Bringing Families In: Recommendations of the Incarceration, Reentry and Family Roundtables

Building on the findings of the New Jersey Reentry Roundtable and a growing concern around the state about how to improve outcomes for the more than 70,000 individuals expected to return home from prison over the next five years, the roundtable examined the complex role that families – broadly defined – play in the lives of prisoners during incarceration and after their release. This document presents a set of recommendations emerging directly from roundtable sessions and provides a road map for individual and collaborative efforts accepted by a range of key players in New Jersey, including government officials, community and faith based service agencies, advocacy groups, family members and formerly incarcerated people

The Relationship Between Physician Assistant School Admissions Exam (PA-CAT) and Undergraduate Performance Measured by Science GPA and Cumulative GPA

ABSTRACT Purpose: Physician Assistant (PA) programs often set minimum GPA and graduate record examination (GRE) requirements for admission, citing that candidates with higher admission scores will perform better in the PA program. However, to date, there are limited published studies with inconsistent results that have investigated the validity of using these preadmission characteristics to predict performance in PA programs or on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE). The development of a physician assistant college admission test (PA-CAT) that has predictive validity to determine PANCE success would give PA admissions committees an additional resource to make decisions. This study was conducted to determine the strength of the relationship between PA-CAT and undergraduate cumulative and science GPA. Methods: The PA-CAT is comprised of 180 questions covering 12 subject areas based on research identifying the relative importance of that subject to success in the PA curriculum. The exam was administered through a secured computer-based testing to 479 newly admitted PA students across the United States. Regression analysis was conducted with Rasch scale scores as the dependent variable and two independent variables (undergraduate GPA and undergraduate science GPA). Results: The PA-CAT Rasch scale scores are positively correlated with undergraduate GPA (r=0.16) and undergraduate science GPA (r=0.22). Although these correlation coefficients are statistically significant (pConclusion:Early results from this research study demonstrates there is a statistically significant relationship between the PA-CAT and undergraduate science GPA in newly admitted PA students. Limitations of the study include the fact that students voluntarily took this exam without consequence. Further study is needed to determine if the exam can be generalized to the entire PA applicant pool thereby providing a valid instrument for admissions decisions

Changes in forage measures through the course of a grazing season

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1237/thumbnail.jp

Effect of a Hydrolyzed Yeast Product on Cow Behavior, Animal Performance, and Hair Coat Score in Cows Grazing Pastures Containing Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1243/thumbnail.jp

Drone-based Water Sampling and Characterization of Three Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms in the United States

Freshwater harmful algal blooms (HABs), caused mostly by toxic cyanobacteria, produce a range of cyanotoxins that threaten the health of humans and domestic animals. Climate conditions and anthropogenic influences such as agricultural run-off can alter the onset and intensity of HABs. Little is known about the distribution and spread of freshwater HABs. Current sampling protocols in some lakes involve teams of researchers that collect samples by hand from a boat and/or from the shoreline. Water samples can be collected from the surface, from discrete-depth collections, and/or from depth-integrated intervals. These collections are often restricted to certain months of the year, and generally are only performed at a limited number of collection sites. In lakes with active HABs, surface samples are generally sufficient for HAB water quality assessments. We used a unique DrOne Water Sampling SystEm (DOWSE) to collect water samples from the surface of three different HABs in Ohio (Grand Lake St Marys, GLSM and Lake Erie) and Virginia (Lake Anna), United States in 2019. The DOWSE consisted of a 3D-printed sampling device tethered to a drone (uncrewed aerial system, or UAS), and was used to collect surface water samples at different distances (10–100 m) from the shore or from an anchored boat. One hundred and eighty water samples (40 at GLSM, 20 at Lake Erie, and 120 at Lake Anna) were collected and analyzed from 18 drone flights. Our methods included testing for cyanotoxins, phycocyanin, and nutrients from surface water samples. Mean concentrations of microcystins (MCs) in drone water samples were 15.00, 1.92, and 0.02 ppb for GLSM, Lake Erie, and Lake Anna, respectively. Lake Anna had low levels of anatoxin in nearly all (111/120) of the drone water samples. Mean concentrations of phycocyanin in drone water samples were 687, 38, and 62 ppb for GLSM, Lake Erie, and Lake Anna, respectively. High levels of total phosphorus were observed in the drone water samples from GLSM (mean of 0.34 mg/L) and Lake Erie (mean of 0.12 mg/L). Lake Anna had the highest variability of total phosphorus with concentrations that ranged from 0.01 mg/L to 0.21 mg/L, with a mean of 0.06 mg/L. Nitrate levels varied greatly across sites, inverse with bloom biomass, ranging from below detection to 3.64 mg/L, with highest mean values in Lake Erie followed by GLSM and Lake Anna, respectively. Drones offer a rapid, targeted collection of water samples from virtually anywhere on a lake with an active HAB without the need for a boat which can disturb the surrounding water. Drones are, however, limited in their ability to operate during inclement weather such as rain and heavy winds. Collectively, our results highlight numerous opportunities for drone-based water sampling technologies to track, predict, and respond to HABs in the future

