Children First! Child Care Assistance in Erie County

Child care subsidies are distributed in each county in New York by the county’s Department of Social Services. Due to a drop in state funding, Erie County has changed its eligibility level from 200% to 125% of the poverty line. The former level for eligibility should be reinstated because subsidized child care has social, financial and societal benefits

Metabolic Control, Quality of Life, and Body Image in Patients with Glycogen Storage Disease Type Ia

Glycogen storage disease is a group of inborn errors of metabolism, with type Ia being the most common form of the disorder. Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSDIa) is a multisystemic condition in which individuals have various complications secondary to an inability to properly break down glycogen and to perform gluconeogenesis. Complex management is then necessary for patients and includes dietary modification, frequent cornstarch usage, and evaluation for additional complications such as hepatic adenomas, hypertriglyceridemia, and kidney disease. Previous studies have found lower scores in quality of life and body image in GSDIa patients; however, the specific factors influencing this relationship remain unknown. In this study, 24 adult participants (n=24) with glycogen storage disease type Ia completed a survey including measures of health-related quality of life, body image, and metabolic control. Results found that quality of life was significantly lower than the general population on both the physical and mental component scores (t=-3.11, p=0.005; t=-2.21, p=0.03). Additionally, body image was significantly lower on all subscales: Weight (t=-5.88,

Ekoji Buddhist Sangha: Insight Meditation Community of Richmond

Student perspectives on worship services from Instructor Jennifer Garvin-Sanchez\u27s Religious Studies 108 Human Spirituality course at Virginia Commonwealth University

The Art of Processing a Collection

One of the most astounding things about Special Collections and Archives is that there is no necessarily right or wrong way to process a collection. If you have the same questions as I did when I first started, you may be wondering what exactly processing a collection means. Coming from a background of working in libraries, there has always been a right and wrong order, and most often than not the right way includes being alphabetical and chronological. However, that’s not always the case in Special Collections. What I’ve learned so far is that effectively processing a collection means to organize any array of papers, letters, artifacts, etc., in a manner that will make it easiest for researchers to either know if the collection could be useful to them, or quickly identify which parts of a collection they’re interested in. [excerpt

The Effect of Interaction with Therapy Horses on University Students\u27 Perceived Stress Level

This research project investigates how university students are affected by interacting with therapy horses. Stress is the factor that will be evaluated in this particular study. The self-rated stress scores will be acquired from University of Arkansas students both before and after interacting with specially trained therapy horses during an Equine Assisted Activity and Therapy (EAAT) class offered at the University. Stress will be evaluated by students taking a survey inquiring about daily stressors including finances, school, work and relationships. The data collected will be compared by pre- and post- interactions with the horses. We expect that the pre- and post- survey results will indicate lower stress levels following interaction with the therapy horses. Therapy horses’ calming and therapeutic effect on humans could result in stress relieving benefits for the University of Arkansas students participating in this study. This study could support the utilization of therapy horses to decrease stress for college students. Overall there was no significant evidence supporting a decrease in students stress levels in this study. Future studies will require a larger sample size as well as a control group. The possibility of horse therapy use in the decrease of stress levels of university students is valuable and should be studied further

An Examination of Localization Success Factors of Chinese Big Four Accounting Firms

In May 2012, the Chinese government mandated that once the Big Four accounting (KPMG, PwC, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte) joint venture agreements expire, the firms must begin to localize most of the senior management. Although most of the Big Four firms employ many locals, there are more expatriate partners than Chinese counterparts. Because of this, the Big Four firms must quickly find qualified local senior management personnel. Amongst compliance and global regulatory issues, the Big Four firms must develop a strategy for localizing. Through a survey, this study aims to examine how expatriates and local Chinese managers perceive the effectiveness of the firm’s current localization plan. By analyzing external and internal forces that affect localization, I will make recommendations for the joint-venture accounting firms to plan, create, and execute a successful localization strategy

Smart Phone Purchasing Habits among the University of New Hampshire Students

College students are more connected to technology now than ever, especially because a smart phone that has all of the capabilities of a computer is right in their pockets. This study delves into why students at the University of New Hampshire purchase their smart phones, how they use their smart phones, and how to better market toward profitable segments. The two segments found were the technology buffs, who are smart phone experts and are constantly on their devices, and the practical users who mainly use their smart phones for texting and calling. The results from the study showed that students perceived the iOS operating system to be the best with Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone following respectively. I recommend that these smart phone brands focus on the technology buffs and improve their perception among the campus to gain market share

Nothing Besides Remains: Preserving the Scientific and Cultural Value of Paleontological Resources in the United States

Receptor occupancy assessed by Positron Emission Tomography (PET) can provide important translational information to help bridge information from one drug to another or from animal to man. The aim of this thesis was to develop nonlinear mixed effects methods for estimation of the relationship between drug exposure and receptor occupancy for the two mGluR5 antagonists AZD9272 and AZD2066 and for the 5HT1B receptor antagonist AZD3783. Also the optimal design for improved estimation of the relationship between drug exposure and receptor occupancy as well as for improved dose finding in neuropathic pain treatment, was investigated. Different modeling approaches were applied. For AZD9272, the radioligand kinetics and receptor occupancy was simultaneously estimated using arterial concentrations as input function and including two brain regions of interest. For AZD2066, a model was developed where brain/plasma partition coefficients from ten different brain regions were included simultaneously as observations. For AZD3783, the simplified reference tissue model was extended to allow different non-specific binding in the reference region and brain regions of interest and the possibility of using white matter as reference was also evaluated. The optimal dose-selection for improved precision of receptor occupancy as well as for improved precision of the minimum effective dose of a neuropathic pain treatment was assessed, using the D-optimal as well as the Ds-optimal criteria. Simultaneous modelling of radioligand and occupancy provided a means to avoid simplifications or approximations and provided the possibility to tests or to relax assumptions. Inclusion of several brain regions of different receptor density simultaneously in the analysis, markedly improved the precision of the affinity parameter. Higher precision was achieved in relevant parameters with designs based on the Ds compared to the D-optimal criterion. The optimal design for improved precision of the relationship between dose and receptor occupancy depended on the number of brain regions and the receptor density of these regions. In conclusion, this thesis presents novel non-linear mixed effects models estimating the relationship between drug exposure and receptor occupancy, providing useful translational information, allowing for a better informed drug-development