Temporal Network Analysis of Small Group Discourse

The analysis of school-age children engaged in engineering projects has proceeded by examining the conversations that take place among those children. The analysis of classroom discourse often considers a conversational turn to be the unit of analysis. In this study, small-group conversations among students engaged in a robotics project are analyzed by forming a dynamic network with the students as nodes and the utterances of each turn as edges. The data collected for this project contained more than 1000 turns for each group, with each group consisting of 4 students (and the occasional inclusion of a teacher or other interloper). The conversational turns were coded according to their content to form edges that vary qualitatively, with the content codes taken from prior literature on small group discourse during engineering design projects, resulting in approximately 10 possible codes for each edge. Analyzed as a time sequence of networks, clusters across turns were created that allow for a larger unit of analysis than is usually used. These larger units of analysis are more fruitfully connected to the stages of engineering design. Furthermore, the patterns uncovered allow for hypotheses to be made about the dynamics of transition between these stages, and also allow for these hypotheses to be compared to expert consideration of the group’s stage at various times. Although limited by noise and inter-group variation, the larger units allowed for greater insight into group processes during the engineering design cycle

Verbal Fluency: Norms For The Lakota Population In Semantic And Phonemic Fluency Tasks

The Lakota language in western South Dakota is spoken by a people group with a rich cultural and religious heritage. The Lakota language, still spoken by elderly Lakota people, is slowly vanishing as the majority of people in younger generations are no longer learning Lakota and with it the semantic knowledge of how Lakota speakers view the world. This study was completed to gather semantic information about the animals that bilingual Lakota English speakers name in English and in Lakota. An additional objective of this study was to develop normative data for the Lakota people on phonemic (letter P) and semantic (animal) verbal fluency tasks in Lakota and in English. Verbal fluency tasks are commonly used in the medical field as a way to evaluate and treat neurological impairments such as stroke or brain injury. Without having this normative data, medical professionals are forced to compare the number of responses by the Lakota people to monolingual English speakers. Ninety-six participants, fifty-three monolingual English and forty-three bilingual Lakota English speakers, were asked to complete phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tasks in English and also in Lakota for Lakota English speakers. Results revealed Lakota speakers name more words in English than in Lakota on both tasks, and they do not name as many English P words during phonemic tasks as monolingual English speakers do. Four common animals, dog, cat, horse, and cow, were named in the top ten most frequently occurring animals by all three groups, but differences were seen among the groups as well

The relationship between stress and humor with Asian college students

The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction of humor and stress in the Asian students in the University o f Nebraska’s International Language Learning Program (ILUNO). Intensive language students completed self-report questionnaires measuring stress and humor. The Spearman correlation revealed that humor has no significant impact on stress experienced by the Asian students. When the level of humor was high, stress symptoms were high

Those who choose to stay: Narrating the rural Appalachian Queer experience

“Those who choose to stay” is a qualitative exploratory study compromised of four LGBT youth from rural towns in East Tennessee. These young adults were recruited through LGBT listservs, pride festivals, and word of mouth. Each young adult was interviewed over the course of one to three hours. The interviews were then transcribed and coded using Atlas.ti software, allowing codes to surface from the text. Four main themes were discovered: religious atmosphere, family, coming out, and peer networks. Religious atmosphere was generally found to be a destructive part of these youths’ environments, making them fear for their safety and worry about coming out to their families and friends. The very conservative type of religion particular to the geographic area also acted as a barrier to one’s own coming out: instilling shame, undermining feelings of self-worth, and causing friction among family members. However, the majority of these youth were able to maintain relationships with their families and listed their family as one of the top reasons they stay in their hometowns. While there was significant anxiety surrounding the coming out process, every youth reported feeling relief and greater personal satisfaction after coming out as well as articulating the deleterious effects of hiding one’s gender or sexual orientation. Forming peer networks with other LGBT youth and adults was found to be a significant part of the coming out process. Not only did peer networks help to normalize experiences, but also they provided a protective factor against the unfriendly larger culture. In conclusion, we must continue to support youth as they come out at younger ages, providing information and support. A better relationship between the mainstream LGBT movement, its advocates, and people living in rural Appalachia would be beneficial. When working with youth, it is important to recognize that while religious involvement is generally a strength, some members of the LGBT community may have a history of trauma and victimization in relation to their church communities

