Parents in Urbanized Areas and Their Perception of 4-H Youth Development Programs

This study examined the perceptions held by parents living in the urbanized area of Rapid City, South Dakota, to determine if artificial barriers to joining 4-H PYD programs existed. Through snowball sampling methods, nine participants were recruited to engage in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts from the interviews were coded utilizing in vivo and axial coding methods. Four themes emerged from the interviews: characteristics of youth development programs, program promotion through school flyers, barriers to joining youth development programs, and 4-H and its connection to agriculture. The major recommendation for 4-H professionals is to focus on leadership, life skills, and character development when promoting 4-H PYD programs

'How warped the mirrors': postmodernism and historiography

Postmodernism, though it may be described in many ways, may be thought essentially to be captured by Lyotard's phrase, 'incredulity towards metanarratives'. The first chapter of my thesis attempts to define both 'postmodernism' and 'historiography', and then surveys historiographical discourse today. Because it is often ancient history that most frequently may be open to radically differing interpretations, I take in chapter two a 'generative' example, namely the speech compositions of Thucydides. This example I consider as 'generative' in the sense that it opens up questions, not only about the History of Thucydides itself and about how Thucydides is conceived in the ancient historiographical tradition, but also about what it means for an historian to disclose the 'truth' of an historical situation. My third chapter takes up the suggestion by Keith Jenkins that postmodern philosophy, particularly the conception of 'truth' and 'knowledge' proffered by Rorty, is a good way for history to acclimatise itself in the postmodern era. I survey Jenkins' proposals, and then discuss a work Jenkins largely ignores, i.e. Rorty's Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. I demonstrate not just the familiar point that Rorty attempts to overturn 'foundationalist epistemology', and proposes 'new vocabularies' that involve 'hermeneutics' which set up I discourse as 'conversation'. This overturning involves for Rorty an assertion of 'unarbitrability', i.e. that it is impossible to argue that one view is better or more true than another. Thus Jenkins wishes to enter a world of a plurality of interpretations. In chapter four, however, I draw upon the work of Charles Taylor who argues for the necessity of 'arbitrage' in human discourse, whilst still wishing to overturn epistemological foundationalism. I therefore wish to advocate in my fifth chapter a 'third way', drawing on Taylor's theory of interpretation that requires neither a correspondence theory of truth, nor unarbitrability. Throughout the chapter I demonstrate how my conclusions regarding Thucydidean speeches and my discussion of postmodern philosophy may serve as a way of thinking about the task of historians, and hot just ancient historians. I conclude with some theological reflections on the arguments offered

Determinants of headwater stream condition in central Iowa: An empirical study

Headwater streams constitute the majority of stream length of river systems, and have important roles in terms of landscape processes and as habitat for organisms. These bodies of water are also tightly coupled with the local terrestrial landscape, making them ideal for studying linkages between land use and stream condition. Despite the ubiquity and importance of these streams, they are often overlooked and damaged. Previous research has shown that both urban and agricultural land use negatively impact stream condition, and that the magnitude of anthropogenic effects is generally greater in urban landscapes. Understanding of agricultural and urban land use impacts on streams depends on identifying cause and effect linkages between human system (demographic) features, terrestrial landscape features, and biophysical characteristics of streams. Using correlation analysis, path analysis, and non-metric multidimensional scaling, I simultaneously investigated these relationships in 29 central Iowa watersheds that collectively represented a strong urban-rural gradient. These analyses enabled me to quantify the impact of human land use on headwater streams, and identify direct and indirect mechanisms for human impacts on benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Aquatic macroinvertebrates were a primary focus of this study because they have well-established utility as indicators of stream condition due to their diverse environmental requirements, and importance in food webs. Results suggested that urban land use had a greater negative impact than agricultural land use on stream condition, as indicated by spatial variation in total invertebrate taxon richness and the percentage of the total number of invertebrates that were mayflies (Ephemeroptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), and caddisflies (Trichoptera). Urban impacts appeared to be caused by pollutants delivered to streams by impervious surfaces, while agricultural effects were the result of nitrogen enrichment from croplands. Regardless of land use, watershed area had a positive impact on the invertebrate community through its effects on stream discharge. Similarly, the effect of coarse substrate on the invertebrate community was also positive regardless of watershed land use. My study therefore provided valuable insight into the direct and indirect effects of social and biophysical factors impacting headwater streams affected by urban and rural land uses in central Iowa

Common-Mode Modeling of Neutral Point Clamped Converter Based Dual Active Bridge

Modern power converters designed with wide-bandgap semiconductors are known to generate substantial conducted electromagnetic interference as a side effect of high edge rate and high frequency switching. With the advancement in power electronic converters, the significant EMI challenges need to be addressed for distribution level power systems. The goal is to provide a computationally efficient method of EMI characterization for conducted emissions for this future generation of power distribution systems. The first step in making this possible is through creating an accurate EMI characterization platform for the neutral point clamped dual active bridge. In this thesis, a formalized common-mode modeling approach is carried out for transforming this mixed-mode power system into its common-mode equivalent circuit. The approach is validated through comparison of time-domain waveforms predicted by detailed mixed-mode and common-mode equivalent models of the representative power distribution system, with a proposed future validation using hardware measurements. The experimental studies highlight the utility of the proposed modeling approach to assess design mitigation strategies

