World Regional Geography

This Grants Collection for World Regional Geography was created under a Round Twelve ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/geo-collections/1007/thumbnail.jp

Resources, Society, and the Environment (VSU)

This Grants Collection for Resources, Society, and the Environment was created under a Round Nine ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/geo-collections/1004/thumbnail.jp

A comparative analysis of services quality dimensions in six service industries

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of LutonThis research investigates the impact of service characteristics on the importance of service quality dimensions across a wide range of service industries. In this research, six service industries are selected to represent the characteristics peculiar to services. The different importance weightings of service quality dimensions in these service industries are identified and a 16-dimension service quality approach is developed for the empirical analysis. This research identifies that importance is the most powerful and appropriate measurement to assess service quality in an industry level. Two phases of empirical research were conducted using a mixed methodology approach. Phase one -the quantitative study -uses 600 telephone interviews to investigate service quality importance from the customers' perspective. Phase two -the qualitative study -uses 12 in-depth personal interviews with managers from these industries to assess service providers' perceptions. Comparisons are made on service quality issues among the six service industries, among all service quality dimensions, between customers and service providers, and among consumers with different experience level with the service. From the quantitative phase, this research develops a service quality importance model to aid managers and academics in understanding customers' perceptions of service quality. The model is then verified in the qualitative phase. Findings indicate that both customers and service providers perceived each service industry has different weightings relating to service characteristics and service quality dimensions. However, perceptual differences between service providers and consumers were found in all service industries. In addition, the findings suggest that consumers' experience levels have no impact on consumers' service quality importance perception in some services industries, e.g. university and restaurant, and only have impact on a limited number of dimensions in other service industries. The concepts of core dimensions and peripheral dimensions are derived from the interviews with service providers in the qualitative phase. The peripheral dimensions are of particular importance for building competitive advantages

The structure of teaching practices across countries. A combination of factor analysis and network analysis

Teaching practices are pivotal for student learning. Due to pedagogical traditions and national cultures, the structure of teaching practices may differ across countries. This study investigates the structure of teaching practices across 12 countries grouped into four major linguistic/cultural clusters. First, factor analysis is applied to investigate if the theoretical distinction between teacher-directed and student-centred practices is generalizable across countries. Then, network analysis is used to explore how individual classroom assessment practices relate to either teacher-directed or student-centred practices. Main findings include that: (1) teacher-directed and student-centred practices are two distinct factors across countries; (2) the overall structure and connectivity of teaching practices differs across countries, with smaller differences within linguistic/cultural clusters; and (3) assessment practices with the aim to structure and guide learning strongly relate to teacher-directed practices, whereas assessment practices with the aim to individualize instruction more relate to student-centred practices. We discuss the global patterning and implications

Evaluating Access and Barriers to Mindfulness Among Opioid-Dependent Patients in Bangor, Maine

Mindfulness has been shown to aid in addiction recovery and can help prevent relapse. The Family Medicine Center & Residency Program at Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) in Bangor, Maine has provided mindfulness resources to their opioid-dependent patients; however, the center has no quantitative data on the current understanding and utilization of mindfulness techniques among this patient population. A survey tool was created and distributed to opioid-dependent patients in the clinic to identify barriers to practicing mindfulness. The collected data was submitted by one of the clinic providers in a grant proposal. Grant funding could go toward addressing these barriers.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1152/thumbnail.jp

The Diverse Infrared Properties of a Complete Sample of Star-Forming Dwarf Galaxies

We present mid-infrared Spitzer Space Telescope observations of a complete sample of star-forming dwarf galaxies selected from the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey. The galaxies span a wide range in mid-infrared properties. Contrary to expectations, some of the galaxies emit strongly at 8 micron indicating the presence of hot dust and/or PAHs. The ratio of this mid-infrared dust emission to the stellar emission is compared with the galaxies' luminosity, star-formation rate, metallicity, and optical reddening. We find that the strength of the 8.0 micron dust emission to the stellar emission ratio is more strongly correlated with the star-formation rate than it is with the metallicity or the optical reddening in these systems. Nonetheless, there is a correlation between the 8.0 micron luminosity and metallicity. The slope of this luminosity-metallicity correlation is shallower than corresponding ones in the B-band and 3.6 micron. The precise nature of the 8.0 micron emission seen in these galaxies (i.e., PAH versus hot dust or some combination of the two) will require future study, including deep mid-IR spectroscopy.Comment: 14 pages, accepted Ap

Data wrapping on the World Wide Web

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (p. 51).by Jessica F. Qu.M.Eng

High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Census Data Reveal Communities at Risk Along the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) in California, USA

We tracked census tract level population change along California\u27s wild land-urban interface (WUI) during the past decade (2010-2019), an ecological sensitive region transitioning from developed land to wilderness. Our results from Mann-Kendall analysis, a method employed for monotonic trend detection showed that about one-third (29.1%) of census tracts in California’s WUI have seen a significant population increase from 2010 to 2019, affecting 12.7% population in California. The population increase along WUI is largely driven by the sixteen counties in the San Francisco Bay Area (10) and Southern California (6). We also found that higher proportion of WUI residents in Bay Area and larger number of WUI residents in Southern California. Bay Area counties in general have a higher proportion of population living in WUI tracts with significant population increase than Southern California counties. However, the lower proportion of residents living in WUI in Southern California counties account for a much larger population. Riverside is the county with the highest number of residents living in WUI tracts that have experienced significant population increase during the past decade. These residents also account for a high proportion (29.2%) of total population in Riverside. Preliminary results showed that the increase of population along WUI is driven by the house affordability and house ownership in 16 counties of Bay Area and Southern California. These factors can still explain a significant amount of the spatial pattern if extended to all counties in California