Aesthetic experience of dance performances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vukadinović Maja

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this study the aesthetic experience of dance performances is investigated. The study includes construction of an instrument for measuring the aesthetic experience of dance performances and an investigation of the structure of both dancers’ and spectators’ aesthetic experience. The experiments are carried out during eight different performances of various dance forms, including classical ballet, contemporary dance, flamenco and folklore. Three factors of aesthetic experience of dance performances are identified: Dynamism, Exceptionality and Affective Evaluation. The results show that dancers’ aesthetic experience has a somewhat different factorial structure from that of the spectators’. Unlike spectators’ aesthetic experience, dancers’ aesthetic experience singles out the Excitement factor. The results are discussed within the context of dancers’ proprioception and spectators’ exteroception since these findings confirm the idea of a significant role of proprioception in dancers’ aesthetic experience.

Impact of the Wall Conditioning Program on Plasma Performance in NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

H.W. Kuge; V. Soukhanovskii; M. Bell; , W. Blanchard; D. Gates; B. LeBlanc; R. Maingi; D. Mueller; H.K. Na; S. Paul; C.H. Skinner; D. Stutman; and W.R. Wampler

2002-01-01

High performance operating regimes have been achieved on NSTX (National Spherical Torus Experiment) through impurity control and wall-conditioning techniques. These techniques include HeGDC-aided boronization using deuterated trimethylboron, inter-discharge HeGDC, 350 C PFC bake-out followed by D2 and HeGDC, and experiments to test fueling discharges with either a He-trimethylboron mixture or pure trimethylboron. The impact of this impurity and density control program on recent advances in NSTX plasma performance is discussed

Yield-to-BIM: impacts of BIM maturity on project performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smits, W.; van Buiten, Marinus; Hartmann, Timo

2016-01-01

How does organizational experience (maturity) with building information modelling (BIM) impact on the broad implementation of BIM and on company performance? A survey of Dutch architectural, engineering, construction, and operation (AECO) professionals (n = 890) is used to examine their perceptions

Modeling of uranium alloy response in plane impact and reverse ballistic experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrmann, B.; Landau, A.; Shvarts, D.; Favorsky, V.; Zaretsky, E.

2002-01-01

The dynamic behavior of a solution heat-treated, water-quenched and aged U-0.75wt%Ti alloy was studied in planar (disk-on-disk) and reverse ballistic (disk-on-rod) impact experiments performed with a 25 mm light-gas gun. The impact velocity ranged from 100 to 500 m/sec. The impacted samples were softly recovered for further metallographic examination. The VISAR records of the sample free surface velocity, obtained in planar impact experiments, were simulated with 1-D hydrocode for calibrating the parameters of modified Steinberg-Cochran-Guinan (SCG) constitutive equation of the alloy. The same SCG equation was employed in 2-D AUTODYN simulation of the alloy response in the reverse ballistic experiments, with VISAR monitoring of the lateral sample surface velocity. Varying the parameters of the strain-dependent failure model allows relating the features of the recorded velocity profiles with the results of the examination of the damaged samples

Impact of vocational interests, previous academic experience, gender and age on Situational Judgement Test performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Schripsema, Nienke R; van Trigt, Anke M; Borleffs, Jan C C; Cohen-Schotanus, Janke

2017-05-01

Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs) are increasingly implemented in medical school admissions. In this paper, we investigate the effects of vocational interests, previous academic experience, gender and age on SJT performance. The SJT was part of the selection process for the Bachelor's degree programme in Medicine at University of Groningen, the Netherlands. All applicants for the academic year 2015-2016 were included and had to choose between learning communities Global Health (n = 126), Sustainable Care (n = 149), Intramural Care (n = 225), or Molecular Medicine (n = 116). This choice was used as a proxy for vocational interest. In addition, all graduate-entry applicants for academic year 2015-2016 (n = 213) were included to examine the effect of previous academic experience on performance. We used MANCOVA analyses with Bonferroni post hoc multiple comparisons tests for applicant performance on a six-scenario SJT. The MANCOVA analyses showed that for all scenarios, the independent variables were significantly related to performance (Pillai's Trace: 0.02-0.47, p performance on three scenarios (p performance on two scenarios (p performance, as was previous academic experience. Gender and age were related to performance on SJT scenarios in different settings. Especially the first effect might be helpful in selecting appropriate candidates for areas of health care in which more professionals are needed.

About Microservices, Containers and their Underestimated Impact on Network Performance

OpenAIRE

Kratzke, Nane

2017-01-01

Microservices are used to build complex applications composed of small, independent and highly decoupled processes. Recently, microservices are often mentioned in one breath with container technologies like Docker. That is why operating system virtualization experiences a renaissance in cloud computing. These approaches shall provide horizontally scalable, easily deployable systems and a high-performance alternative to hypervisors. Nevertheless, performance impacts of containers on top of hyp...

Homesickness at College: Its Impact on Academic Performance and Retention

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jie; Hagedorn, Linda Serra; Zhang, Yi

2016-01-01

For this study we identified factors exerting significant influence on homesickness and explored the impact of the homesick experience on students' academic performance and retention in the first year in college. The findings reveal 2 constructs underlying the homesickness scale: homesick separation and homesick distress. Demographic variables…

Cancer patient experience, hospital performance and case mix: evidence from England.

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, Gary A; Saunders, Catherine L; Lyratzopoulos, Georgios

2014-01-01

  This study aims to explore differences between crude and case mix-adjusted estimates of hospital performance with respect to the experience of cancer patients. This study analyzed the English 2011/2012 Cancer Patient Experience Survey covering all English National Health Service hospitals providing cancer treatment (n = 160). Logistic regression analysis was used to predict hospital performance for each of the 64 evaluative questions, adjusting for age, gender, ethnic group and cancer diagnosis. The degree of reclassification was explored across three categories (bottom 20%, middle 60% and top 20% of hospitals). There was high concordance between crude and adjusted ranks of hospitals (median Kendall's τ = 0.84; interquartile range: 0.82-0.88). Across all questions, a median of 5.0% (eight) of hospitals (interquartile range: 3.8-6.4%; six to ten hospitals) moved out of the extreme performance categories after case mix adjustment. In this context, patient case mix has only a small impact on measured hospital performance for cancer patient experience.

Simulator experiments: effects of NPP operator experience on performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beare, A.N.; Gray, L.H.

1984-01-01

During the FY83 research, a simulator experiment was conducted at the control room simulator for a GE Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) NPP. The research subjects were licensed operators undergoing requalification training and shift technical advisors (STAs). This experiment was designed to investigate the effects of senior reactor operator (SRO) experience, operating crew augmentation with an STA and practice, as a crew, upon crew and individual operator performance, in response to anticipated plant transients. Sixteen two-man crews of licensed operators were employed in a 2 x 2 factorial design. The SROs leading the crews were split into high and low experience groups on the basis of their years of experience as an SRO. One half of the high- and low-SRO experience groups were assisted by an STA. The crews responded to four simulated plant casualties. A five-variable set of content-referenced performance measures was derived from task analyses of the procedurally correct responses to the four casualties. System parameters and control manipulations were recorded by the computer controlling the simulator. Data on communications and procedure use were obtained from analysis of videotapes of the exercises. Questionnaires were used to collect subject biographical information and data on subjective workload during each simulated casualty. For four of the five performance measures, no significant differences were found between groups led by high (25 to 114 months) and low (1 to 17 months as an SRO) experience SROs. However, crews led by low experience SROs tended to have significantly shorter task performance times than crews led by high experience SROs. The presence of the STA had no significant effect on overall team performance in responding to the four simulated casualties. The FY84 experiments are a partial replication and extension of the FY83 experiment, but with PWR operators and simulator

Planar impact experiments for EOS measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furnish, M.D.

1993-01-01

The community concerned with the numerical modeling of groundshock produced by underground nuclear tests must have access to materials data to benchmark models of rock behavior. Historically the primary source of these data has been planar impact experiments. These experiments have involved gun, explosive and electrical launchers. Other methods of introducing planar shocks include shock driving by in-contact explosives or laser bursts. This paper briefly describes gun launcher-based planar impact methods used to characterize geological materials at Sandia National Laboratories

Impacts of suppression on emotional responses and performance outcomes: an experience-sampling study in younger and older workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeung, Dannii Y; Fung, Helene H

2012-11-01

Past studies have demonstrated that older adults used less emotional suppression to regulate their emotions than did younger adults, but the effectiveness of using this emotion regulatory strategy on psychosocial well-being across age remains largely unexplored. The present study adopted an experience-sampling method to examine whether the impacts of momentary employment of emotional suppression on momentary positive and negative emotions and job performance would be different by age. Eighty-seven Chinese insurance workers, aged between 18 and 61 years, participated in a 5-day sampling study. Their affective responses at work, momentary task performance, and sales productivity were recorded. Results showed that older workers' greater use of suppression at work was associated with lower intensity of negative emotions, whereas such association was not found among younger workers. Moreover, greater use of suppression over the sampling period was significantly predictive of sales productivity of older workers, but such a positive association was not shown in younger workers. These findings reveal that the use of suppression at work may be more effective for older workers than for younger workers.

LCROSS Impact Conditions and Ejecta Evolution: Insight from Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Hermalyn, B.; Schultz, P. H.; Colaprete, A.

2009-12-01

The ejecta distribution resulting from an impact event reflects the impact conditions and target material properties. The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission will provide a rare look at subsurface materials. The LCROSS impact will excavate regolith from a permanently shadowed crater on the south pole of the moon. The impactor, named the Earth-Departure-Upper-Stage (EDUS), will impact the surface at ~2.5km/s at an angle of greater than 80° from horizontal. The trailing Shepherding Spacecraft (SSc) will record the impact and take measurements of the ejecta in coordination with a comprehensive earth-based observational campaign. Prior studies have explored the predicted ejecta mass/velocity distribution and general ejecta dynamics through computational modeling (Korycansky, et al 2009) and scaling laws(Schultz, 2006, Heldmann et al 2007). At very early times, however, these models and scaling laws break down. It is this high-speed component of the ejected material that will reach the sunlight horizon first and will be recorded by the SSc. Thus to interpret the initial conditions of the impact from the LCROSS ejecta plume, the early-time ejecta distribution must be understood. A suite of impact experiments (performed at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range, or AVGR) were designed to interpret LCROSS conditions. These experiments reveal that early in the cratering process, when the projectile is still coupling its energy and momentum to the target surface, ejection velocity is higher than predicted by dimensional scaling laws (Housen, et al 1983). Moreover, the ejection angles of this early-time component are initially lower than predicted, and sweep upward tens of degrees to reach nominal ejection angles (~45° for impacts into sand). Low-density projectiles (such as the EDUS) yield even lower ejection angles throughout much of crater growth, thereby indicating a shallower depth of coupling. An estimate of mass above a given height calculated

Country logistics performance and disaster impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaillancourt, Alain; Haavisto, Ira

2016-04-01

The aim of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the relationship between country logistics performance and disaster impact. The relationship is analysed through correlation analysis and regression models for 117 countries for the years 2007 to 2012 with disaster impact variables from the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) and logistics performance indicators from the World Bank. The results show a significant relationship between country logistics performance and disaster impact overall and for five out of six specific logistic performance indicators. These specific indicators were further used to explore the relationship between country logistic performance and disaster impact for three specific disaster types (epidemic, flood and storm). The findings enhance the understanding of the role of logistics in a humanitarian context with empirical evidence of the importance of country logistics performance in disaster response operations. © 2016 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2016.

Impact of the focus of attention on vertical jump performance of junior basketball players

OpenAIRE

Manojlović Vladimir; Erčulj Frane

2013-01-01

The aim of the research was to determine the impact of the focus of attention on vertical jump performance expressed through a jump height. Thirteen basketball players (body mass = 73,4 kg, height = 186,58 cm, age = 15.12 ± 0.61 y) volunteered as participants. All the subject represented a club which participated in the Croatian cadets 1. league in season 2008/09, and were tested during the season. The subjects performed two experiments. In both experiments, they performed 15 repetitions of c...

Modeling prescribed burning experiments and assessing the fire impacts on local to regional air quality

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, L.; Baker, K. R.; Napelenok, S. L.; Elleman, R. A.; Urbanski, S. P.

2016-12-01

Biomass burning, including wildfires and prescribed burns, strongly impact the global carbon cycle and are of increasing concern due to the potential impacts on ambient air quality. This modelling study focuses on the evolution of carbonaceous compounds during a prescribed burning experiment and assesses the impacts of burning on local to regional air quality. The Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model is used to conduct 4 and 2 km grid resolution simulations of prescribed burning experiments in southeast Washington state and western Idaho state in summer 2013. The ground and airborne measurements from the field experiment are used to evaluate the model performance in capturing surface and aloft impacts from the burning events. Phase partitioning of organic compounds in the plume are studied as it is a crucial step towards understanding the fate of carbonaceous compounds. The sensitivities of ambient concentrations and deposition to emissions are conducted for organic carbon, elemental carbon and ozone to estimate the impacts of fire on air quality.

Impact of the wall conditioning program on plasma performance in NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kugel, H.W.; Soukhanovskii, V.; Bell, M.; Blanchard, W.; Gates, D.; LeBlanc, B.; Maingi, R.; Mueller, D.; Na, H.K.; Paul, S.; Skinner, C.H.; Stutman, D.; Wampler, W.R.

2003-01-01

High performance operating regimes have been achieved on NSTX through impurity control and wall conditioning techniques. These techniques include HeGDC-aided boronization using deuterated trimethylboron, inter-discharge HeGDC, 350 deg. C PFC bake-out followed by D 2 and HeGDC, and experiments to test fueling discharges with either a He-trimethylboron mixture or pure trimethylboron. The impact of this impurity and density control program on recent advances in NSTX plasma performance is discussed

Memory for Lectures: How Lecture Format Impacts the Learning Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Varao-Sousa, Trish L; Kingstone, Alan

2015-01-01

The present study investigated what impact the presentation style of a classroom lecture has on memory, mind wandering, and the subjective factors of interest and motivation. We examined if having a professor lecturing live versus on video alters the learning experience of the students in the classroom. During the lectures, students were asked to report mind wandering and later complete a memory test. The lecture format was manipulated such that all the students received two lectures, one live and one a pre-recorded video. Results indicate that lecture format affected memory performance but not mind wandering, with enhanced memory in the live lectures. Additionally, students reported greater interest and motivation in the live lectures. Given that a single change to the classroom environment, professor presence, impacted memory performance, as well as motivation and interest, the present results have several key implications for technology-based integrations into higher education classrooms.

Psychological impact on dispatched local lay rescuers performing bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zijlstra, Jolande A; Beesems, Stefanie G; De Haan, Rob J; Koster, Rudolph W

2015-07-01

We studied the short-term psychological impact and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related symptoms in lay rescuers performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after a text message (TM)-alert for out-of-hospital-cardiac arrest, and assessed which factors contribute to a higher level of PTSD-related symptoms. The lay rescuers received a TM-alert and simultaneously an email with a link to an online questionnaire. We analyzed all questionnaires from February 2013 until October 2014 measuring the short-term psychological impact. We interviewed by telephone all first arriving lay rescuers performing bystander CPR and assessed PTSD-related symptoms with the Impact of Event Scale (IES) 4-6 weeks after the resuscitation. IES-scores 0-8 reflected no stress, 9-25 mild, 26-43 moderate, and 44-75 severe stress. A score ≥ 26 indicated PTSD symptomatology. Of all alerted lay rescuers, 6572 completed the online questionnaire. Of these, 1955 responded to the alert and 507 assisted in the resuscitation. We interviewed 203 first arriving rescuers of whom 189 completed the IES. Of these, 41% perceived no/mild short-term impact, 46% bearable impact and 13% severe impact. On the IES, 81% scored no stress and 19% scored mild stress. None scored moderate or severe stress. Using a multivariable logistic regression model we identified three factors with an independent impact on mild stress level: no automated external defibrillator connected by the lay rescuer, severe short-term impact, and no (very) positive experience. Lay rescuers alerted by text messages, do not show PTSD-related symptoms 4-6 weeks after performing bystander CPR, even if they perceive severe short-term psychological impact. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of operating experience for early recognition of deteriorating safety performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beckmerhagen, I.A.; Berg, H.P.

2004-01-01

One of the most difficult challenges facing nuclear power plants is to recognize the early signs of degrading safety performance before regulatory requirements are imposed or serious incidents or accidents occur. Today, the nuclear industry is striving for collecting more information on occurrences that could improve the operational safety performance. To achieve this, the reporting threshold has been lowered from incidents to anomalies with minor or no impact to safety. Industry experience (also outside nuclear industry) has shown that these are typical issues which should be considered when looking for such early warning signs. Therefore, it is important that nuclear power plant operators have the capability to trend, analyse and recognize early warning signs of deteriorating performance. It is necessary that plant operators are sensitive to these warning signs which may not be immediately evident. Reviewing operating experience is one of the main tasks for plant operators in their daily activities. Therefore, self assessment should be at the centre of any operational safety performance programme. One way of applying a self assessment program is through the following four basic elements: operational data, events, safety basis, and related experience. This approach will be described in the paper in more details. (authors)

Leadership impact in organizational performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Venet Shala

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to understand the impact of organizational leadership and its performance analyzing the concepts and styles of leadership behaviors within organization, in our study case LOGI-KOS, describing good performance through successful leadership impact and its values. Throughout the study, different leadership theories are mentioned. There are two methods which are used to gather information, qualitative and quantitative method. Eye to eye interviews have been organized with the CEO of the organization which is part of our study case and surveys are filled by employees. Empiric study is made possible through surveys in which took part over 28 out of 36 employees. As of the information which was gathered, it indicates that in our case study the leadership behaviors had huge impact within the performance of the organization, which is one of the key factors for success.

Construction of climate change scenarios from transient climate change experiments for the IPCC impacts assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viner, D.; Hulme, M.; Raper, S.C.B.; Jones, P.D.

1994-01-01

This paper outlines the different methods which may be used for the construction of regional climate change scenarios. The main focus of the paper is the construction of global climate change scenarios from climate change experiments carried out using General Circulation Models (GCMS) An introduction to some GCM climate change experiments highlights the difference between model types and experiments (e.g., equilibrium or transient). The latest generation of climate change experiments has been performed using fully coupled ocean-atmosphere GCMS. These allow transient simulations of climate change to be performed with respect to a given greenhouse gas forcing scenario. There are, however, a number of problems with these simulations which pose difficulties for the construction of climate change scenarios for use in climate change impacts assessment. The characteristics of the transient climate change experiments which pose difficulties for the construction of climate change scenarios are discussed. Three examples of these problems are: different climate change experiments use different greenhouse gas concentration scenarios; the 'cold-start' problem makes it difficult to link future projections of climate change to a given calendar year; a drift of the climate is noticeable in the control simulations. In order to construct climate change scenarios for impacts assessment a method has therefore to be employed which addresses these problems. At present the climate modeling and climate change impacts communities are somewhat polarized in their approach to spatial scales. Current GCMs model the climate at resolutions larger than 2.5 x 3.75 degree, while the majority of impacts assessment studies are undertaken at scales below 50km (or 0.5 degree). This paper concludes by addressing the problems in bringing together these two different modeling perspectives by presenting a number of regional climate change scenarios. 35 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs

Memory for Lectures: How Lecture Format Impacts the Learning Experience.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trish L Varao-Sousa

Full Text Available The present study investigated what impact the presentation style of a classroom lecture has on memory, mind wandering, and the subjective factors of interest and motivation. We examined if having a professor lecturing live versus on video alters the learning experience of the students in the classroom. During the lectures, students were asked to report mind wandering and later complete a memory test. The lecture format was manipulated such that all the students received two lectures, one live and one a pre-recorded video. Results indicate that lecture format affected memory performance but not mind wandering, with enhanced memory in the live lectures. Additionally, students reported greater interest and motivation in the live lectures. Given that a single change to the classroom environment, professor presence, impacted memory performance, as well as motivation and interest, the present results have several key implications for technology-based integrations into higher education classrooms.

Impact of detector simulation in particle physics collider experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel Elvira, V.

2017-06-01

Through the last three decades, accurate simulation of the interactions of particles with matter and modeling of detector geometries has proven to be of critical importance to the success of the international high-energy physics (HEP) experimental programs. For example, the detailed detector modeling and accurate physics of the Geant4-based simulation software of the CMS and ATLAS particle physics experiments at the European Center of Nuclear Research (CERN) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was a determinant factor for these collaborations to deliver physics results of outstanding quality faster than any hadron collider experiment ever before. This review article highlights the impact of detector simulation on particle physics collider experiments. It presents numerous examples of the use of simulation, from detector design and optimization, through software and computing development and testing, to cases where the use of simulation samples made a difference in the precision of the physics results and publication turnaround, from data-taking to submission. It also presents estimates of the cost and economic impact of simulation in the CMS experiment. Future experiments will collect orders of magnitude more data with increasingly complex detectors, taxing heavily the performance of simulation and reconstruction software. Consequently, exploring solutions to speed up simulation and reconstruction software to satisfy the growing demand of computing resources in a time of flat budgets is a matter that deserves immediate attention. The article ends with a short discussion on the potential solutions that are being considered, based on leveraging core count growth in multicore machines, using new generation coprocessors, and re-engineering HEP code for concurrency and parallel computing.

Edge on Impact Simulations and Experiments

OpenAIRE

Leavy, R. Brian; Clayton, John D.; Strack, O. Erik; Brannon, Rebecca M.; Strassburger, Elmar

2013-01-01

In the quest to understand damage and failure of ceramics in ballistic events, simplified experiments have been developed to benchmark behavior. One such experiment is known as edge on impact (EOI). In this experiment, an impactor strikes the edge of a thin square plate, and damage and cracking that occur on the free surface are captured in real time with high speed photography. If the material of interest is transparent, additional information regarding damage and wave mechanics within the s...

Performance of a New Fine Particle Impact Damper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanchen Du

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The energy dissipation mechanisms of conventional impact damper (CID are mainly momentum exchange and friction. During the impact process, a lot of vibration energy cannot be exhausted but reverberated among the vibration partners. Besides, the CID may produce the additional vibration to the system or even amplify the response in the low-frequency vibration. To overcome these shortcomings, this paper proposes a new fine particle impact damper (FPID which for the first time introduces the fine particle plastic deformation as an irreversible energy sink. Then, the experiments of the cantilevered beam with the CID and that with the FPID are, respectively, carried out to investigate the behavior of FPID. The experimental results indicate that the FPID has a better performance in vibration damping than in the CID and the FPID works well in control of the vibration with frequency lower than 50 Hz, which is absent to the non-obstructive particle damper. Thus, the FPID has a bright and significant application future because most of the mechanical vibration falls in the range of low freqency.

Music experience influences laparoscopic skills performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, Tanner; Jung, Inkyung; Van Sickle, Kent; Schwesinger, Wayne; Michalek, Joel; Bingener, Juliane

2008-01-01

Music education affects the mathematical and visuo-spatial skills of school-age children. Visuo-spatial abilities have a significant effect on laparoscopic suturing performance. We hypothesize that prior music experience influences the performance of laparoscopic suturing tasks. Thirty novices observed a laparoscopic suturing task video. Each performed 3 timed suturing task trials. Demographics were recorded. A repeated measures linear mixed model was used to examine the effects of prior music experience on suturing task time. Twelve women and 18 men completed the tasks. When adjusted for video game experience, participants who currently played an instrument performed significantly faster than those who did not (PMen who had never played an instrument or were currently playing an instrument performed better than women in the same group (P=0.002 and P<0.001). There was no sex difference in the performance of participants who had played an instrument in the past (P=0.29). This study attempted to investigate the effect of music experience on the laparoscopic suturing abilities of surgical novices. The visuo-spatial abilities used in laparoscopic suturing may be enhanced in those involved in playing an instrument.

Validation Study of Unnotched Charpy and Taylor-Anvil Impact Experiments using Kayenta

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamojjala, Krishna [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Lacy, Jeffrey [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Chu, Henry S. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Brannon, Rebecca [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-03-01

Validation of a single computational model with multiple available strain-to-failure fracture theories is presented through experimental tests and numerical simulations of the standardized unnotched Charpy and Taylor-anvil impact tests, both run using the same material model (Kayenta). Unnotched Charpy tests are performed on rolled homogeneous armor steel. The fracture patterns using Kayenta’s various failure options that include aleatory uncertainty and scale effects are compared against the experiments. Other quantities of interest include the average value of the absorbed energy and bend angle of the specimen. Taylor-anvil impact tests are performed on Ti6Al4V titanium alloy. The impact speeds of the specimen are 321 m/s and 393 m/s. The goal of the numerical work is to reproduce the damage patterns observed in the laboratory. For the numerical study, the Johnson-Cook failure model is used as the ductile fracture criterion, and aleatory uncertainty is applied to rate-dependence parameters to explore its effect on the fracture patterns.

Case-mix adjustment and the comparison of community health center performance on patient experience measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, M Laura; Rodriguez, Hector P; Solorio, M Rosa

2010-06-01

To assess the effect of case-mix adjustment on community health center (CHC) performance on patient experience measures. A Medicaid-managed care plan in Washington State collected patient survey data from 33 CHCs over three fiscal quarters during 2007-2008. The survey included three composite patient experience measures (6-month reports) and two overall ratings of care. The analytic sample includes 2,247 adult patients and 2,859 adults reporting for child patients. We compared the relative importance of patient case-mix adjusters by calculating each adjuster's predictive power and variability across CHCs. We then evaluated the impact of case-mix adjustment on the relative ranking of CHCs. Important case-mix adjusters included adult self-reported health status or parent-reported child health status, adult age, and educational attainment. The effects of case-mix adjustment on patient reports and ratings were different in the adult and child samples. Adjusting for race/ethnicity and language had a greater impact on parent reports than adult reports, but it impacted ratings similarly across the samples. The impact of adjustment on composites and ratings was modest, but it affected the relative ranking of CHCs. To ensure equitable comparison of CHC performance on patient experience measures, reports and ratings should be adjusted for adult self-reported health status or parent-reported child health status, adult age, education, race/ethnicity, and survey language. Because of the differential impact of case-mix adjusters for child and adult surveys, initiatives should consider measuring and reporting adult and child scores separately.

Impact of vocational interests, previous academic experience, gender and age on Situational Judgement Test performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schripsema, Nienke R.; Trigt, van Anke M.; Borleffs, Jan C. C.; Cohen-Schotanus, Janke

Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs) are increasingly implemented in medical school admissions. In this paper, we investigate the effects of vocational interests, previous academic experience, gender and age on SJT performance. The SJT was part of the selection process for the Bachelor's degree

Impact of Pre-Pharmacy Work Experience on Development of Professional Identity in Student Pharmacists.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloom, Timothy J; Smith, Jennifer D; Rich, Wesley

2017-12-01

Objective. To determine the benefit of pharmacy work experience on the development of student pharmacists' professional identity. Methods. Students in all four professional years were surveyed using a validated Professional Self-identity Questionnaire (PSIQ). They were also asked about pharmacy experience prior to matriculation and their performance on Drug Information tests given midway through the P1 year and at the beginning of the P3 year. PSIQ responses and test results were compared based on pharmacy experience. Results. The PSIQ was completed by 293 student pharmacists, for a 67% response rate, with 76% of respondents reporting pharmacy experience prior to matriculation. Statistically higher scores on responses to 6 of the 9 PSIQ Likert-type items were observed from students in the first professional year for those with pharmacy experience; however, only one item in the second year showed differences with none in the third and fourth years. No impact of experience was observed on Top 100 or Top 300 grades. Conclusion. Pre-matriculation pharmacy experience may increase development of professional identity early in the student experience but may have little impact on academic readiness. Schools and colleges of pharmacy hoping to recruit students with an early sense of professional identity should consider adding such experience to their admissions requirements.

Impact of Vocational Interests, Previous Academic Experience, Gender and Age on Situational Judgement Test Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Schripsema, Nienke R.; van Trigt, Anke M.; Borleffs, Jan C. C.; Cohen-Schotanus, Janke

2017-01-01

Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs) are increasingly implemented in medical school admissions. In this paper, we investigate the effects of vocational interests, previous academic experience, gender and age on SJT performance. The SJT was part of the selection process for the Bachelor's degree programme in Medicine at University of Groningen, the…

Genetic moderation of the effects of cannabis: catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) affects the impact of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on working memory performance but not on the occurrence of psychotic experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Tunbridge, Elizabeth M; Dunn, Graham; Murray, Robin M; Evans, Nicole; Lister, Rachel; Stumpenhorst, Katharina; Harrison, Paul J; Morrison, Paul D; Freeman, Daniel

2015-11-01

Cannabis use can induce cognitive impairments and psychotic experiences. A functional polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene (Val(158)Met) appears to influence the immediate cognitive and psychotic effects of cannabis, or ∆(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), its primary psychoactive ingredient. This study investigated the moderation of the impact of experimentally administered THC by COMT. Cognitive performance and psychotic experiences were studied in participants without a psychiatric diagnosis, using a between-subjects design (THC vs. placebo). The effect of COMT Val(158)Met genotype on the cognitive and psychotic effects of THC, administered intravenously in a double-blind, placebo-controlled manner to 78 participants who were vulnerable to paranoia, was examined. The results showed interactive effects of genotype and drug group (THC or placebo) on working memory, assayed using the Digit Span Backwards task. Specifically, THC impaired performance in COMT Val/Val, but not Met, carriers. In contrast, the effect of THC on psychotic experiences, measured using the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) positive dimension, was unaffected by COMT genotype. This study is the largest to date examining the impact of COMT genotype on response to experimentally administered THC, and the first using a purely non-clinical cohort. The data suggest that COMT genotype moderates the cognitive, but not the psychotic, effects of acutely administered THC. © The Author(s) 2015.

The Impact of Agricultural Science Education on Performance in a Biology Course

Science.gov (United States)

Ernest, Byron L.

