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State Governments\u27 SNAP Administration against the National Mandate: Principal-Agent Theory Case Study
Get PDFSince their earliest iterations in the New Deal, entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and welfare programs have served as a political third rail, but concerns over their administration, budgets, and fit into the mandate of the national government can conflict with the political necessity of maintaining them. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially known as food stamps, is a prime example of a welfare entitlement that many Americans rely on to meet their regular nutrition needs. Similar concerns about waste, methods of administration, and budget constraints crop up every time the program comes up for reauthorization in the United States Congress. This case study of the SNAP program will take a critical look at both data and policy changes nationally and state-side since 1989 and analyze disconnects between SNAP’s intent stated by the federal government and program administration on the state level. The theory employed in the analysis understands the administrative relationship between states as the agents and the national government as the principal. These two administrative roles create an asymmetry that requires the principal to determine a level of discrepancy balanced with trust in the agent to exercise a specific mandate. The data-based analysis considers changes in political control, significant alterations of SNAP policies, and other regional shifts as potential causal factors in total enrollment, benefit distribution and dispersals, and error or waste data. The policy change analysis will similarly trace these causal factors as features of political changes in policy design, executive adjustments, or support for policy action. Preliminary data analysis has indicated that political alignment of state governments, particularly among governors, plays a significant role in which policies a state adopts and how rapidly the state administration aligns with that policy. The implications of this research serve to explore an infrequently studied administrative relationship between state and national governments as well as the use of state governments as a platform for partisan resistance to a national agenda.https://scholarworks.uark.edu/hnrcsturpc25/1005/thumbnail.jp
Incorporating Mindfulness Techniques in Therapeutic Practices to Impact a Patient’s Pain Perception
Get PDFBackground: Chronic pain is a widespread condition that affects millions of individuals and leads to substantial healthcare costs, with estimates in the U.S. ranging from 635 billion annually. Traditional pain management heavily relies on opioid prescriptions, which, while effective in the short term, have contributed to the ongoing opioid crisis due to risks of addiction and dependency. As a result, there is a growing interest in alternative, non- pharmacological approaches to pain management, including mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). MBIs have been increasingly recognized for their ability to help patients modulate pain perception and improve overall well-being. This study aims to analyze how mindfulness techniques can serve as an effective complementary pain management strategy. Purpose: This study explores the role of mindfulness techniques, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), in altering pain perception. The objective is to determine how these interventions can be integrated into physical and occupational therapy to enhance patient outcomes and reduce reliance on opioids for chronic pain management.https://scholarworks.uark.edu/coesym25/1004/thumbnail.jp
The Effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 Supplementation on Humoral Immunity Against Bacterial Chondronecrosis with Osteomyelitis Lameness in Broiler Chickens
Get PDFBacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) lameness, the most predominant locomotive illness in fast-growing broilers, causes substantial animal well-being issues and affects broiler production, leading to huge financial losses. Several strategies, including feed supplementations using organic trace minerals, vitamin D, probiotics, and prebiotics, have been utilized to alleviate BCO lameness incidences in broiler chickens. Previous studies have indicated that feeding an additive of Panbonis®-G-1,25(OH)2D3 from Solanum glaucophyllum containing 1 µg/kg G-1,25(OH)2D3 to broilers for the first 28 days of their production cycle reduced BCO lameness by more than 50%. In this study, we investigated the impact of using the 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 supplementation on the concentration of total antibodies to further understand the mode of action of the 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 supplementation in safeguarding the birds from BCO disease. We measured IgA and IgM antibody concentration in the tracheal mucus and blood circulation, respectively.
A total of 800 birds were divided into four treatment groups with four replicate pens per treatment: T1 - a negative control diet, T2 - feeding 1 µg/kg of G-1,25(OH)2D3 for 14 days, T3 - feeding 1 µg/kg of G-1,25(OH)2D3 for 21 days, and T4 - feeding 1 µg/kg of G-1,25(OH)2D3 for 28 days. 100 birds were placed on two wire floor pens as BCO seeders to induce a BCO lameness outbreak in the research barn. Tracheal mucus and blood from 5 birds per treatment were collected on d12, d14, and d28 for further antibody measurement using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test (ELISA). P-value was determined by using One-Way Anova. ELISA tests demonstrated that IgA concentration from tracheal mucus and IgM concentration from blood circulation increased from d14 to d28, where T4 produced the highest IgA (2.41x103 ng/mL) and IgM (2.84 x105 ng/mL) concentration on d28 without significant statistical difference (P \u3e 0.05) from T1. Overall, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 supplementation confers a modest effect on IgA and IgM production. Further bone strength analysis is warranted to unravel the mechanism of action for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 supplementation in protecting broiler chickens from BCO lameness
The Effect of Administered Animal-Assisted Therapy on University Students\u27 Anxiety and Stress
Get PDFAbstract
Purpose: The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the effects of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) on undergraduate student anxiety and stress, comparing the effectiveness between an individual AAT session to a group study session without AAT. Animal-assisted therapy is a type of canine therapy that may be a helpful tool to decrease student test anxiety, and potentially, a meaningful stress-reducing intervention for university students. Our results sought to examine differences in traditional study practices vs the use of AAT prior to exams, and support or refute animal-assisted therapy as a low-cost, minimal-risk, effective solution for undergraduate student anxiety. This will add valuable information to the gap in the literature regarding AAT use among undergraduate students.
