4429 research outputs found
Sort by
An Exploration of Minnesota Novice Interpreters’ Decision to Start Their Careers in Elementary School Settings
Get PDFIn the state of Minnesota, the number of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students in mainstream educational settings has slowly increased every year. With more students being educated in a setting using indirect methods of communication (ie interpreters), the need for more qualified sign language interpreters has grown. In the state of Minnesota, educational sign language interpreter qualifications allow many young, recently graduated interpreters a place to begin their careers and improve their skills as professionals. Through this qualitative research, not only were participants asked why they started their careers in education, but what factors inhibit interpreters, not only novice interpreters, to be successful in their work. Most participants felt drawn to the educational setting because of a steady paycheck and consistent schedule, as well as a passion for supporting DHH students\u27 education. The barriers to providing this crucial service effectively were the ill-defined roles and responsibilities of interpreters, how The System and DHH programs affect their work, and what improvements can be made for incoming interpreters. By interpreters learning what they need and how to advocate for resources, they begin to set a standard for current and future educational interpreters consequently providing better service to DHH students
Environmental Toolkit to Promote Quality Sleep in Long-Term Care: A Quality Improvement Initiative
No full textContext: In long-term care (LTC), disturbed or inadequate sleep among older adult residents can exacerbate physical and cognitive conditions and decrease quality of life. Objectives: The quality improvement project sought to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a multi-component environmental sleep toolkit designed to meet the needs of a LTC setting. Methods: The interdisciplinary project team conducted a needs assessment to determine the evidence-based interventions that were feasible for the setting. The team developed and implemented an environmental toolkit intervention, which sought to minimize sleep disruption from sound, light, routines, and diet. The team also provided staff education about sleep in older adults and the sleep environment. Findings: Post-intervention results showed improvement in overall sleep quality. Staff knowledge about sleep and the sleep environment was increased. Limitations: The toolkit interventions were relevant to a specific LTC residential setting, which may have implications for generalizability to other settings and facilities. Implications: Population-based environmental interventions are effective in improving sleep quality and life quality for older adults and are feasible for staff to implement and sustain
Gender disparities in healthy aging and subjective well-being among older Chinese adults
No full text
Formative Evaluation of Rehabilitative Post-surgical Care for Children in Tanzania: “They Arrive with Sorrows, but they Leave Happily”
No full textPurpose:Tanzanian children with surgically correctable disabilities face challenges in accessing healthcare and cultural and societal stigma and prejudice. This paper provides insight into the staff perceptions from one rehabilitation center in Tanzania, The Plaster House, pertaining to disability, treatment, and change broadly for children with disabilities who receive treatments.Methods:This was a qualitative content analysis. As part of a program evaluation, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 staff members of The Plaster House, gaining perceptions about change for children with disabilities receiving treatments. The Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Matrix was utilized to organize the data into categories and form results.Results: Themes were identified and organized within the following categories in the CBR Matrix; health, rehabilitation, education, social roles, and empowerment. Each was associated with the child or family caregiver experience at The Plaster House.Conclusion:Findings provided rare insight from Tanzanian staff on the valuable social, emotional and physical impacts of specialized treatment for children with disabilities and their parents. Transformational changes are possible for children with disabilities and their families despite poverty and limited access to services
Using Community-based Interventions to Reduce Public Stigma of Children with Disabilities: A Feasibility Study
No full textBackground: Public stigma, or negative community-held beliefs, about children with disabilities (CWDs) often leads to negative outcomes for CWD and their families. This study considers the effectiveness of four community-level interventions to reduce public stigma in two Lusaka, Zambia communities. Methods: This feasibility study describes four community-based interventions to provide education to consider whether perceptions of attitudes and stigma towards CWD changed after implementing four educational interventions. Results: Results revealed that these interventions were achievable. Preliminary multiple regression analyses indicated a significant impact of attending an event on the attitude scale, while no effect on the stigma scale. Presence at multiple anti-stigma events exhibited no effect for the stigma scale, while the attitude scale showed significance. Discussion: This study builds on the limited research available in low-income countries to reduce public stigma towards CWD, with the hope of enhance quality of life for CWD and their families
“Art History at St. Catherine University: A Case Study for Curricular Redesign for Social Change”
