Robert L. Brackney to Mr. Meredith (1 October 1962)

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mercorr_pro/1418/thumbnail.jp

Knowing Where I Am At : The Experience of Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose for People with Non-Insulin-Requiring Type 2 Diabetes.

Eleven participants living with non-insulin-requiring Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) discussed their self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) experience. All had been recently diagnosed (\u3c 2 years) and treated for diabetes with a self-regulating SMBG guideline for primary care practice. Their digitally-recorded interviews and photographed logbooks were analyzed thematically and interpreted through the lens of numeracy literature to answer 2 questions: 1. What is the meaning of SMBG among people with non-insulinrequiring T2DM? 2. How do people with non-insulin-requiring T2DM perceive the function of SMBG in diabetes self-management? The meanings of SMBG were patient competence, It is easy, just a little pin prick ; patient control, I can control it. It doesn\u27t control me ; and patient security, It is not that way anymore. Three periods of lived time were observed: Diagnosis The numbers say I have diabetes ; I just can\u27t figure out why it does that ; and Routine I make my numbers. Prominent numeracy functions emerged by time period. During Diagnosis primary numeracy functions included comparing SMBG results to target values. Participants expressed this experience as, I am some kind of O.K. During applied numeracy functions included taking medication correctly. SMBG readings were experienced as a clue to the diabetes mystery, sometimes confusing the participants, I just don\u27t know why it does what it does, or answering questions, Now there is no question marks. Numbers motivated some people for action The numbers get me out a walking or restraint If I didn\u27t have the numbers, I would be tempted to cheat. During Routine interpretive numeracy functioned to aid the evaluation of the efficacy of participant\u27s health behavior change. Numbers had taken on meaning helping a person to know where I am at. Clinical implications are suggested including adjustments to the selfregulating SMBG guideline for primary care practice. Findings are discussed in relation to personal knowledge processes (Sweeny, 1994) and related SMBG research. Participants concluded that routine SMBG is essential to maintaining and restraining health behavior. This study provides a model for use of SMBG in diabetes selfmanagement and patient perspectives on SMBG during the 2 years following T2DM diagnosis

Special Educators\u27 Perceptions on Effective Preparation and Practice for Student Success

Alternative school settings are success prospects for students at risk of school failure. However, research on the daily experiences of the special educators in alternate school settings tasked with educating the at-risk population, is limited. The purpose of this phenomenological study was (a) to recognize the perceptions of special educators concerning their preparation to advance the success of SEN students who are at risk of school failure; (b) to determine how to improve special educator preparation programs in alternative school settings. Deci and Ryan\u27s self-determination theory, focused on student success provided the study\u27s framework. Twelve semistructured interviews were conducted to examine special educators\u27 perceptions on preparation and practice for student success. Data were analyzed through block coding, code comparison and thematic searches. The study\u27s results included accounts of special educators\u27 perceptions and challenges related to preparation and practice for student success in alternate school settings. Emergent themes included applying classroom structure and technology, as well as individualized student instruction. Participants cited a need for rich teacher/student relationships to advance student success. Included are inferences regarding the development of teacher/student relationships. Also included are suggestions for educational leaders to consider while preparing preparatory methods for special educators who teach within the alternative school setting such as administrator knowledge of what special educators require to teach in the alternate classroom. This study may lead to social change by providing information on special educator preparation coursework meant to develop student success for the alternative school student population

Building Energy Modeling with OpenStudio : A Practical Guide for Students and Professionals

The energy, environmental, and societal challenges of the twenty-first century are here; they are crystal clear; and they are daunting. Our responses to those challenges are less clear, but one component at least is obvious—we need a better building stock, one that uses less energy, provides greater comfort and security, and houses and supports the economic activity of a rapidly growing and urbanizing population. One of the most powerful tools in our collective belts is building energy modeling (BEM), physics-based software simulation of building energy use given a description of the physical building, its use patterns, and prevailing weather conditions. BEM is a sine qua non tool for designing and operating buildings to the levels of energy efficiency that our future and present require. According to the AIA 2030 Commitment report, buildings designed using BEM use 20% less energy than those designed without it. BEM is also instrumental in developing and updating the codes, standards, certificates, and financial incentive infrastructure that supports energy efficiency in all building projects, including those that don’t directly use BEM. The OpenStudio project has been a driving force in the evolution of BTO’s BEM program. OpenStudio was BTO’s first truly open-source software project, a strategic direction that has influenced BTO’s entire BEM portfolio. Open-source is not an altruistic emergent enterprise. Successful open-source projects are funded, centrally managed, and resemble proprietary software projects in many structural and operational ways. Source control. Code reviews. Regression testing. Bug reporting and fixing. Pre-feature documentation. Post-feature documentation. The full Monty

