The Myth of American Exceptionalism

This paper critiques the contemporary literature on American exceptionalism. It examines the multiple religious, intellectual and racist traditions that have and continue to make up U.S. political culture. It demonstrates that the doctrine of American exceptionalism is full of contradictions and fallacies. Whereas some traditions supported democracy and equality, other cultural traditions operated to sustain and promote racial repression. Both in the past and today, U.S. political culture contains contradictory currents, one progressive and the other reactionary

Felony Disenfranchisement: A Literature Review

This paper examines and critiques legal arguments supporting and opposing felon disenfranchisement laws. It reexamines Richardson v Ramerez, the Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of state laws that deny voting rights to voting aged cities with felony convictions. It summarizes the literature on case law, legal theory, democratic theory and comparative governments related to voting rights and felon disenfranchisement. It presents a typology of different levels of felon disenfranchisement practice. It concludes that the arguments supporting the more severe practices of felon disenfranchisement tend to focus on the 14th amendment while ignoring the 15th amendment; tend to trivialize the substantial racially disparate impacts; tend to disregard the fact that most democratic countries eschew this practice; and tend to deny voting as a fundamental right

It Is a Mindboggling Dilemma: To Play or Not to Play Youth Sports Due to Concussion Risks?

Concussions and their long term effects resulting from football collisions have recently entered the forefront of social debate. Movies like Concussion as well as high-profile lawsuits due to post-concussion health effects have casted a spotlight on brain injuries at the collegiate and professional level. However, this debate has equal application in youth sports—recent studies show that sports-related concussions at the elementary, middle, and high school levels are equally concerning. Youth sports are safer when fewer athletes suffer from sports-related concussions. But litigation is not the best avenue to make youth sports safer. Youth sports can be improved by: 1) primary prevention efforts; 2) education and training; 3) continuous research; 4) development of better protective equipment; and 5) increased advocacy for greater safety across all youth sports. States should look at their own youth sports concussion laws to see where improvements can be made. This Article addresses whether parents and guardians should let their children play youth sports due to concussion risks. Part I discusses different perspectives on the pros, barriers, and cons of youth participating in sports, the participation rates in youth sports, and the impact that concussion lawsuits and movies like Concussion have had on those participation rates. Part II provides statistics on the rates of concussions in youth sports including variances based on gender and type of sport. Part III describes various concussion lawsuits filed within the previous seven years. Additionally, this Part highlights state laws on youth sports-related concussions. Part IV summarizes and provides a comprehensive analysis of the Pop Warner Settlement in March 2016, including the potential impact of the settlement on youth sports organizations. Finally, this Article concludes by proposing suggestions to youth athletes, parents, guardians, coaches, youth leagues, medical professionals, and legislatures to make youth sports safer and to help youth athletes successfully return to learn and to play should they sustain a sports-related concussion

Finite-element modelling of mechanobiological factors influencing sesamoid tissue morphology in the patellar tendon of an ostrich

The appearance and shape of sesamoid bones within a tendon or ligament wrapping around a joint are understood to be influenced by both genetic and epigenetic factors. Ostriches (Struthio camelus) possess two sesamoid patellae (kneecaps), one of which (the distal patella) is unique to their lineage, making them a good model for investigating sesamoid tissue development and evolution. Here we used finite-element modelling to test the hypothesis that specific mechanical cues in the ostrich patellar tendon favour the formation of multiple patellae. Using three-dimensional models that allow application of loading conditions in which all muscles, or only distal or only proximal muscles to be activated, we found that there were multiple regions within the tendon where transformation from soft tissue to fibrocartilage was favourable and therefore a potential for multiple patellae based solely upon mechanical stimuli. While more studies are needed to better understand universal mechanobiological principles as well as full developmental processes, our findings suggest that a tissue differentiation algorithm using shear strain and compressive strain as inputs may be a roughly effective predictor of the tissue differentiation required for sesamoid development

