Migration To Rural Communities In The Midwest: Economic Wellbeing And Women At The Household Level

Migration patterns are changing from large metropolis to rural towns. Rather than temporary migration of male heads of households the patterns are now for families to migrate in various stages. Rural Missouri towns have attracted newcomers. Foreign born Hispanics in non metro Missouri have low income earnings, and education, mobility and being woman have a negative effect on income earnings, as regression results show. The livelihoods of rural newcomers are vulnerable, with low income, multiple adults working in the households and with limited English proficiency. This is consistent with the life stories of women in a small town near a meat processing plant in Missouri.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics,

Early Literacy Practices and Beliefs About Education Among Hispanic Families in Jacksonville, Florida

Hispanic children in the United States are more likely to fall behind in several literacy measures even before they enroll in prekindergarten programs. There are some structural and non-structural factors that have a direct impact on Hispanic children’s early literacy skills. Among the non-structural factors this mixed-method study explored Hispanic caregivers’ beliefs about education as well as their literacy practices at home. The study compared two groups: diverse Hispanic caregivers with 4-year-old children enrolled in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK) and diverse Hispanic caregivers whose 4-year-old children were not enrolled in VPK. A total of 125 diverse Hispanic caregivers responded to two surveys: the Parental Reading Belief Inventory and the Adaptation of the Stony Brooks Reading Survey. Twenty Hispanic parents were later interviewed to better understand their beliefs about education as well as their literacy practices at home. The surveys and interviews revealed playing games, drawing pictures and looking at books with their children were the most common literacy practices in which Hispanic caregivers engaged. All participants in the study stated how much they value their children’s education. Some, particularly caregivers whose children were participating in VPK programs, were more likely to engage in their children’s education and experience fewer barriers to reading at home. Country of origin played an important role in differentiating Hispanic parents in their beliefs about education as well as in their literacy practices at home. From the diverse group of participants in the study, Mexican caregivers were less likely to perceive themselves as playing a key role in their children’s education and they also shared experiencing more barriers in their literacy activities when compared with parents from Cuba and Puerto Rico. Overall, enrollment in VPK was dependent upon the type of barriers to reading activities that Hispanic parents experience as well their country of origin

Social Robots to enhance therapy and interaction for children: From the design to the implementation "in the wild"

En les últimes dues dècades els robots socials s'han convertit en un camp emergent en el qual encara hi ha molt per fer. Aquest camp requereix coneixements en mecànica, control, intel·ligència artificial, sistemes, etc., però també en psicologia, disseny, ètica, etc. El nostre grup de recerca de perfil interdisciplinari ha estat treballant en el disseny de robots socials en diferents aplicacions per a nens amb necessitats especials. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és investigar diferents escenaris en teràpia o educació on els robots socials podrien ser una eina útil per als nens. Es van realitzar 4 estudis amb diferents propòsits: (1) dissenyar activitats amb robòtica de LEGO per avaluar el comportament social dels nens amb trastorn de l'espectre autista (TEA) (entre companys i amb adults) i analitzar la seva efectivitat, (2) dissenyar un robot social per recuperar les funcionalitats més afectades a causa de traumatismes cranioencefàlics (TCE) en nens i veure l'eficàcia del tractament, (3) proporcionar un robot mascota per alleujar els sentiments d'ansietat, solitud i estrès en nens hospitalitzats, i (4) comprovar com un robot amb comportament social i amb una personalització versus robots sense aquestes característiques mostra diferències en termes d'interacció amb nens i, per tant, pot ajudar en l'efectivitat de diferents tractaments com hem esmentat anteriorment. Els resultats van revelar diferents resultats depenent de l'aplicació: (1) efectivitat amb la plataforma robòtica social que vam dissenyar en el tractament neuropsicològic per a aquells nens afectats per TCE, (2) eficàcia amb les activitats de robòtica de LEGO dissenyades per un grup de terapeutes en termes de millora d'habilitats socials (3) un efecte positiu entre els mediadors i facilitadors de la interacció i les relacions entre els diferents agents involucrats en el procés de la cura: pacients hospitalitzats, familiars, voluntaris i personal clínic, i (4) una interacció diferent, en termes de temps, entre els dos grups durant període de dues setmanes.En las últimas dos décadas los robots sociales se han convertido en un campo emergente en el que todavía hay mucho por hacer. Este campo requiere conocimientos en mecánica, control, inteligencia artificial, sistemas, etc., pero también en psicología, diseño, ética, etc. Nuestro grupo de investigación de perfil interdisciplinar ha estado trabajando en el diseño de robots sociales en diferentes aplicaciones para niños con necesidades especiales. El objetivo de esta tesis es investigar diferentes escenarios en terapia o educación donde los robots sociales podrían ser una herramienta útil para los niños. Se realizaron 4 estudios con diferentes propósitos: (1) diseñar actividades con robótica de LEGO para evaluar el comportamiento social de los niños con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) (entre compañeros y con adultos) y analizar su efectividad, (2) diseñar un robot social para recuperar las funcionalidades más afectadas a causa de traumatismos craneoencefálicos (TCE) en niños y ver la eficacia del tratamiento, (3) proporcionar un robot mascota para aliviar los sentimientos de ansiedad, soledad y estrés en niños hospitalizados, y (4) comprobar como un robot con comportamiento social y con una personalización versus robots sin esas características muestra diferencias en términos de interacción con niños y, por tanto, puede ayudar en la efectividad de diferentes tratamientos como mencionamos anteriormente. Los resultados revelaron diferentes resultados dependiendo de la aplicación: (1) efectividad con la plataforma robótica social que diseñamos en el tratamiento neuropsicológico para aquellos niños afectadas por TCE, (2) eficacia con las actividades de robótica de LEGO diseñadas por un grupo de terapeutas en términos de mejora de habilidades sociales (3) un efecto positivo entre los mediadores y facilitadores de la interacción y las relaciones entre los diferentes agentes involucrados en el proceso del cuidado: pacientes hospitalizados, familiares, voluntarios y personal clínico, y (4) una interacción diferente, en términos de tiempo, entre ambos grupos en el promedio de un período de dos semanas.Over the past two decades social robots have become an emerging field where there are many things still to work on. This field not only requires knowledge in mechanics, control, artificial intelligence, systems, etc., but also in psychology, design, ethics, etc. Our multidisciplinary research group has been working on designing social robotic platforms in different applications for children with special needs. The aim of this thesis is to investigate different scenarios in therapy or education where social robots could be a useful tool for children. We ran 4 studies with different purposes: (1) to design activities with LEGO robotics to assess children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) social behaviour (between peers and with adults) and to analyze the effectiveness, (2) to design a social robotic platform to recover the functionalities most affected by traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in children and see the effectiveness of the treatment, (3) to provide a pet robot to alleviate feelings of anxiety, loneliness and stress of long-term children inpatient and their bystanders, and (4) to verify how a robot with social behaviour and personalization verses those robots without, shows differences in terms of interaction with children and thus, helps the effectiveness of different treatments as we mention above. The results revealed different outcomes depending on the application: (1) effectiveness with the social robotic platform that we designed in neuropsychological treatment in those areas affected by TBI, (2) effectiveness with the LEGO robotics activities designed by a group of therapists in terms of improvement of the social skills and engagement, (3) a positive effect within mediators and facilitators of interaction and relationships between the different agents involved in the caring process: in-patients, relatives, volunteers and clinical staff (4) slight evidence towards a different interaction, in terms of time, between both groups in the average of a two-week period

