Martin Agency Freelancer Onboarding

Onboarding new employees is a necessary but often a lengthy process at any company, but it can be especially challenging for companies like The Martin Agency. An advertising firm based in Richmond, Virginia. The nature of their work channels the need for many of their employees to be freelancers or short term contractors. At the time the project began, the process to request a new freelancer would start as a paper form submitted by a department supervisor. It would then require approval from members of different departments within agency, and the data had to be converted into an electronic form to interface with systems like payroll and Active Directory. Freelancers would sometimes complete their jobs before the onboarding process was ever completed. Our solution was to design a responsive web application that provided a familiar experience to filling out the paper form, but automatically interfaced with different systems within The Martin Agency. The agencies’ developers used mostly Microsoft technologies, so to make it as easy as possible to integrate into their current environment and transfer ownership, our application used much of the same technologies. It consisted of Microsoft’s .NET 4.5 and MVC framework, Windows, IIS, and SQL Server. The application would automatically populate form dropdowns from their Media Ocean data provider. The form submissions would then create a database entry, and post a new freelancer request to WorkFront – their workflow management software. The end result was a well-documented functional application that was deployed to The Martin Agency’s development environment.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1178/thumbnail.jp

Influence of Sleep Duration on Insulin Sensitivity

Introduction: The metabolic syndrome is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide. Sleep duration has been shown to be important in glucose homeostasis. It has been reported that the specific stages of sleep (most importantly slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep) each play their part in glucose homeostasis. The aim of this thesis was to determine if partial sleep deprivation has an impact on insulin sensitivity. Specifically, we sought to determine if 3 nights of 5h sleep opportunity when compared to 3 nights of 9h sleep opportunity with food being ad libitum, would result in decreased insulin sensitivity. Methods: 13 healthy subjects (7 men, 6 women) aged 24.77 ± 4.02 (Mean ± SD), participated in the study. Subjects were admitted to the Clinical Translational Research Center (CTRC) at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for the duration of the study. Subjects lived in a hospital room for 14-15 days, depending on which sleep deprivation protocol they were randomized to. Total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency (SE) were assessed via actigraphy daily. Plasma glucose and insulin levels were obtained from oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs), assessed in the morning following a 9h baseline night, 3 days of 9h sleep per night, and 3 days of 5h sleep per night. Insulin sensitivity was assessed using the Matsuda index and HOMA-IR. Mixed model ANOVA with subject as a random factor and day, time and/or condition as fixed factors was used to analyze data. Results: Main effects of day (p\u3c0.000001) and of subject (p\u3c0.000001) were seen for TST. Planned comparisons showed significantly less TST for each day of the 5h sleep opportunity condition, as compared to baseline and each respective 9h day sleep opportunity. Main effects of day (p\u3c0.001) and of subject (p\u3c0.000001) were also seen for SE. Planned comparisons showed significantly higher SE for each day of the 5h sleep opportunity condition versus the 9h day sleep opportunity. Significant effects were seen for subject (p\u3c0.00085), time (p\u3c0.00), and significant condition × subject (0.012173) and time × subject (p\u3c0.00) interactions for glucose levels. Significant effects were seen for condition (p\u3c0.015392), time (p\u3c0.00), and significant condition × subject (p\u3c0.050201) and time × subject (p\u3c0.000001) interactions for insulin levels. Significant main effects were also seen for condition (p\u3c0.05) and for subject (p\u3c0.05) for the Matsuda index. Planned comparisons revealed a significant reduction in the Matsuda index for the 5h condition versus baseline (p=0.01). Planned comparisons showed a significant increase in HOMA-IR for the 5h condition vs. baseline (p\u3c0.05). Discussion: A sleep opportunity of 5h for 3 nights resulted in a reduction in insulin sensitivity when compared to a baseline 9h sleep opportunity. An increase in insulin levels following the sleep restriction condition was associated with normal glucose levels. These results indicate a reduction in insulin sensitivity following sleep restriction of 5h. The study’s results on insulin sensitivity are similar to those seen in obese and aging individuals and provide important implications into the effects of sleep restriction on metabolic health. Support: NIH/NHLBI R01 HL085705, with the support of UCB and UCH CTRC: physicians, nurses, dieticians, biostasticians, research advocates, informatics core staff, administrative staff, and Chronobiology Laboratory research equipment

