Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States.
Aquatic recreation is a popular pastime, but recreators often incur the risk of acquiring illnesses through exposure to waterborne pathogens. Several standards advise stakeholders on a waterbody’s recreational suitability using indicator bacteria concentrations. However, quantifying indicator organisms often takes several hours or days, resulting in a lack of real-time information. Microbe concentrations can also fluctuate dramatically over short timeframes, making it difficult to systematically assess and communicate risk using discrete samples. This study investigated turbidity and streamflow as real-time predictors of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in two major Iowa waterways (the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers). A large historical dataset (n > 4000 at both sites) was leveraged to construct logistic models that predicted the probability of E. coli exceeding two recreational water quality standards (235 and 2880 organisms/100 mL). High-resolution turbidity measurements were collected to implement these models and comprehensively estimate long-term exceedance levels of the standards. Models were created at each site that used turbidity as the sole predictor—streamflow proved unnecessary. While these models were viable, their performance was relatively weak (pseudo R2 between 0.19 and 0.38, sensitivities between 6.8 and 68
Purpose In the post-pandemic workplace, companies have adopted diverse workplace strategies (office-forward, remote-first, hybrid) and employees have developed diverse work modality preferences (work-from-office, work-from-home, hybrid work). In a systematic examination of the intersection between company strategies and employee preferences, we study how company–employee alignment has evolved. Design/methodology/approach We use qualitative data collected from 89 employees at two points in time (2022–2023 and 2024–2025) and at three companies (office-forward, remote-first, hybrid). We showcase how alignment has evolved over time via data visualization. We then use thematic analysis to identify why employees switch preferences and what shared values employees within each type of company hold, despite diverse work modality preferences. Findings More employees are aligned with their company's strategy in 2024–2025 relative to 2022–2023. Employees also more clearly articulate their preferences for work-from-office, work-from-home or hybrid work in 2024–2025. Two alignment motivations explain preference switches: buy-in and dissonance reduction. Employees in each type of company (office-forward, remote-first, hybrid) share common values: flexibility, community and balance, respectively. Originality/value Five years into the post-pandemic workplace, companies and employees are still settling into a “new normal”. However, both academic and industry researchers study company strategies and employee preferences in isolation. We overlay the two, exploring how company strategies and employee preferences combine. This approach allows a comparative look at each strategy, and considers all employee preferences. We present a practical blueprint for company–employee workplace alignment.
Despite an increase in graduate school enrollment for students with marginalized identities, disparities in graduate school entrance persist, particularly for first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students of color. Although pilot research has offered preliminary support for interventions designed to assist students in the postgraduate application process, rigorous research allowing for causal inference remains limited. Using a randomized control design, this study sought to extend pilot research on one such graduate school application intervention, Bridging the Graduate Application Process (GAP), through assessing its effectiveness compared to an attention control (AC) condition and waitlist control (WLC) condition. A total of 188 participants recruited from Midwestern universities completed baseline assessments and were included in an intent-to-treat analysis using a linear mixed-effects model to assess changes in postgraduate school application self-efficacy scores across the three intervention conditions at pretest and posttest. A per protocol analysis was also conducted to determine the efficacy of the intervention using participants who completed the condition originally allocated. Results suggest statistically significant improvements in application self-efficacy in the experimental group compared to both the AC and WLC conditions. These findings provide robust support for GAP as a promising intervention to increase sociocognitive resources and promote equity in the graduate application process.
Academic libraries and colleagues within the larger educational sector commonly prioritize educational equity and affordable course content. While higher education frequently incentivizes open pedagogy and open-educational resources (OER), primary sources should also be cultivated as freely available resources that foster engagement, critical thinking, and historical inquiry. Blending both the theoretical and the practical, this article covers definitions, research, and case studies from teaching archivists representing five institutions at different stages of implementing primary source instruction programs. This article provides archivists and librarians with the language and inspiration to advance conversations with their teaching faculty collaborators in furtherance of educational equity.
High-precision variational calculations in Hylleraas coordinates are presented for all singlet and triplet P states of helium up to principal quantum number n = 35 with a uniform accuracy of 1 part in 1022 for the nonrelativistic energy. Mass polarization, relativistic, and quantum electrodynamic effects are included to achieve a final accuracy of +/- 1 kHz or better for the ionization energy of the Rydberg states of 4He in the range 24 n 35. The results are combined with 11 transition frequency measurements of Clausen et al. [Phys. Rev. A 111, 012817 (2025)] to obtain complementary measurements of the ionization energy of the 1s2s3S1 state that do not depend on quantum-defect extrapolations to the series limit. The result from the triplet spectrum yields an ionization energy of 1152842742.728(6) MHz, which agrees with but is larger than the experimental value by 14 +/- 17 kHz. However, it confirms a much larger 9 sigma discrepancy of 0.468 +/- 0.055 MHz with the theoretical ionization energy of Patk & oacute;& scaron; et al. [Phys. Rev. A 103, 042809 (2021)]. The results provide a test of the quantum-defect-extrapolation method at the level of +/- 17 kHz.
