An Eyeball, a Rock, and a Purple Rubber Ducky: Portraits of Leaders Implementing AP and IB Open Enrollment Programs Concurrently at One Urban High School in the Southeast

With the disproportionately low number of minority and underprivileged students enrolled in advanced courses when compared to their more affluent peers, there has been a steady increase in the number of administrators employing open enrollment AP and IB programs in their high schools. There are multiple studies examining the effect of those open enrollment programs on student achievement and performance, but there is a noticeable gap in the extant literature utilizing hermeneutic phenomenology and portraiture to distill the essence of administrators’ lived experience within such an equity-minded initiative. This research study, anchored in the southeastern United States, sought to document and interpret the lived experience of leadership team members implementing both AP and IB open enrollment programs in their singular school site. To ascertain the administrators’ lived experience, the researcher collected data using the hermeneutic circle, Groenewald’s (2004) Phenomenological Research Design, Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis’s (1997) portraiture, and a slight modification of Seidman’s (2006) in-depth phenomenological interview sequence. To ensure triangulation occurred in the study, the researcher included artifact analysis and memoing in conjunction with a modification of the in-depth phenomenological interview sequence. Data explication involved line-by-line coding to determine general and unique themes spanning all interviews and artifacts to give voice through portraits to administrators’ lived experience concurrently implementing an AP and IB open enrollment program in their high school

An analysis of gender differences in property crime arrest rates

This dissertation examined the relationship between employment conditions and property-crime arrest rates of working-aged individuals, using gender-specific state-level data from 1979-2001, complied from raw arrest data of the FBI\u27s Uniform Crime Reports and the Census Bureau\u27s annual March Current Population Survey. These data were analyzed using Ordinary Least Squares Regression. The data was disaggregated by gender and underemployment indicators such as percent unemployed, percent subunemployed, percent low wages, and percent low hours, were utilized to test the unemployment-crime relationship. Controls for race, age, and region were also included in this analysis, as they may influence the U-C relationship. The analysis revealed labor market indicators influence male and female property crime arrest rates differentially. Specifically, none of the labor market indicators were significant for males, while two were significant for females, namely, percent unemployed and percent low wages. This indicates increases in unemployment and low wages have a more detrimental effect on females. The control variable, percent minority proved to be significant in multiple models for males and females. This indicates that areas with substantial minority populations will have increased property crime arrest rates for both male and female offenders. These findings verify the supporting literature as well as some theoretical assumptions of this dissertation. This dissertation also empirically illustrated that the gender gap in property crime arrest rates between 1980 and 2000 has narrowed. Specifically, during the period of 1980, the mean property crime arrest rate for males was 3.8 times more than that of females, 3.14 times more than that of females in the 1990 period, and 2.37 times more than that of females in the 2000 period. Essentially, a trend was detected. This indicates the mean difference between male and female property crime arrest rates declined between 1980 and 2000. Thus, a primary research question of this dissertation, concerning trends, has been empirically satisfied. While the analysis for this dissertation yielded mixed and inconclusive results, as far as identifying key predictors for property crime arrests rates for male and female offenders, this study established the groundwork for an operational model in gender difference research in criminology

Burden of diabetes-related foot disease in North Queensland, Australia

Chanika Alahakoon investigated the burden of Diabetes-related foot disease (DFD) in North Queensland, Australia. She found that the readmission rate following DFD was around 50% and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had significant distal vessel disease with a higher risk of major amputation. Prevention of DFD through offloading footwear is recommended for those with DFD

The overview of utilizing complementary therapy to relieve stress or anxiety in emergency department patients: animal-assisted therapy, art therapy, and music therapy

The Emergency Department could be a stressful environment for patients. Anxiety and depression may develop due to the atmosphere, in addition to patients’ concerns for their health conditions. The condition could potentially affect the experience of the patient in the Emergency Department and the quality of life after the visit. Pharmacological therapy could be administered to the patients. However, adverse effects may be associated with the treatment. Less aggressive complementary treatment approaches are presented in this article. Controlled clinical trials and randomized pilot studies of different complementary therapies, including animal-assisted therapy, art therapy, and music therapy, were conducted. The complementary therapies discussed in this article showed positive outcomes for patients with hospital-induced anxiety and has no adverse effect reported. Hence, hospitals may consider introducing complementary therapies, such as those mentioned in this study, to improve the patients’ experiences in the Emergency Departmen

