Relationship Quality among Married Couples

Having a high quality relationship is a key part of a marriage. In this project, I performed an econometric analysis to determine what impacts a couple\u27s relationship quality. Using a survey of Married and Cohabiting Couples created by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research, a regression model was estimated. The conclusions of this study were that listening, communicating well, showing love and affection, and encouragement are all important factors in determining relationship quality among married couples

Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in House Member Offices, 2009-2013

[Excerpt] This report provides pay data for 13 staff position titles that are typically deployed in the offices of Members of the House. The positions include the following: Caseworker; Chief of Staff; Counsel; District Director; Executive Assistant; Field Representative; Legislative Assistant; Legislative Correspondent; Legislative Director; Office Manager; Press Secretary; Scheduler; and Staff Assistant. House Member staff pay data for the years 2009-2013 were developed based on a random sampling of staff for each position in each year

Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices, FY2009-FY2013

[Excerpt] This report provides pay data for 16 staff position titles that are typically deployed in Senators’ offices. The positions include the following: Administrative Director; Casework Supervisor; Caseworker; Chief of Staff; Communications Director; Counsel; Executive Assistant; Field Representative; Legislative Assistant; Legislative Correspondent; Legislative Director; Press Secretary; Scheduler; “Specials Director,” a combined category that includes the job titles Director of Projects, Director of Special Projects, Director of Federal Projects, Director of Grants, Projects Director, or Grants Director; Staff Assistant; and State Director. Senators’ staff pay data for the years FY2009-FY2013 were derived from a random sampling of Senators’ offices in which at least one staff member worked in a position in each year

"What do you Mean I Cannot Consent For My Grandmother's Medical Procedure?": Key Issues With State Default Surrogate Decision Making Laws

When a patient is unable to make medical decisions, a health care surrogate must be designated to make decisions on the patient's behalf. Studies show that fewer than 20% of patients have completed health care representative forms to legally designate a surrogate. Without a prior designation, surrogates are determined via state statute. Currently, there is no up-to-date comprehensive evaluation of state surrogate legislation. A survey of state legislative codes was conducted to determine: 1) whether the state has a default surrogate statute; 2) who is included as an acceptable legal surrogate; and 3) whether there is a hierarchy to determine a final decision-maker. Currently, 36 states have enacted some form of surrogate statute. There is little consistency between states regarding who may serve as a surrogate decision- maker. The key challenges with state laws include: 1) a narrow list of persons who qualify as allowable legal surrogates; and 2) a lack of a hierarchy to determine a final decision-maker. The results of this survey show that state surrogate decision making laws have many flaws which could affect patient care. The narrow construction of state laws can leave patients in situations where they either have no qualified surrogate under the law, or where they have multiple surrogates with competing interests who may be unable to reach consensus on the patient's medical care. State laws need to be changed so that they accurately reflect the realities of clinical practice and expanded to allow a broader spectrum of potential surrogates

Mojave Applied Ecology Notes Fall 2009

USDA working to manage invasive annual grasses, effects of heat and smoke on red brome soil seed bank, how burial depth and substrate affect germination of Sahara mustard and red brome, environmental effects of the southern Nevada groundwater projec

Toward an Understanding of Norwegian Dwelling

Neither traditional nor modern Norwegian artifacts have received significant critical attention or appreciation in mainstream histories of we stem art or architecture. This lack of cultural exportation has to do with the fact that surveys of art and architecture history, as well as close studies of the modern period, have tended to focus on canonical works, and, often as a result, the artifacts of Norway have been excluded from this mainstream history. In response to this paucity of scholarship, this study investigates the intersections between Norway\u27s art and culture through a synthesis of phenomenal readings of the country\u27s built landscape ,formal analysis of selected works, and research of Norwegian culture and society in regional and cultural studies literature. The research questions that will guide the project developed, in large part, from situations I observed during a 2001 study tour. This experience made clear that understanding aesthetics in Norway also demanded understanding how memory, dwelling, perception, and expression of national identity operate in the environment. Drawing from the frameworks of human-environment relations, the psychology of aesthetics. and phenomenology as well as traditional formal analysis, the study will engage interdisciplinary methods to analyze Norway\u27s art and the cultural landscape of which it is part

