Iowa State Rail Plan, Final Report, November 2021

The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) has developed this Iowa State Rail Plan (SRP) for the purpose of guiding the state’s short- and long-term rail freight and passenger transportation planning activities and project development plans through the year 2040. Iowa DOT serves as the State Rail Transportation Authority (SRTA) and the State Rail Plan Approval Authority (SRPAA), and has the responsibility to review and approve the State Rail Plan. This SRP describes the state’s existing rail network and rail-related economic and socioeconomic impacts. It also describes the State Rail Plan process, Iowa’s rail vision and supporting goals, proposed short- and long range capital improvements, studies, and recommended next steps to address the issues identified. This SRP is intended to meet the requirements established under Section 303 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) which provides for enhanced State involvement in rail policy, planning, and development efforts, including requiring States to develop FRA-accepted SRPs in order to be eligible for the capital grants authorized in PRIIA and the subsequent FAST Act. This SRP has also been developed in compliance with the Final State Rail Plan Guidance as specified by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in September 2013

Exploring the effectiveness of a prevocational seminar on self-efficacy and work motivation among inpatient adults with severe mental illness: An experimental study

Employment is a primary facet of our social milieu and can be associated with an individual\u27s health and quality of life. Employment has also proven to be an essential element to the recovery of people with severe mental illness (PWSMI); however, PWSMI have the highest unemployment rate out of all groups of individuals with disabilities. Supported employment (SE) is an ideal mainstreaming agent, for PWSMI, into competitive employment; yet, barriers experienced by participants of SE interrupt the overall effectiveness of the program. This study provides insight regarding an intervention designed to assist PWSMI in overcoming employment-related barriers. A pre-test post-test experimental design was employed for one week at an acute care hospital located in North Mississippi. This experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of a 10-session prevocational seminar on self-efficacy and work motivation among adults with severe mental illness (SMI) (n=21) residing in an inpatient psychiatric facility. The prevocational seminar (independent variable) utilized a revised version of the Work Related Social Skills Training. Dependent variables consisted of the General Self-Efficacy Scale and Work Motivation Scales (two sub-scales Work Values and Work Motives). Three one-way ANCOVAs were applied to analyze post-test results for the dependent measures. The statistical results yielded no differences among adjusted post-test means for treatment groups for each research hypothesis. However, interesting trends correlating with existing literature and important implications emerged from this study. Findings of this study confirmed that PWSMI want to be competitively and gainfully employed, but experience various barriers (e.g., discrimination, stigma, prejudice, decreased motivation, work disincentives, and persistent symptoms due to psychosis) and often lack guidance, understanding, and access to available vocational and career resources. Furthermore, the findings increased the literature concerning PWSMI and employment along with encouraging the development of future research, interventions, strategies, and therapeutic approaches

A numerical investigation of the Rayleigh-Ritz method for the solution of variational problems

PhD ThesisThe results of a numerical investigation of the Haylaigh·-H:l:tz method for the approxi.mate solution of two-point boundary value problems in ordinary differential equations are presented. Theoretical results are developed which indicate that the observed behaviour ie typical of the method in more general applications. In particular9 a number of choices of co-ord:i.natefunctions for certain second order equations are considerede A new algorit~~ for the efficient evaluation of an established sequence of functions related to the Legendre polynomials is desoribed, and the sequence is compared in use with a similar sequence related to the Chebyshev polynomials. Algebraic properties of the Rayleigh ••R1tz equations tor these and other co-ordinate systems are discussede The Chebyshev system is shown to lead to equations with oonvenient computational and theoretical properties, and the latter are used to characterize the asymptotic convergence of the approximations for linear equationse These results are subsequently extended to a certain type of non-linear equatione An orthonormalization approach to the solution ot the R~leigh- Ritz equations which has been suggested in the literature is compa.red in practice with more usual methods, and it is shown that the properties of the resulting approximations are not improvedo Since it is knoWli.that the method requires more work than established ones it cannot be recommendedo Quadrature approximations of elements of the ~leigh-Ritz matrices a.re investigated, and known results for a restricted class ot quadra·t';.re approximation are extended towards the more general case. In a final chapter extensions of the material of earlier chapters to partial differential equations are described, and new forms of the 'finite element' and 'extended Kantorovich' methods are proposed. A summary of the conclusions discerned from the investigation is given

