547 research outputs found
Economic feasibility of an accelerated lambing operation in Central Iowa
Get PDFMaster of AgribusinessDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsVincent R Amanor-BoaduA dairy farmer in Central Iowa has recently decided to close down the dairy parlor after his family has had the business for one hundred years so that he can retire. In order to maintain some cash flow, he is offering to rent out the barn facilities for a flat price. As an individual with years of experience working, handling, and maintaining sheep, these facilities would work great to run sheep on dry ground. With three of the four children wishing to come back to the family farm, this research seeks to determine the economic feasibility of an accelerated lambing program on a dry lot in Central Iowa.
There are two types of accelerated lambing operation: Standard Accelerated Lambing, where ewes lamb three times within a two-year period; and STAR method, where ewes lamb five times within a two-year period. This research focuses on a standard accelerating program of three lambing crops within two years. The business strategy envisions starting with twenty ewes and building the flow to five hundred ewes over 10 years.
The feasibility analysis undertaken in this thesis focuses on three main factors for profit. They are production rate, death rate for lambs, and conception rate. It was found that production and conception rates had the most impact on the economic feasibility of an accelerated lambing operation. Future work would focus on the marketing side of the business, exploring opportunities for building strategic alliances with ethnic restaurants and grocery stores. It would also explore opportunities of providing the processing service by forming alliances with local abattoirs to service these restaurants and grocery stores
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A literature review and qualitative exploration of adolescent school counseling groups
Get PDFThe purpose of this dissertation was to increase understanding of adolescent school counseling groups including a literature review of the quantitative outcome research on group work with adolescents in the schools and a qualitative exploration of the adolescent experience of cohesion in rural school counseling groups. Outcome research on group work with adolescents in the schools points to the effectiveness of these groups across topics, group structures, diverse populations, and outcome areas, including academic, personal/social, and career development. In order to understand the adolescent experience of cohesion in school counseling groups, the researcher used a qualitative grounded theory methodology to give voice to the experiences of seven adolescent research participants who had been group members in middle or high school counseling groups. Participants were individually interviewed three times and all interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Analysis generated the central category of the cohesion process as "sticking together," which describes a "tight bond" which includes both internal and relational contexts including feeling close to the group and making friends. Feelings of belonging, positive feelings, open social interactions, and lasting connections further characterize the cohesion process as experienced by adolescent participants. This study provides a qualitative, descriptive view of how adolescents experience cohesion in school counseling groups in rural areas. These finding are applicable to school counselors and group workers who counsel adolescents along with counselor educators and supervisors
Occupational Exposure to Streptococcus suis among US Swine Workers
Get PDFDespite numerous cases of human infection with Streptococcus suis worldwide, human disease is rarely diagnosed in North America. We studied 73 swine-exposed and 67 non–swine-exposed US adults for antibodies to S. suis serotype 2. Serologic data suggest that human infection with S. suis occurs more frequently than currently documented
Developing a National Implementation Strategy to accelerate Uptake of Evidence-Based Family Caregiver Support in Us Cancer Centers
Get PDFOBJECTIVE: Characterize key factors and training needs of U.S. cancer centers in implementing family caregiver support services.
METHODS: Sequential explanatory mixed methods design consisting of: (1) a national survey of clinicians and administrators from Commission-on-Cancer-accredited cancer centers (N = 238) on factors and training needed for establishing new caregiver programs and (2) qualitative interviews with a subsample of survey respondents (N = 30) to elicit feedback on survey findings and the outline of an implementation strategy to facilitate implementation of evidence-based family caregiver support (the Caregiver Support Accelerator). Survey data was tabulated using descriptive statistics and transcribed interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: top factors for developing new caregiver programs were that the program be: consistent with the cancer center\u27s mission and strategic plan (87%), supported by clinic leadership (86.5%) and providers and staff (85.7%), and low cost or cost effective (84.9%). top training needs were how to: train staff to implement programs (72.3%), obtain program materials (63.0%), and evaluate program outcomes (62.6%). Only 3.8% reported that no training was needed. Qualitative interviews yielded four main themes: (1) gaining leadership, clinician, and staff buy-in and support is essential; (2) cost and clinician burden are major factors to program implementation; (3) training should help with adapting and marketing programs to local context and culture; and (4) the Accelerator strategy is comprehensive and would benefit from key organizational partnerships and policy standards.
CONCLUSION: Findings will be used to inform and refine the Accelerator implementation strategy to facilitate the adoption and growth of evidence-based cancer caregiver support in U.S. cancer centers
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