There is contention surrounding two major questions in regard to voting behavior in American politics. First, are political advertisements efficacious? Second, do partisans interpret political information in a different way than those who do not identify with a political bias — that is, do partisans engage in partisan-motivated reasoning? As billions of dollars each American presidential election cycle are spent, and fierce competition pervades the elections, shedding light on these two questions is more essential than ever. This project focuses on coupling these questions together to investigate if individuals who identify with a political party reason in a partisan-motivated manner in response to political advertisements. Utilizing a novel survey instrument and originally designed political advertisements featuring the candidates of the 2020 Presidential election, I surveyed over 900 individuals to discern if partisan-motivated reasoning was operative. I found three key results. First, partisan-motivated reasoning was utilized by those who identified as Republican or Democratic, but not for those who did not identify as being a partisan of one of the major political parties. Second, Republicans and Democrats reason in distinct, separate manners. Republicans did not modify their responses after exposure to partisan-conforming political advertisements (Trump-source advertisements) but did modify their responses after receiving partisan-nonconforming political advertisements (Biden-source advertisements). Oppositely, Democrats did modify their responses after exposure to partisan-conforming political advertisements (Biden-source advertisements) but did not modify their responses after receiving partisan-nonconforming political advertisements (Trump-source advertisements). Third, and more broadly, political advertisements are indeed effective; over 85% of individuals changed their first responses after exposure to the political advertisements. Moreover, across treatments, more than 31% of individuals updated their first answers and submitted updated responses as the same statistic presented in the advertisement. In sum, this thesis helps to elucidate an understanding of how partisans understand political information, specifically in the format of a political advertisement.

Latinx communities in the United States made up 18% of the total population, yet accounted for 33% of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. This supported the study aim to increase Latinx COVID-19 knowledge and self-efficacy for performing COVID-19 risk reduction mitigation behaviors via dissemination of the new online e-health intervention of the “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test.” The study recruited online a largely female Latinx adult sample (N=118) with 68.6% born in the U.S. that was well-educated, given a mean education level of a bachelor’s degree; and, a mean annual household income of $50,000 to $99,000. During the pandemic year of 2020, 46.5% of the survey participants experienced moderate to maximum/extreme cultural stress, and moderately high COVID-19 related stress—while 66.9% reported depression, 78.8% anxiety, and 45.2% trauma. Their high rates of COVID-19 depression and anxiety were more than double those rates reported across samples identified globally during the pandemic. They experienced significant declines in their self-rated mental health status and physical health status from pre-pandemic to during the pandemic, high social support, and closest to a good quality of life. Supporting the value of the new “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test” as a brief online e-health intervention, paired t-tests showed statistically significant increases in self-ratings for both COVID-19 knowledge and self-efficacy for COVID-19 risk reduction behaviors after taking the True-False test. Participants endorsed the dissemination of the new True-False “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test” with all True answers as a brief online e-health intervention they would recommend to others as a way to learn about COVID-19. Meanwhile, on this True-False test, the sample evidenced very high knowledge of COVID-19. The sample also had a high intention to vaccinate or already vaccinated at 87%. Findings from independent t-tests, Pearson correlations, and regression analyses collectively affirmed the critical importance of having both high knowledge and high self-efficacy for performing preventive behaviors for reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission, implementing mitigation strategies, and reducing mortality. Implications and recommendations focused on the value of the genre of a True-False test, with all True answers, for disseminating evidence-based information, and countering misinformation during pandemics and public health crises. Finally, the short tools used in this study were recommended for application in future research and as screening tools.

