The Relationship Between Education and Police Stress: Bachelor\u27s Degree Versus High School

Sixty law enforcement officers from the largest municipality in the state of West Virginia were evaluated concerning levels of stress or anxiety experienced from organizational issues and interdepartmental rules and regulations. These findings were subsequently compared with the officers level of educational attainment, specifically Bachelor’s degree versus high school education. Specifically, comparisons were made regarding officers with a Bachelor’s degree and those with high school education and scores from the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, the Job Satisfaction Index, and the Stress Quiz. Additionally, comparisons of the scores were made between officers with a Bachelor’s degree and officers with a high school education only who had experienced stress from critical incidents. There were no significant findings, however, trends indicated that officers possessing a Bachelor’s degree reported less stress than officers completing only high school

Resiliency and Goals: A Phenomenological Exploration of African American Male Attrition in High School

This article describes a phenomenological study that explored the lived experiences and perceptions of African American males with high school attrition. Sixteen event dropouts participated in individually taped semi-structured interviews, producing descriptive themes that were analyzed. Results from this study revealed eight major themes of (a) school climate matters, (b) social and emotional skills enhance development, (c) share responsibility of educational expectations, (d) support lacking, (e) engaging at-risk behavior, (f) apathetic view of education, (g) motivation is the education multiplier, and (h) respect is key to graduation. Findings and implications for stakeholders and future research are included that might prove helpful in closing the achievement and opportunity gaps within the African American male demographic

Recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery: age-related outcomes

As people age, their incidence of coronary heart disease increases. The majority of persons undergoing invasive procedures such as coronary artery bypass surgery are 65 and older. Because of population trends related to aging, it is projected that there will be exponential increases in the numbers of people requiring treatment for this health problem in the future. Changes in health care reimbursement have significantly decreased hospital length of stay, resulting in many patients completing their recovery either in a rehabilitation facility or at home. Patients with multiple preoperative comorbidities are at risk for postoperative complications. Older patients usually have more health problems after coronary artery bypass surgery because they have more risk factors prior to the procedure. It is not known whether there are differences in outcomes between comparatively older and younger patients when they are matched by risk classification. Information on the recovery of patients at home will enable nurses to meet their care needs prior to surgery and after discharge from the hospital

Organizational readiness for wellness promotion - a survey of 100 African American church leaders in South Los Angeles.

BackgroundChurches are an important asset and a trusted resource in the African American community. We needed a better understanding of their readiness to engage in health promotion before launching a large-scale health promotion effort in partnership with South Los Angeles churches.MethodsIn 2017, we conducted surveys with leaders of 100 churches. Surveys were conducted face-to-face (32%) or by telephone (68%) with senior pastors (one per church) and lasted on average 48 min. We compared small (less than 50 active members), medium (50-99 active members) and large churches (at least 100 active members), and assessed which church characteristics were associated with the implementation of wellness activities.ResultsMedium and large churches conducted significantly more wellness activities than small churches and were more likely to have wellness champions and health policies. Regardless of church size, insufficient budget was the most commonly cited barrier to implement wellness activities (85%). A substantial proportion of churches was not sure how to implement wellness activities (61%) and lacked volunteers (58%). Forty-five percent of the variation in the number of wellness activities in the last 12 months was explained by church characteristics, such as size of congregation, number of paid staff, leadership engagement, having a wellness ministry and barriers.ConclusionsMany churches in South Los Angeles are actively engaged in health promotion activities, despite a general lack of resources. We recommend a comprehensive assessment of church characteristics in intervention studies to enable the use of strategies (e.g., stratification by size) that reduce imbalances that could mask or magnify study outcomes. Our data provide empirical support for the inner settings construct of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research in the context of health promotion in African American churches

The Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Levels of Lifestyle Activity Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Identifying depressive symptoms in community-dwelling elders has been problematic, due to a lack of resources and training for health clinicians. Previous researchers have indicated that older adults who engage in physical activities can prevent, or mitigate depression, but no model has included this variable in conjunction with factors such as lifestyle or sociodemographic characteristics. In this study, a predictive design was used with a regression analysis. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and the different factors identified in the literature as significant contributors to its prevalence among older community-dwelling adults. Erikson\u27s theory of psychosocial development, Beck\u27s cognitive model of depression, and the learned helplessness model were used as the theoretical foundations to determine whether lifestyle activities, perceived social support, sociodemographic variables, and comorbidities can predict depressive symptoms. The sample consisted of 156 older adults who were 60 years of age and older and living in Northern Louisiana. Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analyses were used to investigate whether (a) daily lifestyle activities, (b) community setting (rural or urban), (c) gender, (d) perceived social support, (e) marital status, and (f) comorbidities can predict depressive symptoms. The 2 primary predictors of depression among older adults were low activity levels and low perceived social support. Positive social implications include improving counselors\u27 and mental health practitioners\u27 knowledge of the ways to lessen the depressive symptoms experienced by the elderly population

Evaluating Twitter as an agricultural economics research tool

Master of ScienceDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsGlynn T. TonsorOver the past decade, social media has risen from an emerging novelty to the normative form of expression for many Americans. As these platforms have risen in popularity, researchers have recognized the potential for capturing information users are self-reporting about their beliefs and preferences. Simultaneously, social media corporations have become privy to the value of this information being freely shared by consumers and have safeguarded much of their historical data to monetize the data. Faced with both an enticing new source of data, but a steep price to obtain it, researchers must evaluate the potential gains that can be extracted from the often difficult to analyze data. This study explored the acquisition of social media, namely Twitter, data and the potential uses in the field of agriculture economics. A contract was secured with Sysomos, a social media analytics firm, in July of 2017 to collect raw Twitter data over the proceeding thirteen months. Changes in frequency of tweets and sentiment scoring of tweets were used to attempt to explain election results from November 2017 proposed legislations pertaining to marijuana and minimum wage as well as to explain and predict changes in the stock prices of selected publicly traded firms in the food producing sector. Twitter frequency changes were then compared to changes in traditional print media articles in an effort to determine the exchangeability of the two media sources when used to track events pertaining to animal health. Results of this study suggested that Twitter data possess little power to explain the studied election results, but creation of a strong model was difficult due to the limited number of months of data available. Changes in the frequency of tweets were not found to be a strong indicator of changes in the stock market on the average day, but were shown to explain potentially highly valued information to investors on days with large changes in price. Twitter and traditional print media were shown to be unique sources of data when exploring the topic of animal health events

Industry–university engagement in multicultural engineering programs: an exploratory study

Doctor of EducationDepartment of Educational LeadershipMichael HolenFacing the rapidly increasing globalization of world economies and a steadily diversifying domestic consumer base, U.S. corporations have embraced the benefits of hiring more employees with diverse perspectives and experiences. Particularly in industries dependent upon knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, recognition has grown that the American work force is seriously constrained by the clear underrepresentation of minority participants. In engineering, the most prevalent attempt to address these issues is through the establishment of multicultural engineering programs (MEPs), often designed as partnerships between universities and major corporate entities. These programs strive to identify, recruit, retain, educate and ultimately employ significant numbers of students of color to strengthen industry innovation and competitiveness. This investigation was initiated to expand the limited research literature on MEPs and the nature of their partnerships with industry. Using qualitative methodology, an exploratory viewpoint, and the lens of the Commitment-Trust Key Mediating Variable Model (KMV) of Relationship Marketing, the relationships of five mature and highly regarded university MEPs and one of their self identified primary industry partners were examined. Leaders of the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates, the national representative body for MEPs, identified exemplary MEPs in the organization’s five regions; using a selection paradigm, five institutions were chosen for study selected from four of the regions. Each institution then identified a primary industry partner. Participants responded to in-depth interviews (MEPs) and questionnaires (industry) with respect to the nature, benefits, and challenges to both entities in the partnerships. Documents were reviewed for each program and industry. Responses were coded, crosschecked, and analyzed for patterns and themes. In particular, the study explored the issue of how commitment and trust are established in these partnership relationships. Twenty-four patterns and three themes emerged. Clearly, university-industry multicultural engineering partnerships are viewed as engendering important employment opportunities for underrepresented program graduates, promoting a well-developed pipeline of minority employee talent for industry, and increasing funding both for university multicultural programming and minority student support. The study also reports on the broad range of activities these partnerships practice. It suggests avenues for further study to enhance university-industry engagement

