Measuring disability

Housing policy researchers studying the intersection of housing and disability must understand the relative strengths and limitations of the various types of administrative and survey data that can be used to identify persons with disabilities. This article describes traditional ways that disability has been measured in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administrative data and in relevant federally funded household surveys in the United States, while also highlighting newly available linked administrative survey data that can better identify persons with disabilities who participate in HUD-assisted housing programs. The article addresses various methods of measuring disability, including measures that are common across data sources (such as the sequence of six disability questions now included in the American Community Survey, American Housing Survey, and other federally funded surveys) and measures that are unique to specific sources of data (including HUD administrative data linked with population health surveys that include more detail on activity, functional, and social limitations). The article also discusses the strengths and limitations of various measures

Spanish for Emergency Room Nursing: A Task-Based Needs Analysis for a Languages for Specific Purposes Context

Language barriers in medical settings can impede access to healthcare and increase the risk of medical error for limited English proficiency (LEP) patients, especially in emergency situations (Bender et al., 2004: Martinez, 2010). Nurses who are competent in their patient’s first language can decrease the risk of these issues and care more effectively for their LEP patients (Altstaedter, 2017; Fernandez et al., 2011). However, general foreign language courses do not prepare students for communication in medical settings, and there are few language courses specifically for emergency room (ER) nurses (Amerson & Burgins, 2005; Hardin, 2015). This dissertation will present the results of a study drawing on Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) to conduct a task-based needs analysis (NA) to 1) determine the Spanish language needs of primarily English-speaking emergency room nurses in the Southeastern US and 2) inform the design of a potential Spanish for ER Nursing course. This mixed-methods study included three phases of both data collection and analysis, adapted from Serafini and Torres (2015) and Malicka et al. (2019). In Phase 1, a variety of open-ended measures were used to determine tasks common in ER settings as reported by each type of participant. In Phase 2, participants rated the frequency and importance of these tasks. In Phase 3, the participants reviewed the list of tasks in follow-up interviews. Results are presented as a series of tasks performed in the ER context, ranked according to frequency and importance. This study adds to existing LSP research that has to date been limited regarding studies in non-English contexts and improves upon methodological limitations in previous studies that have used a NA. The findings of this study will inform future curricular decisions in a Spanish for ER nursing course as well as address the healthcare inequalities experienced by LEP patients

Reverse Khas'minskii condition

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss some equivalent characterizations of p-parabolicity in terms of existence of special exhaustion functions. In particular, Khas'minskii in [K] proved that if there exists a 2-superharmonic function k defined outside a compact set such that $\lim_{x\to \infty} k(x)=\infty$, then R is 2-parabolic, and Sario and Nakai in [SN] were able to improve this result by showing that R is 2-parabolic if and only if there exists an Evans potential, i.e. a 2-harmonic function $E:R\setminus K \to \R^+$ with \lim_{x\to \infty} \E(x)=\infty. In this paper, we will prove a reverse Khas'minskii condition valid for any p>1 and discuss the existence of Evans potentials in the nonlinear case.Comment: final version of the article available at http://www.springer.co

Sex-ratio conflict between queens and workers in eusocial Hymenoptera: mechanisms, costs, and the evolution of split colony sex ratios.

Because workers in the eusocial Hymenoptera are more closely related to sisters than to brothers, theory predicts that natural selection should act on them to bias (change) sex allocation to favor reproductive females over males. However, selection should also act on queens to prevent worker bias. We use a simulation approach to analyze the coevolution of this conflict in colonies with single, once-mated queens. We assume that queens bias the primary (egg) sex ratio and workers bias the secondary (adult) sex ratio, both at some cost to colony productivity. Workers can bias either by eliminating males or by directly increasing female caste determination. Although variation among colonies in kin structure is absent, simulations often result in bimodal (split) colony sex ratios. This occurs because of the evolution of two alternative queen or two alternative worker biasing strategies, one that biases strongly and another that does not bias at all. Alternative strategies evolve because the mechanisms of biasing result in accelerating benefits per unit cost with increasing bias, resulting in greater fitness for strategies that bias more and bias less than the population equilibrium. Strategies biasing more gain from increased biasing efficiency whereas strategies biasing less gain from decreased biasing cost. Our study predicts that whether queens or workers evolve alternative strategies depends upon the mechanisms that workers use to bias the sex ratio, the relative cost of queen and worker biasing, and the rates at which queen and worker strategies evolve. Our study also predicts that population and colony level sex allocation, as well as colony productivity, will differ diagnostically according to whether queens or workers evolve alternative biasing strategies and according to what mechanism workers use to bias sex allocation

Response of selected microorganisms to experimental planetary environments

The anaerobic utilization of phosphite or phosphine and the significance of this conversion to potential contamination of Jupiter were investigated. A sporeforming organism was isolated from Cape Canaveral soil which anaerobically converts hypophosphite to phosphate. This conversion coincides with an increase in turbidity of the culture and with phosphate accumulation in the medium. Investigations of omnitherms (organisms which grow over a broad temperature range, i.e. 3 -55 C were also conducted. The cellular morphology of 28 of these isolates was investigated, and all were demonstrated to be sporeformers. Biochemical characterizations are also presented. Procedures for replicate plating were evaluated, and those results are also presented. The procedures for different replicate-plating techniques are presented, and these are evaluated on the basis of reproducibility, percentage of viable transfer, and ease of use. Standardized procedures for the enumeration of microbial populations from ocean-dredge samples from Cape Canaveral are also presented

Advanced Gas Turbine (AGT): Power-train system development

Technical work on the design and effort leading to the testing of a 74.5 kW (100 hp) automotive gas turbine is described. The general effort was concentrated on building an engine for test starting in July. The buildup progressed with only routine problems and the engine was delivered to the test stand 9 July. In addition to the engine build effort, work continued in selected component areas. Ceramic turbine parts were built and tested. Burst tests of ceramic rotors show strengths are approaching that achieved in test bars; proof testing is required for acceptable strength ceramic vanes. Over 25 hours was accumulated on the combustor rig in three test modes: pilot nozzle only, start nozzle, and main nozzle operation. Satisfactory ignition was achieved for a wide range of starting speeds and the lean blowout limit was as low as 0.06 kg/b (0.14 lb/hr). Lean blowout was more a function of nozzle atomization than fuel/air ratio. A variety of cycle points were tested. Transition from start nozzle flow to main nozzle flow was done manually without difficulty. Regenerator parts were qualification tested without incident and the parts were assembled on schedule. Rig based performance matched first build requirements. Repeated failures in the harmonic drive gearbox during rig testing resulted in that concept being abandoned for an alternate scheme

Finding the Balance with Student Assessments

Abstract The intent of this research was to create more authentic Montessori-based assessments for third grade math that aligned to the South Carolina State Standards and to meet the needs of data collection for our school and district. The research study took place in two lower elementary Montessori classrooms within a public Montessori school setting. Combined there were seventeen eight to nine year olds, with five males and twelve females. Each child came from different socioeconomic status and from diverse racial backgrounds, including African American, Caucasian, and East Indian. The five sources of data collection used in this research included: math portfolio, student feedback, parent feedback, colleague feedback, and a checklist of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and materials. The results showed that students were able to better demonstrate mastery of CCSS through Montessori materials in comparison to district provided assessments. In conclusion, it is better to assess students on an individual, developmentally appropriate level and not just a summative assessment