The present and future role of community pharmacy in South Africa

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. This thesis is presented as a series of manuscripts. 1997The recent political transformation which has taken place in South Africa has set the scene for a metamorphosis of thinking paradigms and structures, in society in general, and in the health arena in particular One of the main shifts has been the growing emphasis on Primary Health Care and its implementation, a move which has necessitated a reevaluation of the roles which the various health professions fulfil within this framework. The need for new types of solutions to respond to peoples’ health needs, along with the poor fit between research and the knowledge required to improve the situation, has contributed to the movement now referred to widely as the “New Public Health”.IT201

Kindergarten teacher's perception of child's play, conflict, and Knowledge-Learning in China

Die frühkindliche Bildung in China durchläuft heutzutage eine tiefgreifende Reform sowohl in den Lehrphilosophien als auch in der Unterrichtspraxis. Die wichtigsten Verwaltungsrichtlinien “Einige Stellungnahmen des Staatsrates zur Verbesserung der Entwicklung in der aktuellen frühkindlichen Bildung (ECE)” (Staatsrat der Volksrepublik China, 2010) und “Leitfaden für frühes Lernen und Entwicklung für Kinder im Alter von 3-6 Jahren (ELDG)” (Bildungsministerium der Volksrepublik China,2012) betonten einstimmig die Bedeutung der kinderzentrierten Erziehung. Es sollte verhindert werden, dass die spielerische Vorschulbildung auf eine akademisch orientierte Grundschule ausgerichtet ist. Stattdessen sollte viel mehr Wert darauf gelegt werden, dass die frühkindliche Bildung charakteristisch dafür ist, sich auf individuelle Unterschiede und Interessen zu konzentrieren, Eigeninitiative und Kreativität zu fördern und eine warme und gleichberechtigte Beziehung zwischen Lehrern und Kindern aufzubauen. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Studie liegt auf der Erforschung der Art und Weise, wie die kinderzentrierten Werte in der frühen Kindheit im heutigen wirtschaftlich aufstrebenden China aufgenommen und umgesetzt werden. Im Hinblick auf das Kinderspiel wurde untersucht, inwieweit das von Kindern initiierte Spiel und das von Lehrern organisierte Spiel täglich präsentiert und geplant wurden. In Bezug auf die Dimension des Wissenserwerbs untersuchte der Forscher die Wahrnehmungen der Praktiker, wie die Position der akademischen Verstärkung in der Vorschulerziehung, die traditionelle Aktivität der ganzen Klasse und die Veränderung des Wertes des Lehrers für die Erziehung. Im Beziehungsaspekt versuchte der Forscher herauszufinden, welche Präferenz der Lehrer für eine reaktionsschnelle und gleichberechtigte oder dominante und kontrollierende interaktive Art und Weise hatte. Darüber hinaus wurde auch der Zusammenhang zwischen den Überzeugungen und der Berufserfahrung der Lehrer, dem akademischen Grad und dem Kindergartentyp erforscht und diskutiert. Die Studienteilnehmer bestehen aus 490 Kindergärtnern und Kindergärtnerinnen in Hangzhou, Provinz Zhejiang, Volksrepublik China. Als gut entwickelte Stadt im Osten Chinas könnte die Studie in Hangzhou ein kurzes Panorama der Wahrnehmungen von Vorschullehrern gegenüber der kinderzentrierten Pädagogik bieten. Der Forscher nutzte sowohl quantitative als auch qualitative Forschungsansätze, die insbesondere 490 gesammelte Fragebögen und 9 Lehrerinterviews umfassten. Die Datenanalyse, die sich aus der multinominalen logistischen Regression und deskriptiven Statistiken wie Häufigkeiten/ Prozente, Mittelwerten und Multiple-Response-Analysen zusammensetzt, wurde in der Untersuchung der Ergebnisse verwendet. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie zeigten, dass der Anteil des freien Spiels des Kindes im Vergleich zu dem vom Lehrer organisierten Spiel deutlich zurückging. Durch Hinzufügen einer weiteren Liste von Faktoren, wie ein hohes Kinder-Lehrer-Verhältnis, begrenzter Bewegungsraum, enorme Betonung der Sicherheit und traditionelle Werte des Kinderlernens, neigte der Betreuer dazu, sich bei den Spielaktivitäten dominanter und kontrollierter zu verhalten. Bei den akademischen Verstärkungen wurde die Intensität der Wissensvermittlung vermieden, während die Kultivierung von verhaltens- und psychologischen Fähigkeiten eine herausragende Rolle spielte. Darüber hinaus hat sich die Interaktion zwischen Erwachsenen und Kindern in der frühen Kindheit grundlegend verändert und wurde durch ein gleichberechtigteres und reaktionsschnellere Lehrergespräch und eine offensichtliche