Xocolat: Community and Cacao

Over the course of 3 years, I spent my life living and working in Central America; Two and a half years were spent working as a sustainable agriculture and improved food securities volunteer for the Peace Corps in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, three months were spent working in the cacao fields of Central America, learning about the growing process, production phases and industry first-hand with people that have dedicated their lives to growing and producing some of the finest chocolate in the world, and finally, three months were spent on the coasts of Costa Rica, working with a group of marine biologist and conducting biological studies on nesting sea turtles on the Caribbean coast and the migration routes of marine mammals through the Pacific. Although these three chapters may seem to be unconnected, they are, in fact, all closing tied together in the assembly, experimentation and construction of my thesis. I spent these

Hookah Health Hazards

Ramen noodles, cramming for tests, hooking up and boozing. Ahhh, the life of a college student. None of these activities scream “healthy.” We often don’t think about what we’re putting into our bodies. Young adults have a reputation of being a very unhealthy demographic, and some students add to that by smoking tobacco in different forms. Hookah has become a popular tobacco choice throughout the United States in recent years, and particularly in Ames with the opening of the Chicha Shack in 2004

Digital Humanities as Community Engagement: The Digital Watts Project

The Digital Watts Project was a graduate-level English class taught in summer of 2016 that focused on the 1965 Watts “Uprising” or “Riots.” The class worked with the Southern California Library (SCL) to make available, through a digital public humanities project, primary sources intended to expand the narrative around the events of 1965, and to situate them in a broader context of the history of race and racism in Los Angeles. Exploring the ways in which our background in the humanities could positively enrich our work with the SCL, Melanie Hubbard, a Digital Scholarship Librarian at Loyola Marymount University, and Dermot Ryan, an Associate Professor of English, designed a class that drew on literary texts, history, and information science, as well as including a number of speakers with disciplinary expertise and firsthand experience to inform the generation of metadata for this project

Surrogates and Artificial Intelligence: Why AI Trumps Family

The increasing accuracy of algorithms to predict values and preferences raises the possibility that artificial intelligence technology will be able to serve as a surrogate decision-maker for incapacitated patients. Following Camillo Lamanna and Lauren Byrne, we call this technology the autonomy algorithm (AA). Such an algorithm would mine medical research, health records, and social media data to predict patient treatment preferences. The possibility of developing the AA raises the ethical question of whether the AA or a relative ought to serve as surrogate decision-maker in cases where the patient has not issued a medical power of attorney. We argue that in such cases, and against the standard practice of vesting familial surrogates with decision making authority, the AA should have sole decision-making authority. This is because the AA will likely be better at predicting what treatment option the patient would have chosen. It would also be better at avoiding bias and, therefore, choosing in a more patient-centered manner. Furthermore, we argue that these considerations override any moral weight of the patient\u27s special relationship with their relatives

The Digital Eighteenth Century

The Digital Eighteenth Century is an ongoing collaboration between the English Department, William Hannon Library, and students at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). Its goal is to use digital tools and platforms to help students of the eighteenth century immerse themselves in the literature and culture of the period. British Literature 1660-1800: The Digital Eighteenth Century not only offeres an advanced introduction to the literature of the Enlightenment and Romanticism (1750-1830), but also introduces students to the range of projects, methods, and debates within Digital Humanities (DH). We will explore how DH might transform literary scholarship in the long eighteenth century. Will it allow scholars to discover new aspects of the literature they are studying? Can new digital tools work in tandem with qualitative analysis and close reading? Using a variety of digital tools (which will include the textual analysis program Voyant and the online database ECCO), we will explore the research and pedagogical opportunities offered by DH. While our course will explore the potential gains—scholarly, interpretive, and pedagogical—of using these digital tools, we will also discuss some theoretical and practical questions of researching, analyzing, and teaching literature using these technologies. For more information, see the course materials designed by Dermot Ryan and Melanie Hubbard. Literary movements and historical events told through timelines and maps: 18th Century Poetry Anna Barbauld Arthur Young’s Travels Through France The Crown & Anchor Society John Wesley: Methodism The Romantic Period Thomas Paine: Rights of Manhttps://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ds-collection/1005/thumbnail.jp

The Common Rule’s “Reasonable Person” Standard for Informed Consent

Laura Odwazny and Benjamin Berkman have raised several challenges regarding the new reasonable person standard in the revised Common Rule, which states that informed consent requires potential research subjects be provided with information a reasonable person would want to know to make an informed decision on whether to participate in a study. Our aim is to offer a response to the challenges Odwazny and Berkman raise, which include the need for a reasonable person standard that can be applied consistently across institutional review boards and that does not stigmatize marginal groups. In response, we argue that the standard ought to be based in an ordinary rather than ideal person conception of reasonable person and that the standard ought to employ what we call a liberal constraint: the reasonability standard must be malleable enough such that a wide variety of individuals with different, unique value systems would endorse it. We conclude by suggesting some of the likely consequences our view would have, if adopted

