TRADE FLOWS AND MARKETING PRACTICES IN THE TEXAS NURSERY INDUSTRY

International Relations/Trade, Marketing,

Role of raltegravir in the management of HIV-1 infection

The development of multiple agents with potent antiretroviral activity against HIV has ushered in a new age of optimism in the management of patients infected with the virus. However, the viruses’ dynamic ability to develop resistance against these agents necessitates the investigation of novel targets for viral suppression. Raltegravir represents a first-in-class agent targeting the HIV integrase enzyme, which is responsible for integration of virally encoded DNA into the host genome. Over the last 5 years, clinical trials data has demonstrated an increasing role for raltegravir in the management of both treatment-experienced and treatment-naïve HIV-1-infected patients. This review focuses on the evidence supporting raltegravir’s efficacy in an array of clinical settings. Other HIV-1 integrase inhibitors in development are also briefly discussed

Impact of inquiry science courses on preservice elementary students\u27 ideas on science

This study examines how students\u27 scientific ideas compare between students who have taken different numbers of general science and inquiry science courses at a midwestern university. The purpose of this study is to gain perspective and to inform current teaching practices based on how preservice elementary education teachers view scientific ideas after taking a different number of inquiry science courses. Students in a science inquiry course completed a science survey (Appendix B) of science and non-science questions and were asked to explain their reasoning. A scoring rubric (Wilson et al., 2010) was used to apply a score for correct and incorrect claims as well as correct justification based on providing evidence and reasoning. While the results from a showed an upward trend in terms of correct responses as students progressed through both inquiry science and general science courses, the justification and science reasoning was lacking. A Kruskal-Wallis test showed a statistically significant relationship between the number of science courses and the scores on the science survey, H (3) = 9.313, P = 0.025. An additional Kruskal-Wallis test did not show a statistically significant relationship between the number of inquiry science courses and the scores on the science survey, H (2) =5.077, P = 0.079. Lastly, a Mann Whitney U test indicated that students seeking an endorsement in science teaching was not significantly higher than those who were not, U=151.00, p =0.789. These findings can have implications for university level inquiry science courses as well as inform my own instruction and advocacy for inquiry in my current school district

Parapsychological investigation of the theory of Psychopraxia: experimental and theoretical researches into an alternative theory explaining normal and paranormal phenomena

A series of four experiments were conducted to test Thalbourne's theory of psychopraxia (Thalbourne, 2000a). The thesis begins with an introduction to the field of parapsychology in the form of an argument against extreme skepticism (Chapter 1). It argues that skeptics have failed to produce cogent arguments to undermine the hypothesis that so-called paranormal phenomena exist. A review of the parapsychological meta-analyses (Chapters 2 and 3) provides supporting evidence of the hypothesis that paranormal effects do exist. By argument and by experimentation, the study of anomalous phenomena is deemed justifiable, thus, establishing a rationale for investigation of paranormal phenomena, with particular focus on the theory of psychopraxia. Chapter 4 introduces the theory of psychopraxia - the term 'psychopraxia' is derived from two Greek words: psyche, which means 'soul' or 'mind' or 'self', and praxia, from which we get our word 'practice' (derived from prattein, meaning 'to accomplish' or 'bring about'). The theory of psychopraxia is an attempt to unify both normal and paranormal psychology, and motor action and cognition, so that the conceptual distinction between (i) ESP and PK, and (ii) normal information-acquisition and normal motor control might be 'eliminated' (Thalbourne, 1982, pp. 62-63) since both sides of the dichotomy are instances of action. The present thesis is an investigation of the theory from the perspective of paranormal phenomena only. In Chapters 5 and 6, an experiment is described that uses an ancient Chinese form of divination known as the I Ching. The I Ching experiment was conducted to test the psychopractic hypothesis that the ESP-PK dichotomy can be unworkable in practice because either (a) an anomalous mental process (suggesting ESP), or (b) an anomalous physical process (suggesting PK), or both (a) and (b) might be involved in the I Ching process. Evidence was found that the I Ching may involve a paranormal component, but this process could not be explained exclusively as either ESP or PK. According to the theory of psychopraxia, the ostensibly paranormal anomaly identified in the I Ching process is described as exosomatic psychopraxia (i.e., the psychopractic function working outside the mind/body complex). In Chapter 7 a forced-choice card-identifying experiment was conducted to test a basic proposition of the theory of psychopraxia known as the 'pro attitude', which is an orientation of the self towards a specific and preferred outcome or goal. Participants had to locate 5 aces of spades in 5 'hands' of cards, while avoiding the aces of clubs. A significant negative relationship was found between spade hitting and club hitting, suggesting that 'compliant' pro attitudes and 'noncompliant' pro attitudes are incompatible. Post hoc evidence was also found that participants do not necessarily comply with the experimental protocol due to attitudes and dispositions that conflict with the protocol. In Chapter 8, another forced-choice experiment was run on computer to test the concept of the pro attitude from a different perspective. Post hoc evidence was found that the pro attitude of 'converted' skeptics (i.e., skeptics who became believers) changed when an experimental treatment conducive to a change of pro attitude was introduced. There was also evidence that the pro attitude of 'entrenched' skeptics (i.e., skeptics who remained skeptics) did not change even when an experimental treatment ostensibly conducive to a change of pro attitude was introduced. The latter result suggests that the pro attitude may remain fixed over time. In Chapter 9 a free-response study was conducted to test vision-impaired participants against sighted participants. The theory of psychopraxia argues that compensation for an adverse condition (such as blindness) may take the form of paranormal functioning. Evidence of paranormal effects was found, but no evidence was found that the vision-impaired had an advantage over sighted participants. In support of the compensation hypothesis, however, there was suggestive evidence that the totally blind performed better than all other participants combined. The so-called 'necessary condition' is another basic proposition of the theory of psychopraxia. In all the above four experiments, evidence was found, in the relevant experiments, that certain conditions were necessary and sufficient in bringing about paranormal effects in the respective experimental situations: (1) High scoring on four personality factors as measured on Cattell's 16PF: Factor F (Liveliness), Factor H (Social Boldness), Factor EX (Extraversion), Factor IN (Independence); (2) Low scoring on Factor Q4 (Tension); (3) Extreme scores on the Transliminality Scale (a measure of the tendency to experience psychological material coming into, and going out of consciousness); (4) Belief in paranormal processes; (5) Low scores on attitude towards horseracing; and (6) Relaxation. Two other conditions were introduced in Chapter 10: (i) perceived simplicity of the apparatus and experimental procedure, and (ii) ease of the paranormal task. These two conditions and six 'states of mind' (i.e., 'freshness', 'sobriety', 'attentiveness', 'confidence', 'fitness,' and 'energy level') were hypothesized as being conditions conducive to paranormal effects. In Chapter 11, suggestive evidence was found that simplicity of the experimental apparatus and procedure had a positive effect on paranormal performance. Two 'states of mind' ('freshness' and 'confidence') were found to correlate significantly with paranormal outcomes, but only in the I Ching experiment. These conditions were also found to be necessary and sufficient in bringing about hexagram hitting. In Chapter 12, the theory of psychopraxia was argued as being important to the field of parapsychology because it offered (a) a philosophical critique on taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of the paranormal, (b) relatively unambiguous terminology, and (c) a process-oriented approach to investigations of the paranormal by concentrating on conditions deemed necessary in bringing about paranormal effects. In its current form, the psychopraxia model needs clarification of its most crucial concepts ('self', 'pro attitude', and 'necessary conditions') before it can be regarded as a workable theory.Thesis (Ph.D.)--Psychology, 2001

