College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
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Efficacy of technology-based and in-person health education for behavior change in college-aged women
Get PDFPurpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether an in-person or technology based bone health intervention improved bone health knowledge and behaviors in college-aged women. Methods: 30 college-aged women were randomly divided into three groups: personal intervention (n = 10), technological intervention (n = 10), and control (n = 10). Both intervention groups received identical information regarding the importance of bone health and the appropriate behaviors for maintaining strong bones including weight-bearing exercise, calcium consumption, and vitamin D consumption. The technology group received the information via an online video, and the personal group via a one-on-one health intervention. Changes in bone health knowledge and behavior were measured via questionnaires designed to address specific topics from the intervention. Knowledge was measured immediately before and after the intervention. Behaviors were measured before the intervention and one-month post-intervention. Bone health behaviors were categorized into changes in exercise frequency, exercise duration, food frequency, and food quantity. Results: A significant interaction was found between time and group for knowledge (F (2,27) = 13.5; p p =0.022). The change in knowledge between the technology and personal group was not significantly different (p =0.19). There was no significant difference between groups for change in food frequency behavior (F (2, 27) = 2.10; p =0.14), food quantity behavior (F (2, 27) = 1.52; p =0.24), exercise duration behavior (F (2, 27) = 3.16; p =0.059), or exercise frequency behavior (F (2, 27) = 2.51; p =0.1). Conclusions: The personal intervention experienced greater gains in knowledge than the control group, yet neither the in-person nor the technology intervention was effective at encouraging positive behavior changes. Any potential gain in knowledge from the intervention did not lead to a corresponding significant change in behavior
Poison Pills: How Subtle Differences in Processes, Public Opinion, and Leadership Doomed the American Health Care Act and Passed the Affordable Care Act
Get PDFIn 2009, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law. This was possible because the Democratic Party had a majority in both branches of Congress and control in the executive branch. In 2017, the American Health Care Act failed to become law, despite the fact that the Republicans controlled Congress and the presidency. What factors explain the different outcomes? Why was one able to pass, but not the other? This study presents a framework for explaining these different outcomes by exploring the impact of the legislative process, the role of public opinion, and the impact of polarization as factors that influenced both legislative outcomes. Using process tracing this study examines the impact of unorthodox lawmaking, public opinion data on healthcare, and DW-Nominate scores as a measure of polarization. The results show that a combination of factors impacted the legislative outcomes on these two major bills. The findings suggest that a holistic approach to examining factors is useful when explaining why a piece of major legislation is passed or failed
How Far Can Inclusion Take Us? Framing the Narrative for Transforming Our Community
Get PDFIn this piece we explore terms, specifically the term “inclusion.” In what ways does the language we use in our campus discourse on “inclusion” set particular emphases and consequently shape our work? We suspect that many of us involved in these conversations and work long for explicit attention to issues of power. Overall, we argue that in any thoroughgoing work for “inclusion,” we need to look at our own power structures and that which is oppressive in our own place. We need to choose language that gets us there. We survey here several ways of framing a commitment to inclusion that consistently foregrounds an analysis of power. We explore terminology that includes the critical elements of self-reflection, examination of the role of power in our classrooms and on our campuses, and the ability to respond to bias and discrimination
Ecumenical Ecclesiology in its New Contexts: Considering the Transformed Relationship between Roman Catholic Ecclesiology and Ecumenism
Get PDFThe quest for Christian unity is entering a new phase amidst the movement’s many voices, perspectives and tensions. Christians are witnessing the advent of an emerging ecumenical paradigm, which, because it is not fully realized, is still realizing its full definition. The paradigm operates in a global context rather than a Eurocentric one, and even as it is more global, it is simultaneously more local. It cultivates shared praxis while being less concerned with the comparison of dogmas. Ecclesiology is also entering a new paradigm which shares many features with its ecumenical counterpart, particularly its global perspective and interest in shared praxis ahead of dogmatic questions. Even though ecumenism and ecclesiology share common trajectories, their journeys are unfolding in largely parallel rather than cooperative and mutually-enriching ways. This raises the question: What opportunities might arise from examining the shifts in ecumenism and ecclesiology together? This article examines how new methodological and practical developments in these two fields can form and inform one another. It studies the shift to synodality in the Catholic Church and the turn towards discernment in the ecumenical sphere as manifestations of similar theological commitments and a common interest in cultivating participatory processes. The seismic changes reshaping the religious landscape are transforming the relationship between ecumenism and ecclesiology; yet a strong connection between them endures and illumines paths forward for the church in the third millennium
Effects of Task Relevance Instructions and Topic Beliefs on Reading Processes and Memory
