Escape from Death Row: A Study of “Tripping” as an Individual Adjustment Strategy Among Death Row Prisoners

[Excerpt] “The literature on stress and coping in American prisons tends to focus on the social dimensions of prison life. This literature describes a prison culture that shapes prison adjustment; such a culture entails norms, roles, and groups (including gangs) that dictate norms of adjustment. The literature also suggests that prisoners have to find a way to get along in the more public areas of the prison (such as the prison yard or mess hall) or retreat to smaller worlds within the prison while carving out “niches” that allow them to adjust in ways they find more familiar—in their jobs, educational or vocational classes, or even in a regular regimen of television in the cell. While there is much of value in this literature, recent trends in correctional management have produced more sharply subscribed prison environments that greatly reduce social activity among prisoners and presumably reduce the salience of cultural forces in the prison world.

2008 sexual health in the South East: a collaborative report by Health Protection Agency South East and the South East Public Health Observatory

Surveillance of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV is undertaken byt he Health Protection Agency (HPA), but is usually presented in isolation from the variety of paublic health indicators which can help interpret these data. Deficits in surveillance data on sexually transmitted infections diagnosed and managed in primary care can present difficulties in the commissioning of services at local level. In this report, we attempt to bring together a range of routine data, and newly analysed data including estimates from primary care datasets, which we anticipate will assist public health professionals and commissioners in needs assessment and in the planning of services. The data presented here supplement and contextualise the routine surveillance data published by the Health Prtoection Agency, in its annual reports and in the quarterly Local Sexual Health Profiles provided to the region's NHS community

Marker effects and examination reliability: a comparative exploration from the perspectives of generalizability theory, Rasch modelling and multilevel modelling

This study looked at how three different analysis methods could help us to understand rater effects on exam reliability. The techniques we looked at were: generalizability theory (G-theory) item response theory (IRT): in particular the Many-Facets Partial Credit Rasch Model (MFRM) multilevel modelling (MLM) We used data from AS component papers in geography and psychology for 2009, 2010 and 2011 from Edexcel.</p

Managing Circulation Services in Academic Libraries using a Course Management System - (Moodle)

At the Golisano Library the Course Management System (Moodle) is very beneficial in managing the circulation services department. The library began using Moodle in August 2007. The library uses Moodle to support the following activities of the circulation department: student orientation; phone lists and birthdays; student schedules and substitute forms; procedures; resources; policies; teaching, application, and tests; and communications. Moodle also includes a blog which is a great means of facilitating communication between our students, staff, and faculty

Best Practices: Antibiotic Stewardship and the Implementation of Evidence-Based Guidelines During Upper Respiratory Infections Among Rural, Primary Care Patients

Best Practices: Antibiotic Stewardship and the Implementation of Evidence-Based Guidelines During Upper Respiratory Infections Among Rural, Primary Care Patients Sandra Kay Johnson, Doctor of Nursing Practice Candidate East Tennessee State University College of Nursing Abstract Antimicrobial resistance is a challenging clinical issue seen in the treatment of upper respiratory infections (URIs). Purpose/Aims: The purpose of this project is to implement an antibiotic stewardship (AS) program using antibiotic prescribing guidelines for URIs and clinic-wide patient education. The aim was to reduce antibiotic overuse. Processes: This quality improvement (QI) project was conducted at a rural clinic. Participants included the nurse practitioners and office staff. The target population included adult patients, ages 18 and up, who presented with upper respiratory symptoms. URI prescribing guidelines were used to compare antibiotic prescribing practices pre- and post-intervention. The initiative includes a provider education session and educational videos, posters, and scientific literature, which is available to those assessing the clinic. Educational materials were from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. The Knowledge-to-Action framework was used to translate research into practice and data was collected through the administration of questionnaires and the review of EMRs. Results: Preliminary results suggest patient preferences, outside of guidelines, may influence prescribing behaviors. Limitations: The sample of providers was small and may not be characteristic of a larger group. Conclusions: This QI initiative was driven by the need to improve practice and educate patients regarding AS during upper respiratory-related illnesses. Preliminary evidence shows interventions such as patient education, implementation of guidelines, and identification of barriers and facilitators are all vital components of AS

