals homozygous for the minor alleles. Selection to increase the frequencies of the minor alleles for 2 SNP markers in these genes was undertaken in a composite population. The objective was to obtain better estimates of genetic effects associated with these markers and determine if there were epistatic interactions. Selection increased the frequencies of minor alleles for both SNP from0.10). Additive, dominance, and epistatic SNP association effects were estimated from genotypic effects for adjusted fat thickness and predicted meat tenderness. Adjusted fat thickness showed a dominance association with TG SNP (P \u3c 0.06) and an epistatic additive CSN1S1 × additive TG association (P \u3c 0.03). For predicted meat tenderness, heterozygous TG meat was more tender than meat from either homozygote (P \u3c 0.002). Dominance and epistatic associations can result in different SNP allele substitution effects in populations where SNP have the same linkage disequilibrium with causal mutations but have different frequencies. Although the complex associations estimated in this study would contribute little to within-population selection response, they could be important for marker-assisted management or reciprocal selection schemes

A review of Kenya's cancer policies to improve access to cancer testing and treatment in the country

Background: Cancer is the third-leading cause of mortality in Kenya, resulting in unique challenges to the country’s health system. An increase in the number of cancer cases in Kenya over the past decade resulted in legislative actions and policies to guide delivery of cancer services. Kenya’s new national cancer control strategy and past policy efforts provide an opportunity to synergise information and enhance understanding to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment in the country. The objectives of this study are to (1) document policy-modifiable factors based on a review of policy documents and results of a key informant survey and (2) develop recommendations to improve policies affecting cancer testing and treatment services in Kenya. This study builds upon our previous study Improving Access to Cancer Testing and Treatment in Kenya (Makau Barasa et al. J Global Oncol 2(216), 2017). Methods: The study applied an in-depth systematic review of Kenya’s cancer policies and guidelines, a qualitative analysis of results from a section of a semi-structured key informant survey focused on the opinions of clinicians delivering cancer services as well as cancer support groups and advocacy leaders, and a stakeholder analysis identifying key policy-makers and implementers. Details of the complete key informant survey were published in our previous study. Results: Kenya’s cancer policies have guided progress made in providing the legal and implementation frameworks for the development and delivery of cancer services at the national and county levels. Some policy implementation gaps are noted. These include inadequate financing for cancer services, limited research and data to support policy formulation, and the concentration of cancer services in urban areas. The key informant survey identified policy-modifiable actions that can address some of the gaps and improve the delivery of and access to cancer testing and treatment services in the country. Some of these include addressing the financial barriers affecting cancer testing and treatment services; increasing stakeholder engagement in training health personnel to deliver cancer testing and treatment services; decentralising cancer services and improving cancer surveillance and research; and increasing education and awareness about cancer symptoms, screening procedures and treatment options. A set of priority policy actions were selected from the study findings and used to develop recommendations for Kenya’s policy-makers and stakeholders. Conclusions: Revisions to Kenya’s cancer policies are seeking to address gaps noted in past policies and to improve access to cancer testing and treatment in Kenya. However, based on study findings, additional actions can be taken to strengthen policy implementation. Considering the policy formulation and implementation process and costs, this study recommends focusing on three priority policy actions that can have significant impact on improving access to cancer testing and treatment services. These include addressing financing, insurance and human resources gaps; increasing stakeholder engagement; and decentralising health services for better surveillance and data to inform policies