Do state and trait measures measure states and traits? The case of community-dwelling caregivers of older adults

Spielberger’s state and trait anxiety and anger scales are widely used and documented, but there is little or no direct evidence that they actually measure their respective state and trait aspects as was intended. We conducted latent state-trait analyses on data collected from 310 community-dwelling caregivers of older adult care recipients and found that (a) both state and trait scales reflected a mixture of state and trait aspects of their latent constructs, (b) state scales reflected more state-like variance than did corresponding trait scales, but (c) both state and trait scales were dominated by stable trait-like variance. Follow-up bivariate latent state-trait analyses indicated that correlations between trait components of anger and anxiety correlated more strongly with trait components of caregiver–care recipient mutually communal behavior and care recipient problem behavior than did state–state component correlations. Implications for the measurement of state and trait components of psychological constructs are discussed

Synthesis from Design Requirements of a Hybrid System for Transport Aircraft Longitudinal Control

Volume I of this report presents a new method for synthesizing hybrid systems directly from desi gn requirements, and applies the method to design of a hybrid system for longitudinal control of transport aircraft. The resulting system satisfies general requirement for safety and effectiveness specified a priori, enabling formal validation to be achieved. Volume II contains seven appendices intended to make the report accessible to readers with backgrounds in human factors, flight dynamics and control, and formal logic. Major design goals are (1) system design integrity based on proof of correctness at the design level, (2) significant simplification and cost reduction in system development and certification, and (3) improved operational efficiency, with significant alleviation of human-factors problems encountered by pilots in current transport aircraft. This report provides for the first time a firm technical basis for criteria governing design and certification of avionic systems for transport aircraft. It should be of primary interest to designers of next-generation avionic systems

Desorption of SVOCs from Heated Surfaces in the Form of Ultrafine Particles

Ultrafine particles (UFP) produced by electric heating of stoves and metal cooking pans, absent food, have been hypothesized to be created from a surface film of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) sorbed from the surrounding air. This study tests that hypothesis by size-resolved measurements extending the lower range of the UFP studied from 10 to 2.3 nm, and including other surfaces (glass, aluminum, and porcelain). Heating glass Petri dishes or squares of aluminum foil to about 350–400 °C for 4–6 min removed all sorbed organic substances completely. Subsequent exposure of these “clean” Petri dishes and foil squares to indoor air in two different residences for successively longer periods (1 h to 281 days), followed by heating the materials for 4–6 min, indicated a strong relationship of the number, size distribution, and mass of the UFP to the time exposed. Estimates of the accumulation rate of SVOCs on surfaces were similar to those in studies of organic film buildup on indoor windows. Transfer of skin oils by touching the glass or foil surfaces, or after washing the glass surface with detergent and bare hands, was also observed, with measured particle production comparable with that produced by long-term exposure to indoor air