The Organizational Efficiency of Multiple Missions for Community Colleges

Community colleges are complex institutions serving a multitude of constituencies with dozens of programs and activities. Comprehensiveness has flourished since the 1970s, as the colleges steadily adopted more missions, and many community college advocates argue that the constant expansion of activities is a natural outcome of the community-based function of the colleges. But during the past two decades, academics and researchers have almost universally condemned the comprehensive model. Even some community college insiders have suggested that these institutions cannot accomplish their goals by trying to be all things to all people. Despite this backdrop of criticism, the accretion of activities continues unabated. The list of community college missions now goes well beyond the core degree-granting programs. Activities now include developmental education, adult basic education, English as a second language, education and training for welfare recipients and others facing barriers to employment, customized training for specific companies, preparation of students for industry certification exams, noncredit instruction in a bewildering plethora of areas (including purely avocational interests), small business development, and even economic forecasting

Institutionalization and Sustainability of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program

This three-year study closely examined six ATE projects and four national centers. The analysis was specifically concerned with the ability of the ATE projects and centers to meet the program's goal of having a significant and permanent influence on the host colleges and on the system of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education (STEM) in general. Thus, the report discusses (1) the institutionalization of the projects and centers--the extent to which their activities are becoming incorporated into the normal, ongoing activities of the host community colleges; and (2) their sustainability--the extent to which the major activities of the ATE program continue after the NSF grant expires. The report concludes that the ATE program has an impressive record of accomplishment, particularly in the influence it has had on curriculum and professional development, and on bringing together community colleges, universities, high schools, businesses, and other groups in a unique initiative to improve the education of our nation's STEM technicians

Analyse genre-sensible de la prédisposition des agriculteurs à adopter les services d’assurance agricole en zone vulnérable aux changements climatiques

The predisposition to adopt agricultural insurance refers to farmers' willingness to take out insurance to protect their farms against agricultural risks, particularly climatic risks. The aim of the study was to analyse the factors influencing farmers' decisions on whether or not to take out agricultural insurance. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 318 randomly selected households in ten (10) districts of the commune of Dassa-Zoumé (central Benin). Binary logistic regression with the logit link was performed using R statistical analysis software. The results show that the correlation between gender and predisposition to adopt agricultural insurance is not significant. On the other hand, the correlation was significant with the type of farmer. Farmers producing for commercial purposes (88.25%) are more predisposed to adopt agricultural insurance than those producing for subsistence. Also, the perceived complexity of insurance exerted a significant negative influence on the predisposition to adopt. These results indicate that the higher the probability of occurrence and the magnitude of the financial damage associated with the risk, the greater the farmer's willingness to adopt agricultural insurance, provided that the mechanism for setting up the insurance system is simple.   Key words: predisposition, adoption, gender, agricultural insurance, Benin. Classification JEL : G22, J16, N50 Paper type : Empirical ResearchLa prédisposition à l'adoption de l'assurance agricole renvoie à la volonté des agriculteurs à souscrire à une assurance pour protéger leurs exploitations des risques agricoles, notamment climatiques. L’objectif de l’étude était d’analyser les facteurs qui influenceraient la décision des agriculteurs d’adopter ou non l’assurance agricole. Les données ont été collectées au moyen d’un questionnaire structuré auprès de 318 ménages répartis dans dix (10) arrondissements de la commune de Dassa-Zoumé (centre du Bénin) et choisies de manière aléatoire. La régression logistique binaire avec le lien logit a été réalisée dans le logiciel d’analyses statistiques R. Les résultats montrent que la corrélation entre le sexe et la prédisposition à adopter l’assurance agricole n’est pas significative. En revanche, la corrélation est significative avec le type d’agriculteur. Les agriculteurs produisant à des fins commerciales (88,25 %) sont plus prédisposés à adopter l’assurance agricole que ceux produisant pour la subsistance. Aussi, la complexité perçue de l'assurance exerce une influence significative négative sur la prédisposition à adopter. Ces résultats indiquent que plus la probabilité de survenance et l’ampleur des dégâts financiers liés au risque sont élevées, plus l’agriculteur est disposé à adopter l’assurance agricole si tant est que le mécanisme de mise en place du système d’assurance est simple.   Mots clés : prédisposition, adoption, genre, assurance agricole, Bénin. JEL Classification : G22, J16, N50 Type du papier : Recherche empiriqu

