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Framing the "Arab Spring": Hip Hop, Social Media, and the American News Media
Get PDFDespite an unprecedented level of interest in the popular culture associated with the Arab reform and revolutionary movements that began in December 2010, American news media have provided only a superficial, and at times misguided, depiction of the music performed during the protests, as well as its larger sociocultural use and function. This depiction has focused almost entirely on hip hop at the expense of nationalist, political, classical, and folk song repertories indigenous to Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria. In this article I argue that this misinformed, partial, and superficial depiction of the protests, centered around hip hop and social media, has strategically shaped the ways in which the uprisings have been framed within the American public imaginary, attempted to control the direction and outcome of the uprisings in the streets, and further served to impose a neo-Orientalist discourse of American hegemony over forces of reform and democratization in the Arab Middle East
High-resolution phonon energy shift measurements with the inelastic neutron spin echo technique
Get PDFThe energy resolution of the conventional way of measuring a small change in a phonon dispersion curve using neutron scattering is restricted by the relatively coarse intrinsic resolution ellipsoid of the neutron triple-axis spectrometer (TAS). By implementing inelastic neutron spin echo on the host TAS using the Larmor precession of the neutron spin, the energy resolution of such measurements can be further improved without reducing the resolution ellipsoid. Measurements of the temperature-dependent phonon energy change are demonstrated using superconducting magnetic Wollaston prisms at the HB-1 instrument of the High-Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the achievable resolution is <10 µeV
The Diversity Bargain and the Discourse Dance of Equitable and Best
Get PDFContemporary music education leaders suggest ambiguous definitions of “diversity,” often assuming it both unquestionably good and compatible with equity. The purpose of this inquiry is to explore the assumptions underlying such discourse. First, I use the legal history of diversity in education to examine the American National Association for Music Education's statements on equity, access, inclusivity, and diversity. Second, drawing on Thomas Green's educational systems framework, I analyze the political strength of arguments surrounding diversity and equity. Third, considering instances when white parents deem diversity “best” for their children, I investigate the advantages and limitations of what Natasha Warikoo calls the “diversity bargain.” While not condoning unbridled self-interest, I posit how music educators might use parents' self-interest to support more ethical practices. Designed to benefit all students, diversity initiatives conflict with efforts aimed at equity. Music education diversity and equity rhetoric rely on either a troubling misreading of a politically strong state rationale or on the weak political positions of societal interests or educational goods valuable for their own sake. Rather than focusing on diverse content, teachers and students might experiment with how artistic expressions enable the exchange of individuals' stories and insights. The music education profession might also provide attention to equity apart from diversity
The Structure and Function of Experimental Control in the Life Sciences
Get PDFThis article presents a new framework for the analysis of experimental control. The framework highlights different functions for experimental controls in the realization of an experiment: experimental controls that serve as tests and experimental controls that serve as probes. The approach to experimental control proposed here can illuminate the constitutive role of controls in knowledge production, and it sheds new light on the notion of exploratory experimentation. It also clarifies what can and what cannot be expected from reviewers of scientific journal articles giving feedback on experimental controls
Lithologically Controlled Subsurface Critical Zone Thickness and Water Storage Capacity Determine Regional Plant Community Composition
Get PDFExplanations for distinct adjacent ecosystems that extend across hilly landscapes typically point to differences in climate or land use. Here we document—within a similar climate—how contrasting regional plant communities correlate with distinct underlying lithology and reveal how differences in water storage capacity in the critical zone (CZ) explain this relationship. We present observations of subsurface CZ structure and groundwater dynamics from deep boreholes and quantify catchment‐wide dynamic water storage in two Franciscan rock types of the Northern California Coast Ranges. Our field sites have a Mediterranean climate, where rains are out of phase with solar energy, amplifying the importance of subsurface water storage for periods of peak ecosystem productivity in the dry season. In the deeply weathered (~30 m at ridge) Coastal Belt argillite and sandstone, ample, seasonally replenished rock moisture supports an evergreen forest and groundwater drainage sustains baseflow throughout the summer. In the Central Belt argillite‐matrix mélange, a thin CZ (~3 m at ridge) limits total dynamic water storage capacity (100–200 mm) and rapidly sheds winter rainfall via shallow storm and saturation overland flow, resulting in low plant‐available water (inferred from predawn tree water potential) and negligible groundwater storage that can drain to streams in summer. This storage limitation mechanism explains the presence of an oak savanna‐woodland bounded by seasonally ephemeral streams, despite >1,800 mm of average precipitation. Through hydrologic monitoring and subsurface characterization, we reveal a mechanism by which differences in rock type result in distinct regionally extensive plant communities under a similar climate
