Supporting level 1 physics & astronomy undergraduates at the University of Glasgow

It is generally accepted that the retention and associated completion rates for first year classes are an area of concern for UK universities, and physics and astronomy classes at the University of Glasgow are exception. Classes are often large and, as result, student integration on academic and social levels can be difficult to achieve; some students perceive a lack of personal interest and support in what can be a stressful transition from secondary to tertiary education. In order to address these issues, the author has been employed in a new departmental post, Director of Learning Support for First Year. The remit of this post is primarily the implementation of an improved personal contact and academic monitoring and support strategy for first year undergraduates. The purpose of this paper is to present the ways in which it is hoped that the role of Director of Learning Support will positively impact on aspects of the forthcoming academic year

Investigating Initial Interactions Between Silver Nanoparticles and Wastewater

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) has increased exponentially in the last 15-20 years, especially in the consumer market. NPs are currently found in over 1800 commercial products, including cosmetics, clothing, packaging, and toys. As a result, NPs can enter the environment via wastewater (WW) streams, leading to new challenges in WW treatment. This study focuses on the initial fate of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in WW. The AgNP interaction including aggregation and dissolution in both synthetic and real WW were studied. Real WW was collected from the primary-clarifier, secondary-clarifier, and effluent WW streams at two local WW treatment plants (Westside and Noland) in Fayetteville, AR. In all cases, AgNPs had high rates of aggregation with salts and solids in real and synthetic WW (80.3%-99.8%). Of the non-aggregated AgNPs, there was no statistical difference in the concentration of Ag that passed through the nano (0.1 µm) and ionic (3 kDa) filters, indicating that either the AgNPs were small enough to pass through the ionic filter (\u3c27 Ag atoms), or most of the non-aggregated Ag was present as ionic species rather than NPs. This merits further research

Are You Ready to Meet Your Baby? Phenomenology, Pregnancy, and the Ultrasound

Iris Marion Young’s classic paper on the phenomenology of pregnancy chronicles the alienating tendencies of technology-ridden maternal care, as the mother’s subjective knowledge of the pregnancy gets overridden by the objective knowledge provided by medical personnel and technological apparatuses. Following Fredrik Svenaeus, the authors argue that maternal care is not necessarily alienating by looking specifically at the proper attention paid by sonographers in maternal care when performing ultrasound examinations. Using Martin Heidegger’s philosophy as a theoretical lens, the authors argue that sonographers who cultivate technical mastery, build patient rapport, explain the process and significance of the ultrasound, and understand the patient’s world are able to provide excellent patient care. The authors utilize Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutics to show how sonographers can frame the ultrasound in a way that acknowledges both the subjective knowledge of the mother and the objective data obtained by the sonographer through the use of technology. Ultimately, the authors argue that the common practice of framing the ultrasound as the chance to “meet the baby” is inappropriate, as it exacerbates the tendency to regard objective knowledge as the only legitimate knowledge in medical contexts. They recommend a more balanced approach that elicits a fusion of horizons between the patient’s subjective knowledge and the objective data that is obtained by the sonographer via the ultrasound, thus respecting and bolstering patient autonomy

Outliving Love: Marital Estrangement in an African Insurance Market

Marital estrangement and formal divorce are vital conjunctures for married women’s kinship relations and life course, where a horizon of future possibilities are revalued and negotiated at the interstices of custom, law, and social and ritual obligations. In this article, after delineating the forms of customary and civil marriage and the possibilities for divorce or estrangement from each, I describe how some married women in Swaziland and South Africa mediate this complex social field for their children and families through pensions and continuing to pay for their partners’ insurance coverage. This was not solely out of avarice to reap future benefits as spouses. Rather, in a context of patriarchal relations, gender-based violence and economic dispossession, women seek to maintain potential financial grounds through insurance resources, acknowledge their children’s paternity, and fulfil enduring obligations to in-laws by partially contributing to the eventual funerals of their spouses and kin

Malagasy Time Conceptions

In this paper I discuss Øyvind Dahl’s argument (1995,1999) for the conclusion that Malagasy people conceive of the future as coming from behind them and not as being before them as most worldviews do. I argue that we have good reason not to attribute this view to Malagasy people. First, it would mark an inefficient and anomalous way of keeping track of the past and future. Second, the linguistic and testimonial evidence presented by Dahl doesn’t support the conclusion. Even though this specific argument fails, Dahl has many enlightening things to say about Malagasy time conceptions, such as the various time-conceptions that figure more predominantly in their worldview as opposed to the general modern Western worldview. Dahl is right that successful communication for Westerners in Madagascar requires understanding that the Malagasy worldview is structured more by an event-related conception of time than the general modern Western worldview. I also show in this paper that the three time conceptions Dahl outlines are relevant to living a good life

Empathy

A short poem about suicidal ideation and alcoholism in the United States