The lack of student achievement in science is often cited in U.S. educational reports. At the study site, low student achievement in science has been an ongoing concern for administrators. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the impact of agricultural science education on student performance in a Biology course. Vygotsky's constructivist theory and Gardner's multiple intelligences theory provided the framework for the study. The quantitative research question examined the relationship between the completion of Fundamentals of Agriculture Science and Business course and student performance in Biology I. Teacher perceptions and experiences regarding the integration of science and agricultural curriculum and traditional science curriculum were examined qualitatively. A sequential explanatory design was employed using 3 years of data collected from 486 high school students and interviews with 10 teachers. Point-biserial correlation and chi square tests revealed statistically significant relationships between whether or not students completed Fundamentals of Agriculture Science and Business and Biology I course performance, as measured by the end of course assessment and the course grade. In the qualitative sequence, typological and inductive data analyses were applied to the interview data, and themes of student impact and teacher experience emerged. Social change implications may be possible through improved science education for students in this program. Agriculture science courses may be used to facilitate learning of complex science concepts, designing teacher collaboration and professional development for teaching science in a relevant context, and resultant improved student performance in science.

Parental and embryonic experiences with predation risk affect prey offspring behaviour and performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Donelan, Sarah C; Trussell, Geoffrey C

2018-03-14

Because phenotypic plasticity can operate both within and between generations, phenotypic outcomes are often shaped by a complex history of environmental signals. For example, parental and embryonic experiences with predation risk can both independently and interactively influence prey offspring traits early in their life. Parental and embryonic risk experiences can also independently shape offspring phenotypes throughout an offspring's ontogeny, but the persistence of their interactive effects throughout offspring ontogeny is unknown. We examined the effects of parental and embryonic experiences with predation risk on the response of 1-year-old prey (the carnivorous snail, Nucella lapillus ) offspring to current predation risk. We found that parental and embryonic risk experiences had largely independent effects on offspring performance and that these effects were context dependent. Parental experience with risk had strong impacts on multiple offspring traits in the presence of current risk that generally improved offspring performance under risk, but embryonic risk experience had relatively weaker effects and only operated in the absence of current risk to reduce offspring growth. These results illustrate that past environmental experiences can dynamically shape organism phenotypes across ontogeny and that attention to these effects is key to a better understanding of predator/prey dynamics in natural systems. © 2018 The Author(s).

The effects of positive versus negative impact reflection on change in job performance and work-life conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardador, M Teresa

2014-01-01

Research on task significance and relational job design suggests that information from beneficiaries of one's work fosters perceptions of impact, and thus improved work outcomes. This paper presents results from a longitudinal field experiment examining the effect of another strategy for fostering perceptions of impact - engaging employees in regular reflection about how their work benefits others. With a sample of professionals from multiple organizations, this longitudinal study examined the effect on job performance and work-life conflict of both positive and negative impact reflection. Results show that negative impact reflection had a pronounced negative effect on job performance, but no effect on work-life conflict. Positive impact reflection had a weak positive effect on work-life conflict, but no significant effect on job performance. The direction of effects seen in the no intervention condition mirrored that of the negative impact reflection condition, suggesting a possible buffering effect for positive impact reflection. This research provides empirical and theoretical contributions to the literatures on relational job design and task significance.

Impact of the site specialty of a continuity practice on students' clinical skills: performance with standardized patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeiffer, Carol A; Palley, Jane E; Harrington, Karen L

2010-07-01

The assessment of clinical competence and the impact of training in ambulatory settings are two issues of importance in the evaluation of medical student performance. This study compares the clinical skills performance of students placed in three types of community preceptors' offices (pediatrics, medicine, family medicine) on yearly clinical skills assessments with standardized patients. Our goal was to see if the site specialty impacted on clinical performance. The students in the study were completing a 3-year continuity preceptorship at a site representing one of the disciplines. Their performance on the four clinical skills assessments was compared. There was no significant difference in history taking, physical exam, communication, or clinical reasoning in any year (ANOVA p< or = .05) There was a small but significant difference in performance on a measure of interpersonal and interviewing skills during Years 1 and 2. The site specialty of an early clinical experience does not have a significant impact on performance of most of the skills measured by the assessments.

Musical expertise has minimal impact on dual task performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Cocchini, Gianna; Filardi, Maria Serena; Crhonkova, Marcela; Halpern, Andrea R

2017-05-01

Studies investigating effect of practice on dual task performance have yielded conflicting findings, thus supporting different theoretical accounts about the organisation of attentional resources when tasks are performed simultaneously. Because practice has been proven to reduce the demand of attention for the trained task, the impact of long-lasting training on one task is an ideal way to better understand the mechanisms underlying dual task decline in performance. Our study compared performance during dual task execution in expert musicians compared to controls with little if any musical experience. Participants performed a music recognition task and a visuo-spatial task separately (single task) or simultaneously (dual task). Both groups showed a significant but similar performance decline during dual tasks. In addition, the two groups showed a similar decline of dual task performance during encoding and retrieval of the musical information, mainly attributed to a decline in sensitivity. Our results suggest that attention during dual tasks is similarly distributed by expert and non-experts. These findings are in line with previous studies showing a lack of sensitivity to difficulty and lack of practice effect during dual tasks, supporting the idea that different tasks may rely on different and not-sharable attentional resources.

Do emotional intelligence and previous caring experience influence student nurse performance? A comparative analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Stenhouse, Rosie; Snowden, Austyn; Young, Jenny; Carver, Fiona; Carver, Hannah; Brown, Norrie

2016-08-01

Reports of poor nursing care have focused attention on values based selection of candidates onto nursing programmes. Values based selection lacks clarity and valid measures. Previous caring experience might lead to better care. Emotional intelligence (EI) might be associated with performance, is conceptualised and measurable. To examine the impact of 1) previous caring experience, 2) emotional intelligence 3) social connection scores on performance and retention in a cohort of first year nursing and midwifery students in Scotland. A longitudinal, quasi experimental design. Adult and mental health nursing, and midwifery programmes in a Scottish University. Adult, mental health and midwifery students (n=598) completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-short form and Schutte's Emotional Intelligence Scale on entry to their programmes at a Scottish University, alongside demographic and previous caring experience data. Social connection was calculated from a subset of questions identified within the TEIQue-SF in a prior factor and Rasch analysis. Student performance was calculated as the mean mark across the year. Withdrawal data were gathered. 598 students completed baseline measures. 315 students declared previous caring experience, 277 not. An independent-samples t-test identified that those without previous caring experience scored higher on performance (57.33±11.38) than those with previous caring experience (54.87±11.19), a statistically significant difference of 2.47 (95% CI, 0.54 to 4.38), t(533)=2.52, p=.012. Emotional intelligence scores were not associated with performance. Social connection scores for those withdrawing (mean rank=249) and those remaining (mean rank=304.75) were statistically significantly different, U=15,300, z=-2.61, p$_amp_$lt;0.009. Previous caring experience led to worse performance in this cohort. Emotional intelligence was not a useful indicator of performance. Lower scores on the social connection factor were associated

Full-scale turbine-missile concrete impact experiments. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodfin, R.L.

1983-02-01

Four full-scale experiments were conducted at Sandia National Laboratories' rocket sled facility to provide data on the response of reinforced concrete containment walls to impact and penetration by postulated turbine-produced missiles. The missiles' mass, velocity, and attitude, and the steel liner thickness, were varied. A 1476-kg, 120 0 segment cut from a shrunk-on turbine disc was used for three experiments, and a 2100-kg, 137 0 segment of another disc was used for one experiment. The targets were concrete panels fabricated of commercial ready-mix concrete of strength 24 to 28 MPa at 28 days and heavily reinforced (approx. = 5% by volume) with No. 18 (57-mm-dai) bars. Impacts were perpendicular to the targets at their centers. Three impacts were with the sharp corner of the missile forward (piercing) and one was with the rounded side forward (blunt). Rebar strains, liner strains, and rear face kinematic quantities were recorded for each test. Internal pressure pulses generated by the impacts were recorded on two tests. High-speed camera coverage was extensive. Depth of penetration was the primary measure diameter. Penetration depths into the 1.37-m-thick panels ranged from 33 cm for the blunt impact of the 1476-kg missile at 92 m/s to 65 cm for the piercing impact of the 2100-kg missile at 115m/s. Impact at the piercing attitude caused significantly more severe rear face cracking than did impact at the blunt attitude, but since rear face panel displacements in excess of 6 cm and velocities greater than 7 m/s were measured, results suggested that impact at a blunt attitude might cause scabbing at lower velocities than impact at a piercing attidude. In these tests, the presence of a 9.5-mm-thick steel liner on the rear face of the panel in the latter two tests precluded scabbing. Results also indicated that design formulas in common use give conservative results

The Impact of Social Networks on Students’ Performance

OpenAIRE

Jusuf Zekiri

2016-01-01

The objective of this study is to determine the impact of using social media and its impact on students’ performance and success. This research tries to identify the relationship between students’ use of social networks and their success in their studies. It tries also to find out whether time spent impacts students’ performance and success. Whether students use social media more for entertainment or for teaching and information sharing purposes. The paper uses a quantitative approach for col...

The Ejecta Evolution of Deep Impact: Insight from Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Hermalyn, B.; Schultz, P. H.; Heineck, J. T.

2010-12-01

The Deep Impact (DI) probe impacted comet 9P/Tempel 1 at an angle of ~30° from local horizontal with a velocity of 10.2 km/s. Examination of the resulting ballistic (e.g., non-vapor driven) ejecta revealed phenomena that largely followed expectations from laboratory investigations of oblique impacts into low-density porous material, including a downrange bias, uprange zone of avoidance, and cardioid (curved) rays (Schultz, et al, 2005, 2007). Modeling of the impact based on canonical models and scaling laws (Richardson, et al, 2007) allowed a first-order reconstruction of the event, but did not fully represent the three-dimensional nature of the ejecta flow-field in an oblique impact essential for interpretation of the DI data. In this study, we present new experimental measurements of the early-time ejecta dynamics in oblique impacts that allow a more complete reconstruction of the ballistic ejecta from the impact, including visualization of the DI encounter and predictions for the upcoming re-encounter with Tempel 1. A suite of hypervelocity 30° impact experiments into granular materials was performed at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range (AVGR) for the purpose of interpreting the Deep Impact event. A technique based on Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) permitted non-intrusive measurement of the ejecta velocity within the ejecta curtain. The PTV system developed at the AVGR utilizes a laser light sheet projected parallel to the impact surface to illuminate horizontal “slices” of the ejecta curtain that are then recorded by multiple cameras. Particle displacement between successive frames and cameras allows determination of the three-component velocity of the ejecta curtain. Pioneering efforts with a similar technique (Anderson, et al, 2003, 2006) characterized the main-stage ejecta velocity distributions and demonstrated that asymmetries in velocity and ejection angle persist well into the far-field for oblique impacts. In this study, high-speed cameras

Experiments on vibro-impact dynamics of loosely supported tubes under harmonic excitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Axisa, F.; Izquierdo, P.

1992-01-01

Computational methods have been recently developed by the authors and others to predict the working life or the acceptable vibration limit of tubular structures experiencing fretting-wear caused by impact-sliding interaction with loose supports or adjacent structures. This problem is of practical interest in various nuclear and other industrial components. This paper reports an experimental work intended to validate the numerical techniques used to compute the tube non-linear vibration in presence of impact-sliding interaction. Attention is especially focused on the local and time averaged dynamical parameters governing the rate of fretting-wear. The experiments were carried out on a straight tube excited harmonically by a pair of electromagnetic shakers. The tube motion was limited by a loose support situated at about midspan. On the other hand, numerical simulations of the tests were also performed. Comparison between test and computational data resulted in rather satisfactory agreement, based on the averaged impact forces and the wear work rate. Results are also discussed in terms of detailed time histories of tube displacement and impact forces

Operational Experience and Performance with the ATLAS Pixel Detector at the Large Hadron Collider

CERN Document Server

Grummer, Aidan; The ATLAS collaboration

2018-01-01

The tracking performance of the ATLAS detector relies critically on its 4-layer Pixel Detector, that has undergone significant hardware and software upgrades to meet the challenges imposed by the higher collision energy, pileup and luminosity that are being delivered by the Large Hadron Collider, with record breaking instantaneous luminosities of 2 x 10^34 cm-2 s-1 recently surpassed. The key status and performance metrics of the ATLAS Pixel Detector are summarised, and the operational experience and requirements to ensure optimum data quality and data taking efficiency will be described, with special emphasis to radiation damage experience. In particular, radiation damage effects will be showed and signs of degradation which are visible but which are not impacting yet the tracking performance (but will): dE/dX, occupancy reduction with integrated luminosity, under-depletion effects with IBL in 2016, effects of annealing that is not insignificant for the inner-most layers. Therefore the offline software strat...

Impact of the focus of attention on vertical jump performance of junior basketball players

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manojlović Vladimir

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research was to determine the impact of the focus of attention on vertical jump performance expressed through a jump height. Thirteen basketball players (body mass = 73,4 kg, height = 186,58 cm, age = 15.12 ± 0.61 y volunteered as participants. All the subject represented a club which participated in the Croatian cadets 1. league in season 2008/09, and were tested during the season. The subjects performed two experiments. In both experiments, they performed 15 repetitions of countermovement jump, whereas in one of the experiments, during the performance of the jumps they were listening to an audio record of spectators. For both type of jumps, the subjects were instructed to stay in the air as long as possible during a single jump (external focus of attention. To determine the differences between jumps, a paired-sample t-test was used with a level of statistical significance set to p ≤ 0.05. Comparison for jump height between both type of jumps revealed no statistically significant difference, although the presented difference should not be denied considering a real match conditions.

Valuing the human asset - the impact of university placements on academic performance and graduate employment amongst management students

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, R.

2012-05-01

The employment market for graduates is competitive with employers requiring appropriate work experience in addition to academic qualifications. Sandwich courses, where up to a year is spent in industry, provide an opportunity for structured work experience to be gained alongside studying. Benefits of placements include improved academic performance and the development of transferable skills to increase employability. This paper evaluates the impact of placements on academic performance and graduate employment among management students. Analysing performance data and graduate destinations data, results indicate that management students completing a placement are more likely to perform better academically with improvements in their personal grades between year 2 and the final year. Additionally, a qualitative themed analysis of student experiences indicates placement students feel more confident in engaging with the graduate recruitment process, with a better understanding of their personal skills and an ability to articulate their experience in relation to the workplace.

Measuring the Impact of Language-Learning Software on Test Performance of Chinese Learners of English

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholes, Justin

2016-01-01

This classroom quasi-experiment aimed to learn if and to what degree supplementing classroom instruction with Rosetta Stone (RS), Tell Me More (TMM), Memrise (MEM), or ESL WOW (WOW) impacted high-stakes English test performance in areas of university-level writing, reading, speaking, listening, and grammar. Seventy-eight (N = 78) Chinese learners…

Impact of window decrement rate on TCP performance in an adhoc network

Science.gov (United States)

Suherman; Hutasuhut, Arief T. W.; Badra, Khaldun; Al-Akaidi, Marwan

2017-09-01

Transmission control protocol (TCP) is a reliable transport protocol handling end to end connection in TCP/IP stack. It works well in copper or optical fibre link, but experiences increasing delay in wireless network. Further, TCP experiences multiple retransmissions due to higher collision probability within wireless network. The situation may get worsen in an ad hoc network. This paper examines the impact half window or window reduction rate to the overall TCP performances. The evaluation using NS-2 simulator shows that the smaller the window decrement rate results the smaller end to end delay. Delay is reduced to 17.05% in average when window decrement rate decreases. Average jitter also decreases 4.15%, while packet loss is not affected.

System Configuration and Operation Plan of Hayabusa2 DCAM3-D Camera System for Scientific Observation During SCI Impact Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Ogawa, Kazunori; Shirai, Kei; Sawada, Hirotaka; Arakawa, Masahiko; Honda, Rie; Wada, Koji; Ishibashi, Ko; Iijima, Yu-ichi; Sakatani, Naoya; Nakazawa, Satoru; Hayakawa, Hajime

2017-07-01

An artificial impact experiment is scheduled for 2018-2019 in which an impactor will collide with asteroid 162137 Ryugu (1999 JU3) during the asteroid rendezvous phase of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The small carry-on impactor (SCI) will shoot a 2-kg projectile at 2 km/s to create a crater 1-10 m in diameter with an expected subsequent ejecta curtain of a 100-m scale on an ideal sandy surface. A miniaturized deployable camera (DCAM3) unit will separate from the spacecraft at about 1 km from impact, and simultaneously conduct optical observations of the experiment. We designed and developed a camera system (DCAM3-D) in the DCAM3, specialized for scientific observations of impact phenomenon, in order to clarify the subsurface structure, construct theories of impact applicable in a microgravity environment, and identify the impact point on the asteroid. The DCAM3-D system consists of a miniaturized camera with a wide-angle and high-focusing performance, high-speed radio communication devices, and control units with large data storage on both the DCAM3 unit and the spacecraft. These components were successfully developed under severe constraints of size, mass and power, and the whole DCAM3-D system has passed all tests verifying functions, performance, and environmental tolerance. Results indicated sufficient potential to conduct the scientific observations during the SCI impact experiment. An operation plan was carefully considered along with the configuration and a time schedule of the impact experiment, and pre-programed into the control unit before the launch. In this paper, we describe details of the system design concept, specifications, and the operating plan of the DCAM3-D system, focusing on the feasibility of scientific observations.

Simulator experiments: effects of NPP operator experience on performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beare, A.N.; Gray, L.H.

1985-01-01

Experiments are being conducted on nuclear power plant (NPP) control room training simulators by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, its subcontractor, General Physics Corporation, and participating utilities. The experiments are sponsored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Human Factors and Safeguards Branch, Division of Risk Analysis and Operations, and are a continuation of prior research using simulators, supported by field data collection, to provide a technical basis for NRC human factors regulatory issues concerned with the operational safety of nuclear power plants. During the FY83 research, a simulator experiment was conducted at the control room simulator for a GE boiling water reactor (BWR) NPP. The research subjects were licensed operators undergoing requalification training and shift technical advisors (STAs). This experiment was designed to investigate the effects of (a) senior reactor operator (SRO) experience, (b) operating crew augmentation with an STA and (c) practice, as a crew, upon crew and individual operator performance, in response to anticipated plant transients. The FY84 experiments are a partial replication and extension of the FY83 experiment, but with PWR operators and simulator. Methodology and results to date are reported

Fuel performance experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sofer, G.A.

1986-01-01

The history of LWR fuel supply has been characterized by a wide range of design developments and fuel cycle cost improvements. Exxon Nuclear Company, Inc. has pursued an aggressive fuel research and development program aimed at improved fuel performance. Exxon Nuclear has introduced many design innovations which have improved fuel cycle economics and operating flexibility while fuel failures remain at very low levels. The removable upper tie plate feature of Exxon Nuclear assemblies has helped accelerate this development, enabling repeated inspections during successive plant outages. Also, this design feature has made it possible to repair damaged fuel assemblies during refueling outages, thereby minimizing the economic impact of fuel failure from all causes

Communication and laboratory performance in parapsychology experiments: demand characteristics and the social organization of interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Wooffitt, Robin

2007-09-01

This paper reports findings from a conversation analytic study of experimenter-participant interaction in parapsychology experiments. It shows how properties of communication through which the routine business of the experiment is conducted may have an impact on the research participant's subsequent performance. In this, the study explores social psychological features of the psychology laboratory. In particular, it examines aspects of Orne's (1962) account of what he called the demand characteristics of the psychological experiment. The data come from a corpus of audio recordings of experimenter-participant interaction during experiments on extra-sensory perception. These kinds of experiments, and the phenomena they purport to study, are undoubtedly controversial; however, the paper argues that there are grounds for social psychologists to consider parapsychology experiments as a class (albeit distinctive) of psychology experiments, and, therefore, as sites in which general social psychological and communicative phenomena can be studied. The empirical sections of the paper examine interaction during part of the experimental procedure when the experimenter verbally reviews a record of the participant's imagery reported during an earlier part of the experiment. The analysis shows that the way in which the experimenter acknowledges the research participants' utterances may be significant for the trajectory of the experiment and explores how the participants' subsequent performance in the experiment may be influenced by interactionally generated contingencies.

The Impact of Internet Banking on Bank Performance and Risk: The Indian Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pooja MALHOTRA

2009-11-01

Full Text Available The paper describes the current state of Internet banking in India and discusses its implications for the Indian banking industry. Particularly, it seeks to examine the impact of Internet banking on banks’ performance and risk. Using information drawn from the survey of 85 scheduled commercial bank’s websites, during the period of June 2007, the results show that nearly 57 percent of the Indian commercial banks are providing transactional Internet banking services. The univariate analysis indicates that Internet banks are larger banks and have better operating efficiency ratios and profitability as compared to non-Internet banks. Internet banks rely more heavily on core deposits for funding than non-Internet banks do. However, the multiple regression results reveal that the profitability and offering of Internet banking does not have any significant association, on the other hand, Internet banking has a significant and negative association with risk profile of the bank

Impacts of climate change performance on building in New Zealand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Camilleri, M.; Jaques, R.; Isaacs, N.

2001-07-01

Climate change is expected to impact on many aspects of building performance, with much of the existing and future building stock likely to be affected. Potential impacts of climate change on buildings are identified, evaluated as to how serious they might be, and actions are considered to ensure that future building performance is not compromised. Climate change scenarios for New Zealand defined the scale of climate changes considered for building performance. For each climate variable, relevant aspects of building performance were examined to determine if there is likely to be a significant impact. Where significant impacts were indicated, they were studied in detail and quantified where possible. A risk-profiling tool was formulated to cover the risk/severity of the most significant climate change impacts, which include flooding, tropical cyclones and overheating. Adaptation strategies were developed for each climate change impact, with different responses appropriate for each impact. Mitigation of greenhouse emissions is also addressed. For those risks where delaying action has serious consequences, it may be appropriate to consider changes in building or zoning regulations to anticipate the future impacts of climate change. Some implications for future building performance, design, standards and regulation are discussed. (author)

Pipe missile impact experiments on concrete models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McHugh, S.; Gupta, Y.; Seaman, L.

1981-06-01

The experiments described in this study are a part of SRI studies for EPRI on the local response of reinforced concrete panels to missile impacts. The objectives of this task were to determine the feasibility of using scale model tests to reproduce the impact response of reinforced concrete panels observed in full-scale tests with pipe missiles and to evaluate the effect of concrete strength on the impact response. The experimental approach consisted of replica scaling: the missile and target materials were similar to those used in the full-scale tests, with all dimensions scaled by 5/32. Four criteria were selected for comparing the scaled and full-scale test results: frontface penetration, backface scabbing threshold, internal cracking in the panel, and missile deformation

Service experience through the eyes of budget hotel guests : do factors of importance influence performance dimensions?

OpenAIRE

Mohsin, A.; Lengler, J.F.B.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to test the influence of dimensions of importance (expectations) in hotel services on performance (actual experience) within the context of budget hotels in China. A theoretical model and nine hypotheses are tested to indicate whether the dimensions of importance such as room service, room comfort and reservation process, have any impact on performance dimensions such as in-room dining, front office service, room amenities and hotel access and safety. A final model is...

The Impact of a Customer Service Intervention and Facility Design on Firm Performance

OpenAIRE

Joanne M. Sulek; Mary R. Lind; Ann S. Marucheck

1995-01-01

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of a customer service intervention and store design on store performance within a regional food retailing chain. A longitudinal study examines the organization's implementation of a customer service intervention which utilized new service standards and customer feedback mechanisms. Moreover, the chain provided a natural experiment, since the forty-six stores in this chain represented three levels of facility design ranging from the tr...

The Impact of Nursing Students' Prior Chemistry Experience on Academic Performance and Perception of Relevance in a Health Science Course

Science.gov (United States)

Boddey, Kerrie; de Berg, Kevin

2015-01-01

Nursing students have typically found the study of chemistry to be one of their major challenges in a nursing course. This mixed method study was designed to explore how prior experiences in chemistry might impact chemistry achievement during a health science unit. Nursing students (N = 101) studying chemistry as part of a health science unit were…

Non-dimensional scaling of impact fast ignition experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farley, D R; Shigemori, K; Murakami, M; Azechi, H

2008-01-01

Recent experiments at the Osaka University Institute for Laser Engineering (ILE) showed that 'Impact Fast Ignition' (IFI) could increase the neutron yield of inertial fusion targets by two orders of magnitude [1]. IFI utilizes the thermal and kinetic energy of a laser-accelerated disk to impact an imploded fusion target. ILE researchers estimate a disk velocity of 10 8 cm/sec is needed to ignite the fusion target [2]. To be able to study the IFI concept using lasers different from that at ILE, appropriate non-dimensionalization of the flow should be done. Analysis of the rocket equation gives parameters needed for producing similar IFI results with different lasers. This analysis shows that a variety of laboratory-scale commercial lasers could produce results useful to full-scale ILE experiments

Post-impact performance of composites; Predicting Compression after Impact (CAI) in composite laminates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Esrall, F.

2013-01-01

Impact damage has been known to seriously limit the performance of composite aircraft structures. In the preliminary design phase, tens of thousands of subparts need to be analyzed for impact. Over the years, many approaches have been proposed to study the creation of impact damage and to determine

CANDU reactor experience: fuel performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Truant, P.T.; Hastings, I.J.

1985-07-01

Ontario Hydro has more than 126 reactor-years experience in operating CANDU reactors. Fuel performance has been excellent with 47 000 channel fuelling operations successfully completed and 99.9 percent of the more than 380 000 bundles irradiated operating as designed. Fuel performance limits and fuel defects have had a negligible effect on station safety, reliability, the environment and cost. The actual incapability charged to fuel is less than 0.1 percent over the stations' lifetimes, and more recently has been zero

Static properties and impact resistance of a green Ultra-High Performance Hybrid Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPHFRC) : experiments and modeling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yu, R.; Spiesz, P.R.; Brouwers, H.J.H.

2014-01-01

This paper addresses the static properties and impact resistance of a "green" Ultra-High Performance Hybrid Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPHFRC). The design of concrete mixtures aims to achieve a densely compacted cementitious matrix, employing the modified Andreasen & Andersen particle packing

THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raluca-Elena HURDUZEU

2015-04-01

Full Text Available An organization is considered to be effective if it finds the balance between the demands of various stakeholders (owners, employees, customers, community and the needs of the employees. We believe that an appropriate leadership style can influence and ensure the prosperity and the economic growth of both the organization and employees. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to explore the impact of leadership styles on the organizational performance. Our main focus is on transformational leadership and its role in facilitating the increase in organizational performance. Transformational leaders inspire individuals within the organizations to work harder and to strive for the highest levels of performance. We begin by underlining the connection between transformational leadership and organizational performance, we provide examples on transformational leadership practices’ impact the organizations and we conclude by making some future research propositions.

Asteroid deflection using a kinetic impactor: Insights from hypervelocity impact experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Hoerth, Tobias; Schäfer, Frank

2016-04-01

Within the framework of the planned AIDA mission [1], an impactor spacecraft (DART) hits the second component of the asteroid Didymos at hypervelocity. The impact crater will be observed from the AIM spacecraft and an observation of the ejecta plume is possible [1]. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the physical properties of the target material, and the momentum transfer will be studied [1]. In preparation for this mission, hypervelocity impact experiments can provide valuable information about the outcome of an impact event as a function of impactor and target material properties and, thus, support the interpretation of the data from the DART impact. In addition, these impact experiments provide an important means to validate numerical impact simulations required to simulate large-scale impacts that cannot be studied in laboratory experiments. Impact experiments have shown that crater morphology and size, crater growth and ejecta dynamics strongly depend on the physical properties of the target material [2]. For example, porous materials like sandstone lead to a shallower and slower ejection than low-porous materials like quartzite, and the cratering efficiency is reduced in porous targets leading to a smaller amount of ejected mass [3]. These phenomena result in a reduced momentum multiplication factor (often called "beta-value"), i.e. the ratio of the change in target momentum after the impact and the momentum of the projectile is smaller for porous materials. Hypervelocity impact experiments into target materials with different porosities and densities such as quartzite (2.9 %, 2.6 g/cm3), sandstone (25.3 %, 2 g/cm3), limestone (31 %, 1.8 g/cm3), and highly porous aerated concrete (87.5 %, 0.4 g/cm3) were conducted. Projectile velocities were varied between about 3 km/s and almost 7 km/s. A ballistic pendulum was used to measure the momentum transfer. The material strength required for scaling laws was determined for all target materials. The highest

The Perceived Impact of Teacher Performance Ratings on the Teacher Evaluation Process: Voices from the Field

Science.gov (United States)

Bullis, Brian

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was focused on the various perceived impacts created by the expansion to a four-tier teacher performance evaluation rating model which would inform educational leaders in the State of Illinois. By studying the experiences of principals in two other states who previously underwent the same change, Florida and…

Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System Repair Flight Experiment Induced Contamination Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kendall A.; Soares, Carlos E.; Mikatarian, Ron; Schmidl, Danny; Campbell, Colin; Koontz, Steven; Engle, Michael; McCroskey, Doug; Garrett, Jeff

2006-01-01

NASA s activities to prepare for Flight LF1 (STS-114) included development of a method to repair the Thermal Protection System (TPS) of the Orbiter s leading edge should it be damaged during ascent by impacts from foam, ice, etc . Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) is used for the leading edge TPS. The repair material that was developed is named Non- Oxide Adhesive eXperimental (NOAX). NOAX is an uncured adhesive material that acts as an ablative repair material. NOAX completes curing during the Orbiter s descent. The Thermal Protection System (TPS) Detailed Test Objective 848 (DTO 848) performed on Flight LF1 (STS-114) characterized the working life, porosity void size in a micro-gravity environment, and the on-orbit performance of the repairs to pre-damaged samples. DTO 848 is also scheduled for Flight ULF1.1 (STS-121) for further characterization of NOAX on-orbit performance. Due to the high material outgassing rates of the NOAX material and concerns with contamination impacts to optically sensitive surfaces, ASTM E 1559 outgassing tests were performed to determine NOAX condensable outgassing rates as a function of time and temperature. Sensitive surfaces of concern include the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) visor, cameras, and other sensors in proximity to the experiment during the initial time after application. This paper discusses NOAX outgassing characteristics, how the amount of deposition on optically sensitive surfaces while the NOAX is being manipulated on the pre-damaged RCC samples was determined by analysis, and how flight rules were developed to protect those optically sensitive surfaces from excessive contamination where necessary.

