Years Of Investment Research Articles

Participatory research in Northwest Atlanta's Proctor Creek Watershed: Using photovoice to explore environmental health risks at the water's edge.

In this study we used a participatory research method, photovoice, to explore community perceptions about environmental health risks, community assets, and strengths in and around an urban, degraded watershed in Northwest Atlanta, Georgia. This watershed, formed by Proctor Creek, is a focal point for redevelopment and infrastructure investments for years to come. Using a community-based participatory research approach, 10 Proctor Creek residents (watershed researchers), and a university partner, engaged in data collection; participatory data analysis; internal discussions; translation of research findings into watershed restoration, community revitalization, remedial action, and policy solutions; and dissemination of results to fellow watershed residents, stakeholders, and decision makers. We present a conceptual model linking the watershed researchers' understanding of urban policies and practice in the Proctor Creek Watershed to environmental, neighborhood and housing conditions and their influence on health outcomes and quality of life. Engaging community members in defining their own community environmental health challenges and assets yielded the following primary themes: 1) threats to the natural environment, 2) built environment stressors that influence health, 3) blight and divestment of public resources, and 4) hope for the future. Residents' vision for the future of the watershed - a restored creek, revitalized neighborhoods, and restored people - is fueled by a strong connection to history, memory, and sense of place. We demonstrate the value of local knowledge in identifying previously unaddressed environmental health risks in the Proctor Creek Watershed as well as solutions to reduce or eliminate them.

Understanding the Foreign Direct Investment in Order to Benefit from Them: A Theoretical and Empirical Review

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"The way to work": Clinical Pharmacists integrated in General Practice Teams

In April 2014, Hawke's Bay District Health Board (HBDHB) committed to fully integrating Clinical Pharmacists within General Practice across the District after a pilot programme delivered convincingly on all three NZ triple aim dimensions, returning a 4:1 return on investment in year 2. For the General Practice teams the project delivered unexpected gains for prescribers, their teams and their patients. For Clinical Pharmacists, integrating within the general practice team was initially challenging but highly rewarding. Throughout the journey, the challenges to be met and the service vision have been clear. Also: The primary care sector supported by Health Hawke's Bay PHO has supported integration. The Clinical Pharmacists have shown determination and courage to extend and stretch their scope of practice. HBDHB has committed to integration in fully funding and supporting these developments, providing clinical leadership, project management, HR and IT support. The journey and the successes have been acknowledged nationally and internationally. Other DHB's are actively following in our footsteps. 2007-2010 HBDHB faced unsustainable growth in the volumes and costs of medicines. A commissioned bpac(NZ) analysis uncovered a number of issues: Increasing cost of pharmaceuticals = Unsustainable High levels of polypharmacy were evident in HB Ageing population, aging at a rate faster than the NZ average Significant pockets of deprivation Conclusions from the analysis : 1. Inappropriate polypharmacy was being prescribed to over 65 years, and especially over 85's. Addressing this would deliver patient safety improvements and would be a major contributor to cost savings and waste reduction. 2. Inappropriate polypharmacy was linked to medicine related admissions, falls and other harm for patients. Tackling inappropriate polypharmacy especially in the over 80's would reduce medicine related harm, associated ED presentations and hospital admissions. 3. Meeting unmet need in Maori, Pacific and NZDep 9/10 communities was unlikely to be a significant driver of volumes/costs but would deliver significant health gains. 4. The approach should directly influence prescriber behaviour - supporting best practice, and safe and effective use of medicines. Lessons Learned : Integration tough but rewarding - it not a quick fix and 'one size does not fit all'. Integration takes time to do well - the right people, with the right skills, and the right match for the Practice/s. The key to Integration relationships - do not underestimate the importance of relationships. communication, trust and respect. For staff, ongoing professional support and leadership key - the role can be isolating and highly challenging - being part of a CP team has proved invaluable. Measurement and regular reporting on activities and successes are critical motivators for all. Periodic evaluation and review - keeps the vision and direction fresh and practice at the cutting edge. Integrating Pharmacists within General Practice makes a significant contribution to health care of the communities we serve - pharmacist's knowledge and skills must be better harnessed. Clinical Pharmacists working as part of GP teams is the way to work. It delivers excellent patient outcomes and experience, with reduced health system costs.

Preparing for Life “Beyond Academe”: Professional Skills Development for Graduate Students in Canadian Universities

