Posted on behalf of Enrique Trejo

https://www.utsa.edu/today/2019/11/story/connect.html

This article discusses how the UTSA college of science and college of engineering has been awarded 3 million in grants from the National Nuclear Security Administration. The reason we have been awarded this grant is because of our CONNECT project. The Consortium of Nuclear Security Technologies, also know as CONNECT, is a very big cross-disciplinary research task. 

 

This is really important because it will provide UTSA students the opportunities to receive a background in nuclear security, a rapidly growing field. It also gives them the opportunity to network with people already established in the field. This gives UTSA students the opportunity to go into a leadership role instead of entry-level positions in national nuclear security-related careers.

Linked In Assignment

     Responding to requests from its staff, Facebook, an online social media company,  has created a chatbot to help its employees answer questions from friends and family over the break. The chat bot is called Liam Bot, and has been tested by Facebook since the spring.
     The chat box is intelligent enough to hold a full conversation. It is likely Facebook has created this chat bot to find and locate questions regarding hate speech. It has been reported that users of Facebook think the bot is "sad" and has been named as "dystopian".

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50647045?fbclid=IwAR17QbGkvpz8OhrmKxLdUK8C17AbMHGZcEA81uZmL_fcI50IO4lTTes95WQ

Posted on behalf of Renee Robles

https://reneeonguncontrolbelifes.blogspot.com/2019/11/gun-control-liberal-vs-conservative.html

https://medium.com/@laxammo/gun-control-liberal-vs-conservative-beliefs-2e47fb19a9c0

Gun Control: Liberal vs. Conservative beliefs

        To my best understanding, liberal and conservative aligned individuals do not always see eye to eye. Whether you choose to read between the lines or take a sentence literally dictates your stance on gun control. How you interpret certain information to your very core beliefs, might just give you insight on where you may be politically inclined.

       To the average Liberal, a strong government means more protection from harm. They believe that the government should take responsibility to keep its citizens safe from harm. The second amendment is to be taken figuratively; the local government should take responsibility for keeping the peace by the use of stricter gun laws. Instead of paying attention to "the people's right to bear arms",  they focus on allowing the state to come up with a regulated militia to save us in case of a corrupt government. 

       Although liberals and conservatives want peace between everyone, conservatives believe in personal responsibility. While still stuck on the notion that government is somehow helpful, conservatives believe in small government. The small government will allow more personal freedoms while providing some guidelines to the individual. They do not believe that stricter gun laws will somehow stop people from violence, but they do believe that the more law-abiding citizens that have guns will keep everyone safe. 

      Considering what we now know about both sides of the political spectrum, we can see whether you will fall into the trap of picking sides. Don't be a sheep and follow the herd, think for yourself and you might escape society's trap of socially constructed norms. 

Posted on behalf of Karla Siller

In this article provided by Forbes discusses the common mistakes made when interviewing candidates. It put myself through the perspective of the interviewer. I found the information interesting as I haven’t put much thought about the process it takes to interview for a job. The article talked about how having the right information, listening, taking notes, and being prepared are crucial into landing a job. 

 

With the information I have learned for the article I have gained valuable knowledge that can be helpful in my future career. I know on what to avoid doing, and what can be expected. The articles even goes into more depth explaining how these mistakes can jeopardize the candidate. This information will not only be helpful for my career, but also as I’m applying for part time jobs.

 

https://blog-connexissearch-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/blog.connexissearch.com/employersblog/most-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-interviewing-a-candidate?hs_amp=true

Opioid Reduction Success

   Opioids are a highly addictive painkiller typically given to adults after a major surgery or injury. About 25% of patients who are prescribed opioids, become addicted and misuse them. In Utah alone, the state has a reached a 400% increase in opioid related deaths in recent years. Employees at WCF insurance company witnessed this increase in their clients and friends. They realized that something needed to be done. 
   After witnessing this WCF began to fight for better drug regulation in Utah. Utah is a non-formulary state which means it does not mandate specific drug protocols to prescribers. Their primary goal was to reduce the unintended consequence of using an opioid when alternative non-opioid therapy can be used. They also insured that if opioids are prescribed that they follow current evidence based treatment guidelines.

https://www.mpower.mitchell.com/wcf-insurance-doing-right-thing-good-business/?utm_source=R%26I&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=novriemail

How we can sleep better in less time.

Kinzie Cortez
WRC 1013


     As most people know the average amount of hours an adult should sleep is 7 to 9 hours.
In the US more than one third of adults do not sleep enough. Not getting enough sleep can lead up to difficulty in decision making, memory loss, higher chances of getting an infection, and obesity. The article stated that due to a new 'sleep optimization' technique we are able to make the sleep experience better so that we can enjoy the satisfaction of deep sleep in less time.
    The most effective test that has been completed and successful was one where they had the participant wear headphones that would record brain activity and would note when "slow waves" would happen. Then the device would play a short pulse of a soft sound in sync with the brains natural slow waves. This would cycle through the whole night. People who participated in this testing were said to have performed better on memorization tests, and remembered things better from the day before. It also made changes to their hormonal balance, which reduced their level of cortisol. This also showed improvement to their immune response. There are many successful products now being made to help boost slow wave sleep, and this is allowing more people to enjoy their sleep in less time.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191122-how-to-sleep-better?ocid=ww.social.link.linkedin

Linkedin Assignment

Joel Collins
WRC1013

https://www.utsa.edu/today/2019/11/story/brain-amygdala.html

This article is a research that was done by researchers at UTSA that were looking to learn more about the brain's amygdala. This study was done in 2019 in order to learn how anxiety, depression, and other emotions correspond to the function of the amygdala. This is crucial to everyone who suffers from these cases of troubling mindsets and emotions because understanding what's affecting their brain can lead to a measure of countering the activity.
This study was possible because the developments in studying neuronal cells is advanced enough to understand their correlation with this region in the brain. The researchers discovered that inputs from the cortex of the brain suggest that timing and strength of inputs has a crucial impact on these emotions that suddenly overtake your mind. These neurological disorders can have a better diagnosis and treatment once the researchers go a step further and continue to discover more about this relatively unknown region in our brains.