Methods: This cross-sectional study used a convenience sample of volunteer students, solicited prior to the interaction date, and placed in the intervention group (AAT) with a certified therapy dog, Bella, approved by The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). A single 20-minute AAT session of interacting and playing with a therapy dog in a group of up to 5 students was utilized. The dog handler, Dr. Scott, was present and did not encourage interaction between the participant and the dog. Outcome measures include pre-exam and post-exam State-Anxiety Inventory scores, Trait-Anxiety Inventory scores, and Perceived Stress Scale scores, validated tools for measuring anxiety in young adults. The pre-exam State- and Trait-Anxiety Inventory test, and the Perceived Stress Scale test were taken prior to interacting with the therapy dog (intervention), and taking the exam. The post-test surveys were completed on the day of the exam, within two hours of the intervention. Both pre- and post-surveys were administered using a QR code linked to Qualtrics, using the participants’ hand-held device.
Results: Demographics of this study included 11 female participants with the majority of participants (n = 9, 81.8%) identifying as nursing students. Eighty-two percent of participants displayed significant decreases in post-intervention State anxiety scores, while 18.2% reported no statistically significant changes in State anxiety scores. Nine percent of participants showed significant decreases in post-intervention Trait anxiety scores, while 90.9% expressed no significant changes in Trait anxiety scores, deeming this an insignificant finding. Twenty-seven percent of participants reported a statistically significant decrease in post-intervention stress scores, while 72.7% showed no statistically significant change in post-intervention stress scores, making these results statistically insignificant as well.
Discussion: A short 20-minute animal-assisted therapy session had the most significant effect on post-intervention State-anxiety scores. This discovery was not unexpected, as much AAT research had similar findings. Due to the small sample size, further research is needed. The findings of this research study are that state anxiety, anxiety that is temporarily felt by a person, decreases after an AAT session before an exam, while trait anxiety, a participant\u27s general anxiety, is unaffected
Imagining Indigeneity: The Construction of the Indio in the Work of José Carlos Mariátegui
Get PDFThe main focus of José Carlos Mariátegui’s (1894-1930) abundant literature was the adaptation of Marxist theory to the particular needs of Latin America. He is often considered the first major Latin American Marxist and played a key role in the history of leftism in the region. Among his most significant contributions to Marxism in Latin America is his incorporation of indigenous populations into a Marxist framework. He believed that, due to their history of communal ownership under the Inca, a “communist spirit” was retained in Peru’s indigenous population. In his writing about Peru’s potentially communist future, Mariátegui often touched on a discourse occurring in Latin America during the early 20th century: national modernization. Due to the culmination of a process of socioeconomic reorganization, Peru’s defeat in the War of the Pacific, and the growing intellectual industry, there were widespread debates over the proper course of Peruvian modernization. One key element of these debates was the question of the role of the indigenous population in a modernized society. Some advocated for their political, social, and economic inclusion, while others thought that complete modernization required the rectification of indigenous “backwardness.” In Peru, such debates played out in the written productions of urban intellectuals and did not generally involve indigenous people themselves; as a result, these arguments made use of particular imaginaries of indigeneity. This thesis argues that, though much of Mariátegui’s writing was focused on improving the lives of indigenous people through tangible reforms, his work also creates an imaginary of the Indian
Analyzing Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Incidents from NASA ASRS Data Using Unsupervised Machine Learning
Get PDFThe NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) assembles voluntarily submitted aviation safety incident reports in their database to act on the information provided. This database allows the government, companies, and citizens to submit incident or situational reports to its database to discern recurring issues in the National Aviation System (NAS) so that the proper officials can act [1]. The narratives provided in these reports are text-based, resulting in large amounts of data to process. Previous work in the University of Arkansas Aerospace Systems Engineering and Transportation Laboratory (ASYST) lab involved parsing unmanned aircraft system (UAS) incident reports manually. While these reports can successfully be parsed by humans, this analysis is time consuming, technically challenging, and can lead to subjectivity. There are also many different factors that can play into each report, including what type of aircraft, location, or human factors. In my research, I analyze UAS incident narratives from January 2013–August 2023, involving operations under Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) “Public Aircraft Operations (UAS) or Recreational Operations / Section 44809 (UAS)” using unsupervised machine learning to discern patterns and prevention of these incidents. Analyzing these using unsupervised machine learning methods offers a quicker way to discern patterns between the reports, allowing for analysis of UAS safety and incident prevention. My research will also contribute to a continuation of Dr. Majumdar’s research, by further expanding on her work with language processing to analyze these reports by using unsupervised machine learning methods. The findings from my research may assist UAS operators to be aware of causes and reduce incidents.https://scholarworks.uark.edu/hnrcsturpc25/1048/thumbnail.jp
Analyzing Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Incidents from NASA ASRS Data Using Unsupervised Machine Learning