Preparing for Life “Beyond Academe”:Professional Skills Development for Graduate Students in Canadian Universities Marilyn Rose (bio) It is a well-known fact that the vast majority of today’s graduate students will need to find employment in non-academic settings. More specifically, it is currently estimated that as few as 20 percent to 25 percent of today’s PhD graduates are likely to find work as academics in the disciplines in which they have been trained.1 While some argue that we are simply preparing too many graduate students—especially doctoral students with their deep investment in years of advanced study—for too little available work, research suggests otherwise. Brent Herbert-Copley, Vice President, Research Capacity at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, for example, notes that the need for PhDs in Canada is actually growing but that our students are graduating into “an increasingly complex, globalized labour market” and universities have been slow to develop strategies that will “align doctoral studies more effectively with a range of jobs beyond academia,” which is where the opportunities are most plentiful at present. [End Page 4] One of those methods of alignment is the development of professional skills training for graduate students while they are completing their graduate programs. It is true that all too often students emerge from Canadian graduate programs without a clear sense of how to seek work beyond academic environments and particularly without awareness of how to present themselves as viable candidates with relevant expertise for positions in other kinds of workplace settings. However, universities have begun to address this issue, and my own recent research project, Graduate Student Professional Development: A Survey with Recommendations (2012),2 examines the range of professional skills training programming in place for graduate students in universities across Canada. That report, which was begun as my seven-year term as Dean of Graduate Studies was drawing to a close, arose from my own increasing concern— and that of both sshrc and the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, which sponsored the report—about whether or not we were doing enough in Canadian universities to help graduate students while they were completing their degrees to prepare themselves for finding meaningful work after graduation in workplace environments of all kinds. By “professional skills,” I refer to programming in universities that is dedicated to the acquisition of transferable skills and competencies, which is to say “carry-forward” or “work-ready” skill sets relevant to competing for positions within, but especially beyond, the academy. What I discovered is that there is a tremendous amount of activity in place at Canadian universities with respect to two kinds of skills training. The first is what I call “academic skills” training, which refers to research and teaching competencies—those areas that many universities have dedicated themselves to for some time, and do very well. The second type involves the acquisition of competencies sometimes referred to as “soft skills,” which have to do with self-development, self-management, self-presentation, communicating effectively to targeted audiences, and above all the ability to “translate” their achievements as graduate students—their knowledge, experience, and transferrable competencies—into language that can be understood and respected by potential employers outside the academic sector. [End Page 5] Terms such as “soft skills,” “interpersonal skills,” or “self-marketing skills” are not universally embraced by academics, given their own understandable focus on what they see as the “hard skills” relating to research and research dissemination that are their primary focus in supervising graduate students. Yet the challenge of marketing themselves to potential employers who might not speak the esoteric language of our cherished disciplines is a very real issue for students seeking meaningful work in other than academic settings where they can apply what they have learned through their highly-specialized graduate programs of study. As is to be expected, such programming takes different forms in our widely differing institutions. For some of the smaller universities with few graduate programs and few resources available for dedicated work with graduate students, programming is minimal: typically student service units offer some workshops or special guidance for graduate students focusing on work-readiness skills, and these offerings are supplemented...

주가지수 관계와 유전자 알고리즘을 이용한 주식예측

이 논문에서 우리는 선형결합으로 표현된 여러 가지 주가지수의 관계를 찾아내어 주식의 등락을 예측하는 방법을 제안한다. 제안된 방법에서 중요한 점은 전체 주가지수 중에서 예측하는 지수와 관계가 있는 주가지수들을 선택하는 것과 그 주가지수의 적절한 관계를 찾아내는 것이다. 전체 주가지수와의 관계를 설정하는 것은 불가능하기 때문에 밀접한 관계가 있는 주가지수만을 이용하였고 주가지수의 관계를 찾는 방법으로 유전자 알고리즘(GA : Genetic Algorithm)을 사용하였다. 제안된 방법을 이용하여 2005년부터 2007년도까지의 실제 주가지수를 가지고 모의투자 시뮬레이션을 한 결과 모의 투자금액이 230% 증가하는 것을 확인하였다. In this paper, we propose a novel approach predicting the fluctuation of stock index by finding a relation in various stock indexes that are represented by linear combinations. The important points are to select stock indexes related to predicting indexes and to find the proper relations in them. Since it is unattainable to use entire stock indexes relation, we used only data that are closely associated with each other. We used Genetic Algorithm(GA) to find the most suitable stock-index relation. We simulated the investment in years from 2005 to 2007 with each real index. Finally we verified that the investment money increased 230 percents by the proposed method.

EFFECT OF MINERAL NUTRITION ON NUT YIELD AND FRUIT COMPOSITION OF MATURE COCONUT PALMS IN THE COASTAL BELT OF WESTERN REGION OF GHANA - PRELIMINARY STUDIES

The nut yield and fruit composition of mature (30-40 years old) West African Tall coconut palms were evaluated in seven trials during the first three years (from June 2000 to May 2003) of implementation of a five-year fertilization schedule recommended to the Coconut Sector Development Project (CSDP) for the rehabilitation of old farms in the coastal belt of the Western Region of Ghana. The seven trials are located at Jeway Wharf, Takinta, Ellenda, Nawule, AB Bokazo, Anwia and Edwakpole. Three fertilizer treatments were applied between June 2000 and May 2003. The first two fertilizers were applied in June 2000 and May 2001 at the rate of 0.75kg urea and 2.5kg muriate of potash (MOP) per palm. For the third fertilization, 1 kg MOP only was applied per palm in May 2002. Fertilizer treatment did not affect nut yield in year one of fertilization. But in year two, the fertilized plots gained remarkably 27.7, 20.2, 19.4 and 14.9 nuts per palm at Jeway Wharf, Nawule, Ellenda and Takinta respectively. The remarkable nut gain was further boosted or sustained in year three except at Jeway wharf which lost 9.8 nuts per palm. In economic terms, Ellenda trial broke even on MOP fertilizer investment in year three while Jeway Wharf was close to breaking even. Takinta and Nawule trials made profits of 925 and 1,750 cedis (3.7 and 7 nuts) per palm respectively in year three. For Anwia, AB Bokazo and Edwakpole trials there was no yield response to MOP fertilizer due to P deficiency. Fertilizer treatment in the first two years of fertilization did not influence fruit composition.

Chiang Mai and Illinois

Participants in the Chiang Mai-Illinois Project had unique opportunities to work toward the goals of medical education in an attractive but alien environment. Concepts concerning public health and preventive medicine did not have high priority as the new medical school at Chiang Mai began, but a growing department made some progress in the teaching of these concepts with discussions, library and record room projects, and limited village investigations. Studies of hospital and clinic patients and of specific diseases disclosed useful data about northern Thai people. A productive experience in the foreign setting is believed to require sound training, energy, adaptability, and an investment of years.