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Drop in the Hard Pulsed Fraction and a Candidate Cyclotron Line in IGR J16320-4751 Seen by NuSTAR
No full textWe report on a timing and spectral analysis of a 50 ks NuSTAR observation of IGR J16320−4751 (= AX J1631.9−4752), a high-mass X-ray binary hosting a slowly rotating neutron star. In this observation from 2015, the spin period was 1308.8 ± 0.4 s giving a period derivative P ̇ ∼ 2 × 10 − 8 s s−1 when compared with the period measured in 2004. In addition, the pulsed fraction decreased as a function of energy, as opposed to the constant trend that was seen previously. This suggests a change in the accretion geometry of the system during the intervening 11 yr. The phase-averaged spectra were fit with the typical model for accreting pulsars: a power law with an exponential cutoff. This left positive residuals at 6.4 keV attributable to the known iron Kα line, as well as negative residuals around 14 keV from a candidate cyclotron line detected at a significance of 5σ. We found no significant differences in the spectral parameters across the spin period, other than the expected changes in flux and component normalizations. A flare lasting around 5 ks was captured during the first half of the observation, where the X-ray emission hardened and the local column density decreased. Finally, the binary orbital period was refined to 8.9912 ± 0.0078 days thanks to Swift/BAT monitoring data from 2005-2022
Assessing Diatom Community Dynamics in a Recovering Agricultural Stream in Middle Georgia, USA
No full textStreams play vital roles in surrounding communities and provide essential ecosystem services. The protection of streams is important, they are legally protected under the Clean Water Act, and they can be monitored through the continuous analyses of biological data, such as algal or other aquatic communities. The goals of this study were to analyze the long-term recovery of Tobler Creek, a recovering agricultural stream on the site of a National Historic Landmark, and yield comparisons to a local low-impact stream, Murder Creek, located within the Oconee National Forest. In 2011, Tobler Creek exceeded reference criteria values for total phosphorus (TP) but met the nitrate nitrogen criteria. With an 11-year recovery period, Tobler Creek met both nutrient reference criteria. In 2022, periphyton samples were collected according to standard protocols, confirming that diatoms are the dominant algal group in the community. With recovery, Tobler Creek showed an increase in diatom species richness (χ2 = 116.11, df = 5, p \u3c 0.01) but this was significantly lower than the values documented in Murder Creek. The multi-metric index (MMI), calculated using diatom community analysis to estimate ecological health, indicated that Tobler Creek experienced degradation from 2011 to 2022 (χ2 = 55.97, df = 5, p \u3c 0.05) and is below the regional 25th percentile. The percentage of sediment-tolerant taxa (surirelloid, naviculoid, and nitzschoid) was significantly higher in Tobler Creek in 2022 (χ2 = 500.96, df = 5, p \u3c 0.01) compared to Murder Creek in 2022 (t = −4.67, df = 10, p \u3c 0.01). Despite a reduction in nutrients given the 42-year recovery period, the diatom community in Tobler Creek was significantly different than other regional protected streams. Ecological degradation of the habitat was likely driven by sedimentation due to run-off in the recovering agriculture stream. These findings highlight the importance of protecting water quality, as the recovery of nutrients can be a decades-long process overlayed with many potentially new stressors influencing aquatic organisms
Scale-dependent effects of roadways on the movement behavior of a large-bodied pit viper (Crotalus horridus)
No full textRoadways are among the most widespread and disruptive anthropogenic land use features that influence the behavior and movement of wildlife. Negative impacts of roadways have been well documented, but the behavioral impact of roadways on smaller, cryptic species has yet to be thoroughly examined. Using a novel integration of radio telemetry and tri-axial accelerometry, we evaluated the effects of roadways on the movement behavior of 26 adult Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) at coarse and fine time scales in central Georgia between June 2020 and November 2021. To interpret the effect of roads at a coarse time scale, we modeled the effect of mean annual distance to roadways (DTR) on annual measures of movement and space use by C. horridus using both