Scholarly Engagement & Research Partnerships at UNO: Nebraska Benefits

How do you bring to life a College’s mission that includes helping the community solve important problems

Tips to Ensure Impact: Finding and Applying Financial Data to Governance Challenges

Finding and applying financial data to governance challenges Breakout Sessio

Method Effects and the Need for Cognition Scale

Individual differences in the need for cognition are typically assessed using the 18-item Need for cognition scale (NCS) developed by Cacioppo and Petty (1982). However, in contrast to the unidimensional model proposed by the scale developers, recent factor analyses have introduced two -and three- dimensional models of the scale. Confirmatory factor analyses were used in this study to evaluate different measurement models based on data provided by 590 (236 males, 354 females) young adult members of the general public. Although some alternative models showed promise, a single factor model with method effects associated with positively and negatively worded items provided best fit. Implications for the asses sment of need for cognition are considered

PILOTs: What Are They and Are They Affected by Institutional and/or Economic Constraints? The Case of Wisconsin Municipalities

Following the rise of tax and expenditure limitations in the 1970s, scholars have focused on assessing the effects of these limitations on local government fiscal outcomes. One key takeaway has been local governments’ decreasing reliance on property taxes and increased use of nontax revenue sources, in particular fees and changes. This study builds on this work by focusing on a particular type of fee—that is, payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs). We find that, in Wisconsin, revenues received by municipalities from two PILOTs programs are affected quite differently. The extent to which the economy, municipal fiscal condition, tax and expenditure limits, and community characteristics affect PILOTs’ revenues depends on the extent to which the municipality can manipulate the payment structure

Greater Omaha Chamber: 2017 Diversity and Talent Inclusion Study Final Report

Description of Respondents: The primary objective of this project was to hear from Black YPs in Greater Omaha. The efforts to achieve an adequately sized sample of Black YPs was generally successful. Of the 675 useable respondents, their racial/ethnic identities were White/Caucasian (n=399, or 59%), Black/African American (n=181 or 27%) and Hispanic/Latino n=32 or 5%). Retention: Omaha has been successful in attracting YP’s – of the survey respondents, 48% moved to Greater Omaha from somewhere else and another 19% came back to Omaha after living elsewhere. Retention is a greater challenge, as 80% of the surveyed YPs would choose to live elsewhere. The retention challenge is even greater when broken out by race/ethnicity – 87% of Black YPs surveyed would choose to live elsewhere. Fortunately, there is an important difference between choosing to live elsewhere and actually moving elsewhere. When asked if respondents intend to be living in Omaha in the next five years, only 15% of YPs said no. More Black YPs do not intend to be living in Omaha in five years (23%). Sense of Community: Black young professionals think it is important to feel part of the community, yet on each of the six related questions, they feel less connected than other YPs:• Feeling connected to Omaha (44% vs. 62%); and • Greater Omaha helps me fulfill my needs (43% vs. 67%). Lived Environment: What are those community attributes that matter to YPs? We asked three sets of questions – economic, social and physical – on two dimensions, importance and satisfaction. On each of these dimensions, we found sizeable gaps in responses based on race/ethnicity, particularly on the dimension of satisfaction; Black young professionals are generally less satisfied than other YPs.• Economic Aspects: local job opportunities and cost of living were most important to respondents and the gaps in satisfaction, based on race/ethnicity, were most noticeable. Black YPs were noticeably from other YPs in the following areas: - Availability of job opportunities (59% vs 80%); - Average income (46% vs. 66%); - Range of industries (53% vs. 70%); and - Affordable housing (54% vs. 69%).• Physical Aspects: the most important finding had to do with public schools. While nearly all respondents rated public schools as important, only 36% of Black young professionals were satisfied with public schools in Great Omaha (compared to 58% of other YPs). Black YPs were also 5 less satisfied with the quality of trails/bike paths (46% vs. 55%) but more satisfied with the availability of public transportation (31% vs. 12%).• Social Aspects: the importance of neighborhood friendliness and feeling safe were rated high by all YPs. The importance of neighborhood diversity varied based on race/ethnicity: 92% of Black young professionals rated diversity important compared to 76% of other YPs. Black young professionals were consistently less satisfied with: - Local arts and music (51% vs. 75%);- Friendliness of neighbors (57% vs. 80%); - Recreational opportunities (46% vs. 61%); and - Diversity of local residents (33% vs. 46%). Workplace: In the workplace, similar disparities were found based on race/ethnicity. Several responses to questions are highlighted: • Black young professionals are: - More frequently feeling overqualified (36% vs. 24%), are - Less frequently satisfied with their salary based on education and experience (39% vs 55%), and are - Less frequently satisfied with their current position (64% vs. 78%). • Black young professionals are less confident they have an equal opportunity to be hired in Greater Omaha (49% vs. 76%) and are less confident they have an equal opportunity for promotion or advancement (43% vs. 67%). • Fewer Black young professionals reported having a professional mentor than did other YPs (57% vs. 70%). • On the positive side, many respondents were satisfied with opportunities for professional development and there were only modest differences based on race/ethnicity

Surveying the Effects of Limitations on Taxes and Expenditures: What Do/Don’t We Know?