Impact Of Firewall On Network Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francis Kwadzo Agbenyegah

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This research work investigated the firewall security and performance relationship for distributed systems. Internet connectivity is growing with most enterprises migrating to the use of web based services for services provision. As organization grab the Internet as another business tool whether to sell to team up or to communicate - web applications have turned into the new weakest connection in the organizations security technique. Firewalls provide a mechanism for protecting these enterprises from the less secure internet over which customers or collaborating partners transfer packets destined for the corporate network. The connection between the security and execution proficiency is exhibited through distinctive scenarios and the relationship between security and performance in firewalls is assessed. We demonstrated distinctive networks with and without firewalls and diverse firewall functionality and simulated such systems with an eye on their performance. The simulation was done for 300 work stations and simulated in a way that all the 300 work stations access an email and web application under three different scenarios. Attention is on the relationship between system security and performance the impacts of firewalls on system execution. Different scenarios were assessed through simulations utilizing OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition 9.1 to demonstrate the impacts of firewalls on system performance. The result shows that maintaining security which involves the utilization of numerous applications and the use of firewall has an effect on network performance.

Revisiting the Impact of Perceived Empowerment on Job Performance: Results from Front-Line Employees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozgur Devrim Yilmaz

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to examine the probable effect of perceived empowerment on job performance and the sample of research consisted of 230 participants working in tourism sector as front-line employees. The outcomes of this study indicated that psychological empowerment was positively correlated with employee job performance and employees’ job performance were mostly effected from self-determination and impact dimensions of empowerment. Moreover, tests were conducted to analyze the significant differences in participants’ perception of empowerment and job performance according to their demographic characteristics. There was a significant difference between perceived empowerment and gender, age and work experience where as there was no significant difference between empowerment and education levels. On the other hand, the relationship between job performance and work experience was supported however no relationship was found between job performance and gender, age and education level of the participants. Trying to find out what might possibly lead front-line employees to increased job performance, it can be claimed that psychological empowerment still turns out to be a central issue and therefore this research makes useful contributions to the current knowledge by entirely investigating the direct effect of perceived empowerment on employee job performance in hospitality industry where especially front-line employees spend most of their time directly with customers.

The impact of sleep deprivation on surgeons' performance during night shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Amirian, Ilda

2014-09-01

The median incidence of adverse events that may result in patient injury is a total of 9% of all in-hospital admissions. In order to reduce this high incidence initiatives are continuously worked on that can reduce the risk of patient harm during admission by strengthening hospital systems. However, the influence of physicians' shift work on the risk on adverse events in patients remains controversial. In the studies included in this PhD thesis we wished to examine the impact of sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm disturbances on surgeons' during night shifts. Further we wished to examine the impact sleep deprivation had on surgeons' performance as a measure of how patient safety would be affected. We found that sleep deprivation subjectively had an impact on the surgeons and that they were aware of the effect fatigue had on their work performance. As a result they applied different mechanisms to cope with fatigue. Attending surgeons felt that they had a better overview now, due to more experience and better skills, than when they were residents, despite the fatigue on night shifts. We monitored surgeons' performance during night shifts by laparoscopic simulation and cognitive tests in order to assess their performance; no deterioration was found when pre call values were compared to on call values. The surgeons were monitored prospectively for 4 days across a night shift in order to assess the circadian rhythm and sleep. We found that surgeons' circadian rhythm was affected by working night shifts and their sleep pattern altered, resembling that of shift workers on the post call day. We assessed the quality of admission in medical records as a measure of surgeons' performance, during day, evening and night hours and found no deterioration in the quality of night time medical records. However, consistent high errors were found in several categories. These findings should be followed up in the future with respect of clarifying mechanism and consequences for

Impact of E-Learning Strategy on Students' Academic Performance ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study examined the impact of e-learning strategies on students' academic performance at Strathmore University. The purpose of the study was to investigate the methodology, ideologies, output and ecology of ICT strategies and their impact on students' performance. This was done through comparing students' mean ...

Combined acoustical and visual performance of noise barriers in mitigating the environmental impact of motorways.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Like; Kang, Jian

2016-02-01

This study investigated the overall performance of noise barriers in mitigating environmental impact of motorways, taking into consideration their effects on reducing noise and visual intrusions of moving traffic, but also potentially inducing visual impact themselves. A laboratory experiment was carried out, using computer-visualised video scenes and motorway traffic noise recordings to present experimental scenarios covering two traffic levels, two distances of receiver to road, two types of background landscape, and five barrier conditions including motorway only, motorway with tree belt, motorways with 3 m timber barrier, 5m timber barrier, and 5m transparent barrier. Responses from 30 participants of university students were gathered and perceived barrier performance analysed. The results show that noise barriers were always beneficial in mitigating environmental impact of motorways, or made no significant changes in environmental quality when the impact of motorways was low. Overall, barriers only offered similar mitigation effect as compared to tree belt, but showed some potential to be more advantageous when traffic level went high. 5m timber barrier tended to perform better than the 3m one at the distance of 300 m but not at 100 m possibly due to its negative visual effect when getting closer. The transparent barrier did not perform much differently from the timber barriers but tended to be the least effective in most scenarios. Some low positive correlations were found between aesthetic preference for barriers and environmental impact reduction by the barriers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Estimation of sediment properties during benthic impact experiments

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Yamazaki, T.; Sharma, R

Sediment properties, such as water content and density, have been used to estimate the dry and wet weights, as well as the volume of sediment recovered and discharged, during benthic impact experiments conducted in the Pacific and Indian Oceans...

Deep-sea impact experiments and their future requirements

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Sharma, R.

In recent years, several experiments to assess the potential impacts due to deep-sea mining in the Pacific as well as the Indian Oceans have indicated the immediate changes and restoration patterns of environmental conditions in the marine ecosystem...

Cross-sectional evaluation of visuomotor tracking performance following subconcussive head impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Brokaw, E B; Fine, M S; Kindschi, K E; Santago Ii, A C; Lum, P S; Higgins, M

2018-01-01

Repeated mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has been associated with increased risk of degenerative neurological disorders. While the effects of mTBI and repeated injury are known, studies have only recently started examining repeated subconcussive impacts, impacts that do not result in a clinically diagnosed mTBI. In these studies, repeated subconcussive impacts have been connected to cognitive performance and brain imaging changes. Recent research suggests that performance on a visuomotor tracking (VMT) task may help improve the identification of mTBI. The goal of this study was to investigate if VMT performance is sensitive to the cumulative effect of repeated subconcussive head impacts in collegiate men's lacrosse players. A cross-sectional, prospective study was completed with eleven collegiate men's lacrosse players. Participants wore helmet-mounted sensors and completed VMT and reaction time assessments. The relationship between cumulative impact metrics and VMT metrics were investigated. In this study, VMT performance correlated with repeated subconcussive head impacts; individuals approached clinically diagnosed mTBI-like performance as the cumulative rotational velocity they experienced increased. This suggests that repeated subconcussive impacts can result in measurable impairments and indicates that visuomotor tracking performance may be a useful tool for monitoring the effects of repeated subconcussive impacts.

The impact of visual layout factors on performance in Web pages: a cross-language study.

Science.gov (United States)

Parush, Avi; Shwarts, Yonit; Shtub, Avy; Chandra, M Jeya

2005-01-01

Visual layout has a strong impact on performance and is a critical factor in the design of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and Web pages. Many design guidelines employed in Web page design were inherited from human performance literature and GUI design studies and practices. However, few studies have investigated the more specific patterns of performance with Web pages that may reflect some differences between Web page and GUI design. We investigated interactions among four visual layout factors in Web page design (quantity of links, alignment, grouping indications, and density) in two experiments: one with pages in Hebrew, entailing right-to-left reading, and the other with English pages, entailing left-to-right reading. Some performance patterns (measured by search times and eye movements) were similar between languages. Performance was particularly poor in pages with many links and variable densities, but it improved with the presence of uniform density. Alignment was not shown to be a performance-enhancing factor. The findings are discussed in terms of the similarities and differences in the impact of layout factors between GUIs and Web pages. Actual or potential applications of this research include specific guidelines for Web page design.

Regionalization Impact on Performance Management for Malaysian Multinational Companies

OpenAIRE

Tan, We Chang

2015-01-01

Operation offshore or regionalization is one of the key strategies by many Malaysian MNCs nowadays. The purpose is to expand their business and also establish a sustainable business model. This change in business direction introduces impacts to performance management framework. If these impacts are not properly handled, it may leads to business expansion failure. The current performance management framework will have to be enhanced such that the regional needs in the performance management ar...

Benchmarking performance: Environmental impact statements in Egypt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badr, El-Sayed A.; Zahran, Ashraf A.; Cashmore, Matthew

2011-01-01

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) was formally introduced in Egypt in 1994. This short paper evaluates 'how well' the EIA process is working in practice in Egypt, by reviewing the quality of 45 environmental impact statements (EISs) produced between 2000 and 2007 for a variety of project types. The Lee and Colley review package was used to assess the quality of the selected EISs. About 69% of the EISs sampled were found to be of a satisfactory quality. An assessment of the performance of different elements of the EIA process indicates that descriptive tasks tend to be performed better than scientific tasks. The quality of core elements of EIA (e.g., impact prediction, significance evaluation, scoping and consideration of alternatives) appears to be particularly problematic. Variables that influence the quality of EISs are identified and a number of broad recommendations are made for improving the effectiveness of the EIA system.

The Impact of Project Organizational Culture on the Performance of Construction Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luong Hai Nguyen

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Cultural influence has recently received significant attention from academics due to its vital role in the success or failure of a project. In the construction industry, several empirical investigations have examined the influence of culture on project management. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of project organizational culture on the performance of construction projects. A total of 199 completed construction projects in Vietnam with specific data gathering through questionnaires were analyzed. The findings reveal that contractor commitment to contract agreements is the most significant cultural factor affecting project performance. Goal alignment and reliance, contractor commitment, and worker orientation (i.e., commitment to workers contribute to improved overall performance and participant satisfaction. Contractor commitment and cooperative orientation enhance labor productivity, whereas goal alignment and trust and contractor commitment ensure learning performance (i.e., learning from experience. The findings of this study may assist construction professionals in implementing practices that can contribute to the sustainability and success of construction projects.

Patients' Experiences of Performing Self-care of Stomas in the Initial Postoperative Period.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Siew Hoon; Chan, Sally Wai Chi; He, Hong-Gu

2015-01-01

With the loss of an important bodily function and the distortion in body image, a stoma patient experiences physical, psychological, and social changes. With limited current studies exploring experiences of patients in the management of their stoma, there is a need to explore their experiences, their needs, and factors that influence their self-management. The aim of this study was to investigate patients' experiences of performing self-care of stomas in the initial postoperative period. This study adopted a descriptive qualitative approach from the interpretive paradigm. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 patients 1 month postoperatively in a colorectal ward in a hospital in Singapore. Thematic analysis was applied to the interview data. Five themes were identified: process of acceptance and self-management of stoma, physical limitations, psychological reactions, social support, and need for timely and sufficient stoma preparation and education. This study highlights the importance of health professionals' role in helping patients adjust preoperatively and postoperatively and accept the presence of a stoma. Health professionals need to be aware of the physical, psychological, and social impact of stoma on patients in the initial 30-day postoperative period. Research findings informed the type and level of assistance and support to be offered to patients by nurses and the importance of encouraging patients to be involved in stoma care at an early stage, which will ultimately contribute to effective and independent self-management. Patients can be prepared preoperatively to reduce the psychological and social impact of stoma after creation of their stoma.

Impact Analysis of Generalized Audit Software (GAS Utilization to Auditor Performances

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Aries Wicaksono

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to understand whether the use of Generalized Audit Software (GAS in the audit process had an impact on the auditors performance and to acquire conclusions in the evaluation form towards GAS audit process to provide a positive impact on the performance of auditors. The models used to evaluate the impact of GAS were Quantity of Work, Quality of Work, Job Knowledge, Creativeness, Cooperation, Dependability, Initiative, and Personal Qualities. The method used in this research was a qualitative method of analytical descriptive and evaluative, by analyzing the impact of the GAS implementation to the components of the user’s performance. The results indicate that the use of GAS has a positive impact on user’s performance components.

Made in Denmark 2014 - Evaluation of Spectator Experience and Tourism Economic Impacts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toft, Henrik; Zahle Østergaard, Mads

2015-01-01

This report is a translation of the impact analysis of the golf tournament, Made in Denmark, which was held in August 2014. The content of the report is divided into two sub-parts. The first part is an analysis of the spectator experience and how well the experience of being at this event was ass...... was asssessed by the spectators. The second part is a tourism economic impact analysis which purpose is to analyse, evaluate and assess the economic impact this event had on the local area where it was held....

Material Evidence for Ocean Impact from Shock-Metamorphic Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Miura, Y.; Takayama, K.; Iancu, O. G.

1993-07-01

Continental impact reveals an excavated crater that has few fresh fine ejecta showing major high shock metamorphism due to weathering [1]. A giant ocean impact rarely remains as an excavated crater mainly due to crushing by dynamic plate-tectonic movements on the crust [2]. However, all impact materials, including fine-grained ejecta, can be obtained with artificial impact experiments [3]. The purpose of this study is to discuss material evidence for ocean impact based on shock-metamorphic experiments. Artificial impact experiments indicate that fine shocked quartz (SQ) aggregates can be formed on several target rocks (Table 1) [1]. It is found in Table 1 that (1) the largest-density deviation of SQ grain is found not at the wall-rock or the impact crater but at fine-grained ejecta, and (2) silica-poor rocks of basalt, gabbro, and anorthosite can also make fine SQ aggregates by impact. Table 1, which appears here in the hard copy, shows formations of fine shocked quartz aggregates from ocean-floor rocks of basalt, gabbroic anorthosite, and granite [3]. An asteroid (about 10 km across) hits the Earth ~65 m.y. ago [4] to result in global catastrophe by titanic explosion and climate change. But shocked quartz grains found in the K/T boundary layer were considered to come from crystalline continental rocks [5]. The present result as listed in Table 1 indicates that fine SQ aggregates can also be formed at sea-floor basaltic and gabbroic rocks [3]. The present result of formation of the SQ grains from sea- floor target rocks is nearly consistent with the finding of a sea-impact crater at the K/T boundary near the Caribbean [6]. Impact-induced volcanism at the K/T boundary can explained by the penetration from thin ocean crust to upper mantle reservoirs, if giant impact of a 10-km- diameter asteroid hit the ocean [2,7]. The present result can explain "phreatomagmatic (magmatic vapor) explosion," which is created by abrupt boiling between high-temperature magma and cold

Customer Experience Management and Business Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønholdt, Lars; Martensen, Anne Duhr; Jørgensen, Stig

2015-01-01

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to examine how essential dimensions of customer experience management (CEM) drive business performance in Danish companies. Design/methodology/approach: – An empirical study is conducted to investigate the relationships between seven CEM dimensions...... customer experience into their products and service enjoy measurable financial success. Research limitations/implications: – This study is limited to the seven identified CEM dimensions in Danish companies. Practical implications: – This study has clear implications in terms of identifying and measuring...

Impacts on work absence and performance: what really matters?

Science.gov (United States)

Wynne-Jones, Gwenllian; Buck, Rhiannon; Varnava, Alice; Phillips, Ceri; Main, Chris J

2009-12-01

A number of factors influence an individual's decision to take sickness absence or to remain at work while ill. The relationship between health, work characteristics, individual perceptions of work and sickness absence and performance is complex and further clarification of the interactions between these factors is necessary. To assess the relative impact of health, work characteristics and perceptions of work on absence and performance. Cross-sectional survey of two public sector organizations (n = 505). Data were analysed using multivariate linear regression to assess the individual and combined influence of each class of independent variables on the following: days sickness absence, spells of sickness absence, VAS performance and presenteeism. Characteristics of work were weakly associated with days absence and performance. Perceptions of work were more strongly associated with performance than absence. Measures of mental health, rather than physical health, had the greatest influence on ability to work. Poor health had a greater impact on work performance than work absence. When considered together, health variables accounted for the largest proportion of explained variance in both absence and performance when compared with characteristics of work and work perceptions. Using absence as a marker of health-associated compromise at work may lead to an underestimation of the impact of health on work. This study demonstrates the need to manage the impact of health problems on the workforce not only from a bio-medical perspective but also in terms of the psychological pressures and the social context in which employees work.

Fuel performance experience at TVO nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patrakka, E.T.

1985-01-01

TVO nuclear power plant consists of two BWR units of ASEA-ATOM design. The fuel performance experience extending through six cycles at TVO I and four cycles at TVO II is reported. The experience obtained so far is mainly based on ASEA-ATOM 8 x 8 fuel and has been satisfactory. Until autumn 1984 one leaking fuel assembly had been identified at TVO I and none at TVO II. Most of the problems encountered have been related to leaf spring screws and channel screws. The experience indicates that satisfactory fuel performance can be achieved when utilizing strict operational rules and proper control of fuel design and manufacture. (author)

Climate Change Impact on Togo's Agriculture Performance: A ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Climate Change Impact on Togo's Agriculture Performance: A Ricardian Analysis Based on Time Series Data. ... Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management ... Conclusively, the impact of climate change on agriculture seems to be varied with the temperature and precipitation in different seasons. Climate ...

New Laboratory-Based Satellite Impact Experiments for Breakup Fragment Characterization

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, J.-C.; Fitz-Coy, N.; Dikova, R.; Wilson, M.; Huynh, T.; Sorge, M.; Sheaffer, P.; Opiela, J.; Cowardin, H.; Krisko, P.;

Impact of the motion and visual complexity of the background on players' performance in video game-like displays.

Science.gov (United States)

Caroux, Loïc; Le Bigot, Ludovic; Vibert, Nicolas

2013-01-01

The visual interfaces of virtual environments such as video games often show scenes where objects are superimposed on a moving background. Three experiments were designed to better understand the impact of the complexity and/or overall motion of two types of visual backgrounds often used in video games on the detection and use of superimposed, stationary items. The impact of background complexity and motion was assessed during two typical video game tasks: a relatively complex visual search task and a classic, less demanding shooting task. Background motion impaired participants' performance only when they performed the shooting game task, and only when the simplest of the two backgrounds was used. In contrast, and independently of background motion, performance on both tasks was impaired when the complexity of the background increased. Eye movement recordings demonstrated that most of the findings reflected the impact of low-level features of the two backgrounds on gaze control.

Customer Experience Management and Business Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønholdt, Lars; Martensen, Anne; Jørgensen, Stig

2014-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how essential dimensions of customer experience management (CEM) drive business performance in Danish companies. Methodology/approach – An empirical study is conducted to investigate the relationships between seven CEM dimensions, differentiation...

The Impact of Social Networks on Students’ Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jusuf Zekiri

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to determine the impact of using social media and its impact on students’ performance and success. This research tries to identify the relationship between students’ use of social networks and their success in their studies. It tries also to find out whether time spent impacts students’ performance and success. Whether students use social media more for entertainment or for teaching and information sharing purposes. The paper uses a quantitative approach for collecting the primary data. The data was collected by surveying 255 respondents from South East European University. The data analyses were done by SPSS so" ware program. Cronbach alpha is used for testing the validity and reliability of variables used in this study. The hypotheses were tested using One Simple T-test. The obtained empirical results show that a great number of students are aware of advantages and disadvantages by the social media. Thus, due to a great percent of times spent on social networking activities, the performance and the success of students suffer setbacks which could lead to a poor performance and they might fail to create a balance between the social media and academic activities. Furthermore, it is about their addiction, the loss of time leading to consequences in their academic development, and they are also influenced to a great extent negatively by the social networking sites, because their attention is focused on chatting and music while their academic activities are neglected. Finally, based on the results of survey, we can conclude that impact of social media on the academic performance of students should focus more on the positive side than on the negative side to achieve balance. Hence, creating more pages for research and academic activities will enable students to improve their performance, thereby avoiding a distraction which leads to deviation from their academic work.

Heat, Human Performance, and Occupational Health: A Key Issue for the Assessment of Global Climate Change Impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Kjellstrom, Tord; Briggs, David; Freyberg, Chris; Lemke, Bruno; Otto, Matthias; Hyatt, Olivia

2016-01-01

Ambient heat exposure is a well-known health hazard, which reduces human performance and work capacity at heat levels already common in tropical and subtropical areas. Various health problems have been reported. Increasing heat exposure during the hottest seasons of each year is a key feature of global climate change. Heat exhaustion and reduced human performance are often overlooked in climate change health impact analysis. Later this century, many among the four billion people who live in hot areas worldwide will experience significantly reduced work capacity owing to climate change. In some areas, 30-40% of annual daylight hours will become too hot for work to be carried out. The social and economic impacts will be considerable, with global gross domestic product (GDP) losses greater than 20% by 2100. The analysis to date is piecemeal. More analysis of climate change-related occupational health impact assessments is greatly needed.

The Dark Side of Top Level Sport: An Autobiographic Study of Depressive Experiences in Elite Sport Performers.

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Hannah J H; Howells, Karen L; Fletcher, David

2016-01-01

The general and sport psychology research converge to point to a complex relationship between depressive experiences and human performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the depressive experiences of top level athletes and the relationship of such experiences with sport performance. Twelve autobiographies of elite athletes representing eight sports were analyzed. The autobiographical analysis was informed by narrative tradition, using three types of narrative analysis: categorical content, categorical form, and holistic content. The analysis revealed a temporal aspect to the depressive experiences that the athletes reported. Initially, sport represented a form of escape from the depressive symptoms which had been exacerbated by both external stressors (e.g., experiencing bereavement) and internal stressors (e.g., low self-esteem). However, in time, the athletes typically reached a stage when the demands of their sport shifted from being facilitative to being debilitative in nature with an intensification of their depressive symptoms. This was accompanied by deliberations about continuing their engagement in sport and an acceptance that they could no longer escape from their symptoms, with or without sport. The findings extend the extant literature by suggesting a reciprocal relationship between depressive experiences and sport performance, and they support the general psychology literature relating to the negative impact of depression on performance. The applied implications of these findings are discussed emphasizing the importance of early identification of depressive symptoms and the adoption of a proactive approach in the prevention and management of symptoms.

Chinese characters reveal impacts of prior experience on very early stages of perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stollhoff Rainer

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Visual perception is strongly determined by accumulated experience with the world, which has been shown for shape, color, and position perception, in the field of visuomotor learning, and in neural computation. In addition, visual perception is tuned to statistics of natural scenes. Such prior experience is modulated by neuronal top-down control the temporal properties of which had been subject to recent studies. Here, we deal with these temporal properties and address the question how early in time accumulated past experience can modulate visual perception. Results We performed stimulus discrimination experiments and compared a group of Chinese participants with a German control group. The perception of our briefly presented visual objects (targets was disturbed by masking stimuli which appeared in close spatiotemporal proximity. These masking stimuli were either intact or scrambled Chinese characters and did not overlap with the targets. In contrast to German controls, Chinese participants show substantial performance differences for real versus scrambled Chinese characters if these masking stimuli were presented as early as less than 100 milliseconds after the onset of the target. For Chinese observers, it even occured that meaningful masking stimuli enhanced target identification if they were shown at least 100 milliseconds after target onset while the same stimuli impaired recognition if presented in close temporal proximity to the target. The latter finding challenges interpretations of our data that solely rely on stimulus contours or geometric properties and emphasizes the impact of prior experience on the very early temporal dynamics of the visual system. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that prior experience which had been accummulated long before the experiments can modulate the time course of perception intriguingly early, namely already immediately after the perceptual onset of a visual event. This modulation

Observation of a High Performance Operating Regime with Small Edge-Localized Modes in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maingi, R.; Tritz, K.; Fredrickson, E.D.; Menard, J.E.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Stutman, D.; Bell, M.G.; Bell, R.E.; Bush, C.E.; Gates, D.A.; Johnson, D.W.; Kaita, R.; Kaye, S.M.; Kugel, H.W.; LeBlanc, B.P.; Mueller, D.; Raman, R.; Roquemore, A.L.; Soukhanovskii, V.A.

2004-01-01

We report observation of a high performance scenario in the National Spherical Torus Experiment with very small edge-localized modes (ELMs). These ELMs have no measurable impact on stored energy and are consistent with high bootstrap current operation with line average density approaching Greenwald scaling. The ELM perturbation is observed to typically originate near the lower divertor region, as opposed to the outer midplane for ELMs described in the literature. If extrapolable, this scenario would provide an attractive operating regime for next step fusion experiments

Preliminary performance and ICF target experiments with Nova

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drake, R.P.

1985-11-01

In December 1984, the Nova facility fired all ten laser arms, converted the output 1.05 micron energy to 0.35 micron light, and focused the 0.35 micron light through a 4 mm pinhole in the ten-beam target chamber. Since that time, a two-beam target chamber has been added, the performance of the laser evaluated, and preparation has been made for target experiments. This paper summarizes the performance of Nova and describes progress and plans for target experiments

The impact performance of headguards for combat sports.

Science.gov (United States)

McIntosh, Andrew S; Patton, Declan A

2015-09-01

To assess the impact energy attenuation performance of a range of headguards for combat sports. Seven headguards worn during combat sport training or competition, including two Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA)-approved boxing models, were tested using drop tests. An International Organization for Standardization (ISO) rigid headform was used with a 5.6 kg drop assembly mass. Tests were conducted against a flat rigid anvil both with and without a boxing glove section. The centre forehead and lateral headguard areas were tested. Peak headform acceleration was measured. Tests from a selection of drop heights and repeated tests on the same headguard were conducted. Headguard performance varied by test condition. For the 0.4 m rigid anvil tests, the best model headguard was the thickest producing an average peak headform acceleration over 5 tests of 48 g compared with 456 g for the worst model. The mean peak acceleration for the 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 frontal and lateral rigid anvil impact tests was between 32% and 40% lower for the Top Ten boxing model compared with the Adidas boxing model. The headguard performance deterioration observed with repeat impact against the flat anvil was reduced for impacts against the glove section. The overall reduction in acceleration for the combination of glove and headguard in comparison to the headguard condition was in the range of 72-93% for 0.6 and 0.8 m drop tests. The impact tests show the benefits of performance testing in identifying differences between headguard models. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Performance of centrality determination in heavy-ion collisions with CBM experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klochkov, Viktor; Selyuzhenkov, Ilya [GSI, Darmstadt (Germany); Collaboration: CBM-Collaboration

2016-07-01

The goal of the CBM experiment at FAIR is to investigate the properties of compressed baryonic matter. The measurement of physics observables in heavy-ion collisions requires information about event geometry. A magnitude of the impact parameter, which is among the most important parameters to describe collision geometry, cannot be measured directly in experiment. One can estimate it by measuring produced particle's multiplicities or energy of the spectator fragments. Typically, the collisions are divided into centrality classes which corresponds to the ranges of impact parameter with e.g. centrality class 0-5% corresponds to most central events, and 95-100% to the most peripheral collisions. Sensitivity to the range of impact parameters with the Silicon Tracking System (STS) and Projectile Spectator Detector (PSD) to select centrality classes in the CBM experiment will be presented. The STS is measuring the multiplicity of the particles produced in the nuclei overlap zone and different areas of the PSD are sensitive to both spectator fragments and produced particles. Supported by the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung.

Impact of the genfit2 Kalman-filter-based algorithms on physics simulations performed with PandaRoot

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prencipe, Elisabetta; Ritman, James [Forschungszentrum Juelich, IKP1, Juelich (Germany); Collaboration: PANDA-Collaboration

2016-07-01

PANDA is a planned experiment at FAIR (Darmstadt) with a cooled antiproton beam in a range [1.5;15] GeV/c, allowing a wide physics program in nuclear and particle physics. It is the only experiment worldwide, which combines a solenoid field (B=2 T) and a dipole field (B=2 Tm) in an experiment with a fixed target topology, in that energy regime. The tracking system of PANDA involves the presence of a high performance silicon vertex detector, a GEM detector, a Straw-Tubes central tracker, a forward tracking system, and a luminosity monitor. The offline tracking algorithm is developed within the PandaRoot framework, which is a part of the FAIRRoot project. The algorithm here presented is based on a tool containing the Kalman Filter equations and a deterministic annealing filter (genfit). The Kalman-Filter-based algorithms have a wide range of applications; among those in particle physics they can perform extrapolations of track parameters and covariance matrices. The impact on physics simulations performed for the PANDA experiment is shown for the first time, with the PandaRoot framework: improvement is shown for those channels where a good low momentum tracking is required (p{sub T}<400 MeV/c), i.e. D mesons and Λ reconstruction, of about a factor 2.

First performance studies of a prototype for the CASTOR forward calorimeter at the CMS experiment

OpenAIRE

Aslanoglou, Xenofon; Cyz, Antoni; Davis, N; D'Enterria, David; Gladysz-Dziadus, Ewa; Kalfas, Costas; Musienko, Yuri; Kuznetsov, Andrey; Panagiotou, Apostolos

2008-01-01

We present results on the performance of the first prototype of the CASTOR quartz-tungsten sampling calorimeter, to be installed in the very forward region of the CMS experiment at the LHC. This study includes GEANT Monte Carlo simulations of the Cherenkov light transmission efficiency of different types of air-core light guides, as well as analysis of the calorimeter linearity and resolution as a function of energy and impact-point, obtained with 20-200 GeV electron beams from CERN/SPS tests...

