Improving student success and engagement in virtual and hybrid classrooms.

The following thesis examines virtual classes from the University of Louisville in the Fall 2020 semester to discover points of weakness relative to keeping students engaged in online courses. Three surveys were taken by a select group of participants over the course of the fall semester in order to collect student opinion on specific classes. Interviews were held with a subset of students from the group of participants and also with professors who taught the study’s participants in the fall of 2020. Their responses and conversations were used to determine possible areas of improvement for virtual classes. This information was then used to develop suggestions for improving the classes referenced in the surveys; the recommendations can be generalized for usage in classes at other institutions. The research conclusion establishes guidelines for examining and refining any virtual or hybrid classes in the engineering field

Do workplace aesthetics matter? testing the moderating effects of need for aesthetics and general mindfulness

Minimal research has examined the impact of workplace aesthetics on employee outcomes such as negative work attitudes, job satisfaction, or resource recovery needs. The present study tested if aesthetic elements in workplace matter to employees and if this effect is moderated by the extent to which employees are generally mindful and have a need for an aesthetically pleasing workspace (NFAPW). Data were collected from adult fulltime employees (N = 175) and were analyzed using correlational and regression-based techniques. Results suggest that together, need for an aesthetically pleasing workplace and general mindfulness affect employees’ work attitudes. Specifically, for individuals with high NFAPW and mindfulness, negative work attitudes were lower in more aesthetically pleasing workplaces, but higher for those in non-aesthetically pleasing workplaces. When analyses were conducted without covariates, NFAPW moderated the relationship between workplace aesthetics and resource recovery needs. Main effects or moderation effects were not identified for job satisfaction

Engagement with the visual arts increases mindfulness

For many cultures throughout the ages, art has been synonymous with healing and has held a key role in many ancient spiritual and religious healing rituals. Traditionally, art has also been held as a hallowed and fundamental part of society and culture. However, the role of art is changing. Today the value of art-making is in increasingly under scrutiny and often dubbed an unnecessary and unimportant luxury. Art is being slowly removed from school curricula and faces defunding. While art has never been more available, still too often art is quarantined in the isolated halls of museums and available only to the select few who have the luxury to go out of their way to be involved with the arts. As art’s role in contemporary society is increasingly questioned, another topic has enjoyed a surge in popularity: mindfulness. Contemporary psychology has seen a substantial increase in the study of mindfulness—in 2012 alone over 500 scientific articles on mindfulness were published, more than the total number of articles published about mindfulness from 1980 to 2000. A large body of research indicate significant correlations between increased mindfulness and many positive psychological and physiological outcomes. These benefits suggest that mindfulness is a valuable tool for increasing general well-being and psychological health, and implies that mindfulness is likely to remain a popular subject of research in the near future. Although both mindfulness and art have been proven to have a variety of positive outcomes, little research has explored the possible relationship between the visual arts and mindfulness. This is surprising given that the benefits of mindfulness and engagement with the visual arts are very similar. Furthermore, the activities of mindfulness and art-making share several similarities, such as increased engagement with the present moment and regulation of attention. Given this gap in research, I propose that engagement with the visual arts, through viewing but especially through creation, provides opportunities to cultivate mindfulness. Thus, interacting with art may result in many of the same psychological and physiological benefits of mindfulness. In this paper, I seek to demonstrate that interactions with art likely have more benefits than research has currently proven, that these benefits can be helpful for a wide population, and that engagement with any form of visual art likely results in many of the same benefits of mindfulness. This paper first introduces the procedure for a study that was conducted to test the hypothesis that engagement with the visual arts increases mindfulness. Next, chapter one explores historical and modern understandings of mindfulness, provides examples of mindfulness, gives insight into misconceptions about mindfulness, and offers a brief history of the way the fields of psychology and art have incorporated mindfulness practices. Chapter two then examines several main benefits of mindfulness and engagement with the visual arts. In chapter three the methods, procedure, results from an experiment which was conducted as a part of this thesis are discussed. Qualitative and quantitative data gathered from this experiment will be included as examples throughout the paper after this point. Chapter four then examines why engagement with the visual arts may increase mindfulness through exploring the way that art keeps us fully engaged in the present moment. Chapter four also explains ways that one may cultivate an artistically mindful mindset outside of traditional mindfulness and art practices. Finally, Chapter five discusses the implications a connection between art and mindfulness may have