Disabled Without Benefits: The Impacts of Recent Social Security Reform on Disabled Children

In 1996, Congress passed sweeping reforms aimed at overhauling the welfare system. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act ( PRWORA ) included a new definition of childhood disability that, it is estimated, excluded 100,000 children from SSI benefits. This Note explains the changes implemented within the childhood disability system and explains the reasoning behind those changes. It then argues that the regulations promulgated in response to PRWORA exclude truly disabled children from receiving disability benefits. These regulations violate the Social Security Act, are inconsistent with the stated policies of the Social Security Administration and draw arbitrary distinctions, violating the legislative intent of the Social Security Act

Perchlorate Reduction by Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria

Perchlorate (ClO4-) contaminated water is becoming a wide-spread problem as more sites are being identified worldwide. Biological perchlorate reduction is a promising alternative to conventional physical/chemical treatment processes and has the advantage of reducing perchlorate to the benign products, chloride and oxygen. A number of bacteria are capable of reducing perchlorate using a variety of electron donors including organic carbon compounds, hydrogen, iron, and reduced sulfur compounds. Previous studies in our laboratory successfully used a novel, sulfur oxidizing bacterial consortium (SUPeRB) to reduce perchlorate in both batch culture and in packed bed reactors (PBR). There were two main objectives of this research. The first objective was to construct and operate an ex-situ pilot scale PBR using SUPeRB cultures, with elemental sulfur pellets and crushed oyster shells as a packing material. The second objective was to investigate the role of the oyster shell as a buffer, organic carbon source, adsorbent, and/or attachment site to gain a better understanding of the SUPeRB process. The first study examined the scale up of a PBR for treatment of water from a perchlorate and RDX contaminated aquifer in Massachusetts with low-level background nitrate levels. The pilot-scale PBR (~250-L) was constructed with elemental sulfur and crushed oyster shell packing media and was inoculated with SUPeRB cultures enriched from a wastewater seed. Sodium sulfite provided a good method of dissolved oxygen removal in batch cultures, but was found to promote the growth of sulfate reducing bacteria, which inhibited perchlorate reduction in the pilot system. After terminating sulfite addition, the PBR successfully removed 96% of the influent perchlorate in the groundwater at an empty bed contact time (EBCT) of 12 hours (effluent perchlorate of 4.2 µg L-1 ). Simultaneous perchlorate and nitrate degradation was observed in the lower half of the reactor before reactions shifted to sulfur disproportionation. Analyses of water quality profiles were supported by molecular analysis showing distinct groupings of perchlorate and nitrate degrading organisms in the bottom of the PBR, while sulfur disproportionation was the primary biological process occurring in the top of the reactor. The use of crushed oyster shells as an alkalinity source in the SUPeRB process was found to enhance perchlorate degradation. The second study examined the role of oyster shells as a buffer, organic carbon source, attachment site, and adsorbent in the SUPeRB process. Perchlorate degradation was monitored in microcosms comparing the base case (sulfur and oyster shells) to systematic variations. The necessity for direct microbial attachment was examined by isolating sulfur pellets, oyster shells, or bacteria from the culture using membranes. The oyster shell maintained a favorable pH for perchlorate reduction (k=23.7 day-1 g protein-1 ), but this could not completely explain the enhanced perchlorate reduction rates. SUPeRB cultures were found to be capable of mixotrophic metabolism, which increased rates of perchlorate reduction fivefold. Heating oyster shells impaired perchlorate degradation due to the diminished availability of organic carbon for cellular synthesis. Oyster shells reduced bacterial toxicity, possibly by hydrogen sulfide adsorption. The necessity for direct microbial attachment to the solid oyster shell matrix was unclear, though proximity to oyster shells was more important than to sulfur

A Square Peg into a Round Hole: Trade Dress Protection of Websites, the Perspective of the Consumer and the Dilemma for the Courts

This Note explores the legalities of trade dress protection for a website, the enforcement of such protection, and what is necessary to protect the “look and feel” of a website. Further, this Note claims it is nearly impossible to protect the “look and feel” of a website because the functionality of the site will always trump protection