Drone-based water sampling and characterization of three freshwater harmful algal blooms in the United States

Freshwater harmful algal blooms (HABs), caused mostly by toxic cyanobacteria, produce a range of cyanotoxins that threaten the health of humans and domestic animals. Climate conditions and anthropogenic influences such as agricultural run-off can alter the onset and intensity of HABs. Little is known about the distribution and spread of freshwater HABs. Current sampling protocols in some lakes involve teams of researchers that collect samples by hand from a boat and/or from the shoreline. Water samples can be collected from the surface, from discrete-depth collections, and/or from depth-integrated intervals. These collections are often restricted to certain months of the year, and generally are only performed at a limited number of collection sites. In lakes with active HABs, surface samples are generally sufficient for HAB water quality assessments. We used a unique DrOne Water Sampling SystEm (DOWSE) to collect water samples from the surface of three different HABs in Ohio (Grand Lake St Marys, GLSM and Lake Erie) and Virginia (Lake Anna), United States in 2019. The DOWSE consisted of a 3D-printed sampling device tethered to a drone (uncrewed aerial system, or UAS), and was used to collect surface water samples at different distances (10–100 m) from the shore or from an anchored boat. One hundred and eighty water samples (40 at GLSM, 20 at Lake Erie, and 120 at Lake Anna) were collected and analyzed from 18 drone flights. Our methods included testing for cyanotoxins, phycocyanin, and nutrients from surface water samples. Mean concentrations of microcystins (MCs) in drone water samples were 15.00, 1.92, and 0.02 ppb for GLSM, Lake Erie, and Lake Anna, respectively. Lake Anna had low levels of anatoxin in nearly all (111/120) of the drone water samples. Mean concentrations of phycocyanin in drone water samples were 687, 38, and 62 ppb for GLSM, Lake Erie, and Lake Anna, respectively. High levels of total phosphorus were observed in the drone water samples from GLSM (mean of 0.34 mg/L) and Lake Erie (mean of 0.12 mg/L). Lake Anna had the highest variability of total phosphorus with concentrations that ranged from 0.01 mg/L to 0.21 mg/L, with a mean of 0.06 mg/L. Nitrate levels varied greatly across sites, inverse with bloom biomass, ranging from below detection to 3.64 mg/L, with highest mean values in Lake Erie followed by GLSM and Lake Anna, respectively. Drones offer a rapid, targeted collection of water samples from virtually anywhere on a lake with an active HAB without the need for a boat which can disturb the surrounding water. Drones are, however, limited in their ability to operate during inclement weather such as rain and heavy winds. Collectively, our results highlight numerous opportunities for drone-based water sampling technologies to track, predict, and respond to HABs in the future

NATIVE DAUGHTERS

For almost two years, Nebraska’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications has benefited from this perfect storm, riding a project wave dedicated to a singular idea: You can’t really understand American history without understanding Native American history. And you can’t understand Native American history without understanding the critical role Native women have played in defining, enriching and protecting that history. Underwritten by a $125,000 Carnegie Foundation grant, this journalism project is intended to substantially raise the profile of Native Daughters. To that end, the college enrolled two dozen of its best and brightest students – reporters, photographers, videographers, Web masters, copy editors and designers – in a three-semester depth reporting class that exhaustively examined the role that Native women have traditionally played in Indian history, culture, art and politics. The students’ extensive research included bringing to campus some of the nation’s most accomplished Native women, including award-winning filmmakers, Harvard-educated environmentalists, Dartmouth Medical School surgeons, prolific authors, veteran lawyers, tribal presidents and decorated Iraqi War veterans. Before it ended, the student journalists spent many hours on the Pine Ridge, Omaha, Santee and Winnebago reservations, conducted more than 150 interviews, shot thousands of photographs and hundreds of hours of video. Now, this rich body of work has been sculpted into a glossy, 172-page, full-color magazine, a documentary, a photo gallery and interactive Web site that will be continually updated. Ultimately, this Web site will be integrated into public school curricula throughout Nebraska, the U.S. and eventually worldwide. It will be used by teachers throughout Indian Country and beyond who want their students to see see and read stories about powerful role models. Teachers who want their students to know the rich and complex contributions Native women have made to both indigenous and American cultures. Who want their students to understand the forces that gave rise to the Northern Cheyenne proverb: “A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women lie on the ground.