Advances in measurements of particle cycling and fluxes in the ocean

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 2013The sinking flux of particles is an important removal mechanism of carbon from the surface ocean as part of the biological pump and can play a role in cycling of other chemical species. This work dealt with improving methods of measuring particle export and measuring export on different scales to assess its spatial variability. First, the assumption of 238U linearity with salinity, used in the 238U–234Th method, was reevaluated using a large sample set over a wide salinity range. Next, neutrally buoyant and surface-tethered sediment traps were compared during a three-year time series in the subtropical Atlantic. This study suggested that previously observed imbalances between carbon stocks and fluxes in this region are not due to undersampling by traps. To assess regional variability of particle export, surface and water-column measurements of 234Th were combined for the first time to measure fluxes on ~20 km scales. Attempts to relate surface properties to particle export were complicated by the temporal decoupling of production and export. Finally, particle export from 234Th was measured on transects of the Atlantic Ocean to evaluate basin-scale export variability. High-resolution sampling through the water-column allowed for the identification of unique 234Th features in the intermediate water column.I was supported by NASA Headquarters under the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program (Grant NNX10AO72H). Specific projects were funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, including Carbon Flux Through the Twilight Zone – New Tools to Measure Change (OCE-0628416), WAPflux – New Tools to Study the Fates of Phytoplankton Production in the West Antarctic Peninsula (ANT-0838866), and GEOTRACES Atlantic Section: Trace Element Sources and Sinks Elucidated by Short- Lived Radium and Thorium Isotopes (OCE-0925158)

Exploring workforce confidence and patient experiences: A quantitative analysis

Confidence is recognized as one of the most influential factors to affect performance. Individual, leader, and team confidence play essential roles in achieving success and the absence of confidence has been connected with failure. While confidence is not a substitute for competency, it creates trusting relationships, empowerment, and resiliency to persevere when challenges arise. Objective: In this study, we examined workforce confidence in the patient experience and patient perceptions of their experience of care. Methods: We compared responses to the Patient-Centered Excellence Survey (PCES) from 41 United States hospitals, measuring workforce confidence in the patient experience provided, to patient’s ratings of their experience through the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. Results: Higher workforce confidence in the patient experience provided is related to higher patient ratings of their experience while lower workforce confidence is linked with lower patient ratings. Hospitals in the top 25% with workforce perceptions score 11.7% higher with HCAHPS Overall Rating than hospitals in the bottom 25%. Of the 10,945 workforce respondents to the PCES Overall Rating item, 24.2% rated their organization top box (9 or 10) versus 64.7% of patients rating top box. Senior leaders reported the highest degree of confidence in the patient experience, while staff and providers reported the lowest. Conclusion: Confidence is an important characteristic of the healthcare workforce. Building mastery of patient experience competencies holds promise to further elevate patient’s perceptions of their care. Gaps in confidence should be addressed - especially among those with the most direct caregiver responsibilities

The Prosecution of State-Level Human Trafficking Cases in the United States

In an effort to combat human trafficking, the United States federal government and all fifty states passed new laws that criminalise human trafficking and support the identification and prosecution of human trafficking perpetrators. Despite the passage of these laws, only a small number of human trafficking cases have been prosecuted in the last fifteen years. Guided by the notion that prosecutors seek to avoid uncertainty when making decisions to pursue criminal prosecution, we explore how human trafficking crimes are indicted under these newly defined state laws. Using a sample of cases from twelve US counties and interviews with police, prosecutors and court personnel, we examine the factors that influence the decision to prosecute crimes investigated as human trafficking in state court. This research informs our understanding of why so few human trafficking cases are prosecuted and why human trafficking suspects are rarely convicted of trafficking offenses

Beliefs about Staying Home: Findings from a Nationally Representative Probability Sample of U.S. Adults in the Early Days of the COVID-19 Epidemic