Institutional Research and the Culture of Evidence at Community Colleges

This report presents findings from a study on how well prepared today’s community colleges are in moving toward the greater use of data and research to improve student success. Data for the study were drawn from two major sources: first, an e-mail survey of college administrators responsible for IR, and, second, case studies of 28 community colleges. The study finds that community colleges wanting to expand the role of IR face several challenges in terms of resources, data collection, and institutional priorities. It also suggests that college leadership is a key component in making the necessary investment in IR capacity and in promoting changes in organizational practice that are required to embrace a strategy for using data to improve institutional performance

Connaissances Paysannes Et Prédisposition À Adopter Une Innovation En Agro-Alimentaire : Cas Du Décorticage Mécanique Et De La Fortification En Fer Du Sorgho Dans Le Nord-Bénin

The consumption of meals prepared from unshelled sorghum derivatives is a factor favoring iron deficiency anemia among consumers. Mechanical dehulling and iron fortification of sorghum appears as a palliative solution. This study has a dual purpose. First of all, it is a question of assessing consumers' knowledge of sorghum meals with regard to anemia and its causes. Descriptive statistics have been used for this purpose. Then, it was discussed to analyze the determinants of the predisposition of these consumers to adopt mechanical dehulling and iron fortification of sorghum. To do this, the Logit econometric model was used. According to the results, anemia is caused by factors such as malaria, malnutrition, witchcraft, non-respect of fetishes, etc. In addition, households' propensity to adopt innovation is positively influenced by the income of the chef-cuisine, the perception that it has of its social status after the adoption of innovation and the compatibility of it with norms and values of the household. However, it is negatively influenced by the participation of the chef-cuisine in the experimentation phase and by the perceived complexity of the innovation

Consentement À Payer Et Rentabilité D'une Innovation En Agro-Alimentaire : Cas Du Décorticage Mécanique Et De La Fortification En Fer Du Sorgho Dans Le Nord-Bénin

The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, it is a question of assessing the determinants of the willingness to pay (WTP) of farming households in Thian, a village located in northern Benin, exposed to the risk of anemia, to benefit from an agro-food innovation aimed at reduce these risks : dehulling and iron fortification of sorghum. Secondly, there was talk of evaluating the financial profitability of this innovation. To do this, socioeconomic and financial data were collected from 90 chef-kitchens prepared to adopt the innovation, the operator in charge of shelling and fortification services, the supplier of shelling equipment and the supplier of iron. The contingent valuation method was used to collect respondents' WTP and the linear regression model to identify the determinants of these WTP and calculate their mean value. In addition, the cash flow method was used to assess the financial profitability of de-hulling and fortification services. The results reveal that the WTP (whose average is 24.4 FCFA) is negatively influenced by the fact that the respondent belongs to the pilot phase of the project and the average quantity of sorghum devoted to the consumption of dibou (sorghum paste). In a context where the monetary discount rate is 12%, mechanical shelling and iron fortification of sorghum as an economic activity is not profitable

The use of cluster analysis in typological research on community college students

This chapter provides an introduction to the family of partitional cluster analytical methods, with specific attention to research on community college students. Key decision points and common approaches in the use of cluster analysis are described.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89487/1/417_ftp.pd

Inner ear hair cells produced in vitro by a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of National academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (2007): 16675-16680, doi:10.1073/pnas.0704576104.Sensory hair cell loss is a major contributor to disabling hearing and balance deficits that affect >250 million people worldwide. Sound exposures, infections, drug toxicity, genetic disorders, and aging all can cause hair cell loss and lead to permanent sensory deficits. Progress toward treatments for these deficits has been limited, in part because hair cells have only been obtainable via microdissection of the anatomically complex internal ear. Attempts to produce hair cells in vitro have resulted in reports of some success, but have required transplantation into embryonic ears or co-culturing with other tissues. Here we show that avian inner ear cells can be cultured and passaged for months, frozen, and expanded to large numbers without other tissues. At any point from passage 6 up to at least passage 23, these cultures can be fully dissociated and then aggregated in suspension to induce a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition that reliably yields new polarized sensory epithelia. Those epithelia develop numerous hair cells that are crowned by hair bundles, comprised of a single kinocilium and an asymmetric array of stereocilia. These hair cells exhibit rapid permeance to FM1-43, a dye that passes through open mechanotransducing channels. Since a vial of frozen cells can now provide the capacity to produce bona fide hair cells completely in vitro, these discoveries should open new avenues of research that may ultimately contribute to better treatments for hearing loss and other inner ear disorders.Supported by NIH grants DC00200 and DC006182to J.T.C

Convergence of spinal trigeminal and cochlear nucleus projections in the inferior colliculus of the guinea pig

In addition to ascending auditory inputs, the external cortex of the inferior colliculus (ICX) receives prominent somatosensory inputs. To elucidate the extent of interaction between auditory and somatosensory representations at the level of IC, we explored the dual projections from the cochlear nucleus (CN) and the spinal trigeminal nucleus (Sp5) to the inferior colliculus (IC) in the guinea pig, using both retrograde and anterograde tracing techniques. Injections of retrograde tracers into ICX resulted in cell-labeling primarily in the contralateral DCN and pars interpolaris and caudalis of Sp5. Labeled cells in DCN were either fusiform or multipolar cells, whereas those in Sp5 varied in size and shape. Injections of anterograde tracers into either CN or Sp5 resulted in terminal labeling in ICX primarily on the contralateral side. Most projection fibers from Sp5 terminated in a laminar pattern from ventromedial to dorsolateral within the ventrolateral ICX, the ventral border of IC, and the ventromedial edge of IC (collectively termed “the ventrolateral border region of IC,” ICXV). Less dense anterograde labeling was observed in lateral and rostral ICX. Injecting different tracers into both Sp5 and CN confirmed the overlapping areas of convergent projections from Sp5 and CN in IC: The most intense dual labeling was seen in the ICXV, and less intense dual labeling was also observed in the rostral part of ICX. This convergence of projection fibers from CN and Sp5 provides an anatomical substrate for multimodal integration in the IC. J. Comp. Neurol. 495:100–112, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49518/1/20863_ftp.pd

Excitatory effect of ATP on rat area postrema neurons

ATP-induced inward currents and increases in the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca]in) were investigated in neurons acutely dissociated from rat area postrema using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and fura-2 microfluorometry, respectively. The ATP-induced current (IATP) and [Ca]in increases were mimicked by 2-methylthio-ATP and ATP-γS, and were inhibited by P2X receptor (P2XR) antagonists. The current–voltage relationship of the IATP exhibited a strong inward rectification, and the amplitude of the IATP was concentration-dependent. The IATP was markedly reduced in the absence of external Na+, and the addition of Ca2+ to Na+-free saline increased the IATP. ATP did not increase [Ca]in in the absence of external Ca2+, and Ca2+ channel antagonists partially inhibited the ATP-induced [Ca]in increase, indicating that ATP increases [Ca]in by Ca2+ influx through both P2XR channels and voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels. There was a negative interaction between P2XR- and nicotinic ACh receptor (nAChR)-channels, which depended on the amplitude and direction of current flow through either channel. Current occlusion was observed at Vhs between −70 and −10 mV when the IATP and ACh-induced current (IACh) were inward, but no occlusion was observed when these currents were outward at a Vh of +40 mV. The IATP was not inhibited by co-application of ACh when the IACh was markedly decreased either by removal of permeant cations, by setting Vh close to the equilibrium potential of IACh, or by the addition of d-tubocurarine or serotonin. These results suggest that the inhibitory interaction is attributable to inward current flow of cations through the activated P2XR- and nAChR-channels