The New England rental market

New England’s rental prices are high but relatively affordable to most residents.Housing - New England ; Housing - Prices - New England ; Rental housing - New England

The future of skilled labor: New England’s supply of recent college graduates

One of New England’s greatest assets is its skilled labor force which has historically been an engine of economic growth in the region. Yet the population of recent college graduates—the skilled labor force of the future—has been growing more slowly in New England than in the rest of the United States. Thus, the need to attract and retain recent college graduates has become a salient issue in every New England state. Policymakers and business leaders alike are concerned that an inadequate supply of skilled workers will hamper economic growth by creating barriers for companies looking to locate or expand in New England. Yet few steps have been taken to tackle this challenge because of lack of information on the extent of the problem, its root causes, and how best to address it.College graduates - New England

What is creative to whom and why? Perceptions in advertising agencies

The authors apply recent advances in creativity theory to discover perceptual differences in the factors of strategy, originality, and artistry among creatives and noncreatives. It was found that current advertising position influences subjective perceptions of what constitutes creative advertising. Creatives tend to perceive advertisements as more appropriate if they are artistic, but account executives tend to perceive advertisements as more appropriate if they are strategic. The study also indicates that creatives have a distinctive preference for a strong originality component to strategy. To be original within the confines of a tight strategy is perceived as the most creative by advertising creatives. Account executives are so focused on strategy, they will often accept artistic advertisements as a substitute for truly original work. The authors consider future research implications of the study and its limitations

Investigation of Expedient, Cost Effective and Sustainable Soil Stabilization for Tactical Vehicles Using Surfactant-Induced Soil Stabilization (SISS)

Surfactant-induced soil stabilization (SISS) is a new method for soil stabilization whereby anionic surfactants and alkaline earth metals are introduced to a soil matrix. This research served as a preliminary study into SISS’ suitability as a temporary soil stabilization method that could be used to improve wheeled vehicle traction during amphibious type naval operations conducted on a beach head. Beach sand specimens were treated with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS; aka sodium lauryl sulfate) and calcium chloride using two methods: hand mixing in testing cylinders and surface percolation in bench scale sandboxes. Treated cylinders were tested for unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and treated sandboxes were tested for compressive strength, traction, treatment depth, and dissolution. Cylinder testing results appear to show a parabolic relationship between SDS content and UCS with an estimated local maximum of 48.4 psi corresponding to 81.4% of the pore volume (PV) filled with SDS. Sandbox testing results appear to show that the surface percolation treatment method can offer similar compressive strength improvements while using considerably less SDS. These strength improvements appear to also result in improved resistance to wheeled vehicle sinkage. Dissolution results show that beach sand treated with both SDS and CaCl2 tended to be resistive to dissolution in both seawater and distilled water. Overall, the results of this preliminary study show that SISS may provide compressive strength improvements and traction improvements in beach sand. These results are encouraging however they are strictly bench-scale and also showed significant variability, therefore additional research is required

Elementary Teachers\u27 Perceived Mathematics Anxiety And Teaching Efficacy In Relationship To Students\u27 Mathematics Achievement

The focus of this research was to determine to what extent, if any, there were relationships among elementary teacher anxiety about learning mathematics, their anxiety about the mathematics they teach, their mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs, and their students‘ mathematics achievement. The researcher also investigated potential intervening variables such as gender, grade level taught, level of college degree, and years of teaching experience, that may influence these relationships. Teachers (N = 119) from 11 elementary schools in a west central Florida school district participated in this study and completed the Mathematics Anxiety and Teaching Efficacy Survey. Survey data on mathematics anxiety and teaching efficacy were analyzed and correlated with mathematics achievement data, as measured by the 2009 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) mathematics subtest. Through a review of the research results and related literature, the researcher concluded that there was not a statistically significant relationship between teachers‘ perceived mathematics anxiety, anxiety about teaching mathematics, and student achievement. However, mathematics teaching efficacy was significantly correlated in a positive direction with student achievement. Review of the data also revealed that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between teachers‘ perceived mathematics anxiety and anxiety about teaching mathematics. Additionally, there was a significant negative correlation between anxiety about teaching mathematics and mathematics teaching efficacy

Public Relations in Government-Based Public Health: Testing Contingency Theory During H1N1 Response, 2009-2010

The primary purpose of this study is to describe public relations programs in state and local government-based health departments nationwide. Using the H1N1 communications and public relations activities as a frame, or basis of comparison, this study will further seek to identify if Contingency Theory of public relations may be an apt descriptor of public relations activities during this particular response effort. This study uses Contingency Theory as a theoretical perspective to explain the strategic management of the organization-public relationships and add to the body of knowledge about Contingency Theory of public relations in the field of health communications. Contingency Theory has been tested in other areas of for-profit and nonprofit sectors, but not specifically in the field of health communication. While the practice of public relations in the field of health care has been studied extensively, most work has centered on pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and other health care facilities. The work performed in state and local public health departments has been rarely examined, other than to review which campaigns prove effective in what areas, primarily in the development of campaigns to measure or improve a particular health indicator. Previous studies in the area of public health have tended to focus on specific aspects of campaigns rather than the general practice of public relations in public health. This study examines the practice of public relations in public health to describe and explain the approach taken with various publics and to determine if Contingency Theory proves appropriate as a descriptor of practice. This study will add to the body of knowledge by linking public relations to public health and in building public relations theory by beginning to test Contingency Theory in the area of public health