Use of performance indicators in the analysis of running gait impacts

OpenAIRE

Pàmies Vila, Rosa; González, Francisco; Kövecses, József; Font Llagunes, Josep Maria

2017-01-01

Foot-ground impact is a critical event during the running cycle. In this work, three performance indicators were used to characterize foot-ground impact intensity: the effective pre-impact kinetic energy, representative elements of the effective mass matrix, and the critical coefficient of friction. These performance indicators can be obtained from the inertial properties of the biomechanical system and its pre-impact mechanical state, avoiding the need to carry out force measurements. Ground...

Performance experience with the CEBAF SRF cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reece, C.; Benesch, J.; Drury, M.; Hovater, C.; Mammosser, J.; Preble, J.

1995-01-01

The full complement of 169 pairs of niobium superconducting cavities has been installed in the CEBAF accelerator. This paper surveys the performance characteristics of these cavities in vertical tests, commissioning in the tunnel, and operational experience to date. Although installed performance exceeds specifications, and 3.2 GeV beam has been delivered on target, present systems do not consistently preserve the high performance obtained in vertical dewar tests as operational capability. Principal sources of these limitations are discussed

"It's Your Problem. Deal with It." Performers' Experiences of Psychological Challenges in Music.

Science.gov (United States)

Pecen, Ellis; Collins, David J; MacNamara, Áine

2017-01-01

Musicians need to deal with a range of challenges during their performance career and in response to these have reported a number of conditions that impact on their performance. Although social support from peers and teachers has been identified as part of the process of dealing with these challenges, little is understood about musicians' coping methods, beliefs and their attitudes toward support. Therefore, this study aimed to explore (a) performers' previous experiences of psychological challenges, (b) the types of support they used and, (c) how this might inform future support programs in learning environments. Fifteen interviews were conducted with pre-elite ( n = 5) transitioning elite ( n = 3) and established elite performers ( n = 7) in order to elicit data on psychological challenges, coping, beliefs and preferences for support. Inductive content analysis suggested that elite performers in this sample reported positive health habits, philosophical views of performance, health and life, positive anxiety reappraisal, and use of various psychological strategies, albeit without being explicitly aware of it. The need for various professional skills (e.g., communication, business, self-management, and organizational skills) was emphasized by all participants. Transition into conservatoire was marked by severe psychological challenges, disorders and trauma. Primary sources of support included friends, family and self-help literature. Professional help was predominantly sought for physical problems. The impact of teachers was paramount, yet securing good teachers was considered a matter of "luck." The most negative aspects recounted included abusive teachers, unsupportive environments, social comparison, competition, and disillusionment after entering the profession. Participants believed that talent could be developed and also valued wellbeing in relation to performance. Positive effects of late specialization on social development and professional skills were

Dynamic and impact contact mechanics of geologic materials: Grain-scale experiments and modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cole, David M.; Hopkins, Mark A.; Ketcham, Stephen A.

2013-01-01

High fidelity treatments of the generation and propagation of seismic waves in naturally occurring granular materials is becoming more practical given recent advancements in our ability to model complex particle shapes and their mechanical interaction. Of particular interest are the grain-scale processes that are activated by impact events and the characteristics of force transmission through grain contacts. To address this issue, we have developed a physics based approach that involves laboratory experiments to quantify the dynamic contact and impact behavior of granular materials and incorporation of the observed behavior indiscrete element models. The dynamic experiments do not involve particle damage and emphasis is placed on measured values of contact stiffness and frictional loss. The normal stiffness observed in dynamic contact experiments at low frequencies (e.g., 10 Hz) are shown to be in good agreement with quasistatic experiments on quartz sand. The results of impact experiments – which involve moderate to extensive levels of particle damage – are presented for several types of naturally occurring granular materials (several quartz sands, magnesite and calcium carbonate ooids). Implementation of the experimental findings in discrete element models is discussed and the results of impact simulations involving up to 5 × 105 grains are presented.

Dynamic and impact contact mechanics of geologic materials: Grain-scale experiments and modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cole, David M.; Hopkins, Mark A.; Ketcham, Stephen A. [Engineer Research and Development Center - Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme Rd., Hanover, NH 03755 (United States)

2013-06-18

High fidelity treatments of the generation and propagation of seismic waves in naturally occurring granular materials is becoming more practical given recent advancements in our ability to model complex particle shapes and their mechanical interaction. Of particular interest are the grain-scale processes that are activated by impact events and the characteristics of force transmission through grain contacts. To address this issue, we have developed a physics based approach that involves laboratory experiments to quantify the dynamic contact and impact behavior of granular materials and incorporation of the observed behavior indiscrete element models. The dynamic experiments do not involve particle damage and emphasis is placed on measured values of contact stiffness and frictional loss. The normal stiffness observed in dynamic contact experiments at low frequencies (e.g., 10 Hz) are shown to be in good agreement with quasistatic experiments on quartz sand. The results of impact experiments - which involve moderate to extensive levels of particle damage - are presented for several types of naturally occurring granular materials (several quartz sands, magnesite and calcium carbonate ooids). Implementation of the experimental findings in discrete element models is discussed and the results of impact simulations involving up to 5 Multiplication-Sign 105 grains are presented.

Do global change experiments overestimate impacts on terrestrial ecosystems?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leuzinger, Sebastian; Luo, Yiqi; Beier, Claus

2011-01-01

In recent decades, many climate manipulation experiments have investigated biosphere responses to global change. These experiments typically examined effects of elevated atmospheric CO2, warming or drought (driver variables) on ecosystem processes such as the carbon and water cycle (response...... of the responses to decline with higher-order interactions, longer time periods and larger spatial scales. This means that on average, both positive and negative global change impacts on the biosphere might be dampened more than previously assumed....

Authoring experience: the significance and performance of storytelling in Socratic dialogue with rehabilitating cancer patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Knox, Jeanette Bresson Ladegaard; Svendsen, Mette Nordahl

2015-08-01

This article examines the storytelling aspect in philosophizing with rehabilitating cancer patients in small Socratic dialogue groups (SDG). Recounting an experience to illustrate a philosophical question chosen by the participants is the traditional point of departure for the dialogical exchange. However, narrating is much more than a beginning point or the skeletal framework of events and it deserves more scholarly attention than hitherto given. Storytelling pervades the whole Socratic process and impacts the conceptual analysis in a SDG. In this article we show how the narrative aspect became a rich resource for the compassionate bond between participants and how their stories cultivated the abstract reflection in the group. In addition, the aim of the article is to reveal the different layers in the performance of storytelling, or of authoring experience. By picking, poking and dissecting an experience through a collaborative effort, most participants had their initial experience existentially refined and the chosen concept of which the experience served as an illustration transformed into a moral compass to be used in self-orientation post cancer.

Impact of Performance Management in Public and Private Organizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvidman, Ulrik; Andersen, Simon Calmar

2014-01-01

of management is less effective in public organizations. A difference-in-differences model based on survey data on management in Danish public and private schools, combined with administrative data of students’ test scores, confirms the hypothesis. The results have important implications for the transfer......Recent theoretical developments suggest that management actions have different impacts on outcomes in public and private organizations. This proposition is important to public organizations’ widespread import of private sector management tools such as performance management. This article examines...... how performance management influences performance outcomes in otherwise similar public and private organizations. Showing that the factors expected to diminish the impact of performance management parallel the organizational characteristics of public organizations, we hypothesize that this type...

Director Experience and the Performance of IPOs: Evidence from Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anders Isaksson

2014-03-01

Full Text Available private to public. In this paper the experience of directors is examined to determine the extent of the role they play in ensuring a successful listing. Unique data from 122 IPOs on the Swedish Stock Exchange have been examined in a search for the effect of director experience on aftermarket performance. Specific aspects of director experience within a board, such as interlocking directorships and average tenure, are connected to the underpricing of Swedish IPOs. Contrary to expectations, no statistically significant relationship was found between long-run aftermarket performance and director experience at the time of an IPO. This suggests that the previous experience of directors, as measured in earlier studies, is less relevant to long-term aftermarket performance in Sweden compared to other countries studied in the literature review. This emphasises the importance of examining different institutional contexts.

Materials performance experience at spallation neutron sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sommer, W.F. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM (United States)

1995-10-01

There is a growing, but not yet substantial, data base for materials performance at spallation neutron sources. Specially designed experiments using medium energy protons (650 MeV) have been conducted at the Proton Irradiation Experiment (PIREX) facility at the Swiss Nuclear Institute accelerator (SIN). Specially designed experiments using 760-800 MeV copper target have been completed at the Los Alamos Spallation Radiation Effects Facility (LASREF) at Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF). An extensive material testing program was initiated at LASREF in support of the German spallation neutron source (SNQ) project, before it terminated in 1985.

Impact of vertical barriers on performance of pump-and-treat systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, K.; Rabideau, A.

1997-01-01

Although aquifer remediation by Pump-and-treat (PAT) is widely practiced, it is generally implemented as an effective means of plume containment, rather than as an efficient means of contaminant mass removal. The use of slurry cutoff walls has been recognized as a means of improving the performance of PAT with respect to hydraulic control. As part of a study on the use of decision analysis in the design of aquifer remediation systems, the economic tradeoffs between capital costs and risk reduction were compared for several alternative PAT strategies. This work included an evaluation of the use of vertical barriers as components of PAT systems, using numerical experiments to examine the impacts of vertical barriers on PAT reliability. The results indicated that the use of vertical barriers in conjunction with PAT can significantly improve the simulated system performance, but that the magnitude of the predicted enhancement and cost-effectiveness of the barrier system are dependent on site characteristics, barrier placement, and modeling assumptions

Impacts of Personal Experience: Informing Water Conservation Extension Education

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Pei-wen; Lamm, Alexa J.

2017-01-01

Extension educators have diligently educated the general public about water conservation. Incorporating audiences' personal experience into educational programming is recommended as an approach to effectively enhance audiences' adoption of water conservation practices. To ensure the impact on the audiences and environment, understanding the…

Australian Academic Librarians’ Experience of Evidence Based Practice Involves Empowering, Intuiting, Affirming, Connecting, Noticing, and Impacting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanne Marie Muellenbach

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A Review of: Miller, F., Partridge, H., Bruce, C., Yates, C., & Howlett, A. (2017. How academic librarians experience evidence-based practice: A grounded theory model. Library & Information Science Research, 39(2, 124-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.04.003 Abstract Objective – To explore and enhance the understanding of how Australian library and information science (LIS practitioners experience or understand evidence based practice (EBP within the context of their day-to-day professional work. Design – Constructivist grounded theory methodology. Setting – University libraries in Queensland, Australia. Subjects – 13 academic librarians. Methods – Researchers contacted academic librarians by email and invited each participant to take part in a 30-60 minute, semi-structured interview. They designed interview questions to allow participants to explain their process and experience of EBP. Main results – This study identified six categories of experience of EBP using a constructivist grounded theory analysis process. The categories are: Empowering; Intuiting; Affirming; Connecting; Noticing; and Impacting. Briefly, empowering includes being empowered, or empowering clients, colleagues, and institutions through improved practice or performance. Intuiting includes being intuitive, or using one’s own intuition, wisdom, and understanding, of colleagues and clients’ behaviours to solve problems and redesign services. Affirming includes being affirmed through sharing feedback and using affirmation to strengthen support for action. Connecting includes being connected, and building connections, with clients, colleagues, and institutions. Noticing includes being actively aware of, observing, and reflecting on clients, colleagues, and literature within and outside of one’s own university, and noticing patterns in data to inform decision-making. Impacting includes being impactful, or having a visible impact, on clients, colleagues

Impact of operating experience on design of civil structures - An overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tang, J H.K. [Ontario Hydro, Toronto, ON (Canada)

1991-04-01

During the past twenty years, Ontario Hydro has expanded its nuclear power to provide about one third of the electricity used in the province (coal and water powered stations provide the other two thirds). By 1992, the total installed capacity of nuclear generating stations in Ontario will further rise to over 14,000 MW. In common with other power plant design, the layout and structural design of civil facilities for a nuclear generating station are developed from consideration of functional, safety and operational requirements, as well as from past operating experience. Experience on structural performance in the sixteen units of Pickering and Bruce NGS's includes: piping and machinery vibrations, structural fatigue failures, and structural integrity due to extreme loadings not considered in the original design. The operating experience of Ontario Hydro's nuclear stations also indicates that civil structures are subjected to some degree of corrosion or degradation of certain elements similar to other mechanical components in a power station. This category of problems consists of concerns associated with thermal effects on concrete structures due to inoperative cooling system, cracking of concrete, and reliability of elastomeric seal materials at expansion joints of the containment envelop. This paper presents an overview of the operating problems and issues regarding changes in the licensing requirements related to civil structures and supporting systems of major mechanical components. The impact of these generic experience on the design of retrofits and new generating stations is also described in the paper.

Impact of operating experience on design of civil structures - An overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, J.H.K.

1991-01-01

During the past twenty years, Ontario Hydro has expanded its nuclear power to provide about one third of the electricity used in the province (coal and water powered stations provide the other two thirds). By 1992, the total installed capacity of nuclear generating stations in Ontario will further rise to over 14,000 MW. In common with other power plant design, the layout and structural design of civil facilities for a nuclear generating station are developed from consideration of functional, safety and operational requirements, as well as from past operating experience. Experience on structural performance in the sixteen units of Pickering and Bruce NGS's includes: piping and machinery vibrations, structural fatigue failures, and structural integrity due to extreme loadings not considered in the original design. The operating experience of Ontario Hydro's nuclear stations also indicates that civil structures are subjected to some degree of corrosion or degradation of certain elements similar to other mechanical components in a power station. This category of problems consists of concerns associated with thermal effects on concrete structures due to inoperative cooling system, cracking of concrete, and reliability of elastomeric seal materials at expansion joints of the containment envelop. This paper presents an overview of the operating problems and issues regarding changes in the licensing requirements related to civil structures and supporting systems of major mechanical components. The impact of these generic experience on the design of retrofits and new generating stations is also described in the paper

Corporate Social Performance: From Output Measurement to Impact Measurement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K.E.H. Maas (Karen)

2009-01-01

textabstractAll organisations have social, environmental and economic impacts that effect people, their communities and the natural environment. Impacts include intended as well as unintended effects and negative as well as positive effects. Current practice in performance measurement tends to focus

Hypervelocity dust particle impacts observed by the Giotto Magnetometer and Plasma Experiments

OpenAIRE

Neubauer, F. M.; Glassmeier, K. H.; Coates, A. J.; Goldstein, R.; Acuña, M. H.; Musmann, G.

1990-01-01

We report thirteen very short events in the magnetic field of the inner magnetic pile‐up region of comet Halley observed by the Giotto magnetometer experiment together with simultaneous plasma data obtained by the Johnstone plasma analyzer and the ion mass spectrometer experiments. The events are due to dust impacts in the milligram range on the spacecraft at the relative velocity between the cemetery dust and the spacecraft of 68 km/sec. They are generally consistent with dust impact events ...

Performance of Railway Sleepers with Holes under Impact Loading

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Chie Hong; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat; Mlilo, Nhlanganiso

2017-12-01

Prestressed concrete sleepers are essential structural components of railway track structures, with the purpose of redistributing wheel loads from the rails to the ground. To facilitate cables and signalling equipment, holes are often generated in these prestressed concrete sleepers. However, the performance of these sleepers under impact loading may be a concern with the addition of these holes. Numerical modelling using finite element analysis (FEA) is an ideal tool that enables static and dynamic simulation and can perform analyses of basic/advanced linear and nonlinear problems, without incurring a huge cost in resources like standard experimental test methods would. This paper will utilize the three-dimensional FE modelling software ABAQUS to investigate the behaviour of the prestressed concrete sleepers with holes of varying sizes upon impact loading. To obtain the results that resemble real-life behaviour of the sleepers under impact loading, the material properties, element types, mesh sizes, contact and interactions and boundary conditions will be defined as accurately as possible. Both Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) and Brittle Cracking models will be used in this study. With a better understanding of how the introduction of holes will influence the performance of prestressed sleepers under impact loading, track and railway engineers will be able to generate them in prestressed concrete sleepers without compromising the sleepers’ performance during operation

The Organisational Performance Impact Of ERP Systems On Selected Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hart, Colin Anthony

2014-05-01

Full Text Available There is a need to determine the performance benefits that firms gain from enterprise resource planning (ERP systems, and the factors that contribute to success. Consequently, the central research problem is: To determine the impact of ERP systems on organisational performance by analysing achieved ERP benefits within the framework of a suitable performance measurement system (PMS, and to investigate the association between critical success factors (CSFs and ERP benefits. A list of expected ERP benefits and CSFs is compiled. Performance measurement models are evaluated, and one model is designed to evaluate ERP impact. ERP experts refine identified ERP benefits and CSFs using structured interviews. These are built into a questionnaire, and used to survey South African (SA companies in manufacturing, mining, and power generation. Results indicate that business benefits are realised by companies that implement ERP systems. By building benefits into the performance measurement model, a positive impact on organisational performance is observed. Although a core list of CSFs is identified, and three associations are found between CSFs and ERP benefits, further research is needed.

Impact of temperature on performance of series and parallel connected mono-crystalline silicon solar cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Subhash Chander

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a study on impact of temperature on the performance of series and parallel connected mono-crystalline silicon (mono-Si solar cell employing solar simulator. The experiment was carried out at constant light intensity 550 W/m2with cell temperature in the range 25–60 oC for single, series and parallel connected mono-Si solar cells. The performance parameters like open circuit voltage, maximum power, fill factor and efficiency are found to decrease with cell temperature while the short circuit current is observed to increase. The experimental results reveal that silicon solar cells connected in series and parallel combinations follow the Kirchhoff’s laws and the temperature has a significant effect on the performance parameters of solar cell.

Mergers and acquisitions's impact on financial performance: an ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mergers and acquisitions's impact on financial performance: an evaluation with perspective of time. ... Journal Home > Vol 9, No 5S (2017) > ... are firms are able to convert these qualitative aspects into quantitative form and if yes than ... Keywords: mergers and acquisitions; du pont analysis; long run; financial performance; ...

Development and field performance of indy race car head impact padding.

Science.gov (United States)

Melvin, J W; Bock, H; Anderson, K; Gideon, T

2001-11-01

The close-fitting cockpit of the modern Indy car single seat race car has the potential to provide a high level of head and neck impact protection in rear and side impacts. Crash investigation has shown that a wide variety of materials have been used as the padding for these cockpits and, as a result, produced varying outcomes in crashes. Additionally, these pads have not always been positioned for optimal performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the head impact performance of a variety of energy-absorbing padding materials under impact conditions typical of Indy car rear impacts and to identify superior materials and methods of improving their performance as race car head pads. An extensive series of tests with the helmeted Hybrid III test dummy head and neck on an impact mini-sled was conducted to explore head padding concepts. Following this, a performance specification for a simplified impact test using a rigid headform that simulates the helmeted head was developed and recommendations for performance levels of head padding based on biomechanical data on helmeted head impacts were made. In 1997, during the time that the head pad research was being performed, the Indy Racing League introduced a new chassis specification for their cars. There were a number of rear- and side-impact crashes during that season that resulted in seven severe head injuries. Examples of the head padding in those cars were included in the experimental study. The results of the head pad research were used to specify new padding materials that met the new biomechanical criteria. The placement of the head pads was also changed for better location of the padding. These changes instituted in 1998 have reduced the number of head injuries in crashes similar to or more severe than those of 1997 and have resulted in only occasional moderate head injuries (concussions) in the 1998 and 1999 seasons.

Initial performance of the COSINE-100 experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adhikari, G.; Adhikari, P. [Sejong University, Department of Physics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Souza, E.B. de; Jo, J.H.; Lim, K.E.; Maruyama, R.H.; Pierpoint, Z.P.; Thompson, W.G. [Yale University, Department of Physics, New Haven, CT (United States); Carlin, N. [University of Sao Paulo, Physics Institute, Sao Paulo (Brazil); Choi, S.; Joo, H.W.; Kim, S.K. [Seoul National University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Choi, W.Q. [Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie (KIT), Institut fuer Experimentelle Kernphysik, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Djamal, M.; Prihtiadi, H. [Bandung Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, Bandung (Indonesia); Ezeribe, A.C.; Kudryavtsev, V.A.; Lynch, W.A.; Mouton, F.; Spooner, N.J.C. [University of Sheffield, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Ha, C.; Jeon, E.J.; Kang, W.G.; Kim, B.H.; Kim, H.; Kim, K.W.; Kim, N.Y.; Lee, H.S.; Lee, J.; Lee, M.H.; Leonard, D.S.; Olsen, S.L.; Park, H.K.; Park, K.S.; Ra, S.; Yong, S.H. [Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Center for Underground Physics, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Hahn, I.S. [Ewha Womans University, Department of Science Education, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Hubbard, A.J.F. [Yale University, Department of Physics, New Haven, CT (United States); Northwestern University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Evanston, IL (United States); Kang, W.; Rott, C. [Sungkyunkwan University, Department of Physics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kauer, M. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, Madison, WI (United States); Kim, H.J.; Lee, J.Y. [Kyungpook National University, Department of Physics, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Kim, M.C. [Sungkyunkwan University, Department of Physics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba University, Department of Physics, Chiba (Japan); Kim, Y.D. [Sejong University, Department of Physics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Center for Underground Physics, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Y.H. [Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Center for Underground Physics, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, H.S. [Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, J.S. [Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Center for Underground Physics, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Ibaraki (Japan); Pettus, W. [Yale University, Department of Physics, New Haven, CT (United States); University of Washington, Department of Physics, Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, Seattle, WA (United States); Rogers, F.R. [Yale University, Department of Physics, New Haven, CT (United States); Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, Cambridge, MA (United States); Scarff, A. [University of Sheffield, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sheffield (United Kingdom); University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vancouver, BC (Canada); Yang, L. [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Physics, Urbana, IL (United States)

2018-02-15

COSINE is a dark matter search experiment based on an array of low background NaI(Tl) crystals located at the Yangyang underground laboratory. The assembly of COSINE-100 was completed in the summer of 2016 and the detector is currently collecting physics quality data aimed at reproducing the DAMA/LIBRA experiment that reported an annual modulation signal. Stable operation has been achieved and will continue for at least 2 years. Here, we describe the design of COSINE-100, including the shielding arrangement, the configuration of the NaI(Tl) crystal detection elements, the veto systems, and the associated operational systems, and we show the current performance of the experiment. (orig.)

Explosive performance on the non-proliferation experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McKown, T.O.

1994-03-01

The non-proliferation experiment, originally called the chemical kiloton experiment, was planned and executed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to investigate the seismic yield relationship and distinguishing seismic signals between a nuclear event and a large mass conventional explosion. The Los Alamos National Laboratory planned and conducted experiments to further their studies of the source function for signals observed seismically. Since all investigations were contingent on the performance of the emplaced chemical explosive, an array of diagnostic measurements was fielded in the emplaced explosive. The CORRTEX system was used to investigate the explosive initiation and to determine the detonation velocities in multiple levels and in numerous directions. A description of the CORRTEX experiments fielded, a review of the data obtained and some interpretations of the data are reported.

Oral impacts on daily performances and recent use of dental services in schoolchildren.

Science.gov (United States)

Monsantofils, Monica; Bernabé, Eduardo

2014-11-01

To explore whether oral impacts on daily performances are related to recent use of dental services among children and whether oral impacts on specific daily performances are more strongly related to recent use of dental services. Data from a cross-sectional survey, including 805 11-12-year-old children attending four randomly selected schools in Lima (Peru), were used. The child version of the oral impacts on daily performances (Child-OIDP) was used to assess prevalence, intensity, and extent of oral impacts. Use of dental services was assessed by self-reports of last dental visit and reason for the visit. Associations of the prevalence, intensity, and extent of oral impacts with use of dental services were tested in logistic regression models. Children with oral impacts were 1.99 (95% CI: 1.17-3.37) times more likely to have used dental services recently than their counterparts. The intensity and extent of oral impacts were linearly associated with children's use of dental services. Difficulties in eating were the only type of oral impacts on daily performances associated with use of dental services, independent of children's demographic characteristics, and impacts on other performances. Oral impacts on daily performances were related to recent use of dental services among these schoolchildren. © 2013 BSPD, IAPD and John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Model experiment and numerical simulation of drop impact response of multilayer-combinational container

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Ruoze; Zhong Weizhou; Wan Qiang; Huang Xicheng; Zhang Fangju

2015-01-01

The drop impact process of multilayer-combinational container was simulated experimentally using a gas gun, and the normal impact and oblique impact of scaled models were tested. The experiments of scaled models were simulated numerically, and the stress distribution and plastic deformation in the tested structures during collision process were obtained. The results were compared with the experiment data. It was shown that the impact work mainly converted into plastic work due to the plastic deformation of the cushion wood and the plastic hinge in the buckled steel shell. The plastic deformation mainly happened at the collided end of the scaled models, and there was no plastic deformation found far from the collided end. The compressive stress-strain curve of the wood in texture direction can be used to simulate numerically the drop impact process of multilayer-combinational container. (authors)

Moderation Effects of Personality and Organizational Support on the Relationship between Prior Job Experience and Academic Performance of Management Students

Science.gov (United States)

Uppal, Nishant; Mishra, Sushanta Kumar

2014-01-01

The study investigates the relationship between prior job experience and current academic performance among management students in India. It further explores the impact of individual and situational factors on the above relationship. Based on a longitudinal study spanning over nine months in the academic year 2010-11 among a sample of 324…

Buildings vs. ballistics: Quantifying the vulnerability of buildings to volcanic ballistic impacts using field studies and pneumatic cannon experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, G. T.; Kennedy, B. M.; Wilson, T. M.; Fitzgerald, R. H.; Tsunematsu, K.; Teissier, A.

2017-09-01

Recent casualties in volcanic eruptions due to trauma from blocks and bombs necessitate more rigorous, ballistic specific risk assessment. Quantitative assessments are limited by a lack of experimental and field data on the vulnerability of buildings to ballistic hazards. An improved, quantitative understanding of building vulnerability to ballistic impacts is required for informing appropriate life safety actions and other risk reduction strategies. We assessed ballistic impacts to buildings from eruptions at Usu Volcano and Mt. Ontake in Japan and compiled available impact data from eruptions elsewhere to identify common damage patterns from ballistic impacts to buildings. We additionally completed a series of cannon experiments which simulate ballistic block impacts to building claddings to investigate their performance over a range of ballistic projectile velocities, masses and energies. Our experiments provide new insights by quantifying (1) the hazard associated with post-impact shrapnel from building and rock fragments; (2) the effect of impact obliquity on damage; and (3) the additional impact resistance buildings possess when claddings are struck in areas directly supported by framing components. This was not well identified in previous work which may have underestimated building vulnerability to ballistic hazards. To improve assessment of building vulnerability to ballistics, we use our experimental and field data to develop quantitative vulnerability models known as fragility functions. Our fragility functions and field studies show that although unreinforced buildings are highly vulnerable to large ballistics (> 20 cm diameter), they can still provide shelter, preventing death during eruptions.

An Analysis of Impact Factors for Positioning Performance in WLAN Fingerprinting Systems Using Ishikawa Diagrams and a Simulation Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keqiang Liu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Many factors influence the positioning performance in WLAN RSSI fingerprinting systems, and summary of these factors is an important but challenging job. Moreover, impact analysis on nonalgorithm factors is significant to system application and quality control but little research has been conducted. This paper analyzes and summarizes the potential impact factors by using an Ishikawa diagram considering radio signal transmitting, propagating, receiving, and processing. A simulation platform was developed to facilitate the analysis experiment, and the paper classifies the potential factors into controllable, uncontrollable, nuisance, and held-constant factors considering simulation feasibility. It takes five nonalgorithm controllable factors including APs density, APs distribution, radio signal propagating attenuation factor, radio signal propagating noise, and RPs density into consideration and adopted the OFAT analysis method in experiment. The positioning result was achieved by using the deterministic and probabilistic algorithms, and the error was presented by RMSE and CDF. The results indicate that the high APs density, signal propagating attenuation factor, and RPs density, with the low signal propagating noise level, are favorable to better performance, while APs distribution has no particular impact pattern on the positioning error. Overall, this paper has made great potential contribution to the quality control of WLAN fingerprinting solutions.

The effect of subconscious performance goals on academic performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bipp, T.; Kleingeld, P.A.M.; van Mierlo, H.; Kunde, W.

2017-01-01

We investigated the impact of subconscious goals on academic performance in two field experiments. We show that unobtrusive priming of goals with regard to achievement motivation by means of a photograph improves performance in different educational contexts. High-school students who were exposed to

Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment

OpenAIRE

Bradler, Christiane; Dur, Robert; Neckermann, Susanne; Non, Arjan

2014-01-01

This discussion paper led to a publication in 'Management Science' . This paper reports the results from a controlled field experiment designed to investigate the causal effect of unannounced, public recognition on employee performance. We hired more than 300 employees to work on a three-hour data-entry task. In a random sample of work groups, workers unexpectedly received recognition after two hours of work. We find that recognition increases subsequent performance substantially, and particu...

High Performance Fuel Laboratory, Hanford Reservation, Richland, Washington. Final environmental impact statement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1977-09-01

The High Performance Fuel Laboratory (HPFL) will provide pilot scale tests of manufacturing processes, equipment, and handling systems and of accountability and safeguards, methods, and equipment while keeping radiological and chemical exposures of the workers, public, and environment at the lowest practicable levels. The experience gained from designing, constructing and operating the HPFL can be used in future commitments to commercial fuel fabrication plants in the late 1980s and beyond for processing of nuclear fuel. The HPFL site is located in the 400 Area of the 559-square mile, federally owned Hanford Reservation. This environmental impact statement considers effects of the HPFL under normal conditions and in the event of an accident

The impact of socio-economic factors on the performance of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The impact of socio-economic factors on the performance of community ... the work ethic and the level of participation in rural development performance ... the factors responsible for the poor performance of community development projects.