Get PDFThe NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) assembles voluntarily submitted aviation safety incident reports in their database to act on the information provided. This database allows the government, companies, and citizens to submit incident or situational reports to its database to discern recurring issues in the National Aviation System (NAS) so that the proper officials can act [1]. The narratives provided in these reports are text-based, resulting in large amounts of data to process. Previous work in the University of Arkansas Aerospace Systems Engineering and Transportation Laboratory (ASYST) lab involved parsing unmanned aircraft system (UAS) incident reports manually. While these reports can successfully be parsed by humans, this analysis is time consuming, technically challenging, and can lead to subjectivity. There are also many different factors that can play into each report, including what type of aircraft, location, or human factors. In my research, I analyze UAS incident narratives from January 2013–August 2023, involving operations under Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) “Public Aircraft Operations (UAS) or Recreational Operations / Section 44809 (UAS)” using unsupervised machine learning to discern patterns and prevention of these incidents. Analyzing these using unsupervised machine learning methods offers a quicker way to discern patterns between the reports, allowing for analysis of UAS safety and incident prevention. My research will also contribute to a continuation of Dr. Majumdar’s research, by further expanding on her work with language processing to analyze these reports by using unsupervised machine learning methods. The findings from my research may assist UAS operators to be aware of causes and reduce incidents
Food for Thought: Funding the National School Lunch Program While Simultaneously Providing Tax Incentives to Farmers
Get PDFThis note will focus primarily on the National School Lunch Program (“NSLP”) and propose a solution aimed at reducing the costs of implementing it. It begins with a historical background into how the NSLP came to be and the various adaptations and programs that came out of it. This note then covers current programs and organizations that have arisen to support nutritional education and provide healthy meals to school children. It then compares several contribution-based tax incentive programs, which serve as inspiration for the final proposed tax incentive program for farmers in the closing section. Through the years, rising costs have increased the financial burden of the NSLP and increased the stresses faced by families providing meals for their school-age children. At the same time, farmers experience extreme difficulties in providing food goods while trying to break even for the year, often working without taking any pay for themselves. Reducing the tax burden of farmers through a contribution-based tax incentive program in support of the NSLP, may reduce the cost of providing school meals while simultaneously supporting farmers and contributing to the nutritional support of our nation’s school children. This proposal seeks to pair the nation’s agricultural output from farmers with the supply needs of the NSLP in a way that is beneficial to both groups
International Rice Outlook: International Rice Baseline Projections 2024–2034
Get PDF• Global rice consumption is projected to exceed global rice production for most of the coming decade, with stocks playing a crucial role in balancing the global market over the projected period.
• The projected growth in production is almost exclusively due to productivity gains.
• The projected global rice consumption is growing, driven mainly by population growth. However, the average global per capita rice consumption is estimated to increase slowly in the coming decade due to a regain in per capita consumption in Asia, the largest rice-consuming region worldwide.
• The international prices of long-grain and medium-grain rice are projected to increase in nominal terms but decrease in real terms in the next decade due to ample rice supplies.
• Rice demand in Africa will continue to grow at a high pace, thus supporting a fast growth in regional production and imports.
• Global rice trade is projected to increase in nominal and relative (to supply) terms, with Africa being the main driver of the expansion.
• Rice exports will remain concentrated between India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Cambodia in the projected decade. India will remain the largest exporter of rice, followed by Thailand and Vietnam, respectively, in the coming decade.
• On the rice import side, we project that China, Indonesia, and the EU will lose market share, while Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire will grow their market shares, by 2032–2034 relative to the situation in 2021–2023, and the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Iran shares will remain steady
Maternal Emotion Socialization on Children\u27s Social Competence
No full textMaternal emotion socialization plays a crucial role in children\u27s social and emotional development (Chan et al. 2024). Previous studies have consistently shown that maternal emotion coaching is positively associated with children\u27s social competence (Chan et al., 2024; Perkins et al., 2022; Rogers et al., 2016). However, less is known about how maternal emotional characteristics influence their emotion coaching and dismissing practices. The current study investigates whether maternal emotional clarity is associated with children\u27s social competence through its relationship with maternal emotion coaching and dismissing behaviors. Mothers (N = 163) completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Maternal Emotional Style Questionnaire, and the Early School Behavior Scale to report maternal emotional clarity, maternal emotion coaching and emotion dismissing practices, and child social competence, respectively. Structural equation modeling tested the hypothesized mediational relationships among these variables. Results indicated that mothers who had greater difficulty describing their own emotions were more likely to engage in emotion dismissing behaviors. Additionally, maternal emotion coaching was positively related to children\u27s social competence. Interestingly, maternal emotion coaching and emotion dismissing behaviors were positively associated, suggesting that mothers who frequently use emotion coaching might simultaneously exhibit higher levels of dismissing behaviors