Hintergrund und Ziel: Der Mehrwert eines neuen Konzepts für die Seminare mit klinischem Bezug im Fach Anatomie im Vergleich zu dem der Vorjahre wurde ermittelt. Im Wesentlichen ging es um die Frage, wie es am besten möglich ist, eine Brücke zwischen dem vorklinischen und dem klinischen Teil der humanmedizinischen Ausbildung zu schlagen. Hintergrund sind die zentralen Vorgaben klinik-orientiert zu unterrichten, insbesondere hinsichtlich des Masterplans Medizinstudium 2020. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse sollen dazu beitragen, klinische Bezüge in der anatomischen Lehre curricular zu verankern. Methode: Teilnehmer der Studie waren insgesamt 316 Studierende aus der Ziel- (2016/2017) und 307 Studierende aus der Vergleichsgruppe (2011/2013/2015) Humanmedizin im 4. Semester. Die Studie bestand aus drei Etappen: 1. Erarbeitung des Konzepts und geeigneter Fragebögen. 2. Papierbasierte Datenerhebung in den Sommersemestern 2016 und 2017. 3. Vergleich von Ziel- und Kontrollgruppe mit geeigneten statistischen Verfahren. Ergebnisse: Qualitätskriterien wie Nutzen der klinischen Beispiele, Klarheit und Gliederung des Lehrstoffes sowie praktische Arbeit wurden in der Zielgruppe besser bewertet. Insgesamt fiel die Benotung noch besser bei den Studierenden aus, die bereits eine medizinische Ausbildung durchlaufen hatten. Schlussfolgerung: Optimierungsbedarf besteht hinsichtlich der Anpassung der klinischen Lehrinhalte an den aktuellen Wissensstand der Studierenden.

As a future teacher you need to make your students understand and realize that history is repeating itself. Frequently, as teachers this results in us providing examples such as how Napoleon and Hitler tried to invade Russia and how both ended up failing their sought-outquest. Time of despair is typically moments of the history and past which later will show in our history books and we teach our children in school. In the society today, a pandemic has spread around the world. World hunger and war are no longer the main news filling our tv screens. The pandemic is showing everywhere in media and might be equally terrifying to think about in both a medicinal point of view as in an economical. The horrors that a pandemic brings affects the society in many ways. Time of uncertainty, both to our health and economical status are effects of the pandemic and one way of understanding the gratitude which situations such as a pandemic brings is to teach our students about pandemics of the past. The Spanish flu was a pandemic which affected the world approximately one century ago, and its characteristics seem to resemble the modern-day corona pandemic. In today´s society, we are attained by media from several angles some of which are through social media. In many ways these global platforms are a main part of our source of acquired news through internet´s global characteristics of being instant and easily accessible. To teach diseases such as the Spanish flu and the corona virus, it is easier to use examples and materials which the students understand and use. Magazines was the “present day” information providing source which we used, and still is to some extent in today´s society. However, with the growing online-based society the tool of providing information through magazines is slowly progressing to becoming outdated.  Therefore, in this study, a comparison between the two pandemics will be made through data collected from the magazine; Hallandsposten from 1918, and the social media platform;Instagram in 2020, will be presented. The study will focus on both medias way of portraying the different pandemics, both in an economical point of view through advertising and through the two medias way of depicting the two pandemics.

Master thesis analyses the impact of the Europe 2020 strategy´s objectives on the economic performance of the member states of EU. The strategy focuses on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and its objectives are in the areas of employment, research and development, climate change and energy, education and poverty and social exclusion. Master thesis analyses the impact by fixed-effects panel regression. The regression includes variables representing the objectives of the strategy and control variables representing the determinants of economic growth. Economic performance is represented by GDP per capita. The result of the regression analysis is the statistically significant and positive impact of the implemented objectives in the areas of employment, climate change and energy, education and poverty, and social exclusion. The field of research and development appears to be statistically insignificant.