The Impact of Business Diversification on Performance of IDX Listed Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ony Humarseno

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE This study analyzes the correlation between business diversification and performances in Indonesian listed companies from 2006-2011. In addition to observing business diversification impact on company’s performance in term of Return on Assets (ROA and Tobin’s Q, this research also observes the business diversification impact on the performances of different companies at different level. The result of this research indicates that diversification gives negative effect to ROA and Tobin’s Q, while for higher level of diversification, the effect on Tobin’s Q is relatively high. The negative effect of diversification on ROA is higher in the group of companies with higher ROA. The different results show that when using Tobin’s Q as a measure of companies’ performances, diversification gives negative impact to companies’ performance in the intermediate level.   Keywords: Diversification, companies’ performance, ROA, quantile regression, Tobin’s Q

Performance pressure and caffeine both affect cognitive performance, but likely through independent mechanisms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boere, J.J.; Fellinger, L.; Huizinga, D.J.H.; Wong, S.F.; Bijleveld, E.H.

2016-01-01

A prevalent combination in daily life, performance pressure and caffeine intake have both been shown to impact people's cognitive performance. Here, we examined the possibility that pressure and caffeine affect cognitive performance via a shared pathway. In an experiment, participants performed a

The Developmental Impact of Not Integrating Childhood Peak Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Schlarb, Craig W.

2007-01-01

Much prior groundbreaking research has been done in recent years highlighting the qualities, quantities and means children have to enter transpersonal states of awareness. As important as this precedent research has been, in many ways it has yet to fully appreciate the gravity of childhood transpersonal experiences in terms of the impact on…

Laboratory Impact Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Horanyi, M.; Munsat, T.

2017-12-01

The experimental and theoretical programs at the SSERVI Institute for Modeling Plasmas, Atmospheres, and Cosmic Dust (IMPACT) address the effects of hypervelocity dust impacts and the nature of the space environment of granular surfaces interacting with solar wind plasma and ultraviolet radiation. These are recognized as fundamental planetary processes due their role in shaping the surfaces of airless planetary objects, their plasma environments, maintaining dust haloes, and sustaining surface bound exospheres. Dust impacts are critically important for all airless bodies considered for possible human missions in the next decade: the Moon, Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), Phobos, and Deimos, with direct relevance to crew and mission safety and our ability to explore these objects. This talk will describe our newly developed laboratory capabilities to assess the effects of hypervelocity dust impacts on: 1) the gardening and redistribution of dust particles; and 2) the generation of ionized and neutral gasses on the surfaces of airless planetary bodies.

How Do Simulated Error Experiences Impact Attitudes Related to Error Prevention?

Science.gov (United States)

Breitkreuz, Karen R; Dougal, Renae L; Wright, Melanie C

2016-10-01

The objective of this project was to determine whether simulated exposure to error situations changes attitudes in a way that may have a positive impact on error prevention behaviors. Using a stratified quasi-randomized experiment design, we compared risk perception attitudes of a control group of nursing students who received standard error education (reviewed medication error content and watched movies about error experiences) to an experimental group of students who reviewed medication error content and participated in simulated error experiences. Dependent measures included perceived memorability of the educational experience, perceived frequency of errors, and perceived caution with respect to preventing errors. Experienced nursing students perceived the simulated error experiences to be more memorable than movies. Less experienced students perceived both simulated error experiences and movies to be highly memorable. After the intervention, compared with movie participants, simulation participants believed errors occurred more frequently. Both types of education increased the participants' intentions to be more cautious and reported caution remained higher than baseline for medication errors 6 months after the intervention. This study provides limited evidence of an advantage of simulation over watching movies describing actual errors with respect to manipulating attitudes related to error prevention. Both interventions resulted in long-term impacts on perceived caution in medication administration. Simulated error experiences made participants more aware of how easily errors can occur, and the movie education made participants more aware of the devastating consequences of errors.

The Impact of Mobile Learning on ESP Learners' Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhezzi, Fahad; Al-Dousari, Wadha

2016-01-01

This study explores the impact of using mobile phone applications, namely Telegram Messenger, on teaching and learning English in an ESP context. The main objective is to test whether using mobile phone applications have an impact on ESP learners' performance by mainly investigating the influence such teaching technique can have on learning…

Game Immersion Experience: Its Hierarchical Structure and Impact on Game-Based Science Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, M.-T.; She, H.-C.; Annetta, L. A.

2015-01-01

Many studies have shown the positive impact of serious educational games (SEGs) on learning outcomes. However, there still exists insufficient research that delves into the impact of immersive experience in the process of gaming on SEG-based science learning. The dual purpose of this study was to further explore this impact. One purpose was to…

Instrumented anvil-on-rod impact experiments for validating constitutive strength model for simulating transient dynamic deformation response of metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, M.; Shen, T.; Thadhani, N.N.

2008-01-01

Instrumented anvil-on-rod impact experiments were performed to access the applicability of this approach for validating a constitutive strength model for dynamic, transient-state deformation and elastic-plastic wave interactions in vanadium, 21-6-9 stainless steel, titanium, and Ti-6Al-4V. In addition to soft-catching the impacted rod-shaped samples, their transient deformation states were captured by high-speed imaging, and velocity interferometry was used to record the sample back (free) surface velocity and monitor elastic-plastic wave interactions. Simulations utilizing AUTODYN-2D hydrocode with Steinberg-Guinan constitutive equation were used to generate simulated free surface velocity traces and final/transient deformation profiles for comparisons with experiments. The simulations were observed to under-predict the radial strain for bcc vanadium and fcc steel, but over-predict the radial strain for hcp titanium and Ti-6Al-4V. The correlations illustrate the applicability of the instrumented anvil-on-rod impact test as a method for providing robust model validation based on the entire deformation event, and not just the final deformed state

Alliance capability as a mediator between experience and alliance performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heimeriks, Koen; Duysters, Geert

This study centers around the way in which firms can enhance alliance performance through the development of alliance capabilities. Whereas most research has focused on inter-firm antecedents of alliance performance, research on intra-firm antecedents pointing to prior experience and internal...... alliance managers and Vice-Presidents of 151 firms. The survey covers over 2600 alliances for the period 1997-2001. This study not only finds that alliance capabilities partially mediate between alliance experience and alliance performance, but also yields novel insights into the micro-level building...

The Effect of Subconscious Performance Goals on Academic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Bipp, Tanja; Kleingeld, Ad; van Mierlo, Heleen; Kunde, Wilfried

2017-01-01

We investigated the impact of subconscious goals on academic performance in two field experiments. We show that unobtrusive priming of goals with regard to achievement motivation by means of a photograph improves performance in different educational contexts. High-school students who were exposed to an achievement-related photograph achieved…

Modeling and conduct of turbine missile concrete impact experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodfin, R.L.

1981-01-01

The overall objective of the subject experiments was to provide full scale data on the response of reinforced concrete containment walls to impact and penetration by postulated turbine-produced missiles. These data can be used to validate analytical or scale modeling methods and to assess the applicability of current design formulas to penetration by large, irregularly shaped missiles. These data and results will be used in providing more realistic estimates of turbine missile damage probability in nuclear power plants with a non-peninsula arrangement. This paper describes the derivation of the test matrix and the method of conducting the experiments. (orig./HP)

Impact of emotional intelligence on job performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjanca Krajnc

2012-06-01

Full Text Available RQ: To determine whether emotional intelligence has an impact on motivation and how this can affect work performance.Purpose: High work performance of individuals in an organization can be achieved with a high level of motivation that is directly derived from emotional intelligence. Because the impact of emotional intelligence in organizations is under-researched and is not sufficiently included in the scope of management, there is a need tofurther explore this topic.Method: Qualitative analysis in the form of interviews and quantitative analysis in the form of a survey was used in this study. Details of interviews with employees were analyzed according to the rules of qualitative methods. The data obtained in the survey were analyzed with a chi-square test.Results: The results showed that emotional intelligence has a significant impact on motivation and that emotionally motivated person works more and better.Organization: Management can take these research findings into consideration during the human resources management process, and in the procedures of a comprehensive development of individual’s personal potential. The result of the research findings can be used bymanagement, supervisors, and all employees as a method to establish better motivational climate.Society: With a similar, but wider purpose, the findings of this research can be taken into account in the wider social environment, particularly in the field of public administration and media.Originality: In Slovenian organizations, research on this topic and in this combination has not yet been performed.Limitations: The sample is small and limited to only one major successful Slovenian company. It takes into account only the influence of motivation that comes from emotional intelligence.

Demographic differences in sport performers' experiences of organizational stressors.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, R; Fletcher, D; Daniels, K

2016-03-01

Organizational stressors are particularly prevalent across sport performers' experiences and can influence their performance, health, and well-being. Research has been conducted to identify which organizational stressors are encountered by sport performers, but little is known about how these experiences vary from athlete to athlete. The purpose of this study was to examine if the frequency, intensity, and duration of the organizational stressors that sport performers encounter vary as a function of gender, sport type, and performance level. Participants (n = 1277) completed the Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers (OSI-SP; Arnold et al., 2013), and the resultant data were analyzed using multivariate analyses of covariance. The findings show that demographic differences are apparent in the dimensions of the goals and development, logistics and operations, team and culture, coaching, and selection organizational stressors that sport performers encounter. More specifically, significant differences were found between males and females, between team and individual-based performers, and between performers competing at national or international, regional or university, and county or club levels. These findings have important implications for theory and research on organizational stress, and for the development of stress management interventions with sport performers. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

THE IMPACT OF MARKETING EXPERIMENTS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOFTWARE PRODUCERS AND THEIR RETAILERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HERȚANU ANDREEA

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of a marketing experiment done on the Romanian software market. The main purpose of this research is to determine how the marketing campaigns of software manufacturers can influence the decisions of software retailers. Through this marketing experimental research an evaluation and an analysis of the impact that marketing policies of software companies have on the retailers from all over the country is made. Three different marketing campaigns were proposed to three groups of software vendors from the most important cities of the country. The total number of software retailers included in this experiment is of 45, and the marketing campaigns proposed by the authors in this experiment refer to the Microsoft brand. Promotion strategies such as: sales promotion by encouraging sales force and promotional pricing or even the policy of partner relationship management have a great impact on three aspects regarding software retailers: loyalty, purchase and resale intention and attitude towards a brand. The results of the experiment show a high interest for the strategy of promotional pricing. The representatives of the software vendors have a positive orientation towards sales promotion by encouraging sales force. Regarding the influences of the manipulations used in the experiment, the greatest impact on the loyalty of the software vendors it has the strategy of promotional pricing. Also the policy of sales promotion by encouraging sales force has the biggest impact on the purchase and sale intention of the software retailers. All three manipulations have also an impact on the attitude towards a brand of the vendors, but the differences are too small to determine which of the proposed stimuli has a greater impact on this aspect. The results of the experiment may help and could have a great influence on the future marketing decisions of manufacturers regarding the strategies and marketing policies used on the Romanian

Fatigue Performance of Composite Laminates After Low-velocity Impact

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIANG Xiao-lin

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Compression-compression fatigue tests were carried out on T300/5405 composite laminates after low-velocity impact, compression performance of the laminates with different impact damages was studied together with its fatigue life and damage propagation under different stress levels, then the effects of impact energy, stress level and damage propagation on fatigue life of laminates were discussed. The results indicate that impact damage can greatly reduce the residual strength of laminates; under low fatigue load levels, the higher impact energy is, the shorter the fatigue life of laminates with impact damage will be; damage propagation undergoes two stages during the fatigue test, namely the steady propagation and the rapid propagation, accounting for 80% and 20% of the overall fatigue life, respectively; damage propagation rate decreases with the reduction of stress level.

The impact of knowledge management on MNC subsidiary performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahnke, Volker; Pedersen, Torben; Venzin, Markus

2003-01-01

Empirical studies on the impact of knowledge management on the performance of MNCsubsidiaries remain elusive to date. This study examines the effect of knowledgemanagement tools such as corporate university, communities of practice, groupbenchmarking, learning systems and rewards upon absorptive...... to the current literature on knowledge flows in the MNCinclude an empirically corroborated link between deployments of knowledgemanagement tools and their impact on the subsidiary employee's ability and motivationto learn from internal knowledge flows in the MNC as well as their impact onsubsidiary business...

The impact of knowledge management on MNC subsidiary performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahnke, Volker; Pedersen, Torben; Venzin, Markus

2003-01-01

to the current literature on knowledge flows in the MNCinclude an empirically corroborated link between deployments of knowledgemanagement tools and their impact on the subsidiary employee's ability and motivationto learn from internal knowledge flows in the MNC as well as their impact onsubsidiary business......Empirical studies on the impact of knowledge management on the performance of MNCsubsidiaries remain elusive to date. This study examines the effect of knowledgemanagement tools such as corporate university, communities of practice, groupbenchmarking, learning systems and rewards upon absorptive...

Impact Of Strategic Change Management On The Performance Of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Impact Of Strategic Change Management On The Performance Of Public Transport In Osun State, Nigeria. ... Journal of Research in National Development ... the role of leadership style in strategic change management; identify in factors that are influencing change process and actual performance of an organization.

Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C. Bradler (Christiane); A.J. Dur (Robert); S. Neckermann (Susanne); J.A. Non (Arjan)

2013-01-01

textabstractThis paper reports the results from a controlled field experiment designed to investigate the causal effect of public recognition on employee performance. We hired more than 300 employees to work on a three-hour data-entry task. In a random sample of work groups, workers unexpectedly

Employee recognition and performance: A field experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bradler, C.; Dur, R.; Neckermann, S.; Non, J.A.

2013-01-01

This paper reports the results from a controlled field experiment designed to investigate the causal effect of public recognition on employee performance. We hired more than 300 employees to work on a three-hour data-entry task. In a random sample of work groups, workers unexpectedly received

Implementing performance appraisal : Exploring the employee experience

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farndale, E.; Kelliher, C.

2013-01-01

Line managers play an important role as implementers of performance appraisal, enacting procedures designed by the HR function. However, the actual employee experience of these procedures (which may differ from how they were intended or enacted) in terms of perceptions of justice in the process is

Impact of neighborhood design on energy performance and GHG emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hachem, Caroline

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Energy use and GHG emissions of different neighborhood designs are investigated. • Improving buildings energy performance reduces energy use and GHG emissions by 75%. • Density as isolated factor has limited effect on transport on per capita basis. • Distance to central business district impacts transport GHG emission significantly. - Abstract: This paper presents an innovative and holistic approach to the analysis of the impact of selected design parameters of a new solar community on its environmental performance, in terms of energy efficiency and carbon footprint (green-house gas (GHG) emissions). The design parameters include energy performance level of buildings, density, type of the neighborhood (mixed-use vs residential), location of the commercial center relative to residential areas and the design of the streets. Energy performance is measured as the balance between overall energy consumption for building operations (assuming an all-electric neighborhood) and electricity generation potential through integration of PV panels on available roof surfaces. Greenhouse gas emissions are those associated with building operations and transport. Results of simulations carried out on prototype neighborhoods located in the vicinity of Calgary, Alberta, Canada indicate that, while adopting high-energy efficiency measures can reduce the buildings’ impact by up to 75% in terms of energy consumption and GHG emissions, transport still has a large environmental impact. The parameters of highest impact on transport and its associated GHG emissions are the design of the neighborhood and the distance to the business center. Density, as isolated parameter, has a modest effect on the selected mode of transportation, in terms of using private or public transportation. While this study relates to a specific location and a range of design assumptions, the methodology employed can serve as a template for evaluating design alternatives of new sustainable

The Impact of Study Abroad Experiences on Vocational Identity among College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Kronholz, Julia F.; Osborn, Debra S.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine preliminary findings regarding the effect of a study abroad experience on vocational identity and career decision-making as defined by Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) theory (Sampson et al., 2004). The results revealed that a study abroad experience significantly impacts college students'…

Successful Skill Transfer: Military Service Experience and Company Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammed Kürşad Özlen

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In today’s business life, employees from different sectors have the opportunity to work in other industries and can have different positions through the organization. This can be considered from the perspective of skill transfer (transfer of tacit knowledge. The success can be questioned in terms of company performance. If this process can be managed well performance will be higher. This research mainly aims to identify whether veterans with military service experience can contribute to employee motivation, organizational motivation and organizational benefits. In order to test the assumed associations, the research employs a survey study on the veterans who have served for Bosnian army and are currently employees of Bosnian firms. The results provide that military service experience is significantly influential on the motivations of employees and organizations and on company performance. It can be suggested that the adaptation of external knowledge (skill transfer, military service experience, into new organizational environment can be enhanced by the help of knowledge management. This research is valuable in that it is among the few studies in its respective field and in the region.

Organizational and market influences on physician performance on patient experience measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Hector P; von Glahn, Ted; Rogers, William H; Safran, Dana Gelb

2009-06-01

To examine the extent to which medical group and market factors are related to individual primary care physician (PCP) performance on patient experience measures. This study employs Clinician and Group CAHPS survey data (n=105,663) from 2,099 adult PCPs belonging to 34 diverse medical groups across California. Medical group directors were interviewed to assess the magnitude and nature of financial incentives directed at individual physicians and the adoption of patient experience improvement strategies. Primary care services area (PCSA) data were used to characterize the market environment of physician practices. We used multilevel models to estimate the relationship between medical group and market factors and physician performance on each Clinician and Group CAHPS measure. Models statistically controlled for respondent characteristics and accounted for the clustering of respondents within physicians, physicians within medical groups, and medical groups within PCSAs using random effects. Compared with physicians belonging to independent practice associations, physicians belonging to integrated medical groups had better performance on the communication ( p=.007) and care coordination ( p=.03) measures. Physicians belonging to medical groups with greater numbers of PCPs had better performance on all measures. The use of patient experience improvement strategies was not associated with performance. Greater emphasis on productivity and efficiency criteria in individual physician financial incentive formulae was associated with worse access to care ( p=.04). Physicians located in PCSAs with higher area-level deprivation had worse performance on the access to care ( p=.04) and care coordination ( pintegrated medical groups and groups with greater numbers of PCPs performed better on several patient experience measures, suggesting that organized care processes adopted by these groups may enhance patients' experiences. Physicians practicing in markets with high

An experiment to test advanced materials impacted by intense proton pulses at CERN HiRadMat facility

CERN Document Server

Bertarelli, A; Boccone, V; Carra, F; Cerutti, F; Charitonidis, N; Charrondiere, C; Dallocchio, A; Fernandez Carmona, P; Francon, P; Gentini, L; Guinchard, M; Mariani, N; Masi, A; Marques dos Santos, S D; Moyret, P; Peroni, L; Redaelli, S; Scapin, M

2013-01-01

Predicting the consequences of highly energetic particle beams impacting protection devices as collimators or high power target stations is a fundamental issue in the design of state-of-the-art facilities for high-energy particle physics. These complex dynamic phenomena can be successfully simulated resorting to highly non-linear numerical tools (Hydrocodes). In order to produce accurate results, however, these codes require reliable material constitutive models that, at the extreme conditions induced by a destructive beam impact, are scarce and often inaccurate. In order to derive or validate such models a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind experiment has been recently carried out at CERN HiRadMat facility: performed tests entailed the controlled impact of intense and energetic proton pulses on a number of specimens made of six different materials. Experimental data were acquired relying on embedded instrumentation (strain gauges, temperature probes and vacuum sensors) and on remote-acquisition devices (laser ...

BASEL III: long-term impact on economic performance and fluctuations

OpenAIRE

Paolo Angelini; Laurent Clerc; Vasco Cúrdia; Leonardo Gambacorta; Andrea Gerali; Alberto Locarno; Roberto Motto; Werner Roeger; Skander J. van den Heuvel; Jan Vlcek

2011-01-01

We assess the long-term economic impact of the new regulatory standards (the Basel III reform), answering the following questions: 1) What is the impact of the reform on longterm economic performance? 2) What is the impact of the reform on economic fluctuations? 3) What is the impact of the adoption of countercyclical capital buffers on economic fluctuations? The main results are the following: 1) Each percentage point increase in the capital ratio causes a median 0.09 percent decline in the ...

Performance assessment of hybrid power generation systems: Economic and environmental impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Sharafi, Abdullah; Yilbas, Bekir S.; Sahin, Ahmet Z.; Ayar, T.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A double-step optimization tool for hybrid power generation systems is introduced. • Economical aspects and the impact of the system on the environment are considered. • A hybrid system comprises PV array-wind turbine-battery-diesel engine is considered. • Real time analysis of the system for full year simulation is carried out. • System optimum configuration at point where total performance index is maximized. - Abstract: This article aims to introduce a double-step performance assessment tool for the hybrid power generation systems. As a case study, a hybrid system comprising PV array, wind-turbine, battery bank and diesel engine is incorporated in hourly based simulations to meet power demand of a residence unit at Dhahran area, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Different indicators related to economical and environmental performance assessments of the hybrid system have been considered. In the economic related assessment case, cost of electricity, energy excess percentage, and operating life cycle indicators have been considered and combined to develop the first overall performance index. Renewable contribution, renewable source availability and environmental impact indicators have been considered for the environmental assessment case and they are combined in the second performance index. For either economical or environmental cases, the optimum configuration of the system is achieved by maximizing the first and second overall performance indicators. This innovative optimization tools gives the designer the freedom to assign suitable weights associated with economical aspect, environmental impact, governmental regulations and social impact, for the first and second overall performance indicators, and combine them in the total performance index. The optimum system configuration is at the point where the total performance index is maximized.

The impact of social and family-related factors on women's stress experience in household and family work.

Science.gov (United States)

Sperlich, Stefanie; Geyer, Siegfried

2015-03-01

This study explores the contribution of social and family-related factors to women's experience of an effort-reward imbalance (ERI) in household and family work. Using a population-based sample of German mothers (n = 3,129), we performed stepwise logistic regression analysis in order to determine the relative impact of social and family-related factors on ERI. All factors investigated showed a significant association with at least one ERI component. Considering all predictors simultaneously in the multivariate analysis resulted in a decrease in significance of socioeconomic status in explaining the effort-reward ratio while the impact on low reward partly remained significant. In addition, age of youngest child, number of children, lower levels of perceived social support, domestic work inequity and negative work-to-family spillover, irrespective of being half- or full-time employed, revealed to be important in predicting ERI. The experience of ERI in domestic work is influenced by the social and family environment. Particularly among socially disadvantaged mothers, lack of social recognition for household and family work proved to be a relevant source of psychosocial stress.

The impact and applicability of critical experiment evaluations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brewer, R. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

1997-06-01

This paper very briefly describes a project to evaluate previously performed critical experiments. The evaluation is intended for use by criticality safety engineers to verify calculations, and may also be used to identify data which need further investigation. The evaluation process is briefly outlined; the accepted benchmark critical experiments will be used as a standard for verification and validation. The end result of the project will be a comprehensive reference document.

Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aad, G.; Abat, E.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; Abdelalim, A.A.; Abdesselam, A.; Abdinov, O.; Abi, B.; Abolins, M.; Abramowicz, H.; Acharya, Bobby Samir; Adams, D.L.; Addy, T.N.; Adorisio, C.; Adragna, P.; Adye, T.; Aguilar-Saavedra, J.A.; Aharrouche, M.; Ahlen, S.P.; Ahles, F.; Ahmad, A.; /SUNY, Albany /Alberta U. /Ankara U. /Annecy, LAPP /Argonne /Arizona U. /Texas U., Arlington /Athens U. /Natl. Tech. U., Athens /Baku, Inst. Phys. /Barcelona, IFAE /Belgrade U. /VINCA Inst. Nucl. Sci., Belgrade /Bergen U. /LBL, Berkeley /Humboldt U., Berlin /Bern U., LHEP /Birmingham U. /Bogazici U. /INFN, Bologna /Bologna U.

2011-11-28

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN promises a major step forward in the understanding of the fundamental nature of matter. The ATLAS experiment is a general-purpose detector for the LHC, whose design was guided by the need to accommodate the wide spectrum of possible physics signatures. The major remit of the ATLAS experiment is the exploration of the TeV mass scale where groundbreaking discoveries are expected. In the focus are the investigation of the electroweak symmetry breaking and linked to this the search for the Higgs boson as well as the search for Physics beyond the Standard Model. In this report a detailed examination of the expected performance of the ATLAS detector is provided, with a major aim being to investigate the experimental sensitivity to a wide range of measurements and potential observations of new physical processes. An earlier summary of the expected capabilities of ATLAS was compiled in 1999 [1]. A survey of physics capabilities of the CMS detector was published in [2]. The design of the ATLAS detector has now been finalised, and its construction and installation have been completed [3]. An extensive test-beam programme was undertaken. Furthermore, the simulation and reconstruction software code and frameworks have been completely rewritten. Revisions incorporated reflect improved detector modelling as well as major technical changes to the software technology. Greatly improved understanding of calibration and alignment techniques, and their practical impact on performance, is now in place. The studies reported here are based on full simulations of the ATLAS detector response. A variety of event generators were employed. The simulation and reconstruction of these large event samples thus provided an important operational test of the new ATLAS software system. In addition, the processing was distributed world-wide over the ATLAS Grid facilities and hence provided an important test of the ATLAS computing system - this is the origin of

Operational Experience and Performance with the ATLAS Pixel detector

CERN Document Server

Martin, Christopher Blake; The ATLAS collaboration

2018-01-01

The tracking performance of the ATLAS detector relies critically on its 4-layer Pixel Detector, that has undergone significant hardware and software upgrades to meet the challenges imposed by the higher collision energy, pileup and luminosity that are being delivered by the Large Hadron Collider, with record breaking instantaneous luminosities of $1.3\\times10^{34}\\text{cm}^{{-2}}\\text{s}^{{-1}}$ recently surpassed. The key status and performance metrics of the ATLAS Pixel Detector are summarized, and the operational experience and requirements to ensure optimum data quality and data taking efficiency are described, with special emphasis to radiation damage experience.

Operational Experience and Performance with the ATLAS Pixel detector

CERN Document Server

Martin, Christopher Blake; The ATLAS collaboration

2018-01-01

The tracking performance of the ATLAS detector relies critically on its 4-layer Pixel Detector, that has undergone significant hardware and software upgrades to meet the challenges imposed by the higher collision energy, pileup and luminosity that are being delivered by the Large Hadron Collider, with record breaking instantaneous luminosities of 1.3 x 10^34 cm-2 s-1 recently surpassed. The key status and performance metrics of the ATLAS Pixel Detector are summarised, and the operational experience and requirements to ensure optimum data quality and data taking efficiency are described, with special emphasis to radiation damage experience.

Online formative MCQs to supplement traditional teaching: a very significant positive impact on student performance in the short and long run

OpenAIRE

Catley, Paul

2014-01-01

The paper builds on the research underpinning One Lecturer’s Experience of Blending E-learning with Traditional Teaching (Catley, 2005). It analyses the earlier findings in more depth and examines the longer term impact of online quizzes on student performance. Engagement with formative online MCQs is explored generally and the links between MCQ engagement and a range of student characteristics: seminar attendance, “A” level performance, age, nationality, gender and prior study of the discipl...

“It's Your Problem. Deal with It.” Performers' Experiences of Psychological Challenges in Music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ellis Pecen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Musicians need to deal with a range of challenges during their performance career and in response to these have reported a number of conditions that impact on their performance. Although social support from peers and teachers has been identified as part of the process of dealing with these challenges, little is understood about musicians' coping methods, beliefs and their attitudes toward support. Therefore, this study aimed to explore (a performers' previous experiences of psychological challenges, (b the types of support they used and, (c how this might inform future support programs in learning environments. Fifteen interviews were conducted with pre-elite (n = 5 transitioning elite (n = 3 and established elite performers (n = 7 in order to elicit data on psychological challenges, coping, beliefs and preferences for support. Inductive content analysis suggested that elite performers in this sample reported positive health habits, philosophical views of performance, health and life, positive anxiety reappraisal, and use of various psychological strategies, albeit without being explicitly aware of it. The need for various professional skills (e.g., communication, business, self-management, and organizational skills was emphasized by all participants. Transition into conservatoire was marked by severe psychological challenges, disorders and trauma. Primary sources of support included friends, family and self-help literature. Professional help was predominantly sought for physical problems. The impact of teachers was paramount, yet securing good teachers was considered a matter of “luck.” The most negative aspects recounted included abusive teachers, unsupportive environments, social comparison, competition, and disillusionment after entering the profession. Participants believed that talent could be developed and also valued wellbeing in relation to performance. Positive effects of late specialization on social development and professional

A strategic map for high-impact virtual experience design

Science.gov (United States)

Faste, Haakon; Bergamasco, Massimo

2009-02-01

We have employed methodologies of human centered design to inspire and guide the engineering of a definitive low-cost aesthetic multimodal experience intended to stimulate cultural growth. Using a combination of design research, trend analysis and the programming of immersive virtual 3D worlds, over 250 innovative concepts have been brainstormed, prototyped, evaluated and refined. These concepts have been used to create a strategic map for the development of highimpact virtual art experiences, the most promising of which have been incorporated into a multimodal environment programmed in the online interactive 3D platform XVR. A group of test users have evaluated the experience as it has evolved, using a multimodal interface with stereo vision, 3D audio and haptic feedback. This paper discusses the process, content, results, and impact on our engineering laboratory that this research has produced.

The impact of automation on pharmacy staff experience of workplace stressors.