The literature on tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) is extensive and continues to grow, as the impact of these institutional constraints on fiscal and economic outcomes continues to develop. In this survey, we review the literature of state- and local-level TELs, in an attempt to provide an overview of their theoretical, operational, and empirical contexts. The study concludes with a discussion of future TEL research needs

A randomised feasibility study to investigate the impact of education and the addition of prompts on the sedentary behaviour of office workers

Abstract Background Office workers have been identified as being at risk of accumulating high amounts of sedentary time in prolonged events during work hours, which has been associated with increased risk of a number of long-term health conditions. There is some evidence that providing advice to stand at regular intervals during the working day, and using computer-based prompts, can reduce sedentary behaviour in office workers. However, evidence of effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability for these types of intervention is currently limited. Methods A 2-arm, parallel group, cluster-randomised feasibility trial to assess the acceptability of prompts to break up sedentary behaviour was conducted with office workers in a commercial bank (n = 21). Participants were assigned to an education only group (EG) or prompt and education group (PG). Both groups received education on reducing and breaking up sitting at work, and the PG also received hourly prompts, delivered by Microsoft Outlook over 10 weeks, reminding them to stand. Objective measurements of sedentary behaviour were made using activPAL monitors worn at three time points: baseline, in the last 2 weeks of the intervention period and 12 weeks after the intervention. Focus groups were conducted to explore the acceptability of the intervention and the motivations and barriers to changing sedentary behaviour. Results Randomly generated, customised prompts, delivered by Microsoft Outlook, with messages about breaking up sitting, proved to be a feasible and acceptable way of delivering prompts to office workers. Participants in both groups reduced their sitting, but changes were not maintained at follow-up. The education session seemed to increase outcome expectations of the benefits of changing sedentary behaviour and promote self-regulation of behaviour in some participants. However, low self-efficacy and a desire to conform to cultural norms were barriers to changing behaviour. Conclusions Prompts delivered by Microsoft Outlook were a feasible, low-cost way of prompting office workers to break up their sedentary behaviour, although further research is needed to determine whether this has an additional impact on sedentary behaviour, to education alone. The role of cultural norms, and promoting self-efficacy, should be considered in the design of future interventions. Trial registration This study was registered retrospectively as a clinical trial on ClinicalTrials.gov (ID no. NCT02609282 ) on 23 March 2015

Becoming Physically Active After Bariatric Surgery is Associated With Improved Weight Loss and Health-Related Quality of Life

The purpose of this study was to determine whether pre- to postoperative increases in physical activity (PA) are associated with weight loss and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) following bariatric surgery. Participants were 199 Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery patients. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to categorize participants into three groups according to their preoperative and /1-year postoperative PA level: (i) Inactive/Active (\u3c200-min/week/≥200-min/week), (ii) Active/Active (≥200-min/week/greater ≥200-min/week) and (iii) Inactive/Inactive (\u3c200-min/week/\u3c200-min/week). The Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used to assess HRQoL. Analyses of covariance were conducted to examine the effects of PA group on weight and HRQoL changes. Inactive/Active participants, compared with Inactive/Inactive individuals, had greater reductions in weight (52.5 ± 15.4 vs. 46.4 ± 12.8 kg) and BMI (18.9 ± 4.6 vs. 16.9 ± 4.2 kg/m2). Weight loss outcomes in the Inactive/Active and Active/Active groups were similar to each other. Inactive/Active and Active/Active participants reported greater improvements than Inactive/Inactive participants on the mental component summary (MCS) score and the general health, vitality and mental health domains (P \u3c 0.01). Although the direction of causation is not clear, these findings suggest that RYGB patients who become active postoperatively achieve weight losses and HRQoL improvements that are greater than those experienced by patients who remain inactive and comparable to those attained by patients who stay active. Future randomized controlled trials should examine whether assisting patients who are inactive preoperatively to increase their PA postoperatively contributes to optimization of weight loss and HRQoL outcomes

Glutathione pathway gene variation and risk of autism spectrum disorders

Despite evidence that autism is highly heritable with estimates of 15 or more genes involved, few studies have directly examined associations of multiple gene interactions. Since inability to effectively combat oxidative stress has been suggested as a mechanism of autism, we examined genetic variation 42 genes (308 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)) related to glutathione, the most important antioxidant in the brain, for both marginal association and multi-gene interaction among 318 case–parent trios from The Autism Genetic Resource Exchange. Models of multi-SNP interactions were estimated using the trio Logic Regression method. A three-SNP joint effect was observed for genotype combinations of SNPs in glutaredoxin, glutaredoxin 3 (GLRX3), and cystathione gamma lyase (CTH); OR = 3.78, 95% CI: 2.36, 6.04. Marginal associations were observed for four genes including two involved in the three-way interaction: CTH, alcohol dehydrogenase 5, gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, catalytic subunit and GLRX3. These results suggest that variation in genes involved in counterbalancing oxidative stress may contribute to autism, though replication is necessary