Evaluation of the Freshman Seminar Program at Eastern Illinois University and Its Perceived Impact on First-Year Student Development

This study examined the development of first-year college students at Eastern Illinois University in order to determine if student development was strengthened with the assistance of an eight-week Freshman Seminar course. Additionally, this study evaluated the fall semester, 1999 Freshman Seminar course in order to determine students\u27 perceptions of the course and its content both at the start and completion of the course. The research population consisted of first-year students who were enrolled in Freshman Seminar (N = 303) and first-year students who were enrolled in an Introductory Speech Communications (SPC 1310) course, but not enrolled in Freshman Seminar (N = 215). This study incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The locally-developed, quantitative First-Year Student Development Survey (FYSDS) and qualitative Freshman Seminar Survey (FSS), along with the confirmation of a Freshman Focus Group, supported the following results: 1) Based on scores from the FYSDS, student development took place among first-year students during the first eight weeks of college regardless of their enrollment in Freshman Seminar. 2) There was no significant difference in the initial perceived level of student development between Freshman Seminar students and Non-Freshman Seminar students on the FYSDS. 3) At the end of the first eight weeks of college, there was a higher level of student development reported by first-year students who took Freshman Seminar on the FYSDS than first-year students who did not take Freshman Seminar. 4) Students who took Freshman Seminar reported the course to have positively assisted them in their initial transition to college. 5) First-year students who took Freshman Seminar recommended that other incoming first-year students take the course in subsequent years

Evaluation of the Freshman Seminar Program at Eastern Illinois University and Its Perceived Impact on First-Year Student Development

This study examined the development of first-year college students at Eastern Illinois University in order to determine if student development was strengthened with the assistance of an eight-week Freshman Seminar course. Additionally, this study evaluated the fall semester, 1999 Freshman Seminar course in order to determine students\u27 perceptions of the course and its content both at the start and completion of the course. The research population consisted of first-year students who were enrolled in Freshman Seminar (N = 303) and first-year students who were enrolled in an Introductory Speech Communications (SPC 1310) course, but not enrolled in Freshman Seminar (N = 215). This study incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The locally-developed, quantitative First-Year Student Development Survey (FYSDS) and qualitative Freshman Seminar Survey (FSS), along with the confirmation of a Freshman Focus Group, supported the following results: 1) Based on scores from the FYSDS, student development took place among first-year students during the first eight weeks of college regardless of their enrollment in Freshman Seminar. 2) There was no significant difference in the initial perceived level of student development between Freshman Seminar students and Non-Freshman Seminar students on the FYSDS. 3) At the end of the first eight weeks of college, there was a higher level of student development reported by first-year students who took Freshman Seminar on the FYSDS than first-year students who did not take Freshman Seminar. 4) Students who took Freshman Seminar reported the course to have positively assisted them in their initial transition to college. 5) First-year students who took Freshman Seminar recommended that other incoming first-year students take the course in subsequent years

(TITLE) BY

Graduate Degree Candidates (who have written formal theses

Treatment with allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells for moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (START study): a randomised phase 2a safety trial.

BackgroundTreatment with bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has shown benefits in preclinical models of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Safety has not been established for administration of MSCs in critically ill patients with ARDS. We did a phase 2a trial to assess safety after administration of MSCs to patients with moderate to severe ARDS.MethodsWe did a prospective, double-blind, multicentre, randomised trial to assess treatment with one intravenous dose of MSCs compared with placebo. We recruited ventilated patients with moderate to severe ARDS (ratio of partial pressure of oxygen to fractional inspired oxygen <27 kPa and positive end-expiratory pressure [PEEP] ≥8 cm H2O) in five university medical centres in the USA. Patients were randomly assigned 2:1 to receive either 10 × 106/kg predicted bodyweight MSCs or placebo, according to a computer-generated schedule with a variable block design and stratified by site. We excluded patients younger than 18 years, those with trauma or moderate to severe liver disease, and those who had received cancer treatment in the previous 2 years. The primary endpoint was safety and all analyses were done by intention to treat. We also measured biomarkers in plasma. MSC viability was tested in a post-hoc analysis. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02097641.FindingsFrom March 24, 2014, to Feb 9, 2017 we screened 1038 patients, of whom 60 were eligible for and received treatment. No patient experienced any of the predefined MSC-related haemodynamic or respiratory adverse events. One patient in the MSC group died within 24 h of MSC infusion, but death was judged to be probably unrelated. 28-day mortality did not differ between the groups (30% in the MSC group vs 15% in the placebo group, odds ratio 2·4, 95% CI 0·5-15·1). At baseline, the MSC group had numerically higher mean scores than the placebo group for Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III (APACHE III; 104 [SD 31] vs 89 [33]), minute ventilation (11·1 [3·2] vs 9·6 [2·4] L/min), and PEEP (12·4 [3·7] vs 10·8 [2·6] cm H2O). After adjustment for APACHE III score, the hazard ratio for mortality at 28 days was 1·43 (95% CI 0·40-5·12, p=0·58). Viability of MSCs ranged from 36% to 85%.InterpretationOne dose of intravenous MSCs was safe in patients with moderate to severe ARDS. Larger trials are needed to assess efficacy, and the viability of MSCs must be improved.FundingNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

How Islam influences women’s paid non-farm employment: evidence from 26 Indonesian and 37 Nigerian provinces

Studies on women’s employment in Muslim countries often mention Islam, but its influence is undertheorized and tests simply compare ‘Muslim’ women and areas to ‘non-Muslim’ women and areas. Here, multilevel analyses of Indonesia and Nigeria show this focus is not tenable: non-farm employment of Muslim women is not consistently lower than that of non-Muslim women, nor is it lower in Muslim-dominated provinces than in other provinces. A new theoretical frame conceptualizes religion’s influence in terms message and messenger. It is shown how different manifestations of Islam influence women’s non-farm employment, inside and outside the home. Empirically, the ideological strand of Islam is more important than differences between Islam and Christianity. In addition, when a conservative Islam is codified through Shari’a-based law women’s employment outside the home seems to be lower, but the presence of Islamic political parties seems to foster women’s access to the labor market through their focus on support for the poor