Values-Based Recruitment: Recruitment Strategy Effectiveness on Gaining Generation Z Matriculation

This study investigated the values of Generation Z students that matriculated at a rural mid-sized mid-west institution. Further, this study examined what recruitment strategies were effective in gaining this populations matriculation and the intersection of values and recruitment strategy effectiveness. A quantitative method was utilized with a mixed model approach. Participants included students that were born between 1995 and 2010 that were enrolled during the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters as first-time first-year students. Findings indicated that this population values Honesty, Hard-Work, Personal Growth, Financial Fulfillment, and Education. The most effective recruitment strategies to gain matriculation were indicated to be relationship-based recruitment strategies such as Faculty One-on-One Appointments and Shadow Visits. There was no indication of a relationship between values and recruitment strategy effectiveness. However, some values were influenced by demographic factors such as gender and high school location. A recommendation for student affairs professionals would be to investigate the values of the student population at a given institution and ensure that the campus climate reflects the values of the students

Values-Based Recruitment: Recruitment Strategy Effectiveness on Gaining Generation Z Matriculation

This study investigated the values of Generation Z students that matriculated at a rural mid-sized mid-west institution. Further, this study examined what recruitment strategies were effective in gaining this populations matriculation and the intersection of values and recruitment strategy effectiveness. A quantitative method was utilized with a mixed model approach. Participants included students that were born between 1995 and 2010 that were enrolled during the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters as first-time first-year students. Findings indicated that this population values Honesty, Hard-Work, Personal Growth, Financial Fulfillment, and Education. The most effective recruitment strategies to gain matriculation were indicated to be relationship-based recruitment strategies such as Faculty One-on-One Appointments and Shadow Visits. There was no indication of a relationship between values and recruitment strategy effectiveness. However, some values were influenced by demographic factors such as gender and high school location. A recommendation for student affairs professionals would be to investigate the values of the student population at a given institution and ensure that the campus climate reflects the values of the students

Watts Up with That: Comparing Wind Farms in Texas and California while Explaining Why Farm Quantity Does Not Overcome Wind Quality

Since the 1980s, California has been the leader in wind energy for the United States. In 2004, wind energy produced 1.5 percent of the state’s electricity. That is 4,258 x 108 kilowatt hours per year. The California wind farms producing the most energy are located in three regions: Altamont Pass, Tehachapi, and San Gorgonio. Research for California will be focused on the southern part of the state – the regions of Tehachapi and San Gorgonio. Presently, California has five major wind farms. This project will examine the major wind farms in both Texas and California. California was in the number one spot for wind energy production in the United States until 2006, when Texas took the lead. Texas is currently the number one wind energy producer in the United States with major wind farms in its central and eastern regions. In 2010, wind energy produced 12 percent of the electricity in Texas. In 2011, Texas created 1,039 x 104 kilowatt hours per year of energy. Roscoe Wind farm, the largest in Texas, produced 800,000 kilowatt hours per year alone. This is enough to power approximately 265,000 homes. Texas currently has 32 major wind farms. Major wind farms will be defined as farms with wind turbines producing more than 120,000 kilowatt hours per year. California can prove to other states on the shores that multiple wind farms are not necessary to produce a valuable amount of energy

Heart failure: re-evaluating causes and definitions and the value of routine cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging

Objective To differentiate the demographics and imaging characteristics of a heart failure population using a comprehensive echocardiographic protocol and routine CMR imaging, and to assess the clinical value of routine CMR in this population. Methods A novel comprehensive diagnostic pathway for heart failure was prospectively applied to 319 new patients attending the Darlington and Bishop Auckland heart failure clinic between May 2013 and July 2014. All had a full clinical assessment and an initial basic clinical transthoracic echo performed. Those patients given a diagnosis of heart failure went on to have routine CMR imaging as well as a more detailed echo scan incorporating a variety of systolic and diastolic measurements. Retrospectively, a cohort of 116 patients with left ventricular systolic impairment, that had both CMR and invasive coronary angiography, were analysed to determine the ability of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) CMR to predict prognostic coronary artery disease. Main results 1. Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFREF) accounted for the cause of heart failure in 73% of cases whereas heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) accounted for only 14% of cases. 2. Incorporating CMR into the routine assessment of newly diagnosed heart failure patients changed the diagnosis in 22% of cases (14% of cases for those who had an echo performed on the same day). 3. CMR left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) averages 3.9% units higher than Simpson’s Biplane LVEF with echo. 4. Regional wall motion score (RWMS) equations were inferior to a Simpson’s Biplane assessment of LVEF by echo and cannot be advocated for routine clinical use. 5. The presence of subendocardial LGE on CMR demonstrated infarcts in 42% of those with HFREF, 20% of those with HFPEF, and 40% of those with heart failure with no major structural disease (HFNMSD). 6. The absence of subendocardial LGE excluded prognostic coronary disease in 100% of cases. 7. LGE in a non subendocardial distribution was prevalent in both the HFREF and HFPEF community with a greater average burden in the HFPEF group. 8. E/e’ and left atrial volume index (LAVI) were the most helpful echo measures for a positive diagnosis of HFPEF and could be measured in over 90% of cases. 9. Systolic dysfunction out with reduced ejection fraction is present in 76% of the HFPEF cohort. Conclusion Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) is not the epidemic previous literature would have us believe. It is over-diagnosed in current practice due to lax definitions and inappropriately low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) cut-offs. CMR has a substantial impact on the diagnostic profile of the heart failure population. It revokes the diagnosis of HFREF to a greater extent than is accounted for by the temporal improvement in LVEF, even when taking into account method specific LVEF thresholds. CMR with LGE has additive value for identifying infarcts in a sizeable number of patients for whom there is no suspicion of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), and raising the novel concept that ischaemia may account for symptoms in many of those with HFNMSD. It also demonstrates an impressive ability to exclude prognostic coronary disease. Additionally, LGE in a non subendocardial distribution establishes aetiology including myocarditis and sarcoidosis that would not be detected with echo alone. The diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is not standardised and all current protocols are deficient. The cause and mechanism of this condition remains unclear and this study helped clarify the contribution of systolic versus diastolic dysfunction versus simply the presence of atrial fibrillation. Key diagnostic parameters were identified for routine clinical use and CMR LGE imaging demonstrating a greater average burden of non subendocardial LGE may support the postulated fibrotic infiltrative mechanism of pathology in this group

Weak government, strong parliament? A preview of Theresa May’s legislative challenges

Being the first without a majority in the Commons or the Lords for 40 years, how will May’s minority government implement any part of their legislative agenda? How will committees function? Will the smaller parties in the Commons work together? Marc Geddes, Alexandra Meakin, and Louise Thompson offer a preview of how the 2017 Parliament may function

Understanding the Enumerated World: Making Sense of Data as an Information Source

Chapter in ACRL publication The Data Literacy Cookbook. This recipe is a guide to preparing an instructional session aimed at postsecondary students in the social or health sciences or related disciplines on locating, evaluating, and using secondary data sources as information resources. Who collects data? Where can you access them? Why are data available on some topics and not others? Why are some statistics available at a detailed level of geography and others only nationally? What are some key limitations of official statistics, and where can information be found to fill in the gaps? This recipe uses these questions to encourage students to consider how data are used as information source

Marked expansion of exocrine and endocrine pancreas with incretin therapy in humans with increased exocrine pancreas dysplasia and the potential for glucagon-producing neuroendocrine tumors.

Controversy exists regarding the potential regenerative influences of incretin therapy on pancreatic β-cells versus possible adverse pancreatic proliferative effects. Examination of pancreata from age-matched organ donors with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) treated by incretin therapy (n = 8) or other therapy (n = 12) and nondiabetic control subjects (n = 14) reveals an ∼40% increased pancreatic mass in DM treated with incretin therapy, with both increased exocrine cell proliferation (P < 0.0001) and dysplasia (increased pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia, P < 0.01). Pancreata in DM treated with incretin therapy were notable for α-cell hyperplasia and glucagon-expressing microadenomas (3 of 8) and a neuroendocrine tumor. β-Cell mass was reduced by ∼60% in those with DM, yet a sixfold increase was observed in incretin-treated subjects, although DM persisted. Endocrine cells costaining for insulin and glucagon were increased in DM compared with non-DM control subjects (P < 0.05) and markedly further increased by incretin therapy (P < 0.05). In conclusion, incretin therapy in humans resulted in a marked expansion of the exocrine and endocrine pancreatic compartments, the former being accompanied by increased proliferation and dysplasia and the latter by α-cell hyperplasia with the potential for evolution into neuroendocrine tumors