An Analysis of a Special Cheese Promotion Program: Houston, Texas

Report for American Dairy Association of AMPICheese, Promotion, Houston, Texas, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,

THE CONTRIBUTION OF PRIOR KNOWLEDGE TOWARD LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS AT MAN 02 MODEL PEKANBARU

Based on KTSP of senior high school, listening was one of the abilitiesto master the English that should be taught and learned at the high school level. MAN 02 Model Pekanbaru was one of the schools that used that curriculum and in the syllabus mentioned the standards of competence that the students were able to understand the meaning of short functional text and monologue reports, narrative, and analytical exposition in the context of everyday life. After making observations at MAN 02 Model Pekanbaru, the researcher found that some of second grade students still had weaknesses in listening. These problems included: the students were not able to comprehend the spoken monologue text since they had less experience to different accents, the students were not able to recognize the content of the topic in the spoken monolog text because they had less background knowledge about the topic, the students were not able to recognize the word in the spoken monologue text since they lacked in lexis for the reason that they heard new words they have never listened before. The purpose of this research was to determine the prior knowledge of the second grade students at MAN 02 Model Pekanbaru, to determine the listening comprehension of the second grade students at MAN 02 Model Pekanbaru, and to determine whether there was or not the contribution of prior knowledge toward listening comprehension of second grade students at MAN Model 02 Pekanbaru. The type of this research was a correlational reasearch. The test was used to determine the prior knowledge and the listening comprehension of spoken monologue text. Overall the research population was 154 students. Due to the very large number of population, the researcher used a cluster random sampling with a single class as a researched class which was class XI. IPA 1 consisted of 23 students. In analyzing the data, researcher used the regression formula, the results of the analysis of this research was the probability 0.000 was less than 0.05. Thus, Ho was rejected, whereas Ha was accepted. In other words, there was significant correlation between prior knowledge and listening comprehension. Thus, this research can be concluded that the higher students’ prior knowledge the higher students' listening comprehension

Public beliefs about cause and risk of depression in Iceland: a pilot study

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked FilesAbstract The aim of this pilot study was to explore attitudes of the Icelandic public towards causes and risks of depression. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, employing a questionnaire and a vignette of a person with depression. A convenience sample of 100 people was used with a response rate of 85%. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests. Overall, the participants perceived both causes and risks to involve genetics, personality traits and lack of coping strategies. The belief in the importance of social stressors as a cause and risk factor of depression was predominant. Problems from childhood and day to day problems were considered to be the most likely causes of depression, but unemployment, being divorced and belonging to a low socioeconomic group the most likely risk. Factors that generally imply negative attitudes towards a person with depression were also seen as a likely cause. Public beliefs about mental health issues provide important information which can be used to promote mental health and develop services, in order to tackle depression as a public health issue. Keywords: Public beliefs, depression, causes, risks. Útdráttur Geðrænir sjúkdómar, líkt og þunglyndi, eru taldir ein stærsta lýðheilsuáskorun í Evrópu þar sem gera má ráð fyrir að einn af hverjum fjórum finni fyrir einkennum þunglyndis einhvern tíma á ævinni. Algengi örorku vegna geð- eða hegðunarröskunar fer vaxandi á Íslandi og að sama skapi notkun þunglyndislyfja. Rannsóknir á viðhorfum fólks til heilsu og sjúkdóma getur gefið mikilvægar upplýsingar um hvaða skilning almenningur leggur í ýmis heilsutengd málefni. Að sama skapi geta hugmyndir fólks um orsakir geðræns vanda gefið vísbendingar um hvort og þá einnig hvert fólk leitar eftir faglegri aðstoð og hvaða augum það lítur einstaklinga sem greinast með geðsjúkdóm. Í þessari grein er forrannsókn á viðhorfum Íslendinga til orsaka- og áhættuþátta þunglyndis lýst. Gögnum var safnað með spurningalista sem þátttakendur brugðust við eftir að hafa lesið stutta lýsingu á einstaklingi með þunglyndi. Notað var 100 manna hentugleikaúrtak og svarhlutfallið var 85%. Lýsandi tölfræði var beitt við greiningu gagna og óstikuð próf notuð til að bera saman breytur. Almennt töldu þátttakendur orsaka- og áhættuþætti vera margþætta og tengjast erfðum, skorti á bjargráðum og persónueinkennum. Félagslegir streituvaldar voru þó álitnir eiga stærstan þátt í þunglyndi en á ólíkan máta. Þannig voru streituvaldar eins og erfiðleikar í barnæsku og vandi í daglegu lífi, taldir líklegustu orsakaþættirnir, en það að vera atvinnulaus, hafa skilið eða slitið sambúð og tilheyra tekjulægsta samfélagshópnum líklegustu áhættuþættirnir. Atriði sem almennt fela í sér neikvæð viðhorf til þess sem er þunglyndur voru einnig metin sem líkleg orsök. Viðhorf almennings til orsaka- og áhættuþátta þunglyndis gefa mikilvægar vísbendingar sem geta nýst til að efla geðheilbrigði, þróa þjónustu við hæfi bregðast við þunglyndi sem lýðheilsuvanda. Lykilorð: Viðhorf almennings, þunglyndi, orsök, áhætta

