A Comparison of Selected Physical Fitness and Performance Variables between Division I and Division II Football Players

The purpose of this study was to compare select physical fitness and performance variables between Division I and Division II football players and determine if there is a significant difference in the performance variables of the athletes at these levels. The subjects included offensive and defensive starters, excluding kickers and punters, from 26 NCAA Division I teams and 23 NCAA Division II teams. Offensive players were divided into the following positions: quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, and offensive line. The defensive players were divided into the following positions: defensive line, linebackers, and defensive backs. Division I athletes were superior in 58 of the 117 independent t-tests analyzed in this study (p\u3c.01). This study found Division II athletes were not superior in any of the t-tests. The greatest similarity between the two divisions was found in height and weight. Of the nine position groups compared for each of these variables, only two showed significant differences

Operationalizing successful strategic planning processes in a high performing community college

2019 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.This study assessed the effectiveness of the strategic planning processes in a high performing community college. Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI) in Watertown, South Dakota was identified as a high performing institution based on earning the 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The study utilized a qualitative, single site, case study to provide insight into the elements that led to a successful strategic planning process. The data collection included interviews with twenty-three employees including faculty, staff, and administration. A document analysis of relevant planning documents was conducted, as well as an observation of the college's strategic planning session, and observation of the institution's strategic planning and Aspen Prize related artifacts. The results of this study provide strategic planners insight into how a high performing institution created and successfully implemented a strategic plan. Four a priori codes, or main themes, were developed prior to the study to guide my research. These four themes included: employee perceptions of strategic planning, employee participation in the strategic planning process, implementing the strategic plan, and linking budgets and resources to support the strategic plan. Within these themes, findings suggest that the following factors contributed to successful planning efforts at LATI. Theme One indicated that an inclusive planning process that values employee engagement and a positive culture throughout the institution generated extensive support for the planning process. Theme Two indicated support for a cross-represented group of employees and external stakeholders in the process and most importantly, valuing the input received from those participants. The results from Theme Three indicated several steps that led to successful implementation: conducting an annual planning process, assigning responsibility to the initiatives that comprise the plan, utilizing committees or teams implement the initiatives, communicating the details of the strategic plan to the campus community through multiple methods, and regularly assessing the plan. Theme Four discusses the ongoing resource allocation process that occurs throughout the fiscal year that supports the strategic plan. The research also explored the impact of winning the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence on the institution and how the Aspen process impacted the strategic planning process

Modeling Cyanotoxin Production, Fate, and Transport in Surface Water Bodies Using CE-QUAL-W2

Cyanobacteria are frequently associated with forming toxic blooms. The toxins produced by cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins, are harmful to both humans and animals. Rising temperatures due to global climate change are expected to increase the occurrence of cyanobacteria, and it is vital that we protect our drinking water supplies and natural water resources. Modeling the production, fate, and transport of these toxins is an important step in limiting exposure to them and evaluating management strategies to mitigate their impact. The research provided here offers an overview of some of the main cyanotoxins of concern and presents preliminary models for the transport and fate of these toxins. Cyanotoxins can be either intracellular or extracellular, and a model for each was developed. The models were incorporated into the two-dimensional (longitudinal and vertical) hydrodynamic and water quality model CE-QUAL-W2. The toxin models were tested using a model of Henry Hagg Lake (Oregon, USA). The models were able to produce similar trends as found in published data, but since the toxin data available at Henry Hagg Lake was minimal, no direct comparisons between model results and field data were made. Four scenarios were conducted to test the functionality of the toxin models in CE-QUAL-W2. The predicted results from each test scenario matched the expected outcomes based on the parameters used in each scenario. Further applications of the toxin models to other water bodies with more consistent toxin data will help verify the accuracy of the models. This research provides a first step at modeling cyanotoxins using CE-QUAL-W2 and provides a framework to further develop the models through continued research of the cyanotoxins

antibiograms in five pipetting steps precise dilution assays in sub microliter volumes with a conventional pipette

A standalone microfluidic chip allows to carry out an antibiotic susceptibility test with an automatic pipette and with minimum manual labour

Droplet-based digital antibiotic susceptibility screen reveals single-cell clonal heteroresistance in an isogenic bacterial population

Since antibiotic resistance is a major threat to global health, recent observations that the traditional test of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is not informative enough to guide effective antibiotic treatment are alarming. Bacterial heteroresistance, in which seemingly susceptible isogenic bacterial populations contain resistant sub-populations, underlies much of this challenge. To close this gap, here we developed a droplet-based digital MIC screen that constitutes a practical analytical platform for quantifying the single-cell distribution of phenotypic responses to antibiotics, as well as for measuring inoculum effect with high accuracy. We found that antibiotic efficacy is determined by the amount of antibiotic used per bacterial colony forming unit (CFU), not by the absolute antibiotic concentration, as shown by the treatment of beta-lactamase-carrying Escherichia coli with cefotaxime. We also noted that cells exhibited a pronounced clustering phenotype when exposed to near-inhibitory amounts of cefotaxime. Overall, our method facilitates research into the interplay between heteroresistance and antibiotic efficacy, as well as research into the origin and stimulation of heterogeneity by exposure to antibiotics. Due to the absolute bacteria quantification in this digital assay, our method provides a platform for developing reference MIC assays that are robust against inoculum-density variations