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In Students We Trust: The Solidarity Generation
No full textAs the most diverse group in America’s history, the post-Millennial generation—often labeled “Gen Z,” but what I refer to as the Solidarity Generation—is emboldened by its profound care for one another, proclivity for purpose, and its interconnectivity and access to information. Generational theory provides a cyclical perspective wherein we can gain insights about societal shifts and patterns, while also illuminating how our current generation of students are at the forefront of a revolution. Here we explore trends of this emerging generation, focusing on the social justice activism of our students and young people across the globe. The Solidarity Generation’s zeal for unity and social justice, arising at a moment earlier than that of its predecessor generations, is challenging the status quo and holding institutions and people in power accountable in ways unprecedented. We in higher education have a responsibility to our students and to our future, and an extraordinary opportunity to meet the moment and be a partner in transformation
Mission and Mundialización: Solidarity and Global Citizenship through Immersion Experiences
No full textWithin the Jesuit educational network, each institution’s mission informs not only its curricular and co-curricular offerings for students, but a variety of programs for faculty, staff, administrators, and all community members. In recent decades, the Society of Jesus has also spoken with increasing emphasis on the importance of forming whole persons of solidarity for the real world. This paper explores how the call to forming well-educated persons of solidarity intersects with Loyola Marymount University’s specific institutional mission and its formation programs for university personnel, and how this intersection is particularly well-addressed by immersion experiences and especially international immersions. Finally, suggestions for Jesuit educational institutions considering or planning immersion programs are offered in light of these explorations
Cultivating a Plant-Human Connection in the Age of the Anthropocene
Get PDFPlants have a profound influence on global processes, namely through the proliferation of oxygen and fixation of organic carbon through photosynthesis. Terrestrial plants account for 80% of the Earth’s biomass, making them the most dominant form of life. Photosynthetic organisms provide the primary production for almost all ecosystems. Notably, plants support human life by forming the basis of the agricultural system through their capacity to turn sunlight into energy. Additionally, plants remove toxins from the environment and have been shown to improve human mental health. I argue that through researching plant physiology, humans can gain a deeper appreciation for the remarkable power of plants to influence human life and in doing so, strip away the anthropocentric mindset that contributes to the denigration of natural systems. I first walk through the evolutionary history of photosynthesis noting its likely anoxic origins around hydrothermal vents and the advent of photosystem II which is able to split apart water producing O2 as a biproduct and oxygenating the atmosphere. I then examine the mechanisms of the three plant photosynthetic pathways. Finally, I analyze the ways in which humans can utilize plants to optimize efficiency in agriculture, improve human habitats and connect humans to the natural world
Oversexualization in Primitivism
Get PDFThis essay examines how Primitivist artwork of the late 1800s and early 1900s by Matisse, Gauguin, and Picasso oversexualized colonized women. White European male artists viewed colonized women as the ‘other’ through a biased racialized and gendered lens. Fatimah Tobing Roby’s theory of Ethnographic Spectacle and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality are evident in these Primitivist works. Through a deeply rooted colonial mindset, European male artists exploited the image of colonized women because they are considered outside of history and unevolved. Colonized women experienced this unfair treatment due to their unique intersectional position of gender and race, as well as the European fascination with the ‘other.’ Primitivist artworks depict colonized women as a projection of sexual fantasies because their position deemed outside of history places them outside of moral consequence by European male artists
Improving Health Science Faculty\u27s Comprehension of Test Item-Analysis
Get PDFBackground: Differences in testing can lead to student frustration and questionable evaluation of student learning. Inconsistency in testing practices include differing levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, Faculty-written items versus publisher test bank items, and variations in grading. Failure to provide quality student learning assessment and evaluation tools and methods can negatively impact both student and program outcomes. Performing analysis of test items can improve quality of and consistency in evaluation of student learning.
Objective/Purpose of the Project: This quality improvement DNP project investigated the impact of an educational intervention on multiple choice question (MCQ) test-item analysis on the Health Sciences Department Faculty of a small community college.
Methods: Seven of 66 Health Science Faculty participants attended a one-hour educational session on test item-analysis. Data were collected via a pre-test/post-test survey design. In addition to demographic data, a Likert scale was used to rate participants’ knowledge of, confidence in completing, and ability to overcoming barriers to implementing test item analysis. Participants also completed an item analysis on a practice test item, rating difficulty, discrimination, and plan for use. Finally, upon completion of the intervention, participants were asked to rate their intent to incorporate test item-analysis into their curricula. Paired sample t-tests and frequency distributions were used to describe results.
Results: Participants reported an increase in comprehension of (p = .030) and confidence in completing test item analysis (p = .008), as well as an increase in the ability to overcome barriers to implementing test item analysis (p = .030) following the educational session. Pre-education, 2(14.3%) correctly responded to item analysis difficulty, discrimination, and plan for use, compared to 3(43%) post education. 71.4% (N=5) strongly agreed to intent to incorporate item analysis into their curricula following education.
Conclusions/Application to Practice: Performing test item analysis as part of a program testing policy can improve the quality of evaluation of student learning, increase use of evidence-based practices in education and strengthen health science programs through consistency in grading practices
The influence of conventional T 2 MRI indices in predicting who will walk outside one year after spinal cord injury
No full textContext/objective: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indices of spinal cord damage are predictive of future motor function after spinal cord injury (SCI): hyperintensity length, midsagittal tissue bridges, and Brain and Spinal Injury Center (BASIC) scores. Whether these indices are predictive of outdoor walking after SCI is unknown. The primary purpose was to see if these MRI indices predict the ability to walk outdoors one-year after SCI. The secondary purpose was to determine if MRI indices provide additional predictive value if initial lower extremity motor scores are available.
Design: Retrospective. Clinical T2-weighted MRIs were used to quantify spinal cord damage. Three MRI indices were calculated: midsagittal ventral tissue bridges, hyperintensity length, BASIC scores.
Setting: Academic hospital.
Participants: 129 participants with cervical SCI.
Interventions: Inpatient rehabilitation.
Outcomes measures: One year after SCI, participants self-reported their outdoor walking ability.
Results: Midsagittal ventral tissue bridges, hyperintensity length, and BASIC scores significantly correlated with outdoor walking ability (R = 0.34, P \u3c 0.001; R = -0.25, P \u3c 0.01; Rs = -0.35, P \u3c 001, respectively). Using midsagittal ventral tissue bridges and hyperintensity length, the final adjusted R2 for model 1 = 0.19. For model 2, the adjusted R2 using motor scores alone = 0.81 and MRI variables were non-significant. All five participants with observable intramedullary hemorrhage reported they were unable to walk one block outdoors.
Conclusions: The MRI indices were significant predictors of outdoor walking ability, but when motor scores were available, this was the strongest predictor and neither midsagittal tissue bridges nor hyperintensity length contributed additional value. MRI indices may be a quick and convenient supplement to physical examination when motor testing is unavailable
Measurement of the Positive Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment to 0.46 ppm
No full textWe present the first results of the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) Muon g-2 Experiment for the positive muon magnetic anomaly aμ(gμ-2)/2. The anomaly is determined from the precision measurements of two angular frequencies. Intensity variation of high-energy positrons from muon decays directly encodes the difference frequency ωa between the spin-precession and cyclotron frequencies for polarized muons in a magnetic storage ring. The storage ring magnetic field is measured using nuclear magnetic resonance probes calibrated in terms of the equivalent proton spin precession frequency ω p ′ in a spherical water sample at 34.7 °C. The ratio ωa/ω p ′, together with known fundamental constants, determines aμ(FNAL)=116 592 040(54)×10-11 (0.46 ppm). The result is 3.3 standard deviations greater than the standard model prediction and is in excellent agreement with the previous Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) E821 measurement. After combination with previous measurements of both μ+ and μ-, the new experimental average of aμ(Exp)=116 592 061(41)×10-11 (0.35 ppm) increases the tension between experiment and theory to 4.2 standard deviations
Beam dynamics corrections to the Run-1 measurement of the muon anomalous magnetic moment at Fermilab
No full textThis paper presents the beam dynamics systematic corrections and their uncertainties for the Run-1 dataset of the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment. Two corrections to the measured muon precession frequency ωam are associated with well-known effects owing to the use of electrostatic quadrupole (ESQ) vertical focusing in the storage ring. An average vertically oriented motional magnetic field is felt by relativistic muons passing transversely through the radial electric field components created by the ESQ system. The correction depends on the stored momentum distribution and the tunes of the ring, which has relatively weak vertical focusing. Vertical betatron motions imply that the muons do not orbit the ring in a plane exactly orthogonal to the vertical magnetic field direction. A correction is necessary to account for an average pitch angle associated with their trajectories. A third small correction is necessary, because muons that escape the ring during the storage time are slightly biased in initial spin phase compared to the parent distribution. Finally, because two high-voltage resistors in the ESQ network had longer than designed RC time constants, the vertical and horizontal centroids and envelopes of the stored muon beam drifted slightly, but coherently, during each storage ring fill. This led to the discovery of an important phase-acceptance relationship that requires a correction. The sum of the corrections to ωam is 0.50±0.09 ppm; the uncertainty is small compared to the 0.43 ppm statistical precision of ωam
Effects of Trigger Point Dry Needling for Nontraumatic Shoulder Pain of Musculoskeletal Origin: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
No full textObjective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of trigger point (TrP) dry needling alone or as an adjunct to other interventions on pain intensity and related disability in nontraumatic shoulder pain. Methods: Ten databases were searched from inception to January 2020 for randomized clinical trials in which at least 1 group received TrP dry needling for shoulder pain of musculoskeletal origin with outcomes collected on pain intensity and related disability. Data extraction including participant and therapist details, interventions, blinding strategy, blinding assessment outcomes, and results were extracted by 2 reviewers. The risk of bias (Cochrane Risk of Bias, Cochrane Guidelines), methodological quality (Physiotherapy Evidence Database score), and evidence level (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach) were assessed. The search identified 551 publications with 6 trials eligible for inclusion. Results: There was moderate-quality evidence that TrP dry needling reduces shoulder pain intensity with a small effect (mean difference = -0.49 points, 95% CI = -0.84 to -0.13; standardized mean difference = -0.25, 95% CI = -0.42 to -0.09) and low-quality evidence that TrP dry needling improves related disability with a large effect (mean difference = -9.99 points, 95% CI -15.97 to -4.01; standardized mean difference = -1.14, 95% CI -1.81 to -0.47) compared with a comparison group. The effects on pain were only found at short term. The Cochrane Risk of Bias was generally low, but the heterogenicity of the results downgraded the evidence level. Conclusion: Moderate- to low-quality evidence suggests positive effects of TrP dry needling for pain intensity (small effect) and pain-related disability (large effect) in nontraumatic shoulder pain of musculoskeletal origin, mostly at short term. Future clinical trials investigating long-term effects are needed. Impact: Dry needling is commonly used for the management of musculoskeletal pain. This is the first meta-analysis to examine the effects of dry needling on nontraumatic shoulder pain
From anxiety to control: Mask-wearing, perceived marketplace influence, and emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textMask-wearing has been one of the most prominent, conflicted, and deeply divided issues in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across two studies, we seek to understand how beliefs and behaviors around mask-wearing are associated with the relationship between anxiety about the coronavirus and feelings of control over one\u27s health outcomes during the pandemic. In Study 1, we find that beliefs in the response efficacy of mask-wearing moderate the relationship between anxiety and control. Study 2 extends these results by investigating the underlying process. Specifically, we find that the relationship between anxiety and control is mediated by self-reported mask-wearing behavior and that the relationship between anxiety and mask-wearing behavior is moderated by consumers\u27 perceived marketplace influence. These findings have important public policy and marketing implications in the context of physical, emotional, and economic well-being