School Size and Socioeconomic Status on Mathematics and Literacy Achievement for Students in Arkansas

The purpose of this dissertation was to add to the limited available research concerning the effects of size of school and socioeconomic status (SES) on literacy and mathematics achievement for students in Grades 9 through 12 in Western and Northwestern Arkansas. Of the four high schools, two were larger 6A/7A schools, and two were smaller 3A/4A schools. In all four hypotheses, the independent variables were size of school and SES measured by lunch status. In the first hypothesis, the dependent variable was literacy achievement as measured by student performance on the 2012 End of Course (EOC) literacy examination. In the second hypothesis, the dependent variable was mathematics achievement as measured by student performance on the 2012 EOC geometry examination. In the third hypothesis, the dependent variable was literacy achievement as measured by student performance on the reading portion of the 2012 American College Test (ACT). In the fourth hypothesis, the dependent variable was mathematics achievement as measured by student performance on the mathematics portion of the 2012 ACT. A review of the literature identified the various aspects of the effects of size of school and SES on student achievement in reading and mathematics. This causal comparative study was conducted in Western and Northwestern Arkansas with Grades 9 through 12 in four high schools in four districts. The sample for this study included students from two larger 6A/7A high schools and two smaller 3A/4A high schools. School A was a higher-SES high school with a free and reduced lunch percentage of 39%, and School B was a lower-SES high school with a free and reduced lunch percentage of 59%. The two other high schools used in this study were small 3A/4A schools. School C was a higher-SES high school with a free and reduced lunch percentage of 40%, and School D was a lower-SES high school with a free and reduced lunch percentage of 65%. All of these schools were located in the northwestern part of Arkansas and had largely White student populations with roughly equal numbers of males and females. Students from the four high schools in a Northwest Arkansas school district were identified to participate in this study. The 2011–2012 demographics of the districts as a whole were 50.75% free and reduced lunch status. There were approximately 92% White, 7% Black, and 8.5% Hispanic. Students with disabilities made up approximately 10% of the total population of approximately 19,000. A 2 x 2 factorial ANOVA was used to analyze the data collected for each of the four hypotheses. The results of this study showed no significant interaction effects between the effects by SES of students attending larger 6A/7A schools versus smaller 3A/4A schools on literacy and mathematics achievement measured by EOC literacy and mathematics testing and ACT reading and mathematics testing for students in Grades 9 to 12. In all four hypotheses, no significant interaction effect existed. The main effect for size of school was not found to be significant for any of the four hypotheses involving students in 9th through 12th grade, regardless of the dependent variable. However, the results for Hypothesis 2, which dealt with the results for EOC geometry, were somewhat less conclusive though still not significant. In analyzing the means, the scores of the 9th and 10th grade students participating in the free/reduced lunch program from 6A/7A schools were virtually identical to 9th and 10th grade students from 3A/4A schools, but the non-participants in 6A/7A schools scored roughly 11 points ahead of non-participants in 3A/4A. Among non-participants, size of school did appear to make some impact but not enough to make a significant difference. Many of the studies reviewed revealed findings similar to this study. Some studies revealed a greater difference in size of school and SES. No sweeping generalizations regarding size of school can be made. The effects of size of school differ depending on individual communities and schools. SES, however, was found to be a rather consistent predictor in measuring student achievement

Popular sovereignty, slavery in the territories, and the South, 1785-1860

The doctrine of popular sovereignty emerged as a potential solution to the crisis over slavery in the territories because it removed the issue from the halls of Congress. Most historians have focused on its development and implementation beginning in the late 1840s and culminating with passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, but have not recognized its significance in earlier debates over slavery. Popular sovereignty, which took various forms and received different definitions, appeared as a potential solution to the problem of slavery extension as early as the first decade of the nineteenth century when settlers in the Louisiana Purchase and the Old Northwest demanded the right to govern their own domestic institutions. This work charts its development beginning with the earliest debates over the extension of slavery in the territories and traces its place in political discussions until the breakup of the Union. Focusing on the idea of popular sovereignty illustrates how Americans perceived democracy and democratic institutions, specifically the division of power between states and the federal government. The issue of slavery in the territories became a flash point in the debate over the nature of the Union in the earliest years of the republic; it persisted to the coming of the Civil War. The expansion of slavery remained a contentious issue throughout the nation’s first eighty years, even though the terms of the debate changed significantly over time. Popular sovereignty offered a way to avert a clash over the future of slavery by affirming the right of residents in the territories to determine slavery’s future within their jurisdiction. Ultimately, the doctrine failed to settle the crisis over slavery in the territories because northerners and southerners could not agree on how the people would exercise self-government. Placing the future of slavery in the hands of settlers in the territories presented a risk to both northerners and southerners. The North feared that they would permit slavery; the South believed that antislavery citizens would seize control of territorial governments and prohibit slavery

