The Costs and Benefits of Outsourcing Marketing, Student Recruitment and Retention Services in an Online RN-to-BSN Program

ABSTRACT In 2010, the Institute of Medicine advised that by 2020, 80% of working nurses should have at minimum a baccalaureate degree. Across the country, the profession will fall short of that goal. In New Mexico, the numbers of associate degree nurses and baccalaureate degree nurses are nearly equal. As the flagship university for the state, the University of New Mexico has offered a program for baccalaureate degree completion for registered nurses for over 55 years. Wishing to fulfill the IOM mandate, the University of New Mexico, College of Nursing desires to grow its RN-to-BSN program by expanding its marketing, recruitment and retention potential. Consequently, the College is faced with two options for marketing the online degree completion program and retaining students through graduation: outsource the marketing, recruitment and retention of students or perform the same services with in-house staff. Using the COBRAM© calculator, this project analyzes and compares the costs and benefits of in-house management with outsourcing those services to determine the value of a public-private partnership for online academic program management

Pollinator Sharing Between Mimulus ringens and Coflowering Plant Species in Northeastern Ohio

Competition between plants for pollinators can have serious impacts on plant reproduction; these impacts depend on many factors, such as plant abundance, plant diversity, floral abundance, pollinator abundance, and pollinator preference. The way pollinators move among and between coflowering species can tell us more about how these factors affect competition. In this study, we examine the movement patterns of flower visitors to Mimulus ringens and coflowering species in Northeastern Ohio through several types of observations. In addition, we measured the density and diversity of floral units with 20-30 meter transects across each study site. There were six total study sites, including one site where we collected data six times across a one month period. Our results show that Bombus impatiens, our most commonly observed pollinator, was the species most likely to make inter-species movements between flowers and that in total, pollinators make movements between separate species about 6% of the time. We observed a wide range of specializations, with several species of pollinators showing a tendency to visit one species of flower over the others. Lastly, the types of quantity and type of flowers at each site affected availability and pollinator preference differed at each site accordingly

Consequences of Hatch Phenology on Stages of Fish Recruitment

Little is known about how hatch phenology (e.g., the start, peak, and duration of hatching) could influence subsequent recruitment of freshwater fishes into a population. We used two commonly sympatric fish species that exhibit different hatching phenologies to examine recruitment across multiple life stages. Nine yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) annual cohorts were sampled from 2004 through 2013 across larval, age-0, age-1, and age-2 life stages in a Nebraska (U.S.A.) Sandhill lake. Yellow perch hatched earlier in the season and displayed a more truncated hatch duration compared to bluegill. The timing of hatch influenced recruitment dynamics for both species but important hatching metrics were not similar between species across life stages. A longer hatch duration resulted in greater larval yellow perch abundance but greater age-1 bluegill abundance. In contrast, bluegill larval and age-0 abundances were greater during years when hatching duration was shorter and commenced earlier, whereas age-0 yellow perch abundance was greater when hatching occurred earlier. As a result of hatch phenology, yellow perch recruitment variability was minimized sooner (age-0 life stage) than bluegill (age-1 life stage). Collectively, hatch phenology influenced recruitment dynamics across multiple life stages but was unique for each species. Understanding the complexities of when progeny enter an environment and how this influences eventual recruitment into a population will be critical in the face of ongoing climate change

An Investigation into Land Use Changes and Consequences in the Northern Great Plains Using Systems Thinking and Dynamics

From 1997 to 2007, 9.6 million hectares of grassland were converted to cropland and fifty seven percent of these conversions occurred in the Northern Great Plains (NGP). Since 2007, another 9.5 million U.S. hectares have been converted with the majority located in the NGP. Shortterm, positive benefits include increased food production and higher financial returns to farmers. However, there could be unintended consequences through loss of ecosystem services. Consequences may include compromised water quality, wildlife habitat loss/fragmentation, and decreased carbon sequestration. The principal objective of this work is to: 1) identify structural features influencing land use decisions through agricultural stakeholder engagement; and 2) to synthesize results into a causal loop diagram through a group model building process. This information can be used to construct a stock-flow model to quantify implications for land management, forecast potential unintended consequences from major land use changes, and develop strategies to minimize their impacts

