Health disparities and depression in rural and urban older adults.

Depression is one of the most prevalent psychiatric conditions experienced by older adults and represents a major public health concern. Rural/urban residence may affect the prevalence of depression as rural older adults differ from their urban counterparts in many respects. One important difference found in the literature is that rural OAs are often faced with more health disparities (HDs) compared to their urban counterparts. The current study investigated the association between HDs and depression in a sample of rural and urban OAs, and examined whether HDs contribute to our understanding of how rurality impacts the prevalence and severity of depression. It was hypothesized that rural OAs would report a greater severity of depression compared to urban OAs, and that a greater severity of HD in rural areas would account for this difference. This study utilized a baseline sample of 3,996 older adults from the Duke Established of Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE): Piedmont Health Survey of the Elderly. Participants were stratified into separate groups based on level of rurality as defined by the Economic Research Service\u27s Rural-Urban Continuum Codes. The main, overarching hypothesis was not supported by the current study. Level of rurality, in and of itself, was not significantly associated with depression severity or rates of prevalent or incident depression, and other than healthcare utilization, the HD variables investigated (overall medical burden, cumulative vascular risk, and negative health behaviors) did not differ by level of rurality. Although rural/urban status did not directly affect HDs and depression, follow-up analyses indicated this was likely due to the heterogeneity of individuals within rural and urban counties. This finding indicates that the inclusion of individual characteristics may contribute to the understanding of differences in depression between rural and urban OAs. The relationship between level of rurality and depression is more complex than a simple rural/urban distinction and other variables (e.g. ethnicity, income, and place of usual outpatient healthcare services) need to be investigated in conjunction with place of residence to understand how HDs and depression differ across rural and urban groups

Creating Academic Web Space for Academic Staff: Research and Teaching Initiatives at the University of Iowa Libraries

Paper presented at conference "Strategies for the Next Millennium." Proceedings of the Ninth Australasian Information Online and On Disc Conference and Exhibition, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sydney Australia, 19-21 January 1999.The University of Iowa has several projects that are reshaping options for teaching staff and librarians as they work to build new types of academic resources. Two of these are Bailiwick and TWIST. Bailiwick is a Web space where academic passions are realised in HTML and creative home pages. Bailiwick is home to Web sites that are experimental in form, like ‘Border Crossings’, which provides comprehensive and in-depth resources, or that take on a narrow, highly specialised topic like ‘French Feminists’. In the Teaching with Innovative Style and Technology Project (TWIST), teaching staff are paired with librarian partners to create Web-based learning environments. These partners are called ‘TWISTed Pairs’. This semester, 27 academic staff members from 13 departments are paired with 11 librarians from various departments, creating 35 course-related Web sites

Negotiated investment strategies : a new approach to public-private partnership

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1984.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Bibliography: leaves 71-72.by Karita Ann Zimmerman.M.C.P

Data Sharing and Secondary Use of Scientific Data: Experiences of Ecologists

In recent years, scientific disciplines related to global, environmental problem solving have been a special target of data sharing efforts. Yet, very little research exists to guide the organization of scientific data sources or to understand the technical and social infrastructures needed to support the secondary use of data. Ecology is one of the disciplines that contributes to our knowledge of the natural world, but several factors complicate the sharing and reuse of ecological data. I conducted in-depth interviews to investigate the experiences of ecologists who used data they did not collect themselves in order to understand how they overcome these challenges. My findings extend our knowledge of information reuse, and they have implications for the design of digital libraries, for the development of standards, and for the creation of data sharing policies and programs. Fieldwork performs an important function in shaping ecologists' formal and informal knowledge, which carries over to their reuse of data. The informal knowledge ecologists acquire as collectors of their own data in the field or laboratory plays the most important role in their reuse of data. The secondary use of data on a large scale requires a greater emphasis on standardization, peer review, and quality control, which alters the extent of reliance on informal knowledge. However, a formal system offers only some of the information that scientists require to reuse data, and there is a danger in thinking that informal knowledge is easily replaced and is no longer necessary or important. My study shows how social exchange is an integral part of all scientific understanding. Standard research methods, metadata standards, and common storage formats make it possible to integrate data on a large scale, but this power comes from leaving out information that is necessary to secondary data use. Ecology teaches us that there are multiple sides to issues of trust, standards, understanding, and judgments about data quality. To be effective vehicles of data sharing, digital libraries and data repositories must capture public and private knowledge and must find ways to document the implicit knowledge that ecologists recognize and can articulate.Ph.D.Information and Library StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39373/2/ann_zimmerman_dissertation_2003.pd