Dämpfung der Autorität des Lehrers verkörpert. Im Großen und Ganzen beleuchtet die Studie die Perspektive, dass kinderzentrierte Pädagogik in den letzten Jahrzehnten von den chinesischen Vorschullehrern verstanden und aufgenommen wurde. Sie denken jetzt eher darüber nach, wie sie mehr Wahlfreiheit bieten und die Eigeninitiative der Kindern mehr motivieren können. Durch die Unterschiede im Kontext und in der Kultur besteht jedoch eine Diskrepanz in dem Ausmaß, durch welches kinderzentrierte Praktiken in den westlichen Ländern und in China erfüllt werden können.The early childhood education in China nowadays is going through a profound reform in both teaching philosophies and practices. The leading administrative guidelines, Some Opinions of the State Council on Improving the Development in Current Early Childhood Education (ECE)（State Council of the People’s Republic of China, 2010), and Early learning and Development Guideline for Children Aged 3-6 (ELDG) (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2012), unanimously stressed the significance of child-centered nurturing spirits by preventing preschool education that is centralized on play from shifting into an academic-focused elementary education. This is achieved by focusing on individual differences and interests, the cultivation of self-initiation and creativity, and the reinforcement of a warm, equal and responsive adult-children relationship. The focus of this study is to explore the ways in which the child-centered values are absorbed and implemented in the early childhood kindergarten setting, in today’s economic-galloping China. In the aspect of child’s play, investigation was carried out to find out the extent to which child-initiated play and teacher-organized play were presented and scheduled on a daily basis; In terms of the knowledge-learning dimension, the researcher investigated the practitioners’ perceptions, such as the position of academic reinforcement in preschool education, the traditional whole-class activity and the alteration of the teacher’s value towards child nurturing and education; In the relationship aspect, the researcher attempted to find out the teacher’s preference for either a responsive and equal, or domineering and controlling, interactive manner. Besides, the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and teachers’ working experience, academic degree and kindergarten type, was also explored and discussed. Study participants consist of 490 kindergarten teachers in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China. As a well-developed city in Eastern China, the study in Hangzhou might present a brief panorama of the perceptions of preschool teachers towards child-centered spirits in China’s urban regions. The researcher utilized both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, which specifically included 490 collected questionnaires and 9 teacher interviews. Data analysis composing of Multinomial Logistic Regression and descriptive statistics such as frequencies/percentages, means, and multiple response analysis, are employed in the study of the findings. The findings of this study indicated that the ratio of child’s free play considerably decreased in contrast to the dominance of teacher-organized play. Adding onto the list of factors to be reckoned with, some other variables that cause the caregiver to adopt a more domineering and directive attitude in the play activities are: a high children-teacher ratio, limited activity space, enormous emphasis on safety, and traditional values about child learning. In terms of academic reinforcements today, the intensity of teaching knowledge has receded into the background while the cultivation of behavioral and psychological capacity took on a prominent role. In addition, the landscape of adult-children interaction in early childhood setting changed profoundly into being embodied by a more equal and responsive teacher talk and an obvious dampening of the teacher’s authority. By and large, the study on teacher’s perception of child’s play, knowledge-learning and adult-children interaction sheds light on the intriguing perspective that child-centered spirits have in the past decades been understood and absorbed by the Chinese preschool teachers, who then customize them accordingly to each unique situation. They are now more likely to think of ways to provide more free choices and motivate children’s self-initiation. However, due to the differences in context and culture, there is a discrepancy between the extent to which child-centered practices can be fulfilled in Western countries and in China

