Evaluating cultural competency and patient satisfaction in an urban dermatology clinic.

Cultural competency continues to gain increased attention in medicine. Not only does it play a significant role in the delivery of health care and patient outcomes, but it also remains a major determinant of patient satisfaction. This study investigated how patients in an urban dermatology clinic rated their satisfaction with cultural competency. Compared to White patients, satisfaction scores were greater for Hispanic or Latino patients and less for Asian patients, while there was no significant difference for Black or African American patients. There were clear differences in patient satisfaction rates of various dimensions of cultural competency. A follow-up study with a larger sample size is needed for closer examination into the conclusions

Chaos, Complexity, and Random Matrices

Chaos and complexity entail an entropic and computational obstruction to describing a system, and thus are intrinsically difficult to characterize. In this paper, we consider time evolution by Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE) Hamiltonians and analytically compute out-of-time-ordered correlation functions (OTOCs) and frame potentials to quantify scrambling, Haar-randomness, and circuit complexity. While our random matrix analysis gives a qualitatively correct prediction of the late-time behavior of chaotic systems, we find unphysical behavior at early times including an $\mathcal{O}(1)$ scrambling time and the apparent breakdown of spatial and temporal locality. The salient feature of GUE Hamiltonians which gives us computational traction is the Haar-invariance of the ensemble, meaning that the ensemble-averaged dynamics look the same in any basis. Motivated by this property of the GUE, we introduce $k$-invariance as a precise definition of what it means for the dynamics of a quantum system to be described by random matrix theory. We envision that the dynamical onset of approximate $k$-invariance will be a useful tool for capturing the transition from early-time chaos, as seen by OTOCs, to late-time chaos, as seen by random matrix theory.Comment: 61 pages, 14 figures; v2: references added, typos fixe

A device for autonomous accurate measurement of sediment mass in a water sample

Sediment is a major water pollutant causing damage to aquatic ecosystems, clogging waterways, and filling reservoirs. Regulatory agencies like EPA and TDEC want to regulate sediment release from disturbed land uses (e.g., construction, mining, or forestry) by limiting measured discharge, as they do for contaminants from factories or wastewater treatment plants. However, they rather typically settle instead for simply requiring application of pre-approved BMPs applied to the site in a specified manner, because measuring sediment discharge is such a difficult, expensive, labor-intensive, and time-consuming process. In order to require measured sediment discharge, there must be a system that can accurately and easily measure the sediment concentration in a water sample in-situ and in near real time.This project developed a measurement system to accurately quantify a sample’s sediment mass under either gravity-fed or pumped inflow conditions. The system analyzes a 0.5 L sample every 90 s and measures the sample’s sediment mass to within 0.25 g or 5% of the known added mass (whichever is larger) across the range from 1,200 – 120,000 mg L-1 of sample. Additionally, the data acquisition system stores data in non-volatile memory and supports wireless data transfer while minimizing power consumption.Preliminary testing shows that with human interaction the system can meet the sediment measurement accuracy requirements for sand, silt loam, and clay loam. However, errors introduced by four different elements of current system dynamics prevent the automation of the data analysis and thus total system success. Once optimized through several additional redesigns, the system could provide a significantly-improved method of regulating discharge from construction sites, as well as providing support for general stream or river water quality work

Language policy implementers: Faculty perspectives on language policy at a Southeastern U.S. University

Faculty members, as language policy implementers, retain significant control of the enactment of policy in local contexts. In order to better understand the relationship between de jure language policies at multiple levels of the policy hierarchy, in addition to faculty members? acceptance or rejection of these policies, this study investigated faculty perspectives on language policy, specifically at a southeastern university in the United States. This study employed multiple methods of research including a policy examination and a survey. These methods were selected in order to inspect de jure language policies at the national, state, governing board, and institutional level as well as examine de facto language policies within higher education classrooms and investigate faculty members? beliefs regarding the role of language as it related primarily to non-native English speaking students. This study found that most faculty members believe their classrooms are sites of de facto English-only language policies and are therefore unwittingly recreating de jure state language policies within their classrooms. The study also found that a vast majority of faculty members believe that language plays a large role in students? success, that non-native English speaking (NNS) students face more challenges in the classroom than native English speakers, and that institutions should provide additional support to NNS students. Additionally, faculty members held mixed beliefs regarding the equality of classrooms when comparing English native speakers and NNS students. Finally, this research found that there appears to be a direct connection between the exposure that faculty members have to both foreign languages and NNS and their feelings of preparedness to teach these students as well as their beliefs that this significant student population warrants additional support

