Local Public Services in Wisconsin: Alternatives for Municipalities with a Focus on Privatization

Both rural and urban municipal officials, faced with increased local resistance to higher taxes, increasing expenditure needs, weakening financial support from higher levels of government, and the growing pressure to "do more with less" have accelerated their search for alternative ways of delivering local public services. The downsizing of government has been brought to the forefront of public discussion in part due to the general conservative shift at the federal and state level and the need to maintain a balanced budget at the local level. Related private sector trends downsizing middle management as a means to become "leaner and meaner," reducing duplication and waste, and increasing earnings, profit levels, and returns to investors. At the same time many local public officials are faced with rising costs to maintain an aging infrastructure, accommodating the needs of special populations, satisfying rules and regulations imposed by higher levels of government, funding new investments to meet the demands of a growing economy in some instances, or maintaining critical services in the face declining economies. In short, the rules of the game for effective management of local governments have changed.

Semi-Micro Analysis of Tungsten

The growing use of tungsten in high speed steels and for electrical purposes makes it increasingly desirable to include this element in the scheme of analysis. Metallic tungsten is seldom if ever found in nature, but occurs in several well-crystallized tungsten minerals of which Scheelite, CaW04 , is typical. From its position in the periodic table, Group VI - Series 6, one should expect tungsten to have amphoteric properties. Although we are more familiar with tungsten in the metallic state, it almost invariably behaves as a non-metal in chemical combination. For this reason in analytical work tungsten naturally falls among the anions

Job Satisfaction in School Psychology Graduate Preparation: A Pilot Study

This pilot study investigated the status of job satisfaction among school psychology faculty with the hope of gaining insight in to factors that may encourage doctoral-level graduates to pursue jobs in academia. A second purpose of the study was to discover areas of improvement in job satisfaction to support current faculty members in continuing in their chosen careers. Finally, the study sought to establish the reliability of a job satisfaction instrument for use in larger-scale studies. A total of 94 school psychology faculty members in specialist-level and/or doctoral-level National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)-approved programs completed an author-designed survey. The 34-item survey was clustered into the following categories: Compensation, Role/Function, Personal Fulfillment, Colleagues, Graduate Candidates, and Administrative Support/Resources. At an item level, participants reported overall satisfaction with their jobs and satisfaction in most areas of their employment. Exploratory analyses revealed only a few significant differences in individual item satisfaction. Specifically, participants ranked as Full Professor reported significantly higher satisfaction with the tenure and research expectations than those participants who identified themselves as Assistant Professors. Additionally, participants indicated job satisfaction in four out of six categories. Cronbach’s alpha for the overall instrument was .92 with the current sample

Quantitative Analysis of Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence Measurements in a Hypersonic Boundary Layer

Several quantitative measurements extracted from nitric oxide (NO) planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) data obtained in a hypersonic boundary layer are reported: (a) off-body NO mole fraction; (b) surface heat flux; and (c) near-wall static temperature. The experimental data was obtained at NASA Langley Research Centers 31 in. Mach 10 air tunnel. NO was seeded into the flow through a spanwise slot on the surface of the 10 degree half-angle wedge model. An ultraviolet planar laser sheet was positioned perpendicular to the wedge surface, downstream of the seeding slot, to excite six fluorescence transitions. A method for extracting the relative NO mole fraction, based on spatial variations of the J= 0.5 PLIF signal, is presented. Combined with the principle of mass conservation, the absolute NO mole fraction is determined. These measurements were used to assess CFD diffusion modelling, correct previously reported PLIF thermometry results, and develop methods for NO-PLIF heat transfer measurements

Novel Space Alters Theta and Gamma Synchrony Across the Longitudinal Axis of the Hippocampus.

Hippocampal theta (6–10 Hz) and gamma (25–50 Hz and 65–100 Hz) local field potentials (LFPs) reflect the dynamic synchronization evoked by inputs impinging upon hippocampal neurons. Novel experience is known to engage hippocampal physiology and promote successful encoding. Does novelty synchronize or desynchronize theta and/or gamma frequency inputs across the septotemporal (long) axis of the hippocampus (HPC)? The present study tested the hypothesis that a novel spatial environment would alter theta power and coherence across the long axis. We compared theta and gamma LFP signals at individual (power) and millimeter distant electrode pairs (coherence) within the dentate gyrus (DG) and CA1 region while rats navigated a runway (1) in a familiar environment, (2) with a modified path in the same environment and (3) in a novel space. Locomotion in novel space was related to increases in theta and gamma power at most CA1 and DG sites. The increase in theta and gamma power was concurrent with an increase in theta and gamma coherence across the long axis of CA1; however, there was a significant decrease in theta coherence across the long axis of the DG. These findings illustrate significant shifts in the synchrony of entorhinal, CA3 and/or neuromodulatory afferents conveying novel spatial information to the dendritic fields of CA1 and DG targets across the long axis of the HPC. This shift suggests that the entire theta/gamma-related input to the CA1 network, and likely output, receives and conveys a more coherent message in response to novel sensory experience. Such may contribute to the successful encoding of novel sensory experience

Impact of Iowa’s prescription monitoring program on opioid pain reliever prescribing patterns: An interrupted time series study 2003–2014

Objective. To evaluate the impact of Iowa’s prescription monitoring program (PMP), implemented in 2009, on opioid pain reliever (OPR) prescribing patterns. Methods. We conducted interrupted time series analyses using 2003–2014 health insurance claims from a private health insurer in Iowa. OPR prescriptions for all beneficiaries were included. Another data set included only OPR prescription for new opioid users required to have six months of insurance coverage. We evaluate four OPR prescribing patterns: 1) average daily dosage in morphine milligrams equivalents (MME), 2) MME per prescription, 3) average days’ supply per prescription, and 4) prescription rate per 1,000 insured person-years. We examined confounding and effect measure modification of the relationship between PMP and prescribing patterns by age and sex. Results. During the 12 years of follow-up, 1,512,388 insured Iowans contributed 6,169,634.92 person-years of follow-up. Of these, 505,274 patients filled 2,401,818 OPR prescriptions and 360,688 new OPR users filled as many first OPR prescriptions. The increasing trend of OPR prescription rates from 2003 to 2009 declined post-PMP. Similarly, there was a large decline in MME per day and MME per prescription. The OPR days’ supply kept increasing post-PMP implementation, albeit at a slightly slower rate than pre-PMP implementation. There was no confounding by age and sex; however, we observed heterogeneity by age and sex; patients aged 50 years and females received higher doses and more prescriptions pre-PMP and experienced the greatest declines post-PMP. Conclusions. Our study suggests that Iowa PMP implementation may have resulted in declines in OPR prescribing, and this impact varies by patient age and sex

Better Knee, Better Me™: effectiveness of two scalable health care interventions supporting self-management for knee osteoarthritis – protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Although education, exercise, and weight loss are recommended for management of knee osteoarthritis, the additional benefits of incorporating weight loss strategies into exercise interventions have not been well investigated. The aim of this study is to compare, in a private health insurance setting, the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of a remotely-delivered, evidence- and theory-informed, behaviour change intervention targeting exercise and self-management (Exercise intervention), with the same intervention plus active weight management (Exercise plus weight management intervention), and with an information-only control group for people with knee osteoarthritis who are overweight or obese