Search

Destruction wrought by hurricanes can physically impact schools, houses, and businesses, all of which can delay or prevent recovery within communities. This study investigated the awareness among five private K-12 Christian administrators of the United States Department of Education (USDOE) guidelines for developing emergency operation plans (EOPs) for effective response and recovery. The five administrators were selected from a pool of 12 whose schools sustained on-site damage during the 2017 hurricane season. Their interview responses supported evidence of general knowledge of USDOE guidelines. Notably, veteran administrators reported that their previous hurricane response experience was more useful than their knowledge of government EOP guidelines.

Purpose, Scope, and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between grade span for ninth grade and gains in math achievement test scores in 10th grade and 12th grade. A quantitative, longitudinal, correlational research design was employed to investigate the research questions. The population was high school students in the United States from public and private schools who were in the ninth grade for the first time during the 1989-1990 school year. The data collection instrument was the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Further sampling and data analysis was conducted through SPSS and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) software programs. A three-level, repeated-observations, HLM model was employed. The first level included scores and data collected over time nested within students. The second level included within schools data. Data were compared between schools for the third level of the full model. Findings and Conclusion: This study confirmed the significance of race, socioeconomic status, math courses taken, math credits earned, different rates of growth in mathematics, and school level factors that affect individual student math performance. School level factors also contributed to student learning at a significant level. Although this study did not identify a correlation between grade span and math achievement, it may have provided other researchers and practitioners recommendations that will guide practice and further research. This study also indicated the need, based on the unexplained variance, to identify additional factors that may contribute to improvement in learning for students.

This study investigated how an authentic assessment program was used to examine student learning outcomes within the context of a Christian university's institutional mission, core values, and distinctive qualities. For the purposes of this study, an authentic assessment program is defined as assessing student-produced work within the context of the institutional mission. A sample of 1,814 undergraduate students taking one or more general education courses at the university during the 2007--2009 academic years was examined for any significant differences in student learning outcomes. A univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated the Student Assessment System (SAS) scores for the online students were not significantly different from the SAS scores for the face-to-face (F2F) students after controlling for course grade. These results suggest that online students achieved the same critical mission-related educational outcomes that the university required of its F2F students. An implication of this finding is that the university just as effectively articulated its faith-based mission and vision to the online students as it did to its students taking classes F2F.

Objectives. We sought to determine incidence of, prevalence of, and risk factors for sexual orientation-related physical assault in young men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods. We completed a prospective open cohort study of young MSM in Vancouver, British Columbia, surveyed annually between 1995 and 2004. Correlates of sexual orientation-related physical assault before enrollment were identified with logistic regression. Risk factors for incident assaults were determined with Cox regression. Results. At enrollment, 84 (16%) of 521 MSM reported ever experiencing assault related to actual or perceived sexual orientation. Incidence was 2.3 per 100 person-years; cumulative incidence at 6-year follow-up was 10.8 per 100 person-years. Increased risk of incident sexual orientation-related physical assault was observed among MSM 23 years or younger (relative hazard = 3.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.6, 5.8), Canadian Aboriginal people (relative hazard = 3.0; 95% CI = 1.4, 6.2), and those who previously experienced such assault (relative hazard = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.3, 4.8). Conclusions. These data underscore the need for increased public awareness, surveillance, and support to reduce assault against young MSM. Such efforts should be coordinated at the community level to ensure that social norms dictate that such acts are unacceptable.

The authors have investigated risk factors associated with HIV incidence among bisexual and gay men in Canada. Results demonstrate that HIV-positive bisexual and gay men usually live in unstable conditions and display more risky substance use and sexual behavior that HIV-negative men.

Purpose, Scope, and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between grade span for ninth grade and gains in math achievement test scores in 10th grade and 12th grade. A quantitative, longitudinal, correlational research design was employed to investigate the research questions. The population was high school students in the United States from public and private schools who were in the ninth grade for the first time during the 1989-1990 school year. The data collection instrument was the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Further sampling and data analysis was conducted through SPSS and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) software programs. A three-level, repeated-observations, HLM model was employed. The first level included scores and data collected over time nested within students. The second level included within schools data. Data were compared between schools for the third level of the full model. Findings and Conclusion: This study confirmed the significance of race, socioeconomic status, math courses taken, math credits earned, different rates of growth in mathematics, and school level factors that affect individual student math performance. School level factors also contributed to student learning at a significant level. Although this study did not identify a correlation between grade span and math achievement, it may have provided other researchers and practitioners' recommendations that will guide practice and further research. This study also indicated the need, based on the unexplained variance, to identify additional factors that may contribute to improvement in learning for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Self-collection of anorectal swab specimens could greatly facilitate the completion of prerequisite studies and future implementation of anal cancer screening among men who have sex with men (MSM). We therefore compared self- versus clinician- collection procedures with respect to specimen adequacy for cytological evaluation, concordance of paired cytological results, and concordance of cytological with biopsy results. Methods: Paired self- and clinician- collected anorectal Dacron® swabs for liquid-based (Thin Prep®) cytological evaluation were collected in random sequence from a mostly HIV-1 seronegative cohort of young MSM in Vancouver. Slides were reviewed by one cytopathologist. Presence of any cytological abnormality (atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance, ASCUS, or above) prompted referral for high-resolution anoscopy and possible biopsy. Results: Among 222 patient-clinician specimen pairs, most were adequate for cytological evaluation, though self-collected specimens were less likely to be so (83% versus 92%, McNemar's test p < 0.001). Cytological abnormalities, noted in 47 (21%) of self-collected and 47 (21%) of clinician-collected specimens (with fair agreement, kappa = 0.414) included, respectively: ASCUS (5%, 5%), and low-grade (13%, 13%) and high-grade (3%, 3%) squamous intraepithelial lesions. Among 12 men with biopsy-confirmed high-grade neoplasia, most had abnormal cytological results (including 6 patient and 9 clinician swabs) but few (2 patient and 1 clinician swab) were high-grade. Conclusion: Self-collection of anorectal swab specimens for cytologic screening in research and possibly clinical settings appears feasible, particularly if specimen adequacy can be further improved. The severity of biopsy-confirmed anorectal disease is seriously underestimated by cytological screening, regardless of collector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Public Health is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most hydrophone elements in use nowadays can be classified either as volume-mode elements or as piezoceramic elements. Although volume-mode elements are usually quite linear, nearly all have low capacitance, and so, in practice, are used in conjunction with preamplifiers. Preamplifiers, however, can be nonlinear and are not usually suitable for close-range parametric source measurements. Piezoceramic elements have high capacitances and therefore can be used without preamplifiers. However, they do not work well in the volume mode, and so they are usually configured so as to expose only one element surface to the acoustic pressure. Such configurations invariably require bonds of some sort, e.g., two ceramic hemispheres are glued together to form a spherical hydrophone. Nonlinearity of an epoxy bond appears to account for the nonlinearity of F42D spherical hydrophones. Linear-response hydrophones suitable for use with parametric sources at close range can be constructed with volume-mode elements. If cable lengths can be kept short (<= 10 m), no preamplifier should be used. Otherwise a passive low-pass filter should precede the preamplifier. [Work supported by Naval Material Command and Naval Sea Systems command.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The calibration of a new submicrometer magnification standard for electron microscopes is described. The new standard is based on the width of a thin thermal-oxide film sandwiched between a silicon single-crystal substrate and a polysilicon capping layer. The calibration is based on an ellipsometric measurement of the oxide thickness before the polysilicon layer is deposited on the oxide. The uncertainty in the derivation of a thickness for the layer from the ellipsometric parameters is also derived.