3103 research outputs found
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Women’s Empowerment and Nonprofit Sector Development
No full textThis research makes two main contributions: (a) validates Themudo’s findings of a positive correlation between women’s empowerment and the development of the nonprofit sector by using different forms of empowerment and (b) suggests women’s empowerment causes nonprofit development, thus contributing to the formation of a gender theory. Using women’s economic empowerment by county (n = 3,428) and women’s state-level political empowerment (n = 50), the positive correlation between women’s empowerment, both economic and political, and nonprofit development is confirmed. Next, Granger causality tests (1975-2013, n = 39) suggest women’s political empowerment causes nonprofit development. These results provide insights for further research in nonprofit development and suggest that policies that increase women’s empowerment will also benefit the nonprofit sector
Construct validity of the societal outreach scale (SOS)
No full textBackground. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has been working toward a vision of increasing professional focus on societal-level health. However, performance of social responsibility and related behaviors by physical therapists remain relatively poorly integrated into practice. Promoting a focus on societal outreach is necessary for all health care professionals to impact the health of their communities. Objective. The objective was to document the validity of the 14-item Societal Outreach Scale (SOS) for use with practicing physical therapists. Design. This study used a cross-sectional survey. Methods. The SOS was transmitted via email to all therapists who were licensed and practicing in 10 states in the United States that were purposefully selected to assure a broad representation. A sample of 2612 usable responses was received. Factor analysis was applied to assess construct validity of the instrument. Results. Of alternate models, a 3-factor model best demonstrated goodness of fit with the sample data according to conventional indices (standardized root mean squared residual = 0.03, comparative fit index = 0.96, root mean square error of approximation = 0.06). The 3 factors measured by the SOS were labeled Societal-Level Health Advocacy, Community Engagement/Social Integration, and Political Engagement. Internal consistency reliability was =0.7 for all factors. The 3-factor SOS demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability. Limitations. Though the sample included a broad representation of physical therapists, this was a single cross-sectional study. Additional confirmatory factor analysis, reliability testing, and word refinement of the tool are warranted. Conclusions. Given the construct validity and reliability of the 3-factor SOS, it is recommended for use as a validated instrument to measure physical therapists\u27 performance of social responsibility and related behaviors
School absence and productivity outcomes associated with childhood asthma in the USA
No full textBackground: Previous studies have examined the association between childhood asthma and lost productivity; however, more data are needed to understand its impact. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of cross-sectional data in the nationally representative 2007–2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). School-aged children (SAC), children (age 6–11), and adolescents (age 12–17) with asthma were compared to those without asthma to examine annual missed school days. Adult parents/caregivers of SAC with asthma were compared to those of SAC without asthma to examine missed work days. The cost of premature asthma mortality for SAC was also estimated. Negative binomial regression was used for missed school days, and a two-part model structure was used for missed work days. All analyses controlled for sociodemographics and other covariates. Results: There were 44,320 SAC of whom 5,890 had asthma. There were 43,496 employed adults with at least one child. SAC (6–17) with asthma missed 1.54 times the number of school days compared to SAC without asthma. Caregivers of SAC (6–17) with asthma missed 1.16 times the number of work days to care for others compared to caregivers of SAC without asthma. SAC in the USA missed an additional 7 million school days associated with asthma (3.7 million children and 3.3 million adolescent). There were 130 asthma deaths resulting in an annual cost of US 2015). Conclusions: Childhood asthma is associated with a significant school absence and productivity loss in the USA. Better treatment and asthma management programs are needed to alleviate this burden
Two-electron redox chemistry of: P -nitro- and p -cyanobenzene diazohydroxides
No full textThe electrochemistry of aryl diazonium salts is usually dominated by one-electron reduction, loss of dinitrogen, and the grafting of aryl radicals onto the electrode. In contrast, p-nitro- and p-cyanobenzene diazonium salts dissolved in mixed aqueous-acetonitrile solvents showed diffusion-limited, quasi-reversible, two-electron cyclic voltammetry. Voltammetric pH-dependence and spectrophotometric kinetic studies suggest that the basicity and low polarity of the aqueous solvent mixture has revealed the biologically-significant interconversion of diazohydroxide and diazene
Forensic Nursing State of the Science: Research and Practice Opportunities
