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Speed Enforcement in Work Zones and Synthesis on Cost-Benefit Assessment of Installing Speed Enforcement Cameras on INDOT Road Network
Get PDFWork zone safety is a high priority for transportation agencies across the United States. High speeds in construction zones are a well-documented risk factor that increases the frequency and severity of crashes. It is therefore important to understand the extent and severity of high-speed vehicles in and around construction work zones. This study uses CV trajectory data to evaluate the impact of several work zone speed compliance measures, such as posted speed limit signs, radar-based speed feedback displays, and automated speed enforcement on controlling speeds inside the work zone. This study also presents several methodologies to characterize both the spatial and temporal effects of these control measures on driver behavior and vehicle speeds across the work zones
Exploratory analysis of medication adherence and social determinants of health among older adults with diabetes
Get PDFBackground
Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States (US), affecting approximately 27%, or 15.9 million adults 65 years of age and older. Diabetes is the most expensive chronic condition in the US and accounts for the second largest avoidable healthcare cost. Adherence to long-term medication treatment plans is crucial among patients with diabetes because it decreases risk of developing comorbid conditions and improves quality of life. Greater exposure to adverse social determinants of health (SDOH) over an individual\u27s lifespan can result in worse health outcomes. Hence, it is important to obtain a better understanding of how social determinants of health (SDOH) influence patients\u27 behaviors and affect medication adherence among older adults with diabetes.
Objectives
Identify and prioritize SDOH associated with medication adherence among a nationally representative sample of older adults with diabetes. Secondary objectives were to characterize SDOH, estimate medication adherence, and explain implications for health disparity populations among older adults in the US who have been diagnosed with diabetes.
Methods
This study used a cross-sectional secondary data analysis to examine the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database, identifying associations between SDOH and medication adherence among older adults with diabetes in the US.
Results
A total of 1807 respondents\u27 data were included in the analyses. Nearly three-quarters (73.9%) of patients were considered adherent to their oral diabetes medications. Multivariable analysis revealed significant differences in medication adherence based on disability status (p = 0.016), household balanced meals (p = 0.033), and interview language (p = 0.008).
Conclusions
Results revealed those with a disability, those who could not afford a balanced meal, and/or those who spoke English were associated with a higher likelihood of being nonadherent to their diabetes medications in comparison to individuals not in these groups. These findings can assist in developing SDOH-centered medication adherence strategies for pharmacists to implement with older patients with diabetes
Electro- and photoactivation of silver–iron oxide particles as magnetically recyclable catalysts for cross-coupling reactions
Get PDFColloidal Ag particles decorated with Fe3O4 islands can be electrochemically or photochemically activated as inverse catalysts for C(sp2)–H heteroarylation. The silver–iron oxide (SIO) particles are reduced into redox-active forms by cathodic charging at mild potentials or by short-term light exposure, and can be reused multiple times by magnetic cycling without further activation. A negative shift in the reduction peak is attributed to an overpotential produced by surface Fe3O4 which separates residual Ag ions or clusters from bulk silver. The catalytic efficiency of SIO is maintained even with acid degradation, which can be countered simply by adding water to the reaction medium
The influence of critical friendships on secondary student teachers engaged in collaborative action research
Get PDFIn this study, we explore the following: a) How do secondary student teachers, engaged in collaborative action research, function as critical friends? b) What challenges do they encounter? How do they mitigate these challenges? and c) In what ways did meeting as critical friends influence the student teachers’ learning to conduct collaborative action research? The participants in our study included 38 secondary school student teachers (defined here at grades 9 through 12) in the last year of a two-year Masters program from a large, research-intensive university situated in the West of Ireland. The student teachers were organized into 11 critical friend groups of three to five members focused on conducting collaborative action research on the integration of different approaches to lesson planning. Four university supervisors guided the critical friend groups on the topic of lesson planning and offered three lesson plan templates including a long form, shortened form, and a form created by the student teachers themselves. Data were gathered via group feedback forms, surveys, and action research papers. Data analysis entailed the use of open coding, categorization of recurring codes, and analytic memos. Assertions were generated based on recurring trends in the data. Findings indicated that student teachers as researchers have the capacity to leverage the resources, skills, and knowledge gleaned from their critical friend groups to advance their development as teachers and teacher researchers. Their collaborative relationships help ensure a sense of confidence and respect for one another and for the teaching profession itself
From scratch to launch; Leveraging University of Miami Libraries’ Research Information Management System to cultivate university-wide partnerships and support faculty research dissemination and impact