Dynamic User Defined Permissions for Android Devices

Mobile computing devices have become an essential part of everyday life and are becoming the primary means for collecting and storing sensitive personal and corporate data. Android is, by far, the dominant mobile platform, which makes its permissions model responsible for securing the vast majority of this sensitive data. The current model falls well short of actual user needs, as permission assignments are made statically at installation time. Therefore, it is impossible to implement dynamic security policies that could be applied selectively depending on context. Users are forced to unconditionally trust installed apps without means to isolate them from sensitive data. We describe a new approach, app sanitization, which automatically instruments apps at installation time, such that users can dynamically grant and revoke individual permissions. The main advantage of our technique is that it runs in userspace and utilizes standard aspect-oriented methods to incorporate custom security controls into the app

Peer Mentor Text Message Intervention to Mitigate Summer Melt in Lower Socioeconomic Rural High Schools

Summer melt is the phenomenon where students complete the requirements and get accepted into a higher education institution but fail to matriculate following high school graduation. Lower socioeconomic status students are affected the most, and summer melt rates range from 22% to 50% in school districts (Arnold, K., Fleming, S., DeAnda, M., Castleman, B., & Wartman, K., 2009; Castleman & Page, 2014a; Naranjo, Pang, & Alvarado, 2016). After high school graduation, students are left on their own to navigate through the difficulties of matriculating. The purpose of the study is to create and implement a peer mentor text message campaign to mitigate summer melt. Rooted in Schlossberg’s Transition Theory (STT), the study created an intervention to turn liabilities into assets during the student’s moving through phase (Schlossberg, 1981). It set up a quasi-experimental treatment with ten peer mentors attending higher education institutions across the state. Participating high school seniors were placed in a control group or were paired with peer mentors. Peer mentors delivered scripted text messages during restricted timeframes throughout the summer following the participants’ high school graduation. The results found lower matriculation rates with participants paired with peer mentors than participants in the control group. However, due to participant withdrawal, the results were not statistically significant

Curriculum Reform From Multicultural Perspectives: The Analysis of an Urban School District\u27s Systemic Process. (Volumes I and II).

