Responding to Discrimination as a Function of Meritocracy Beliefs and Personal Experiences: Testing the Model of Shattered Assumptions

We examined whether the model of shattered assumptions (Janoff-Bulman, 1992) could be applied to the reactions of victims of discrimination. Consistent with this model, it was hypothesized that those whose positive world assumptions are inconsistent with their negative experiences of discrimination would report more negative responses than those whose world assumptions match their experience. Disadvantaged group (both gender and ethnicity) members’ responses to discrimination (self-esteem, collective action, intergroup anxiety) were predicted from their meritocracy beliefs and personal experiences of discrimination. Regression analyses showed a significant interaction between meritocracy beliefs and personal discrimination such that among those who reported personal discrimination, stronger beliefs that the meritocracy exists predicted decreased self-esteem and collective action as well as increased intergroup anxiety. Among those who reported little personal discrimination, stronger beliefs that the meritocracy exists predicted increased self-esteem. Implications for promoting a critical view of the social system was discussed

Adolescent Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Case Report

More than 1 million teenagers become pregnant every year in the United States. Nearly one-half of the pregnancies are carried to term, while a similar number end in abortion. In Michigan this amounts to approximately 34,000 teenage pregnancies (ages 15 to 19). These adolescent patients have a high incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Of the pregnant teens at Henry Ford Hospital. 60% present with one or more STDs. We discuss the case of a 13-year-old pregnant girl who presented at five weeks estimated gestation with gonorrhea, chlamydia, and appendiceal perforation, resulting in subsequent spontaneous abortion. Further discussion focuses on common STDs in pregnant adolescents

Responding to Discrimination as a Function of Meritocracy Beliefs and Personal Experiences: Testing the Model of Shattered Assumptions

We examined whether the model of shattered assumptions (Janoff-Bulman, 1992) could be applied to the reactions of victims of discrimination. Consistent with this model, it was hypothesized that those whose positive world assumptions are inconsistent with their negative experiences of discrimination would report more negative responses than those whose world assumptions match their experience. Disadvantaged group (both gender and ethnicity) members' responses to discrimination (self-esteem, collective action, intergroup anxiety) were predicted from their meritocracy beliefs and personal experiences of discrimination. Regression analyses showed a significant interaction between meritocracy beliefs and personal discrimination such that among those who reported personal discrimination, stronger beliefs that the meritocracy exists predicted decreased self-esteem and collective action as well as increased intergroup anxiety. Among those who reported little personal discrimination, stronger beliefs that the meritocracy exists predicted increased self-esteem. Implications for promoting a critical view of the social system is discussed

Mechanically Modulated Microwave Circulator

This work presents a differential FBAR circulator that uses the bending mode to mechanically modulate the FBAR mode without any varactors or switches. The differential FBAR circulator achieves a 61.5 dB isolation (IX) with an insertion loss (IL) of 1.8 dB at 2.68 GHz, demonstrating the first MEMS-only circulator. The isolation bandwidth at -25 dB is 4.7 MHz and power handling of the circulator is limited by the FBARs to +34 dBm.Comment: Transducers 201

Analysis of the Sustainability of Selected Targeted NGO Interventions for a Representative Small-Scale Farm Family in Ecuador

Linear programming techniques are used to illustrate the potential effects of targeted agricultural development interventions by non-governmental organizations. The results demonstrate the interconnection of nutrition, agricultural production, and economics in determining optimum decisions for farm families in the study area in northern Ecuador. The findings suggest that planned interventions for small-scale farmers should first consider a range of nutritional, agricultural, and economic factors before an intervention is implemented. Otherwise, planned interventions that focus on only one aspect of the family's well-being have a high probability of being unsustainabl

Heat Melt Compaction as an Effective Treatment for Eliminating Microorganisms from Solid Waste

One of the technologies being tested at Ames Research Center as part of the logistics and repurposing project is heat melt compaction (HMC) of solid waste to reduce volume, remove water and render a biologically stable and safe product. Studies at Kennedy Space Center have focused on the efficacy of the heat melt compaction process for killing microorganisms in waste and specific compacter operation protocols, i.e., time and temperature, required to achieve a sterile, stable product. The work reported here includes a controlled study to examine the survival and potential re-growth of specific microorganisms over a 6-month period of storage after heating and compaction. Before heating and compaction, ersatz solid wastes were inoculated with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, previously isolated from recovered space shuttle mission food and packaging waste. Compacted HMC tiles were sampled for microbiological analysis at time points between 0 and 180 days of storage in a controlled environment chamber. In addition, biological indicator strips containing spores of Bacillus atrophaeus and Ceo bacillus stearothermophilus were imbedded in trash to assess the efficacy of the HMC process to achieve sterilization. Analysis of several tiles compacted at 180 C for times of 40 minutes to over 2 hours detected organisms in all tile samples with the exception of one exposed to 180 C for approximately 2 hours. Neither of the inoculated organisms was recovered, and the biological indicator strips were negative for growth in all tiles indicating at least local sterilization of tile areas. The findings suggest that minimum time/temperature combination is required for complete sterilization. Microbial analysis of tiles processed at lower temperatures from 130 C-150 C at varying times will be discussed, as well as analysis of the bacteria and fungi present on the compactor hardware as a result of exposure to the waste and the surrounding environment. The two organisms inoculated into the waste were among those isolated and identified from the HMC surfaces indicating the possibility of cross contamination

Piezoelectric aluminum nitride thin films for microelectromechanical systems

This article reports on the state-of-the-art of the development of aluminum nitride (AlN) thin-film microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) with particular emphasis on acoustic devices for radio frequency (RF) signal processing. Examples of resonant devices are reviewed to highlight the capabilities of AlN as an integrated circuit compatible material for the implementation of RF filters and oscillators. The commercial success of thin-film bulk acoustic resonators is presented to show how AlN has de facto become an industrial standard for the synthesis of high performance duplexers. The article also reports on the development of a new class of AlN acoustic resonators that are directly integrated with circuits and enable a new generation of reconfigurable narrowband filters and oscillators. Research efforts related to the deposition of doped AlN films and the scaling of sputtered AlN films into the nano realm are also provided as examples of possible future material developments that could expand the range of applicability of AlN MEM

Contribution of hurricane-induced sediment resuspension to coastal oxygen dynamics

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 15740, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33640-3.Hurricanes passing over the ocean can mix the water column down to great depths and resuspend massive volumes of sediments on the continental shelves. Consequently, organic carbon and reduced inorganic compounds associated with these sediments can be resuspended from anaerobic portions of the seabed and re-exposed to dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water column. This process can drive DO consumption as sediments become oxidized. Previous studies have investigated the effect of hurricanes on DO in different coastal regions of the world, highlighting the alleviation of hypoxic conditions by extreme winds, which drive vertical mixing and re-aeration of the water column. However, the effect of hurricane-induced resuspended sediments on DO has been neglected. Here, using a diverse suite of datasets for the northern Gulf of Mexico, we find that in the few days after a hurricane passage, decomposition of resuspended shelf sediments consumes up to a fifth of the DO added to the bottom of the water column during vertical mixing. Despite uncertainty in this value, we highlight the potential significance of this mechanism for DO dynamics. Overall, sediment resuspension likely occurs over all continental shelves affected by tropical cyclones, potentially impacting global cycles of marine DO and carbon.Support for J. Moriarty was provided by the USGS Mendenhall Program