Lincoln Advanced Science and Engineering Reinforcement (LASER) program

Lincoln University, under the Lincoln Advanced Science and Engineering Reinforcement (LASER) Program, has identified and successfully recruited over 100 students for majors in technical fields. To date, over 70 percent of these students have completed or will complete technical degrees in engineering, physics, chemistry, and computer science. Of those completing the undergraduate degree, over 40 percent have gone on to graduate and professional schools. This success is attributable to well planned approaches to student recruitment, training, personal motivation, retention, and program staff. Very closely coupled to the above factors is a focus designed to achieve excellence in program services and student performance. Future contributions by the LASER Program to the pool of technical minority graduates will have a significant impact. This is already evident from the success of the students that began the first year of the program. With program plans to refine many of the already successful techniques, follow-on activities are expected to make even greater contributions to the availability of technically trained minorities. For example, undergraduate research exposure, broadened summer, and co-op work experiences will be enhanced

Identification of the alternative oxidase gene and its expression in the copepod Tigriopus californicus

In addition to the typical electron transport system (ETS) in animal mitochondria responsible for oxidative phosphorylation, in some species there exists an alternative oxidase (AOX) pathway capable of catalyzing the oxidation of ubiquinol and the reduction of oxygen to water. The discovery of AOX in animals is recent and further investigations into its expression, regulation, and physiological role have been hampered by the lack of a tractable experimental model organism. Our recent DNA database searches using bioinformatics revealed an AOX sequence in several marine copepods including Tigriopus californicus. This species lives in tidepools along the west coast of North America and is subject to a wide variety of daily environmental stresses. Here we verify the presence of the AOX gene in T. californicus and the expression of AOX mRNA and AOX protein in various life stages of the animal. We demonstrate that levels of the AOX protein increase in T. californicus in response to cold and heat stress compared to normal rearing temperature. We predict that a functional AOX pathway is present in T. californicus, propose that this species will be a useful model organism for the study of AOX in animals, and discuss future directions for animal AOX research

Readmission rates in not-for-profit vs. proprietary hospitals before and after the hospital readmission reduction program implementation.

BACKGROUND: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act established the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) to penalize hospitals with excessive 30-day hospital readmissions of Medicare enrollees for specific conditions. This policy was aimed at increasing the quality of care delivered to patients and decreasing the amount of money paid for potentially preventable hospital readmissions. While it has been established that the number of 30-day hospital readmissions decreased after program implementation, it is unknown whether this effect occurred equally between not-for-profit and proprietary hospitals. The aim of this study was to determine whether or not the HRRP decreased readmission rates equally between not-for-profit and proprietary hospitals between 2010 and 2012. METHODS: Data on readmissions came from the Dartmouth Atlas and hospital ownership data came from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Data were joined using the Medicare provider number. Using a difference-in-differences approach, bivariate and regression analyses were conducted to compare readmission rates between not-for-profit and proprietary hospitals between 2010 and 2012 and were adjusted for hospital characteristics. RESULTS: In 2010, prior to program implementation, unadjusted readmission rates for proprietary and not-for-profit hospitals were 16.16% and 15.78%, respectively. In 2012, following program implementation, 30-day readmission rates dropped to 15.76% and 15.29% for proprietary and not-for-profit hospitals. The data suggest that the implementation of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program had similar effects on not-for-profit and proprietary hospitals with respect to readmission rates, even after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Although not-for-profit hospitals had lower 30-day readmission rates than proprietary hospitals in both 2010 and 2012, they both decreased after the implementation of the HRRP and the decreases were not statistically significantly different. Thus, this study suggests that the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program was equally effective in reducing readmission rates, despite ownership status

Synthesis of alignable fluorophores for use in luminescent solar concentrators

Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) collect and concentrate sunlight for use in solar power generation. First proposed over 30 years ago, LSCs are simple devices consisting of a planar waveguide coated or impregnated with a fluorophore. Sunlight absorbed by the fluorophore, reemitted into the waveguide, and concentrated at the edges of the collector. The most substantial problem with previous iterations of LSC technology is that they suffer from escape cone losses (photons lost through the top and bottom of the waveguide) that limited their size and efficiency. In this study, the reduction in escape cone losses was studied through alignment of the embedded fluorophores. By orienting the embedded dyes homeotropically such that its transition moment (absorption dipole) was perpendicular to the plane of the waveguide, photon emission was directed primarily parallel to the plane, thus trapping the photon via a process called total internal reflection (TIR). Beginning with a perylene bisimide (PBI) core used in the industry standard Lumogen© series of dyes, the alignment and solubility of the dye was increased 3-fold in the liquid crystal matrix 4-cyano-4\u27-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) compared to Lumogen F Orange 240 (LumO). This was accomplished by attaching different primary amines and substituted anilines at the imide nitrogens resulting in an increase in aspect ratio and varying degrees of steric hinderance around the PBI core

Principal Leadership Style, Teacher Motivation, and Teacher Retention

The problem of teacher turnover in the United States has received significant attention from policymakers and district leaders. Improving teacher motivation is a concern and challenge for principals because they are faced with retaining highly qualified and capable teachers in the classroom. Researchers have indicated that principals can play a crucial role in motivating teachers. This nonexperimental correlational study used Deci and Ryan\u27s self-determination theory and the leadership theories of Burns, Avolio, and Bass as a framework to address 2 research questions. The first research question examined the relationship between principal leadership style and teacher motivation, and the second question addressed principal leadership style and teacher retention. The sample included 55 certified teachers working in public middle school and high school in a southeastern state. The teachers completed electronic versions of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, the Basic Needs Satisfaction at Work, and demographic questionnaire. For the first research question, results from a multiple linear regression showed transformational leadership to be a significant predictor of teacher motivation. For the second research question, a binary logistic regression did not support a relationship between principal leadership style and teacher commitment to teaching. The information gained from this study may benefit principals and teachers by informing leadership approaches for organizational change that may enhance teacher motivation

An Analysis Of Firm Level Auditor Tenure On Audit Hours

This study provides further evidence with respect to findings reported by Stein et al. (1994) and O’Keefe et al. (1994) on the demand for the various grades of professional labor audit hours. These studies found that demand for audit hours was a function of three sets of client factors: size, complexity, and risk. However, contrary to what might be expected, they did not find that auditor learning had a significant effect.  Using a data set consisting of 75 audits of publicly-held companies obtained from four international accounting firms, we test the generalizability of their findings to our more diverse data set and further examine the effects of auditor learning on audit hours.            We find the results reported by Stein et al. and O’Keefe et al. generalizable to our data set, indicating their findings to be robust and our samples comparable.  Although perhaps not of economic significance, the data also tends to suggest differential auditor learning across various staff levels in a complex relation.  That is, the ability to observe learning is dependent on auditee size.  There appears to be some learning for partners, managers, and seniors in audits of smaller auditees.  However, given the limitations of our data set and consideration of economic significance versus statistical significance, the evidence is not convincingly strong in support of auditor learning on repeat engagements.  We recommend further investigation as to whether both an auditor tenure indicator variable and a auditor tenure by auditee size interaction variable simultaneously considered in the model are an appropriate specification of the audit production function to capture auditor learning in a cross-sectional analysis

A study to test the effectiveness of an intervention program designed to reduce grade retention and social promotion in an urban elementary school.

This study examines the effectiveness of an after school reading improvement program in reducing retention and social promotion in an urban elementary school. The study site was the Ruth K. Webb Elementary School, located in northeast area of Washington, D.C. known as Ivy City. This site was selected because a significant percentage of at-risk students presented behavioral/discipline problems, poor social adjustment, low motivation and self-esteem to their parents, teachers and school administrators. Study participants were 4th, 5th and 6th grade students who were retained in grade or socially promoted to the next higher grade. Teachers, parents and other volunteers participated in this study. Retention and social promotion are two of the most controversial issues facing educators in many urban school districts. The Ruth K. Webb Reading Improvement Program was designed to address this issue. The program provided students with an opportunity to receive intensive instructional assistance in the area of reading skills deficiency. Study services were available to help students advance along the instructional curriculum at his or her own rate of mastery or achievement. Staff development and parental involvement activities encouraged teachers, support personnel and parents to work with students at different readiness and skill levels, motivate the slow learner and creatively utilize a variety of instructional approaches to solve learning problems. Pre-and post-program questionnaires, conferences and evaluations were used to report the study\u27s findings. Study results showed the Webb\u27s Reading Improvement Program was effective in (1) increasing educational performance for the at-risk students as measured by CTBS, diagnostic testing and test scores, report card grades, promotion/retention data and attendance; (2) improved delivery of instruction through use of new and creative techniques as indicated by individualized instruction services, use of manipulative, visual aids and parental involvement as indicated by rosters and monthly sign-in sheets and; (3) providing an environment where academic success as measured by student, teacher, parent involvement was achieved by the at-risk students

Presidential Influences on Civil Rights Visits to the Presidential Libraries

I propose a one semester (Fall 2007) sabbatical study which will be conducted during the academic year of 2007. Though I know most sabbatical leaves are granted for the spring semester of the academic year, I ask for Fall consideration so that I can take advantage of the extra collections that are only made available at the libraries during the Fall Holiday Season. By granting the sabbatical in the Fall of 2007, you would also afford me the ability to experience the oral arguments of the US Supreme Court in October. Indeed, this sabbatical study will allow me to continue my exploration of the nexus between Presidential politics and Civil Rights. More specifically, I plan to visit the Presidential Libraries of Bill Clinton (Little Rock, Arkansas), George H.W. Bush (College Station, Texas), Ronald Reagan (Simi Valley, California), Jimmy Carter (Atlanta, Georgia), Richard M. Nixon (Yorba Linda, California), John F. Kennedy (Boston, Massachusetts) and Lyndon B. Johnson (Austin, Texas). See http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/contact/libraries.html for more information about presidential libraries. In addition to the presidential libraries, I also plan to visit the Dr. Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta, Georgia and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. While visiting these institutions, I plan to take pictures of material (when allowed), document the work as it relates to Civil Rights by the aforementioned presidents on my laptop in Microsoft word and with my voice recorder. Unquestionably, this sabbatical will be rejuvenating for me because it will allow me to do the things that I love doing: reading, writing, traveling and taking pictures. While my students would gain a great deal from the material that I document and the pictures that I take, these are the things that I love to do. So, it would be extremely educational and beneficial to me, my students in American National Government and Introduction to Political Science courses and the residents and schools in District 505