One Nation Over Coals: Cold War Nationalism and the Barbecue

1950s Americans fervently embraced the barbecue in attempts to understand themselves and their place in an uncertain world. Barbecue extended a ready-made analogy to those seeking national fortification; just as red meat’s protein and iron nourished the individual body, its consumption strengthened the body politic in the face of continued geopolitical conflict and shifting domestic structures. Postwar barbecue culture celebrated democracy’s bounty, fortitude, and might; invoked American values of ingenuity, community, and progress; and invited individuals to find security in a shared heritage of American exceptionalism. Simultaneously, it excluded populations who threatened its white, heterosexual, home-owning image of model citizenry. This exclusivity, however, signals awareness of the presence and permanence of political and social change. Thus, postwar barbecue is a contested site, the examination of which illuminates our understanding of the ideological and ontological struggles in Cold War America

The relationships among middle level teachers' assessment practices, instructional leadership, and student achievement

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on September 28, 2007)Vita.Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships among teachers' assessment practices, instructional leadership, and student achievement in the middle level schools in Missouri. The method of analysis was primarily quantitative. Supplementing the quantitative data were data obtained through written responses to open-ended questions. The study found significant relationships among teachers' assessment practices and instructional leadership. One assessment practice that revealed significance was collaboration through assessment, which is the process when teachers and administrators come together and analyze assessment data to plan for instruction and discuss student achievement. Other practices were assessment during instruction, which describes the strategies that teachers employ before and during assessment, like planning for classroom discussions, providing feedback, and adjusting instruction to meet all students' needs, and the use of summative assessments, which describes the analyses of final summative data at the building level, the teacher and classroom level, and the individual student level as a basis for changes in curriculum, instructional practices and programs. A final variable, overall collective assessment practices, described teachers' perceptions of the collective ability of the faculty of their school to use assessment data to improve instruction and student achievement. There were significant differences in middle level teachers' assessment practices for the factors and scale, Application of Formative Assessment, Providing Feedback to Students and Parents, and Use of Summative Assessments when schools were grouped according to student achievement scores on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP).Includes bibliographical reference

Bilateral attentional advantage on elementary visual tasks

We examined interactions between and within the left and right visual hemifields using elementary visual tasks. Each trial required identifying a letter at fixation and then either discriminating the orientation of (experiment I) or detecting (experiment 2) peripheral Gabor targets. On half the trials Gabor distracters were presented between the Gabor targets, and were either restricted to one lateral hemifield (unilateral condition) or presented across the left and right hemifields (bilateral condition). Orientation discrimination and detection each exhibited bilateral superiority only when distracters were present. The results confirm bilateral superiority in attentional selection, even on these most elementary visual tasks. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

USABILITY TESTING AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPUTER LITERACY AND EFFECTIVE USE OF A CHEMICAL KNOWLEDGE BASE BY FIRST-SEMESTER ORGANIC CHEMISTRY STUDENTS

poster abstractUsability testing is a technique that allows for the examination of a spe-cific user’s effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in achieving goals (Law, Hvannberg, 2002). This user-focused design process has been found to be particularly important in early site development. In this study, multiple inter-faces of the knowledge base will be examined comparatively, changing only the aesthetics. Using a think-aloud process, users will be walked through seven scenarios in the IUPUI Chemistry Knowledge Base, and asked to vo-calize their thoughts as they attempt each situation. Completion of user questionnaires and a post-test System Usability Scale (SUS) will provide recommendations from which improvements may be made to the design, layout and management of the Knowledge Base (Brooke, 1996)

Developing network adequacy standards for VA Community Care

OBJECTIVES: To inform how the VA should develop and implement network adequacy standards, we convened an expert panel to discuss Community Care Network (CCN) adequacy and how VA might implement network adequacy standards for community care. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Data were generated from expert panel ratings and from an audio-recorded expert panel meeting conducted in Arlington, Virginia, in October 2017. STUDY DESIGN: We used a modified Delphi panel process involving one round of expert panel ratings provided by nine experts in network adequacy standards. Expert panel members received a list of network adequacy standard measures used in commercial and government market and were provided a rating form listing a total of 11 measures and characteristics to rate. DATA COLLECTION METHODS: Items on the rating form were individually discussed during an expert panel meeting between the nine expert panel members and VA Office of Community Care leaders. Attendees addressed discordant views and generated revised or new standards accordingly. Recorded audio data were transcribed to facilitate thematic analysis regarding opportunities and challenges with implementing network adequacy standards in VA Community Care. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The five highest ranked standards were network directories for Veterans, regular reporting of network adequacy data to VA, maximum wait time/distance standards, minimum ratio of providers to enrolled population, and qualitative assessments of network adequacy. During the expert panel discussion with VA Community Care leaders, opportunities and challenges implementing network adequacy standards were highlighted. CONCLUSIONS: Our expert panel shed light on priorities for network adequacy to be implemented under CCN contracts, such as developing comprehensive provider directories for Veterans to use when selecting community providers. Remaining questions focus on whether the VA could reasonably develop and implement network adequacy standards given current Congressional restraints on VA reimbursement to community providers