Beyond the Data Deluge: A Research Agenda for Large-Scale Data Sharing and Reuse

There is almost universal agreement that scientific data should be shared for use beyond the purposes for which they were initially collected. Access to data enables system-level science, expands the instruments and products of research to new communities, and advances solutions to complex human problems. While demands for data are not new, the vision of open access to data is increasingly ambitious. The aim is to make data accessible and usable to anyone, anytime, anywhere, and for any purpose. Until recently, scholarly investigations related to data sharing and reuse were sparse. They have become more common as technology and instrumentation have advanced, policies that mandate sharing have been implemented, and research has become more interdisciplinary. Each of these factors has contributed to what is commonly referred to as the "data deluge". Most discussions about increases in the scale of sharing and reuse have focused on growing amounts of data. There are other issues related to open access to data that also concern scale which have not been as widely discussed: broader participation in data sharing and reuse, increases in the number and types of intermediaries, and more digital data products. The purpose of this paper is to develop a research agenda for scientific data sharing and reuse that considers these three areas

TeraGrid Planning Process Report: June 2007 Workshop for Science Gateways

TeraGrid is a national, comprehensive, distributed infrastructure integrating multiple resources at nine resource provider facilities. In late spring 2007, the NSF awarded a grant to the University of Michigan’s School of Information (UM-SI) to facilitate a community-driven, participatory planning process for the future of TeraGrid. This report describes the results of the first workshop, which focused on the needs of those developing TeraGrid Science Gateways and the needs of Gateway users. Early in its history, TeraGrid conceived the idea for what has become the TeraGrid ScienceGateway program. Recognizing that many disciplinary communities were building elements of their own cyberinfrastrucuture, TeraGrid set out to form partnerships that would provide TeraGrid resources and services to user communities through tools and environments they were already using. Essentially, the gateway concept recognizes that many of today’s scientists use desktop computing applications and web browsers to conduct their work. TeraGrid’s role is as a back-end service provider with the gateways serving as the front end to the user. At the time of the workshop, there were 21 projects with an allocation on the TeraGrid, which is the criterion used to designate a project as a TeraGrid Science Gateway. The workshop was designed to assess how TeraGrid could meet the needs of Science Gateways, specifically the end users of the gateways and the gateway developers.National Science Foundationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61843/1/TeraGrid_ScienceGateways_Workshop_Report.pd

Report from the TeraGrid Evaluation Study, Part 1: Project Findings

TeraGrid integrates multiple high-performance computing resources at distributed provider facilities. In 2006, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a grant to the University of Michigan's School of Information (UM-SI) to conduct an external evaluation of TeraGrid. The primary goals of the evaluation were to provide specific information to TeraGrid managers that will increase the likelihood of TeraGrid success, and to give NSF and policy makers general data that will assist them in making strategic decisions about future directions for cyberinfrastructure. In order to accomplish these objectives, the UM-SI study assessed four aspects of the TeraGrid project: 1) progress in meeting user requirements; 2) impact of TeraGrid on research outcomes; 3) quality and content of TeraGrid education, outreach, and training activities; and 4) satisfaction among TeraGrid partners. We employed a mixed method approach that consisted of a user workshop; participant observation; document analysis; interviews with 86 individuals representing five different categories; a survey of a sample of 595 TeraGrid users; and two surveys to assess TeraGrid tutorials held in 2006 and 2007. Most of the data were collected from June 2006 through May 2007. Findings from the evaluation study are presented in two parts. In this first part, we report results from analyses of all data collected during the investigation. Detailed findings from the user survey are presented in Part 2 of the report.National Science Foundationhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61838/2/TeraGrid_Evaluation_Report_Project_Findings_August_2008.pdfDescription of TeraGrid_Evaluation_Report_Project_Findings_August_2008.pdf : Final repor

TeraGrid User Workshop Final Report

In 2006, the NSF awarded a one-year grant to the University of Michigan’s School of Information (UM-SI) to conduct an external evaluation of TeraGrid. This report describes the results of the first major evaluation activity. On June 12, 2006 the UM-SI evaluation team conducted a workshop to begin to examine the relationship between TeraGrid’s development priorities and the needs of its users. The invitation-only workshop was funded by TeraGrid and was held at the University Place Conference Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. The TeraGrid User Workshop Final Report summarizes the data collected and information gained during the workshop.National Science Foundationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61841/1/TeraGrid2006_Tutortials_Survey_Report.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61841/4/2006_TGUser_Workshop_Report.pd

