A COMPARISON OF FINANCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE CITIES OF BRANCH AND NORTH BRANCH, MINNESOTA FOR YEARS 1986-1991

The objective of this brief background paper is to compare selected financial indicators for the cities of Branch and North Branch for the years 1986-1991. For an additional reference point in the comparison, we compared the two cities to the average of Greater Minnesota cities their size (fewer than 2,500 people).Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Assessing Changes in the Abundance of the Continental Population of Scaup Using a Hierarchical Spatio-Temporal Model

In ecological studies, the goal is often to describe and gain further insight into ecological processes underlying the data collected during observational studies. Because of the nature of observational data, it can often be difficult to separate the variation in the data from the underlying process or \u27state dynamics.\u27 In order to better address this issue, it is becoming increasingly common for researchers to use hierarchical models. Hierarchical spatial, temporal, and spatio-temporal models allow for the simultaneous modeling of both first and second order processes, thus accounting for underlying autocorrelation in the system while still providing insight into overall spatial and temporal pattern. In this particular study, I use two species of interest, the lesser and greater scaup (Aythya affinis and Aythya marila), as an example of how hierarchical models can be utilized in wildlife management studies. Scaup are the most abundant and widespread diving duck in North America, and are important game species. Since 1978, the continental population of scaup has declined to levels that are 16% below the 1955-2010 average and 34% below the North American Waterfowl Management Plan goal. The greatest decline in abundance of scaup appears to be occurring in the western boreal forest, where populations may have depressed rates of reproductive success, survival, or both. In order to better understand the causes of the decline, and better understand the biology of scaup in general, a level of high importance has been placed on retrospective analyses that determine the spatial and temporal changes in population abundance. In order to implement Bayesian hierarchical models, I used a method called Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA) to approximate the posterior marginal distribution of the parameters of interest, rather than the more common Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach. Based on preliminary analysis, the data appeared to be overdispersed, containing a disproportionately high number of zeros along with a high variance relative to the mean. Thus, I considered two potential data models, the negative binomial and the zero-inflated negative binomial. Of these models, the zero-inflated negative binomial had the lowest DIC, thus inference was based on this model. Results from this model indicated that a large proportion of the strata were not decreasing (i.e., the estimated slope of the beta parameter was not significantly different from zero). However, there were important exceptions with strata in the northwest boreal forest and southern prairie parkland habitats. Several strata in the boreal forest habitat had negative slope estimates, indicating a decrease in breeding pairs, while some of the strata in the prairie parkland habitat had positive slope estimates, indicating an increase in this region. Additionally, from looking at plots of individual strata, it seems that the strata experiencing increases in breeding pairs are experiencing dramatic increases. Overall, my results support previous work indicating a decline in population abundance in the northern boreal forest of Canada, and additionally indicate that the population of scaup has increased rapidly in the prairie pothole region since 1957. Yet, by accounting for spatial and temporal auto-correlation in the data, it appears that declines in abundance are not as widespread as previously reported

A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of a Remedial Education Programme

To demonstrate the usefulness of programme evaluation within the university a regression discontinuity design was used to assess the impact of a remedial education programme. Using multiple regression and analysis ofcovariance, credit course grades of students who had been enrolled in the remedial programmes were compared to the credit course grades of non-remedial students. The results indicated that the remedial programmes were not improving performance above what would have been expected based on high school marks.En vue de démontrer l'utilité d'un programme d'évaluation au sein de l'université, un modèle de courbe discontinue et régressive a été utilisé pour évaluer l'impact d'un programme de rattrapage. A partir d'un modèle de régression multiple et d'analyse de coefficient de variance les notes obtenues par les étudiants en rattra-page dans les différentes unités de valeur, ont été comparées aux notes obtenues dans les différentes unités de valeur par les étudiants d'un programme normal. Les résultats ont montré que le programme de rattrapage n'améliorait pas de manière substantielle les performances auxquelles on aurait pu s'attendre en se basant sur les notes obtenues au niveau secondaire

Letting Go: Conceptualizing intervention de-implementation in public health and social service settings

The discontinuation of interventions that should be stopped, or de-implementation, has emerged as a novel line of inquiry within dissemination and implementation science. As this area grows in human services research, like public health and social work, theory is needed to help guide scientific endeavors. Given the infancy of de-implementation, this conceptual narrative provides a definition and criteria for determining if an intervention should be de-implemented. We identify three criteria for identifying interventions appropriate for de-implementation: (a) interventions that are not effective or harmful, (b) interventions that are not the most effective or efficient to provide, and (c) interventions that are no longer necessary. Detailed, well-documented examples illustrate each of the criteria. We describe de-implementation frameworks, but also demonstrate how other existing implementation frameworks might be applied to de-implementation research as a supplement. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of de-implementation in the context of other stages of implementation, like sustainability and adoption; next steps for de-implementation research, especially identifying interventions appropriate for de-implementation in a systematic manner; and highlight special ethical considerations to advance the field of de-implementation research

