Variable Dynamic Force Vector Rocket Test Apparatus

Design and performance characteristics of variable dynamic force vector rocket test apparatu

Will night shift workers ratings of well-being and fatigue and performance on prospective memory and sustained vigilance tasks recover after three nights rest? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

As the demand for a 24-hour world increases so does the need for more shift workers. To maintain the standard expected of them, shift workers often work long hours, including night work where their main opportunity for sleep is during the day. Research has found that shift workers experience fatigue, difficulties in cognition and impaired wellbeing after working shifts like these. Despite this, minimal research has been conducted to explore how many days of recovery should be rostered after one night shift. This study aimed to find evidence to guide workplaces on how many days of rest employees should be rostered to recuperate from one night of sleep loss. A sample of 39 night shift (n=22) and day shift workers (n=17) completed a five day experiment from pre-night shift to rest day three (or five consecutive days for controls) and were assessed in tasks of prospective memory, sustained vigilance, self-reported fatigue levels and self-reported affect to measure well-being. The results indicated that while there was no significant change in vigilant attention or prospective remembering across the five days that self-reported fatigue and positive affect experienced significant changes. These findings indicate that night shift workers may need two to three days of rest to recover from some of the effects from a night of sleep deprivation. However this study repeated with a larger sample size and stricter conditions could yield different results

Virginia Community College System Online Student Success: Best Practices and Sustainable Change

Online learning has an increasingly greater presence in the higher education landscape. Students are able to earn a degree in fully online programs and take courses in modalities that offer the necessary convenience to balance multiple life priorities. The flexibility that online courses offer is valuable for adult learners with young children, students with disabilities including invisible and non-physical disabilities, or populations who must work to support families while pursuing an education. For these populations, community colleges play an important role in providing access to education as they enroll a greater number of adult students and have a higher percentage of minority students for whom having an online option is important. This broad mission of access is both commendable and challenging. The challenge is how to ensure success and increase completion while navigating a switch to online learning. This mixed method study combines three pieces of data and information to develop a sustainable online student success plan for the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). First, the study includes a literature review on best practices related to online student success and sustainable change management. Second, the study provides a detailed examination of student success web portals deployed by institutions. And lastly, the study included a survey and focus group interviews with VCSS administrators, faculty, and staff. The findings led to recommendations for a sustainable implementation plan to ensure online student success

RAMSTRONG: AN EMPLOYEE WELLNESS INITIATIVE

The RAMSTRONG project’s mission is to create a mobile website accessible online and through the VCU Mobile app that provides VCU employees with user-friendly, accessible resources to support their holistic well-being. The RAMSTRONG project seeks to meet three basic needs. First, while VCU and the Greater Richmond area offer a plethora of resources to promote health, information about these resources is not readily accessible, and especially not accessible from one website or mobile app. RAMSTRONG aims to provide an accessible means for employees to learn about and take advantage of these resources. Second, while a growing body of scientific literature indicates employer sponsored health promotion programs increase job satisfaction, productivity, and retention, these programs are only effective if they are utilized. RAMSTRONG aims to increase their utilization by promoting awareness of their availability. Third, our society invests a substantial sum of resources to the care of those suffering from injury and illness and less to promoting our health and well-being. The RAMSTRONG project is motivated by a vision of a society that invests significantly in the promotion of wellness so as to reduce the incidence of injury and illness and to increase the prevalence of personal and social satisfaction at work and in life. Our model for the RAMSTRONG app draws from the public health concept of the Wheel of Wellness, which specifies eight interrelated and interdependent dimensions of health: emotional, environmental, financial, social, spiritual, occupational, physical, and intellectual. When a person can demonstrate strength and well-being in each of these areas, they are more productive and receive greater satisfaction in life. Universities, including Princeton University, that have implemented similar website resources and the National Wellness Institute define wellness as “an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence”. Our RAMSTRONG website and mobile app will provide employees with an efficient, friendly means for becoming aware of campus and community resources and making choices that actively contribute to individual and community well-being in each of the eight dimensions. It is our hope that with the implementation of this project, VCU employees will have the resources to take charge of their wellness in each dimension and become RAMSTRONG

Quantifying fenbendazole and its metabolites in self-medicating wild red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus using an HPLC–MS–MS approach

On red grouse estates in the UK the nematode parasite Trichostrongylus tenuis is often controlled by application of grit medicated with the anthelmintic fenbendazole (FBZ). To date, assessment of the efficacy has been inhibited by the inability to quantify uptake of FBZ by the birds. We have developed a simple and sensitive HPLC–MS–MS method for detecting and quantifying FBZ and its metabolites from a 300 mg sample of red grouse liver. This method could be used to improve the efficacy of medicated grit treatment by allowing the identification of conditions and application methods that optimize the uptake of FBZ. With the necessary modifications, our method will also be applicable to other wildlife species where self-medication is used for parasite control