Making Magic in Elizabethan England: Two Early Modern Vernacular Books of Magic. Frank Klaassen, ed.Magic in History. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019. xii + 148 pp. $89.95. - Volume 73 Issue 4

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Whose Job is it? Technological Literacy in Society Abstract This research explores the effects of technology on society, especially the technologically illiterate, who struggle under the surge of modern consumer technologies that penetrate the market. Whose responsibility is it to educate the average American? Who should train them to control the technologies they deal with every day? Who should show them how to access technology in order to enable them to protect and educate themselves? Is it the role of engineers, the creators and developers of new technology, to teach society to understand that technology? Should educators conduct outreach programs to train the communities in which they reside? Is it the government’s responsibility to provide the information needed for citizens to effectively manage and utilize the ongoing influx of new and improved technology? Should the responsibility be left to parents to be self-educated and to teach their children? In this age of diverse methods of communication and dissemination of information, we have access to so much more than our forbearers imagined possible. It is important for people to understand technology and to be competent users. With so much innovation some get lost in the flow of new technology and can not seem to manage the information entering their environment. Some lose control of their privacy and become victims of theft because of ignorance. Many adopt a fatalistic mentality and simply accept their ignorance because they feel overwhelmed or afraid of the dangers of technology. Conversely, education spawns feelings of safety and security because knowledge empowers the individual. Whose role is it to promote educated, communicative, and innovative users? This research explores the complex issues dealing with society’s interaction with technology and provides clarity regarding these issues. Introduction “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” --James Madison1 The effect of technology on society as a whole and on individuals is of great concern. For over a year several faculty and student researchers at Brigham Young University have been researching the effects of technology on society and the family. Despite its importance, this topic has been largely ignored2. However, a discussion with an average American illustrates that many experience frustration with their everyday technology. They feel “technologically illiterate.” The potential problems associated with technological illiteracy reach farther than feelings of frustration. Technology has direct social, economic, and moral implications for our society3,4,5. Technology in everyday life has become a hands-on learning experience dependent on user- friendly technology. The permeation of technology into our lives is presenting more and more challenges along with benefits4. With technology pouring in at an unprecedented rate, we are ill- prepared to handle it4. Parents fear for their children and don’t know how to protect them. Learning about even one technology can lead to myriad questions that go unanswered. A

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Session 1450 Assessing Information Validity in an Internet Age C. Richard G. Helps, Michael G. Bailey Brigham Young University Abstract Students and technical professionals have come to rely heavily on the Internet as a technical reference resource. They need to be aware of the validity issues of these resources and how to assess validity. Historically technical professionals have obtained information from a variety of printed resources. The validity of the printed information was assured through a combination of internal and external mechanisms, the most prominent of which was some form of peer review. Technical students and professionals now rely very heavily on information accessed over the Internet for catalogs, technical data sheets and other reference information. Although the traditional peer-reviewed sources are still available, even more available in some instances, they are often ignored in favor of more convenient Internet options. Many databooks and technical magazines are now only available on the Internet. These changes are part of a cultural change in technical referencing. Problems have developed because the validity and quality mechanisms work differently for Internet resources than for printed resources. Research studies show that students and others will use a search engine to find technical information and will often accept the first datum found without evaluating its validity. The Internet provides a wealth of useful information, but we must recognize and adapt to the culture shift that has occurred. There is a need for new approaches and habits of evaluating the information we find. In particular, students need to understand the issues and be trained to evaluate resources appropriately This study outlines and analyzes the changes that have taken place as we have moved from printed to on-line references and resources, and then goes on to present principles and rules that can be used to obtain reasonable assurance that technical information is valid. Although external mechanisms, such as peer review, are de-emphasized in the web data distribution paradigm, internal validity checks are still possible. These internal checks, based on critical thinking, writing quality, and other techniques, can combine with new forms of external validity checks enabled by Internet resources to give assurance of the reliability of information found on the Internet. “Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education”

