Positive Possibilities for Child and Family Welfare: Options for Expanding the Anglo-American Child Protection Paradigm

The creation of the ‘problem of child maltreatment’ and how we deal with it are best understood as particular discourses which grow out of specific histories and social configurations. The Anglo-American child protection paradigm can be viewed as a particular configuration rooted in our vision for children, families, community, and society. However, other settings have constructed quite different responses reflecting their own priorities and desired outcomes. This paper is an effort to understand the choices made in Ontario’s child protection system by examining its history and the underlying beliefs and values which have fostered its development. In addition, the paper is an attempt to counteract the sense of inevitability of this child protection approach. By discussing the many different ways in which other countries and settings work with, and think about, families and children, we will uncover a spectrum of positive possibilities which exist outside our current conceptions of child and family welfare systems

The Characterization of Leadership within Undergraduate Engineering Design Teams through Case Study Analysis

The purpose of this research is to clearly define leadership that exists within engineering project teams. Leadership can be applicable to any field of study and is heavily researched in business management. Sources which review leadership classify this topic in reference to managerial styles, leadership types and styles, emotional intelligence, and work climate. However, there are few sources which define leadership specifically within engineering environments. The motivation of this research is driven by the absence of defining and observing consistency in engineering leadership through the research‟s experience in engineering teams. Existing leadership is defined in this research through conducting two studies which examined two undergraduate engineering design teams. These exploratory case studies used data collection methods such as an ethnographic study, interviewing, written surveys, and documentation analysis to explain the occurrences of leadership throughout each case study. The information from these case studies was combined through intra- and inter-method triangulation. Then, the results and conclusions from each study were extracted by triangulating within and across each of the data collection methods. Through these two case studies, leadership clearly existed across both cases and task oriented leadership was the more dominant leadership type found. There were other leaders which were established as task and interpersonally oriented leaders and non-leaders were found to have considerable leadership characteristics in both cases. Lastly, interviewing, ethnographic study, and questionnaires should be applied to find leadership within engineering design teams

Predicting Surgical Flow Disruption Recovery in Cardiothoracic Operating Rooms

Disruptions are common occurrences in a variety of healthcare settings and early research has shown that they are likely contributors to medical errors. For this reason, healthcare researchers have focused on studying and understanding the nature of Surgical Flow Disruptions (SFDs) to increase patient safety and quality of care within the operating room (OR). Many researchers have used simplistic taxonomies to collect and categorize the types of SFD that occur within the OR. Others have gone further to study SFD recovery and have link unrecovered and recovered SFD to minor and major adverse events experienced by patients. This dissertation, focused on cardiovascular surgeries, has expanded on both of these areas of research. First, the use of the Realizing Improved Patient Care through Human-centered Operating Room Design (RIPCHORD) taxonomy was validated by observing 11 cardiovascular surgeries and collected data surrounding SFDs and their recovery. SFDs were coded into the taxonomy with a 99.994% agreement. Second, three types of SFD recovery (individual, team, or none) were predicted based upon interactions between each RIPCHORD main taxonomy category and operational phase of surgery. By predicting the proportions of individual, team, and no recovery for when and what types of SFDs occur, an organizational or second-order problem solving approach occurs and the potential for targeting interventions to minimize SFDs and SFD recovery. Removing unorganized behavior from the operating room solves the root cause behind SFDs and offers structured teamwork to promote SFD recovery

Selection for resistance to pythium ultimum trow within four cultivars of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Four commercial cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars were chosen for an experiment involving selection for resistance to Pythium ultimum Trow. Two cultivars, Auburn M and Delcot 277J, previously had been found to be slightly more susceptible than Coker 310 and Dixie King 3. The potential for inheritance of resistance was based on the large variation that occurred among plants within the cultivars. The relative susceptibility or resistance found previously was confirmed in a field test with the four cultivars. Pathogens were isolated with frequencies similar to that recorded in the literature. Parent seeds of the four cultivars were planted in sterilized sand and grown at 27 C for eight days before being inoculated with P. ultimum. Inoculated seedlings were incubated at 18 C and rated for dis-ease severity after seven days. Surviving seedlings of different ratings were transplanted to sterilized soil and grown to maturity. Plants were self-pollinated and progeny seeds obtained were planted in sterilized sand. Seedlings obtained were inoculated as before and rated for dis-ease severity after seven days. Heritability of each cultivar was calculated by three methods. Values obtained by the regression method were not different from zero at the 5% level of probability. Heritability values for Delcot 277J and Coker 310 were significantly different from zero at the 107. level. The partition of variance method was thought to contain too much error due to environmental effect and was included for comparison only. The realized heritability method was used to determine the response to one generation of selection. From values obtained by this method. Auburn M could have the most potential of the four cultivars in a future breeding program. Values for realized heritability can be employed to predict future response to selection. Coker 310 met the criteria necessary for accurate predictions

