A Study on the Performance of the Luxury Industry during the Financial Crisis

This thesis explores the financial performance of firms engaged in the production of luxury goods and services, as measured over a recessionary period. Specifically, it relates firms’ performance to the performance of the United States economy at large, as well as a control firm operating in a different market segment. This analysis revealed the comparatively poor performance of the luxury industry throughout the most recent recession. As economic conditions weakened firms within the luxury industry faced below-average earnings and profits

Instructional Systems and Curriculum Development

The field of curriculum development is one of vital significance with respect to the field of education as a whole. This field represents a complex and sometimes worrisome aspect of educational administration. Many of the problems of today\u27s system stem from inadequacies in the curriculum. This thesis is presented as a possible aid in the correcting of three of curriculum development\u27s most significant concerns: relevancy, accountability, and individualization. The statement of the thesis problem is: How can the integration of instructional systems aid in making curriculum more relevant, accountable, and individual? It is the proposal of this thesis to answer this question by presenting content material in two specific areas: curriculum development and instructional sysyems. Background material is presented in both areas to acquaint the reader the basic principles and, drawing from this material, develops the rationale that will answer the thesis question. Information is provided that will be of value to all who are interested in this area. It assumes a rather modest entry level with respect to instructional systems and is, therefore, beneficial to those who are un-acquainted with this topic

Instructional Systems and Curriculum Development

The field of curriculum development is one of vital significance with respect to the field of education as a whole. This field represents a complex and sometimes worrisome aspect of educational administration. Many of the problems of today\u27s system stem from inadequacies in the curriculum. This thesis is presented as a possible aid in the correcting of three of curriculum development\u27s most significant concerns: relevancy, accountability, and individualization. The statement of the thesis problem is: How can the integration of instructional systems aid in making curriculum more relevant, accountable, and individual? It is the proposal of this thesis to answer this question by presenting content material in two specific areas: curriculum development and instructional sysyems. Background material is presented in both areas to acquaint the reader the basic principles and, drawing from this material, develops the rationale that will answer the thesis question. Information is provided that will be of value to all who are interested in this area. It assumes a rather modest entry level with respect to instructional systems and is, therefore, beneficial to those who are un-acquainted with this topic

Behavioral Problems in Schools: Ways to Encourage Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) of Discipline-Evoking Behavior of Students with Emotional and/or Behavioral Disorders (EBD)

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) of aggressive and negative behaviors that lead to suspension and expulsion is mandated for students with disabilities in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997. This legal requirement is problematic for many school districts as well as teacher preparation programs in that numerous barriers to effective application of FBA exist within our educational institutions. The present article discusses some of the major challenges school districts personnel face in implementing FBAs. A school improvement initiative, Success4, is presented to illustrate an approach that the state of Iowa is taking to overcome these challenges. Finally, we present arguments for fundamental changes in educational policies and practices in order to enhance school district effectiveness and accountability in conducting functional behavioral assessments. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

Integrated spectral energy distributions of binary star composite stellar populations

This paper presents theoretical integrated spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of binary star composite stellar populations (bsCSPs) in early-type galaxies, and how the bsCSP model can be used for spectral studies of galaxies. All bsCSPs are built basing on three adjustable inputs (metallicity, ages of old and young components). The effects of binary interactions and stellar population mixture are taken into account. The results show some UV-upturn SEDs naturally for bsCSPs. The SEDs of bsCSPs are affected obviously by all of three stellar population parameters, and the effects of three parameters are degenerate. This suggests that the effects of metallicity, and the ages of the old (major in stellar mass) and young (minor) components of stellar populations should be taken into account in SED studies of early-type galaxies. The sensitivities of SEDs at different wavelengths to the inputs of a stellar population model are also investigated. It is shown that UV SEDs are sensitive to all of three stellar population parameters, rather than to only stellar age. Special wavelength ranges according to some SED features that are relatively sensitive to stellar metallicity, young-component age, and old-component age of bsCSPs are found by this work. For example, the shapes of SEDs with wavelength ranges of 5110-5250AA, 5250--5310AA, 5310--5350AA, 5830--5970AA, 20950--23550AA are relatively sensitive to the stellar metallicity of bsCSPs. The shapes of SEDs within 965-985AA, 1005--1055AA, 1205--1245AA are sensitive to old-component age, while SED features within the wavelength ranges of 2185--2245AA, 2455--2505AA, 2505--2555AA, 2775--2825AA, 2825--2875AA to young-component age.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, Accepted to publish in MNRA