Student Loan Debt: Exploring the Economic Influences on Federal Student Loan Default for Students that Attended Public, Two-Year Institutions

Over the past 30 years, a shift occurred in higher education that saw more of the burden for paying for postsecondary education placed on students. Combined with rising tuition and fees, this has led students to take on increasing amounts of student debt. Despite the historic rise in student loans, surprisingly little attention has focused on those students who default on their student loans. Additionally, the academic literature on student loans has predominately focused on traditional students at four-year institutions, despite the fact that nearly half of all undergraduates attend public two-year institutions. Finally, those studies that include economic factors as predictors of federal student loan default tend to use state-wide measures, such as the state unemployment rate. However, public two-year institutions are closely coupled to their local communities, so local labor market variables may be better predictors than state-wide variables

An Evening of Duos and Transcriptions For Double Bass

Beau Soir / Claude Debussy; trans. Perry; Allegro non Troppo, from Cello Sonata No. 1 / Johannes Brahms; trans. Lucas Drew, Perry; Passacaglia / George Frederic Handel; Johan Halvorsen; arr. Frank Proto; Duo for Cello and Double Bass / Gioachino Rossini; Le Grand Tango / Astor Piazzoll

Reliability and Validity Analyses of the Community Service Attitudes Scale

A study of the reliability and validity of the Community Service Attitudes Scale which was developed by Shiarella, McCarthy, and Tucker (2000) and based on Schwartz\u27s (1977) model of helping behaviors was conducted. Scores on each of the subscales of the Community Service Attitudes Scale showed strong reliability with coefficient alpha scores ranging from .80 to .93. The factor analysis confirmed the findings of the original authors with eight factors having eigenvales greater than one indentified. Validity analyses confirmed that the measure can distinguish between groups expected to differ. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed

Algorithm for MTF estimation by histogram modeling of an edge

The Modulation Transfer Function, or MTF, is a property of an imaging system that describes the effect that the system has on the sharpness of an object. It is an important image quality metric that has applications in almost every major Imaging Science application. The traditional method of determining the MTF, however, relies on aligning an edge perpendicular to the scan line that will be used to take the measurement. This may not always be a convenient orientation for your experiments. It is hypothesized that there is a relationship between the histogram of the scan line (regardless of its position) and the MTF of the system. This research project will explore this relationship and determine if it will be a useful alternative to the traditional method of calculation

Studies of the epidemiology, causation and transmission of Potomac Horse Fever.

A newly recognized disease of horses, called Potomac Horse Fever (PHF), emerged during the late 1970's in a region close to the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., United States of America. The studies which were carried out by a research group to define the epidemiology and establish the cause of the disease are described. Further studies examined the possible route of transmission of the causative organism, and the role of farm animals and wild rodents in the epidemiology of the disease.Results of a case-control study conducted in 1983 characterised the disease as a non-contagious, infectious seasonal disease of horses of all age, sex and horse-use categories. The study found a lack of association with most of the variables studied, and assisted in discounting some of the numerous aetiologies proposed at the time. The results showed positive associations with a few variables, which included the previous presence of the disease in a barn, the presence of other livestock and the presence of habitats favourable for arthropod breeding and development.The disease was established experimentally in ponies following blood transfusion from natural cases of PHF, an Ehrlichia was isolated from the white blood cells of the experimentally infected ponies and this organism subsequently reproduced the disease on inoculation into susceptible ponies. The experimental disease was consistent with that seen in field cases. Pathological studies on the disease were carried out, and the causative Ehrlichia was identified on the wall of the large intestine of affected animals.Experiments established that the intradermal route was effective in transmitting the disease to ponies. A serological survey of farm animals and wild rodents from affected farms showed no indication of previous exposure to the causative Ehrlichia in 98% of samples tested. None of the mammalian species studied appears to serve as a reservoir of the infection