A Review of the ACM/AIS Model and a Survey of Existing Programs with Respect to Curriculum Challengesin a Part Time Master of Science in Information Systems Program

This paper presents a survey of MSIS curricula and a review of the ACM/AIS model for the Master of Science in Information Systems in terms of the requirements of a private, part-time, applied degree program

Volatile hydrocarbons inhibit methanogenic crude oil degradation

Methanogenic degradation of crude oil in subsurface sediments occurs slowly, but without the need for exogenous electron acceptors, is sustained for long periods and has enormous economic and environmental consequences. Here we show that volatile hydrocarbons are inhibitory to methanogenic oil biodegradation by comparing degradation of an artificially weathered crude oil with volatile hydrocarbons removed, with the same oil that was not weathered. Volatile hydrocarbons (nC5-nC10, methylcyclohexane, benzene, toluene, and xylenes) were quantified in the headspace of microcosms. Aliphatic (n-alkanes nC12-nC34) and aromatic hydrocarbons (4-methylbiphenyl, 3-methylbiphenyl, 2-methylnaphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene) were quantified in the total hydrocarbon fraction extracted from the microcosms. 16S rRNA genes from key microorganisms known to play an important role in methanogenic alkane degradation (Smithella and Methanomicrobiales) were quantified by quantitative PCR. Methane production from degradation of weathered oil in microcosms was rapid (1.1 ± 0.1 μmol CH4/g sediment/day) with stoichiometric yields consistent with degradation of heavier n-alkanes (nC12-nC34). For non-weathered oil, degradation rates in microcosms were significantly lower (0.4 ± 0.3 μmol CH4/g sediment/day). This indicated that volatile hydrocarbons present in the non-weathered oil inhibit, but do not completely halt, methanogenic alkane biodegradation. These findings are significant with respect to rates of biodegradation of crude oils with abundant volatile hydrocarbons in anoxic, sulphate-depleted subsurface environments, such as contaminated marine sediments which have been entrained below the sulfate-reduction zone, as well as crude oil biodegradation in petroleum reservoirs and contaminated aquifers

Larry Rogin and Brendan Sexton: Labor Educators

[Excerpt] This volume came about because their friends and work mates in labor education wanted to do something to pay their respects to two giants in their field—Brendan Sexton and Larry Rogin, who died within a few weeks of each other in the Fall of 1987. Although impressive memorial services were held for Brendan in New York City and for Larry in Washington, D.C. at the AFL-CIO Building, we felt that they should be remembered to a wider audience. Hence, this volume

Basic vocabulary and Bayesian phylolinguistics

Donohue et al.’s critique of our work on the origins and spread of the Austronesian language family is marred by misunderstandings of our approach. We respond to these by noting that our Bayesian phylogenetic approach: (1) distinguishes between retentions and innovations probabilistically, (2) focuses on basic vocabulary not ‘the lexicon’, (3) eliminates known loanwords, (4) produces results that are congruent with the results of the comparative method and conflict with the scenarios requiring unprecedented amounts of language shift postulated by Donohue et al

IMPLEMENTATION OF A PRE-ANESTHESIA TAKE-HOME EVALUATION (PATHE) AS A MEANS OF PROCESS IMPROVEMENT: A BEST PRACTICE RECOMMENDATION

