Determining Educational Needs: A Focus Group Approach

The first step in planning and delivering a successful program is to identify the needs and interests of the target audience. The North Central Risk Management Education Center, which provides grants for educational programs for producers in the 12 north central states in the US, conducted a series of focus groups with producers. The goals of the focus groups were to: 1) determine the impact of funded programs; 2) assess risk management education needs of producers; 3) assess preferred delivery methods; and 4) determine program characteristics that will enhance participation. The participants had an average age of 45 which is about 12 years younger than the average age of all farmers. With 1,861 acres of owned and rented land, they had slightly larger operations than the average producer. Labor availability and management was the most common educational concern. Marketing of traditional commodities continues to be a high priority. Related priorities were developing value-added businesses and developing niche markets for new products and farm-related services. Associated concerns were liability insurance needs, reliable supply of needed inputs and government regulations involved in new enterprises. In terms of disseminating information on education programs, direct mail delivery is preferred as email may not be checked regularly in busy periods. Mailings should be directed to both husbands and wives. Program fees are not only acceptable but are viewed as an indicator of quality and credible information.focus groups, risk management, education needs, labor, marketing, human risk, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Innovation highway Breakthrough milestones amp; key developments in chalcopyrite photovoltaics from a retrospective viewpoint

The present contribution is a summary of an event that was organized as a special evening session in Symposium V Chalcogenide Thin Film Solar Cells at the E MRS 2016 Spring Meeting, Lille, France. The presentations in this session were given by the coauthors of this paper. These authors present retrospectives of key developments in the amp; 64257;eld of Cu In,Ga S,Se 2 solar cells as they themselves had witnessed in their laboratories or companies. Also, anecdotes are brought up, which captured interesting circumstances in that evolutionary phase of the amp; 64257;eld. Be cause the focus was on historical perspectives rather than a comprehensive review of the amp; 64257;eld, recent develop ments intentionally were not addresse

Determining Educational Needs: A Focus Group Approach

The first step in planning and delivering a successful program is to identify the needs and interests of the target audience. The North Central Risk Management Education Center, which provides grants for educational programs for producers in the 12 north central states in the US, conducted a series of focus groups with producers. The goals of the focus groups were to: 1) determine the impact of funded programs; 2) assess risk management education needs of producers; 3) assess preferred delivery methods; and 4) determine program characteristics that will enhance participation. The participants had an average age of 45 which is about 12 years younger than the average age of all farmers. With 1,861 acres of owned and rented land, they had slightly larger operations than the average producer. Labor availability and management was the most common educational concern. Marketing of traditional commodities continues to be a high priority. Related priorities were developing value-added businesses and developing niche markets for new products and farm-related services. Associated concerns were liability insurance needs, reliable supply of needed inputs and government regulations involved in new enterprises. In terms of disseminating information on education programs, direct mail delivery is preferred as email may not be checked regularly in busy periods. Mailings should be directed to both husbands and wives. Program fees are not only acceptable but are viewed as an indicator of quality and credible information

Structural Evidence for Isoform Selective Allosteric Inhibition of Lactate Dehydrogenase A

Lactate dehydrogenase A LDHA is frequently overexpressed in tumors, thereby sustaining high glycolysis rates, tumor growth, and chemoresistance. High throughput screening resulted in the identification of phthalimide and dibenzofuran derivatives as novel lactate dehydrogenase inhibitors, selectively inhibiting the activity of the LDHA isoenzyme. Cocrystallization experiments confirmed target engagement in addition to demonstrating binding to a novel allosteric binding site present in all four LDHA subunits of the LDH5 homotetrame