Placing a High-Altitude Balloon in the Path of Totality

The UAH Space Hardware Club had conducted 70 flights prior to the Eclipse. In this time, we have gained valuable skills and experience which we have put into practice and passed on through the years. We put these skills into practice for the Eclipse. Our first challenge was finding where to launch. We started out by looking for suitable locations inside totality. We also examined a map of totality at 80,000 ft. We then ran predictions based on past weather during that time of year. By compiling multiple past predictions, we eliminated possible launch sites. We had multiple payloads, some needed altitude others needed to be as close as possible to a ground station during totality to stream video of the eclipse. We planned for two balloons to get all payloads where they needed to be. We then, began preliminary burst calculations. Up to 10 days before launch, we begin predictions using the tools provided by HabHub. HabHub can output KMLs which displays 3D position. This allows us to calculate what balloons and helium we need. Come flight day we use prepared checklists during launch operations including fill and line preparation. We use custom fill rigs and pipe clamps to fill our balloons. We track our balloons primarily through APRS trackers with SPOT Trace backups. The APRS allows us to maintain complete telemetry through flight and is receivable through multiple forms. We learn from each launch so, we strive to share these lessons the with others and pass them on

Best Practices for Recruiting Students from the Basic Course

This essay responds to the Basic Course Forum question about best practices for recruiting to and/or from the basic course

Modelling preference heterogeneity in stated choice data: an analysis for public goods generated by agriculture

Stated choice models based on the random utility framework are becoming increasingly popular in the applied economics literature. The need to account for respondents’ preference heterogeneity in such models has motivated researchers in agricultural, environmental, health and transport economics to apply random parameter logit and latent class models. In most of the published literature these models incorporate heterogeneity in preferences through the systematic component of utility. An alternative approach is to investigate heterogeneity through the random component of utility, and covariance heterogeneity models are one means of doing this. In this paper we compare these alternative ways of incorporating preference heterogeneity in stated choice models and evaluate how the selection of approach affects welfare estimates in a given empirical application. We find that a Latent Class approach fits our data best but all the models perform well in terms of out-of-sample predictions. Finally, we discuss what criteria a researcher can use to decide which approach is most appropriate for a given data set

Reliability of center of pressure measures for assessing the development of sitting postural control through the stages of sitting

Cerebral palsy (CP) impairs an individual’s ability to move and control one’s posture. Unfortunately, the signs and symptoms of CP may not be apparent before age two. Evaluating sitting posture is a potential way to assess the developing mechanisms that contribute to CP. The purpose of this project was to determine the reliability of linear and nonlinear measures, including inter- and intrastage reliability, when used to analyze the center of pressure (COP) time series during the stages of sitting development in children with typical development (TD) and with/at-risk for cerebral palsy (CP). We hypothesized that nonlinear tools would be more reliable than linear tools in assessing childrens’ sitting development, and reliability would increase with development. COP data was recorded for three trials at eight sessions. Linear parameters used were root mean square, range of sway for the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions, and sway path. Nonlinear parameters used were Approximate Entropy, the largest Lyapunov Exponent, and Correlation Dimension for the AP and ML direction. Participants consisted of 33 children with TD and 26 children with/at-risk for CP. Our results determined that COP is a moderately reliable method for assessing the development of sitting postural control in stages in both groups. Thus, clinicians may be able to use measures from COP data across stages to assess the efficacy of therapeutic interventions that are intended to improve sitting postural abilities in children with/at-risk for CP