The Design and Implementation of Database-Access Middleware for Live Object-Oriented Programming

We describe middleware and programming environment tools (JPie/qt) that allow programmers to access relational databases in an object-oriented way. Building on top of the JDBC API and leveraging live dynamic class creation and modification in JPie, the JPie/qt middleware presents the user with a simple interactive mechanism for creating object-oriented applications that access databases. Classes are generated mirroring the database schema and programmers deal directly with these classes. Objects of these classes can be database-bound, so reads and writes to their fields are reflected in the relational database immediately. Database transactions are supported by connecting commit and rollback to Java exception semantics

De-Escalation and Safety Intervention in Mental Health Crisis

The aims of this CNL Internship Project are to decrease the number of incidents in which patients are escorted out of the clinic via staff or SFPD due to violent/aggressive behavior, are put on a 5150 hold, or who are absent without official leave (AWOL) or leave against medical advice (AMA) by 70% within 12 months of initiating an evidence-based staff training program on therapeutic communication and de-escalation techniques and implementing a de-escalation and safety intervention protocol and to achieve 100% improvement in staff perception of preparedness to manage escalating patient events and maintain safety. This project is being implemented in a psychiatric urgent care clinic San Francisco, where rest and rehabilitation is provided for individuals experiencing an exacerbation of a mental illness. Staff education and training in-service sessions were conducted regarding de-escalation techniques and the utilization of an evidence-based, standardized de-escalation and safety protocol. Results from a Likert-type scale survey administered before and after training in-service sessions and implementation of the De-Escalation and Safety Intervention protocol revealed significant improvement in staff perception of preparedness individually and as a team to safely manage escalating patient crises as well as in usefulness of the protocol. Results from a post-teaching effectiveness survey revealed 100% of staff feel strongly (5/5) that the de-escalation techniques taught and the implementation of the standardized protocol are effective methods to incorporate into practice. Results regarding 70% decrease in adverse patient discharges are still pending as post-implementation patient discharge data collection is in progress until April 2018

A perturbation based out-of-sample extension framework

Out-of-sample extension is an important task in various kernel based non-linear dimensionality reduction algorithms. In this paper, we derive a perturbation based extension framework by extending results from classical perturbation theory. We prove that our extension framework generalizes the well-known Nystr{\"o}m method as well as some of its variants. We provide an error analysis for our extension framework, and suggest new forms of extension under this framework that take advantage of the structure of the kernel matrix. We support our theoretical results numerically and demonstrate the advantages of our extension framework both on synthetic and real data.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure

The Effects of Poverty on the Reading Achievement and Vocabulary Development of Students in Economically Disadvantaged Elementary Schools

Abstract This study focuses on the impact of poverty on student achievement in reading and the vocabulary development of students in rural elementary schools. It provides research through the literature review on the impact administrator and teacher leadership has on poverty as it relates to student achievement. The United Nations Development Programme (2020), reported that people are multi-dimensionally poor, experiencing deprivation in health, education, and living standards. The only way to combat poverty is through education (World Vision, 2021). Because of the challenges poverty induces in today’s educational system, there is a greater demand for higher standards and a more diverse educational system. Therefore, educators must exhibit transformational leadership skills and pedagogical knowledge to help students become successful (Pushpandam & Mammen, 2020). This study connects to leadership by exploring the way quality leadership is particularly important for both principals and teachers in schools serving students living in poverty. For this quantitative study, the population group consisted of elementary students in the third, fourth, and fifth grades within a specific geographic region in Southeastern Kentucky. Stratification of the initial population was conducted to determine which schools have a high poverty rate based on the percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch based on Kentucky Department of Education and USDA (2021) guidelines. Archival K-Prep and MAP data were used as comparison points between poverty and non-poverty students. By understanding the correlation between poverty and student achievement educators, as transformational leaders, can implement instructional strategies and instructional programs that enhance student achievement

The Design and Implementation of Database-Access Middleware for Live Object-Oriented Programming

We describe middleware and programming environment tools (JPie/qt) that allow programmers to access relational databases in an object-oriented way. Building on top of the JDBC API and leveraging live dynamic class creation and modification in JPie, the JPie/qt middleware presents the user with a simple interactive mechanism for creating object-oriented applications that access databases. Classes are generated mirroring the database schema and programmers deal directly with these classes. Objects of these classes can be database-bound, so reads and writes to their fields are reflected in the relational database immediately. Database transactions are supported by connecting commit and rollback to Java exception semantics

The Impact of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) on Behavioral Health Care Utilization and Spending

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008 is a federal act that was passed to widen the scope of the previous Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) of 1996. The MHPAEA constructed uniform treatment regulations regarding mental health and substance use disorders. After federal parity laws were enacted, increases were evident in both behavioral health care service utilization and spending. This qualitative analysis found that health care service utilization increases were seen in insured adults and their dependents in the realms of bipolar disorder, major depression, substance use disorders, and other various mental health disorders. Spending increases were seen from insurers and insured adults and their dependents. The evidence suggests that in combination with state parity laws, the federal mandate of mental health insurance laws can aid individuals in seeking the proper mental health care they seek. Regarding spending, this study found that out-of-pocket expenses increased post-parity in relation to pre-parity data. Federal enactment of parity laws suggests more effective utilization, spending, and regulation of mental health and substance use treatment services. Future policy implications at the federal level include improvements in patient risk protection at minimal increases in costs, protection for employers that assume the risk for health care services and increases in behavioral health care service utilization alongside minimal increases in spending from all parties

