Evaluation of a new extraction system for rapid measurement of surface lipid content of rice for degree of milling estimation

Few fruit thinners have been certified for organic fruit growers. Previous studies have shown that herbicides or shade are capable of reducing photosynthesis and are effective fruit-thinning techniques, although impractical. This project evaluated use of a model plant system of vegetative apple trees grown under controlled conditions to study photosynthetic inhibitors, which could be used as potential organic thinning agents. Various concentrations of osmotics, salts, and oils (lime-sulfur, potassium bisulfite, potassium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, soybean oil) were applied to actively growing apple trees and showed a reduced trend on the rate of apple tree photosynthetic assimilation (Pn), evapotranspiration (Et), and stomatal conductance (gs). From two studies, it was observed that treatments of 2% lime-sulfur (LS) + 2% soybean oil (SO), 4% SO, 8% LS, 5% potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3), and 5% potassium bisulfite (KHSO4) all significantly reduced Pn. The 4% LS + 2% SO, 4% LS + 4% SO, 0.5% sodium chloride (NaCl), and 2% NaCl did not significantly reduce Pn. The response of Et was significantly reduced by 2% LS + 2% SO, 5% KHCO3, and 4% SO. In a second study, trees had reduced Pn, Et, and gs after the application of 4% LS + 4% SO, 2% NaCl, 5% KHCO3, and 5% KHSO4. Stem weight, total plant weight, average leaf weight, and leaf surface area of the treated plants, although reduced, were not significantly so when compared to the control 20 d after treatment

The Digital Revolution and Higher Education

Presents survey findings about the views of college presidents and the public on the value of, prevalence of, and experience with online learning, as well as the role of the Internet and related technologies in education and prospects for future growth

A Program Evaluation of a Peri-Urban, Multi-Location Care Coordination Program in Georgia and Comparative Analysis of Other United States Care Coordination Programs for Uninsured, High-Risk Patients to Develop Promising Practice Recommendations

INTRODUCTION: Having access to care allows individuals to enter a healthcare system and receive medical care that improves their quality of life. Unfortunately, access to care and health outcomes are typically related to one’s insurance status. Care coordination programs work to reduce this barrier for high-need patients. One such program is the Sams Care Coordination Program, which connects local hospitals with charity clinics to expand the clinics\u27 capacity by stabilizing staffing, enhancing communication through the shared use of the Epic electronic medical records (EMR) system and providing intensive case management through the use of licensed medical social workers. PURPOSE: This paper will evaluate the Sams Care Coordination Program at Piedmont Healthcare through a cost-avoidance and hospital utilization analysis. Additionally, this paper will provide promising program practices and sustainability options for continued funding. APPROACH: The cost-benefit and hospital utilization analysis will be conducted using program data from FY14 to FY16. A literature review will provide an in-depth look at care coordination models, other existing programs, funding options and promising practice recommendations. A culmination the evaluation and review of literature will be used to guide promising practice recommendations as well as options to sustain the Sams Program funding. EVALUATION: Over the last two and half years, Piedmont has invested more than $2.4 million dollars in the Sams Care Coordination Program including hospital services, staffing, technology and program support. A cost avoidance analysis shows that Piedmont has saved$328,515 in direct costs and $1,214,667 in assumed costs. A hospital utilization study reveals that nearly 60 percent of Sams eligible patient emergency department (ED) visits are reduced annually through the Sams Program and the program is capable of reducing ED encounters by over 1,800 visits each year. RECCOMENDATIONS: The partner clinics should formalize agreements of responsibility with Piedmont Healthcare and their local entities, including metrics for regular reporting. All clinics should be provided with equal access to the Epic EMR system to capitalize on its capabilities in sharing and analyzing patient and population data. Case management should provide increased patient education on emergency department utilization and self-management of chronic disease. As a group, the clinic and hospital leadership should determine the best route of sustained funding past the summer of 2017

On Love and Treason: Critical White Feminist Thought for Social Justice Praxis

This dissertation is a theoretical piece that examines the positionality of white women in upholding white supremacy and a framework for critical white feminist thought that will move white women toward a self-reflexive and self-implicating praxis. A white matriarchy (Parker, 2018) is fully conceptualized as part of a powerful subsystem that operates under white supremacy. Concepts, such as a race-gender bribe and white women’s negative solidarity (Combahee River Collective, 1977), are exposed and discussed as part of the workings of white matriarchy. White emotionality (Matias, 2015), intergenerational whiteness, and antiracist parenting are also analyzed. I also suggest possibilities for resistance and forging a path out of whiteness for critical white women