Food Habits of Fall-Collected Age-0 Walleyes in Eastern South Dakota Glacial Lakes

Food habits of age-0 fishes can influence their growth and survival prior to the first winter (Hoxmeier et al. 2006, Shoup and Wahl 2011). Ontogenetic diet shifts in juvenile piscivorous fishes result in a transition in consumption from zooplankton to macroinvertebrates and eventually fish throughout development (Mittelbach and Persson 1998). Certain food items may be more energetically beneficial to fishes than others as consumption of prey fishes may lead to faster growth rates of predators, decreased overwinter starvation, avoidance of competition, and reduced predation risk (Werner and Gilliam 1984). By the time age-0 walleyes (Sander vitreus) have reached lengths of 60–80 mm total length (TL), their diets are predominantly composed of fish (Priegel 1969, Quist et al. 2002, Galarowicz and Wahl 2005). Previous studies have examined age-0 walleye food habits in South Dakota in a limited number of waters at various times and the majority of fall diets were composed of fish (Beck et al. 1998, Blackwell et al. 1999). Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), darters (Etheostoma spp.), and gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) have all been documented as regionally important prey fish species for juvenile walleyes (Jackson et al. 1992, Beck et al. 1998, Blackwell et al. 1999, Pelham et al. 2001, Uphoff 2012). Although generalized feeding ecology of walleye during early life stages has been investigated, previous studies have only examined food habits in either a controlled setting or limited number of waters, thereby potentially overlooking spatial differences in feeding ecology. Therefore, this study examined food habits of age-0 walleye collected during fall across a range of eastern South Dakota glacial lakes

Resilience and rewiring of the passenger airline networks in the United States

The air transportation network, a fundamental component of critical infrastructure, is formed from a collection of individual air carriers, each one with a methodically designed and engineered network structure. We analyze the individual structures of the seven largest passenger carriers in the USA and find that networks with dense interconnectivity, as quantified by large k-cores for high values of k, are extremely resilient to both targeted removal of airports (nodes) and random removal of flight paths paths (edges). Such networks stay connected and incur minimal increase in an heuristic travel time despite removal of a majority of nodes or edges. Similar results are obtained for targeted removal based on either node degree or centrality. We introduce network rewiring schemes that boost resilience to different levels of perturbation while preserving total number of flight and gate requirements. Recent studies have focused on the asymptotic optimality of hub-and-spoke spatial networks under normal operating conditions, yet our results indicate that point-to-point architectures can be much more resilient to perturbations.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, replaced by the version to appear in Physical Review

Serological immune response to cancer testis antigens in patients with pancreatic cancer

Serological screening approaches have allowed for the identification of a large number of potentially relevant tumor antigens in cancer patients. Within this group, cancer testis antigens represent promising targets for cancer immunotherapy, since they are widely expressed in a variety of human cancer entities. In pancreatic cancer, however, there are only few data available about the expression pattern and serological response to cancer testis antigens and other serological-defined tumor antigens. Therefore, we investigated the IgG antibody response against 11 cancer testis antigens (SCP-1, GAGE, LAGE-1a,-1b, CT-7, NY-ESO-1, SSX-1-5) recombinantly expressed on yeast surface (RAYS) in patients with pancreatic cancer (n = 96), chronic pancreatitis (n = 18) and healthy donors (n = 48). We found in 14% of all patients antibody responses to SCP-1, but not to other cancer testis antigens (GAGE, LAGE-1a,-1b, CT-7, NY-ESO-1, SSX-1-5). Antibody response correlated with the expression of SCP-1 in the primary tumor of the respective patient as shown by RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blot. In contrast, no serological response to cancer testis antigens was observed in healthy donors. The humoral immune response against SCP-1 was associated with the size of tumor, but not with other clinico-pathological parameters such as histology, stage, presence of lymph node metastases, grading, age, gender or gemcitabine treatment. In conclusion, antibody response to cancer testis antigen SCP-1 is found in a proportion of pancreatic carcinoma patients. These results indicate that identification of additional tumor antigens by serological screening of tumor cDNA expression libraries by RAYS is a promising goal in pancreatic cancer

