Surprises! Time-Tested & Easy-to-follow Tips to Take the Mystery Out of Success for Middle and High School Readers

Surprises! encapsulates my education at Lehman College. During my three years of studies, I have developed a greater appreciation for science (both natural and social), and I understand science\u27s fundamental philosophy, which at its core denotes humanity’s effort to demystify the workings of the universe, of which we are a part. If we allow it, science can dispel our misconceptions and prejudices about ourselves and our place in the universe. Through Surprises!, I have sought to apply that understanding to help promote our human aspirations without disrupting the delicate balance of life as we know it. For better or worse, the world of human ideas shapes the natural world. So, we must strive as a species to better steward our thoughts. In writing Surprises!, I hope to motivate myself and others to adopt the disciplined life of the philosopher, through which all sciences arose. Although Surprises! addresses middle grade readers, it can also benefit adults. Using the perspectives of natural and social sciences, particularly psychology, physics, history, and practical philosophy, the book argues that success (however we define it), necessitates self-improvement, which is best achieved through mindful, goal-oriented steps. Hence, Surprises! illustrates the kind of intellectual tinkering that human beings have been doing with ideas since the advent of philosophy itself. In the end, like all scientific endeavors, those tips will undoubtedly be improved upon, but for now, they can empower our youth to actualize their dreams

Using an interactive website to disseminate participatory ergonomics research findings: an exploratory study

Introduction: Researchers traditionally present the results of their research in academic journals and through conference presentations. Typically, individuals working outside of academia do not have access to traditional journal indexes; the use of electronic archives has been shown to assist in disseminating research findings to potential users outside of the research community. Typically the results of participatory ergonomics research are published in peer reviewed articles or presented at conferences. Some health and safety associations have developed and published (in print or on their website) participatory ergonomics literature reviews and participatory ergonomics program implementation manuals with industry specific examples for their members. The Participative Ergonomics Blueprint and Ontario’s MSD Prevention Guideline are non-industry specific documents that can be used as resources for a participative ergonomics program. Currently, there is not an all-in-one resource for workplace parties containing all of the information to consider when determining if a participatory approach to ergonomics is appropriate for a specific workplace, or when implementing a participatory ergonomics program. Workplace parties would have to consult several sources (such as health and safety association publications, academic literature, books, magazines, corporate resources, safety groups, newsgroups, etc.) to gather and synthesize the information and resources required to develop and implement a participatory ergonomics program. The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the responses to and effectiveness of an interactive website for knowledge dissemination to industry stakeholders. Methods: I developed an interactive wiki-style website with content based on my lay language synthesis of the participatory ergonomics literature. Relevant case-study examples, drawn from participatory ergonomics intervention studies, were used to illustrate concepts from the literature review. Website visitors were asked to complete a short questionnaire and were encouraged to contribute experiences, tools, links and comments on each web page in the “visitor contributed content” area. The purpose of the questionnaire was to learn more about website visitors and to gather feedback about the effectiveness of using an interactive website to disseminate participatory ergonomics research findings to industry stakeholders. Data were collected to allow computation of total duration of website visit, page order, total number of pages viewed, and the average time spent viewing each page. A qualitative analysis of all visitor contributed content and questionnaire responses was completed. The data were reviewed, grouped into themes and key messages were summarized. Ttests and chi-square analyses were completed to analyze the quantitative questionnaire responses. Results: During the data collection period (October 23, 2006 to May 31, 2007), there were 2214 website visits. With “short duration” and search engine indexing software visitors removed, 256 people came to the website, who browsed the content for more than one minute and viewed more than one page. During this time 54 questionnaires were submitted. All questionnaire respondents reported that the website content did not contradict their previous knowledge of participatory ergonomics. Several respondents stated they would need additional resources in order to determine if a participatory approach to ergonomics was right for their workplace or to implement a participatory ergonomics program. Suggested topics for a participatory ergonomics “tool box” included: timeline for program implementation, a timeline to demonstrate improvements in measurable outcomes of success, guidelines for ergonomics training, guidelines for assessment tools, methods and equipment, and an ergonomics policy/procedure template. Overall, with the exception of the expert’s rating of the visitor contributed content, the respondents found the case study examples and the visitor contributed content helpful. The source credibility of the literature review, visitor contributed and ergonomics content on the Internet were rated the same on all dimensions of credibility by questionnaire respondents. Eight unique website visitors made 13 contributions to the website. Website visitors were more likely to contribute to the website content if they visited the website for more than 10 minutes (chisquare 20.9038, df=1, prob <0.0001). The majority of contributions were added to the “successful and sustainable participatory ergonomics programs” and “participatory ergonomics” pages. Most of the comments were sharing “tips, tricks, and traps” from past experiences with participatory ergonomics (or similar) programs and sharing links to additional participatory ergonomics resources. The most common reason for not contributing to the website content was lack of time and not realizing that it was possible to contribute to the website. In addition to “not realizing that it is possible to contribute”, three people reported they were unable to figure out how to contribute to the website. This implies that prior to expanding this approach to knowledge transfer; there are user interface issues that should be addressed. Conclusions: The most significant limitation of this project was the small number of questionnaire respondents and the sparse visitor contributions to the website content which is likely due to not allowing a sufficiently long data collection period. Feedback from website visitors suggests that additional case study examples and a participatory ergonomics “toolbox” should be added to future iterations of the website. It was surprising that there were no statistically significant differences for the source credibility of the website content based on the literature review, the visitor contributed content and other health, safety and ergonomics information on the Internet. Most website visitors did not share their experiences due to a reported lack of time and user interface issues. To increase the number and frequency of visitor contributions, the user interface issues need to be resolved. An alternative method to engage website visitors (e.g. moderated commenting system) may be more successful than the wiki website created for this project. I believe that it is worthwhile to continue to invest time and resources to further develop this interactive participatory ergonomics resource. With additional time, continued recruitment and promotion efforts and changes to address user’s concerns (moderated commenting system, authority of contributions, addition of a ‘tool box’, etc.) there is the potential to fill an information niche that is currently missing online