The pre-anesthesia evaluation (PAE) is a vital component to anesthesia providers when choosing an appropriate anesthetic plan for patients requiring surgery. The PAE, pre-anesthesia risk-factor assessment, and provision of pre-anesthesia instructions are standards of care implemented in order to assess the patient’s likely outcome of surgery and anesthesia as well as stratify any known risk factors to optimize surgical/anesthetic outcomes. Any disruption in this process could potentially lead to decreased patient/provider satisfaction, reduced patient compliance with pre-anesthetic instructions, reduced patient safety, and unnecessary financial burden. After the completion of a literature review, the need for a best practice recommendation was identified and a document was created containing a Pre-Anesthetic Take-Home Evaluation (PATHE). PATHE specifically aims to improve the pre-anesthesia assessment process through increased patient reporting of pertinent health history, stratification of pertinent risk factors, and pre-anesthesia education. The PATHE document was provided to seven practicing certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and 22 student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) currently in clinical. Of the respondents, 100% agreed that the document was thorough, well organized, and free from grammatical and formatting errors. Twenty-eight respondents (96.55%) agreed that the document would be easy for adults (age \u3e 18 years) of all cognitive levels to comprehend; however, one respondent (3.45%) disagreed. Additionally, 100% of respondents agreed that the document provides a clear representation of all majors aspects of anesthesia care, addresses most commonly encountered questions from patients, provides an accurate depiction of all topics addressed, addresses most commonly encountered risks associated with anesthesia, solicits the minimal amount of information required to develop a safe and effective plan for anesthesia care, provides a clear and accurate list of risks, and provides recommendations for risk stratification that are supported by current evidence. Lastly, one constructive comment left by a respondent stated that the document was too long, which could potentially deter patient compliance. With consideration of the literature review and survey results, the authors have concluded that patients, healthcare providers, nurses, and healthcare facilities all stand to benefit from the implementation of PATHE into their current evidence-based practice

School administrators\u27 beliefs that actual school improvements were due to formal school registration: Guttman scales and their inter-correlations

This paper presents an investigation into the attitudes of School Administrators to the relationship between formal school registration and school improvement. It concerns a mandatory inspection-type registration process for all Non-Government Schools in Western Australia. Part of the aim of this registration process was to help schools improve twelve educational and administrative aspects. These were: (1) School Governance, (2) School Financial Viability, (3) Enrolments & Attendance, (4) Number of Students, (5) Instructional Time, (6) School Staff, (7) School Infrastructure, (8) School Curriculum, (9) Student Learning Outcomes, (10) Care for Students, (11) Disputes and Complaints, (12) Legal Compliance. A questionnaire based on these twelve aspects was designed with five items per aspect (60 items total), conceptually ordered from easy to hard, and given to 110 administrators. It was completed by 65 administrators for a useable, response rate of 59%. The data were analysed to create twelve Guttman Scales. In a Guttman Scale the items are aligned from easy to hard horizontally and the person scores ae arranged vertically from high (top) to low (bottom) by items. If the data were to fit a Guttman pattern accurately, then the pattern of person responses for each item would be in a perfect step-type arrangement. If a person scores high on the hardest item, then that person scores high on all the other easier items. If a person scores low on the easiest item, then that person will score low on all the other harder items. In a practical situation, as was the case for these twelve Guttman Scales, the response patterns were not in perfect step-type arrangement, but they were all very acceptable. The response patterns fit a Guttman pattern, giving strong evidence for a unidimensional scale. The twelve Guttman Scale scores were then used to calculate 66 zero-order, effectively different inter-correlations (Pearson Product-Moment Correlations) between and amongst the twelve aspects of formal registration. The results showed that there were items that administrators said were relatively easy to say that actual school improvements were due to formal registration and other items that administrators said were very hard to say that actual school improvements were due to formal registration. This study produced new Guttman Scales and many interesting correlations for a key aspect of school improvement. It provides new insight into the policy and practice of school registration

Modifications to the Aesop's Fable paradigm change New Caledonian crow performances

While humans are able to understand much about causality, it is unclear to what extent non-human animals can do the same. The Aesop's Fable paradigm requires an animal to drop stones into a water-filled tube to bring a floating food reward within reach. Rook, Eurasian jay, and New Caledonian crow performances are similar to those of children under seven years of age when solving this task. However, we know very little about the cognition underpinning these birds' performances. Here, we address several limitations of previous Aesop's Fable studies to gain insight into the causal cognition of New Caledonian crows. Our results provide the first evidence that any non-human animal can solve the U-tube task and can discriminate between water-filled tubes of different volumes. However, our results do not provide support for the hypothesis that these crows can infer the presence of a hidden causal mechanism. They also call into question previous object-discrimination performances. The methodologies outlined here should allow for more powerful comparisons between humans and other animal species and thus help us to determine which aspects of causal cognition are distinct to humans.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe