Multiple Pathways to Graduation: New Routes to High School Competition

Examines three approaches -- targeted population, district-wide, and linked learning -- to raising graduation rates, benefits, and challenges; what is required for implementation; and which approaches work well for different types of districts

An Analysis Of The Readability Of The MD&As Of Small, Medium, & Large Revenue Generating Cities

Studies assessing the annual reports of publicly held corporations have shown mixed results in regard to the readability levels of those reports.  Recently, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board adopted GASB 33, 34, and 35 in which specific guidelines are outlined for the reporting of governmental entities.  Are the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (annual reports) of the governmental entities understandable to the average user?This study argues that the Management’s Discussion and Analysis, the summary portion of the governmental annual report, is not understandable to the average reader.  The sample was equally divided among small, medium, and large revenue-generating cities that were early adopters of GASB 34.   Readability was determined using the Flesch-Kincaid readability formula from the GRAMMATIK II software.  The results show that the Management’s Discussion and Analyses are understandable to the average twelfth grade reader.  Furthermore, the writer’s style and sentence structure remained at a level consistent with the readability level

An Analysis Of The Readability Of The MD&As Of Small, Medium, & Large Revenue Generating Cities

Studies assessing the annual reports of publicly held corporations have shown mixed results in regard to the readability levels of those reports.  Recently, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board adopted GASB 33, 34, and 35 in which specific guidelines are outlined for the reporting of governmental entities.  Are the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (annual reports) of the governmental entities understandable to the average user?This study argues that the Management’s Discussion and Analysis, the summary portion of the governmental annual report, is not understandable to the average reader.  The sample was equally divided among small, medium, and large revenue-generating cities that were early adopters of GASB 34.   Readability was determined using the Flesch-Kincaid readability formula from the GRAMMATIK II software.  The results show that the Management’s Discussion and Analyses are understandable to the average twelfth grade reader.  Furthermore, the writer’s style and sentence structure remained at a level consistent with the readability level

EXECUTIVE ORDER 14005 “ENSURING THE FUTURE IS MADE IN ALL OF AMERICA BY ALL OF AMERICA'S WORKERS”: A STUDY OF POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON AEROSPACE SUPPLY CHAINS

Scholarly work, journalism, and United States federal government policies reflect the interest of both the public and the U.S. government in the state of supply chains. Though supply chains and Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) are not new terms or practices, they are in the spotlight of popular culture in the year 2022. The COVID 19 global pandemic shot the issue of supply chains to the forefront of many agendas as the public felt the pressure of global supply chain fault lines and shortcomings and global supply chains faced unprecedented challenges. The aerospace sector is no exception to pressures and complexities in its global supply chain. With globalization of supply chains under heavy scrutiny in the two years since the start of the COVID 19 global pandemic, special consideration and analysis must be given to government and commercial policies which aim to correct or repair supply chain issues. United States domestic content restrictions and legislation which require items purchased via federal procurement channels to be produced or manufactured in the United States are one area for consideration. This research project provides an overview of President Joseph Biden’s Executive Order 14005 “Ensuring the Future is Made in All of America by All of America's Workers” and areas for consideration when assessing potential impacts of the executive order on aerospace supply chains. Policy recommendations and considerations are based on literature review, case studies, and industry experience. This study utilizes PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) analysis and SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunity and Threat) analysis to test the policy recommendations and considerations offered. Reviewers: Oliver Fritz, Gregory Cox Advisors: Stephen Grenier, Sarah Clar

The Phragmites australis invasion and the use of rock salt as a road de-icer

General EcologyPhragmites australis [Cav.] Trin. Ex Steudel is a salt tolerant invasive species that has spread across temperate regions in the U.S. via roadside drainage ditches that are de-iced in the winter with road salt. P. australis rhizomes were collected from a site in northern Lower Michigan. Optimal salinity for P. australis growth were determined by growing rhizomes at five salinity variants between 5ppm and 75ppm (parts per million of chloride will be referred to as ppm from here on). The results showed no significant relationship between salinity and growth. These results implied that P. australis had no salinity preference. This gives them an edge in invading areas that have had their species richness lowered due to increased salinity from road salting. It also means that the spread of P. australis can not be managed simply by changing road salting practices.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57475/1/Higley_Marsh_Moore_2007.pd