Science.gov (United States)

James, K Lynette; Barlow, Dave; Bithell, Anne; Hiom, Sarah; Lord, Sue; Oakley, Pat; Pollard, Mike; Roberts, Dave; Way, Cheryl; Whittlesea, Cate

2013-04-01

Determine the effect of installing an original pack automated dispensing system (ADS) on staff experience of occupational stressors. Pharmacy staff in a National Health Service hospital in Wales, UK, were administered an anonymous occupational stressor questionnaire pre- (n = 45) and post-automation (n = 32). Survey responses pre- and post-automation were compared using Mann-Whitney U test. Statistical significance was P ≤ 0.05. Four focus groups were conducted (two groups of accredited checking technicians (ACTs) (group 1: n = 4; group 2: n = 6), one group of pharmacists (n = 17), and one group of technicians (n = 4) post-automation to explore staff experiences of occupational stressors. Focus group transcripts were analysed according to framework analysis. Survey response rate pre-automation was 78% (n = 35) and 49% (n = 16) post-automation. Automation had a positive impact on staff experience of stress (P = 0.023), illogical workload allocation (P = 0.004) and work-life balance (P = 0.05). All focus-group participants reported that automation had created a spacious working environment. Pharmacists and ACTs reported that automation had enabled the expansion of their roles. Technicians felt like 'production-line workers.' Robot malfunction was a source of stress. The findings suggest that automation had a positive impact on staff experience of stressors, improving working conditions and workload. Technicians reported that ADS devalued their skills. When installing ADS, pharmacy managers must consider the impact of automation on staff. Strategies to reduce stressors associated with automation include rotating staff activities and role expansions. © 2012 The Authors. IJPP © 2012 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Frictional behaviour of high performance fibrous tows: Friction experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cornelissen, Bo; Rietman, Bert; Akkerman, Remko

2013-01-01

Tow friction is an important mechanism in the production and processing of high performance fibrous tows. The frictional behaviour of these tows is anisotropic due to the texture of the filaments as well as the tows. This work describes capstan experiments that were performed to measure the

A Europe-wide experiment for assessing the impact of genotype-environment interactions on the vitality and performance of honey bee colonies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Costa, Cecilia; Büchler, Ralph; Berg, Stefan

2012-01-01

An international experiment to estimate the importance of genotype-environment interactions on vitality and performance of honey bees and on colony losses was run between July 2009 and March 2012. Altogether 621 bee colonies, involving 16 different genetic origins of European honey bees, were...

The Impact of Translators' Academic Experience on Their Translation Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Varzande, Mohsen; Jadidi, Esmaeil

2015-01-01

Translators differ from each other in many ways in terms of their knowledge and professional conditions that may directly influence their translation. The present study aimed at investigating the impact of translators' academic experience on their translation quality. Following a "causal-comparative study", a sample of 100 male and…

Diagnosing and alleviating the impact of performance pressure on mathematical problem solving.

Science.gov (United States)

DeCaro, Marci S; Rotar, Kristin E; Kendra, Matthew S; Beilock, Sian L

2010-08-01

High-pressure academic testing situations can lead people to perform below their actual ability levels by co-opting working memory (WM) resources needed for the task at hand (Beilock, 2008). In the current work we examine how performance pressure impacts WM and design an intervention to alleviate pressure's negative impact. Specifically, we explore the hypothesis that high-pressure situations trigger distracting thoughts and worries that rely heavily on verbal WM. Individuals performed verbally based and spatially based mathematics problems in a low-pressure or high-pressure testing situation. Results demonstrated that performance on problems that rely heavily on verbal WM resources was less accurate under high-pressure than under low-pressure tests. Performance on spatially based problems that do not rely heavily on verbal WM was not affected by pressure. Moreover, the more people reported worrying during test performance, the worse they performed on the verbally based (but not spatially based) maths problems. Asking some individuals to focus on the problem steps by talking aloud helped to keep pressure-induced worries at bay and eliminated pressure's negative impact on performance.

Does a single session of reading literary fiction prime enhanced mentalising performance? Four replication experiments of Kidd and Castano (2013).

Science.gov (United States)

Samur, Dalya; Tops, Mattie; Koole, Sander L

2018-02-01

Prior experiments indicated that reading literary fiction improves mentalising performance relative to reading popular fiction, non-fiction, or not reading. However, the experiments had relatively small sample sizes and hence low statistical power. To address this limitation, the present authors conducted four high-powered replication experiments (combined N = 1006) testing the causal impact of reading literary fiction on mentalising. Relative to the original research, the present experiments used the same literary texts in the reading manipulation; the same mentalising task; and the same kind of participant samples. Moreover, one experiment was pre-registered as a direct replication. In none of the experiments did reading literary fiction have any effect on mentalising relative to control conditions. The results replicate earlier findings that familiarity with fiction is positively correlated with mentalising. Taken together, the present findings call into question whether a single session of reading fiction leads to immediate improvements in mentalising.

The Impact of Workplace Conditions on Firm Performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

I.S. Buhai (Sebastian); E. Cottini (Elena); N. Westergaard-Nielsen

2008-01-01

textabstractThis paper estimates the impact of work environment health and safety practice on firm performance, and examines which firm-characteristic factors are associated with good work conditions. We use Danish longitudinal register matched employer-employee data, merged with firm business

Incentives, Selection, and Teacher Performance: Evidence from IMPACT

Science.gov (United States)

Dee, Thomas S.; Wyckoff, James

2015-01-01

Teachers in the United States are compensated largely on the basis of fixed schedules that reward experience and credentials. However, there is a growing interest in whether performance-based incentives based on rigorous teacher evaluations can improve teacher retention and performance. The evidence available to date has been mixed at best. This…

The impact of fillers on lineup performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wetmore, Stacy A; McAdoo, Ryan M; Gronlund, Scott D; Neuschatz, Jeffrey S

2017-01-01

Filler siphoning theory posits that the presence of fillers (known innocents) in a lineup protects an innocent suspect from being chosen by siphoning choices away from that innocent suspect. This mechanism has been proposed as an explanation for why simultaneous lineups (viewing all lineup members at once) induces better performance than showups (one-person identification procedures). We implemented filler siphoning in a computational model (WITNESS, Clark, Applied Cognitive Psychology 17:629-654, 2003), and explored the impact of the number of fillers (lineup size) and filler quality on simultaneous and sequential lineups (viewing lineups members in sequence), and compared both to showups. In limited situations, we found that filler siphoning can produce a simultaneous lineup performance advantage, but one that is insufficient in magnitude to explain empirical data. However, the magnitude of the empirical simultaneous lineup advantage can be approximated once criterial variability is added to the model. But this modification works by negatively impacting showups rather than promoting more filler siphoning. In sequential lineups, fillers were found to harm performance. Filler siphoning fails to clarify the relationship between simultaneous lineups and sequential lineups or showups. By incorporating constructs like filler siphoning and criterial variability into a computational model, and trying to approximate empirical data, we can sort through explanations of eyewitness decision-making, a prerequisite for policy recommendations.

Prioritization of factors impacting on performance of power looms using AHP

Science.gov (United States)

Dulange, S. R.; Pundir, A. K.; Ganapathy, L.

2014-08-01

The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors influencing the performance of power loom textiles, to evaluate their impact on the organizational performance and to find out the effect of these factors on the organizational performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Solapur (Maharashtra) industrial sector using AHP. In the methodology adopted, factors are identified through the literature survey and finalization of these factors is done by taking the opinion of experts in the Indian context. By cognitive map, the relation between these factors (direct and indirect effect) is determined and cause and effect diagram is prepared. Then these factors are arranged hierarchically and tree diagram is prepared. A questionnaire was designed and distributed among the experts; data is collected. Using expert choice software data is filled to quantify by pair-wise comparison of these factors and are prioritized. The weights demonstrate several key findings: local and global priority reveals that there is a substantial effect of the human resource, product style, and volume on the organizational performance. The skills and technology upgradation impact on organizational performance. Maintenance plays an important role in improving the organizational performances of the SMEs. Overall, the results showed the central role of the operational factors are important. The research is subject to the normal limitations of AHP. The study is using perceptual data provided by Experts which may not provide clear measures of impact factors. However, this can be overcome using more experts to collect data in future studies. Interestingly, the findings here may be generalisable outside Solapur like Ichalkarnji, Malegaon, and Bhiwadi (Maharashtra). Solapur power loom SMEs should consider AHP as an innovative tool for quantification of factors impacting on performance and improving operational and organizational performance in today's dynamic

W-1 Sodium Loop Safety Facility experiment centerline fuel thermocouple performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyers, S.C.; Henderson, J.M.

1980-05-01

The W-1 Sodium Loop Safety Facility (SLSF) experiment is the fifth in a series of experiments sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the National Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) Safety Assurance Program. The experiments are being conducted under the direction of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory (HEDL). The irradiation phase of the W-1 SLSF experiment was conducted between May 27 and July 20, 1979, and terminated with incipient fuel pin cladding failure during the final boiling transient. Experimental hardware and facility performed as designed, allowing completion of all planned tests and test objectives. This paper focuses on high temperature in-fuel thermocouples and discusses their development, fabrication, and performance in the W-1 experiment

New evidence on the impact of structural reforms on electricity sector performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Polemis, Michael L.

2016-01-01

The evolution of electricity industry over the last decades has shown substantial differences between OECD countries. This paper empirically investigates to what extent different structural forms of regulation, competition and privatisation explain these international differences. It distinguishes three modes of electricity performance: a) net generation per capita, b) installed capacity and c) labour productivity. The empirical model spans the period 1975–2011 and uses panel data econometric techniques. Our analysis reveals that there is a strongly significant interaction impact on the level of electricity performance between regulation and competition. The empirical findings do confirm that a robust independent regulatory scheme must be implemented in order to achieve a competitive electricity market. - Highlights: •We assess the impact of structural reforms on OECD electricity sector performance. •Regulation has stronger impact on performance when interaction terms are present. •Privatisation has unambiguous effect on the elements of performance. •The combined effect of reforms on performance is more aggressive in the long run.

Feasibility of performing neutrino experiments at an intense source of strangeness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlini, R.D.; Stephenson, G.J. Jr.

1983-01-01

Several very important low energy neutrino experiments have been identified and discussed by Kayser and Rosen in these proceedings. We address the possibility of performing some of these experiments in the environment of a kaon factory. To carry out specific analyses, we draw upon the design of existing BNL detectors, the design of experiments that are proposed for an 800 MeV proton driven facility at Los Alamos, and the use of the code NUBEAM developed at CERN. Since in most cases we have not optimized, this is a conservative estimate. We find that many of the desired experiments can be performed with facilities now under discussion

Low-velocity impact cratering experiments in granular slopes

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi, Kosuke; Sumita, Ikuro

2017-07-01

Low-velocity impact cratering experiments are conducted in sloped granular targets to study the effect of the slope angle θ on the crater shape and its scales. We use two types of granular matter, sand and glass beads, former of which has a larger friction coefficient μs = tanθr , where θr is the angle of repose. Experiments show that as θ increases, the crater becomes shallower and elongated in the direction of the slope. Furthermore the crater floor steepens in the upslope side and a thick rim forms in the downslope side, thus forming an asymmetric profile. High-speed images show that these features are results of ejecta being dispersed farther towards the downslope side and the subsequent avalanche which buries much of the crater floor. Such asymmetric ejecta dispersal can be explained by combining the Z-model and a ballistic model. Using the topographic maps of the craters, we classify crater shape regimes I-III, which transition with increasing θ : a full-rim crater (I), a broken-rim crater (II), and a depression (III). The critical θ for the regime transitions are larger for sand compared to glass beads, but collapse to close values when we use a normalized slope θ^ = tanθ / tanθr . Similarly we derive θ^-dependences of the scaled crater depth, length, width and their ratios which collapse the results for different targets and impact energies. We compare the crater profiles formed in our experiments with deep craters on asteroid Vesta and find that some of the scaled profiles nearly overlap and many have similar depth / length ratios. This suggests that these Vestan craters may also have formed in the gravity regime and that the formation process can be approximated by a granular flow with a similar effective friction coefficient.

Impact of stress on dentists' clinical performance. A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Plessas, A; Delgado, M B; Nasser, M; Hanoch, Y; Moles, D R

2018-03-01

Dentistry is recognised as a stressful profession and dentists perceive their profession to be more stressful than other healthcare professions. While earlier studies have shown a link between stress and well-being among dentists, whether stress negatively impacts their clinical performance is an important and open question. We do know, however, that stress is associated with reduced performance in other health (and non-health) related professions. This systematic review aimed to answer the question: how does stress impact on dentists' clinical performance? This systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42016045756). The CINHAL, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, EThOS and OpenGrey electronic databases were searched according to PRISMA guidelines. Two reviewers independently screened the citations for relevance. The citation list of potentially eligible papers was also searched. Prospective empirical studies were considered for inclusion. The inclusion criteria were applied at the full-text stage by the two same reviewers independently. The search yielded 3535 titles and abstracts. Twelve publications were considered potentially eligible, eleven of which were excluded as they did not meet the predefined inclusion criteria. This systematic review identified a gap in the literature as it found no empirical evidence quantifying the impact of stress on dentists' clinical performance. Prospective well-designed experimental simulation studies, comparing stress with non-stress situations on clinical performance and decision making, as well studies evaluating prospectively real-life dentists' performance under stress are warranted. Copyright© 2018 Dennis Barber Ltd.

IMPACT OF SELF ESTEEM & SUPPORT ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akmal SHAHZAD

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Education is life blood for development of country. This paper explores the impact of various factors on student performance. Data was collected from ten (10 Govt. & Private schools in Rawalpindi. Out of 1100 hundred responded 600 hundred responses inducted in this study. Simple regression employed in this study to test the hypothesis. The result concluded that both factor have significant negative relationship with student performance. In future, the difference of performance level among male and female may be explored in term of pick & drop facility, university distance from home and other responsibility due on male student as they grow.

The Impact of Employee Job Satisfaction Towards Employee Job Performance at PT.Y

OpenAIRE

Sutjitra, Devilan

2015-01-01

This research is done to analyze The Impact of Employee Job Satisfaction towards Employee Job Performance at PT.Y. The decreasing in employee job performance for the past 3 years has indicated the author to analyze the impact of employee job satisfaction towards job performance. The elements that used are 9 job satisfactions to measure the impact of satisfaction at PT.Y. The author got 100 respondents from PT.Y and use simple random sampling method.The analysis technique that used in this res...

Data link air traffic control and flight deck environments: Experiment in flight crew performance

Science.gov (United States)

Lozito, Sandy; Mcgann, Alison; Corker, Kevin

1993-01-01

This report describes an experiment undertaken in a full mission simulation environment to investigate the performance impact of, and human/system response to, data-linked Air Traffic Control (ATC) and automated flight deck operations. Subjects were twenty pilots (ten crews) from a major United States air carrier. Crews flew the Advanced Concepts Flight Simulator (ACFS), a generic 'glass cockpit' simulator at NASA Ames. The method of data link used was similar to the data link implementation plans for a next-generation aircraft, and included the capability to review ATC messages and directly enter ATC clearance information into the aircraft systems. Each crew flew experimental scenarios, in which data reflecting communication timing, errors and clarifications, and procedures were collected. Results for errors and clarifications revealed an interaction between communication modality (voice v. data link) and communication type (air/ground v. intracrew). Results also revealed that voice crews initiated ATC contact significantly more than data link crews. It was also found that data link crews performed significantly more extraneous activities during the communication task than voice crews. Descriptive data from the use of the review menu indicate the pilot-not-flying accessing the review menu most often, and also suggest diffulty in accessing the target message within the review menu structure. The overall impact of communication modality upon air/ground communication and crew procedures is discussed.

Centrifuge Impact Cratering Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, R. M.; Housen, K. R.; Bjorkman, M. D.

1985-01-01

The kinematics of crater growth, impact induced target flow fields and the generation of impact melt were determined. The feasibility of using scaling relationships for impact melt and crater dimensions to determine impactor size and velocity was studied. It is concluded that a coupling parameter determines both the quantity of melt and the crater dimensions for impact velocities greater than 10km/s. As a result impactor radius, a, or velocity, U cannot be determined individually, but only as a product in the form of a coupling parameter, delta U micron. The melt volume and crater volume scaling relations were applied to Brent crater. The transport of melt and the validity of the melt volume scaling relations are examined.

Estimation of Crop Gross Primary Production (GPP): I. Impact of MODIS Observation Footprint and Impact of Vegetation BRDF Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qingyuan; Cheng, Yen-Ben; Lyapustin, Alexei I.; Wang, Yujie; Xiao, Xiangming; Suyker, Andrew; Verma, Shashi; Tan, Bin; Middleton, Elizabeth M.

2014-01-01

Accurate estimation of gross primary production (GPP) is essential for carbon cycle and climate change studies. Three AmeriFlux crop sites of maize and soybean were selected for this study. Two of the sites were irrigated and the other one was rainfed. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the enhanced vegetation index (EVI), the green band chlorophyll index (CIgreen), and the green band wide dynamic range vegetation index (WDRVIgreen) were computed from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface reflectance data. We examined the impacts of the MODIS observation footprint and the vegetation bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) on crop daily GPP estimation with the four spectral vegetation indices (VIs - NDVI, EVI, WDRVIgreen and CIgreen) where GPP was predicted with two linear models, with and without offset: GPP = a × VI × PAR and GPP = a × VI × PAR + b. Model performance was evaluated with coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and coefficient of variation (CV). The MODIS data were filtered into four categories and four experiments were conducted to assess the impacts. The first experiment included all observations. The second experiment only included observations with view zenith angle (VZA) = 35? to constrain growth of the footprint size,which achieved a better grid cell match with the agricultural fields. The third experiment included only forward scatter observations with VZA = 35?. The fourth experiment included only backscatter observations with VZA = 35?. Overall, the EVI yielded the most consistently strong relationships to daily GPP under all examined conditions. The model GPP = a × VI × PAR + b had better performance than the model GPP = a × VI × PAR, and the offset was significant for most cases. Better performance was obtained for the irrigated field than its counterpart rainfed field. Comparison of experiment 2 vs. experiment 1 was used to examine the observation

TQM and market orientation's impact on SMEs' performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hadi Abdollahi

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the impact of total quality management (TQM as well as market orientation on organizational performance on some Iranian small and medium enterprises (SMEs. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among some experts in city of Shiraz, Iran. Using structural equation modeling, the study determines that three components of market orientation including intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness through TQM influences on organizational performance components including financial and non-financial performance as well as efficiency. In addition, TQM components including training, process management, supplier quality management, employee relationships, quality of data and reports and top management commitment influence positively on organizational performance in SMEs.

Inferring the high-pressure strength of copper by measurement of longitudinal sound speed in a symmetric impact and release experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Rothman, Stephen; Edwards, Rhys; Vogler, Tracy J.; Furnish, M. D.

2012-03-01

Velocity-time histories of free- or windowed-surfaces have been used to calculate wave speeds and hence deduce the shear moduli for materials at high pressure. This is important to high velocity impact phenomena, e.g. shaped-charge jets, long rod penetrators, and other projectile/armour interactions. Historically the shock overtake method has required several experiments with different depths of material to account for the effect of the surface on the arrival time of the release. A characteristics method, previously used for analysis of isentropic compression experiments, has been modified to account for the effect of the surface interactions, thus only one depth of material is required. This analysis has been applied to symmetric copper impacts performed at Sandia National Laboratory's Star Facility. A shear modulus of 200GPa, at a pressure of ~180GPa, has been estimated. These results are in broad agreement with previous work by Hayes et al.

The Impact of Micro-Finance on the Performance of Small-Scale ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Impact of Micro-Finance on the Performance of Small-Scale Enterprises: A Comparison of ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... the impact that the study-MFIs are making on their SMEs-client in the Wa Municipality.

Impact of Incentive Schemes on Employee Performance: A Case ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Impact of Incentive Schemes on Employee Performance: A Case Study of ... several factors like motivation, absenteeism, employee turnover, production and productivity, ... conditions, team work, rewarding and work satisfaction of employees.

The high-performance database archiver for the LHC experiments

CERN Document Server

González-Berges, M

2007-01-01

Each of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments will be controlled by a large distributed system built with the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) tool Prozeßvisualisierungs- und Steuerungsystem (PVSS). There will be in the order of 150 computers and one million input/output parameters per experiment. The values read from the hardware, the alarms generated and the user actions will be archived for the later physics analysis, the operation and the debugging of the control system itself. Although the original PVSS implementation of a database archiver was appropriate for standard industrial use, the performance was not sufficient for the experiments. A collaboration was setup between CERN and ETM, the company that develops PVSS. Changes in the architecture and several optimizations were made and tested in a system of a comparable size to the final ones. As a result, we have been able to improve the performance by more than one order of magnitude, and what is more important, we now have a scal...

Impacts of distinct observations during the 2009 Prince William Sound field experiment: A data assimilation study

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Z.; Chao, Y.; Farrara, J.; McWilliams, J. C.

2012-12-01

A set of data assimilation experiments, known as Observing System Experiments (OSEs), are performed to assess the relative impacts of different types of observations acquired during the 2009 Prince William Sound Field Experiment. The observations assimilated consist primarily of three types: High Frequency (HF) radar surface velocities, vertical profiles of temperature/salinity (T/S) measured by ships, moorings, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and gliders, and satellite sea surface temperatures (SSTs). The impact of all the observations, HF radar surface velocities, and T/S profiles is assessed. Without data assimilation, a frequently occurring cyclonic eddy in the central Sound is overly persistent and intense. The assimilation of the HF radar velocities effectively reduces these biases and improves the representation of the velocities as well as the T/S fields in the Sound. The assimilation of the T/S profiles improves the large scale representation of the temperature/salinity and also the velocity field in the central Sound. The combination of the HF radar surface velocities and sparse T/S profiles results in an observing system capable of representing the circulation in the Sound reliably and thus producing analyses and forecasts with useful skill. It is suggested that a potentially promising observing network could be based on satellite SSHs and SSTs along with sparse T/S profiles, and future satellite SSHs with wide swath coverage and higher resolution may offer excellent data that will be of great use for predicting the circulation in the Sound.

Evaluating outcomes of computer-based classroom testing: Student acceptance and impact on learning and exam performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Meixun; Bender, Daniel

2018-03-13

Computer-based testing (CBT) has made progress in health sciences education. In 2015, the authors led implementation of a CBT system (ExamSoft) at a dental school in the U.S. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the purposes of this study were to (a) examine dental students' acceptance of ExamSoft; (b) understand factors impacting acceptance; and (c) evaluate the impact of ExamSoft on students' learning and exam performance. Survey and focus group data revealed that ExamSoft was well accepted by students as a testing tool and acknowledged by most for its potential to support learning. Regression analyses showed that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of ExamSoft significantly predicted student acceptance. Prior CBT experience and computer skills did not significantly predict acceptance of ExamSoft. Students reported that ExamSoft promoted learning in the first program year, primarily through timely and rich feedback on examination performance. t-Tests yielded mixed results on whether students performed better on computerized or paper examinations. The study contributes to the literature on CBT and the application of the TAM model in health sciences education. Findings also suggest ways in which health sciences institutions can implement CBT to maximize its potential as an assessment and learning tool.

Performance pressure and caffeine both affect cognitive performance, but likely through independent mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Boere, Julia J; Fellinger, Lizz; Huizinga, Duncan J H; Wong, Sebastiaan F; Bijleveld, Erik

2016-02-01

A prevalent combination in daily life, performance pressure and caffeine intake have both been shown to impact people's cognitive performance. Here, we examined the possibility that pressure and caffeine affect cognitive performance via a shared pathway. In an experiment, participants performed a modular arithmetic task. Performance pressure and caffeine intake were orthogonally manipulated. Findings indicated that pressure and caffeine both negatively impacted performance. However, (a) pressure vs. caffeine affected performance on different trial types, and (b) there was no hint of an interactive effect. So, though the evidence is indirect, findings suggest that pressure and caffeine shape performance via distinct mechanisms, rather than a shared one. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Performance of the ALICE Experiment at the CERN LHC