Get PDFSince 2017, the University of Miami Libraries (UML) has engaged with key stakeholders and institutional leaders to adapt and build a centralized, sustainable Research Information Management System (RIMS) helping to curate, manage, and promote institutional research output. This paper details the development and rollout of Esploro by Ex Libris (locally branded Scholarship@Miami), the Institutional Repository (IR), and the RIM system for the University of Miami (UM). The UML Esploro Implementation team leveraged Esploro’s Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning features to train the system to automatically capture and fetch relevant scholarly outputs produced by researchers affiliated with UM. Further, we consider the challenges we faced while developing and planning to go live with Scholarship@Miami (Esploro), particularly the difficulty of keeping the institutional leaders engaged and supportive when development took longer than anticipated. Also, we share how we pivoted to support related university initiatives by facilitating integration into the corpus of curated research data while keep proceeding with collecting scholarly outputs and expanding the researcher profiles in Scholarship@Miami. Earlier this year, the public-facing researcher profiles in scholarship@Miami went live, and over 160,000 research assets and creative works have been added to more than 4,000 Scholarship@Miami profiles to date. Although Scholarship@Miami is still a work in progress, many faculty have expressed an interest in the system and recognized its potential value to their work. Internally, librarians have utilized and analyzed Scholarship@Miami’s data to support decision-making related to transformative and open-access agreements offered by publishers. Lastly, Scholarship@Miami’s data enables UML to contribute more directly to UM research efforts, allowing librarians to expand their support in tracking and evaluating researchers\u27 output and its impact
Information behaviour of African immigrants in Sunnyside, Pretoria, South Africa: towards a framework for provision of specialised information services
Get PDFThe information/knowledge driven dispensation is characterised by continual information seeking, acquisition, sharing and use. These continuous information seeking activities are fulfilled through access to information using varieties of digital technologies that characterise the modern world. Information is an important resource for individual growth and survival and it benefits people in addressing different aspects of life. The intended purpose for this study is to explore the information behaviour of African immigrants residing in Sunnyside, Pretoria. This qualitative study focuses on how the immigrants go about seeking information that could support them in addressing various challenges affecting their everyday lives. There is a need for librarians and information service providers to gain a better understanding of information behaviour of African immigrants living in Sunnyside, Pretoria. The immigrants form a diverse group of information users because they come from different African countries, speak different languages and have diverse cultural beliefs. A better understanding of the immigrants’ information behaviour is necessary to enable information service providers develop specialised information services to this unique user group
“I’m here, I can help”: Supporting Southeast Asian American Community College Students
Get PDFThis study examined the experiences of Asian American students with one community college’s student services: Writing Center, Financial Aid Center, and Asian American Student Center (AASC). Data included survey responses, focus group interviews, and individual student interviews. Chi square tests were conducted to see if there were significant differences in participants’ responses based on ethnicity (Cambodian/Khmer vs. other), gender, and age (traditionally vs. non-traditionally aged). Focus group and individual interview data were analyzed thematically. Results showed that about half of the students had accessed the Writing Center and the AASC, while over 85% accessed the Financial Aid Center. There were no differences in students’ accessing any of the three services based on ethnicity. Males were more likely than females to access the Writing Center, while traditionally-aged students were more likely to frequent the AASC compared to non-traditionally aged (older) students. Analysis revealed that students struggled to fully utilize the services because of cultural differences and language competence. These challenges were mediated by the help students received from AASC staff, who acted as cultural brokers and caring agents. The study points to the need to more closely monitor and tailor services for subgroups of underserved students and to hire culturally competent staff to deliver the services
Five Finger Advocacy: An Alternative to the Elevator Pitch
Get PDFHow do we find ways to take the stories we tell and give them more impact? In this lightning talk, I present the five finger lobbying model as an alternative to elevator pitch. The five finger model includes: 1) Introduce yourself 2) What is my issue 3) Why do I care (personal story) 4) Why should they care? 5) Make the ask. This is great alternative to the elevator pitch because it centers the audience and the intent into the communication. Five finger advocacy librarians who want to communicate value, but also identify shared goals. It can also be helpful to students on the job search who might be looking for better ways to connect with their audience
Special Collections as Muse: The Use of Rare Books and Archives to Inspire Creative Works
Get PDFThe unique and varied collections held by archives and special collections within many academic libraries offer fertile ground for the creative endeavors of students, faculty, and professional artists. This chapter explores direct and indirect methods librarians and archivists may engage creators with primary source materials. Academic libraries do not necessarily need to build art-focused collections in order to support the research of creators. More than subject content, successful engagement with creators is developed by means of collaborative relationships with arts faculty, artists, and galleries to reach student creators and introduce concepts of primary source research as a source of inspiration. This chapter provides case studies of instruction in the classroom as well as ways to reach wider segments of creator audiences through exhibits and public programming opportunities with campus partners that move beyond the physical library space