Creating Easy and Fun GIS Web Applications

Applications for GIS can be far more than just maps, spatial and network analysis, or geocoding. The tools that are available can be fun and useful for many different types of people with varying levels of experience. With the availability with ArcGIS Online Web AppBuilder a person without much experience in GIS can make a professional quality presentation that highlights different related attributes. This talk will showcase recent applications that I created with the ArcGIS Story Map Tour and Story Map Text and Legend templates for a Purdue University GIS class. These tools show the countrywide travels of an airline pilot for a month of schedules, and the different locations and places in which he comes into contact. This highlights the variations of map templates, widgets and spatial scale allowed while having fun with GIS in a real world practice

A Subcontinental Reconstruction of Invasion Patterns and Processes for the Past Two Centuries

Understanding large-scale invasion patterns and processes is essential for effective and proactive management of exotic species that have caused significant ecological and economic damages. While many studies have focused on specific habitats and species, my research is aimed at the broad-scale patterns of expansion during the course of the past two centuries. I use long-term herbarium specimens to recreate the spatiotemporal distributions of 29 invasive plant species within the eastern United States. The emerging spatial patterns reveal species’ expansion through a continuum of radial expansion, long distance jump dispersals, and range infilling. This study identifies a set of metrics that is able to quantitatively measure the changing morphology of the spatiotemporal patterns that emerge at macroscales. Utilizing graph and network theory I additionally reconstructed the most plausible processes of the invasion expansion. Results show that invasion is closely facilitated by human activity and there are considerable commonalities of distribution and dispersal patterns among invasive plant species

The Underrepresentation of Low Socioeconomic Status Children in Gifted and Talented Programs

The problem is children from low socioeconomic status households are often underrepresented in gifted and talented programs. Only a small percentage of these students is selected to participate in the district\u27s gifted program. The purpose of the study was to help appropriately identify and include low SES children in the district\u27s gifted program. The social constructivist foundation was applied for a better understanding of how the environment affects a child\u27s learning and how social factors contribute to cognitive development, which could possibly alter the perceptions of how successful children can be. The guiding questions revolved around the teachers\u27 perceptions of elementary (K-6) gifted and talented program\u27s identification process in finding all children in need of advanced curriculum and instruction regardless of socioeconomic status level. A qualitative case study is designed to collect data from 6 elementary gifted and talented teachers from 1 district. Information was gathered through interviews, then transcribed and through the lens of the social constructivist framework, axial coding followed as well as use of open coding. Through the field notes some strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations were gathered about the gifted program. The identified the codes used supported answering the research question and subquestions. This project study has the potential to create social change by guiding teachers to understanding all children, regardless of their background, can learn through developing a stronger identification process and more locations to grow awareness of the opportunity

Firms' Organization of Global Production: Theory and Evidence

It is increasingly common for firms to break up their production process across different regions and countries. While the existing literature credits improvements in communication technology with enabling fragmentation, there is practically no empirical evidence on the determinants of firms' sourcing strategies. In this dissertation, I document the roles of communication technology, distance to suppliers, and labor cost differences in a firm's decisions about i) whether to fragment production across distinct geographic locations; ii) whether to offshore fragmented production; and iii) how much to offshore. To do so, I construct an original data set about U.S. plants' and firms' fragmentation choices. The data yield a rich set of new facts about firms' sourcing decisions which I incorporate into a theoretical model. I then use the new data to test the model's predicted equilibrium relationships and to assess the relative importance of communication technology, distance, and labor costs in firms' sourcing strategies. I construct the fragmentation dataset using new information about U.S. manufacturing plants' decision to contract for manufacturing services from domestic or foreign suppliers in 2007. Chapter two describes these data and presents ten new stylized facts about plants' and firms' sourcing decisions. Most notably, the data show that fragmentation: (i) is 13 times more prevalent from domestic than foreign suppliers; (ii) is done mostly by larger and more productive plants; and (iii) varies substantially within industries. The new facts are also consistent with the premise that firms fragment to access cheaper labor but that they pay a fixed cost to do so. In the third chapter, I incorporate these new facts into a model of heterogeneous firms that decide where to locate the various stages of their production process. Firms fragment production to access cheaper labor, but breaking up production is costly. Firms incur a fixed cost to establish a supply network and additional per-task costs to coordinate production and transport inputs. The fixed costs deliver standard productivity sorting predictions, while the marginal costs add a new dimension of heterogeneity in firms' organization of production. In particular, firms with access to better communication technology, or in locations closer to their potential suppliers, will find fragmentation relatively more profitable. The model also shows that firms in high wage locations have more to gain from fragmentation, while firms in low wage states must offshore to access cheaper wages. The fourth chapter provides an empirical assessment of the model's predicted equilibrium relationships. I estimate the relative importance of labor cost savings, technology, and distance to suppliers in a plant's decision to fragment production. The estimates indicate that plant use of electronic networks (as a proxy for communication technology) is associated with an 18 percentage point increase in the probability of fragmentation, and a ten point increase in the probability of locating fragmented production offshore. While wage differences and distance to suppliers also have statistically significant relationships with plants' sourcing strategies, communication technology accounts for five times more of the explained variation than wages and distance combined. In contrast, for the decision about how much to offshore, wage differences are relatively more important than distance, and technology explains almost none of the observed variation. Because plant technology may be endogenous, I estimate the differential impact of plants' use of electronic networks on fragmentation in industries whose production process can be codified electronically more easily. As expected, plant use of electronic networks has a bigger impact on fragmentation in industries that are better able to specify production processes electronically. However, plants that use networks in industries with high electronic codifiability are less likely to locate their fragmented production offshore. Estimates from firm-country level import data suggest that successful electronic communication depends upon suitable technology in the sourcing location. The results support the premise that technology facilitates production fragmentation, but uncover substantial heterogeneity in technology's effectiveness across firms, industries, and sourcing locations