X-ray Radiative Signatures Influenced by Nonthermal Effects in High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasmas of Mid-Atomic-Number Z-pinches

Spectroscopy is a powerful utility for noninvasive investigation of high-energy-density (HED) plasma environments with broad application to atomic physics, astrophysics, and HED laboratory physics, including inertial confinement fusion (ICF), making it an inimitable tool for interdisciplinary science. Spectroscopic examination of plasma radiation can yield robust information on plasma conditions such as, temperature, density, size, and elemental composition. Plasma radiation is an atomic fingerprint, providing insight into the diverse microphysics of the complex and intricate plasma system. X-ray radiation, for example, is a signature of ionization kinetics in mid-to-high-Z atoms. X-rays, moreover, are notably valuable for diagnosing HED plasmas, where thermal and nonthermal x-ray features describe, in general, “hot” and “cold” plasmas, respectively. This dissertation focuses on identifying and characterizing nonthermal effects and radiative properties in HED laboratory Z-pinch plasmas. Nonthermal effects describe the interaction of non-Maxwellian electrons or high-energy, external photons with inner-shell electrons in plasma ions, producing distinct radiative signatures which, for example, can diagnose the cooler regions of ICF plasmas as well as plasma accretion around astrophysical compact objects. Z-pinch plasmas are efficient x-ray sources, presenting an attractive platform for laboratory astrophysical studies, such as x-ray-driven emission properties of black hole accretion zones and stellar iron opacity, and for benchmarking spectroscopic codes against plasmas under controlled conditions. In this dissertation, three research projects are presented on two types of pulsed-power Z-pinches of mid-atomic-number material using a suite of experimental, theoretical, and computational techniques. Two projects investigate the role of non-Maxwellian electrons in K-shell Fe, Cr, Ni, and L-shell Mo X-pinch plasmas produced on the Zebra generator at the University of Nevada, Reno. Experimental techniques include analysis of x-ray diode signals (> 3 keV) concurrent with source size evolution to showcase x-ray radiative properties of stainless steel X-pinches of different geometries (in the first project) and measurements of x-ray line polarization, induced from non-Maxwellian electron impact, in L-shell Mo X-pinch spectra (in the second project). Theoretical techniques include spectroscopic modeling of K-shell Fe, Cr, and Ni plasmas to infer plasma parameters as well as analysis of relative line intensity ratios of analogous Fe and Cr line emission to explore plasma opacity. Notable results include: (1) production of hotter, thermal K-shell plasmas with enhanced satellite line emission and an inferred fraction of 0.5% nonthermal electrons for small-angle X-pinches, (2) the first measurements of x-ray line polarization (≤ 15%) in HED Ne-like Mo X-pinch spectra, which are used to characterize nonthermal electron beam energies of 4 – 30 keV (confirmed by diagnostic signals and x-ray spectra). The third study examines nonthermal Fe K-shell fluorescence, driven by a thermal radiation field, in a Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) plasma produced on the Sandia National Laboratories’ Z-machine. This is performed with a novel Monte Carlo Radiation Transport post-processing code, which employs a computational screened-hydrogenic atomic data package to self-consistently calculate atomic processes underpinning radiative transfer. Numerical computation of atomic data and radiation transport are performed to interrogate the spatial origins of the Fe fluorescence, revealing a broad spatial distribution (~107 m) of Fe fluorescence production in a MagLIF liner plasma shell, centered ~264 m from the pinch axis

Decreasing Pain in Pediatric Patients During Intravenous Catheter Insertions on the Pediatric Inpatient Surgery Unit

Abstract As healthcare in the United States transforms, the voice of advocacy for pediatric patients is also evolving. The act of inserting a peripheral intravenous (IV) catheter for medical care of a pediatric patient is one of the most common invasive procedures in the healthcare industry. However, the preventable pain accompanying such a common procedure is often overlooked. Pediatric patients are different than adults due to the lack of physiological and psychological development. When a peripheral intravenous catheter is inserted without pain prevention interventions, there are long-term and short-term consequences for the patient and family. In turn, there are many benefits attributed to utilizing pain prevention interventions during IV insertions. For this project, the standardization of topical analgesics for pain prevention interventions is the main focus for decreasing pediatric pain during IV insertion. For this evidence-based project, the purpose is to implement and standardize the use of topical analgesics for pain prevention interventions during peripheral IV insertions for pediatric patients. The aim of this project is as follows: By December 1, 2022, at least 85% of pediatric patients admitted on the inpatient surgical unit at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, requiring peripheral intravenous access, will receive topical analgesics as a form of pain prevention interventions. Keywords: pain, peripheral intravenous catheter, pediatrics, interventio

