Social media and campaigns for social good: best practices for mental health nonprofit organizations

2014 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.This study sought to better understand how mental health nonprofits are using social media platforms to communicate with three audiences: their clients, support groups of their clients, and the general public. Four research questions were studied through a series of ten in-depth interviews with communications professionals at mental health nonprofits in Colorado. The study found that social media was an important component of these nonprofits' online communication strategy. Goals with social media ranged from funneling visitors to the organization's website to raising awareness about its particular focus in mental health. Many participants expressed interest in communicating with their clients and even providing some extension of their services through social media, but found requirements for privacy set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to be restrictive. Although not all organizations considered the general public to be a major target audience, most agreed that some portion of their posts provided education, awareness, and stigma-fighting components. Several organizations considered friends and family members of their clients to be their most important target audience, and focused posts on providing informational and emotional support to this group. Clients were also noted as benefitting from this informational and emotional support. Findings from the interviews were used to suggest seven best practices for social media use by mental health nonprofits

Quality in early years settings and children’s school achievement

Childcare quality is often thought to be important for influencing children’s subsequent attainment at school. The English Government regulates the quality of early education by setting minimum levels of qualifications for workers and grading settings based on a national Inspectorate (OfSTED). This paper uses administrative data on over two million children to relate performance on national teacher assessments at ages 5 and 7 to the quality characteristics of the nursery they attended before starting school. Results show that staff qualifications and childcare quality ratings have a weak association with teacher assessments at school, based on comparing children who attended different nurseries but attended the same primary school. Our results suggest that although children’s outcomes are related to the nursery they attend, which nurseries are good cannot be predicted by staff qualifications and OfSTED ratings; the measures of quality that Government has focused on

The smooth cut-off Hierarchical Reference Theory of fluids

We provide a comprehensive presentation of the Hierarchical Reference Theory (HRT) in the smooth cut-off formulation. A simple and self-consistent derivation of the hierarchy of differential equations is supplemented by a comparison with the known sharp cut-off HRT. Then, the theory is applied to a hard core Yukawa fluid (HCYF): a closure, based on a mean spherical approximation ansatz, is studied in detail and its intriguing relationship to the self consistent Ornstein-Zernike approximation is discussed. The asymptotic properties, close to the critical point are investigated and compared to the renormalization group results both above and below the critical temperature. The HRT free energy is always a convex function of the density, leading to flat isotherms in the two-phase region with a finite compressibility at coexistence. This makes HRT the sole liquid-state theory able to obtain directly fluid-fluid phase equilibrium without resorting to the Maxwell construction. The way the mean field free energy is modified due to the inclusion of density fluctuations suggests how to identify the spinodal curve. Thermodynamic properties and correlation functions of the HCYF are investigated for three values of the inverse Yukawa range: z=1.8, z=4 and z=7 where Monte Carlo simulations are available. The stability of the liquid-vapor critical point with respect to freezing is also studied.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures, 1 tabl

Analysis of EEC Regulation 2092/91 in relation to other national and international organic standards

This Deliverable 3.2 report presents an analysis of differences between EEC Regulation 2092/91 and other organic standards and their implementation, using a specially developed database (www.organicrules.org). It further reports on database development. The work was carried out as part of the “EEC 2092/91 (Organic) Revision” STREP project (No. SSPE-CT- 2004-502397) within the EU 6th Framework Programme. The main objective was to identify differences in organic standards in relation to Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 and to analyse selected national governmental and private organic standards with the aim of identifying specific areas in the (EEC) 2092/91 where revision in terms of harmonisation, regionalisation or simplification may be possible

Nutritional Deficiencies During the Harvest Season According to Household Consumption and Level of Nutritional Knowledge: A Case Study of Northern Mozambique

Mozambique is classified as a low income country, the lowest development classification defined by the World Bank. It is underdeveloped in food security, agricultural production, and nutritional status, and research shows its residents are not foreign to poverty and malnutrition. Low protein, starchy foods (maize, rice, wheat, cassava) comprise the majority of the Mozambican diet; these starchy foods are the most available for consumption. Although availability impacts diet, educational barriers may also threaten the knowledge of nutrition and perceptions of healthy foods. Illiteracy and lack of education are extreme challenges to disseminating nutritional education efforts in the rural Nampula region. New Horizons, a for-profit poultry company located in the rural Nampula region, provides local villagers with employment opportunities that provide increased income and ultimately lead to increased quality of life (which may affect employees’ diet and food choices). This study assessed the nutritional status of New Horizons employees and nonemployees and their knowledge and perceptions of nutrition. When reporting daily food consumption, grains represented the highest percentage of caloric intake for both groups, followed by beans and tubers. Respondents could not consistently provide a definition of nutrition, but employees were able to define nutrition more often than nonemployees. When reporting healthy foods, leaves, maize flour, and bananas were chosen most often. When reporting preferred foods to consume, employees chose luxury goods and nonemployees chose starchy foods. Respondents could not provide a consistent answer of where they learned about healthy foods. Implications for practice include incorporating nutrition and healthy foods lessons with school lunch programs. Future research should assess respondents during the harvest, post-harvest, and hungry seasons to account for seasonality, and measure foods consumed by providing measuring utensils for respondents