Pediatric Malaria with Respiratory Distress: Prognostic Significance of Point-of-Care Lactate

Respiratory distress (RD) in pediatric malaria portends a grave prognosis. Lactic acidosis is a biomarker of severe disease. We investigated whether lactate, measured at admission using a handheld device among children hospitalized with malaria and RD, was predictive of subsequent mortality. We performed a pooled analysis of Ugandan children under five years of age hospitalized with malaria and RD from three past studies. In total, 1324 children with malaria and RD (median age 1.4 years, 46% female) from 21 health facilities were included. Median lactate level at admission was 4.6 mmol/L (IQR 2.6–8.5) and 586 patients (44%) had hyperlactatemia (lactate \u3e 5 mmol/L). The mortality was 84/1324 (6.3%). In a mixed-effects Cox proportional hazard model adjusting for age, sex, clinical severity score (fixed effects), study, and site (random effects), hyperlactatemia was associated with a 3-fold increased hazard of death (aHR 3.0, 95%CI 1.8–5.3, p \u3c 0.0001). Delayed capillary refill time (τ = 0.14, p \u3c 0.0001), hypotension (τ = −0.10, p = 0.00049), anemia (τ = −0.25, p \u3c 0.0001), low tissue oxygen delivery (τ = −0.19, p \u3c 0.0001), high parasite density (τ = 0.10, p \u3c 0.0001), and acute kidney injury (p = 0.00047) were associated with higher lactate levels. In children with malaria and RD, bedside lactate may be a useful triage tool, predictive of mortality

WCN24-931 AKI Phenotypes in Ugandan children hospitalized with Hypoxemia and Malaria

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent life-threatening complication in hospitalized children. Emerging data suggest AKI is a heterogeneous condition that varies based on the underlying cause and is composed of distinct phenotypes. The objective of this study was to define AKI phenotypes using proposed classification systems in Ugandan children hospitalized with hypoxemia and to evaluate differences in phenotypes by malaria infection. Methods: Between 2019 and 2021, 2402 Ugandan children \u3c5 years of age hospitalized with hypoxemia were enrolled in a cluster randomized trial of solar powered oxygen delivery across 20 districts in Uganda. At enrollment, urine NGAL was measured using a point-of-care lateral flow test with a positive test defined as a level ≥150ng/mL. Malaria was assessed using a threeband rapid diagnostic test. In an extended sub-study, 491 children had creatinine measured to define AKI. AKI was defined using a single creatinine measure at enrolment and phenotypically characterized using two acute dialysis quality initiative (ADQI) proposed AKI phenotypes. The AKI biomarker definition incorporated urine NGAL into the KDIGO definition[group 1, no AKI; group 2, subclinical AKI (biomarker positive); group 3, AKI; group 4, biomarker positive AKI]. The ADQI sepsis AKI phenotype groups stage 1 AKI as sepsis phenotype (SP)-1 irrespective of biomarker status and differentiates severe AKI (stage 2/3) based on biomarker positivity where severe AKI that is biomarker negative is (SP2) and severe biomarker positive AKI is SP3. Results: Overall, 491 children were included in the extended study with AKI defined and uNGAL measured. The median age was 1.3 years (interquartile range, 0.7 to 2.3) and 53.8% of children were male. There were 4 deaths (0.8%) and 24 children required transfer to a higher-level health facility (4.9%). Among children included, 91.2% met a clinical definition of pneumonia and 49.5% were positive for malaria. The frequency of creatinine defined AKI was 32.0% (157/491) and 36.5% (179/491) were biomarker positive. AKI was associated with a 3.24-fold increase in mortality (95% CI 0.34 to 31.4) but underpowered to show a difference. In children without malaria, 17.7% were biomarker positive and AKI negative (subclinical AKI, 44/248) while 37.5% of children had AKI (93/284) of whom 39.8% (37/93) were biomarker positive. In children with malaria, 14.0% had subclinical AKI, 34/243), 59.3% had AKI (144/243) with 44.4% of AKI cases biomarker positive (64/144). Children with malaria had a higher frequency of AKI compared to children without malaria (59.6% vs. 37.6%, p\u3c0.001) but comparable frequency of a positive biomarker test (41.3% vs. 36.2%, p=0.10). Using the sepsis phenotype criteria, 16.3% of children had SP1, 17.9% were SP2 and 14.1% were SP3. When evaluating the sepsis phenotype by malaria status, children with malaria were more likely to have SP2 (23.1% vs. 12.9%) and SP3 (18.1% vs.10.1%) compared to children without malaria (p\u3c0.001). Conclusions: In this population of children hospitalized with hypoxemia across 20 health centers in Uganda, KDIGO-defined AKI was more common in children with malaria. While there was no difference in the AKI-biomarker classification based on malaria status, children with malaria were more likely to have severe phenotypes of AKI