radio telemetry and accelerometry derived metrics (RT and ACT metrics). To explore the fine-scale impact of roadways, we quantified RT and ACT metrics during confirmed road interactions (i.e., instances when individual snakes crossed a road or encountered a road but did not cross) and compared these instances to the RT and ACT metrics calculated across the remainder of the active season within this subset of snakes. Relating the annual RT and ACT metrics to DTR revealed no significant associations at a coarse time scale. However, the evaluation of C. horridus movement behavior during punctuated road encounters revealed that snakes increased RT and ACT metrics during the road interactions compared to metrics calculated across the remainder of the active season. This might indicate that the abundance of contiguous habitat adjacent to roadways at our study site is serving as an adequate buffer to any long-term shifts in movement behavior, but the potential hidden cost of increasing movement when snakes encounter roads could have negative implications for populations that encounter roads more frequently, even in the absence of significant direct road mortality. Overall, integrating radio telemetry and accelerometry and adopting a scale-dependent approach to quantifying movement allowed for a more detailed evaluation of the response of C. horridus to roadways. This approach holds promise for detecting and interpreting previously overlooked short-term alterations in snake movement behavior with potentially significant fitness consequences
PATRICIA HILL COLLINS’S ON INTELLECTUAL ACTIVISM: The Expansion of Our Field of Perspective
No full textPatricia Hill Collins is an intellectual giant in the field of sociology and Africana studies. Patricia Hill Collins was born on May 1, 1948, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In considering the impact of Collins’s work, the authors both spent some time reflecting on own experiences with her writing and how it has influenced the reader. For many, graduate training resembles a shell game—they look under one shell for the public sociology prize that they anticipated; yet when they pick up the shell, nothing is there. Collins writes, “Stated differently, new power relations predicated on token inclusion need an array of visible difference at the top to legitimate the continuation of business as usual at the bottom”. Existing social problems—whether school performance, poverty, HIV, voter apathy, the gendered contours of the new racism, or other issues the people care deeply about—are responsive to their thoughts and actions
Tele-Sim for Nurse Practitioner Clinical Education: An Online, Real-Time, Educational Innovation Using Simulation and Telehealth for Learning Physical Assessment Skills
Get PDFBackground: Increasing numbers of nurse practitioner (NP) educational programs are being offered online, with little or no face-to-face contact among students and instructors. Students express lack of confidence in their physical examination skills and want live instructor demonstrations, observed practice, and real-time feedback from their clinical instructors.
Significance: NP students need to acquire physical examination skills to increase competency in assessing patients for enhanced clinical judgment and improved patient outcomes.
Purpose/Aims: to improve and measure the competency and confidence in the performance of advanced physical assessment skills of NP students in an advanced health assessment (AHA) clinical course with an innovative learning strategy called Tele-Sim.
Methods for Educational Initiative: Sample was voluntarily recruited from an AHA course for NP students. After completing an IRB approved consent, participants attended four two-hour online synchronous classes using simulated patients in a tele-conferencing format.
Results, Analysis & Implications: Participants demonstrated statistically significant increases in overall student performance & self-efficacy when performing physical exam skills post interactive Tele-Sim.
There was a statistically significant improvement in the Tele Sim Students reported a high level of satisfaction with the ease of use and effectiveness for learning physical exam skills using Tele-Sim and 100% of the participants highly recommended that Tele-Sim be offered in future courses. The Tele-Sim study supplemented current research with statistically significant results, providing evidence to support the future use of telehealth and simulation with HSPs to enhance the clinical education of nurse practitioner students.