Agricultural Communications: Perspectives from the Experts

This qualitative research study evaluates the perspectives of agricultural communications (ACOM) according to ACOM experts (N = 25) from across the United States. Respondents represented policy makers, industry leaders, educators, and researchers and averaged about 15 years of experience. However, respondents were unable to identify a consistent definition of ACOM. Skills and characteristics needed by agricultural communicators ranged from general agriculture and policy understanding to technical communications and science knowledge. Audience identification, agricultural and policy knowledge, and targeted message development and delivery were all important skills needed by ACOMRs. Agricultural communicator characteristics focused on being flexible, responsible, gaining trust, and thinking critically. Challenges, sometimes noted as barriers, ranged from knowledge area changes to division and defense and from a non-unified voice to rapid expansion of technology. The discussion of higher education institutions training generalists versus specialists is an important topic based on findings of this study. Recommendations for future ACOM focus and education are discussed

Testimony of Burton C. English before the Joint Economic Committee and the Agriculture Subcommittee in Washington, D.C.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Burton C. English. I am a staff economist with the Center for Agricultural Development located in Ames, Iowa. My area of expertise is in agricultural economics and policy with a special emphasis in soil conservation. I wish to thank you for inviting me here to testify. You will note that the testimony that I am presenting here was written by Earl O. Heady and myself. I send his apologies for not being able to make this hearing, but his schedule would not permit it

The CARD/RCA Water Sector Model

Water has become a major input into agriculture production in the United States. Irrigation in the Western United States has been important in crop production and will continue to be important. Irrigation is also becoming more important in areas of the southeast. The use and conservation of water, as well as the importance of irrigation in the conservation of soil, are areas of concern as outlined in the 1977 Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act. Therefore, it is necessary for the CARD/RCA programming models to incorporate a water sector

Reliable Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-based thin film piezoelectric micromirrors for space-applications

Although Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) piezoelectric thin films are finding widespread applications on Earth, it is yet unclear if they are suitable for space-related applications. In space, their long-term reliability is a significant concern due to the difficulties of repairing and replacing malfunctioning devices. In this work, PZT thin film micromirrors for compact interferometric 3D imaging systems have been exposed to operating conditions encountered on a space mission and tested according to criteria set by the European Space Agency. Thermal cycling in vacuum, sinusoidal and random mechanical vibrations, and -radiation with and without bias did not degrade key functional device properties of the micromirror such as angular deflection, resonance frequency, polarization, and permittivity. Apart from -radiation, stressing the devices enhanced their large-signal angular deflection and improved their electrical lifetime compared to pristine devices. Their dielectric and ferroelectric characteristics remained comparable to that of a lab-scale environment. Simultaneously applying a 10 V field-down bias while -radiating the micromirrors changed the capacitance-field and polarization-field characteristics and enhanced the electrical imprint. After stress-testing, the median time-to-failure in moderate acceleration conditions of 150 kV/cm and 175 °C ranged from 1.95 to 2.64 h, close to 2.11 h as measured for a reference group. All actuator membranes had shorter electrical lifetimes, smaller voltage acceleration factors, and smaller activation energies, ranging from 2.56 to 2.88 V−1 and 1.03 to 1.09 eV, than simple bonding pads. This work is a device-level report covering a full set of space-relevant tests demonstrating that PZT-based thin film piezomicroelectromechanical systems technology is space-ready.acceptedVersio

Treatment compliance and effectiveness of a cognitive behavioural intervention for low back pain : a complier average causal effect approach to the BeST data set

Background: Group cognitive behavioural intervention (CBI) is effective in reducing low-back pain and disability in comparison to advice in primary care. The aim of this analysis was to investigate the impact of compliance on estimates of treatment effect and to identify factors associated with compliance. Methods: In this multicentre trial, 701 adults with troublesome sub-acute or chronic low-back pain were recruited from 56 general practices. Participants were randomised to advice (control n = 233) or advice plus CBI (n = 468). Compliance was specified a priori as attending a minimum of three group sessions and the individual assessment. We estimated the complier average causal effect (CACE) of treatment. Results: Comparison of the CACE estimate of the mean treatment difference to the intention-to-treat (ITT) estimate at 12 months showed a greater benefit of CBI amongst participants compliant with treatment on the Roland Morris Questionnaire (CACE: 1.6 points, 95% CI 0.51 to 2.74; ITT: 1.3 points, 95% CI 0.55 to 2.07), the Modified Von Korff disability score (CACE: 12.1 points, 95% CI 6.07 to 18.17; ITT: 8.6 points, 95% CI 4.58 to 12.64) and the Modified von Korff pain score (CACE: 10.4 points, 95% CI 4.64 to 16.10; ITT: 7.0 points, 95% CI 3.26 to 10.74). People who were non-compliant were younger and had higher pain scores at randomisation. Conclusions: Treatment compliance is important in the effectiveness of group CBI. Younger people and those with more pain are at greater risk of non-compliance