INTRODUCTION Small bowel obstruction (SBO) in pregnancy is rare and is most commonly caused by adhesions from previous abdominal surgery. Previous literature reviews have emphasised the need for prompt laparotomy in all cases of SBO because of the significant risks of fetal loss and maternal mortality. We undertook a review of the contemporary literature to determine the optimum management strategy for SBO in pregnancy. METHODS The MEDLINE® and PubMed databases were searched for cases of SBO in pregnancy between 1992 and 2014. Two cases from our own institution were also reviewed. RESULTS Forty-six cases of SBO in pregnancy were identified, with adhesions being the most common aetiology (50%). The overall risk of fetal loss was 17% and the maternal mortality rate was 2%. In cases of adhesional SBO, 91% of cases were managed surgically, with 14% fetal loss. Two cases (9%) were managed conservatively with no complications. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to diagnose SBO in 11% of cases. CONCLUSIONS Based on our experience and the contemporary literature, we recommend that urgent MRI of the abdomen should be undertaken to diagnose the aetiology of SBO in pregnancy. In cases of adhesional SBO, conservative treatment may be safely commenced, with a low threshold for laparotomy. In other causes, such as volvulus or internal hernia, laparotomy remains the treatment of choice.

Purpose: This paper reviews data related to the behavior of the lanthanoid elements (lanthanum through lutetium, atomic numbers 57-71) in the human body and proposes biokinetic models for internally deposited radio-lanthanoids in workers.Materials and methods: Published data on the following topics are reviewed and analyzed: Physico-chemical properties of the lanthanoids as indicators of the potential behavior of these elements in body fluids; the concentrations of the stable lanthanoids in the environment and human body; and results of biokinetic studies of radio-lanthanoids in human subjects and laboratory animals. Respiratory and systemic biokinetic models and gastrointestinal absorption fractions are developed or selected in an effort to represent the typical behavior of lanthanoids in adult humans.Results and conclusions: Generic (element-independent) absorption rates from the respiratory and alimentary tracts to blood and systemic biokinetic models are proposed. The systemic models are largely generic but include some element-specific parameter values to reflect regular changes with ionic radius in certain aspects of the behavior of the lanthanoids, particularly fractional deposition in liver and bone and early removal in urine.

PURPOSE:To improve the dosimetry of incorporated americium (Am) and to contribute to radiation protection by characterizing the absorption kinetics of inhaled Am compounds.MATERIAL AND METHODS:In vitro dissolution tests, animal experiments and human contamination cases published in the literature were reviewed. The data were analyzed with biokinetic models consistent with the current publications of the International Commission on Radiological Protection.RESULTS:Material-specific dissolution parameter values with consequent assignment to absorption Types are proposed as well as representative central values for the different chemical forms of Am.CONCLUSIONS:The absorption of Am oxide is consistent with the moderate absorption Type M while Am nitrate appears more soluble. Am associated with plutonium oxide usually follows its slow absorption Type S. However, the large variability observed stresses the value of investigating the specific absorption kinetics for Am compounds which represent a significant risk of internal exposure.

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Task Group that developed the Human Respiratory Tract Model for Radiological Protection (HRTM) identified a lack of published information on aspects of the clearance of inhaled particles deposited in the human nasal passage. Using the results of a recent human volunteer study on the clearance of inhaled particles from the nose, a revised model of clearance from the extra-thoracic (ET) airways has been developed that addresses important issues for which simplifying assumptions had to be made in the ICRP Publication 66 HRTM ET model. This ET clearance model has been adopted by ICRP for inclusion in the revised HRTM. The derivation of the model and parameter values from the experimental data are explained.

: Cities with populations of ten million or more are given a special designation: megacity. There are currently over twenty megacities in the world, and by 2025 there will be close to forty.1 The trends are clear. Megacities are growing, they are becoming more connected, and the ability of host nation governments to effectively deal with their explosive growth and maintain security is, in many cases, diminishing. Megacities are a unique environment that the U.S. Army does not fully understand. Megacities are growing so fast that it is becoming increasingly difficult for host nation governments to keep up with infrastructure and resource requirements. Drivers of instability are already present and in many places are growing by the day. It is inevitable that at some point the United States Army will be asked to operate in a megacity and currently the Army is ill-prepared to do so. The scale and connectedness of megacities lend gravity to events within them, which can quickly capture international attention and compel military commitment. Accurate predictions of where unrest will occur will likely continue to elude analysts in the future as it has in the past. Monitoring megacities, however, may provide decision makers with effective predictors of looming instability with global impact. The problems found in megacities (explosive growth rates, vast and growing income disparity and a security environment that is increasingly attractive to the politically dispossessed) are landpower problems. Solutions, therefore, will require boots on the ground. By increasing its appreciation of megacities, the U.S. Army can better understand how it might operate within them as part of a joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational (JIIM) team. Leaders who appreciate the complexity of these environments will provide options to the National Command Authority that more closely match the objectives set forth in current and future National Security Strategies.