Plasma Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Dysregulation in Defining Aggressiveness of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background. High circulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels tend to reflect tumor aggressiveness for being associated with tumor progression and prognosis. Measurement of soluble VEGF receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1) may improve diagnostic power of VEGF assay. Methods. This study investigated regulation of plasma VEGF by sVEGFR-1 in 82 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma compared with 32 healthy subjects to obtain information for assay characterization. Results. Normality or abnormality of VEGF/sVEGFR-1secretion patterns was rated into five diagnostic levels from definitely abnormal (likelihood ratios) (LRs = 4–∞) to definitely normal (LRs = 0–0.17). Because of ineffective VEGF regulation, high grade tumor had a greater chance (62.5%) than low grade tumor (20%) in expressing a definitely abnormal pattern and a lower chance to express the normal pattern (P = 0.007). VEGF alone had much lower diagnostic power in differentiating between normal (LRs = 0.3–0.9) and abnormal secretion patterns (LRs = 2.2–2.4). Conclusions. VEGF dysregulation is suggestive of tumor aggressiveness for causing persistent plasma VEGF elevation. sVEGFR-1 improves diagnostic power of VEGF assay particularly in identifying subset of low grade tumor with underlying aggressive disease and ruling out aggressiveness in subset of high grade tumor

A Survival Analysis on United States Labor-Force and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Policy Repeals

It is an undeniable fact that the economy of the United States of America has very much benefited directly and indirectly from the pooled skilled labor force of both legal and illegal immigrants. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to compare and contrast the survival function of the United States labor-force as well as employed DACA recipients’ and, in the process, fit a Cox Proportional Hazard (Cox PH) model to the sampled data. The study utilized secondary and extant sources of immigration data on DACA immigrants between 2012 and 2015, coupled with labor-force data from 1995 to 2015. Additionally, the study adopted the Pearson’s chi-square test statistic to evaluate the null hypothesis. As part of the results, the study found that, given the assumption of the same time limit, the U.S.A.  labor force has about 78% survival within the local (U.S.A) economy, with the absence of the labor force from DACA recipients. However, when the DACA employees are added, under the same conditions, the survival of the labor force grew up to 90%, with all other things being equal. Also, the total U.S.A. labor force is more likely to experience the total risk (or cumulative hazard) rate of about 30% within the local economy. However, out of the 30% cumulative hazard rate, which is more likely to be experienced by the entire economy, about 12% will be borne by the fewer DACA employees, who are yet to face deportation. The study has the conclusion that, for the continuous growth and survival of the labor force of the United States of America, there is the need for continuity and expansion of the DACA policy. Keywords: Immigrants, Labor-Force, Survival Analysis, Hazard Rate, Employment, & DACA

The Theoretical Perspective and Strands of the Social Contract as Espoused in the Works of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau: It’s Effects on the Contemporary Society

It is an undeniable fact that the Social Contract theory developed at the transition period from feudalism to capitalism, whereby the feudal system – which is based on absolutism and the absolute right of kings -- was being fought. The theory came as a means of explaining and justifying the existence of governments, and that government should emerge from the will of the people. It is not, therefore, surprising that in democracies, one hears about the government of the people, by the people and for the people. The Social Contract -- as espoused by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacque Rousseau, as three dynamic thinkers, and also by a few other modern philosophical thinkers -- is a convention between men that aims to discard the proverbial “State of Nature”, whereby people are to live without government or written laws. With his famous phrase, Rousseau, in fact, says it best when he has often been quoted as pointing out that "man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains". Hobbes and Locke agree very much with Rousseau, hence they underscore in unison that modern nations do repress the physical freedom that is our birthright as human beings, and that we do nothing to secure the civil freedom for the sake of which human beings enter into civil society. Contextually, these thinkers have concretely confirmed that legitimate political authority does stem from only a social contract that can be agreed upon by all citizens of a nation for their mutual survival or preservation. Later, the theory became an impetus for as well as reflected in the English Revolution, the French Revolution and the American Revolution, which led to the declaration of American independence. Keywords: Social Contract, Good Will, Democracy, State of Nature, Feudalism, Society, Government, Absolutism and Liberalis

Giving Voice to Voiceless: Engaging Urban Youth for Possibilities

This symposium will discuss the expansion of The Education Effect – Booker T. Washington, as a university community school partnership designed to engage urban youth for college and career readiness. The partnership is focused on developing collective impact and capacity for academic achievement, social success and college completion. The partnership aligns university expertise, resources and evidenced based strategies to address educational needs through the improvement of teaching and learning; increase graduation rate and parental involvement

Field evaluation of effects of seed size and density on establishment and grain yield in pearl millet

Call number: LD2668 .T4 AGRN 1988 C53Master of ScienceAgronom