Provide advice on methods to improve promotion and facilitation of Rural Enterprise Scheme - RE0114

The project studied the past experiences of firms applying for the Rural Enterprise Scheme and their business advisors and examined the existing promotional approaches. Recommendations are made on promotional and facilitation methodologie

Sexual health for all 2000: Identifying key obstacles to sexual health for lesbians, gay and bisexual people

Duration: March 2000 - May 2000 This was a short, joint investigation between the National AIDS Trust, The Lesbian and Gay Foundation (formerly Healthy Gay Manchester and Manchester Lesbian & Gay Switchboard) and Sigma Research. It was intended to inform the development of the English National Sexual Health Strategy (prior to its merger with the National HIV Strategy) by the Department of Health. The Department of Health commissioned this research on the sexual health needs of Gay men and Lesbians, and identified access to services and health promotion as two areas of special interest. A survey was developed to elicit the views of Lesbians, Gay men and Bisexuals on what the forthcoming strategy (a) should be trying to achieve and (b) how to achieve it. A short, self-completion questionnaire was used (two sides of a single sheet of A4), with a Freepost return facility. The questions covered: demographics; health concerns; obstacles to sexual health; and experiences of sexual health service. Respondents were recruited from Gay and Lesbian community groups, Lesbian & Gay pubs and bookstores in London and Manchester. Respondents were included if they were 16 years or older and resident in England and either: (i) homosexually active in last five year, and / or (ii) Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual identity. The final sample included 497 women and 417 men. The report to the Department of Health included twenty specific recommendations intended to inform the National Strategy

High Temperature Heat Exchanger Project: Quarterly Progress Report January 1, 2004 through March 31, 2004

Mutually satisfactory language has been developed to permit signing of a subcontract between the General Atomics Corporation and the UNLV Research Foundation. The contract is signed

Actionable Recourse in Linear Classification

Machine learning models are increasingly used to automate decisions that affect humans - deciding who should receive a loan, a job interview, or a social service. In such applications, a person should have the ability to change the decision of a model. When a person is denied a loan by a credit score, for example, they should be able to alter its input variables in a way that guarantees approval. Otherwise, they will be denied the loan as long as the model is deployed. More importantly, they will lack the ability to influence a decision that affects their livelihood. In this paper, we frame these issues in terms of recourse, which we define as the ability of a person to change the decision of a model by altering actionable input variables (e.g., income vs. age or marital status). We present integer programming tools to ensure recourse in linear classification problems without interfering in model development. We demonstrate how our tools can inform stakeholders through experiments on credit scoring problems. Our results show that recourse can be significantly affected by standard practices in model development, and motivate the need to evaluate recourse in practice.Comment: Extended version. ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability and Transparency [FAT2019

Clinical outcomes in pediatric hemodialysis patients in the USA: lessons from CMS’ ESRD CPM Project

Although prospective randomized trials have provided important information and allowed the development of evidence-based guidelines in adult hemodialysis (HD) patients, with approximately 800 prevalent pediatric HD patients in the United States, such studies are difficult to perform in this population. Observational data obtained through the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Clinical Performance Measures (CPM) Project have allowed description of the clinical care provided to pediatric HD patients as well as identification of risk factors for failure to reach adult targets for clinical parameters such as hemoglobin, single-pool Kt/V (spKt/V) and serum albumin. In addition, studies linking data from the ESRD CPM Project and the United States Renal Data System have allowed evaluation of associations between achievement of those targets and the outcomes of hospitalization and death. The results of those studies, while unable to prove cause and effect, suggest that the adult ESRD CPM targets may assist in identifying pediatric HD patients at risk for poor outcomes

When the working day is through: The end of work as identity?

This article seeks to present a counter-case to the ‘end of work thesis’ advocated by writers such as Beck, Sennett and Bauman. It argues that work remains a significant locus of personal identity and that the depiction by these writers of endemic insecurity in the workplace is inaccurate and lacks empirical basis. The article draws upon case study data to illustrate how, across a range of workplaces, work remains an importance source of identity, meaning and social affiliation

Health Orientation, Beliefs, and Use of Health Services Among Minority, High-risk Expectant Mothers

This article reports on initial findings of a continuing longitudinal study investigating the relationships of health beliefs as conceptualized by the health belief model and the use of well-baby services among first-time black mothers. The health beliefs of mothers about their babies were measured before the babies were born and during their use of the services at the baby's first and sixth-month visits. Mothers in the sample who became nonusers of the well-baby services were also interviewed. This report describes the results of the first interview of the 662 females who composed the sample for the study, including the following characteristics of a minority, high-risk population: health orientation, health beliefs about their unborn babies, and use of health services. These findings are discussed with implications for community health nursing practice with maternal clients.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73774/1/j.1525-1446.1988.tb00553.x.pd

Implementing Elements of The Physics Suite at a Large Metropolitan Research University

A key question in physics education is the effectiveness of the teaching methods. A curriculum that has been investigated at the University of Central Florida (UCF) over a period of two years is the use of particular elements of The Physics Suite. Select sections of the introductory physics classes at UCF have made use of Interactive Lecture Demonstrations as part of the lecture component of the class. The lab component of the class has implemented the RealTime Physics curriculum, again in select sections. The remaining sections have continued with the teaching methods traditionally used. Using pre- and post-semester concept inventory tests, a student survey, student interviews, and a standard for successful completion of the course, the data indicates improved student learning

Organisational participation and women - an attitude problem?

Employee participation is a dynamic and contested area of organisational behaviour, attracting continuing academic, practitioner and policy interest and debate. This chapter focuses on organisational participation and women