Tuberculosis in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

PROBLEM: In 2010, Haiti sustained a devastating earthquake that crippled the health-care infrastructure in the capital city, Port-au-Prince, and left 1.5 million people homeless. Subsequently, there was an increase in reported tuberculosis in the affected population. APPROACH: We conducted active tuberculosis case finding in a camp for internally displaced persons and a nearby slum. Community health workers screened for tuberculosis at the household level. People with persistent cough were referred to a physician. The National Tuberculosis Program continued its national tuberculosis reporting system. LOCAL SETTING: Even before the earthquake, Haiti had the highest tuberculosis incidence in the Americas. About half of the tuberculosis cases occur in the Port-au-Prince region. RELEVANT CHANGES: The number of reported tuberculosis cases in Haiti has increased after the earthquake, but data are too limited to determine if this is due to an increase in tuberculosis burden or to improved case detection. Compared to previous national estimates (230 per 100,000 population), undiagnosed tuberculosis was threefold higher in a camp for internally displaced persons (693 per 100,000) and fivefold higher in an urban slum (1165 per 100,000). With funding from the World Health Organization (WHO), active case finding is now being done systematically in slums and camps. LESSONS LEARNT: Household-level screening for prolonged cough was effective in identifying patients with active tuberculosis in this study. Without accurate data, early detection of rising tuberculosis rates is challenging; data collection should be incorporated into pragmatic disease response programmes

Impact of DOTS expansion on tuberculosis related outcomes and costs in Haiti

BACKGROUND: Implementation of the World Health Organization's DOTS strategy (Directly Observed Treatment Short-course therapy) can result in significant reduction in tuberculosis incidence. We estimated potential costs and benefits of DOTS expansion in Haiti from the government, and societal perspectives. METHODS: Using decision analysis incorporating multiple Markov processes (Markov modelling), we compared expected tuberculosis morbidity, mortality and costs in Haiti with DOTS expansion to reach all of the country, and achieve WHO benchmarks, or if the current situation did not change. Probabilities of tuberculosis related outcomes were derived from the published literature. Government health expenditures, patient and family costs were measured in direct surveys in Haiti and expressed in 2003 US$. RESULTS: Starting in 2003, DOTS expansion in Haiti is anticipated to cost$4.2 million and result in 63,080 fewer tuberculosis cases, 53,120 fewer tuberculosis deaths, and net societal savings of $131 million, over 20 years. Current government spending for tuberculosis is high, relative to the per capita income, and would be only slightly lower with DOTS. Societal savings would begin within 4 years, and would be substantial in all scenarios considered, including higher HIV seroprevalence or drug resistance, unchanged incidence following DOTS expansion, or doubling of initial and ongoing costs for DOTS expansion. CONCLUSION: A modest investment for DOTS expansion in Haiti would provide considerable humanitarian benefit by reducing tuberculosis-related morbidity, mortality and costs for patients and their families. These benefits, together with projected minimal Haitian government savings, argue strongly for donor support for DOTS expansion