WCN24-2067 Regional differences in acute kidney injury in Ugandan children hospitalized for Hypoxemia

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with increased mortality in hospitalized patients and incidence is highest in resource limited settings. The objective of this study was to assess sub-National regional differences in the incidence of AKI in children \u3c5 years of age hospitalized with an acute febrile illness and hypoxemia. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial, which enrolled children \u3c5 years of age hospitalized with hypoxemia between 2019 and 2021. At least one measure of kidney function was available in 1452 children. A single creatinine was measured at enrolment in a sub-set of 495 children with serum stored and AKI defined using KDIGO criteria where baseline creatinine was estimated using the age-based Pottel equation assuming a normal glomerular filtration rate of 120mL/min per 1.73m2. Markers were divided into structural (uNGAL positive, proteinuria, hematuria) or functional (AKI, saliva urea nitrogen (SUN)) measures of kidney injury. Results: 1452 children were included in this AKI sub-study (Figure 1). The mean age of participants was 1.49 years (standard deviation (SD), 1.21) and 55.7% were male (809/1452). Overall 2.6% of children died (38/1452). The majority of participants enrolled were from the West (31.3%) followed by the East (25.3%), North (24.1%), and Central (19.4%) regions. In general, 48.5% of children had AKI (240/495), the prevalence was highest in Eastern Uganda with 62.4% of children having AKI compared to 25.0% of children in Western Uganda, 44% in Central region and 53% in Northern region (p\u3c0.001). Over a third of children had urine NGAL levels ≥150ng/mL, a marker of structural damage, irrespective of site and rates comparable across sites (p=0.095). Other measures of functional and structural kidney injury varied across sites, proteinuria ranged from 6.3% to 14.0% with rates lower in Central and Eastern Uganda compared to Northern and Western Uganda. Hematuria was over two times more common in Eastern and Northern Uganda compared to Central and Western Uganda. Of all the children 49.0 % were positive for malaria based on rapid diagnostic test (RDT) either as positive pLDH or both pLDH and HRP-2. The presence of a single band positive RDT for HRP-2 alone was associated with increased risk of AKI, severe AKI, elevated BUN, a positive SUN test and urinalysis positive for hematuria or urobilinogen (unadjusted p\u3c0.05). Children with a 3-band positive RDT were more likely to have proteinuria, hematuria, bilirubinuria and urobilinogen by dipstick (unadjusted p\u3c0.05). Regional differences in AKI persisted after adjusting for malaria, age, and sex. Conclusions: As we move towards the ISN 0by25 initiative which aims to eliminate preventable deaths from AKI worldwide by 2025. This study provides key in-country data from a resource limited setting, demonstrating marked regional differences in the incidence of AKI in children hospitalized with hypoxaemia and malaria remains an important predictor of AKI. The substantial within-country heterogeneity of AKI highlights the need for further studies to evaluate regional contributors to local patterns of AKI