Local Case Management Teams: A Case Study of a Whole Approach to Ninth Grade Intervention for Students at Risk for High School Dropout

Based on existing empirical research, schools continue to use single intervention programs for intervening on behalf of at-risk students despite the fact that those programs do not meet with significant success in decreasing dropout rates. The problem is that the phenomenon of multidimensional approaches to intervening on behalf of ninth-grade students has yet to be explored and understood. The purpose of this single case study was to describe the critical case of Local Case Management Teams utilizing a multidimensional approach to intervening on behalf of at-risk ninth grade students in a large suburban school district in Utah. The following research question guided this study: How do local case management teams describe their experiences in ninth-grade intervention/dropout prevention? The theory that guided this study was Communities of Practice by Lave and Wegner (1991) as it explains the relationship between Communities of Practice and Local Case Management Teams. A single case study design was utilized to provide an in-depth analysis of this critical case, bounded by time and activity, and using a variety of data collection procedures and analysis strategies over a sustained period. The participants were chosen using purposeful sampling. Data included interviews, observation, and document analysis and were analyzed using traditional case study analysis methods including memoing, pattern matching, within-case synthesis, and resulted in the development of several themes. Time, accountability, knowledge, escalating intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to success, and multidimensional programming were identified as central themes to this research. Although the participants reported differing experiences, their responses to this type of programming was overwhelmingly positive

The determinants of tuberculosis transmission in Indigenous people in Canada and New Zealand

The disparity in tuberculosis rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people persists in Canada and New Zealand. The most common form of tuberculosis in humans is pulmonary tuberculosis so eliminating tuberculosis transmission is an important obstacle to decreasing the overall rates of the disease. In both Canada and New Zealand, social determinants of health such as housing conditions, access to health care and historical influences (including similar experiences with colonization) have been implicated in the high rates of tuberculosis. This thesis examines and compares the social determinants of tuberculosis transmission among Aboriginal people in the Canadian province of Alberta and Maori and Pacific people in New Zealand. In Alberta, ten Aboriginal individuals with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis participating in a larger prairie wide study were divided into two groups (transmitter and non-transmitter) based on transmission events identified through contact tracing and DNA fingerprinting. Interviews with the ten participants were analyzed and compared using an interpretive phenomenological perspective and informed by an Aboriginal framework of health. Survey data from the same individuals provided complementary descriptive statistics. In New Zealand, interviews with Maori and Pacific pulmonary TB participants that had been conducted as part of other studies were accessed and analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological perspective. Like in Canada, Indigenous frameworks of health specific to Maori and Pacific people informed the analysis. The Canadian analysis identified three factors of greater relevance within the transmission group: substance use, patient-delay-in-seeking-treatment, and number of contacts. These factors were also relevant for the Maori and Pacific experience of tuberculosis. The results of this cross-cultural comparative study highlight the complexity of the experience of tuberculosis for Indigenous people in both Canada and New Zealand. Future research and education and intervention programs must not only consider the proximal social determinants of health, such as poverty, unemployment, etc, but also the more distal social determinants of health and the “causes of causes” such as colonization and its multi-generational effects

Phylogenomic Study Indicates Widespread Lateral Gene Transfer in \u3ci\u3eEntamoeba\u3c/i\u3e and Suggests a Past Intimate Relationship with Parabasalids

Lateral gene transfer (LGT) has impacted the evolutionary history of eukaryotes, though to a lesser extent than in bacteria and archaea. Detecting LGT and distinguishing it from single gene tree artifacts is difficult, particularly when considering very ancient events (i.e., over hundreds of millions of years). Here, we use two independent lines of evidence - A taxon-rich phylogenetic approach and an assessment of the patterns of gene presence/absence- to evaluate the extent of LGT in the parasitic amoebozoan genus Entamoeba. Previous work has suggested that a number of genes in the genome of Entamoeba spp. were acquired by LGT. Our approach, using an automated phylogenomic pipeline to build taxon-rich gene trees, suggests that LGT is more extensive than previously thought. Our analyses reveal that genes have frequently entered the Entamoeba genome via nonvertical events, including at least 116 genes acquired directly from bacteria or archaea, plus an additional 22 genes in which Entamoeba plus one other eukaryote are nested among bacteria and/or archaea. These genes may make good candidates for novel therapeutics, as drugs targeting these genes are less likely to impact the human host. Although we recognize the challenges of inferring intradomain transfers given systematic errors in gene trees, we find 109 genes supporting LGT from a eukaryote to Entamoeba spp., and 178 genes unique to Entamoeba spp. And one other eukaryotictaxon (i.e., presence/absence data). Inspection of these intradomain LGTs provide evidence of a common sister relationship between genes of Entamoeba (Amoebozoa) and parabasalids (Excavata). We speculate that this indicates a past close relationship (e.g., symbiosis) between ancestors of these extant lineages