Pilot study for subgroup classification for autism spectrum disorder based on dysmorphology and physical measurements in Chinese children

Poster Sessions: 157 - Comorbid Medical Conditions: abstract 157.058 58BACKGROUND: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder affecting individuals along a continuum of severity in communication, social interaction and behaviour. The impact of ASD significantly varies amongst individuals, and the cause of ASD can originate broadly between genetic and environmental factors. Objectives: Previous ASD researches indicate that early identification combined with a targeted treatment plan involving behavioural interventions and multidisciplinary therapies can provide substantial improvement for ASD patients. Currently there is no cure for ASD, and the clinical variability and uncertainty of the disorder still remains. Hence, the search to unravel heterogeneity within ASD by subgroup classification may provide clinicians with a better understanding of ASD and to work towards a more definitive course of action. METHODS: In this study, a norm of physical measurements including height, weight, head circumference, ear length, outer and inner canthi, interpupillary distance, philtrum, hand and foot length was collected from 658 Typical Developing (TD) Chinese children aged 1 to 7 years (mean age of 4.19 years). The norm collected was compared against 80 ASD Chinese children aged 1 to 12 years (mean age of 4.36 years). We then further attempted to find subgroups within ASD based on identifying physical abnormalities; individuals were classified as (non) dysmorphic with the Autism Dysmorphology Measure (ADM) from physical examinations of 12 body regions. RESULTS: Our results show that there were significant differences between ASD and TD children for measurements in: head circumference (p=0.009), outer (p=0.021) and inner (p=0.021) canthus, philtrum length (p=0.003), right (p=0.023) and left (p=0.20) foot length. Within the 80 ASD patients, 37(46%) were classified as dysmorphic (p=0.00). CONCLUSIONS: This study attempts to identify subgroups within ASD based on physical measurements and dysmorphology examinations. The information from this study seeks to benefit ASD community by identifying possible subtypes of ASD in Chinese population; in seek for a more definitive diagnosis, referral and treatment plan.published_or_final_versio

Energy saving in cities: issues, strategies and options for local governments

UNEP's monograph, "Energy Savings in Cities: Issues, Strategies and Options for Local Governments" provides information to decision-makers in developing countries on how they might reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while saving on energy costs

Catholic hopes and Protestant fears : ‘toleration talk’ in Elizabethan and early Stuart England

This thesis focuses on bringing Catholic voices to the forefront of toleration history. The scope of this work examines the formulation of toleration ideas within the petitions, treatises, and other contemporary texts produced by Catholics in the reign of Elizabeth I and James I in England. Histories of toleration have tended to gloss over these periods and particularly the extent to which Catholics developed innovative approaches to the concept of toleration. A critical aspect of this thesis is examining discussions of toleration within their political and religious context. In doing so, this thesis analyses the nexus of connected words and concepts which Catholics employed in different genres and modes as they attempted to elicit toleration. Placing toleration argument within the context in which they were produced allows us to see the extent to which Catholics formulated a language of toleration malleable enough to fit the changing circumstances. Whether in times of persecution, monarchical and regime changes, or new dictates from Rome, English Catholics were much more unconventional and opportunistic than they have been given credit for. Working within the context of historical ‘moments’ rather than attempting to analyse toleration over a broad chronological scope, this thesis argues that Catholic approaches to toleration can be understood conceptually, and in some cases practically, as being malleable rather than rigid. Focusing on context and eliminating the draw towards conceptualising toleration as a singular phenomenon, this thesis broadens the toleration narrative to incorporate a spectrum of contemporary approaches to toleration. Though our view of toleration being a significant idea in these periods may be eclipsed by the violence and persecution which occurred, in such hostile and volatile moments the need for Catholics to develop nuanced and innovative ideas for eliciting toleration should not come as any shock. Rather, such realities should draw us into exploring the extent to which the history of toleration can be understood in its proper context