Chapter 6: Behavior Change Techniques for Reducing Interviewer Contributions to Total Survey Error Appendix 6

Appendix 6A Medical Expenditure Panel Survey key statistics for prescribed medicines for those 65 and older in the U.S. Appendix 6B CAPI screenshots Appendix 6C Westat’s CARI code screenshots Appendix 6D Coding scheme Appendix 6E Flowchart of CARI rapid feedback process Appendix 6F Multilevel multinomial logistic regression models Appendix 6G Multilevel multinomial logistic regression models with interviewer experience Appendix 6H Alert frequenc

Conceptos y conclusiones de la “Sesión 2010 del Instituto Panamericano de Estudios Avanzados en Dinámica y Control de Vehículos Marinos tripulados y no tripulados”

In the summer of 2010, the first ever NSF’s Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute (PASI) in Colombia was held in Barranquilla and Cartagena. The two-week institute brought together researchers of the Americas to discuss topics related to dynamics and control of manned and unmanned marine vehicles. This paper presents a summary of the program organization and findings, along with lecturer and participant feedback. It is intended to serve as a lead-in to the technical papers by PASI participants contained in this special edition of Ship Science & Technology.Entre los meses de Junio y Julio de 2010 se realizó por primera vez en Colombia el Instituto Panamericano de Estudios Avanzados (PASI, del inglés Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute) de la National Science Foundation (NSF), en las ciudades de Barranquilla y Cartagena. Este instituto a lo largo de dos semanas congregó a investigadores de todo el continente para discutir temáticas relacionadas con dinámica y control de vehículos marinos tripulados y no tripulados. Este artículo presenta una síntesis de los principales elementos de dicho instituto, los resultados de la organización del evento, así como la retroalimentación recibida por conferencistas y participantes. Además, este artículo pretende servir como prólogo a artículos técnicos preparados por los participantes del PASI en esta edición especial de Ciencia y Tecnología de Buques

Effect of 406 MHz ELTs and COSPAS-SARSAT Cessation of 121.5 MHz ELT Monitoring on Search and Rescue Duration for General Aviation Aircraft Accidents in the Contiguous United States

Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) are credited with saving hundreds of lives every year in the United States. Following an aircraft accident, these devices transmit an emergency beacon signal to the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite network, directing search and rescue forces to the crash site. In recent years, this constellation has been plagued by ELT false alarms, propagating a technology transition to new 406 MHz ELT systems. In 2009, the group ceased monitoring of 121.5 MHz ELTs, degrading search and rescue capability for legacy ELTs. The Federal Communications Commission twice attempted to enact regulations to mandate industry-wide transition to 406 MHz ELTs, however, their efforts have met strong resistance by pilot advocacy groups. The purpose of this study was to determine if 406 MHz ELTs resulted in lower search and rescue durations than 121.5 MHz systems. Furthermore, the study sought to discover if the cessation of 121.5 MHz ELT monitoring in 2009 resulted in a change in search and rescue mission duration for legacy ELTs. The study collected data from an Air Force Rescue Coordination Center search and rescue database for search missions occurring between 2006-2011. To compare search durations of 406 MHz and 121.5 MHz ELTs, data was assessed using orthogonal contrast testing between historical mission durations. The same contrast technique was applied to 121.5 MHz ELT missions conducted from 2006-2008, which used the COSPAS-SARSAT network, and missions conducted from 2009-2011, in which 121.5 MHz satellite detection was deactivated. The study revealed 406 MHz ELTs offer a statistically significant advantage in search duration over 121.5 MHz ELT models. Additionally, the study determined there was no significant difference in mission durations for 121.5 MHz ELTs monitored by the COSPAS-SARSAT network and those missions which did not receive satellite coverage. This research will likely aid both regulators and advocacy groups in shaping future policy decisions for mandatory 406 MHz ELT implementation

Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield

The Patagonian Icefields, which straddle the Andes below 46?S, are one of the most sensitive ice masses to climate change. However, recent mass loss from the icefields, along with its spatial and temporal variability, is not well constrained. Here we determine surface elevation changes of Benito Glacier, a 163 km2 outlet glacier draining the western flank of the North Patagonian Icefield, using a combination of field and satellite-derived elevation data acquired between 1973 and 2017. Our results demonstrate that, just below the equilibrium line, the glacier dramatically thinned by 139 m in the past 44 years, equivalent to a mean rate of 3.2 ? 0.2 m a-1. However, surface lowering was temporally variable, characterized by a hiatus between 2000 and 2013, and a subsequent increase up to 7.7 ? 3.0 m a-1 between 2013 and 2017. Analysis of Benito Glacier?s flow regime throughout the period indicates that the observed surface lowering was caused by negative surface mass balance, rather than dynamic thinning. The high rate of surface lowering observed over the past half a decade highlights the extreme sensitivity of mid-latitude glaciers to recent atmospheric forcingpublishersversionPeer reviewe