Parasite Lost: Chemical and Visual Cues Used by Pseudacteon in Search of Azteca instabilis

An undescribed species of phorid fly (genus: Pseudacteon) parasitizes the ant Azteca instabilis F Smith, by first locating these ants through the use of both chemical and visual cues. Experiments were performed in Chiapas, Mexico to examine a) the anatomical source of phorid attractants, b) the specific chemicals produced that attract phorids, and c) the nature of the visual cues used by phorids to locate the ants. We determined that phorid-attracting chemicals were present within the dorsal section of the abdomen, the location of the pygidial gland. Further experiments indicate that a pygidial gland compound, 1-acetyl-2-methylcyclopentane, is at least partially responsible for attracting phorid flies to their host. Finally, although visual cues such as movement were important for host location, size and color of objects did not influence the frequency with which phorids attacked moving targets

Cuticular Hydrocarbon Cues Are Used for Host Acceptance by Pseudacteon spp. Phorid Flies that Attack Azteca sericeasur Ants

Parasitoids often use complex cues to identify suitable hosts in their environment. Phorid fly parasitoids that develop on one or a few host species often use multiple cues, ranging from general to highly specific, to home in on an appropriate host. Here, we describe the hierarchy of cues that Pseudacteon phorid flies use to identify Azteca ant hosts. We show, through behavioral observations in the field, that phorid flies are attracted to two cryptic Azteca species, but only attack Azteca sericeasur (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae). To test whether the phorid flies use cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to distinguish between the two Azteca taxa, we first documented and compared cuticular hydrocarbons of the two Azteca taxa using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Then, using cuticular hydrocarbon-transfer experiments with live ants, we characterized the cuticular hydrocarbons of A. sericeasur as a short-range, host location cue used by P. lasciniosus (Diptera: Phoridae) to locate the ants

Frontier working in Luxembourg : a talent management perspective

This doctoral thesis examines the experiences of frontier workers in Luxembourg and the issues and implications of frontier working in Luxembourg, viewed from a Talent Management perspective. Adopting an interview research strategy, the study involved key informants from the three bordering countries, Germany, France and Belgium. Although Talent Management, as a theme in business and management, has recently received growing attention, academic activities dealing with the experiences of the participating stakeholders do not reflect its importance. To date, there is scarce evidence or research on frontier working, and what little data that exist is mainly numerical. This study aims to address this gap. The research topic appears in the frameworks of International Human Resources Management and Global Talent Management, and is based on an underlying practical issue originating from the necessity of employing talented frontier workers to fill the gap in talent supply in Luxembourg. Looking at Talent Management as an HR practice, a qualitative, inductive research approach was adopted, using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with two groups of key informants, frontier workers and HR managers. The interviews were conducted in the participan mother tongue either German, French or Luxembourgish hence exploring Talent Management in languages other than English, which, up until now, has been dominant in research. Furthermore, the study offers a novel approach to the so far US- and UK-focused research, as it explores Talent Management in Luxembourg, where almost fifty percent of the workforce iscomposed of frontier workers. In order to answer the research question, the data collected were analysed through thematic analysis to identify significant patterns and themes in each of the 35 interviews. In response to the research question, the findings reveal that frontier working in Luxembourg can be categorized as a dominant and relevant phenomenon. It can be concluded that frontier working does have a significant impact on the Talent Management practices as applied by organizations. Overall, this research provides insights into the increasing importance of frontier working and develops an understanding of the issues in order to inform practice. The study therefore helps to close the gap in the research about the phenomenon of frontier working and its implications for HR practice in relation to Talent Management. This work responds to Collings and Mellahi´s (2009) call for more empirical research on the experiences of talented employees and suggests that TM in Luxembourg is an as yet under-researched topic. The conclusions of this study inform empirical research, theory about frontier working and related concepts. Hence it contributes to a better understanding of frontier working as a thus-far under-explored phenomenon. This study has implications for business and management, as it is relevant for practitioners as well as academic research in International Human Resource Management and Global Talent Management. The study concludes with implications for both existing or future frontier workers and HR departments in organizations in Luxembourg that employ frontier workers and outlines the conclusions for future research