Metapopulation capacity with self-colonization: Finding the best patches in fragmented habitats

Habitat fragmentation continues to be a leading threat for our global future. Methods to quantify fragmentation of habitat landscapes, particularly for endangered species, would be especially useful in conservation planning. Using the principles of metapopulation theory, we updated and devised two methods for analyzing fragmented landscapes: metapopulation capacity and abandonment rate. Our version of metapopulation capacity includes a self-colonization component to counteract the issue metapopulation theory experiences with single large patches. We then tested these methods on satellite image range maps of endemic birds in the highland forests of northern Central America.

The metapopulation capacity method proved to be a better measure in that it highlighted which patches would be the most successful habitat in the landscape, based on size and connectivity to surrounding patches, thus allowing for species persistence. Unexpectedly, the abandonment rate method proved useful in providing a way of measuring each individual patch’s support to the rest of the landscape system. This could then be used to rank the remaining patches in order of their greatest contribution. Finally, by using a historical satellite map that showed previously forested habitat in the now deforested landscape, we were able to generate optimal restoration sequences by ranking each 1 km squares’ potential contribution

“Tell Us What You Think:” Results of An Exploratory Study of Student Feedback on an Academic Library

Last September, the Dean of Libraries created the Campus Feedback Task Force to “develop a process by which Clemson Libraries [could] solicit online and in-person feedback from students, faculty and staff on campus.” In response, Task Force members prepared a marketing strategy and three methods of soliciting feedback: online via our 10 Days to Have Your Say blog and social media, and in-person through tabling across campus. This presentation discusses the details of how the Task Force met its charge, summarizes the 804 responses received, reflects on what worked and what we would do differently next time, and outlines the impact feedback had on Libraries improvements

The social costs of cooking from scratch: approaching my mother's brownie recipe

This thesis is a contextual analysis of my mother's brownie recipe. Following the recipe through the microcosmic to the macrocosmic, I illuminate its biography in each context. To this end, I have structured my thesis under the overarching umbrella of Marxist cultural theory, on the relationship between basic global modes of production and superstructural social institutions. Within the microcosm, I employ performance analysis, comparative historical and feminist critiques. To understand how the brownie and its recipe communicate within the macrocosm, I deconstruct the recipe, analyzing the historic nature of the ingredients and how those natures become symbols of oppression and exploitation. After examining the utilization of the brownie recipe within the superstructure and exploring the repercussions of the ingredients' production modes within the base, I appraise the normalizing, hegemonic forces that interplay between the base and the superstructure—the forces that make the brownie so seemingly benign and mundane

Identification of possible cow grazing behaviour indicators for restricted grass availability in a pasture-based spring calving dairy system

peer-reviewedPrecision livestock farming uses biosensors to measure different parameters of individual animals to support farmers in the decision making process. Although sensor development is advanced, there is still little implementation of sensor-based solutions on commercial farms. Especially on pasture-based dairy systems, the grazing management of cows is largely not supported by technology. A key factor in pasture-based milk production is the correct grass allocation to maximize the grass utilization per cow, while optimizing cow performance. Currently, grass allocation is mostly based on subjective eye measurements or calculations per herd. The aim of this study was to identify possible indicators of insufficient or sufficient grass allocation in the cow grazing behaviour measures. A total number of 30 cows were allocated a restricted pasture allowance of 60% of their intake capacity. Their behavioural characteristics were compared to those of 10 cows (control group) with pasture allowance of 100% of their intake capacity. Grazing behaviour and activity of cows were measured using the RumiWatchSystem for a complete experimental period of 10 weeks. The results demonstrated that the parameter of bite frequency was significantly different between the restricted and the control groups. There were also consistent differences observed between the groups for rumination time per day, rumination chews per bolus and frequency of cows standing or lying