Legislative Rules in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Hong Kong's Legislative Council
Get PDFThis article focuses on the manipulation of legislative rules in electoral authoritarian states. Electoral liberalization in authoritarian regimes creates the capacity for opposition forces to win legislative seats, but it does not ensure voice in the policy process. While the literature on institutional authoritarianism points to co-optation, dominant parties, and redistribution as mechanisms to control policy outcomes in authoritarian legislatures, we investigate an additional possibility: that electoral authoritarian regimes (EARs) select legislative institutions that allow free debate and unconstrained voting yet decouple electoral success from policy influence. Our analysis centers on the EAR in Hong Kong and its legislature, the Legislative Council (LegCo). We find that the LegCo’s rules of procedure interact with electoral institutions to create considerable roadblocks to opposition initiatives, while at the same time facilitating the enactment of regime policies
Building Engineering Awareness: Problem Based Learning Approach for STEM Integration
No full textEducators in the twenty-first century need to think of innovative ways to engage and prepare students for current and future challenges while cultivating an interest among students in STEM disciplines. This study sought to investigate the impact of problem-based learning on students’ content knowledge and critical thinking towards STEM. This study employed a quasi-experimental repeated measure design. Instruments such as STEM content assessments and a standardized critical thinking test were employed for data collection. Analysis was conducted using a mixed repeated measure between-within subject analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results revealed a significant difference (p <. 05) between problem-based learning and traditional learning groups in regard to their content knowledge and critical thinking skills
Subconcussive head impact exposure between drill intensities in U.S. high school football
No full textUSA Football established five levels-of-contact to guide the intensity of high school football practices. The objective of this study was to examine head impact frequency and magnitude by levels-of-contact to determine which drills had the greatest head impact exposure. Our primary hypothesis was that there would be an incremental increase in season-long head impact exposure between levels-of-contact: air100g) head impacts were more frequently observed during live and thud drills. Level-of-contact influences cumulative head impact frequency and magnitude in high-school football, with players incurring frequent, high magnitude head impacts during live, thud, and control. It is important to consider level-of-contact to refine clinical exposure guidelines to minimize head impact burden in high-school football
El Niño‐Southern Oscillation‐Induced Variability of Terrestrial Gross Primary Production During the Satellite Era
Get PDFTerrestrial gross primary production (GPP) is the largest carbon flux entering the biosphere from the atmosphere, which serves as a key driver of global carbon cycle and provides essential matter and energy for life on land. However, terrestrial GPP variability is still poorly understood and difficult to predict, especially at the annual scale. As a major internal climate oscillation, El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences global climate patterns and thus may strongly alter interannual terrestrial GPP variation. Using a remote sensing‐driven ecosystem model with long‐term satellite and climate data, we comprehensively examined the impacts of ENSO on global GPP dynamics from 1982 to 2016, focusing on lag effects of ENSO and their spatial heterogeneity. We found a clear seasonal lag effect of previous‐year ENSO indices on current‐year global GPP variability. The composite Oceanic Niño Index in the previous‐year's August‐October showed the strongest correlation with global annual GPP (R = −0.51, p < 0.01). Spatially, 20.1% and 11.7% of vegetated land area showed significant negative and positive correlations with the ENSO cycle, respectively. ENSO effects on annual GPP exhibited diverse seasonal evolutions, and the timings of peak ENSO influences were heterogeneous across the globe. Annual GPP from TRENDY land surface model ensemble did not capture the major lag effects of ENSO identified in the satellite‐derived GPP and top‐down‐based land sink. Despite the complexity of the climate system, our efforts linking ENSO with global GPP dynamics provide a simple framework to understand and project climatic influences on the terrestrial carbon cycle
Estimating a Multilevel Model with Complex Survey Data: Demonstration using TIMSS
Get PDFAnalysis of complex survey data is demonstrated for the multilevel model. Description of specific aspects of analysis, including plausible values, sampling weights, and replicate weights is provided. Following this, example TIMSS data and models are described and results are presented