Deterrents to participation in company supported tuition reimbursement

With today\u27s labor crunch brought on by a prospering economy, companies are striving to offer creative benefits packages in order to recruit and retain the best employees. Tuition assistance is viewed as one such recruiting and retention tool. Forward thinking companies realize that an up to date and educated workforce is essential for continued success in a today\u27s ever-changing global work community. The latest increases in technology and information require continued education to stay current. The purpose of this study was to determine what factors deter employees from participating in a company supported tuition reimbursement program. A population of 105 retail specialty chain store employees yielded 74 responses. An existing instrument, Deterrents to Participation Scale-General, was modified to collect data in this study. Deterring factors measured were educational cost, lack of self-confidence, low personal priority, time constrains, lack of encouragement, lack of interest, lack of relevance, and personal problems. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze data obtained from the survey. Results indicated that the eight factors under study did not deter employees in participating in educational activities. No relation was found between any demographic variable and the eight factors. However, the data revealed that the structure of the tuition reimbursement program might exclude some employees from participating. This exclusion may negatively affect employee retention, the purpose of the program\u27s existence

Do grandparents matter? : The impact of Grandparenting on the wellbeing of children

This timely and important report shows the immense value of grandparents in 21st century family life. It reveals a unique relationship that exists between the older generation and the youngest: a relationship of love and trust that enables the children to use their grandparents as confidantes and counsellors as well as playmates and cookery instructors. The report shows that children value the non-critical support, emotional advice and guidance that grandparents offer and enjoy the quality time their grandparents give them. It also found that the relationship has benefits for grandparents adding to their raison d’être and contributing to their health and longevity. The report also notes the change in the nature of family relationships in Britain throughout the 20th century, from the extended family to the nuclear family to the current variety of relationships, formal and informal, in which both the elderly and the young suffer neglect. With today’s increased incidence of divorce and family breakdown, grandparents can sometimes provide the only stable family relationship in a child’s life, and yet grandparents often lose contact with their grandchildren during or after a divorce or relationship breakup and have no legal rights through the Family Court to continue offering loving care and support to their grandchildren. The report concludes that there is need for much greater understanding of the role and function of grandparents in family life today.Final Published versio

Health Effects of Indoor-Air Benzene in Anchorage Residences: A Study of Indoor-Air Quality in Houses with Attached Garages

Benzene is a known carcinogen. It affects white blood cells; it causes leukemia and aplastic anemia. It may also affect the immune system which is dependent on white blood cells.1 It has been removed from all household products, but it is still present in gasoline. Alaskan gasoline is particularly high in benzene (>5%). Gasoline refined in Alaska has high concentrations of benzene and other the aromatic compounds as much as 50% aromatics by volume. Leaving the aromatics in the gasoline helps cars start in the cold, but it also puts high concentrations of benzene in both the ambient and indoor air. We already knew from previous work done in Alaska by Bernard Goldstein in Valdez2 and the Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services in Anchorage3 that people were exposed to high ambient levels of benzene in the winter, and that there were high indoor benzene concentrations in homes with attached garages if the garage was used to store gasoline or gasoline powered engines. Benzene does not bioaccumulate in the body as dioxin or some pesticides do. But are its effects cumulative? Does a little dose of benzene everyday have the same effect as a large dose over less time? Benzene reduces CD4 cells in a dose-response manner at workplace concentrations less than 1 ppm (OSHA 8-hour exposure limit) in workers.4 People who live in homes with high benzene concentrations may be exposed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There have been no studies of health effects of such environmental exposure to benzene. This study was done to determine three things: 1. What percentage of Anchorage homes with attached garages had high levels of indoor benzene? 2. Were the high levels of indoor benzene affecting the health of the residents? 3. Were residents more likely to develop asthma in homes with high levels of indoor benzene?Municipality of AnchorageIntroduction / Methods / Recruitment / Results / Laboratory Results / Smoking / Health Results / Demographics / Determining Risk Levels / Asthma Outcomes / Children / Work and Hobby Exposure / General Health / Conclusions / Bibliography / Appendice

Adapting to Sea Level Rise: Insights from a New Evaluation Framework of Physical Design Projects

Designers and engineers are developing proposals for physical projects to adapt coastal sites to future sea level rise related threats. This puts pressure on local and regional decision makers to develop strategic frameworks for prioritizing, permitting and funding such projects. However, no systematic evaluation tools exist for the full range of these innovative designs. We build on the literature to develop an evaluation framework that synthesizes two different approaches to categorize these proposals and provide insight for coastal managers and decision makers. We apply this framework to physical projects that address sea level rise in their design around the San Francisco Bay Area, a leading region in sea level rise adaptation. We find that these projects demonstrate a shift toward more habitat-focused strategies, which likely marks the beginning of a larger transformation of the coastal zone. According to our five-part evaluation tool, we also find that the projects’ scores have improved over time, indicating that state agency work may be helping communities implement more flexible adaptation initiatives. Despite these positive signs, we also find that none of the projects achieved high marks in all five of the evaluation criteria. This finding indicates that there is a critical need for improvement in physical planning for adaptation to higher sea levels and associated impacts. Most importantly, we find that an evaluation framework such as the one used here can provide critical insights into the likely risks and benefits of proposed adaptation projects and their long-term implications for coastal zones