How do communities proactively address lead remediation? : community case studies from Iowa

In 2016, Scott County Health Department officials reached out to the Sustainable Working Landscapes Initiative (SWLI) program at Augustana College to begin a partnership addressing lead poisoning in our community. Teams of students in the Fall 2016 Contemporary Social Issues class conducted sociological case studies of communities in Iowa that are proactively addressing lead remediation through combinations of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and private funding. Groups of students conducted case studies in Dubuque, Linn, Polk, Marshall, and Black Hawk counties in Iowa. Students researched the demographics of these areas as well as successes, lessons learned, challenges, local partnerships, and sources of funding for these programs. The students worked to identify key questions and concerns, as well as goals, for the case studies and presented these to the Scott County Public Health Department contacts at the conclusion of the fall term. During the Winter 2016 term, student interns compiled findings from these case studies into the following report. For the sake of brevity, we only include information which we felt was most relevant and useful to Scott County

The human myometrium differentially expresses mTOR signalling components before and during pregnancy: Evidence for regulation by progesterone

Emerging studies implicate the signalling of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in a number of reproductive functions. To this date, there are no data regarding the expression of mTOR signalling components in the human myometrium during pregnancy. We hypothesized that mTOR-related genes might be differentially expressed in term or preterm labour as well as in labour or non-labour myometria during pregnancy. Using quantitative RT-PCR we demonstrate for first time that there is a significant downregulation of mTOR, DEPTOR, and Raptor in preterm labouring myometria when compared to non-pregnant tissues taken from the same area (lower segment). We used an immortalized myometrial cell line (ULTR) as an in vitro model to dissect further mTOR signalling. In ULTR cells DEPTOR and Rictor had a cytoplasmic distribution, whereas mTOR and Raptor were detected in the cytoplasm and the nucleus, indicative of mTORC1 shuttling. Treatment with inflammatory cytokines caused only minor changes in gene expression of these components, whereas progesterone caused significant down-regulation. We performed a non-biased gene expression analysis of ULTR cells using Nimblegen human gene expression microarray (n = 3), and selected genes were validated by quantitative RT-PCR in progesterone treated myometrial cells. Progesterone significantly down-regulated key components of the mTOR pathway. We conclude that the human myometrium differentially expresses mTOR signalling components and they can be regulated by progesterone. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Pregnancy and Steroids'.This research was funded by National Institutes of Health Grant ESO12961

An Innovative Approach to Adult Education in a Two-year BScN Program: Creating Partnerships in Learning

Abstract In the program described in this paper, innovation in nursing education is presented as a response to specific tensions between academic and practice environments in the nursing field. As a unique partnership between a university in northern Ontario and three health care delivery organizations in a large urban environment, the Scholar Practitioner Program (SPP) is an accelerated two-year post degree leading to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Using narrative inquiry and cognitive apprentice pedagogies, SPP partners developed an experiential program in which students act as inquirers and co-creators as opposed to receivers of knowledge. Students are also immersed in practice settings throughout the program, supported by clinically based faculty, and connected, at all points, by communication and learning technologies. The benefits, challenges, and opportunities associated with this program from inception to the time of writing are presented for the reader\u27s consideration. The purpose of this reflection on the SPP journey as it includes faculty, students, administrators, and other partners is to inspire others interested in advancing nursing education in Canada. _ Résumé Dans le programme décrit dans cet article, une innovation en formation en sciences infirmières est présentée en réponse à des tensions particulières entre les environnements universitaires et de pratique en sciences infirmières. Un partenariat unique entre une université du Nord de l\u27Ontario et trois organisations de prestation de soins de santé dans un important milieu urbain, le Scholar Practitioner Program (SPP) est un programme post-diplôme accéléré d’une durée de deux ans menant à l’obtention d\u27un baccalauréat en sciences infirmières. À l\u27aide du Narrative inquiry et de pédagogies d’apprentissages cognitifs, les partenaires du SPP ont élaboré un programme expérientiel dans le cadre duquel les étudiantes agissent en tant que chercheures et cocréatrices plutôt que réceptrices de savoirs. Les étudiantes sont aussi en immersion dans un milieu de pratique tout au long du programme, sont appuyées par une professeure rattachée au milieu clinique et sont reliées à tous moments aux technologies de communication et d\u27apprentissage. Les avantages, les défis et les possibilités de ce programme, depuis le début jusqu\u27à l\u27étape de la rédaction, sont présentés aux lecteurs afin qu\u27ils puissent les étudier. Cette réflexion sur le cheminement du SPP, qui implique la participation de professeurs, d’étudiantes, d’administrateurs et d\u27autres partenaires, a pour but d\u27inspirer d’autres personnes qui souhaitent faire progresser la formation en sciences infirmières au Canada

