Assessment: Stopping the Revolving Door at Rock Valley Community College

The concept of an open door for anyone who wants to attend a community college regardless of that person\u27s educational background is an admirable one. The reality, however, is that the open door too often becomes a revolving door. Students from ages eighteen to eighty choose to attend community colleges for a multitude of reasons. These students often have the proper motivation, but they frequently face failure because they lack the requisite basic skills to succeed. At Rock Valley College, the decision was made to stop the revolving door

Marshall University Department of Music presents the Marshall University Chamber Choir

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1019/thumbnail.jp

The Effect of Ubiquitous Information on Algorithms

Recent advances in replicated epistemologies and scalable modalities have paved the way for Moore's Law. After years of essential research into write-back caches, we validate the compelling unification of IPv7 and expert systems, which embodies the technical principles of software engineering. In this paper, we concentrate our efforts on disproving that the much-touted decentralized algorithm for the visualization of IPv4 by Sun and Watanabe is in Co-NP

A New Long-tailed Weasel County Record in Shenandoah National Park

Though abundant throughout much of its range, the ecology and local geographic distribution of Mustela frenata (Long-tailed Weasel) is not well-known, especially in the central Appalachian Mountains. In 2015, we conducted a camera study in rock outcrop habitats within Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Our objective was to determine the presence of mammals considered uncommon in these habitats. After 2,016 trap nights, we report eleven photographic captures of Long-tailed Weasels at eight sites. Two of these sites represent the first record of this species in Rappahannock County, Virginia. These detections represent the first record of Long-tailed Weasels in Shenandoah National Park in 60 years and extend their known range within the Park

Pharmacists’ opinions of the value of CAPE Outcomes in hiring decisions

Objective. The Hiring Intent Reasoning Examination (HIRE) was designed to explore the utility of the CAPE 2013 outcomes attributes from the perspective of practicing pharmacists, examine how each attribute influences hiring decisions, and identify which of the attributes are perceived as most and least valuable by practicing pharmacists. Methods. An electronic questionnaire was developed and distributed to licensed pharmacists in four states to collect their opinions about 15 CAPE subdomains plus five additional business related attributes. The attributes that respondents identified were: necessary to be a good pharmacist, would impact hiring decisions, most important to them, and in short supply in the applicant pool. Data were analyzed using statistical analysis software to determine the relative importance of each to practicing pharmacists and various subsets of pharmacists. Results. The CAPE subdomains were considered necessary for most jobs by 51% or more of the 3723 respondents (range, 51% to 99%). The necessity for business-related attributes ranged from 21% to 92%. The percentage who would not hire an applicant who did not possess the attribute ranged from 2% to 71.5%; the percentage who considered the attribute most valuable ranged from 0.3% to 35%; and the percentage who felt the attribute was in short supply ranged from 5% to 36%. Opinions varied depending upon gender, practice setting and whether the pharmacist was an employee or employer. Conclusion. The results of this study can be used by faculty and administrators to inform curricular design and emphasis on CAPE domains and business-related education in pharmacy programs

Temporal Change in Fur Color in Museum Specimens of Mammals: Reddish-Brown Species Get Redder with Storage Time

Museum collections have great value for zoological research, but despite careful preservation, over time specimens can show subtle changes in color. We examined the effect of storage time on fur color of two reddish-brown species, golden mice (Ochrotomys nuttalli) and eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus). Using image analysis, we obtained color data (hue, saturation, and density) on 91 golden mice and 49 chipmunks from Georgia, USA. Analyses that considered body size, gender, and collection year showed significant effects of year on fur color of golden mice (hue and saturation) and of agouti color of chipmunks. Older specimens tended to be redder in color than newer specimens, consistent with a prior study of red bats (Lasiurus borealis). Hair samples showed reddening of fine body hairs, but not in thicker guard hairs. There was no temporal change in black or white stripe color in chipmunks, indicating that this temporal effect would be limited to species with reddish-brown fur. This effect may be caused by breakdown of eumelanin pigments (which make dark colors) over time, leaving a greater proportion of pheomelanin pigments (which make red colors). These results show that storage time needs to be considered in research projects where fur color is of importance

Trends in Racial Disparities in Pancreatic Cancer Surgery

Objectives: We tested three hypotheses: (1) blacks with pancreatic cancer are recommended surgical resection less often than whites; (2) when recommended surgical resection, blacks refuse surgery more often than whites; and lastly, (3) racial differences in refusal of surgical resection have decreased over time. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients with potentially resectable, nonmetastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry from 1988 to 2009. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess whether differences in the proportion of whites versus blacks refusing surgery among patients recommended for resection changed over time. Results: A total of 35,944 patients were included; most were white (87.6%). After adjusting for covariates including tumor stage, pancreatic cancer resection was less often recommended to and performed in blacks compared with whites (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82-0.95; aOR 0.83, 95% CI 0.76-0.91, respectively). Blacks also underwent surgical resection less often when surgery was recommended (aOR 0.73, 95% CI 0.64-0.85). Racial disparities in surgery recommendation and its performance did not decrease from 1988 to 2009. In multivariable adjusted analyses, blacks refused surgery more often when it was recommended (aOR in 1988 4.75, 95% CI 2.51-9.01); this disparity decreased over time (aOR 0.93 per year, 95% CI 0.89-0.97). Conclusions: Although racial disparities in pancreatic cancer surgery refusal have diminished over the past two decades, significant disparities in the recommendation and performance of surgery persist. It is likely that both provider- and patient-level factors have a substantial impact on surgery recommendation and its acceptance. The identification of such factors is critical to design a framework for eliminating disparities in cancer-directed surgery for pancreatic cance