A cross-modal investigation into the relationships between bistable perception and a global temporal mechanism

When the two eyes are presented with sufficiently different images, Binocular Rivalry (BR) occurs. BR is a form of bistable perception involving stochastic alternations in awareness between distinct images shown to each eye. It has been suggested that the dynamics of BR are due to the activity of a central temporal process and are linked to involuntary mechanisms of selective attention (aka exogenous attention). To test these ideas, stimuli designed to evoke exogenous attention and central temporal processes were employed during BR observation. These stimuli included auditory and visual looming motion and streams of transient events of varied temporal rate and pattern. Although these stimuli exerted a strong impact over some aspects of BR, they were unable to override its characteristic stochastic pattern of alternations completely. It is concluded that BR is subject to distributed influences, but ultimately, is achieved in neural processing areas specific to the binocular conflict

Behind Every Bad Man Stood an Even Worse Woman: Female Criminals of the Depression Era

Amanda Parker is currently a Senior at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, majoring in Women’s Studies and History. She enrolled at IPFW in January 2007 as a returning student. She grew up on a family farm in Noble County, Indiana where her and her family raised grain crops and livestock. She is an Honor Student at IPFW. She was invited to lecture on this subject at the 2008 Annual Reunion of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club (a group that is interested in the ACD era of the 1920\u27s \u26 1930\u27s). She also presented at the IU Women\u27s Studies and Gender Studies Undergraduate Conferences held in 2008, 2009, and 2010 and is a returning presenter at this conference. She is a co-founder and newly elected President of the Women of the World Student Organization at IPFW

Oceanic Anoxia Event 2 (~94 Ma) in the U.S. Western Interior Sea: High Resolution Foraminiferal Record of the Development of Anoxia in a Shallow Epicontinental Sea

The Upper Cretaceous Tropic Shale of southern Utah captures critical oceanographic changes that occurred during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE 2) and the transgression of the Greenhorn Sea. We investigated the response of planktic and benthic foraminifera in a shallow (\u3c100 \u3em) marine environment stressed by the onset of OAE 2 during the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary (CTB; 93.9 Ma) to determine the oceanographic mechanisms controlling the observed turnovers in the foraminiferal record. This study is based on high-resolution quantitative foraminifera counts and isotope paleoecology (d18O and d13C) from a 40-m outcrop. The OAE 2 interval is identified by a distinctive d13Corg signature and by correlation of bentonites and limestones across the seaway. Results of assemblage analyses indicate discrete intervals of environmental perturbations across the CTB interval. At the onset of OAE 2, surface waters were dominated by planktic Guembelitra cenomana with minor species of Heterohelix. Benthic abundances increase and were initially dominated by oxygen tolerant infaunal Neobulimina albertensis. Epifaunal Gavelinella dakotaensis briefly proliferated during the core of the OAE 2 and coinciding with the planktic “Heterohelix shift” and increasing accumulation of organic matter. The peak of OAE 2 at ~17 m is marked by a rapid shift to infaunal Neobulimina dominance. We suspect incursion of oxygen-poor Tethyan intermediate waters with peak transgression during the early Turonian, coupled with high productivity in surface waters resulted in the rapid depletion of benthic oxygen. The foraminiferal record reveals strong cyclicity in planktic/benthic ratio resembling parasequences that correlate to the GSSP in central Colorado

Beers Medication: Empowering the Elderly Through Education

The elderly population (those aged 65 years and older) has an increased risk of experiencing adverse effects from their prescribed medications. These adverse effects are due to many reasons, one being changes that naturally occur in the aging body, such as diminished kidney function or decreased gastrointestinal motility. This project explores the prescribing practices of one primary care practice setting. Specifically, this project sought to determine the number of patients in a primary care practice who were prescribed medications on the Beers list and whether or not the patients received education on adverse effects. The results concluded the most frequently prescribed high-risk medications at the project practice site were corticosteroids, Diclofenac, Pseudoephedrine, Alprazolam, Zolpidem and Meloxicam. Also, only four of the 101 patient records reviewed had any documentation regarding education on potential side effects from the prescribed high-risk medication. Further research is needed to uncover reasons why patients are not educated on medication side effects. Strides need to be taken to educate this vulnerable population