Purchasing online journal access for a hospital medical library: how to identify value in commercially available products

BACKGROUND: Medical practice today requires evaluating large amounts of information which should be available at all times. This information is found most easily in a digital form. Some information has already been evaluated for validity (evidence based medicine sources) and some is in unevaluated form (paper and online journals). In order to improve access to digital information, the School of Clinical Medicine and Research at the University of the West Indies and Queen Elizabeth Hospital decided to enhance the library by offering online full text medical articles and evidence based medicine sources. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the relative value of online journal commercial products available for a small hospital and medical school library. METHODS: Three reference standards were chosen to represent the ideal list of core periodicals for a broad range of medical care: 2 Brandon/Hill selected lists of journals for the small medical library (BH and BH core) and the academic medical library core journal collection chosen for the Florida State University College of Medicine Medical Library. Six commercially available collections were compared to the reference standards and to the current paper journal subscription list as regards to number of journals matched and cost per journal matched. Ease of use and presence of secondary sources were also considered. RESULTS: The cost per journal matched ranged from US $3194 to$ 81. Because of their low subscription prices, the Biomedical Reference Collection and Proquest products were the most cost beneficial. However, they provided low coverage of the ideal lists (12 – 17% and 21–32% respectively) and contained significant embargoes on current editions, were not user friendly and contained no secondary sources. The Ovid Brandon/Hill Plus Collection overcame these difficulties but had a much higher cost-benefit range while providing higher coverage of the ideal lists (14–47%). CONCLUSION: After considering costs, benefits, ease of use, embargoes, presence of secondary sources (ACP Journal Club, DARE), the Ovid Brandon/Hill Plus Collection was the best choice for our hospital considering our budget. However, the option to individually select our own journal list from Ovid and pay per journal has a certain appeal as well

A BIOMECHANICAL INVESTIGATION OF A SPANISH SQUAT: THE EFFECT OF TRUNK INCLINATION AND LOAD ON QUADRICEPS ACTIVITY AND PATELLAR TENDON FORCE

The Spanish squat targets the knee extensor muscles and has been suggested to be an appropriate rehabilitation exercise for patellar tendinopathy. This study provides novel empirical data on the effect of trunk inclination and load on quadricep muscle activity and patellar tendon load while performing the Spanish squat. The findings of this study informs on the progression and regression of the Spanish Squat and provides evidence to support the application of the Spanish squat in progressive tendon loading strategies in the treatment of PT

Methodology for Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were performed using a solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) technique and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) instrumentation. Several different extraction methods were tested to determine which method gave the most reproducible results. In order to determine how well the GC performed, commercial standards were used to determine the retention time and concentration of 16 PAHs. A 2-point calibration curve using 100 part per billion (ppb) and 20 ppb solutions was constructed for quantitative analysis. Future plans include analyzing river water samples on a regular basis over an extended period of time, and also Soxhlet extraction methods to study PAH levels in river sediments.Undergraduate Research Scholarship Foundation Robert A. Welch Research Foundation, Grant #AJ002