Analysis of Socio-Economic Factors in Correlation to Standardized Educational Test Scores

This paper describes the analysis of socio-eeonomic factors in correlation to standardized educational test scores. The scores used were from the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment exam distributed to fourth graders in New Jersey during the years 1999, 200l- 2003 [1-4]. The socio—economie factors are from the 2000 United States Census [5]. Simple regression and other statistical equations were used to compare the data from both sources with Microsoft Excel as a programming tool to perform the analysis

A study to determine the degree to which student nurses identify scientific principles and apply them in the bed bath procedure

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

YF-12 cooperative airframe/propulsion control system program, volume 1

Several YF-12C airplane analog control systems were converted to a digital system. Included were the air data computer, autopilot, inlet control system, and autothrottle systems. This conversion was performed to allow assessment of digital technology applications to supersonic cruise aircraft. The digital system was composed of a digital computer and specialized interface unit. A large scale mathematical simulation of the airplane was used for integration testing and software checkout

Spatially Resolved Galaxy Star Formation and its Environmental Dependence I

We use the photometric information contained in individual pixels of 44,964 (0.019<z<0.125 and -23.5<M_r<-20.5) galaxies in the Fourth Data Release (DR4) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to investigate the effects of environment on galaxy star formation (SF). We use the pixel-z technique, which combines stellar population synthesis models with photometric redshift template fitting on the scale of individual pixels in galaxy images. Spectral energy distributions are constructed, sampling a wide range of properties such as age, star formation rate (SFR), dust obscuration and metallicity. By summing the SFRs in the pixels, we demonstrate that the distribution of total galaxy SFR shifts to lower values as the local density of surrounding galaxies increases, as found in other studies. The effect is most prominent in the galaxies with the highest star formation, and we see the break in the SFR-density relation at a local galaxy density of $\approx 0.05$(Mpc/h)$^{-3}$. Since our method allows us to spatially resolve the SF distribution within galaxies, we can calculate the mean SFR of each galaxy as a function of radius. We find that on average the mean SFR is dominated by SF in the central regions of galaxies, and that the trend for suppression of SFR in high density environments is driven by a reduction in this nuclear SF. We also find that the mean SFR in the outskirts is largely independent of environmental effects. This trend in the mean SFR is shared by galaxies which are highly star forming, while those which are weakly star forming show no statistically significant correlation between their environment and the mean SFR at any radius.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures. Referee's comments included and matches version accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. For high resolution figures, see http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~welikala/pixelz/paper1

Hybrid expansions for local structural relaxations

A model is constructed in which pair potentials are combined with the cluster expansion method in order to better describe the energetics of structurally relaxed substitutional alloys. The effect of structural relaxations away from the ideal crystal positions, and the effect of ordering is described by interatomic-distance dependent pair potentials, while more subtle configurational aspects associated with correlations of three- and more sites are described purely within the cluster expansion formalism. Implementation of such a hybrid expansion in the context of the cluster variation method or Monte Carlo method gives improved ability to model phase stability in alloys from first-principles.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Life interrupted and life regained? Coping with stroke at a young age

Stroke is a leading cause of disability across the developed world, affecting an increasing number of younger people. In this article, we seek to understand the experience of stroke as a disabling life situation among young people and the strategies that they use to recover and cope. Directed content analysis was conducted from interviews with 17 community-dwelling stroke survivors aged 55 years and younger across the United Kingdom. The sample was drawn from a larger maximum variation sample of stroke survivors. Using the sociological concepts of biographical disruption and biographical repair as a guide, excerpts from the interviews pertaining to aspects of the patients’ life that were interrupted, in addition to how they coped with the changes, were selected and analysed. All individuals described an ‘‘altered sense of self,’’ a theme that included loss of identity, family disruption, and/or loss of valued activities. Individuals sought to adapt their sense of self by seeking external support, by restoring normality, and/or through positive reflection. Despite the adapted self that emerged, most individuals continued to experience impairments. While young stroke survivors adapt to their illness over time, they continue to experience impairments and disruptions in their personal and work lives.Aholistic model of rehabilitation that helps individuals regain the capacity for everyday activities related to work, family life, and leisure can begin to address the emotional ramifications of diseases such as stroke, restore wellness, and work towards minimizing the burden felt by family caregivers and children

Life interrupted and life regained? Coping with stroke at a young age

Stroke is a leading cause of disability across the developed world, affecting an increasing number of younger people. In this article, we seek to understand the experience of stroke as a disabling life situation among young people and the strategies that they use to recover and cope. Directed content analysis was conducted from interviews with 17 community-dwelling stroke survivors aged 55 years and younger across the United Kingdom. The sample was drawn from a larger maximum variation sample of stroke survivors. Using the sociological concepts of biographical disruption and biographical repair as a guide, excerpts from the interviews pertaining to aspects of the patients’ life that were interrupted, in addition to how they coped with the changes, were selected and analysed. All individuals described an ‘‘altered sense of self,’’ a theme that included loss of identity, family disruption, and/or loss of valued activities. Individuals sought to adapt their sense of self by seeking external support, by restoring normality, and/or through positive reflection. Despite the adapted self that emerged, most individuals continued to experience impairments. While young stroke survivors adapt to their illness over time, they continue to experience impairments and disruptions in their personal and work lives.Aholistic model of rehabilitation that helps individuals regain the capacity for everyday activities related to work, family life, and leisure can begin to address the emotional ramifications of diseases such as stroke, restore wellness, and work towards minimizing the burden felt by family caregivers and children

Assessing the Preferences for Criteria in Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Treatments for Rare Diseases

Background: Increasingly, multi-criteria decision analysis has gained importance as a method by which to assess the value of orphan drugs. However, very little attention has been given to the weight (relative preferences) of the individual criteria used in a framework. Aims: This study sought to gain an understanding of the preferential weights that should be allocated in a multi-criteria decision analysis framework for orphan drugs, from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Method: Using key MCDA criteria for orphan drugs reported in the literature, we developed an interactive web-based survey tool to capture preferences for different criteria from a general stakeholder sample who were requested to assign weights from a reimbursement perspective. Each criterion could be assigned a weight on a sliding scale from 0 to 100% as long as the sum of all the criteria was 100%. We subsequently used the interactive tool with an expert focus group, followed up with a group discussion regarding each criterion and their perspectives on the weight that each criterion should be allocated when assessing an orphan drug. The expert focus group participants were then able to adjust their weights, if the group discussion had changed their perspectives. Results: The interactive tool was completed by 120 general stakeholder sample from a wide range of countries and professional backgrounds and an expert focus group of ten members. The results showed the differences in perspectives on the importance of criteria. Both groups considered Treatment efficacy to be the most important criterion. The general stakeholder sample weighted Treatment safety at 12.03% compared to the expert focus group's average of 20%. The results also demonstrated the value of the group discussion, which provided additional insights into the perspectives on the importance of criteria in assessing orphan drugs. Conclusion: This study aimed to contribute to the important aspect of preferences for different criteria in MCDA. This study sheds light on the important aspect of the preferences of the different criteria. All respondents agreed on the relative importance of Treatment efficacy and Treatment safety, criteria that are captured in conventional cost-effectiveness studies, but they also expressed the view that in addition to those, several disease-related and drug-related criteria should be included in MCDA frameworks for assessing orphan drugs

Victoria: patient outcomes in palliative care: July - December 2014

The Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) assists services to improve the quality of the palliative care they provide through the analysis and benchmarking of patient outcomes. In this PCOC report, data submitted for the July to December 2014 period are summarised and patient outcomes benchmarked to enable participating services to assess their performance and identify areas in which they may improve