How wired are U.S. hospitals? A study of patient-oriented interactive tools

This study examined U.S. hospital websites to find out how they have used interactive tools to engage and serve their patients. The findings and recommendations from this study will provide guidance to the development of the U.S. hospitals and even beyond for at least the next decade. A content analysis was conducted to compare The Most Wired Hospitals with the total U.S. hospital population and compare the 2018 data and the 2011 data so as to observe the horizontal and vertical differences. The study has found that, in 2018, U.S. hospitals have adopted significantly more interactive tools and reached an average of 8.5 tools; core e-business tools have gained the biggest increase; most of such tools almost reached ubiquity among the Most Wired Hospitals. The study concludes that using interactive tools to serve patients on U.S. hospital websites and on social media is becoming a norm, that the majority of U.S. hospitals were adequately equipped to interact with their patients through their websites, and that whether to make a hospital website action-driven is more determined by the hospital administration’s awareness, determination, and strategic planning than by hospital size

Anger Management Program Participants Gain Behavioral Changes in Interpersonal Relationships

RELAX: Alternatives to Anger is an educational anger management program that helps adults understand and manage anger, develop communication skills, manage stress, and make positive behavioral changes in their interpersonal relationships. A sample of 1,168 evaluation surveys were collected from RELAX: Alternatives to Anger participants over 3 program years (2013–2015). A dependent t-test on the mean composite scores for the group and calculation of individual preprogram-to-postprogram change scores showed that the program was effective overall. The RELAX: Alternatives to Anger curriculum is appropriate for workplace wellness programs, Extension programming for audiences such as farm families and 4-H volunteers, and Extension staff professional development

Monitoring Prediabetes Screening in Two Primary Care Clinics in Rural Appalachia: A Quality Improvement Project

Introduction: Prediabetes is major risk factor for the development of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). One-third of the population in the United States has prediabetes, but 90% remain undiagnosed because healthcare providers are not performing screenings, making this a public health challenge. The purpose of this process improvement project was to implement prediabetes screening, prediabetes identification, and a referral process to a nutritionist to prevent or delay the onset of T2DM in patients in two Federally Qualified Health Centers. Methods: This was a quality improvement project conducted over a six-week period after receiving exemption from the University’s Internal Review Board. The Knowledge to Action framework was used to guide implementation of screening, prediabetes identification, management, and referral process. The outcomes were to measure the number and percent of screenings performed after provider education on prediabetes screening, those at risk for prediabetes, and the evidence-based interventions providers chose for management. The prediabetes risk assessment tool (PRAT) was the “Are you at risk for Type 2 Diabetes?” It was administered in both English and Spanish to adults who were not pregnant and had no previous diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus or T2DM. The preferred interventions included referral to a nutritionist, encourage 5%-7% total body weight loss, and/or 150 minutes of exercise per week. The PRAT and interventions data were coded, extracted into SPSS Version 25, and analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used to report patient characteristics, quantity of screenings performed, evidence-based recommendations offered, and patient risk factors for prediabetes. Results: In both clinics, 41% (n=269) of patients screened were found to be at risk for prediabetes. The most self-reported risk factor for prediabetes was family history of T2DM. Healthcare providers mostly provided education on weight loss and exercise, and recommended/referred less than 20% (n=49) of patients for nutritional education. The screening rates in the clinics were 52% (n=92) at site A and 72% (n=177) in site B, falling below the goal of 100%. Conclusions: There remains a gap in provider knowledge and use of evidence-based recommendations to decrease patients’ risk for prediabetes. The authors project that implementation of the PRAT and evidence-based interventions in the electronic health record would positively impact future screening results. This project set the benchmark for future efforts to educate, encourage, and measure providers successes