CERN Document Server

Abelev, Betty Bezverkhny; Adam, Jaroslav; Adamova, Dagmar; Aggarwal, Madan Mohan; Agnello, Michelangelo; Agostinelli, Andrea; Agrawal, Neelima; Ahammed, Zubayer; Ahmad, Nazeer; Ahmad, Arshad; Ahmed, Ijaz; Ahn, Sang Un; Ahn, Sul-Ah; Aimo, Ilaria; Aiola, Salvatore; Ajaz, Muhammad; Akindinov, Alexander; Aleksandrov, Dmitry; Alessandro, Bruno; Alexandre, Didier; Alici, Andrea; Alkin, Anton; Alme, Johan; Alt, Torsten; Altini, Valerio; Altinpinar, Sedat; Altsybeev, Igor; Alves Garcia Prado, Caio; Andrei, Cristian; Andronic, Anton; Anguelov, Venelin; Anielski, Jonas; Anticic, Tome; Antinori, Federico; Antonioli, Pietro; Aphecetche, Laurent Bernard; Appelshaeuser, Harald; Arbor, Nicolas; Arcelli, Silvia; Armesto Perez, Nestor; Arnaldi, Roberta; Aronsson, Tomas; Arsene, Ionut Cristian; Arslandok, Mesut; Augustinus, Andre; Averbeck, Ralf Peter; Awes, Terry; Azmi, Mohd Danish; Bach, Matthias Jakob; Badala, Angela; Baek, Yong Wook; Bagnasco, Stefano; Bailhache, Raphaelle Marie; Bala, Renu; Baldisseri, Alberto; Baltasar Dos Santos Pedrosa, Fernando; Baral, Rama Chandra; Barbera, Roberto; Barile, Francesco; Barnafoldi, Gergely Gabor; Barnby, Lee Stuart; Ramillien Barret, Valerie; Bartke, Jerzy Gustaw; Basile, Maurizio; Bastid, Nicole; Basu, Sumit; Bathen, Bastian; Batigne, Guillaume; Batyunya, Boris; Batzing, Paul Christoph; Baumann, Christoph Heinrich; Bearden, Ian Gardner; Beck, Hans; Bedda, Cristina; Behera, Nirbhay Kumar; Belikov, Iouri; Bellini, Francesca; Bellwied, Rene; Belmont Moreno, Ernesto; Bencedi, Gyula; Beole, Stefania; Berceanu, Ionela; Bercuci, Alexandru; Berdnikov, Yaroslav; Berenyi, Daniel; Berger, Martin Emanuel; Bertens, Redmer Alexander; Berzano, Dario; Betev, Latchezar; Bhasin, Anju; Bhati, Ashok Kumar; Bhattacharjee, Buddhadeb; Bhom, Jihyun; Bianchi, Livio; Bianchi, Nicola; Bianchin, Chiara; Bielcik, Jaroslav; Bielcikova, Jana; Bilandzic, Ante; Bjelogrlic, Sandro; Blanco, Fernando; Blau, Dmitry; Blume, Christoph; Bock, Friederike; Bogdanov, Alexey; Boggild, Hans; Bogolyubskiy, Mikhail; Boehmer, Felix Valentin; Boldizsar, Laszlo; Bombara, Marek; Book, Julian Heinz; Borel, Herve; Borissov, Alexander; Bossu, Francesco; Botje, Michiel; Botta, Elena; Boettger, Stefan; Braun-Munzinger, Peter; Bregant, Marco; Breitner, Timo Gunther; Broker, Theo Alexander; Browning, Tyler Allen; Broz, Michal; Bruna, Elena; Bruno, Giuseppe Eugenio; Budnikov, Dmitry; Buesching, Henner; Bufalino, Stefania; Buncic, Predrag; Busch, Oliver; Buthelezi, Edith Zinhle; Caffarri, Davide; Cai, Xu; Caines, Helen Louise; Caliva, Alberto; Calvo Villar, Ernesto; Camerini, Paolo; Canoa Roman, Veronica; Carena, Francesco; Carena, Wisla; Castillo Castellanos, Javier Ernesto; Casula, Ester Anna Rita; Catanescu, Vasile Ioan; Cavicchioli, Costanza; Ceballos Sanchez, Cesar; Cepila, Jan; Cerello, Piergiorgio; Chang, Beomsu; Chapeland, Sylvain; Charvet, Jean-Luc Fernand; Chattopadhyay, Subhasis; Chattopadhyay, Sukalyan; Cherney, Michael Gerard; Cheshkov, Cvetan Valeriev; Cheynis, Brigitte; Chibante Barroso, Vasco Miguel; Dobrigkeit Chinellato, David; Chochula, Peter; Chojnacki, Marek; Choudhury, Subikash; Christakoglou, Panagiotis; Christensen, Christian Holm; Christiansen, Peter; Chujo, Tatsuya; Chung, Suh-Urk; Cicalo, Corrado; Cifarelli, Luisa; Cindolo, Federico; Cleymans, Jean Willy Andre; Colamaria, Fabio Filippo; Colella, Domenico; Collu, Alberto; Colocci, Manuel; Conesa Balbastre, Gustavo; Conesa Del Valle, Zaida; Connors, Megan Elizabeth; Contreras Nuno, Jesus Guillermo; Cormier, Thomas Michael; Corrales Morales, Yasser; Cortese, Pietro; Cortes Maldonado, Ismael; Cosentino, Mauro Rogerio; Costa, Filippo; Crochet, Philippe; Cruz Albino, Rigoberto; Cuautle Flores, Eleazar; Cunqueiro Mendez, Leticia; Dainese, Andrea; Dang, Ruina; Danu, Andrea; Das, Debasish; Das, Indranil; Das, Kushal; Das, Supriya; Dash, Ajay Kumar; Dash, Sadhana; De, Sudipan; Delagrange, Hugues; Deloff, Andrzej; Denes, Ervin Sandor; D'Erasmo, Ginevra; De Caro, Annalisa; De Cataldo, Giacinto; De Cuveland, Jan; De Falco, Alessandro; De Gruttola, Daniele; De Marco, Nora; De Pasquale, Salvatore; De Rooij, Raoul Stefan; Diaz Corchero, Miguel Angel; Dietel, Thomas; Divia, Roberto; Di Bari, Domenico; Di Liberto, Sergio; Di Mauro, Antonio; Di Nezza, Pasquale; Djuvsland, Oeystein; Dobrin, Alexandru Florin; Dobrowolski, Tadeusz Antoni; Domenicis Gimenez, Diogenes; Donigus, Benjamin; Dordic, Olja; Dorheim, Sverre; Dubey, Anand Kumar; Dubla, Andrea; Ducroux, Laurent; Dupieux, Pascal; Dutt Mazumder, Abhee Kanti; Ehlers Iii, Raymond James; Elia, Domenico; Engel, Heiko; Erazmus, Barbara Ewa; Erdal, Hege Austrheim; Eschweiler, Dominic; Espagnon, Bruno; Esposito, Marco; Estienne, Magali Danielle; Esumi, Shinichi; Evans, David; Evdokimov, Sergey; Fabris, Daniela; Faivre, Julien; Falchieri, Davide; Fantoni, Alessandra; Fasel, Markus; Fehlker, Dominik; Feldkamp, Linus; Felea, Daniel; Feliciello, Alessandro; Feofilov, Grigory; Ferencei, Jozef; Fernandez Tellez, Arturo; Gonzalez Ferreiro, Elena; Ferretti, Alessandro; Festanti, Andrea; Figiel, Jan; Araujo Silva Figueredo, Marcel; Filchagin, Sergey; Finogeev, Dmitry; Fionda, Fiorella; Fiore, Enrichetta Maria; Floratos, Emmanouil; Floris, Michele; Foertsch, Siegfried Valentin; Foka, Panagiota; Fokin, Sergey; Fragiacomo, Enrico; Francescon, Andrea; Frankenfeld, Ulrich Michael; Fuchs, Ulrich; Furget, Christophe; Fusco Girard, Mario; Gaardhoeje, Jens Joergen; Gagliardi, Martino; Gago Medina, Alberto Martin; Gallio, Mauro; Gangadharan, Dhevan Raja; Ganoti, Paraskevi; Garabatos Cuadrado, Jose; Garcia-Solis, Edmundo Javier; Gargiulo, Corrado; Garishvili, Irakli; Gerhard, Jochen; Germain, Marie; Gheata, Andrei George; Gheata, Mihaela; Ghidini, Bruno; Ghosh, Premomoy; Ghosh, Sanjay Kumar; Gianotti, Paola; Giubellino, Paolo; Gladysz-Dziadus, Ewa; Glassel, Peter; Gomez Jimenez, Ramon; Gomez Ramirez, Andres; Gonzalez Zamora, Pedro; Gorbunov, Sergey; Gorlich, Lidia Maria; Gotovac, Sven; Graczykowski, Lukasz Kamil; Grajcarek, Robert; Grelli, Alessandro; Grigoras, Alina Gabriela; Grigoras, Costin; Grigoryev, Vladislav; Grigoryan, Ara; Grigoryan, Smbat; Grynyov, Borys; Grion, Nevio; Grosse-Oetringhaus, Jan Fiete; Grossiord, Jean-Yves; Grosso, Raffaele; Guber, Fedor; Guernane, Rachid; Guerzoni, Barbara; Guilbaud, Maxime Rene Joseph; Gulbrandsen, Kristjan Herlache; Gulkanyan, Hrant; Gunji, Taku; Gupta, Anik; Gupta, Ramni; Khan, Kamal; Haake, Rudiger; Haaland, Oystein Senneset; Hadjidakis, Cynthia Marie; Haiduc, Maria; Hamagaki, Hideki; Hamar, Gergoe; Hanratty, Luke David; Hansen, Alexander; Harris, John William; Hartmann, Helvi; Harton, Austin Vincent; Hatzifotiadou, Despina; Hayashi, Shinichi; Heckel, Stefan Thomas; Heide, Markus Ansgar; Helstrup, Haavard; Herghelegiu, Andrei Ionut; Herrera Corral, Gerardo Antonio; Hess, Benjamin Andreas; Hetland, Kristin Fanebust; Hicks, Bernard Richard; Hippolyte, Boris; Hladky, Jan; Hristov, Peter Zahariev; Huang, Meidana; Humanic, Thomas; Hutter, Dirk; Hwang, Dae Sung; Ilkaev, Radiy; Ilkiv, Iryna; Inaba, Motoi; Innocenti, Gian Michele; Ionita, Costin; Ippolitov, Mikhail; Irfan, Muhammad; Ivanov, Marian; Ivanov, Vladimir; Ivanytskyi, Oleksii; Jacholkowski, Adam Wlodzimierz; Jacobs, Peter Martin; Jahnke, Cristiane; Jang, Haeng Jin; Janik, Malgorzata Anna; Pahula Hewage, Sandun; Jena, Satyajit; Jimenez Bustamante, Raul Tonatiuh; Jones, Peter Graham; Jung, Hyungtaik; Jusko, Anton; Kalcher, Sebastian; Kalinak, Peter; Kalweit, Alexander Philipp; Kamin, Jason Adrian; Kang, Ju Hwan; Kaplin, Vladimir; Kar, Somnath; Karasu Uysal, Ayben; Karavichev, Oleg; Karavicheva, Tatiana; Karpechev, Evgeny; Kebschull, Udo Wolfgang; Keidel, Ralf; Ketzer, Bernhard Franz; Khan, Mohammed Mohisin; Khan, Palash; Khan, Shuaib Ahmad; Khanzadeev, Alexei; Kharlov, Yury; Kileng, Bjarte; Kim, Beomkyu; Kim, Do Won; Kim, Dong Jo; Kim, Jinsook; Kim, Mimae; Kim, Minwoo; Kim, Se Yong; Kim, Taesoo; Kirsch, Stefan; Kisel, Ivan; Kiselev, Sergey; Kisiel, Adam Ryszard; Kiss, Gabor; Klay, Jennifer Lynn; Klein, Jochen; Klein-Boesing, Christian; Kluge, Alexander; Knichel, Michael Linus; Knospe, Anders Garritt; Kobdaj, Chinorat; Kofarago, Monika; Kohler, Markus Konrad; Kollegger, Thorsten; Kolozhvari, Anatoly; Kondratev, Valerii; Kondratyeva, Natalia; Konevskikh, Artem; Kovalenko, Vladimir; Kowalski, Marek; Kox, Serge; Koyithatta Meethaleveedu, Greeshma; Kral, Jiri; Kralik, Ivan; Kramer, Frederick; Kravcakova, Adela; Krelina, Michal; Kretz, Matthias; Krivda, Marian; Krizek, Filip; Krus, Miroslav; Kryshen, Evgeny; Krzewicki, Mikolaj; Kucera, Vit; Kucheryaev, Yury; Kugathasan, Thanushan; Kuhn, Christian Claude; Kuijer, Paulus Gerardus; Kulakov, Igor; Kumar, Jitendra; Kurashvili, Podist; Kurepin, Alexander; Kurepin, Alexey; Kuryakin, Alexey; Kushpil, Svetlana; Kweon, Min Jung; Kwon, Youngil; Ladron De Guevara, Pedro; Lagana Fernandes, Caio; Lakomov, Igor; Langoy, Rune; Lara Martinez, Camilo Ernesto; Lardeux, Antoine Xavier; Lattuca, Alessandra; La Pointe, Sarah Louise; La Rocca, Paola; Lea, Ramona; Lee, Graham Richard; Legrand, Iosif; Lehnert, Joerg Walter; Lemmon, Roy Crawford; Lenhardt, Matthieu Laurent; Lenti, Vito; Leogrande, Emilia; Leoncino, Marco; Leon Monzon, Ildefonso; Levai, Peter; Li, Shuang; Lien, Jorgen Andre; Lietava, Roman; Lindal, Svein; Lindenstruth, Volker; Lippmann, Christian; Lisa, Michael Annan; Ljunggren, Hans Martin; Lodato, Davide Francesco; Lonne, Per-Ivar; Loggins, Vera Renee; Loginov, Vitaly; Lohner, Daniel; Loizides, Constantinos; Lopez, Xavier Bernard; Lopez Torres, Ernesto; Lu, Xianguo; Luettig, Philipp Johannes; Lunardon, Marcello; Luo, Jiebin; Luparello, Grazia; Luzzi, Cinzia; Ma, Rongrong; Maevskaya, Alla; Mager, Magnus; Mahapatra, Durga Prasad; Maire, Antonin; Majka, Richard Daniel; Malaev, Mikhail; Maldonado Cervantes, Ivonne Alicia; Malinina, Liudmila; Mal'Kevich, Dmitry; Malzacher, Peter; Mamonov, Alexander; Manceau, Loic Henri Antoine; Manko, Vladislav; Manso, Franck; Manzari, Vito; Marchisone, Massimiliano; Mares, Jiri; Margagliotti, Giacomo Vito; Margotti, Anselmo; Marin, Ana Maria; Markert, Christina; Marquard, Marco; Martashvili, Irakli; Martin, Nicole Alice; Martinengo, Paolo; Martinez Hernandez, Mario Ivan; Martinez-Garcia, Gines; Martin Blanco, Javier; Martynov, Yevgen; Mas, Alexis Jean-Michel; Masciocchi, Silvia; Masera, Massimo; Masoni, Alberto; Massacrier, Laure Marie; Mastroserio, Annalisa; Matyja, Adam Tomasz; Mayer, Christoph; Mazer, Joel Anthony; Mazzoni, Alessandra Maria; Meddi, Franco; Menchaca-Rocha, Arturo Alejandro; Meninno, Elisa; Mercado-Perez, Jorge; Meres, Michal; Miake, Yasuo; Mikhaylov, Konstantin; Milano, Leonardo; Milosevic, Jovan; Mischke, Andre; Mishra, Aditya Nath; Miskowiec, Dariusz Czeslaw; Mitu, Ciprian Mihai; Mlynarz, Jocelyn; Mohanty, Bedangadas; Molnar, Levente; Montano Zetina, Luis Manuel; Montes Prado, Esther; Morando, Maurizio; Moreira De Godoy, Denise Aparecida; Moretto, Sandra; Morreale, Astrid; Morsch, Andreas; Muccifora, Valeria; Mudnic, Eugen; Muhuri, Sanjib; Mukherjee, Maitreyee; Muller, Hans; Gameiro Munhoz, Marcelo; Murray, Sean; Musa, Luciano; Musinsky, Jan; Nandi, Basanta Kumar; Nania, Rosario; Nappi, Eugenio; Nattrass, Christine; Nayak, Tapan Kumar; Nazarenko, Sergey; Nedosekin, Alexander; Nicassio, Maria; Niculescu, Mihai; Nielsen, Borge Svane; Nikolaev, Sergey; Nikulin, Sergey; Nikulin, Vladimir; Nilsen, Bjorn Steven; Noferini, Francesco; Nomokonov, Petr; Nooren, Gerardus; Nyanin, Alexander; Nystrand, Joakim Ingemar; Oeschler, Helmut Oskar; Oh, Saehanseul; Oh, Sun Kun; Okatan, Ali; Olah, Laszlo; Oleniacz, Janusz; Oliveira Da Silva, Antonio Carlos; Onderwaater, Jacobus; Oppedisano, Chiara; Ortiz Velasquez, Antonio; Oskarsson, Anders Nils Erik; Otwinowski, Jacek Tomasz; Oyama, Ken; Sahoo, Pragati; Pachmayer, Yvonne Chiara; Pachr, Milos; Pagano, Paola; Paic, Guy; Painke, Florian; Pajares Vales, Carlos; Pal, Susanta Kumar; Palmeri, Armando; Pant, Divyash; Papikyan, Vardanush; Pappalardo, Giuseppe; Pareek, Pooja; Park, Woojin; Parmar, Sonia; Passfeld, Annika; Patalakha, Dmitry; Paticchio, Vincenzo; Paul, Biswarup; Pawlak, Tomasz Jan; Peitzmann, Thomas; Pereira Da Costa, Hugo Denis Antonio; Pereira De Oliveira Filho, Elienos; Peresunko, Dmitry Yurevich; Perez Lara, Carlos Eugenio; Pesci, Alessandro; Pestov, Yury; Petracek, Vojtech; Petran, Michal; Petris, Mariana; Petrovici, Mihai; Petta, Catia; Piano, Stefano; Pikna, Miroslav; Pillot, Philippe; Pinazza, Ombretta; Pinsky, Lawrence; Piyarathna, Danthasinghe; Ploskon, Mateusz Andrzej; Planinic, Mirko; Pluta, Jan Marian; Pochybova, Sona; Podesta Lerma, Pedro Luis Manuel; Poghosyan, Martin; Pohjoisaho, Esko Heikki Oskari; Polishchuk, Boris; Poljak, Nikola; Pop, Amalia; Porteboeuf, Sarah Julie; Porter, R Jefferson; Pospisil, Vladimir; Potukuchi, Baba; Prasad, Sidharth Kumar; Preghenella, Roberto; Prino, Francesco; Pruneau, Claude Andre; Pshenichnov, Igor; Puccio, Maximiliano; Puddu, Giovanna; Punin, Valery; Putschke, Jorn Henning; Qvigstad, Henrik; Rachevski, Alexandre; Raha, Sibaji; Rak, Jan; Rakotozafindrabe, Andry Malala; Ramello, Luciano; Raniwala, Rashmi; Raniwala, Sudhir; Rasanen, Sami Sakari; Rascanu, Bogdan Theodor; Rathee, Deepika; Rauf, Aamer Wali; Razazi, Vahedeh; Read, Kenneth Francis; Real, Jean-Sebastien; Redlich, Krzysztof; Reed, Rosi Jan; Rehman, Attiq Ur; Reichelt, Patrick Simon; Reicher, Martijn; Reidt, Felix; Renfordt, Rainer Arno Ernst; Reolon, Anna Rita; Reshetin, Andrey; Rettig, Felix Vincenz; Revol, Jean-Pierre; Reygers, Klaus Johannes; Riabov, Viktor; Ricci, Renato Angelo; Richert, Tuva Ora Herenui; Richter, Matthias Rudolph; Riedler, Petra; Riegler, Werner; Riggi, Francesco; Rivetti, Angelo; Rocco, Elena; Rodriguez Cahuantzi, Mario; Rodriguez Manso, Alis; Roeed, Ketil; Rogochaya, Elena; Sharma, Rohni; Rohr, David Michael; Roehrich, Dieter; Romita, Rosa; Ronchetti, Federico; Ronflette, Lucile; Rosnet, Philippe; Rossegger, Stefan; Rossi, Andrea; Roukoutakis, Filimon; Roy, Ankhi; Roy, Christelle Sophie; Roy, Pradip Kumar; Rubio Montero, Antonio Juan; Rui, Rinaldo; Russo, Riccardo; Ryabinkin, Evgeny; Ryabov, Yury; Rybicki, Andrzej; Sadovskiy, Sergey; Safarik, Karel; Sahlmuller, Baldo; Sahoo, Raghunath; Sahu, Pradip Kumar; Saini, Jogender; Salgado Lopez, Carlos Alberto; Salzwedel, Jai Samuel Nielsen; Sambyal, Sanjeev Singh; Samsonov, Vladimir; Sanchez Castro, Xitzel; Sanchez Rodriguez, Fernando Javier; Sandor, Ladislav; Sandoval, Andres; Sano, Masato; Santagati, Gianluca; Sarkar, Debojit; Scapparone, Eugenio; Scarlassara, Fernando; Scharenberg, Rolf Paul; Schiaua, Claudiu Cornel; Schicker, Rainer Martin; Schmidt, Christian Joachim; Schmidt, Hans Rudolf; Schuchmann, Simone; Schukraft, Jurgen; Schulc, Martin; Schuster, Tim Robin; Schutz, Yves Roland; Schwarz, Kilian Eberhard; Schweda, Kai Oliver; Scioli, Gilda; Scomparin, Enrico; Scott, Patrick Aaron; Scott, Rebecca Michelle; Segato, Gianfranco; Seger, Janet Elizabeth; Selyuzhenkov, Ilya; Seo, Jeewon; Serradilla Rodriguez, Eulogio; Sevcenco, Adrian; Shabetai, Alexandre; Shabratova, Galina; Shahoyan, Ruben; Shangaraev, Artem; Sharma, Natasha; Sharma, Satish; Shigaki, Kenta; Shtejer Diaz, Katherin; Sibiryak, Yury; Siddhanta, Sabyasachi; Siemiarczuk, Teodor; Silvermyr, David Olle Rickard; Silvestre, Catherine Micaela; Simatovic, Goran; Singaraju, Rama Narayana; Singh, Ranbir; Singha, Subhash; Singhal, Vikas; Sinha, Bikash; Sarkar - Sinha, Tinku; Sitar, Branislav; Sitta, Mario; Skaali, Bernhard; Skjerdal, Kyrre; Smakal, Radek; Smirnov, Nikolai; Snellings, Raimond; Soegaard, Carsten; Soltz, Ron Ariel; Song, Jihye; Song, Myunggeun; Soramel, Francesca; Sorensen, Soren Pontoppidan; Spacek, Michal; Sputowska, Iwona Anna; Spyropoulou-Stassinaki, Martha; Srivastava, Brijesh Kumar; Stachel, Johanna; Stan, Ionel; Stefanek, Grzegorz; Steinpreis, Matthew Donald; Stenlund, Evert Anders; Steyn, Gideon Francois; Stiller, Johannes Hendrik; Stocco, Diego; Stolpovskiy, Mikhail; Strmen, Peter; Alarcon Do Passo Suaide, Alexandre; Subieta Vasquez, Martin Alfonso; Sugitate, Toru; Suire, Christophe Pierre; Suleymanov, Mais Kazim Oglu; Sultanov, Rishat; Sumbera, Michal; Susa, Tatjana; Symons, Timothy; Szanto De Toledo, Alejandro; Szarka, Imrich; Szczepankiewicz, Adam; Szymanski, Maciej Pawel; Takahashi, Jun; Tangaro, Marco-Antonio; Tapia Takaki, Daniel Jesus; Tarantola Peloni, Attilio; Tarazona Martinez, Alfonso; Tarzila, Madalina-Gabriela; Tauro, Arturo; Tejeda Munoz, Guillermo; Telesca, Adriana; Terrevoli, Cristina; Ter-Minasyan, Astkhik; Thaeder, Jochen Mathias; Thomas, Deepa; Tieulent, Raphael Noel; Timmins, Anthony Robert; Toia, Alberica; Torii, Hisayuki; Trubnikov, Victor; Trzaska, Wladyslaw Henryk; Tsuji, Tomoya; Tumkin, Alexandr; Turrisi, Rosario; Tveter, Trine Spedstad; Ulery, Jason Glyndwr; Ullaland, Kjetil; Uras, Antonio; Usai, Gianluca; Vajzer, Michal; Vala, Martin; Valencia Palomo, Lizardo; Vallero, Sara; Vande Vyvre, Pierre; Vannucci, Luigi; Van Der Maarel, Jasper; Van Hoorne, Jacobus Willem; Van Leeuwen, Marco; Diozcora Vargas Trevino, Aurora; Varma, Raghava; Vasileiou, Maria; Vasiliev, Andrey; Vechernin, Vladimir; Veldhoen, Misha; Velure, Arild; Venaruzzo, Massimo; Vercellin, Ermanno; Vergara Limon, Sergio; Vernet, Renaud; Verweij, Marta; Vickovic, Linda; Viesti, Giuseppe; Viinikainen, Jussi Samuli; Vilakazi, Zabulon; Villalobos Baillie, Orlando; Vinogradov, Alexander; Vinogradov, Leonid; Vinogradov, Yury; Virgili, Tiziano; Vislavicius, Vytautas; Viyogi, Yogendra; Vodopyanov, Alexander; Volkl, Martin Andreas; Voloshin, Kirill; Voloshin, Sergey; Volpe, Giacomo; Von Haller, Barthelemy; Vorobyev, Ivan; Vranic, Danilo; Vrlakova, Janka; Vulpescu, Bogdan; Vyushin, Alexey; Wagner, Boris; Wagner, Jan; Wagner, Vladimir; Wang, Mengliang; Wang, Yifei; Watanabe, Daisuke; Weber, Michael; Weber, Steffen Georg; Wessels, Johannes Peter; Westerhoff, Uwe; Wiechula, Jens; Wikne, Jon; Wilde, Martin Rudolf; Wilk, Grzegorz Andrzej; Wilkinson, Jeremy John; Williams, Crispin; Windelband, Bernd Stefan; Winn, Michael Andreas; Xiang, Changzhou; Yaldo, Chris G; Yamaguchi, Yorito; Yang, Hongyan; Yang, Ping; Yang, Shiming; Yano, Satoshi; Yasnopolskiy, Stanislav; Yi, Jungyu; Yin, Zhongbao; Yoo, In-Kwon; Yushmanov, Igor; Zaccolo, Valentina; Zach, Cenek; Zaman, Ali; Zampolli, Chiara; Zaporozhets, Sergey; Zarochentsev, Andrey; Zavada, Petr; Zavyalov, Nikolay; Zbroszczyk, Hanna Paulina; Zgura, Sorin Ion; Zhalov, Mikhail; Zhang, Haitao; Zhang, Xiaoming; Zhang, Yonghong; Zhao, Chengxin; Zhigareva, Natalia; Zhou, Daicui; Zhou, Fengchu; Zhou, You; Zhu, Hongsheng; Zhu, Jianhui; Zhu, Xiangrong; Zichichi, Antonino; Zimmermann, Alice; Zimmermann, Markus Bernhard; Zinovjev, Gennady; Zoccarato, Yannick Denis; Zynovyev, Mykhaylo; Zyzak, Maksym

2014-01-01

ALICE is the heavy-ion experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The experiment continuously took data during the first physics campaign of the machine from fall 2009 until early 2013, using proton and lead-ion beams. In this paper we describe the running environment and the data handling procedures, and discuss the performance of the ALICE detectors and analysis methods for various physics observables.

Laboratory Experiment Investigating the Impact of Ocean Acidification on Calcareous Organisms

Science.gov (United States)

Perera, Alokya P.; Bopegedera, A. M. R. P.

2014-01-01

The increase in ocean acidity since preindustrial times may have deleterious consequences for marine organisms, particularly those with calcareous structures. We present a laboratory experiment to investigate this impact with general, introductory, environmental, and nonmajors chemistry students. For simplicity and homogeneity, calcite was…

Impact of Diffusion and Variability on Vendor Performance Evaluation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Doerr, Kenneth; Lewis, Ira

2005-01-01

In this paper we develop a theory of the impact of behavioral decision making factors on the evaluation of logistic service providers under performance-based logistics and provide an analysis of pilot...

Learnability and linguistic performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Drozd, Kenneth

2004-01-01

of the human biological endowment for language in the form of a UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR (UG) (Chomsky, 1965). With respect to experimental design, C&T have strongly maintained that even young children know UG constraints but perform poorly in some experiments-due to the extralinguistic demands associated...... with experimental tasks, particularly those involved in presupposition accommodation and complex response planning. C&T specifically design their experiments to reduce the impact of extralinguistic demands on children's linguistic performance while at the same time providing felicitous environments for adultlike...... performance....

Miller-Urey Experiments to Assess the Production of Amino Acids under Impact Conditions on Early Titan

Science.gov (United States)

Turse, Carol; Khan, A.; Leitner, J. J.; Firneis, M. G.; Schulze-Makuch, D.

2012-05-01

We performed Miller-Urey type experiments to determine the organic synthesis of amino acids under conditions that have likely occurred on Saturn's moon Titan and are also relevant to Jupiter's moon Europa. We conducted the first set of experiments under early Earth conditions, similar to the original Miller-Urey experiments (Miller, 1953). In brief, the 250ml round bottom flask was filled with approximately 200mL of filtered sterile water and the apparatus was placed under vacuum for 10 minutes to purge the water of gases. The system was then flushed with hydrogen gas and placed under vacuum three times. Gases were then added in the following order: hydrogen gas to 0.1 bar, methane gas to 0.45 bar and ammonia to 0.45 bar ( 1bar total). The water was then brought to a boil and the spark was applied using the tesla coil up to a maximum of 50,000 volts. The apparatus was run for approximately 5-7 days. Between the runs the apparatus was cleaned using a hot 10% sodium hydroxide solution followed by a dilute sulfuric acid wash and four rinses with Millipure water. In the second set of experiments we simulated conditions that could have existed on an early, warm Titan or after an asteroid strike on Titan (Schulze-Makuch and Grinspoon, 2005), particularly if the strike would have occurred in the subpolar areas that exhibit vast ethane-methane lakes. If the asteroid or comet would be of sufficient size, it would also puncture the icy crust and access a vast reservoir of the subsurface liquid ammonia-water mixture. Thompson and Sagan (1992) showed that a liquid water-ammonia body could exist for millions of years on Titan after an asteroid impact. Thus, we modified the experimental conditions as described above and report on the results. Assuming a moderate impact in the subpolar areas of Titan, we used an atmosphere of currently 1.5 bar, but increased the partial pressure of methane to 1 bar (and 0.1 bar ammonia assuming a minor amount of ammonia-water ice being evaporated

Unsteady Flow in Different Atmospheric Boundary Layer Regimes and Its Impact on Wind-Turbine Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Gohari, Iman; Korobenko, Artem; Yan, Jinhui; Bazilevs, Yuri; Sarkar, Sutanu

2016-11-01

Wind is a renewable energy resource that offers several advantages including low pollutant emission and inexpensive construction. Wind turbines operate in conditions dictated by the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) and that motivates the study of coupling ABL simulations with wind turbine dynamics. The ABL simulations can be used for realistic modeling of the environment which, with the use of fluid-structure interaction, can give realistic predictions of extracted power, rotor loading, and blade structural response. The ABL simulations provide inflow boundary conditions to the wind-turbine simulator which uses arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian variational multiscale formulation. In the present work, ABL simulations are performed to examine two different scenarios: (i) A neutral ABL with zero heat-flux and inversion layer at 350m, in which the wind turbine experiences maximum mean shear; (2) A shallow ABL with the surface cooling-rate of -1 K/hr, in which the wind turbine experiences maximum mean velocity at the low-level-jet nose height. We will discuss differences in the unsteady flow between the two different ABL conditions and their impact on the performance of the wind turbine cluster in the coupled ABL-wind turbine simulations.

Motivating students to perform an experiment in technological design contexts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Logman, P.S.W.M.; Kaper, W.H.; Ellermeijer, A.L.; Lindell, A.; Kähkönen, A.-L.; Viiri, J.

2012-01-01

In a teaching-learning sequence on the subject of energy we have tried technological design contexts to motivate students by using only context-based reasons to perform experiments on the subject of energy. We use these experiments to have the students reinvent practical laws of energy conservation

Analysis of the impact of correlated benchmark experiments on the validation of codes for criticality safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bock, M.; Stuke, M.; Behler, M.

2013-01-01

The validation of a code for criticality safety analysis requires the recalculation of benchmark experiments. The selected benchmark experiments are chosen such that they have properties similar to the application case that has to be assessed. A common source of benchmark experiments is the 'International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments' (ICSBEP Handbook) compiled by the 'International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project' (ICSBEP). In order to take full advantage of the information provided by the individual benchmark descriptions for the application case, the recommended procedure is to perform an uncertainty analysis. The latter is based on the uncertainties of experimental results included in most of the benchmark descriptions. They can be performed by means of the Monte Carlo sampling technique. The consideration of uncertainties is also being introduced in the supplementary sheet of DIN 25478 'Application of computer codes in the assessment of criticality safety'. However, for a correct treatment of uncertainties taking into account the individual uncertainties of the benchmark experiments is insufficient. In addition, correlations between benchmark experiments have to be handled correctly. For example, these correlations can arise due to different cases of a benchmark experiment sharing the same components like fuel pins or fissile solutions. Thus, manufacturing tolerances of these components (e.g. diameter of the fuel pellets) have to be considered in a consistent manner in all cases of the benchmark experiment. At the 2012 meeting of the Expert Group on 'Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment' (UACSA) of the OECD/NEA a benchmark proposal was outlined that aimed for the determination of the impact on benchmark correlations on the estimation of the computational bias of the neutron multiplication factor (k eff ). The analysis presented here is based on this proposal. (orig.)

Using international experience to improve performance of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calori, F.; Csik, B.J.; Strickert, R.J.

1989-01-01

Information on performance achievements will assist nuclear power plant operating organizations to develop initiatives for improved or continued high performance of their plants. The paper describes the activities of the IAEA in reviewing and analysing the reasons for good performance by contacting operating organizations identified by its Power Reactor Information System as showing continued good performance. Discussions with operations personnel of utilities have indicated practices which have a major positive impact on good performance and which are generally common to all well performing organizations contacted. The IAEA also promotes further activities directed primarily to the achievement of standards of excellence in nuclear power operation. These are briefly commented

Assessing the impact of opt-out definitions in choice experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Søren Bøye; Campbell, Danny; Mørkbak, Morten Raun

that this heuristic has a larger impact when the opt-out is defined as respondents own typical (perceived) purchase than when defined as a none-of-these or a provided hypothetical alternative. We consequently stress the importance for researchers to be aware of these possible implications related to the definition...... of opt-out alternatives in choice experiments....

Impact of Scheduling Policies on Control System Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schiøler, Henrik; Ravn, Anders Peter; Nielsen, Jens Frederik Dalsgaard

2003-01-01

It is well known that jitter has an impact on control system performance, and this is often used as an argument for static scheduling policies, e.g. a time triggered architecture. However, it is only completion jitter that seriously disturbs standard linear control algorithms in a way similar to ...

The impact of nontechnical skills on technical performance in surgery: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hull, Louise; Arora, Sonal; Aggarwal, Rajesh; Darzi, Ara; Vincent, Charles; Sevdalis, Nick

2012-02-01

Failures in nontechnical and teamwork skills frequently lie at the heart of harm and near-misses in the operating room (OR). The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the impact of nontechnical skills on technical performance in surgery. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO databases were searched, and 2,041 articles were identified. After limits were applied, 341 articles were retrieved for evaluation. Of these, 28 articles were accepted for this review. Data were extracted from the articles regarding sample population, study design and setting, measures of nontechnical skills and technical performance, study findings, and limitations. Of the 28 articles that met inclusion criteria, 21 articles assessed the impact of surgeons' nontechnical skills on their technical performance. The evidence suggests that receiving feedback and effectively coping with stressful events in the OR has a beneficial impact on certain aspects of technical performance. Conversely, increased levels of fatigue are associated with detriments to surgical skill. One article assessed the impact of anesthesiologists' nontechnical skills on anesthetic technical performance, finding a strong positive correlation between the 2 skill sets. Finally, 6 articles assessed the impact of multiple nontechnical skills of the entire OR team on surgical performance. A strong relationship between teamwork failure and technical error was empirically demonstrated in these studies. Evidence suggests that certain nontechnical aspects of performance can enhance or, if lacking, contribute to deterioration of surgeons' technical performance. The precise extent of this effect remains to be elucidated. Copyright © 2012 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of midlife educational, work, health and family experiences on men's early retirement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damman, M.; Henkens, C.J.I.M.; Kalmijn, M.