Understanding the beliefs about staying home is essential to inform stay-at-home policies to mitigate COVID-19 and future epidemics. This study (1) identified the salient advantages, disadvantages, and facilitating beliefs about staying home, and (2) examined the relationship between these beliefs and intention. U.S. adults from a nationally representative probability-based household panel completed an online reasoned action approach belief elicitation from April 10-20, 2020, about one month after stay-at-home guidelines were implemented. First, we conducted an inductive content analysis to reveal salient beliefs about staying home. We identified eight advantages, 12 disadvantages, and 12 facilitators that broadly spanned across health domains: individual, population, interpersonal, occupational, financial, and leisure health. Then, we conducted three regression analyses, one for each of the three sets of beliefs, predicting intention to stay home for the next month from worker status and belief mentioned. In these regression analyses, four advantages, four disadvantages, and four facilitators made independent contributions to explaining intention. The breadth of the elicited beliefs suggests that COVID-19 is perceived to have impacted many dimensions of our lives, and that interventions need to be just as broad. Communication and educational interventions could help people understand the benefits of staying home to themselves, to their families, and to the wider community. Programs that keep essential supplies available could help people stay home. Structural interventions with financial safety nets and policies that help people stay employed during an epidemic might address people’s concerns about the impact of staying home on their financial and occupational health

The Grizzly, March 21, 2000

Bridge Over Troubled Waters: ZX Pledging Activities Leave Fraternity, Two Students Suspended • Memories: Under Construction • Behe Lecture Sparks Scientific Debate • UC Democrats Give Donation to Cityspace • 2000 Edition of Who\u27s Who Announced • Alternative Spring Break: The Best Decision of My Life • The Barto Hotel Jam Night • Lacrosse Prepares for Repeat Title Hopes • Golf Team Looking to Capture CC Title • Softball Off to Commanding Start of Season • Spring is Here, and the UC Bats are Swinging • Baseball Tops Widener in Home Opener, 8-4 • Track & Field Jump Starts Spring Season • Injury-Stricken Gymnasts Pull Out Third at ECAC\u27s • Sports Profile: Taryn Brackinhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1462/thumbnail.jp

Clark County Department of Family Services, Parenting Project

The Clark County Parenting Project offers a series of free programs to help parents become more effective in raising their children. This program evaluation focuses on Teen Triple P, one of the six programs offered by Clark County, evaluating the effectiveness of the program to the community. The Parenting Project partnered with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Public Policy and Leadership to be a participant in a program evaluation. The evaluation will serve as a tool to determine the overall effectiveness in meeting program goals and objectives as well as determining strengths and weaknesses in program implementation

The Grizzly, April 25, 2000

District Attorney Speaks Out Against Hazing • The Great Re-Election Debate • Frameography: Another Fresh New Face in Collegeville • Ursinus\u27 Honor Societies Members \u2700 • Religion Rules at Upsilon Phi Delta Discussion • Blues in Full Bloom at Flowers\u27 Performance • Student Art Achievement at Ursinus College • Letter to the Editor • Softball Squad Ranked Second in the NCAA East Region • Ursinus Lacrosse Thrashes Mawrters in 21-4 Romp • Bears Swing Into First Place Over Johns Hopkins • UC Field Hockey: Building for the Future • Track Sprints Toward Conference Champs • Fisher Takes CC by Stormhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1467/thumbnail.jp

Amplitude of the Electrical Potential Oscillations in the Salt-Water Oscillator

The amplitude of the electrical potential oscillations of the salt water oscillator depends on the character of an electrical double layer formed in the glass capillary or at the interface between the dilute and concentrated salt solutions. When a stationary mercury electrode was used, a new type of periodic behavior, compound oscillation, was observed

The Grizzly, February 29, 2000

Phi Psi Sanctioned • UC Students Weather Winter Sickness • Meghan Gualtieri: Profile of a True UC Role Model • Ursinus\u27 Own Superbagger • GOP Race Tightens in Michigan and Arizona • Investors to Transform Mir Into Out-of-this-World Hotel • Opinion: Food and Diversity at Ursinus College; Fox\u27s Marry a Millionaire Fiasco Sends Wrong Message • A Student\u27s proTheatre: Halves • John Gwinn: Post-Modernist Extraordinaire? • Gymnastics Sustains Record-Breaking Run at Rutgers • UC Grad Bill Stiles Becomes Sports Information Director • Winter Track Season Ends Strong • Bears Captures Last Three Wins • Sports Profile: Yori Adegunwahttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1461/thumbnail.jp