Henri Robideau : Big Stories

Jones briefly addresses the difference between the presentation of Robideau’s work in the gallery and in the book. Morose’s essay reviews the artist’s œuvre while underscoring his predilection for storytelling. Categorising the work by its content, the author suggests that continuity is provided by the humorous and critical texts Robideau appends to his work. Biographical notes. Bio-bibliography 2 p. 2 bibl. ref

Responsabilisation et appartenance : la dynamique d’un projet éducatif

La présente étude tend à vérifier dans quelle mesure un projet éducatif visant à augmenter le sentiment d’appartenance des élèves envers leur école a été atteint. Réalisée à l’aide d’un questionnaire, l’étude montre que les objectifs du projet éducatif n’ont été que partiellement atteints, le lien entre le sentiment d’appartenance et la responsabilisation n’apparaissant pas aussi étroit que l’avaient prévu les responsables du projet. Enfin, l’étude soulève la faiblesse du modèle théorique utilisé pour l’élaboration de ce projet éducatif.The aim of this study is to verify the extent to which a project involving the whole school can increase students' feelings of belonging to their school. Using a questionaire, the authors found that the objectives of the project were only partially attained. The relationship between feelings of belonging and those of taking responsibility were not directly related as had been predicted. The authors point out some weakness in the theoretical model used in developing this project.En este estudio se trata de verificar, por intermedio de un proyecto educativo, en qué medida se logró aumentar en los alumnos el sentimiento de identificación con su escuela. El estudio, que se realizó a través de un cuestionario, muestra que los objetivos del proyecto educativo no fueron logrados sino parcialmente, puesto que la relación entre el sentimiento de identificación y la responsabilisación no parece ser tan cercana como lo había previsto el responsable del proyecto. Finalmente, los autores hacen notar la debilidad del modelo teórico utilizado en la elaboración de este proyecto educativo.Diese Studie soll untersuchen, in welchem Masse ein pädagogisches Modell, das das Zugehörigkeitsgefühl der Schüler zu ihrer Schule fördern soll, seinen Zweck erfüllt hat. Mithilfe eines Fragebogens zeigt die Untersuchung, dass die Ziele des Modells nur teilweise erreicht wurden, da das Verhältnis zwischen dem Zugehörigkeitsgefühl und der Zunahme des Veranwortungsbewusstseins nicht so eng erscheint wie von den Verantwortlichen antizipiert worden war. Schliesslich heben die Verfasserinnen die Schwäche der theoretischen Vorlage hervor, die für die Erstellung des pädagogischen Modells verwendet wurde

Paul Sisetski : Island of the Damned

Morose examines Sisetski's quasi-biblical "Island," treating it as a work shaped by the artist's cerebral palsy." Jenkner discusses marginalization, commenting upon the myth motif in this series of 400 paintings. Biographical notes. 13 bibl. ref

Perceptions et attentes des abandons scolaires face à l'école /

Rapport d'un sondage effectué auprès des étudiants qui ont abandonné leurs études en cours d'année scolaire dans les écoles secondaires de la Région Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean participantes au projet O

Treatment success for patients with tuberculosis receiving care in areas severely affected by Hurricane Matthew - Haiti, 2016.

BackgroundOn October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew struck southwest Haiti as a category 4 storm. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of the hurricane on tuberculosis (TB) services and patient outcomes in the three severely affected departments-Sud, Grand'Anse, and Nippes-of southwest Haiti.MethodsWe developed a standard questionnaire to assess a convenience sample of health facilities in the affected areas, a patient tracking form, and a line list for tracking all patients with drug-susceptible TB registered in care six months before the hurricane. We analyzed data from the national TB electronic surveillance system to determine outcomes for all patients receiving anti-TB treatment in the affected areas. We used logistic regression analysis to determine factors associated with treatment success.ResultsOf the 66 health facilities in the three affected departments, we assessed 31, accounting for 536 (45.7%) of 1,174 TB patients registered in care when Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti. Three (9.7%) health facilities sustained moderate to severe damage, whereas 18 (58.1%) were closed for ConclusionsDespite major challenges, a high percentage of patients receiving anti-TB treatment before the hurricane were located and successfully treated in southwest Haiti. The lessons learned and results presented here may help inform policies and guidelines in similar settings for effective TB control after a natural disaster