Nanoencapsulation Strategies for Antimicrobial Controlled Release to Enhance Fresh and Fresh-Cut Produce Safety

Spice essential oils and their constituents are powerful antimicrobials against foodborne pathogens. However, their low sensory threshold and low aqueous solubility make their application to fresh produce a challenge. Encapsulation within a biocompatible material has the potential to mask sensory attributes and increase aqueous solubility of the oils, thereby improving their applicability as antimicrobials onto fresh produce. Cinnamon bark extract (CBE), trans-cinnamaldehyde, clove bud extract, and eugenol were encapsulated in β-cyclodextrin (BCD), poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), alginate, chitosan, and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAM) singly and in combination. All essential oil capsules were characterized for particle size and morphology, polydispersity index, entrapment efficiency, phase-solubility, and controlled release profile. Following physical and chemical characterization, the oils and their nanocapsules were analyzed for their antimicrobial activity against Salmonella enterica serovar Typhymirium LT2 and Listeria spp. using a microbroth dilution assay to determine minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations at 35°C. The most efficacious antimicrobial nanocapsules during in vitro testing were BCD-CBE, PLGACBE, and chitosan-PNIPAAM-CBE, which were applied to fresh-cut romaine lettuce, along with free CBE, to determine their efficiency against L. monocytogenes in a food system. The chitosan-PNIPAAM-CBE yielded the greatest bacterial inhibition (P<0.05); therefore, it was subjected to a shelf-life study to determine if there were any effects of the particles on fresh-cut romaine lettuce quality over the course of storage. The antimicrobial nanoparticles did not significantly affect (P>0.05) overall product quality, making encapsulated essential oils a viable treatment for improving food safety without negatively impacting the product’s key attributes. This research project developed several natural antimicrobial delivery systems that each exhibited unique release properties and mechanisms, which improved the antimicrobial efficacy (P<0.05) of essential oils and their active compounds. This study sought to characterize and compare different nanoencapsulation systems based on their performance as controlled delivery systems for natural antimicrobials against foodborne pathogens, which has not been previously reported

Community context of retiree migration intentions

Current research into retiree migration has focused on identifying geographical patterns of migration and on analysing the personal characteristics of retirees. Very few studies have investigated the community context of retiree migration. This research explores associations between community characteristics and retiree migration intentions through a study centered on small towns located in Northwestern Ontario. It makes a contribution to existing retiree migration literature through the development and application of a theoretical perspective on community retiree migration, based on Rose's concept of an aging subculture and Breton's concept of institutional completeness. Findings indicate that there is a strong association between community characteristics and retiree migration intentions. Retirees appear to intend staying in those communities which have a complex set of community characteristics. Conversely, retirees appear to intend leaving communities which are less developed

Hydropower\u27s Promise: The Opportunities and Challenges of Hydropower for Mitigating Climate-Driven Scarcity

This Article examines hydroelectric resources’ ability to assist states throughout the West and across the country in meeting their statutory and policy goals of reduced or zero carbon emissions, while maintaining reliability. Extreme weather events, and associated costs, are not isolated to the Western Interconnection, but rather increasingly impact other regions and their end-use customers. In its 2021 U.S. Hydropower Market Report, the Department of Energy (DOE) noted that, in nearly every Balancing Authority Area assessed, hydropower was more extensively used for hourly ramping flexibility than any other resource. Additional services hydroelectric resources provide, including storage capacity and black start service to restore power without assistance from the grid, are critical in a context where extreme weather is the new norm

Group treatments for sensitive health care problems : a randomised controlled trial of group versus individual physiotherapy sessions for female urinary incontinence

Background: The aim was to compare effectiveness of group versus individual sessions of physiotherapy in terms of symptoms, quality of life, and costs, and to investigate the effect of patient preference on uptake and outcome of treatment. Methods: A pragmatic, multi-centre randomised controlled trial in five British National Health Service physiotherapy departments. 174 women with stress and/or urge incontinence were randomised to receive treatment from a physiotherapist delivered in a group or individual setting over three weekly sessions. Outcome were measured as Symptom Severity Index; Incontinence-related Quality of Life questionnaire; National Health Service costs, and out of pocket expenses. Results: The majority of women expressed no preference (55%) or preference for individual treatment (36%). Treatment attendance was good, with similar attendance with both service delivery models. Overall, there were no statistically significant differences in symptom severity or quality of life outcomes between the models. Over 85% of women reported a subjective benefit of treatment, with a slightly higher rating in the individual compared with the group setting. When all health care costs were considered, average cost per patient was lower for group sessions (Mean cost difference £52.91 95%, confidence interval (£25.82 - £80.00)). Conclusion: Indications are that whilst some women may have an initial preference for individual treatment, there are no substantial differences in the symptom, quality of life outcomes or non-attendance. Because of the significant difference in mean cost, group treatment is recommended