The Influence of Advanced Preparation Program Transition Experiences on Students of Color

Abstract This study looks at the impacts of the Advanced Preparation Program (APP) experiences on students of color at St. Cloud State University. Both Astin’s (1993) Input-Environment-Output (I-E-O) model and Schlossberg’s Theory (1981) were utilized to determine and understand what impact various environmental experiences had on student outcomes. Through the application of qualitative research methodologies, interviews were conducted to find recurring themes within the shared experiences. Six emerging themes were utilized to share the experiences of each student, pointing specifically to environmental experiences which impacted their ability to sustain academically. The themes reflected the importance of engagement during the transition process in order to gain a lasting and valuable impression from their experience. The findings from this study indicated that the majority of the participants were positively impacted by their experience in APP, which allowed them to experience continued academic success through their sophomore year. Astin’s (1993) I-E-O model highlights the connection between each area and points to the importance of the connections made in order to reach the final outcome

Estimates of Genetic Parameters for Calving Performance from Designed Selection Studies

A multiple trait animal model was implemented to study the direct genetic and maternal genetic relationship among four traits, dystocia (DYS), perinatal mortality (PM), birth weight (BW) and gestation length(GL), expressed at the birth of a calf. The sign and magnitude of genetic correlations among calving traits demonstrates the need to use multi-trait animal models for genetic evaluation of animals for calving performance. Adequate information exists to begin developing a calving performance index. This index will enable breeders of dairy cattle to optimize the health and well-being of replacement animals and reduce the incidence of dystocia and perinatal mortality

Sample Size Considerations for Multiple Comparison Procedures in ANOVA

Adequate sample sizes for omnibus ANOVA tests do not necessarily provide sufficient statistical power for post hoc multiple comparisons typically performed following a significant omnibus F test. Results reported support a comparison-of-most-interest approach for sample size determination in ANOVA based on effect sizes for multiple comparisons

The SPS Agreement of the World Trade Organization and International Organizations: The Roles Of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the International Plant Protection Convention, and the International Office of Epizootics

The proper fanctioning of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) depends in part upon three international organizations, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), and the International Office of Epizootics (OIE). The SPS Agreement states that the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards of these organizations are the benchmark international standards for WTO members, and recent WTO decisions demonstrate the importance of international standards in the settlement of WTO disputes involving SPS measures. The Codex, IPPC, and OIE also provide valuable services that benefit the WTO, such as advising developing countries on technical matters concerning SPS issues. This article describes the roles of these international organizations in the SPS Agreement. It also examines how the new responsibilities given to the Codex, IPPC, and OIE in the SPS Agreement might change these international bodies

Factors Influencing the Development of Social Change Involvement

How to cultivate and encourage the motivation to become an agent of positive social change has not been studied to a great degree. For example, what kind of factors influence the development and growth in nurses toward a desire to be involved in changing society for the better? Knowledge of these factors could help educators and nurse leaders provide and encourage those growth opportunities. The purpose of this research was to interview nurses known to be deeply involved in various types of positive social change and discover what factors influenced this development. Three overall themes emerged as influencing factors for involvement in positive social change including emerging perspectives; experiences and encounters; and consideration of the successful effects of social change attempts

Internationalisation, cultural distance and country characteristics: a Bayesian analysis of SME's financial performance

Relying on the accounting data of a panel of 403 Italian manufacturing SMEs collected over a period of 5 years, we find results suggesting that multinationality per se does not impact on the economic performance of international small and medium sized firms. It is the characteristics of the country selected i.e. the political hazard, the financial stability and the economic performance that significantly influence SMEs financial performance. The management implication for small and medium sized firms selecting and entering new geographic markets is significant, since our results show that for SMEs it is the market selection process that really matters and not the degree of multinationality

Research and applications: Artificial intelligence

The program is reported for developing techniques in artificial intelligence and their application to the control of mobile automatons for carrying out tasks autonomously. Visual scene analysis, short-term problem solving, and long-term problem solving are discussed along with the PDP-15 simulator, LISP-FORTRAN-MACRO interface, resolution strategies, and cost effectiveness

Prospective Phase II trial of drug-eluting bead chemoembolization for liver transplant candidates with hepatocellular carcinoma and marginal hepatic reserve.