Stripping Burley Tobacco into Grades

Stripping burley tobacco into different grades has been a controversial topic for many years. The one-price years in the mid to late 80’s provided no incentive to the producer to strip into the appropriate grades. However, with the advent of contracting in the year 2000, many companies are suggesting four grades but still get a high percentage of three-grade tobacco. Tobacco companies can utilize a small percentage of mixed stripped tobacco, but the handling characteristics of the four stalk positions differ substantially during processing. As the companies make their blends, they look for specific characteristics that differ from grade to grade. A look at the 2001 variety test plots provides some insight into this topic. Although the variety test plot protocol for 2001 called for four grades, some cooperators stripped trials into three grades. A comparison of the percentages stripped into each grade reveals the different distribution of leaves between three-grade and four-grade tobacco

Interference and postemergence control of annual grasses in burley and dark fire-cured tobaccos

Interference studies with annual grasses were conducted in 1982 and 1983 in burley and dark fire-cured tobaccos (Nicotiana tabacum L.) at Greeneville and Springfield, Tennessee, respectively. Treatments consisted of annual grass-free periods of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks from transplanting and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks of interference followed by removal of all weeds and maintenance of weed-free conditions. A season long annual grass-free treatment and a season long annual grass-infested treatment served as controls. Annual grass-free periods were established and maintained by hand-hoeing. In 1982, the critical annual grass-free period and critical duration of interference of annual grasses for Federal grade and yield of burley tobacco and total cured plant and leaf yields of dark fire-cured tobacco were between 4 and 5 weeks after transplanting. Due to dry growing conditions and low annual grass populations yield responses in 1983 failed to indicate critical periods. Separate studies were conducted in 1982 and 1983 at the same locations to evaluate and compare the performance of sethoxydim {2-[1- (ethoxyimino)butyl]-5-[2-(ethylthio)propyl]-3-hydroxy-2-cyclohexen- 1-one} alone and with a crop oil concentrate and fluazifop-butyl {(±)-butyl 2-[4-[(5-(triflouromethyl)-2-pyridinyl)oxy]phenoxy]propanoate} plus a crop oil concentrate for control of annual grasses and tobacco response. They were compared to conventional cultivation and a widely used preplant incorporated treatment of pendimethalin [N-(1-ethylpropyl)-3,4-dimethyl-2,6-dinitrobenzenamine]. The above treatments were applied alone and in combination with acephate. In 1982, the postemergence herbicides controlled annual grasses as well or better than cultivation or pendimethalin. Tobacco treated with the postemergence herbicides produced yields equal to or less than tobacco treated with pendimethalin. Dark fire-cured tobacco treated with the postemergence herbicides yielded less than did tobacco in the cultivated checks. In 1983, all treatments produced good tobacco yields. Plants from plots treated with sethoxydim applied without a crop oil concentrate produced the lowest dark fire-cured tobacco yields. Acephate in combination with annual grass control treatments did not appear to enhance tobacco growth or yield. Some crystallization of acephate occurred when tank-mixed with sethoxydim and fluazifop-butyl

Physiological and metabolic responses to constant and variable load cycling performance

The experiments described in this thesis comprise a series of related, yet independent investigations examining the physiological and metabolic responses of well-trained amateur cyclists under conditions designed to mimic actual competitive situations, during individual and mass start races. In Section A the physiological responses to constant load and steady state exercise are determined. In Section B, the metabolic factors associated with constant and variable load cycling performance are examined

Coupled Fluids-Radiation Analysis of a High-Mass Mars Vehicle

The NEQAIR line-by-line radiation code has been incorporated into the DPLR Navier-Stokes flow solver such that the NEQAIR subroutines are now callable functions of DPLR. The coupled DPLR-NEQAIR code was applied to compute the convective and radiative heating rates over high-mass Mars entry vehicles. Two vehicle geometries were considered - a 15 m diameter 70-degree sphere cone configuration and a slender, mid-L/D vehicle with a diameter of 5 m called an Ellipsled. The entry masses ranged from 100 to 165 metric tons. Solutions were generated for entry velocities ranging from 6.5 to 9.1 km/s. The coupled fluids-radiation solutions were performed at the peak heating location along trajectories generated by the Traj trajectory analysis code. The impact of fluids-radiation coupling is a function of the level of radiative heating and the freestream density and velocity. For the high-mass Mars vehicles examined in this study, coupling effects were greatest for entry velocities above 8.5 km/s where the surface radiative heating was reduced by up 17%. Generally speaking, the Ellipsled geometry experiences a lower peak radiative heating rate but a higher peak turbulent convective heating rate than the MSL-based vehicle

Should Burley Tobacco Farmers be Concerned About High Rates of Nitrogen Fertilizers?

The use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer for tobacco production is necessary because (1) tobacco takes up sizable amounts of N, and (2) most soils cannot provide adequate amounts of N. Rates of fertilizer N recommended by the University of Kentucky for burley tobacco production vary based on past cropping history, and under certain conditions can be as high as 350 lbs. N/A However, since tobacco is a high value crop, and profit margins are high, farmers often apply more N than is recommended as insurance against crop losses. The perception of widespread over-application of fertilizer N has resulted in increased concern among tobacco buyers, and environmental groups. Burley tobacco farmers need to be aware of these concerns