Establishment of Long-term Forest Vegetation Monitoring Plots within Mammoth Cave National Park

Beginning in 2011, the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN) of the National Park Service (NPS) in cooperation with NatureServe, began monitoring forested vegetation communities within all 14 network parks, including Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA). The primary objectives of this effort are to: detect meaningful changes in species composition and vegetation structure within each park’s forested habitat and determine whether these changes are correlated with trends in “key stressors.” Thus far, 16 permanent long-term monitoring plots have been established within MACA. An additional 16 plots will be established in 2013- 2014. Within the permanent plots, data are collected on forest structure; tree health, growth, regeneration and mortality; herbaceous diversity and cover; coarse woody debris; invasive species; and eventually soil. Currently, some preliminary observations on forest condition can be made including key stressors such as invasive exotic species

Health Literacy: Cancer Prevention Strategies for Early Adults.

Health literacy, the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand health information and services needed to make health decisions, is an essential element for early adults (aged 18-44 years) to make informed decisions about cancer. Low health literacy is one of the social determinants of health associated with cancer-related disparities. Over the past several years, a nonprofit organization, a university, and a cancer center in a major urban environment have developed and implemented health literacy programs within healthcare systems and in the community. Health system personnel received extensive health literacy training to reduce medical jargon and improve their patient education using plain language easy-to-understand written materials and teach-back, and also designed plain language written materials including visuals to provide more culturally and linguistically appropriate health education and enhance web-based information. Several sustainable health system policy changes occurred over time. At the community level, organizational assessments and peer leader training on health literacy have occurred to reduce communication barriers between consumers and providers. Some of these programs have been cancer specific, including consumer education in such areas as cervical cancer, skin cancer, and breast cancer that are targeted to early adults across the cancer spectrum from prevention to treatment to survivorship. An example of consumer-driven health education that was tested for health literacy using a comic book-style photonovel on breast cancer with an intergenerational family approach for Chinese Americans is provided. Key lessons learned from the health literacy initiatives and overall conclusions of the health literacy initiatives are also summarized

Management Education and Globalization: Paradoxes and Paradigms

L’enseignement du management date d'un peu plus d'un siècle. Née aux Etats-Unis, la discipline a été exportée à travers le monde, de même que le modèle qui en est issu. L'histoire de l'enseignement du management démontre qu'il a été mondialisé. Toutefois les évolutions du modèle ont fait preuve d'une certaine intégration nationale et régionale et, face au déclin de la compétitivité et de la performance sociale américaines des années 1980, les critiques du modèle se sont aussi multipliées. Paradoxalement, la demande de programmes de management n'a cessé d'augmenter ainsi que « les produits et les fournisseurs » pour répondre à ce besoin. Aujourd'hui, plus que jamais, le choix de la qualité (école, contenu des programmes, etc.) est devenu l'enjeu-clé d'une bataille féroce

IN SEARCH OF SUSTAINABLE FIRM PERFORMANCE:The Socio-Economic Approach to Management Interventions

International audienceSustainable prosperity is a key to the success of companies of the 21st century. In their quest for sustained economic performance, firms are challenged to identify the endogenous drivers of their performance, notably the performance measurement system, the stakeholder economic value creation processes, and appropriate management methods and practices, and to validate the coherence among them. Among these many factors, the sustainability of the methods of management plays a critical role in helping to achieve the overall performance of the firm. The question therefore is how to develop and practice sustainable methods of management in companies in order to improve the overall performance of the actors and reconcile organizational change with high levels of satisfaction. Given the fact that the concept of sustainability is multi-faceted, however, we will first outline our approach to the concept in utilizing it as an illustration of overall economic performanc

Change and Organizational Performance, The importance of Incorporating Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment, in Socio-Economic Intervention in Organizations

International audienc

Where with research on the entrepreneurial process : insights from an empirical approach

International audienc

Change and Organizational Performance, The importance of Incorporating Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment, in Socio-Economic Intervention in Organizations

International audienc