5,235 research outputs found
Fostering improved learning about sustainability
University business graduates must not only understand but also be equipped to apply a sustainable thought process to today's business challenges. However, evidence suggests that standard approaches to teaching business courses have not advanced to reflect changing student needs, especially for NetGen students who have differing expectations than earlier cohorts. The current challenge for instructors concerns the preservation of rigor and integrity in course design, while responding to the needs of a new generation of learners. This article presents a conceptual framework incorporating experiential learning, reflective practice, and the use of metaphor, with application to the teaching of sustainability within a number of business courses
Creating Momentum: The Atlantic Philanthropies' Investments to Repeal the Death Penalty in the United States
The Atlantic Philanthropies invested about $60 million between 2004 and 2016 to support efforts to repeal the death penalty in the United States. To assess the effectiveness of this work and to generate lessons for human rights activists and other funders involved in the repeal movement, the foundation commissioned this evaluation. The findings contained in this report are the result of extensive documentation review as well as interviews with foundation and grantee board and staff
Silent Spring - the lost call
The "silence" in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring1 alludes to the demise of bird populations through reproductive problems and death resulting from exposure to the pesticides of that time, many of which are endocrine active. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds which may interfere with the endocrine system, producing effects that may disrupt the physiologic function of hormones. Early research on EDC exposure in humans and wildlife has focused mainly on reproductive effects of estrogenic chemicals, however recent studies have revealed that effects of estrogenic as well as non-estrogen active chemicals are often more far reaching than the reproductive system, and even mild exposures experienced early in development may have detrimental effects that are maintained throughout adulthood. Here we show trenbolone acetate, an androgen active environmental contaminant used as a growth promoter for cattle, to cause a literal silence in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) chicks following a one time embryonic exposure. Vocalizations were not merely lessened; this is the first study to demonstrate an environmental contaminant to cause a complete abolishment of the ability to vocalize. Since many reasons for vocalization in birds are directly linked to survival of the individual and species, the potential for detrimental population effects is a grave possibility for many avian species that may encounter androgen active chemicals in the environment. Many androgen active EDCs are persistent and ubiquitous in distribution, thereforechances for exposure to these chemicals in birds may be high. We hope that powerful, yet subtle effects like the ones presented here will encourage further research with EDCs to expand beyond the traditional focus of reproductive effects of estrogenic chemicals
Changing Stakeholder Needs and Changing Evaluator Roles: The Central Valley Partnership of the James Irvine Foundation
This case study describes the evolution of the evaluator's role as the program evolved and developed, and as the needs of the client and intended users changed over time. The initiative aimed to assist immigrants in California's Central Valley. The case illustrates important tensions among accountability, learning and capacity building purposes of evaluation
Jeremy Bentham on Physical Disability: A Problem for Whom?
This paper examines Benthamâs provision for indigent people with disabilities, to reveal the discourse within which he constructs the problem of disability. Benthamâs analysis reifies and institutionalizes such people, but also demonstrates insight into the social nature of âdisability,â in a way that anticipates both the strengths and weaknesses of the social model of disability
Off the Beaten Path: A New Approach to Realistically Model The Orbital Decay of Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxy Formation Simulations
We introduce a force correction term to better model the dynamical friction
(DF) experienced by a supermassive black hole (SMBH) as it orbits within its
host galaxy. This new approach accurately follows the orbital decay of a SMBH
and drastically improves over commonly used advection methods. The force
correction introduced here naturally scales with the force resolution of the
simulation and converges as resolution is increased. In controlled experiments
we show how the orbital decay of the SMBH closely follows analytical
predictions when particle masses are significantly smaller than that of the
SMBH. In a cosmological simulation of the assembly of a small galaxy, we show
how our method allows for realistic black hole orbits. This approach overcomes
the limitations of the advection scheme, where black holes are rapidly and
artificially pushed toward the halo center and then forced to merge, regardless
of their orbits. We find that SMBHs from merging dwarf galaxies can spend
significant time away from the center of the remnant galaxy. Improving the
modeling of SMBH orbital decay will help in making robust predictions of the
growth, detectability, and merger rates of SMBHs, especially at low galaxy
masses or at high redshift.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure, Accepted by MNRA
Relative Identity and Ideal Art: The Pirandello Conflict and Its Political Analogy
Daily newspaper from Sapulpa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising
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