TeraGrid '06 Tutorial Evaluation

TeraGrid '06, the first annual TeraGrid conference, was held in Indianapolis on June 13-15, 2006. Eight pre-conference tutorials, covering a diverse range of topics, were offered on June 12, 2006. Half of the tutorials were a full day in length and half were 4 hours long. Researchers at the University of Michigan's School of Information developed a 15-question survey to measure attendees' satisfaction with the tutorials. Results from the survey are presented in this report and are intended to assist TeraGrid personnel with the development of future educational events such as tutorials and workshops and to provide feedback to tutorial instructors. The results from an analysis of the survey data show that the tutorial attendees who responded to the survey generally rated their experiences very positively and would attend another educational, outreach, or training event sponsored by TeraGrid. Respondents felt they gained a deeper understanding of the topic at hand and planned to use at least some of what they learned in their work or teaching. The results also show that some tutorials were more successful than others in terms of the presentation of material. Some respondents were dissatisfied with the handouts available to them while others desired more opportunities for hands-on activities. Responses to open-ended questions suggest that some attention should be paid to the level of the tutorial and the ability of the attendees. Offering introductory tutorials in which attendees are given practical step-by-step training in tandem with more advanced tutorials geared at experienced users could be beneficial in meeting the needs of a wide variety of users.National Science Foundationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61840/1/TeraGrid2006_Tutortials_Survey_Report.pd

Hunger in the Land of Plenty: Local Responses to Food Insecurity in Iowa

Story County (estimated population 92,406 in 2013) lies in the heart of central Iowa, a state renowned for its remarkable agricultural productivity. Iowa leads all states for production of corn, soybean, and hogs. Revenues from agricultural products in Iowa total more than $30 billion annually according the 2012 Agricultural Census (USDA-NASS 2014). This productivity stems from a favorable natural and political environment. The temperate climate, productive soils, and gentle topography are ideal for our production system of commodity agriculture facilitated by federal policies, which include subsidized crop insurance and commodity payments (Horrigan, Lawrence, and Walker 2002). Despite this productivity and political support for commodity production, a very small amount of acreage in Iowa produces food crops such as fruits and vegetables. Within Story County, the amount of cropland dedicated to fruit, vegetable, and nut production per one thousand residents is 2.4 acres, compared to 3.7 acres statewide, which is much lower than the US average of 32 acres per one thousand residents (ISUEO 2014). Paradoxically, in this land so perfectly suited for agriculture, there is an increasing demand for food assistance. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (ISUEO) estimates 16,366 people live in poverty in Story County, a 20.1 percent poverty rate, compared to a statewide average of 12.2 percent (2014). ISUEO further estimates that 15.2 percent of Story County residents are food insecure, representing nearly 14,000 individuals. Comparatively, the statewide rate is 12.7 percent (ISUEO 2014). Compounding the problem, 45 percent of people who are food insecure in Story County do not qualify for direct government assistance because their income is above the economic threshold set for federal food assistance, and so they depend on charitable efforts to meet their needs. According to Feeding America’s statistics, Story County is the most food insecure county in Iowa (Gundersen, Engelhard, and Waxman 2015). The juxtaposition of a productive agricultural system with persistent hunger and need for food assistance is widely apparent in Story County and has inspired community-based efforts to address food needs. Through this chapter, we analyze the work of Food at First (FAF), a nonprofit that has emerged in response to the need for food assistance in Story County. Their work addresses the food needs of Story County residents by providing a daily free meal program and market as well as the recent development of a community garden. We illustrate the benefits of the FAF effort dedicated to building community-based solutions to hunger and food insecurity through a form of food democracy. We also explore key challenges associated with doing this work, including pragmatic issues of retaining and engaging volunteers. Further, we examine limitations of this model by exploring the underlying causes of food insecurity and how this organization contests as well as perpetuates a neoliberal model of food assistance. This neoliberal focus emphasizes individual responsibility and corporate charitable donations rather than collective, and/or government-level, responsibility for community food insecurity. We hope to raise important questions about how this community-driven work critically improves food security and a broader sense of community while still falling short of addressing poverty and inequality, the underlying reason for food insecurity in Ames and across the country