Not Coming Home: The Flaws in Skilled Nursing Facilities and their Contribution to Cyclical Hospitalizations of Post-Acute Patients

This literature review will discuss the experience of patients within the US healthcare system, focusing on skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and their contribution to cyclical hospitalizations. SNFs differ from nursing homes and other long-term care facilities by providing short-term, post-operational rehabilitation at a cost lower than what is offered at hospitals. Despite their critical role, SNFs often face fundamental issues, such as understaffing, underfunding, and staff burn-out, which result in lower quality patient care. This thesis argues that the issues faced by SNFs are a result of inconsistencies with state and federal staffing regulations, as well as inadequate insurance reimbursements. Consequently, medical professionals are overworked, leading to poor care for patients. For these reasons, patients often experience cyclical hospitalizations after staying at SNFs. Additional factors, such as patient aging, social stigmas, and insurance complications, can also exacerbate the problems felt at SNFs. Overall, this thesis hopes to bring light to a systemic issue faced by many patients today. As the baby boomer population continues to age, SNFs will likely become more crowded, amplifying current conditions and increasing our need for healthcare workers. By illuminating the issues that SNFs and patients face, this thesis will inform future conversations about the cycle of rehospitalization

A Comparative Analysis of the Kraus-Weber Test and the AAHPER Test of Physical Fitness

The purpose of this study was to compare the Kraus-Weber test with the test prepared by the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. To accomplish this purpose the following techniques and procedures were employed: (1) Correlation of the total Kraus-Weber test scores and the total AAHPER test scores. (2) Correlation between the individual items of the Kraus-Weber test and the individual items of the AAHPER test. (3) Correlation between the individual items of the Kraus-Weber test and the total AAHPER test score. (4) Correlation between the individual items of the AAHPER test and the total score of the Kraus-Weber test. The author was attempting to show whether or not these two tests measure the same physical traits or different ones, and also whether there are elements in either of the two tests which are closely related to elements in the other test or to the total scores of the other test. It is hoped that this study will provide information for school administrators and physical educators who may wish to inaugurate physical education programs or testing programs, and may also aid in the selection of events or activities best suited to develop all areas of the body

Disease Prevalence and Selenium Bioaccumulation in Northern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens)

Most amphibians are becoming imperiled in today’s world via environmental contamination and emerging infectious diseases. This project\u27s main objective was to determine the relationship between the prevalence of Ranavirus and selenium bioaccumulation in amphibians in South Dakota. I selected northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens) to focus on specifically because they are susceptible to Ranavirus and are found ubiquitously throughout eastern South Dakota wetlands. The secondary objective of this project was to determine if disease prevalence was correlated with areas of agricultural runoff in South Dakota’s prairie pothole wetlands. Intensive field sampling was conducted across five wetlands in Eastern South Dakota at three control sites with no agricultural runoff, and two experimental sites, where there is direct tile drainage. Northern leopard frogs were collected (n=21) from each wetland site via hand capture using dipnets and brought back to our laboratory. The livers of each euthanized individual were removed and processed for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IC-PMS) for selenium content analysis, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis for detection of Ranavirus. I expected immunocompetence to decrease as the infection load of Ranavirus and bioaccumulation of selenium increase in northern leopard frogs. Additionally, I expected the viral load of Ranavirus in northern leopard frogs to be correlated with areas of agricultural runoff. These hypotheses were rejected based on the limited amount of collected data, but important surveillance data was obtained

Predicting the effect of silicon electrode design parameters on thermal performance of a lithium-ion battery

The present study models the role of electrode structural characteristics on the thermal beha­viour of lithium-ion batteries. Preliminary modelling runs have employed a 1D lithium-ion battery, coupled to a two-dimensional axisymmetric model using silicon as the battery anode material. The two models are coupled by the heat generated and the average temperature. Our study is focused on the silicon anode particle sizes, and it is observed that silicon anodes with nano sized particles reduced the heating of the battery under charge/discharge cycles when compared to anodes with larger particles. These results are discussed in context of the relationship between particle size and thermal transport properties in the electrode

REST Testbed

Web Services, die gemäß dem Architekturstil REST entworfen werden, zeichnen sich durch Eigenschaften wie Interoperabilität, lose Kopplung, Wiederverwendbarkeit, Leistung und Skalierbarkeit aus. In verteilten Systemen werden deswegen oft REST-basierteWeb Services eingesetzt. Verteilte Systeme haben höhere Fehleranfälligkeit als Standalone-Anwendungen und diese Erkenntnis sollte beim Entwicklungsprozess durch ausreichende Testszenarien berücksichtigt werden. Bei der Entwicklung von REST-basierten Client-Anwendungen wird ein REST-basierter Web Service benötigt, um die Funktionalitäten der Client-Anwendung zu testen. In dieser Diplomarbeit werden Anforderungen an ein Testbed zum Testen von REST-basierten Client-Anwendungen gestellt. Es wird eine Architektur zu diesem Testbed entworfen und anschließend ein Testbed prototypisch implementiert. Bei der Entwicklung des Testbeds werden die Eigenschaften wie Erweiterbarkeit und Konfigurierbarkeit der Funktionalitäten des REST-basiertenWeb Services sichergestellt. Durch die berücksichtigte Erweiterbarkeit kann das Testbed leicht um neue Funktionalitäten ergänzt werden. Die Konfigurierbarkeit erlaubt das Anpassen der funktionalen und nicht-funktionalen Eigenschaften des Testbeds, um die Erfüllbarkeit der an eine Client-Anwendung gestellten funktionalen und nicht-funktionalen Anforderungen zu überprüfen

Synthesis of 6-Methyl-9-propyldibenzothiophene-4-ol

The synthesis route for preparing the title compound, has been carried out on a small scale for the preparation of a mixture of isomers. Alternative routes for the cyclization are being explored. (DLC

Synthesis of 6-Methyl-9-n-propyldibenzothiophene-4-ol

The material covered here can be divided into 3 parts: large-scale synthesis of 200+ grams of distilled 1,4-diethyl-2-[(2'- methoxyphenyl)thio]benzene, synthesis of sulfones both as starting materials for chemical cyclization reactions and as solid derivatives for identification purposes, and continued investigation of the cyclization to dibenzothiophenes both by chemical and photochemical means. 5 refs, figs

Synthesis of 6-Methyl-9-propyldibenzothiophene-4-ol

Conversion of 4'-methylpropiophenone to 1-methyl-4-n-propylbenzene was accomplished in high yields. Bromination of the latter resulted in isomers of methyl-n-propyl-1-bromobenzene. Reaction of the isomers with sodium butoxide and 2-methoxybenzenethiol in presence of Pd[P(C[sub 6]H[sub 5])[sub 3]][sub 4] in 1-butanol was studied. The methylpropylbenzene was also iodinated. A decision to use iodination vs bromination will be made when more data are accumulated. 6 refs, figs

Synthesis of 6-Methyl-9-n-propyldibenzothiophene-4-ol

The material covered in this report is divided into two parts: further cyclization experiments on 1,4-diethyl-2-[(2'- methoxyphenyl)thio]benzene and its sulfone both by chemical and photochemical means, and progress toward synthesis of modified target molecule, 9-isopropyl-4-methoxy-6-methyldibenzo-thiophene. 8 refs, figs