Body dissatisfaction and self-esteem among male college students

The purpose of this study was to examine self-esteem, exposure to the media\u27s portrayal of the ideal male body, and athletic standing of college-aged men in relation to body dissatisfaction. College men (N= 100) were surveyed on these variables. It was hypothesized that males with greater body dissatisfaction would have lower levels of self-esteem. Further, it was expected that males who were more frequently exposed to the body ideal would have higher levels of body dissatisfaction, and that males who do not participate in a college sport would have higher levels of body dissatisfaction than those who do. Results show a significant relationship between body dissatisfaction and self-esteem, such that high levels of body dissatisfaction are associated with low levels of self-esteem. A positive correlation was found between exposure to the media ideal and levels of body dissatisfaction, such that increased exposure was associated with high levels of body dissatisfaction. No significant correlation was found between athletic status and body dissatisfaction. Results of the current study add to previous literature, as well as focus on the college-aged male population

Pinterest and Sustainability—Engaging Students in a Core Course

Eighty-six percent of Millennials participate in use of social media. Pinterest has over 150,000,000 followers. Our college core curriculum requires a class teaching the basics of consumer behavior, sustainability and social responsibility. It is also required by other majors and minors such as Global Stories. In order to engage this diverse group of students, a project using Pinterest was developed. The students were required to search for pins that represented how sustainability could be incorporated into their daily lives and their future professional lives. A statement for each pin, explaining how it was relative and a summary of this information was, also, required for the assignment. Students provided positive feedback on the experience

Perceptions of Predisposing and Protective Factors for Perinatal Depression in Same-Sex Parents

Increasing numbers of women are choosing to have children in the context of same-sex relationships or as “out” lesbian or bisexual individuals. This study used qualitative methods to assess perceived predisposing and protective factors for perinatal depression in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) women. Two focus groups with LGBQ women were conducted: 1) biological parents of young children and 2) nonbiological parents of young children or whose partners were currently pregnant. Three major themes emerged. Issues related to social support were primary, particularly related to disappointment with the lack of support provided by members of the family of origin. Participants also described issues related to the couple relationship, such as challenges in negotiating parenting roles. Finally, legal and policy barriers (e.g., second-parent adoption) were identified as a significant source of stress during the transition to parenthood. Both lacks of social support and relationship problems have previously been identified as risk factors for perinatal depression in heterosexual women, and legal and policy barriers may represent a unique risk factor for this population. Therefore, additional study of perinatal mental health among LGBQ women is warranted

The impact of a land-sea contrast on convective aggregation in radiative-convective equilibrium

Convective aggregation is an important atmospheric phenomenon which frequently occurs in idealized models in radiative-convective equilibrium (RCE), where the effects of land, rotation, sea surface temperature gradients, and the diurnal cycle are often removed. This aggregation is often triggered and maintained by self-generated radiatively driven circulations, for which longwave feedbacks are essential. Many questions remain over how important the driving processes of aggregation in idealized models are in the real atmosphere. We approach this question by adding a continentally sized, idealized tropical rainforest island into an RCE model to investigate how land-sea contrasts impact convective aggregation and its mechanisms. We show that convection preferentially forms over the island persistently in our simulation. This is forced by a large-scale, thermally driven circulation. First, a sea-breeze circulation is triggered by the land-sea thermal contrast, driven by surface sensible heating. This sea-breeze circulation triggers convection which then generates longwave heating anomalies. Through mechanism denial tests we find that removing the longwave feedbacks reduces the large-scale effects of aggregation but does not prevent aggregation from occurring, and thus we highlight there must be another process aiding the aggregation of convection. We also show, by varying the island size, that the aggregated convective cluster appears to have a maximum spatial extent of O(10,000 km). These results highlight that the mechanisms of idealized aggregation remain relevant when land is included in the model, and therefore these mechanisms could help us understand convective organization in the real world

The impact of religious affiliation while growing up on substance use by African-American crack cocaine users

This paper explores the relationship between church attendance while growing up and the substance use issues reported by 159 African American crack cocaine users in Houston Texas. It was found that more frequent juvenile attendance at church was associated with being less likely to suffer withdrawal symptoms or to take drugs to avoid withdrawal. However/ there were no differences between regular/ irregular and non-attendees in respect of number of substance use issues reported or attendance at a self help group for substance use/ even though these are often faith-based. The relevance of including questions on religious participation when young in screening instruments to be used with adult substance abusers is questioned.<br /