Integrated Bayesian network frameworks for modelling complex ecological issues

Ecological problems are typically multi faceted and need to be addressed from a scientific and a management perspective. There is a wealth of modelling and simulation software available, each designed to address a particular aspect of the issue of concern. Choosing the appropriate tool, making sense of the disparate outputs, and taking decisions when little or no empirical data is available, are everyday challenges facing the ecologist and environmental manager. Bayesian Networks provide a statistical modelling framework that enables analysis and integration of information in its own right as well as integration of a variety of models addressing different aspects of a common overall problem. There has been increased interest in the use of BNs to model environmental systems and issues of concern. However, the development of more sophisticated BNs, utilising dynamic and object oriented (OO) features, is still at the frontier of ecological research. Such features are particularly appealing in an ecological context, since the underlying facts are often spatial and temporal in nature. This thesis focuses on an integrated BN approach which facilitates OO modelling. Our research devises a new heuristic method, the Iterative Bayesian Network Development Cycle (IBNDC), for the development of BN models within a multi-field and multi-expert context. Expert elicitation is a popular method used to quantify BNs when data is sparse, but expert knowledge is abundant. The resulting BNs need to be substantiated and validated taking this uncertainty into account. Our research demonstrates the application of the IBNDC approach to support these aspects of BN modelling. The complex nature of environmental issues makes them ideal case studies for the proposed integrated approach to modelling. Moreover, they lend themselves to a series of integrated sub-networks describing different scientific components, combining scientific and management perspectives, or pooling similar contributions developed in different locations by different research groups. In southern Africa the two largest free-ranging cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) populations are in Namibia and Botswana, where the majority of cheetahs are located outside protected areas. Consequently, cheetah conservation in these two countries is focussed primarily on the free-ranging populations as well as the mitigation of conflict between humans and cheetahs. In contrast, in neighbouring South Africa, the majority of cheetahs are found in fenced reserves. Nonetheless, conflict between humans and cheetahs remains an issue here. Conservation effort in South Africa is also focussed on managing the geographically isolated cheetah populations as one large meta-population. Relocation is one option among a suite of tools used to resolve human-cheetah conflict in southern Africa. Successfully relocating captured problem cheetahs, and maintaining a viable free-ranging cheetah population, are two environmental issues in cheetah conservation forming the first case study in this thesis. The second case study involves the initiation of blooms of Lyngbya majuscula, a blue-green algae, in Deception Bay, Australia. L. majuscula is a toxic algal bloom which has severe health, ecological and economic impacts on the community located in the vicinity of this algal bloom. Deception Bay is an important tourist destination with its proximity to Brisbane, Australia’s third largest city. Lyngbya is one of several algae considered to be a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB). This group of algae includes other widespread blooms such as red tides. The occurrence of Lyngbya blooms is not a local phenomenon, but blooms of this toxic weed occur in coastal waters worldwide. With the increase in frequency and extent of these HAB blooms, it is important to gain a better understanding of the underlying factors contributing to the initiation and sustenance of these blooms. This knowledge will contribute to better management practices and the identification of those management actions which could prevent or diminish the severity of these blooms

The Impact of Equity Engagement Evaluating the Impact of Shareholder Engagement in Public Equity Investing

Over the last decade, growing numbers of investors have become increasingly concerned with the environmental and social impact of their investments across asset classes. This trend has recently been driven by new waves of "impact investors" proactively seeking measurable social and environmental impact in addition to financial returns, and by "responsible investors" making commitments to engage on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues through initiatives such as the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). At the same time, engaged shareholders have had long-standing experience using "the power of the proxy" and their voices as investors to hold companies accountable for the impacts they have on employees, stakeholders, communities, and ecosystems.While investor interest in shareholder engagement has grown, our understanding of the impacts associated with engagement activities remains largely anecdotal.In 2012, an important study on Total Portfolio Activation provided a new conceptual and analytical framework for investors to pursue environmental and social impact across all asset classes commonly found in a diversified investment portfolio. Building upon the insights of Total Portfolio Activation, the Impact of Equity Engagement (IE2) initiative seeks to deepen our understanding of the nature of impact in one specific asset class—public equities— where investors' engagement activities have generated meaningful social and environmental impacts.Given the large social and environmental footprints of publicly traded corporations and the persistently high allocation to public equities in most investor portfolios, public equity investing presents a major opportunity for impact investing. Yet impact investing, as currently practiced, has concentrated primarily on smallscale direct investments in private equity and debt, where many investors perceive that social and environmental impact can be more readily observed than in publicly traded companies where ownership is intermediated, diluted, and diffused through secondary capital markets.Indeed, the nature of impact within public equity investing remains poorly understood and insufficiently documented. Because of this, many investors may be overlooking readily available opportunities for generating impact within their existing investment portfolios.To address these misperceptions and missed opportunities, the IE2 initiative is developing a more rigorous framework for documenting the impact of engagement within the public equity asset class.