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Chronic Administration of a Leupeptin-Derived Calpain Inhibitor Fails to Ameliorate Severe Muscle Pathology in a Canine Model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Calpains likely play a role in the pathogenesis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Accordingly, calpain inhibition may provide therapeutic benefit to DMD patients. In the present study, we sought to measure benefit from administration of a novel calpain inhibitor, C101, in a canine muscular dystrophy model. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that treatment with C101 mitigates progressive weakness and severe muscle pathology observed in young dogs with golden retriever muscular dystrophy (GRMD). Young (6-week-old) GRMD dogs were treated daily with either C101 (17 mg/kg twice daily oral dose, n = 9) or placebo (vehicle only, n = 7) for 8 weeks. A battery of functional tests, including tibiotarsal joint angle, muscle/fat composition, and pelvic limb muscle strength were performed at baseline and every 2 weeks during the 8-week study. Results indicate that C101-treated GRMD dogs maintained strength in their cranial pelvic limb muscles (tibiotarsal flexors) while placebo-treated dogs progressively lost strength. However, concomitant improvement was not observed in posterior pelvic limb muscles (tibiotarsal extensors). C101 treatment did not mitigate force drop following repeated eccentric contractions and no improvement was seen in the development of joint contractures, lean muscle mass, or muscle histopathology. Taken together, these data do not support the hypothesis that treatment with C101 mitigates progressive weakness or ameliorates severe muscle pathology observed in young dogs with GRMD

Disaggregation and Targeting of Universal Service Support

Introduction The actual cost of providing telecommunications services in rural America is generally higher, per customer, than is the cost of providing these services in urban areas. This difference is due in part to the lower density of population of rural areas. Rural carriers, in contrast to urban carriers, have fewer customers to share basic fixed costs (for example, switches) and these customers are separated by greater distances, increasing outside plant costs, than are their urban counterparts. The disparity in costs is also related to the economies of scale and economies of skill enjoyed by large urban carriers that are not available to rural carriers. For example, the Federal Communications Commission’s forward-looking economic cost model shows a cost of $866.27, without adjustment for overhead costs, to provide a local loop in a Wyoming wire center, compared to a cost of$9.97 to provide a local loop in a New York City wire center.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60280/1/austinchilders.pd

Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications

Airborne gravimetry has become an important geophysical tool primarily because of advancements in methodology and instrumentation made in the past decade. Airborne gravity is especially useful when measured in conjunction with other geophysical data, such as magnetics, radar, and laser altimetry. The aerogeophysical survey over the West Antarctic ice sheet described in this paper is one such interdisciplinary study. This paper outlines in detail the instrumentation, survey and data processing methodology employed to perform airborne gravimetry from the multiinstrumented Twin Otter aircraft. Precise positioning from carrier-phase Global Positioning System (GPS) observations are combined with measurements of acceleration made by the gravity meter in the aircraft to obtain the free-air gravity anomaly measurement at aircraft altitude. GPS data are processed using the Kinematic and Rapid Static (KARS) software program, and aircraft vertical acceleration and corrections for gravity data reduction are calculated from the GPS position solution. Accuracies for the free-air anomaly are determined from crossover analysis after significant editing (2.98 mGal rms) and from a repeat track (1.39 mGal rms). The aerogeophysical survey covered a 300,000 km2 region in West Antarctica over the course of five field seasons. The gravity data from the West Antarctic survey reveal the major geologic structures of the West Antarctic rift system, including the Whitmore Mountains, the Byrd Subglacial Basin, the Sinuous Ridge, the Ross Embayment, and Siple Dome. These measurements, in conjunction with magnetics and ice-penetrating radar, provide the information required to reveal the tectonic fabric and history of this important region

Efficient precision simulation of processes with many-jet final states at the LHC

We present a scalable technique for the simulation of collider events with multi-jet final states, based on an improved parton-level event file format. The method is implemented for both leading- and next-to-leading order QCD calculations. We perform a comprehensive analysis of the I/O performance and validate our new framework using Higgs-boson plus multi-jet production with up to seven jets. We make the resulting code base available for public use.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 2 table