TRADE-OFFS IN AN ENERGETICALLY CONSTRAINED ENVIRONMENT: EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAKE WHITEFISH (COREGONUS CLUPEAFORMIS)

L'exposition à des niveaux faibles de radiation ionisante est connue pour déclencher une réponse adaptative qui inclut la stimulation immunitaire et l'augmentation des effets protecteurs à long terme incluant l’amélioration de la détection et la réparation de dégâts causés à l’ADN, la croissance renforcée et la longévité. Tandis que les aspects hormetique de la réponse adaptative augmentent clairement la santé physique en présence de stress environnementaux, ils doivent la diminuer dans des conditions environnementales normales parce que les mécanismes biologiques responsables ne sont pas maintenus dans un état amélioré, mais exigent plutôt une certaine forme d'exposition sensibilisante. Il a été suggéré que la stimulation de la réponse adaptative pourrait être métaboliquement coûteuse cependant aucune mesure directe du coût métabolique de la croissance stimulée de radiation a été précédemment essayée. Cette thèse a évalué si la croissance stimulée de radiation du grand corégone (Coregonus clupeaformis) est accompagnée par un compromis dans l'efficacité métabolique ou par une augmentation durable de demandes énergiques. L'exposition à un régime fractionné de radiation ionisante d'une source de 137Cs s’est avéré stimuler considérablement la croissance dans des embryons du grand corégone comparés aux contrôles avec une augmentation correspondante de la consommation de jaune. Cependant, les mesures d'efficacité métabolique utilisant une série de temps de poids secs non préservés ont montré que la croissance stimulée était non-accompagnée par une réduction de l'efficacité métabolique. Une température moyenne exponentiellement transformée a été utilisée comme un point de référence quantitative pour évaluer la vulnérabilité du développement des embryons du grand corégone à la disparité phénologique. Le temps d’éclosion différait des prédictions de références sous des régimes thermiques asymétriquement variables. Les écarts ont été attribués aux embryons grandissant à dans un stade plus avancée de développement sous des températures basses. Le terme heterograde est proposé pour décrire la dépendance thermique dans l'étape d’éclosion qui peut avoir évolué comme un mécanisme pour synchroniser l’éclosion de larves viables pour l'augmentation de la densité de zooplancton qui accompagne le débâcle printanière Un modèle de prédiction incorporant l’éclosion heterograde a permis une amélioration significative dans l’exactitude des prédictions comparé aux modèles précédents. L'efficacité énergique a une importance particulière pour le grand corégone comme il a une des périodes d'incubation naturelles les plus longues pour un poisson d'eau douce, avec des températures d'incubation les plus basses et avec des œufs seulement 10 % de la taille de la plupart des salmonidés non-coregonine. L'évolution de mécanismes pour synchroniser l’éclosion au démantèlement de couverture de glace hivernale met en évidence la vulnérabilité du grand corégone à la disparité phénologique et ce par le développement accéléré qui cause l’éclosion asynchrone des embryons avec le démantèlement de la couverture de glace d'hiver ou par une augmentation durable de demandes énergiques qui augmentent leur vulnérabilité à la famine. L'absence de compromis mesurable dans l'efficacité métabolique indique ce dernier comme un coût général plausible de hormesis.Exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation is known to trigger an adaptive response that includes immune stimulation and the up-regulation of long-lasting protective effects including improved detection and repair of DNA damage, enhanced growth, and longevity. While the hormetic aspects of the adaptive response clearly increase fitness in the presence of environmental stresses, they must decrease fitness under normal environmental conditions because the responsible biological mechanisms are not maintained in an upregulated state but rather require some form of sensitizing exposure. It has been suggested that stimulation of the adaptive response could be metabolically costly however no direct measurement of the metabolic cost of radiation stimulated growth has been previously attempted. This thesis assessed whether radiation-stimulated growth in the lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) is accompanied by a trade-off in metabolic efficiency, or by a sustained increase in energetic demands. Exposure to a fractionated regime of ionizing radiation from a 137Cs source was found to significantly stimulate growth in lake whitefish embryos compared to controls with a corresponding increase in yolk consumption. However, measurements of metabolic efficiency using a time series of unpreserved dry weights showed that the stimulated growth was unaccompanied by a reduction in metabolic efficiency. An exponentially transformed mean temperature was used as a quantitative baseline to assess the vulnerability of developing whitefish embryos to phenological mismatch. Hatch timing was found to deviate from baseline predictions under asymmetrically variable thermal regimes. The deviations were attributed to the embryos growing to a more advanced stage of development at low temperatures. The term heterograde is proposed to describe the thermal dependency of hatching stage which may have evolved as a mechanism to synchronize the hatching of viable larvae to the increase of zooplankton density that accompanies spring break-up. A predictive model incorporating heterograde hatching yielded a significant improvement in predictive accuracy over previous models. Energetic efficiency is of particular importance to the lake whitefish as it has one of the longest natural incubation periods of any freshwater fish, at some of the lowest incubation temperatures, and with eggs only 10% the size of most non-coregonine salmonids. The evolution of mechanisms to synchronize hatching to the break-up of winter ice cover highlights the vulnerability of the lake whitefish to phenological mismatch whether through accelerated development that causes embryos to hatch asynchronously with the break-up of winter ice cover, or through a sustained increase in energetic demands that increases their vulnerability to starvation. The absence of any measurable trade-off in metabolic efficiency points to the latter as a plausible general cost of hormesis.DissertationDoctor of Philosophy (PhD