Purpose: To determine whether chemoembolization using drug-eluting beads (DEB-TACE) is safe and effective for liver transplantation candidates with liver-limited hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) without vascular invasion and baseline hepatic dysfunction. Materials and methods: Seventeen adult liver transplantation candidates (median age 66 years, range 58-73 years; 13 men) with HCC were treated with DEB-TACE as a part of Stage 1 of a prospective single-institution Phase II trial. All patients had marginal hepatic reserve based on at least one of the following criteria: ascites (n=14), bilirubin between 3 and 6 mg/dL (n=5), AST 5-10 times upper normal limit (n=1), INR between 1.6 and 2.5 (n=4), portal vein thrombosis (n=2), and/or portosystemic shunt (n=2). Primary study objectives were safety and best observed radiographic response. Results: Thirty-seven DEB-TACE procedures were performed. Objective response rate and disease control rate were 63% and 88%, respectively. HCC progression was observed in 12 patients. Median time to progression was 5.6 months (range 0.9-13.6 months). Within 1 month following DEB-TACE, 13 patients (76%) developed grade 3 or 4 AE attributable to the procedure. Four patients (all within Milan Criteria) were transplanted (2.7-6.9 months after DEB-TACE), and 12 patients died (1.8-32 months after DEB-TACE). All deaths were due to liver failure that was either unrelated to HCC (n=5), in the setting of metastatic HCC (n=5), or in the setting of locally advanced HCC (n=2). Mortality rate at 1 month was 0%. Conclusions: DEB-TACE achieves tumor responses but carries a high risk of hepatotoxicity for liver transplant candidates with HCC and marginal hepatic reserve

Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party

This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Finns Party’s (Perussuomalaiset [PS]) formal organisation and how it operates in practice. Following the framework of this thematic issue, to what extent does the PS’s organisation follow the mass-party model and how centralised is the party in its internal decision-making? Analysis of party documents, association registries, and in-depth interviews with 24 party elite representatives reveal that the PS has developed a complex organisational structure and internal democracy since 2008. However, the power of members in regard to the party’s internal decision-making remains limited, despite the party’s leadership having facilitated a more horizontal and inclusionary organisational culture after 2017. The study reveals how the party combines radically democratic elements of its leadership selection and programme development with a very high level of centralisation of formal power in the party executive, and how the party organisationally relies on a vast and autonomous but heterogeneous network of municipal associations. The article also discusses how PS elites perceive the advantages of having a wide and active organisation characterised by low entry and participation requirements, and how party-adjacent online activism both complements and complicates the functioning of the formal party organisation

Functional responses of methanogenic archaea to syntrophic growth.

Methanococcus maripaludis grown syntrophically with Desulfovibrio vulgaris was compared with M. maripaludis monocultures grown under hydrogen limitation using transcriptional, proteomic and metabolite analyses. These measurements indicate a decrease in transcript abundance for energy-consuming biosynthetic functions in syntrophically grown M. maripaludis, with an increase in transcript abundance for genes involved in the energy-generating central pathway for methanogenesis. Compared with growth in monoculture under hydrogen limitation, the response of paralogous genes, such as those coding for hydrogenases, often diverged, with transcripts of one variant increasing in relative abundance, whereas the other was little changed or significantly decreased in abundance. A common theme was an apparent increase in transcripts for functions using H(2) directly as reductant, versus those using the reduced deazaflavin (coenzyme F(420)). The greater importance of direct reduction by H(2) was supported by improved syntrophic growth of a deletion mutant in an F(420)-dependent dehydrogenase of M. maripaludis. These data suggest that paralogous genes enable the methanogen to adapt to changing substrate availability, sustaining it under environmental conditions that are often near the thermodynamic threshold for growth. Additionally, the discovery of interspecies alanine transfer adds another metabolic dimension to this environmentally relevant mutualism