Abstract In Taiwan, although there has been enormous research on voters¡¦ voting behavior and their selections for the candidates, very few studies have been undertaken to analyze the theme of campaign strategy. Especially, given that the presidential election involves a wide variety of election districts and campaign units, currently there is still no related investigation into the implementation of local campaign organizations. For this reason, it is timely and necessary to do the job of evaluating the effect of local campaign strategy. Nominated by KMT for the presidential election, Ma Ying Jeou tries to use the innovative ¡§Long Stay¡¨ that is based on the thought of ¡§Blue Ocean Strategy¡¨ to reach the various voters, for the purpose of overthrowing the traditional campaign to reset market boundary and thus increase the support for him. However, due to the restriction in large size of districts and long campaign period, it is difficult for Ma¡¦s campaign team to handle all situations which eventually need to depend on the local campaign organizations, in particular the KMT¡¦s local branches, to facilitate. And further, how these local branches plan as well as enact the ¡§Long Stay,¡¨ and how to ensure the following operation going smoothly are highly worth studying. More significantly, because the first-ever single-member legislature election was held prior to the presidential election, how the local branches come up with a ¡§Long Stay¡¨ schedule that is accepted by the three parties of presidential candidate, legislative candidate, and local community to integrate them into a maximum effort is also worth observing. Accordingly, through participant observation, document analysis and in-depth interview, this study is in an attempt to evaluate how Ma Ying Jeou¡¦s ¡§Long Stay¡¨ strategy is implemented and applied. Unlike most research on election that uses statistical data to analyze voters¡¦ voting behavior, this thesis focuses on how the KMT¡¦s Kaohsiung county and its township branches manage to reinforce a series of campaign strategies. Finally, this study would probe into the outcomes of different campaign strategies based on the voting result.

No description available.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) is the fifth most economically important cereal grown worldwide and is a source of food, feed, fiber and fuel. Sorghum, a C4 grass and a close relative to sugarcane, is adapted to hot, dry adverse environments. Some genotypes of sorghum called stay-green have delayed leaf senescence during grain ripening under drought stress conditions which allows normal grain filling whereas most sorghum lines senesce early under post-anthesis drought. Eight sources of stay-green have been identified in the sorghum germplasm collection, most originating from Sudan and Ethiopia. The diversity of the eight sources of staygreen was analyzed using 55 simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers with genome coverage. This analysis showed that the sources of stay-green are quite diverse and can be divided into five groups based on race or working group. Three sources of stay-green have been used to identify 12 major quantitative trait loci (QTL) that modulate this trait. The origin of favorable alleles for stay-green was traced backward to ancestral lines and forward into breeding materials derived from stay-green germplasm. The analysis of the origin of favorable alleles for stay-green helped explain why subsets of stay-green QTL were identified in different studies and provided evidence that there may be more than one favorable allele in the sorghum germplasm for several of the stay-green QTL. Analysis of stay-green breeding lines from three public sorghum-breeding programs revealed that one of the main QTL identified in mapping studies was not being used in the breeding programs (0/13), most likely due to its association with an allele for lemon yellow seeds. In addition, a subset of the regions containing favorable alleles for staygreen from the genotype BTx642 were over represented in stay-green breeding lines. Nearly isogenic lines containing favorable alleles from BTx642 for Stg1, Stg2, Stg3, and Stg4 in a RTx7000 (senescent) background were characterized and each NIL was shown to exhibit a stay-green phenotype. Based in part on this information, fine-mapping of Stg1 was undertaken by crossing the Stg1 NIL to RTx7000. Overall, these results revealed the origin of favorable alleles for stay-green and the current utilization of alleles for stay-green in public breeding programs. In addition, this study identified additional stay-green sources that could be used for further QTL analysis and highlighted the genetic complexity of the stay-green trait.

Background: Cellulitis is a common skin and soft-tissue infection that often recurs in some patients. Patients with presenting comorbid conditions may require hospitalization which increases the cost of treatment. However, little is known about comorbid conditions as determinants for a patient’s hospital length-of-stay. Objective: 1) To profile the characteristics of patients admitted to Ontario hospitals with a diagnosis of cellulitis according to key demographic, clinical and geographic factors; 2) To examine, among patients hospitalized with cellulitis, comorbidities as possible determinants of hospital length-of-stay. Methods: A retrospective cohort of 7863 patients was identified from the Discharge Abstract Database from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2008. The Charlson Comorbidity Index was used to measure patients’ comorbidities. Univariate analyses were performed to describe the study population. The chi-square test was used to assess the association between categorical variables. The Kaplan-Meier product-limit method and log-rank test were used to estimate and to test the difference in the distributions of hospital lengths-of-stay between patients with and without comorbidities. Cox regression modeling was used to estimate the comorbidities’ effect on hospital length-of-stay while adjusting for confounding factors. The restricted means of lengths-of-stay were given to estimate and compare the average duration of hospitalization. The effects of specific Charlson comorbidities on hospital length-of-stay were similarly investigated. Results: Forty-six percent (3588/7863) of patients were diagnosed with Charlson comorbidities. Those patients were significantly older (p<.0001), and more likely to be female (p=.006) and to have lower limb cellulitis (p<.001) and C. difficile infections (p<.0001), compared to patients without comorbidities. Patients with comorbidities stayed significantly longer in hospital (8.0 vs. 5.3 days, p<.0001). Comorbidities independently decreased the instantaneous discharge rate by 37% (95% CI, 34% to 40%, p<.001). Hospital lengths-of-stay increased with increasing index of comorbidity. The means of hospital lengths-of-stay for patients with a cumulative index of 1, 2, 3, and 4 (or more than 4) were 7.4, 7.6, 8.8, and 9.7 days, respectively. Conclusion: The Charlson Comorbidity Index is predictive of longer hospital lengths-of-stay in adult patients diagnosed with cellulitis and may be a useful tool in the decision-making process during clinical management of these patients. / Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2009-11-18 11:43:07.897

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-68).

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1968.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1968. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.

Class of 2013 Abstract / Specific Aims: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of early blood glucose correction in the Emergency Department (ED) on hospital length of stay. Methods: This study has received institutional review board approval. This is a retrospective cohort study conducted in an academic medical institution. Diabetic patients with hyperglycemia in the ED between June 1st, 2011 and June 30th, 2012 were included. Patients were excluded if they were less than 18 or greater than 89 years of age, not admitted, had diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state, treated with insulin for hyperkalemia, trauma patients, or had an initial blood glucose value of 200 mg/dL or less. Patients were categorized into two groups based on blood glucose control achieved within the first 24 hours from triage. The primary outcome of this study was to compare hospital length of stay between the groups. Main Results: A total of 161 patients were included in this study. Baseline demographics between groups were statistically similar with the exception of gender (p=0.635), ethnicity (p = 0.149), and co-morbidities calculated by the Charlson Co-Morbidity Score (p = 0.112). Blood glucose values in the ED did not statistically correlate to hospital length of stay (p = 0.299), however, co-morbidities were predictive of hospital length of stay (p = 0.025). Conclusion: Early correction of blood glucose values in the ED are not associated with hospital length of stay.

No description available.

Objective: The objective of this study is to develop a national assessment of the length of stay (LOS), total costs, and in-hospital mortality among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), using retrospective data derived from Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). / Mylan School of Pharmacy and the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences; / Pharmacy Administration / MS; / Thesis;