No full textIntroduction: The International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) is the only nursing organization advancing the forensic nursing specialty. The organization seeks to advance the profession, and one mechanism for doing so is development of a research agenda. Methods: The purpose of this action-based research study was to aid in the development of a forensic nursing research agenda. The study was carried out in two integral stages: (a) focus groups with IAFN members attending the annual conference and (b) reviewing posted IAFN member listserv material. Results: The findings of this study identified similar gaps of other nursing specialties experiencing growing pains, including role confusion and variation in educational preparation. Conclusion: Findings from this study will inform development of the IAFN 5-year research agenda to advance forensic nursing science and evidence-based practice
Brain tumor segmentation using deep fully convolutional neural networks
No full textIn this study, brain tumor substructures are segmented using 2D fully convolutional neural networks. A number of modifications such as double convolution layers, inception modules, and dense modules were added to a U-Net to achieve a deep architecture and test if the increased depth improves the performance. The experiments show that the deep architectures improve the performance. Also, the performance is enhanced from ensembling across the models trained on images in different orientations and ensembling across the models with different architectures. Even without any data augmentation, the ensembled model achieves a competitive performance and generalizes well on a new dataset. The resulting mean 3D Dice scores (ET/WT/TC) on the BRATS17 validation and test sets are 0.75/0.88/0.73 and 0.72/0.86/0.73
2018 The Ranger, Volume 102
Get PDFThe Regis University Ranger yearbook contains photographs and descriptions of Regis College administration, activities, sports, faculty, students, and advertisements.https://epublications.regis.edu/yearbooks/1130/thumbnail.jp
: Investigating the Influence of Abiotic Variability on Escherichia Coli Population Dynamics in Three Denver, CO Springs
Get PDFHumans risk exposure to microbial pathogens when they use freshwater for recreation or as a drinking water source. In developing nations where monitoring and treatment of microbe-contaminated water is weak or unavailable, 1.8 million humans die each year from waterborne illnesses. In developed nations where public and private utilities treat drinking water, residents still remain vulnerable to these illnesses when they use recreational waters contaminated with sewage or animal feces. To assess whether streams and lakes should be closed to recreation, cities and counties closely monitor likely pathogen presence by testing for the indicator bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). Using E. coli concentrations to accurately portray a water body’s contamination status remains a challenge because E. coli dynamics depend on multiple interacting factors including water depth, recreation intensity, light and temperature. To tease apart the relative importance of these factors on E. coli dynamics, I measured E. coli concentrations as part of an observational field study in Denver, CO streams. Not only will this study provide a portrait of citywide compliance with E. coli water quality standards, but it will also recommend improvements to sampling protocols based on the influence of abiotic variables on E.coli population dynamics . By lowering the false positive and false negative rate, these improvements will simultaneously help prevent waterborne illnesses and limit unnecessary closures of Denver’s recreational waters
MS Environmental Biology Capstone Project
Get PDFThis study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the role of competition in food webs, and more specifically, in trophic cascades induced by biodiversity loss. Trophic cascades are food web disturbances that result from the removal of an important species, often a predator, and lead to dramatic changes in herbivore and plant populations. It is critical to understand the mechanisms that drive and mitigate trophic cascades, because global biodiversity loss is increasing. Previous research suggests that biodiversity, specifically intraguild biodiversity with members in the same trophic level, is an important factor in reducing the negative effects of trophic cascades. High biodiversity increases competition, which limits population growth of individual species. Research on competition in relation to trophic cascades is scarce, prompting the need for more direct study.
I plan to test the hypothesis that increased herbivorous insect biodiversity will decrease typical trophic cascade strength, by increasing competition between the herbivores and reducing plant loss. Using microcosm ecosystems in fish tanks, I will study a three-trophic-level food chain where a predator is present, and a two-trophic-level cascade where the predator has been removed. By manipulating herbivore diversity and predator presence in the tanks, I will investigate how herbivore diversity influences competition, and how the effect of changing herbivore diversity differs in food webs with and without predators. I expect that higher herbivore diversity will yield higher average plant biomass compared to herbivore monoculture treatments, and that plant biomass will be greater in tanks where the predator is present. Maintaining high biodiversity within ecosystems ensures that another mechanism, competition, maintains stable levels of herbivores and protects against major plant loss. My study will provide information to aid in management practices to help sustain ecosystems experiencing biodiversity loss