Les déterminants déficients du niveau d’endettement long terme de la PME camerounaise : une étude sur données de panel

L’environnement bancaire très hostile à l’octroi du crédit aux PME à susciter cette analyse qui vise à comprendre comment les facteurs liés aux PME expliquent leurs déficits d’endettement long terme. Pour y parvenir nous avons procédé à la vérification empirique grâce à un panel équilibré de 150 PME camerounaises observées sur la période 2010 à 2014. Les régressions par les MCG sur le modèle principal, le secteur service et commercial ont été effectué ; suivit de la régression par l’estimateur within sur la PME industrielle. Il en ressort que l’autofinancement et la condition financière influencent significativement la décroissance du niveau d’endettement long terme de la PME camerounaise dans son ensemble et indépendamment du secteur d’activité. De même l’accroissement des crédits fournisseurs amenuise le niveau d’endettement long terme de la PME dans son ensemble excepter celle du secteur industriel. Ces résultats montrent que l’autofinancement, la condition financière et le crédit fournisseur sont les facteurs dont l’importance cause le déficit d’endettement long terme sur la PME camerounaise. Mots clés : PME ; Déficit ; Endettement long terme ; Autofinancement ; Donné de panel L’environnement bancaire très hostile à l’octroi du crédit aux PME à susciter cette analyse qui vise à comprendre comment les facteurs liés aux PME expliquent leurs déficits d’endettement long terme. Pour y parvenir nous avons procédé à la vérification empirique grâce à un panel équilibré de 150 PME camerounaises observées sur la période 2010 à 2014. Les régressions par les MCG sur le modèle principal, le secteur service et commercial ont été effectué ; suivit de la régression par l’estimateur within sur la PME industrielle. Il en ressort que l’autofinancement et la condition financière influencent significativement la décroissance du niveau d’endettement long terme de la PME camerounaise dans son ensemble et indépendamment du secteur d’activité. De même l’accroissement des crédits fournisseurs amenuise le niveau d’endettement long terme de la PME dans son ensemble excepter celle du secteur industriel. Ces résultats montrent que l’autofinancement, la condition financière et le crédit fournisseur sont les facteurs dont l’importance cause le déficit d’endettement long terme sur la PME camerounaise

The renal lesions that develop in neonatal mice during angiotensin inhibition mimic obstructive nephropathy

The renal lesions that develop in neonatal mice during angiotensin inhibition mimic obstructive nephropathy.BackgroundInhibition of angiotensin action, pharmacologically or genetically, during the neonatal period leads to renal anomalies involving hypoplastic papilla and dilated calyx. Recently, we documented that angiotensinogen (Agt -/-) or angiotensin type 1 receptor nullizygotes (Agtr1 -/-) do not develop renal pelvis nor ureteral peristaltic movement, both of which are essential for isolating the kidney from the high downstream ureteral pressure. We therefore examined whether these renal anomalies could be characterized as “obstructive” nephropathy.MethodsAgtr1 -/- neonatal mice were compared with wild-type neonates, the latter subjected to surgical complete unilateral ureteral ligation (UUO), by analyzing morphometrical, immunohistochemical, and molecular indices. Agtr1 -/- mice were also subjected to a complete UUO and were compared with wild-type UUO mice by quantitative analysis. To assess the function of the urinary tract, baseline pelvic and ureteral pressures were measured.ResultsThe structural anomalies were qualitatively indistinguishable between the Agtr1 -/- without surgical obstruction versus the wild type with complete UUO. Thus, in both kidneys, the calyx was enlarged, whereas the papilla was atrophic; tubulointerstitial cells underwent proliferation and also apoptosis. Both were also characterized by interstitial macrophage infiltration and fibrosis, and within the local lesion, transforming growth factor-β1, platelet-derived growth factor-A, and insulin-like growth factor-1 were up-regulated, whereas epidermal growth factor was down-regulated. Moreover, quantitative differences that exist between mutant kidneys without surgical obstruction and wild-type kidneys with surgical UUO were abolished when both underwent the same complete surgical UUO. The hydraulic baseline pressure was always lower in the pelvis than that in the ureter in the wild type, whereas this pressure gradient was reversed in the mutant.ConclusionThe abnormal kidney structure that develops in neonates during angiotensin inhibition is attributed largely to “functional obstruction” of the urinary tract caused by the defective development of peristaltic machinery