Ampliación de un ciclo de mejora para conseguir una mayor implicación del alumnado

Este trabajo trata de resumir la experiencia final de innovación docente dentro del marco de la Red de Formación e Innovación Docente (REFID) durante el primer cuatrimestre del curso 2018/2019. Para ello, se presenta el ciclo de mejora aplicado en un bloque de la asignatura Introducción a la Economía de la Empresa (Organización) del Grado de Administración y Dirección de Empresas. Como resultado de esta actuación, hemos encontrado mejoras en el aprendizaje y la implicación en el aula por parte del alumnado. Por tanto, la experiencia se valora como algo positivo. Además, se han obtenido opiniones favorables de los alumnos sobre los cambios aplicados en las sesiones implicadas en el ciclo de mejora

An explanatory and predictive PLS-SEM approach to the relationship between organizational culture,organizational performance and customer loyalty: The case of health clubs

Purpose This study aims to analyze the impact and predictive capacity of organizational culture on both customer loyalty and organizational performance in health clubs using data from managers and customers of health clubs in Spain. Design/methodology/approach A total of 101 managers were asked to measure organizational culture and organizational performance and 2,931 customers were asked to indicate their customer loyalty. The proposed hypotheses were tested and their predictability assessed through PLS-SEM. A composite concept was adopted to analyze the relationships between the different constructs and their indicators. Findings The findings suggest that organizational culture has a positive relationship with both customer loyalty and organizational performance. The four main dimensions of organizational culture that influence this relationship are, in order of significance, organizational presence, formalization, atmosphere and service-equipment. The authors’ model has a very good predictive power for both dependent variables. Originality/value Customer loyalty is an aspect of health clubs that can be improved. This study highlights the importance of creating a strong organizational culture in health clubs, as it enhances and predicts customer loyalty and organizational performance. Its predictability has already been tested with samples of managers and customers, with the analysis being performed from the perspective of the organization’s management and customer perceptions. This study also contributes to the field of sport management, using a predictive PLS-SEM techniqu

Special Characteristics of Concurrent Engineering Studies dealing with Cubesat missions and their impact on the CE process

The continuously growing commercial and scientific relevance of nanosatellite missions, especially Cubesats, is clearly discernible in the space community. Due to this, it is important to analyse the special characteristics and demands of early phase studies for such missions to consider them in the Concurrent Engineering Facility (CEF), DLR Bremen’s system analysis laboratory. Within such studies, various differences have been observed which make it necessary to adapt the established CE process for study preparation, conduction and post-processing to meet the specific demands of these well-constrained systems, and thereby create the optimal study results together with the design team. On the design level, the major differences can mainly be traced to two closely connected peculiarities of CubeSat design. First, the targeted system is strictly limited in size, mass and form factor by the associated standard. Because of this, and the growing acceptance of Cubesats, a wide set of highly integrated COTS components and complete subsystems exists on the market with detailed datasheets, and even 3D models freely available on the internet. Secondly, this pool of applicable hardware increases the level of detail the study team has to deal with in a CE study, sometimes even down to connector and harness layout. In a nutshell, the process of CE studies has to be adapted for these small systems towards a later-phase like level of detail, while preserving the creative and efficient way of solution finding traditionally associated with the CE process, including known benefits such as time and cost savings, and design quality improvement. Based on conducted CE studies for CubeSat missions, this paper points to some of the most noticeable and important lessons learnt and derives suggestions for possible process adaptations. One of a CE study’s team leader’s main tasks is to make sure the design process is followed in the most efficient way possible. However, different activities or designs require at times a different approach and ad hoc modifications to the traditional CE process. Starting with the findings from the Cubesat experience, it becomes more and more obvious that the proven process and work approach has to be adapted not only depending on the type of activity conducted in the CEF but also on the design team’s background and composition. To exemplify this, the differences for “regular” and CubeSat studies, plus less strictly defined moderated workshops, are analysed in this paper with a special focus on the most promising particular respective communication and guidance styles of the team leaders, as experienced in the CEF