Facilitating Cultural Competence Among Students in Health Care Fields of Study

The purpose of this study is to document and statistically analyze a protocol-driven cultural competency training session, combined with hands-on culturally diverse experiences, in order to improve health care students’ cultural competence. This study is focused on undergraduate students at James Madison University who are seniors in the pre occupational therapy major or social work major. There was a total of 27 students involved in this research study, 19 of the students were declared social work majors and 8 were in the pre occupational therapy professional program. 18 of the students were in the experimental group and 9 students were in the control group. All participants were able to choose if they wanted to be assigned to the experimental group or to the control group. The participants were screened for previous hands-on experience with refugees, and had one or less personal interactions with a refugee. All 27 (control and experimental) students that met the criteria to participate began the study by taking a modified, student-applicable version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument. The assessment was administered in-person by the researchers. This provided a baseline measure of cultural competence for each participant. Then, the 18 students who were in the experimental group underwent a four part training seminar taught by the researchers that focused on cultural competency. At the end of the four part training session, the 18 participants took the modified Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument a second time. Finally, all 18 participants in the experimental group completed hands-on activities with families from different cultural backgrounds. The participants chose 4 events to attend. The events included things such as park trips, football game, planetarium, and field days. Refugee families were invited to attend these events, allowing the students to have personal interactions with individuals from diverse cultures. After the participants completed 4 events, they took the modified Cultural Competence Assessment a third and final time. The 9 participants in the control group took the initial assessment at the beginning of the research program and then participated in their class schedules and events as usual, without receiving any other intervention from the researchers. These students then took the Cultural Competence Assessment a second time at the end of the research study. SPSS was used to analyze quantitative data from the Cultural Competence Assessment

How to Survive an All-Nighter

Whether cramming for an upcoming test or finishing a project the night before it\u27s due, having to stay up all night is just part of the college experience; an erratic, feared rite of passage for those who pay college tuition. Mastering the art of not sleeping or functioning on minimal sleep and not only making it through the next day, but actually getting shit done, is the envy of most students

The Pickup Game

A few easy steps to alnding a date with the hottie across the bar , supplied by editors of Ethos

New Estimates for CRNA Vacancies

A national survey to estimate vacancy rates of Certified Registered Nurse Anestheists (CRNAs) in hospital and ambulatory surgical centers was conducted in 2007. Poisson regression methods were used to improve the precision of the estimates. A significat increase in the estiamted vacancy rate was reported for hospitals relative to an earlier study from 2002, although it is important to note that there were some methodologial differences between the 2 surveys explaining the part of the increase. Results from this study found the vacancy rate was higher in rural hospitals than in nonrural hospitals, and it was lower in ambulatory surgical centers. A number of simulations were run to predict the effects of relevant changes in the market for surgeries and nuber of CRNAs, which were compared to the predicitons from the previous survey. The remarkable factor since the last survey was the unusually large rate of new CRNAs entering the market, yet the vacancy rates remain relatively high.Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, demand, labor market, vacancies, workforce

Development of a Prediction Equation for Vertical Power in Masters Level Basketball Athletes

International Journal of Exercise Science 7(2) : 119-127, 2014. Performance factors such as power, agility, and speed are important in sport-based competition for older individuals. Prediction models that assess these factors in masters level competitors are limited. The purpose of this study was to examine physical field measures of agility and speed and their ability to predict vertical power (VP) among basketball masters athletes(MA). Thirty-eight competitive MA from a Midwest Senior Olympic basketball tournament performed vertical jump, 20-yard dash (20-D), 40-yard dash (40-D), and T-test (TT) assessments. Regression analysis revealed a significant relationship (p = .002) using TT and 20-D to predict VP (R2 = .37). Similar results were observed when replacing the 20-D with the 40-D (R2 = .34; p = .003). Males and females were analyzed independently. Agility and speed measures significantly predicted VP in males (R2 = .59; p = .005) and females (R2 = .43; p = .044). Speed and agility are important factors in the performance of vertical jump (VJ). Results indicate any of the speed distances tested may be used to predict VP among this population, but it is recommended that the 20-D be used due to less demand, space, and time requirements. Utilizing speed and agility may help to minimize physical stress and reduce impact related injury, while improving overall VP performance in masters basketball players. Results of this study suggest need for experimental research to verify the cause and effect relationship between speed, agility, and VP

Control of Perfusable Microvascular Network Morphology Using a Multiculture Microfluidic System

The mechanical and biochemical microenvironment influences the morphological characteristics of microvascular networks (MVNs) formed by endothelial cells (ECs) undergoing the process of vasculogenesis. The objective of this study was to quantify the role of individual factors in determining key network parameters in an effort to construct a set of design principles for engineering vascular networks with prescribed morphologies. To achieve this goal, we developed a multiculture microfluidic platform enabling precise control over paracrine signaling, cell-seeding densities, and hydrogel mechanical properties. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were seeded in fibrin gels and cultured alongside human lung fibroblasts (HLFs). The engineered vessels formed in our device contained patent, perfusable lumens. Communication between the two cell types was found to be critical in avoiding network regression and maintaining stable morphology beyond 4 days. The number of branches, average branch length, percent vascularized area, and average vessel diameter were found to depend uniquely on several input parameters. Importantly, multiple inputs were found to control any given output network parameter. For example, the vessel diameter can be decreased either by applying angiogenic growth factors—vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and sphingosine-1-phsophate (S1P)—or by increasing the fibrinogen concentration in the hydrogel. These findings introduce control into the design of MVNs with specified morphological properties for tissue-specific engineering applications.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Science and Technology Center Emergent Behaviors of Interated Cellular Systems (EBICS) (Grant CBET-0939511)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Fellowship