Get PDFThis study investigated the effects of task relevance instructions and topic beliefs on reading processes and memory for belief-related text. Undergraduates received task instructions (focus on arguments for vs. against) before reading a dual-position text. In Experiment 1 (n = 88), a reading time methodology showed no differences in reading time for task-relevant and task-irrelevant text, but participants recalled task-relevant text better than task-irrelevant text independently of whether the information was consistent with their topic beliefs. In Experiment 2 (n = 76), a think-aloud methodology showed that participants engaged in confirmation strategies when reading belief-consistent text and disconfirmation strategies when reading belief-inconsistent text, independently of whether the information was relevant to their task instructions. Nonetheless, participants recalled task-relevant text better than task-irrelevant text. The results indicate that task relevance instructions affect memory independently of beliefs but that beliefs affect processing independently of task relevance instructions. Thus, moment-by-moment reading processes and memory for text can operate differently as a function of topic beliefs
Effects of Green LED Light on Lentinula edodes Respiration and Biomass
Get PDFLight has not traditionally been thought to influence the growth of fungi, however, recent evidence suggests that limited exposure to green light can cause an increase of biomass production in the hyphal cells of Lentinula edodes (Shiitake Mushrooms). The dry and fresh weight, volume and respiration rates of a control group and a light-treated group of commercially-grown shiitake mushrooms were measured. Results will be presented
The Personality Profile of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un
Get PDFThis paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Kim Jong-un, supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, conducted 2013–2018 from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.
Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Kim was collected from open-source media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM–III–R, DSM–IV, and DSM–5.
The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Kim’s primary personality patterns were found to be Outgoing/gregarious and Dominant/controlling, supplemented by secondary Ambitious/confident, Dauntless/adventurous, and Accommodating/cooperative features. Given his Outgoing–Dominant primary personality composite, Kim may be classified as a high-dominance extravert.
Outgoing individuals are dramatic attention‑getters who thrive on being the center of social events, go out of their way to be popular with others, and are confident in their social skills; they may have an impulsive tendency and be prone to boredom. Dominant individuals enjoy the power to direct others and to evoke obedience and respect; they can be tough and unsentimental and often make effective leaders. Ambitious individuals are bold, competitive, and self-assured; they easily assume leadership roles, expect others to recognize their special qualities, and may act as though entitled. Dauntless individuals tend to flout tradition, conventional standards, and cultural mores, dislike following routine, and may act impulsively and recklessly; they are resistant to coercion and may exhibit a strong need for autonomy and self-determination. Accommodating individuals are notably cordial, cooperative, and amicable; they are willing to adapt their preferences to be compatible with those of others, to reconcile differences to achieve peaceable solutions, and to concede or compromise when necessary.
Kim Jong-un’s major personality-based leadership strength is a distinctly outgoing tendency, supplemented by an accommodating inclination, a fitting descriptive label for which would be congenial–cooperative. Leaders possessing this personal quality can be expected to be jovial, socially gregarious, agreeable, accommodating, and obliging in their relationships with others; they are characteristically gracious, neighborly, and benevolent, preferring to avoid conflict and seek harmony with others. These attributes could serve North Korea well with respect to greater openness in the international arena
Non-Pharmacological Management of Behavioral Symptoms in Dementia Residents
Get PDFThe World Health Organization explains that 50 million people are diagnosed with dementia globally (2017). In dementia patients, agitation is the most common reported symptom (Livingston et al., 2017). Interventions for agitation are crucial in promoting quality of life, providing a safe environment, and reducing caregiver burden. Many residents within long-term care facilities display forgetfulness and many have a diagnosis of dementia. Nursing Assistant Certification programs provide little to no education on non-pharmacological techniques to de-escalate agitated residents (C. Taylor, personal communication, February 21, 2018). The focus is to provide an education tool for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) within long-term care facilities to obtain knowledge on how to note verbal and nonverbal signs of agitation, find the root cause of the agitation, and being able to implement de-escalation techniques such as music therapy, massage, and reducing environmental stimulation etc. A survey tool was used to evaluate the receptiveness of the educational powerpoint and a case study that provided opportunity to work through a real clinical scenario of an agitated resident diagnosed with dementia. The goal of this project is to better equip unlicensed nursing personnel at long-term care facilities with a knowledge base and educational tools on techniques for staff to implement in provision of care for agitated dementia residents
Arithmetic as `pure\u27 and `applied\u27
No full textOne often hears mathematics classified into two categories: pure or applied, abstract or concrete, elementary or modern. We will explore how arithmetic can dismantle such highly artificial distinctions. More specifically, we will play with tiles and draw pictures to highlight how arithmetic can be good mental exercise and a very useful tool for modern communication