A Follow-Up Study Investigating the Relationships Between Holland\u27s Personality Types and Selected Career Choice Variables

This follow-up study utilized John L. Holland\u27s theory of vocational personalities and work environments to examine the relationship between students personality types and their career choices. The study sought to determine whether data collected using Holland\u27s Self-Directed Search (SDS) was a valid predictor of (1) career goal, (2) eventual choice of college major, (3) persistence to graduation, (4) occupation (type of job held at the time the data was collected), and (5) level of satisfaction with occupation (job) at the time data was gathered. The stratified random sample for the study was composed of 180 subjects drawn from a population of entering freshmen at a middle-sized, southern, urban university in 1979. The initial set of data gathered by the SDS from these subjects was compared with data collected from the same individuals ten years later (1989-90). Global job satisfaction was also measured in 1989-90 by administering the Job-in-General scale of the Job Descriptive Index. Congruence (the level of agreement) between subjects\u27 personality type (as determined by the SDS) and the choices they made with regard to the five areas listed in the first paragraph was measured by the Iachan Index. Statistical significance for the congruence results was set at.05. For the total sample, the results of the Chi-square distribution showed no significant difference between subjects with high-moderate congruence between Personality Type (Summary) code and Occupational Aspiration (Daydream) code and those with weak poor congruence for persistence to college graduation. However, results from Fisher\u27s Exact Probability test showed that subjects with high-moderate congruence in sub-groups R, I, and S were more likely to persist to graduation than those with weak-poor congruence. For the total sample and the majority subjects in sub-groups R, I, and S, the results of Cohen\u27s Weighted Kappa test showed that Personality Type (Summary code) was a moderately efficient predictor of College Major. For the total sample, the results of the Chi-square distribution showed that subjects with high-moderate congruence between Summary code and College Major code were more likely to be satisfied with their college major than those who had weak-poor congruence between the two codes. Results from Fisher\u27s Exact Probability test showed that subjects with high-moderate congruence in sub-groups R, I, A and S were more likely to be satisfied with their college major than those with weak-poor congruence

Pattern Recognition Residential Demand Response: An Option for Critical Peak Demand Reduction in New Zealand

Influencing households to adopt sustainable energy consumption behaviour is important to the transition towards a sustainable energy future. However, if one aims at influencing the energy consumption habits of people, one should also be able to estimate the resulting effects on the entire energy system. Residential demand response to reduce load on the electricity network has largely been impeded by information barriers and a lack of proper understanding of consumers’ behaviour. What are not well understood and are of great interest include load disaggregation, the behaviour of customers when responding to demand response request, load shifting models and their impact on the load curve of the utility. There is concern among demand response practitioners, for example, that demand response in the residential sector may simply move the peak problem with scale from one point in time to another. However, unavailability of appliance-level demand data makes it difficult to study this problem. In this paper, a generalized statistical model for generating load curves of the individual residential appliances is presented. These data allow one to identify the relative contribution of the different components of the residential load on a given residential feeder. This model has been combined with demand response survey in a neighbourhood with 400 households in Christchurch, New Zealand, to determine the effect of customers’ behaviour in reducing the neighbourhood’s winter peak demand. The results show that when customers’ are given enhanced information, they would voluntarily act to reduce their peak demand by about 10% during the morning peak hours and 11% during the evening peak hours. The demand responsiveness of the individual appliances is also presented. The effectiveness of customer behaviour modification in maintaining system reliability is also presented

Population Ecology of Common Gallinules in Southwestern Lake Erie Marshes

Author Institution: Ohio Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, The Ohio State UniversityPopulation size, distribution, reproduction, and habitat selection of common gallinules (Gallinula chloropus) were studied in 1977-78 in the southwestern Lake Erie marshes in Ohio. Gallinules were censused by playing a tape-recorded call and counting the number of individuals responding within a 40-m radius. Eight to 30 of these 0.5-ha circular plots were placed randomly in each of 16 marsh habitats. The frequency of nonresponse was estimated from the responses of pairs with known locations, and estimates were corrected for nonresponse. Nest-density estimates from strip-transects were not different (P > 0.05) from pair-density estimates based on calling males. Pair-density estimates ranged from 0.2 to 4.6 pairs per ha. The population for 1978 was estimated to be 1,197 ± 149 pairs in 5,188 ha of wetland. Clutch size averaged 8.04 ± 0.56 eggs for 55 clutches, and 77% of 61 nests hatched at least 1 egg. Twenty-eight brood counts averaged 3.6 ± 0.6 fledged young. Gallinule densities were highest on semipermanently flooded wetlands with narrow-leaved, persistent emergent vegetation, an abundance of submergent aquatic plants, and a 1:1 ratio of cover to open water