Anterior tooth-use behaviors among early modern humans and Neandertals

Early modern humans (EMH) are often touted as behaviorally advanced to Neandertals, with more sophisticated technologies, expanded resource exploitation, and more complex clothing production. However, recent analyses have indicated that Neandertals were more nuanced in their behavioral adaptations, with the production of the Châtelperronian technocomplex, the processing and cooking of plant foods, and differences in behavioral adaptations according to habitat. This study adds to this debate by addressing the behavioral strategies of EMH (n = 30) within the context of non-dietary anterior tooth-use behaviors to glean possible differences between them and their Neandertal (n = 45) counterparts. High-resolution casts of permanent anterior teeth were used to collect microwear textures of fossil and comparative bioarchaeological samples using a Sensofar white-light confocal profiler with a 100x objective lens. Labial surfaces were scanned, totaling a work envelope of 204 x 276 μm for each individual. The microwear textures were examined for post-mortem damage and uploaded to SSFA software packages for surface characterization. Statistical analyses were performed to examine differences in central tendencies and distributions of anisotropy and textural fill volume variables among the EMH sample itself by habitat, location, and time interval, and between the EMH and Neandertal samples by habitat and location. Descriptive statistics for the EMH sample were compared to seven bioarchaeological samples (n = 156) that utilized different tooth-use behaviors to better elucidate specific activities that may have been performed by EMH. Results show no significant differences between the means within the EMH sample by habitat, location, or time interval. Furthermore, there are no significant differences found here between EMH and Neandertals. Comparisons to the bioarchaeological samples suggest both fossil groups participated in clamping and grasping activities. These results indicate that EMH and Neandertals were similar in their non-dietary anterior tooth-use behaviors and provide additional evidence for overlapping behavioral strategies employed by these two hominins

Preparing First-Time Leaders for an Urban Public School District: An Action Research Study of a Collaborative District-University Partnership

This article reports the results for the first cycle of an action research study about a district-university partnership. Two district facilitators and two university facilitators co-constructed a principal preparation program for an innercity school district to help prepare the next generation of building leaders. Twenty-two students participated in the 15-month nontraditional program. The study found that in preparing first-time school leaders, the most helpful experiences were those that developed self-understanding and readiness for the role change. New instructional techniques and the full-time residency facilitated this learning. It also found that the partnership, though providing new and exciting opportunities to deviate from the traditional preparation model, needed further development

Reliability and Validity of Instruments for Assessing Perinatal Depression in African Settings: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: A major barrier to improving perinatal mental health in Africa is the lack of locally validated tools for identifying probable cases of perinatal depression or for measuring changes in depression symptom severity. We systematically reviewed the evidence on the reliability and validity of instruments to assess perinatal depression in African settings. Methods and Findings: Of 1,027 records identified through searching 7 electronic databases, we reviewed 126 full-text reports. We included 25 unique studies, which were disseminated in 26 journal articles and 1 doctoral dissertation. These enrolled 12,544 women living in nine different North and sub-Saharan African countries. Only three studies (12%) used instruments developed specifically for use in a given cultural setting. Most studies provided evidence of criterion-related validity (20 [80%]) or reliability (15 [60%]), while fewer studies provided evidence of construct validity, content validity, or internal structure. The Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS), assessed in 16 studies (64%), was the most frequently used instrument in our sample. Ten studies estimated the internal consistency of the EPDS (median estimated coefficient alpha, 0.84; interquartile range, 0.71-0.87). For the 14 studies that estimated sensitivity and specificity for the EPDS, we constructed 2 x 2 tables for each cut-off score. Using a bivariate random-effects model, we estimated a pooled sensitivity of 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68-0.99) and a pooled specificity of 0.77 (95% CI, 0.59-0.88) at a cut-off score of ≥9, with higher cut-off scores yielding greater specificity at the cost of lower sensitivity. Conclusions: The EPDS can reliably and validly measure perinatal depression symptom severity or screen for probable postnatal depression in African countries, but more validation studies on other instruments are needed. In addition, more qualitative research is needed to adequately characterize local understandings of perinatal depression-like syndromes in different African contexts

Fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing to assess swallowing outcomes as a function of head position in a normal population

BACKGROUND: Head position practice has been shown to influence pill-swallowing ability, but the impact of head position on measures of swallowing outcomes has not yet been studied with fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether head position impacts penetration-aspiration scale scores and/or post-swallow pharyngeal residue as assessed by FEES. Documenting the incidence of pharyngeal residue and laryngeal penetration and aspiration in a normal population was a secondary goal. METHODS: Adults without swallowing difficulties (N = 84) were taught a pill swallowing technique based on learning five head positions and were asked to practice with small, hard candies (e.g., TicTacs) for two weeks. Then they demonstrated swallowing in each of the head positions for two conditions, liquid and purée, while undergoing FEES. RESULTS: Out of 840 examined swallows, one event of aspiration and 5 events of penetration occurred. During practice >50% participants found positions they preferred over the center position for swallowing but head position was not associated with penetration-aspiration scores assessed by FEES. Significant associations and non-significant trends were found between pharyngeal residue and three variables: age, most preferred head position, and least preferred head position. CONCLUSION: Head position during swallowing (head up) and age greater than 40 years may result in increased pharyngeal residue but not laryngeal penetration or aspiration

Training University Tutors to Work with Bilingual Students

The purpose of this project was to train university tutors to improve their support of bilingual students (ESL/ELL students). We developed an evidence-based training session that emphasizes university connectedness and cultural inclusion. This one-hour training included background information, tutoring tips, and time for discussion. The majority of tutors (44 out of 47) reported learning something helpful they could use when tutoring. While this intervention was specifically designed to target bilingual students, most evidence-based tips discussed here are applicable to all students. It is crucial to provide tutors with the skills and resources necessary to better connect with their students