Wenn wir in diesem Jahr auf drei Jahrzehnte wiedervereintes Deutschland blicken, so steht dieses Jubiläum zugleich für 30 Jahre Marktwirtschaft in der Region Chemnitz. Wir haben dies zum Anlass genommen, um anhand ausgewählter Zahlen einen Blick darauf zu werfen, was im Kammerbezirk entstanden ist, wo wir stehen und was die Aufgaben für morgen sind. Stand: August 2020

Diese Broschüre erläutert die wichtigsten Inhalte des Betreuungsrechts. Sie zeigt Wege auf, wie jeder, auch der heute noch nicht unmittelbar Betroffene, seine eigenen Vorstellungen rechtzeitig und verbindlich festlegen kann. Taugliche Instrumente hierzu sind die Vorsorgevollmacht und die Betreuungsverfügung. Die Broschüre enthält dazu ein bundeseinheitliches Muster einer Vorsorgevollmacht nebst Erläuterungen. Daneben geht die Broschüre auch auf die Sicherung der Patientenautonomie am Lebensende und auf das Instrument der Patientenverfügung ein. Redaktionsschluss: 31.12.2020

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This research seeks to determine the necessary conditions for the United States to host another Olympic Games. To lay the foundation for my research, I historically trace the declining number of cities bidding for the Olympics. While exogenous factors such as political protests, terrorist acts, and boycotts contribute to a decline in the number of candidate cities from 1968 to 1984, modern disinterest in hosting the Olympics is motivated by endogenous dynamics derived from the bidding process. To determine how the bidding process affects the likelihood of hosting the Olympics and uncover the roots of successful bids, I analyze four case studies of former United States bids. These case studies include: Denver’s withdrawn bid for the 1976 Winter Olympics, Los Angeles’ successful bid for the 1984 Games, Boston’s relinquished bid for the 2024 Olympics, and consequentially, Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Olympics. I argue the structure of the bidding process inherently favors special interests with the most to gain from hosting the Games at the expense of the city as a whole. Stemming from the central condition of public support, I deduce six underlying conditions that are pivotal for successful bids: 1) the use of existing facilities and infrastructure; 2) absence of opposition groups; 3) private funding; 4) ‘insurance’ measures against cost overruns; 5) alignment of Olympic plans and urban development; and 6) greater use of the region. These conditions do not guarantee a successful Olympic bid, but are fundamental for the Olympic Games to return to the United States.

Background: The World Health Organization estimates that there are 517 million people in the world who are visually impaired due to uncorrected presbyopia. Equal sphere ready-made bifocal and single vision reading spectacles are an inexpensive alternative to custom made spectacles. Methods: A visual satisfaction questionnaire was administered before patients were examined at an outreach clinic and again after ready-made bifocals or reading spectacles were dispensed. The results of both sets of questions along with presenting acuities, corrected acuities, refractive data, and willingness to pay were analyzed. Results: There was an unmet need of 38% (of the 338 subjects that needed glasses only 208 had them). There was no gender bias; the unmet need was higher in the rural areas (47% rural, 36% urban). Those who could not read were 3.4 times less likely to have the glasses they needed than the literate. Unmet need decreased with every level of education. Those without any schooling showed 77% prevalence of unmet need and those with university education had an unmet need rate of 32%. Ready-made spectacles were dispensed to 89.5% of those examined. The ready-made bifocals were very well accepted, with the percentage of subjects giving the highest satisfaction rating improving from a presenting value of 11% to 89.4% with the bifocals at distance and from 6.6% to 89.4% at near. Distance visual acuity of 20/40 or better improved from the presenting value of 60% to 84.5% and near vision of 20/40 or better improved from the presenting value of 44% to 97%. With ready-made single vision readers, functionally good near vision (20/40 or better) improved from a presenting value of 38% to 97%. The highest ranking for near satisfaction improved from 6.3% to 86.6%. The subjects indicted that they would be willing to pay US$18.39 to replace the bifocals and US$16.67 to replace the readers. Conclusion: There is a high unmet need for vision correction in the population over age 35 in Nicaragua. Dissatisfaction with distance and near vision is very high. Although custom made glasses are ideal, ready-made bifocals and ready-made single vision readers are an acceptable and affordable alternative.