Crises in the economic and social conditions of the underrepresented have led to the analysis of education and the schooling process for responses to and explanations for these inequalities. The purpose of this ethnographically informed, autobiographic case study is to examine the relational and contradictory dynamics of an urban southern school district\u27s systemic process of educational reform from multicultural perspectives. The case study examines the rules, roles and relationships of key change agents and stakeholders as they define education from multicultural perspectives in the process of change. The research further examines the developmental processes necessary to transform the existing curriculum to enable students to view concepts, themes, issues and events from multiple cultural perspectives. This transformation includes the infusion of African/African American history, culture, and viewpoints into the K-12 curriculum using an interdisciplinary, interactive approach. I contend that this approach, designed to promote dialogue, collaboration, and critical analysis among teachers and students, will foster meaningful and relevant learning experiences for urban youth. Research methods include: (a) interviews with instructional specialists, selected teachers, and principals focusing on the developmental process; (b) participant observations; (c) autobiographic reflections of the associate superintendent as researcher; and (d) the review and analysis of videotapes, minutes, narratives, archival records, surveys, and observation documents of the process. Ten model schools, distinguished by varied social, economic, and academic characteristics located in a large urban southern school district provide the data for analysis. The study is based on critical cultural curriculum theories that privilege (a) race with gender and class as dynamic and multifaceted influences on underrepresented students\u27 disadvantaged locations in the educational process and (b) education that is multicultural and social reconstructionist. Conclusions from this research contribute to an understanding of the controversies and change dynamics attendant to redefining education in urban communities through African/African American curriculum infusion. These findings will be used as a theoretical basis to foster dialogue, collaboration, and critical analyses in other schools, so that students and teachers gain a better understanding of education through multicultural curriculum transformational processes

The Impact of Food Deprivation on Cardiovascular Physiology

Introduction: Despite the commonality of fasting, there still remains a lack of scientific research, specifically in regard to the impact of fasting on cardiovascular physiology. Thus, the goal of this research project was to further explore the relationship between fasting and cardiovascular physiology. Hypothesis: The hypothesis of this research project was that a 24-hr fast would likely lead to increased BP and HR, along with blood biomarker changes, and that experiencing this 24-hr fast twice a week would lead to reduced BP and HR along with altered circulating blood biomarker levels. Methods: In order to test these hypotheses, cardiovascular and blood biomarker factors were assessed both before, during and after a 24-hr fast, and throughout a 4-wk period of two 24-hr fasts per week. Results: After the 24-hr fast there was increased resting BP (SBP, p=0.062; DBP, p=0.101) and HR (p=0.125), in addition to decreased overall average ambulatory BP (SBP, p=0.159; DBP, p=0.167) and HR (p=0.076) throughout the 24-hr fast. Blood glucose (p=0.012) and plasma NPY (p=0.007) were decreased, and plasma ghrelin (p=0.171) and plasma LEAP2 (p=0.203) were increased after the 24-hr fast. Resting BP (SBP, p=0.004; DBP, p=0.202) was decreased, and autonomic function showed a shift toward lessened sympathetic activity (↑ RRI, p=0.125; ↓ RRI-LF/HF ratio, p=0.293) at the end of the 4 weeks of fasting, and the decrease in BP was seen as early as 2 weeks of fasting. Plasma ghrelin (p=0.372) was increased at the end of the 4 weeks of fasting with little to no change in blood glucose (p=1.000), plasma LEAP2 (p=1.000) and plasma NPY (p=1.000). Plasma LEAP2 (p=0.693) and plasma NPY (p=0.473) did decrease after 2 weeks of fasting before returning to approximately baseline levels after 4 weeks of fasting. The cardiovascular changes from 24 hours of fasting were most correlated to blood glucose and plasma ghrelin, and the changes from 4 weeks of fasting were most correlated to plasma ghrelin and plasma NPY. Discussion: It appears that fasting may have a mild impact on cardiovascular physiology; both during a 24-hr fast and as an adaptation to 4 weeks of fasting

Price vs. Performance: The Value of Next Generation Fighter Aircraft

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is currently recapitalizing its aging fighter aircraft inventory with the F-22A and F-35. While the DoD may consider cost and performance issues, it does not use a quantitative model that effectively measures the tradeoffs between the two. This thesis constructs a hedonic model of the fighter aircraft market to measure the implicit price on fighter performance characteristics and specifically applies it to next-generation aircraft. Data from 50 aircraft from 1949-present were used to construct two models – one based on procurement costs and one based on research, design, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) costs. The models, based on a linear Box-Cox transformation, demonstrated that the unique F-22A trait, the ability to super-cruise, has the highest per-unit implicit price ($68.5M), followed by the stealth technology ($58.7M) and large-scale integrated circuitry ($55.3M). The high marginal value for the super-cruise trait implies that, depending on how super-cruise is used operationally, the F-35A may be a more effective purchase in terms of resource allocation than the F-22A