Keywords: nurse practitioner, clinical education, simulation, telehealth, online education, physical assessment, learner self-efficac
What they don’t teach you about teaching beginning band- with Mr. Tom Brown
No full texthttps://kb.gcsu.edu/cme_profdev/1024/thumbnail.jp
Preliminary Analysis of Landscape Associations for Virginia Opossum Roadkills
Get PDFMethods for mitigating wildlife-vehicle collisions are important for the health of local wildlife populations and for driver safety. A variety of spatial, temporal, and biological factors are known to influence these collisions, and the combination of these factors varies for any given road. Therefore, understanding the spatial distribution of roadkill on the local landscape scale is required for effective mitigation planning. Furthermore, the distribution of roadkill on a local scale aids in our understanding of species’ ranges and the environmental factors associated with habitat use. A total of 620 Virginia Opossums (Didelphis virginiana) roadkills were recorded during a 10-year period along a 12.2 mile section of Highway 212 in Baldwin County, Ga. Previous comparisons of driving and walking surveys suggest that this is a conservative estimate of the true number of road-killed Opossums. The current study documents the spatial distribution of opossum roadkill from 2012 to 2022. A running average was calculated using 0.3-mile segments, and the location of resulting peaks were assessed in relation to roadway features and roadside habitats that may influence opossum roadkill occurrences. Although roadkill hotspots are more confidently identified using spatial clustering analysis, a running average provides a simple and effective method to conduct a preliminary analysis of the spatial distribution of roadkill and for identifying factors of interest associated with a specific road. Preliminary analysis suggests the majority of opossum roadkills were associated with lowland riparian habitat and hills and curves
“Just Don’t Frighten the Horses”: Discussing Porn and Kink in Fandom Spaces
Get PDFIn my presentation, I plan to discuss why the banning of sexually explicit content is occurring in fandom spaces, who is trying to ban this content, and why it should matter to people both inside and outside of fandom. I also intend to look at these answers within the framework of feminism and fandom culture. When fanfiction is considered to be literature, it is easy to see why fanfiction matters. This is especially true when the authors of fanfiction are primarily women and are told that their content might be harmful to others through the reasoning that pornography is anti-feminist. I want to explore why these ideas are false and how actually banning sexually explicit content is not only harmful to fanfiction authors but also to marginalized groups as a whole. In order to do this, I also plan to examine the novel Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, as it started out as Twilight fanfiction, and the objections to it based on its sexual content
The Effect of Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana) on Soil Macrofauna (Diplopoda and Oligochaeta)
Get PDFCallery pear (Pyrus calleryana) is a relatively recent invader of North America. Its ecological effects are still being explored, including those affecting soil macrofauna such as millipedes (Diplopoda) and earthworms (Clitellata: Oligochaeta). These animals play important roles in many soil processes so understanding how they respond to invasive species is vital to soil health. A previous study exploring potential herbicide control was completed in 2019, however as of 2022 there are still treatment zones with little to no Callery pear alongside fully invaded plots, providing an optimal habitat mosaic for comparison. This allowed us to pursue two research goals: To determine the medium-term (3–4 years) effects of chemical control and to determine how soil macrofauna biodiversity is affected by the local plant community in the presence of invasive Callery pear. Soil fauna were sampled using four methods for thorough investigation. 1) Leaf litter was processed in Berlese funnels to draw out small millipedes. 2) Large millipedes were collected on sight by hand. 3) Earthworms were collected by digging soil monoliths and sorting through the soil by hand. 4) Additional earthworm collections were done via the octet method, using an electroshock machine to drive fauna out of the ground. Surveying the plant communities and collecting soil for texture, pH, and C:N ratios also helped achieve the goals of this study. We found that Shannon plant diversity indices were lower in the Callery pear plots but statistically similar between the herbicide and reference plots, suggesting the effectiveness of chemical control. Additionally, millipede diversity (Shannon index) was positively correlated with basal area of live Callery pear but was not statistically different between treatments. Nonnative earthworm abundance had no correlation with Callery pear. These findings will help land managers make informed decisions when creating management plans for invasive pear
Representación de mujeres en el cine español: Icíar Bollaín y Pedro Almodóvar
No full textThis paper examines the representation of women in Spanish film, particularly the films Flores de otro mundo (1999) directed by Icíar Bollaín and Volver (2006) by Pedro Almodóvar. Both directors choose to protagonize women as strong individuals capable of being independent and having the ability to move forward in life without the help of a man. Many of the scenes in these films contradict the patriarchal systems set in place to maintain the inferiority of women. Both films also refute societal gender roles and challenge the ideas of machismo, and as a result positively represent women and their capabilities