Implementation of outpatient total joint arthroplasty in canada: Where we are and where we need to go

© 2020 Zomar et al. Total joint arthroplasties (TJA) are successful procedures for the treatment of end-stage hip and knee arthritis. Length of stay in hospitals after these procedures has been steadily decreasing over time, with outpatient procedures (discharge on the same day as surgery) introduced in the US within the last 20 years. Reducing length of stay after TJA can provide cost savings. Centres in Canada have started to utilize outpatient TJA procedures, but we have identified some barriers that may have limited their implementation. We have summarized the current literature for outpatient TJA and discussed potential solutions for the current barriers

Thermoelectric transport properties of an apparent Fermi liquid: Relation to an analytic anomaly in the density of states and application to hole-doped delafossites

Through the motivation of the recent discovery of dispersionless regions in the band structure of the delafossites, a model density of states of free fermions including a discontinuity as analytical anomaly is studied. The resulting temperature dependence of the chemical potential is obtained both exactly and by different approximation schemes which are then discussed thoroughly. This includes the introduction of an approximation of the polylogarithm difference which is capable of accessing a parameter range neither covered by Sommerfeld expansion nor by Boltzmann approximation. It is found that the Fermi temperature and several other temperature scales may be very low, giving rise to experimentally observable behaviours differing from the one described by Fermi liquid theory. In particular, two kinds of apparent Fermi liquid behaviour emerge at intermediate temperatures. This behaviour is related to recent transport data reported for CuCr(1-x)MgxO2 [A. Maignan et. al, Solid State Commun. 149, 962 (2009)] and CuRh(1-x)MgxO2 [A. Maignan et. al, Phys. Rev. B 80, 115103 (2009)] by means of the temperature independent correlation functions ratio approximation. In this way an effective density of states as well as the effective charge carrier density of these materials are determined. Furthermore, conclusions about the specific heat of the latter material are drawn which presents particular effects of the analytical anomaly.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Association of Accelerometry-Measured Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Events in Mobility-Limited Older Adults: The LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) Study.

BACKGROUND:Data are sparse regarding the value of physical activity (PA) surveillance among older adults-particularly among those with mobility limitations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal associations between objectively measured daily PA and the incidence of cardiovascular events among older adults in the LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) study. METHODS AND RESULTS:Cardiovascular events were adjudicated based on medical records review, and cardiovascular risk factors were controlled for in the analysis. Home-based activity data were collected by hip-worn accelerometers at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months postrandomization to either a physical activity or health education intervention. LIFE study participants (n=1590; age 78.9±5.2 [SD] years; 67.2% women) at baseline had an 11% lower incidence of experiencing a subsequent cardiovascular event per 500 steps taken per day based on activity data (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.96; P=0.001). At baseline, every 30 minutes spent performing activities ≥500 counts per minute (hazard ratio, 0.75; confidence interval, 0.65-0.89 [P=0.001]) were also associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular events. Throughout follow-up (6, 12, and 24 months), both the number of steps per day (per 500 steps; hazard ratio, 0.90, confidence interval, 0.85-0.96 [P=0.001]) and duration of activity ≥500 counts per minute (per 30 minutes; hazard ratio, 0.76; confidence interval, 0.63-0.90 [P=0.002]) were significantly associated with lower cardiovascular event rates. CONCLUSIONS:Objective measurements of physical activity via accelerometry were associated with cardiovascular events among older adults with limited mobility (summary score >10 on the Short Physical Performance Battery) both using baseline and longitudinal data. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01072500