Extracellular vesicles and their convergence with viral pathways

Extracellular vesicles (microvesicles), such as exosomes and shed microvesicles, contain a variety of molecules including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Microvesicles appear mostly to originate from multivesicular bodies or to bud from the plasma membrane. Here, we review the convergence of microvesicle biogenesis and aspects of viral assembly and release pathways. Herpesviruses and retroviruses, amongst others, recruit several elements from the microvesicle biogenesis pathways for functional virus release. In addition, noninfectious pleiotropic virus-like vesicles can be released, containing viral and cellular components. We highlight the heterogeneity of microvesicle function during viral infection, addressing microvesicles that can either block or enhance infection, or cause immune dysregulation through bystander action in the immune system. Finally, endogenous retrovirus and retrotransposon elements deposited in our genomes millions of years ago can be released from cells within microvesicles, suggestive of a viral origin of the microvesicle system or perhaps of an evolutionary conserved system of virus-vesicle codependence. More research is needed to further elucidate the complex function of the various microvesicles produced during viral infection, possibly revealing new therapeutic intervention strategies

Restoration of tallgrass prairie degraded by the noxious weed sericea lespedeza

Master of ScienceDepartment of Animal Sciences and IndustryK C OlsonThe largest intact remnant of the tallgrass prairie, the Flint Hills ecoregion, is currently under threat from the invasive weed sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata [Dumont] G. Don; SL). The objectives of this research were to evaluate the efficacy of late-season prescribed burning and fall herbicide application, alone and in concert, for comprehensive control of sericea lespedeza and to assess their broader treatment impacts on native plant communities. A 31-ha native tallgrass pasture with a light to moderate infestation of SL was divided into 16 subunits for this experiment. Each subunit was randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: negative control, spray-only, burn-only, or burn-plus-spray. A prescribed burn was conducted on burn-only and burn-plus-spray subunits in early September 2016. Following the re-emergence of SL, spray-only and burn-plus-spray subunits received a broadcast application of metsulfuron methyl (Escort XP, DuPont, Wilmington, DE) at a rate of 70.1 g ˖ ha⁻¹ in late September. Frequency and vigor of SL, total forage biomass, soil cover, and plant species composition were measured along permanent 100-m transects in each subunit prior to treatment application and again 12 mo later, in 2017 (i.e., 1 YAT). In 30 x 30-cm plots at 1-m intervals along each transect, the presence or absence of SL was noted. Where SL was present, crown maturity and maximum stem length of the SL plant nearest to the transect were recorded. Presence of multiple stems in plots was also recorded. Prior to treatment application, SL comprised 1 ± 2.0% of total basal cover and was not different between treatments (P = 0.38). One YAT, SL was more abundant (P ≤ 0.02) in negative control subunits than in spray-only, burn-only, or burn-plus-spray subunits, which were not different (P ≥ 0.95) from one another. Aerial frequency of SL, abundance of mature SL crowns, and incidence of plots with multiple SL stems were greatest (P ≤ 0.03) for negative controls, although not different (P ≥ 0.50) between the other 3 treatments. The change in forage biomass production 1 YAT did not differ (P = 0.16) between treatments. A tendency (P = 0.06) for a shift from litter cover to bare soil was noted when the spray-only, burn-only, and burn-plus-spray treatments were compared to the negative control. Graminoid basal cover was greater (P < 0.01) in the spray-only and burn-plus-spray treatments than in the negative-control and burn-only treatments 1 YAT. Conversely, forb basal cover was less (P = 0.01) in spray-only and burn-plus-spray treatments than in negative-control and burn-only treatments. The evenness component of diversity decreased in the burn-plus-spray treatment relative to the negative control (P ≤ 0.01). These data indicate that each of these strategies were effective in reducing SL populations. Although late-summer prescribed burning produced no detected negative responses within the native plant community, fall herbicide application, alone or in conjunction with prescribed burning, resulted in collateral damage to forb populations. A late-summer prescribed burn alone is recommended for low-cost comprehensive control of a light to moderate sericea lespedeza infestation