Medication Management in Home Health Care Occupational Therapy Practice

Background: Many community-dwelling adults do not adhere to their medication regimen, which results in high rates of emergency department visits and subsequent hospital admissions. Occupational therapists, as members of the home health care team, provide medication management in the occupational therapy scope of practice. There is sparse information in the literature regarding occupational therapists’ involvement in medication management in home health care practice. Methods: The researchers interviewed nine occupational therapists practicing in home health care. Using a qualitative interpretive phenomenological study, the researchers explored the participants’ experiences addressing medication management. Results: The researchers identified three themes: professional reasoning, interprofessional involvement, and professional competence and confidence. The participants reported that they were addressing medication management in accordance with occupational therapy scope of practice; however, they did not feel confident because of their lack of knowledge about pharmacology. Conclusion: Preparing entry-level occupational therapy students and practicing occupational therapists with interprofessional education about medication management will improve occupational therapists’ competence and confidence. Occupational therapists who know their role in medication management and are well-informed about medication can collaborate with the home health care team more effectively

الحِكَمْ الدلالية للمشترك، وأوجه المرونة فيه عند الأصوليين The Semantics’ Purposes of the Multi – Meaning Verb and its Flexibility According to the Osul Scholars

يهدف هذا البحث إلى تبيان الحِكَمْ الدلالية للمشترك، وأسباب مجيئه في النصوص التشريعية من الكتاب، أو السنة، ولقد جاء المبحث الأول لبيان مصطلحات البحث الرئيسية، بينما خصصت المبحث الثاني لدراسة حكم المشترك ودور القرائن في ترجيح المعنى المراد منه، ثم ختمت بالمبحث الثالث؛ خدمة لفكرة البحث الأساسية، وهي: علاقة الحِكَم الدلالية للمشترك بالاجتهاد، ثم أثرها في إيجاد المرونة التشريعية التي تناسب كل زمان ومكان وأشخاص، حيث تسهم دلالة المشترك في تحقيق المرونة في الأفق الأوسع، والمساحة الأرحب، وهذا ما يميز بحثي عمن سبقني من الباحثين في مفهوم المشترك، وقد توصلت من خلال بحثي إلى نتائج عدة أهمها: أن ترجيح أحد معاني المشترك لا يلغي المعاني الأخرى، فقد يكون راجحاً في موضع تشريعي آخر، كما تلعب القرائن دوراً مهماً في الترجيح بين معاني المشترك، واستعمال الشارع للمشترك ليس عبثاً، وإنما لِحِكَمٍ بالغة وأهمها: مرونة النصوص التشريعية في المعاني الدلالية، وتقاطع المشترك مع كل من الاجتهاد، والمرونة التشريعية بشكل كبير، حيث إن الاجتهاد أداة لفهم المعنى المراد من المشترك. This research aims to clarify the semantics’ purposes of the verbal subscriber and the reasons for its existence in the legislative provisions, whether from The Holy Quran or at The Sunnah. The first topic was assigned to clarify the main search terms, while the second topic was assigned to study the verbal subscriber ruling and the role of presumptions of evidence in preponderant the intended meaning. The study is then concluded with the third topic that serves the basic idea of research, i.e., the relationship of semantics’ purposes of the verbal subscriber with the independent reasoning (Ijtihad) on the one hand and its impact on finding legislative flexibility that suits every time, place, and individual, where the semantic of the verbal subscriber contributes to widely achieving flexibility. This is what distinguishes this research from others in the concept of the verbal subscriber. This research revealed several results, the most important of which is that the preference for one of the meanings of the multi-meanings does not cancel the other meanings and that they may be more likely in another legislative context. Evidence also plays an important role in weighing the meanings of the multi-meaning, The legislator’s use of the multi-meaning is not in vain, but rather for great and most important purposes, mainly the flexibility of legislative texts in semantic meanings, the intersection of the multi-meaning with both ijtihad and legislative flexibility, as ijtihad is a tool used to understand the meaning of the multi-meaning