No full textSession: Getting with the Program: Curricular Redesign in Art HistoryAbstractThis paper profiles the curricular redesign currently underway in the art history program at St. Catherine University (hereafter St. Kate’s), a small Catholic liberal arts college for women in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a progressive institution committed to social justice, St. Kate’s educates women to lead and influence. Changing demographics of who our students are, how they learn, and what they have to offer drive a reimagination of what art history is and its possible futures. The current curricular redesign jettisons the bloated traditional model in favor of a leaner course of study that is site-specific, interdisciplinary, malleable, and student-centered. For example, in a new writing-intensive course called Art and Power, students work with local museum collections and community partners to interrogate the colonialist roots of the field while foregrounding a more “loving perception” (María Lugones) toward the art object and its histories. Another new course, called A History of Art, excavates the decommissioned university slide collection for absent and counternarratives that engage in institutional critique. Whereas the new program teaches some of the basic tools and tenets of the field (i.e. formal analysis and the canon), it simultaneously interrogates those very tools and tenets to make space for something new to emerge. Bespoke advising, high-impact practices, and integrated learning experiences with students in the studio art program also characterize the new program. Ultimately, this student-centered curriculum favors a culture of inquiry and collaboration over mastery and competition while centering anti-racist approaches to teaching and organizing for social change
Taxon-specific photosynthetic responses of attached algal assemblages to experimental translocation between river habitats
No full textAttached algal and cyanobacterial taxa differ in their ability to exploit and tolerate the diversity of flow, irradiance, and temperature regimes typical of a heterogeneous riverscape. Understanding the drivers of the smallscale variation in algal taxonomic composition helps us predict the riverscape-scale effects of altered flow regimes, but microhabitat-scale variation in algal taxonomy complicates the interpretation of ecosystem-scale estimates of biomass or primary production. Using pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry, we performed 2 manipulative field experiments (in 2014 and 2015) to measure photosynthetic responses of algae and cyanobacteria to depth, temperature, and flow modifications. In 2014, we exposed 6 attached algal assemblages common to the South Fork Eel River (California, USA) to a 24-h incubation on either the river bottom (20 cm deep) or floating at the water surface. In 2015, we incubated 3 algal assemblages for 1 wk in either the thalweg or at the river’s edge. For PAM measurements, we developed a novel method (Photosynthesis–Irradiance Periphyton Experimental System [PIPES]) for manipulating attached filamentous algae, a morphology common in aquatic habitats but underrepresented in photosynthesis experiments. To make the PIPES, we sandwiched thin (\u3c1 mm) layers of filamentous attached algae between 2 layers of mesh so that the algae could be isolated and manipulated for repeated PAM measurements. In the 2014 experiment, incubating Cladophora, Rivularia, Microcoleus, and Anabaena at the water surface tended to decrease photosynthetic rates relative to submerged controls, whereas for Nostoc, the photosynthetic rates were higher in floating treatments. In the 2015 experiment, Cladophora and Oedogonium incubated in the warmer, low-flow river margin had persistently lower photosynthesis rates than their counterparts incubated in the thalweg. The PIPES method improves our ability to make PAM measurements on attached algae. PIPES can be used in conjunction with other methods to evaluate taxon-specific responses to environmental conditions and to help us predict how algal assemblages will shift in dominance under different river management regime
Nectar antimicrobial compounds and their potential effects on pollinators
No full textNectar is a sugary, aqueous solution that plants offer as a reward to animal mutualists for visitation. Since nectars are so nutrient-rich, they often harbor significant microbial communities, which can be pathogenic, benign, or even sometimes beneficial to plant fitness. Through recent advances, it is now clear that these microbes alter nectar chemistry, which in turn influences mutualist behavior (e.g. pollinator visitation). To counteract unwanted microbial growth, nectars often contain antimicrobial compounds, especially in the form of proteins, specialized (secondary) metabolites, and metals. This review covers our current understanding of nectar antimicrobials, as well as their interplay with both microbes and insect visitors
Green methods for synthesis of solar cell materials
No full textSilicon is the most common material used in solar cells in part due to its abundance in the earth’s crust as well its intrinsic semiconductor properties. However, there are some drawbacks of silicon solar cellsincluding toxicity in processing, difficulty in purification, high cost of fabrication, and rigidity. Materials used in bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics (BHJ OPVs) have many advantages over silicon as they can be less expensive, have more tunable properties, and are flexible. Donor polymers for incorporation in OPVs made using furfural, an extract of corn stover, have the potential to be semi-sustainable. While furan polymers areless widely studied than their thiophene analogs, both heterocycles were studied in monomers for use in conjugated donor polymers. Two greener synthetic methods for monomer synthesis, mechanochemistry andmicrowave chemistry, were compared to traditional solution methods. A Knoevenagel condensation was carried out using an indole and an aldehyde employing the more toxic base piperidine as well as benign potassiumcarbonate. The products were characterized by H-NMR, elemental analysis, X-ray crystallography, and electrospray mass spectrometry. Both of the greener methods gave higher yields and required less time than thetraditional solution synthesis. NMR and elemental analysis of the products from both the mechanochemical and microwave reactions confirmed both condensation and further deprotonation of the indole N-H proton. Thisunexpected result is important because the next synthetic step to form our target monomer for the desired polymer is installing a long alkyl chain for polymer solubility. Current work focuses on the alkylation of the indole group of our monomer using these greener methods. Preliminary mass spectral results suggest alkylation of Knoevenagel products are possible via mechanochemistry and microwave chemistry