An overview of green jobs in the Louisiana forest sector

The term “green job” is a relatively new definition that defines employment activities that are likely to have occurred since the beginning of human existence. The push to identify, to quantify and to drive the growth of these jobs has recently been brought on by climate change and the depletion of Earth’s natural resources. According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, green jobs are either (a) Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources or (b) Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources. For the purposes of this study, seven “green job categories” were used. 1.Education, Public Awareness, and Compliance 2.Energy Efficiency 3.Green Certification 4.Greenhouse Gas Reduction 5.Pollution Reduction and Cleanup 6.Recycling and Waste Reduction 7.Renewable Energy In order to obtain information on green jobs in the Louisiana forest sector, a mail survey was administered to the known population of the Louisiana forest sector supply chain. Member sectors included loggers, primary producers, secondary manufacturers and brokers/distributors. The overarching objectives of the study were to classify and quantify current and future green jobs in the Louisiana forest sector and to develop an understanding of supply chain member attitudes and behaviors in the context of green jobs. Results indicate that a wide array of green jobs exist in the industry. Each green category is well represented and overall, respondents consider 12.7 percent of employment in the sector to be green. Additionally, respondents forecast that 16.7 percent of employment in the forest sector supply chain will be green in five years. Increased profits, government incentives and regulations and public perception were reported to be likely drivers of green job creation. Respondents claimed to have a clear understanding of the term “sustainability” while there were misconceptions about the term “green jobs” and their potential impacts on the industry. Study results suggest that education and, potentially training would benefit forest sector members that participate in the green jobs arena

A Step Toward Early PC-Based Training That Reduces Risk: The Effects of Practicing an “Instrument Referenced” Skill Pattern on “Visually Referenced” Performance of Beginning Flight Students

A matched pairs design was used to evaluate the effects of instrument referenced skill pattern practice on a Personal Computer-Based Aviation Training Device (PCATD) on beginning flight student performance in the field (N= 28). Approximately three hours of experimental training was administered by a certified flight instructor between students\u27 first and ninth flight hours, with each student completing six skill pattern trials. The treatment group (n = 14) performed better than the control group (n = 13) on every dependent measure, with a mean effect size of .35. Statistical tests on mean differences were inconclusive, but the favorable effect sizes and absence of negative transfer should encourage scientists and practitioners to expand the use of PCATDs to improve learning and safety among beginning flight students

Penetrating keratoplasty for keratoconus: a long-term review of results and complications

Journal ArticlePURPOSE: To study the long-term complications of penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) to evaluate current recommendations to patients with keratoconus. SETTING: John Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. METHODS: Retrospective study of all PKP procedures for keratoconus performed by 4 surgeons during a 312 year period. Follow-up was 1 day and 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post-PKP. Data from 93 eyes were reviewed for allograft reaction, astigmatism, visual acuity, reasons for decreased visual acuity, and other complications. RESULTS: Allograft reaction was seen in 31% of cases but no graft failure due to allograft reaction. Mean astigmatism was 2.76 diopters (D) +/- 1.99 (SD) at 24 months, with only 15% > 5.00 D. Last best corrected visual acuity was 20/25 or better in 77% of cases (87% had 20/25 or better at some time during follow-up). Complications that did not cause decreased visual acuity were noted. Punctate keratitis was noted in 20% of patients 180 days or more after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Penetrating keratoplasty is a good treatment option for patients with keratoconus but should be reserved for those who do not tolerate contact lenses or do not get needed visual acuity with contact lenses because of complications. This procedure has become a second-line treatment for keratoconus patients and has generally good results

PMLB: A Large Benchmark Suite for Machine Learning Evaluation and Comparison

The selection, development, or comparison of machine learning methods in data mining can be a difficult task based on the target problem and goals of a particular study. Numerous publicly available real-world and simulated benchmark datasets have emerged from different sources, but their organization and adoption as standards have been inconsistent. As such, selecting and curating specific benchmarks remains an unnecessary burden on machine learning practitioners and data scientists. The present study introduces an accessible, curated, and developing public benchmark resource to facilitate identification of the strengths and weaknesses of different machine learning methodologies. We compare meta-features among the current set of benchmark datasets in this resource to characterize the diversity of available data. Finally, we apply a number of established machine learning methods to the entire benchmark suite and analyze how datasets and algorithms cluster in terms of performance. This work is an important first step towards understanding the limitations of popular benchmarking suites and developing a resource that connects existing benchmarking standards to more diverse and efficient standards in the future.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, submitted for review to JML