2011-01-01

Objectives. In empirical studies on predictors of retirement, midlife experiences have often remained implicit or been neglected. This study aims to improve our understanding of retirement by examining the impact of midlife educational, work, health, and family experiences on early retirement

Impact of experience on government policy toward acceptance of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Min Jung [Department of Information and Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon-Dong, Seodaemoon-Gu, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Heejun, E-mail: h.park@yonsei.ac.kr [Department of Information and Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon-Dong, Seodaemoon-Gu, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)

2011-06-15

As the 'low carbon, green growth' agenda, which emphasized sustainable development through equilibrium between economic growth and environmental preservation, is propagated rapidly in Korea. Despite this progress, it is not uncommon for new products made through advanced technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, to face public skepticism preventing market penetration. Therefore, the factors impacting customer acceptance of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have to be estimated. Furthermore, it is necessary to examine whether or not the policies related to these products can prevent public skepticism regarding them. This empirical study examining the relationship between personal experiences related to the policy and acceptance of the innovative products of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles shows that government involvement in technology targeting and promotions administered by the 'low carbon, green growth' agenda rarely stimulate potential customers' purchase intentions. Thus, technology targeting administered by the 'low carbon, green growth' agenda needs to be reconciled with customer responses to the future market. - Highlights: > Experience of the 'low carbon, green growth' policy affects perception of it. > Positive perception on the policy seldom arouses positive perception on HFCV performance. > Technology targeting by the policy rarely stimulates purchase intention of HFCV. > Desire to be regarded as a person with environment concern impacts purchase intentions.> Technology targeting by the policy needs to be reconciled with customer responses to it.

Impact of experience on government policy toward acceptance of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Min Jung; Park, Heejun

2011-01-01

As the 'low carbon, green growth' agenda, which emphasized sustainable development through equilibrium between economic growth and environmental preservation, is propagated rapidly in Korea. Despite this progress, it is not uncommon for new products made through advanced technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, to face public skepticism preventing market penetration. Therefore, the factors impacting customer acceptance of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have to be estimated. Furthermore, it is necessary to examine whether or not the policies related to these products can prevent public skepticism regarding them. This empirical study examining the relationship between personal experiences related to the policy and acceptance of the innovative products of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles shows that government involvement in technology targeting and promotions administered by the 'low carbon, green growth' agenda rarely stimulate potential customers' purchase intentions. Thus, technology targeting administered by the 'low carbon, green growth' agenda needs to be reconciled with customer responses to the future market. - Highlights: → Experience of the 'low carbon, green growth' policy affects perception of it. → Positive perception on the policy seldom arouses positive perception on HFCV performance. → Technology targeting by the policy rarely stimulates purchase intention of HFCV. → Desire to be regarded as a person with environment concern impacts purchase intentions.→ Technology targeting by the policy needs to be reconciled with customer responses to it.

Connecting to Experience: High-Impact Practices for Leadership Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Priest, Kerry L; Clegorne, Nicholas A

2015-01-01

Leadership educators can leverage high-impact experiences to enhance student leadership development. This chapter describes three key practices--sociocultural conversations with peers, mentoring, and membership in off-campus organizations--as levers of leadership learning. Illustrations of the practice in context and reflections from practitioners and students are also included. The chapter concludes with considerations of context, developmental readiness, and best practices of experiential education. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Performance of Hayabusa2 DCAM3-D Camera for Short-Range Imaging of SCI and Ejecta Curtain Generated from the Artificial Impact Crater Formed on Asteroid 162137 Ryugu (1999 JU3)

Science.gov (United States)

Ishibashi, K.; Shirai, K.; Ogawa, K.; Wada, K.; Honda, R.; Arakawa, M.; Sakatani, N.; Ikeda, Y.

2017-07-01

Deployable Camera 3-D (DCAM3-D) is a small high-resolution camera equipped on Deployable Camera 3 (DCAM3), one of the Hayabusa2 instruments. Hayabusa2 will explore asteroid 162137 Ryugu (1999 JU3) and conduct an impact experiment using a liner shooting device called Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI). DCAM3 will be detached from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft and observe the impact experiment. The purposes of the observation are to know the impact conditions, to estimate the surface structure of asteroid Ryugu, and to understand the physics of impact phenomena on low-gravity bodies. DCAM3-D requires high imaging performance because it has to image and detect multiple targets of different scale and radiance, i.e., the faint SCI before the shot from 1-km distance, the bright ejecta generated by the impact, and the asteroid. In this paper we report the evaluation of the performance of the CMOS imaging sensor and the optical system of DCAM3-D. We also describe the calibration of DCAM3-D. We confirmed that the imaging performance of DCAM3-D satisfies the required values to achieve the purposes of the observation.

Land use impacts of rapid transit: implications of recent experience. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knight, R.L.; Trygg, L.L.

1977-08-01

Evidence of land use impacts of recent major rapid transit improvements are reviewed and conclusions drawn concerning the extent and nature of such impacts and the conditions under which they have occurred. Transit improvements studied are primarily post-World War II in origin. American and Canadian examples are stressed, although European experience is teated briefly. Virtually all major modern American and Canadian rapid transit investments are included, covering conventional rapid rail, commuter rail, light rail and bus/busway. In addition to conclusions on general patterns of land use impact and causes, research recommendations and Federal policy implications are drawn.

Vehicle Integrated Performance Analysis, the VIPA Experience: Reconnecting with Technical Integration

Science.gov (United States)

McGhee, David S.

2005-01-01

Today's NASA is facing significant challenges and changes. The Exploration initiative indicates a large increase in projects with limited increase in budget. The Columbia report has criticized NASA for its lack of insight and technical integration impacting its ability to provide safety. The Aldridge report is advocating NASA find new ways of doing business. Very early in the Space Launch Initiative (SLI) program a small team of engineers at MSFC were asked to propose a process for performing a system level assessment of a launch vehicle. The request was aimed primarily at providing insight and making NASA a "smart buyer." Out of this effort the VIPA team was created. The difference between the VIPA effort and many integration attempts is that VIPA focuses on using experienced people from various disciplines and a process which focuses them on a technically integrated assessment. Most previous attempts have focused on developing an all encompassing software tool. In addition, VIPA anchored its process formulation in the experience of its members and in early developmental Space Shuttle experience. The primary reference for this is NASA-TP-2001-210092, "Launch Vehicle Design Process: Characterization, Technical Integration, and Lessons Learned," and discussions with its authors. The foundations of VIPA's process are described. The VIPA team also recognized the need to drive detailed analysis earlier in the design process. Analyses and techniques typically done in later design phases, are brought forward using improved computing technology. The intent is to allow the identification of significant sensitivities, trades, and design issues much earlier in the program. This process is driven by the T-model for Technical Integration described in the aforementioned reference. VIPA's approach to performing system level technical integration is discussed in detail. Proposed definitions are offered to clarify this discussion and the general systems integration dialog. VIPA

The Relationship of a Pilot's Educational Background, Aeronautical Experience and Recency of Experience to Performance In Initial Training at a Regional Airline

Science.gov (United States)

Shane, Nancy R.

The purpose of this study was to determine how a pilot's educational background, aeronautical experience and recency of experience relate to their performance during initial training at a regional airline. Results show that variables in pilots' educational background, aeronautical experience and recency of experience do predict performance in training. The most significant predictors include years since graduation from college, multi-engine time, total time and whether or not a pilot had military flying experience. Due to the pilot shortage, the pilots entering regional airline training classes since August 2013 have varied backgrounds, aeronautical experience and recency of experience. As explained by Edward Thorndike's law of exercise and the law of recency, pilots who are actively using their aeronautical knowledge and exercising their flying skills should exhibit strong performance in those areas and pilots who have not been actively using their aeronautical knowledge and exercising their flying skills should exhibit degraded performance in those areas. Through correlation, chi-square and multiple regression analysis, this study tests this theory as it relates to performance in initial training at a regional airline.

Correlating cumulative sub-concussive head impacts in football with player performance - biomed 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowson, Steven; Goforth, Mike W; Dietter, Dave; Brolinson, P Gunnar; Duma, Stefanan M

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of cumulative sub-concussive head impacts on football player performance. The helmets of three Virginia Tech football players were instrumented with a six accelerometer sensor capable of measuring head acceleration. Helmets were instrumented for every game during the 2006 and 2007 football seasons. Each time the head was impacted during a game, the sensor recorded the impact and wirelessly transmitted the data to a sideline computer. Furthermore, the coaching staff at Virginia Tech reviewed post-game film and evaluated each player's performance based on strict criteria. Players were awarded positive points for good plays and negative points for bad plays. Their performance scores were then normalized to a per play basis. Correlations of player performance with cumulative peak linear acceleration and cumulative head injury criterion (HIC) were evaluated. No consistent head acceleration-based measure showed a strong correlation with significance. In addition, relationship trends varied on a position basis. There are many factors other than head impacts that can affect a player's performance and more research is needed to further quantify such effects.

The impacts of nature experience on human cognitive function and mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Bratman, Gregory N; Hamilton, J Paul; Daily, Gretchen C

2012-02-01

Scholars spanning a variety of disciplines have studied the ways in which contact with natural environments may impact human well-being. We review the effects of such nature experience on human cognitive function and mental health, synthesizing work from environmental psychology, urban planning, the medical literature, and landscape aesthetics. We provide an overview of the prevailing explanatory theories of these effects, the ways in which exposure to nature has been considered, and the role that individuals' preferences for nature may play in the impact of the environment on psychological functioning. Drawing from the highly productive but disparate programs of research in this area, we conclude by proposing a system of categorization for different types of nature experience. We also outline key questions for future work, including further inquiry into which elements of the natural environment may have impacts on cognitive function and mental health; what the most effective type, duration, and frequency of contact may be; and what the possible neural mechanisms are that could be responsible for the documented effects. © 2012 New York Academy of Sciences.

The Impact of Motion Induced Interruptions on Cognitive Performance

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-23

found that even participants presenting with minor physiological effects of motion experienced a decline in multitasking performance. Further, Yu...literature has investigated the impact of task based interruptions such as being inter- rupted by a phone call or writing an email . In these...Engineers Journal. 102 (2) 65-72. Matsangas, P. (2013). The Effect of Mild Motion Sickness and Sopite Syndrome on Multitasking Cognitive Performance

The impact of laboratory quality assurance standards on laboratory operational performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E Ratseou

2014-01-01

Full Text Available It has become a trend for companies to implement and be certified to various quality management systems so as to improve consistency, reliability, and quality of product delivery to customers. The most common quality management systems adopted are the ISO 9000 series of standards for manufacturing and services related organisations, with ISO 17025 and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP standards adopted specifically by laboratories as quality assurance initiatives. There are various reports on the impact of the ISO 9000 series on organisational performance but no studies or reports have been done on the performance of laboratory standards. Therefore this article reports on a study conducted to investigate the impact of ISO 17025 and GLP on the operational performance of both commercial and non-commercial laboratories. A qualitative research study was conducted to examine the impact standards on the aspects of health and safety, supplier selection and performance, human resources, customer satisfaction and profitability of the laboratory. The data collected suggest that there is no difference in laboratory operational performance with or without the standards. In other words it appears that the basic fundamental requirements inherent with laboratories are sufficient to perform both operationally and optimally. This leads to the view that standards are implemented as a customer requirement and not as an operational requirement.

Impact of Smartphone Addiction on Business Students’ Academic Performance: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shamsul Arefin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The development of telecom technology has a profound impact on the lives and activities of the people of the world. Smartphone usage became popular to young generation because of its educational and entertaining options by using the numerous apps. Among the young people, students are increasingly using Smartphone. But excessive Smartphone usage usually makes the students addicted to that subconsciously impacts on user’s academic performance, daily activities, physical and mental health and withdrawal tendency, and social relationships. This study aims at identifying the factors that affect the level of Smartphone addiction of the students and its impact on their academic performance. A structured questionnaire has been developed to gather data from the students. A total of 247 questionnaires were collected from the business students of a university of Bangladesh. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM the data were analyzed. Results revealed five Smartphone addiction factors such as, positive anticipation, impatience and tolerance, withdrawal, daily-life disturbance, and cyber friendship. Tolerance and daily-life disturbance have significant impact on students’ academic performance. This study suggests that the students should minimize the usage of Smartphone for achieving good academic performance.

Network Performance and Quality of Experience of Remote Access Laboratories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander A. Kist

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Remote Access Laboratories (RAL have become important learning and teaching tools. This paper presents a performance study that targets a specific remote access architecture implemented within a universities operational environment. This particular RAL system provides globally authenticated and arbitrated remote access to virtualized computers as well as computer controlled hardware experiments. This paper presents system performance results that have been obtained utilizing both a set of automated and human subject tests. Principle objectives of the study were: To gain a better understanding of the nature of network traffic caused by experimental activity usage; to obtain an indication of user expectations of activity performance; and to develop a measure to predict Quality of Experience, based on easily measurable Quality of Service parameters. The study emulates network layer variation of access-bandwidth and round-trip-time of typical usage scenarios and contrasts against user perception results that allow classifying expected user performance. It demonstrates that failure rate is excellent measure of usability, and that round-trip-time predominantly affects user experience. Thin-client and remote desktop architectures are popular to separate the location of users and the actual data processing and use similar structures, hence results of this study to be applied in these application areas as well.

Distance Based Root Cause Analysis and Change Impact Analysis of Performance Regressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junzan Zhou

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Performance regression testing is applied to uncover both performance and functional problems of software releases. A performance problem revealed by performance testing can be high response time, low throughput, or even being out of service. Mature performance testing process helps systematically detect software performance problems. However, it is difficult to identify the root cause and evaluate the potential change impact. In this paper, we present an approach leveraging server side logs for identifying root causes of performance problems. Firstly, server side logs are used to recover call tree of each business transaction. We define a novel distance based metric computed from call trees for root cause analysis and apply inverted index from methods to business transactions for change impact analysis. Empirical studies show that our approach can effectively and efficiently help developers diagnose root cause of performance problems.

Impacts of FDI Renewable Energy Technology Spillover on China’s Energy Industry Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiwei Liu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Environmental friendly renewable energy plays an indispensable role in energy industry development. Foreign direct investment (FDI in advanced renewable energy technology spillover is promising to improve technological capability and promote China’s energy industry performance growth. In this paper, the impacts of FDI renewable energy technology spillover on China’s energy industry performance are analyzed based on theoretical and empirical studies. Firstly, three hypotheses are proposed to illustrate the relationships between FDI renewable energy technology spillover and three energy industry performances including economic, environmental, and innovative performances. To verify the hypotheses, techniques including factor analysis and data envelopment analysis (DEA are employed to quantify the FDI renewable energy technology spillover and the energy industry performance of China, respectively. Furthermore, a panel data regression model is proposed to measure the impacts of FDI renewable energy technology spillover on China’s energy industry performance. Finally, energy industries of 30 different provinces in China based on the yearbook data from 2005 to 2011 are comparatively analyzed for evaluating the impacts through the empirical research. The results demonstrate that FDI renewable energy technology spillover has positive impacts on China’s energy industry performance. It can also be found that the technology spillover effects are more obvious in economic and technological developed regions. Finally, four suggestions are provided to enhance energy industry performance and promote renewable energy technology spillover in China.

Performance anxiety experiences of professional ballet dancers: the importance of control.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Imogen J; Nordin-Bates, Sanna M

2010-01-01

Performance anxiety research abounds in sport psychology, yet has been relatively sparse in dance. The present study explores ballet dancers' experiences of performance anxiety in relation to: 1. symptom type, intensity, and directional interpretation; 2. experience level (including company rank); and 3. self-confidence and psychological skills. Fifteen elite ballet dancers representing all ranks in one company were interviewed, and qualitative content analysis was conducted. Results revealed that cognitive anxiety was more dominant than somatic anxiety, and was unanimously interpreted as debilitative to performance. Somatic anxiety was more likely to be interpreted as facilitative, with the majority of dancers recognizing that a certain amount of anxiety could be beneficial to performance. Principal dancers suffered from higher intensities of performance anxiety than corps de ballet members. Feeling out of control emerged as a major theme in both the experience of anxiety and its interpretation. As a result, prevention or handling of anxiety symptoms may be accomplished by helping dancers to feel in control. Dancers may benefit from education about anxiety symptoms and their interpretation, in addition to psychological skills training incorporating cognitive restructuring strategies and problem-focussed coping to help increase their feelings of being in control.

Beyond Performance: A Motivational Experiences Model of Stereotype Threat

Science.gov (United States)

Thoman, Dustin B.; Smith, Jessi L.; Brown, Elizabeth R.; Chase, Justin; Lee, Joo Young K.

2013-01-01

The contributing role of stereotype threat (ST) to learning and performance decrements for stigmatized students in highly evaluative situations has been vastly documented and is now widely known by educators and policy makers. However, recent research illustrates that underrepresented and stigmatized students’ academic and career motivations are influenced by ST more broadly, particularly through influences on achievement orientations, sense of belonging, and intrinsic motivation. Such a focus moves conceptualizations of ST effects in education beyond the influence on a student’s performance, skill level, and feelings of self-efficacy per se to experiencing greater belonging uncertainty and lower interest in stereotyped tasks and domains. These negative experiences are associated with important outcomes such as decreased persistence and domain identification, even among students who are high in achievement motivation. In this vein, we present and review support for the Motivational Experience Model of ST, a self-regulatory model framework for integrating research on ST, achievement goals, sense of belonging, and intrinsic motivation to make predictions for how stigmatized students’ motivational experiences are maintained or disrupted, particularly over long periods of time. PMID:23894223

The Impact of Internet Experience and Attitude on Student Preference for Blended Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Alzahrani, Majed Gharmallah; O'Toole, John Mitchell

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate student experience with the Internet, and their attitudes towards using it, in an attempt to determine the impact of these experiences and attitudes on their view of the implementation of blended learning. Data from 142 Saudi students at a leading university in Saudi Arabia were collected via an online…

Impact of Metacognitive Awareness on Performance of Students in Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Fazal ur; Jumani, Nabi Bux; Chaudry, Muhammad Ajmal; Chisti, Saeed ul Hasan; Abbasi, Fahim

2010-01-01

The impact of metacognitive awareness on students' performance has been examined in the present study. 900 students of grade X participated in the study. Metacognitive awareness was measured using inventory, while performance of students was measured with the help of researcher made test in the subject of chemistry. Results indicated that…

Experiments on the breakup of drop-impact crowns by Marangoni holes

KAUST Repository

Aljedaani, Abdulrahman Barakat

2018-04-04

We investigate experimentally the breakup of the Edgerton crown due to Marangoni instability when a highly viscous drop impacts on a thin film of lower-viscosity liquid, which also has different surface tension than the drop liquid. The presence of this low-viscosity film modifies the boundary condition, giving effective slip to the drop along the solid substrate. This allows the high-viscosity drop to form a regular bowl-shaped crown, which rises vertically away from the solid and subsequently breaks up through the formation of a multitude of Marangoni holes. Previous experiments have proposed that the breakup of the crown results from a spray of fine droplets ejected from the thin low-viscosity film on the solid, e.g. Thoroddsen et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 557, 2006, pp. 63–72). These droplets can hit the inner side of the crown forming spots with lower surface tension, which drives a thinning patch leading to the hole formation. We test the validity of this assumption with close-up imaging to identify individual spray droplets, to show how they hit the crown and their lower surface tension drive the hole formation. The experiments indicate that every Marangoni-driven patch/hole is promoted by the impact of such a microdroplet. Surprisingly, in experiments with pools of higher surface tension, we also see hole formation. Here the Marangoni stress changes direction and the hole formation looks qualitatively different, with holes and ruptures forming in a repeatable fashion at the centre of each spray droplet impact. Impacts onto films of the same liquid, or onto an immiscible liquid, do not in general form holes. We furthermore characterize the effects of drop viscosity and substrate-film thickness on the overall evolution of the crown. We also measure the three characteristic velocities associated with the hole formation: i.e. the Marangoni-driven growth of the thinning patches, the rupture speed of the resulting thin films inside these patches and finally the

Accounting Student's Learning Approaches And Impact On Academic Performance

OpenAIRE

Ismail, Suhaiza

2009-01-01

The objective of the study is threefold. Firstly, the study explores the learning approaches adopted by students in completing their Business Finance. Secondly, it examines the impact that learning approaches has on the student's academic performance. Finally, the study considers gender differences in the learning approaches adopted by students and in the relationship between learning approaches and academic performance. The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was used...

Air quality Performance of Ductless Personalized Ventilation in Conjunction with Displacement Ventilation: Impact of Walking Person

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bolashikov, Zhecho Dimitrov; Lu, Pengfei; Melikov, Arsen Krikor

2015-01-01

The present experiment evaluates the impact of air disturbances from a walking person on inhaled air by ductless personalized ventilation (DPV) with displacement ventilation (DV), when a seated occupant is the source of pollution: bio-effluents and exhaled air. The measurements took place in a full...... and the DV supply. Pollution from feet and exhaled air by one manikin was simulated with tracer gases. Room temperature of 26 °C and 90 L/s DV supply flow rate were kept constant. Measurements under numerous combinations of DPV operation modes and supply flow rates were performed. Tracer gas concentrations...

Impact evaluation to communicate and improve conservation non-governmental organization performance: the case of Conservation International.

Science.gov (United States)

McKinnon, Madeleine C; Mascia, Michael B; Yang, Wu; Turner, Will R; Bonham, Curan

2015-11-05

The rising prominence of more rigorous approaches to measuring conservation outcomes has included greater adoption of impact evaluation by conservation non-governmental organizations (CNGOs). Within the scientific literature, however, little consideration has been given to the unique and specific roles of CNGOs in advancing impact evaluation. We explore these issues in the context of one CNGO-Conservation International (CI)-and its experiences producing, using and funding impact evaluations over the past decade. We examine the contributions of impact evaluation to CI's mission at three different stages of CI's strategy: innovation, demonstration and amplification. Furthermore, we review incentives and barriers encountered by CI in its 10+ years' experience in impact evaluation. More coordinated and strategic use of impact evaluation by CNGOs would facilitate learning and promote accountability across the conservation community. © 2015 The Author(s).

Inoculation method could impact the outcome of microbiological experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kragh, Kasper Nørskov; Alhede, Maria; Rybtke, Morten

2018-01-01

For the last 150 years, bacteria have primarily been investigated in liquid bacth cultures (LBC). Contrary to most expectations, these cultures are not a homogeneous mixture of single-celled bacteria as free-floating bacterial aggregates eventually develop in most LBC. These aggregates share...... coli and Staphylococcus aureus also produce aggregates in LBC. Our results stress the importance of inoculation consistency throughout experiments and the substantial impact aggregate development in LBC has on the output of microbiological experiments.IMPORTANCE Liquid pure cultures are fundamental...... to the field of microbiological research. These cultures are normally thought of as a homogeneous mix of single cell bacteria. The present study shows how this is not always true. Bacteria may aggregate in these liquid cultures. The aggregation can be induced by the method chosen for inoculation. The presence...

Deconstructing Global Markets through Critical Performative Experiences in Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Medina, Carmen Liliana; Weltsek, Gustave J.

2013-01-01

Critical Performative Pedagogies, the idea that "The nature of drama as a once removed creative experience turns non-critical implicit classroom identity formation into explicit identity performance as it asks participants to actively reflect upon how identity is created and engaged within fictional social interactions." (Weltsek and…

Cross-cultural differences in oral impacts on daily performance between Greek and British older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsakos, G; Marcenes, W; Sheiham, A

2001-12-01

To examine whether there are significant cross-cultural differences in oral health-related quality of life and perceived treatment need between older people of similar clinical oral status living in Greece and Britain. Cross-sectional surveys of adults living independently aged 65 years or older. In Britain, data from the national diet and nutrition survey were used, while the Greek sample was drawn from two municipalities in Athens. Participants 753 in Britain and 681 in Greece. Oral health-related quality of life, assessed through the modified Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) indicator, and perceived need for dental treatment. Thirty-nine per cent of Greek and 12.3% of British dentate and 47.6% of Greek and 16.3% of British edentulous participants had experienced oral impacts affecting their daily life in the last six months. The most prevalent impact was difficulty eating. Apart from that, 56.3% of Greek and 37.1% of British dentate and 33.5% of Greek and 25.3% of British edentulous participants perceived dental treatment need. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, perceived general health and clinical oral status, Greek dentate and edentulous participants were significantly more likely to experience oral impacts than their British counterparts, while in relation to perceived treatment need significant cross-cultural differences existed only between dentate respondents. The results indicated an independent cultural influence in the perception of oral impacts in older people.

Impact of IS/IT Investments on Firm Performance: Does “Stakeholder Orientation” Matter?

OpenAIRE

Guerreiro, António

2015-01-01

This research project addresses a central question in the IS business value field: Does IS/IT investments impact positively on firm financial performance? IS/IT investments are seen has having an enormous potential impact on the competitive position of the firm, on its performance, and demand an active and motivated participation of several stakeholder groups. Actual research conducted in the Information Systems field, relating IS/IT investments with firm performance use transactions co...

Ultra-high velocity impacts: Cratering studies of microscopic impacts from 3 km/s to 30 km/s

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stradling, G.L.; Idzorek, G.C.; Shafer, B.P.; Curling, H.L. Jr.; Collopy, M.T.; Hopkins Blossom, A.A.; Fuerstenau, S.

1992-01-01

Cratering experiments performed under carefully controlled conditions at impact velocities ranging from 3 km/s to 30 km/s into a wide variety of target materials are presented. These impact experiments use the 6 MV vertical Van de Graaff accelerator of the Ion Beam Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to electrostatically accelerate highly charged iron microspheres. The sub-micron spheres, from a random size distribution, are shocklessly accelerated along an 8 m flight path. Ultra-sensitive charge detectors monitor the passage of the projectiles at a rate of up to 100 projectiles/second. An online computer records and displays in real time the charge, velocity and mass of the projectiles and provides cross correlation between the events observed by the several in-flight charge detectors and impact detectors. Real-time logic controls an electrostatic kicker which deflects projectiles of selected charge and velocity onto the target. Thus each experiment consists of an ensemble of 10 to 40 impacts onto a single target within a narrow window of the projectile parameter space, providing excellent statistical resolution of each data point. The target materials used include single crystal copper and single crystal aluminum, gold, and quartz as well as pyrolytic graphic and epoxy used in composite materials of interest to space applications. We also conducted impact experiments onto thin Mylar and nickel foils. This paper presents these experiments and summarizes the cratering characterization performed to date. Emphasis is placed on cratering results in several materials over a range of impact velocities

The Effect of Aptitude and Experience on Mechanical Job Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayberry, Paul W.; Carey, Neil B.

1997-01-01

The validity of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) in predicting mechanical job performance was studied with 891 automotive and 522 helicopter mechanics. The mechanical maintenance component of the ASVAB predicted hands-on performance, job knowledge, and training grades quite well, but experience was more predictive of…

Impact of reproductive laws on maternal mortality: the chilean natural experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Elard

2013-05-01

Improving maternal health and decreasing morbidity and mortality due to induced abortion are key endeavors in developing countries. One of the most controversial subjects surrounding interventions to improve maternal health is the effect of abortion laws. Chile offers a natural laboratory to perform an investigation on the determinants influencing maternal health in a large parallel time-series of maternal deaths, analyzing health and socioeconomic indicators, and legislative policies including abortion banning in 1989. Interestingly, abortion restriction in Chile was not associated with an increase in overall maternal mortality or with abortion deaths and total number of abortions. Contrary to the notion proposing a negative impact of restrictive abortion laws on maternal health, the abortion mortality ratio did not increase after the abortion ban in Chile. Rather, it decreased over 96 percent, from 10.8 to 0.39 per 100,000 live births. Thus, the Chilean natural experiment provides for the first time, strong evidence supporting the hypothesis that legalization of abortion is unnecessary to improve maternal health in Latin America.

Performances of the Si microstrip detector of the STAR experiment at RHIC; Performances du detecteur en silicium a micropistes de l'experience STAR a RHIC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bouchet, J

2007-10-15

The Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) is the fourth layer of detector using a double-sided microstrip technology of the STAR experiment at RHIC, completing STAR's inner tracking device. The goal of STAR is to study heavy ions collisions in order to probe the existence of the quark gluon plasma (QGP), a deconfined state of nuclear matter. Strangeness enhancement, such as {kappa}{sub S}{sup 0}, {lambda}, {xi} and {omega}, for particles production, has been proposed to sign the formation of QGP. Then precise measurement of secondary vertices is needed. The SSD will also permit an attempt to use the inner tracking device to measure charm and beauty with direct topological identification. It was proposed to enhance the STAR tracking capabilities by providing a better connection between reconstructed tracks in the main tracking device (TPC) and the initial vertex detector (SVT). In this thesis, we will present the intrinsic performances of the SSD and its impact on the inner tracking system performances by studying Cu-Cu collisions occurred at RHIC in 2005. We show that the SSD detector has excellent performances in terms of resolution: (945 {+-} 18) {mu}m in azimuth and (1021 {+-} 13) {mu}m along the beam axis. For the final result when SSD is associated to the SVT the resolutions are (281 {+-} 1) {mu}m and (213 {+-} 0.8) {mu}m in azimuth and along the beam axis respectively. The resolution reached by the addition of the Silicon Vertex detectors of STAR will allow the search for rare particles like charm and beauty, which have a decay-length of the order of hundred microns.

Direct and Indirect Experiences with Heterosexism: How Slurs Impact All Students

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Alyssa L.; McGuire, Jenifer K.; Stolz, Cheryl

2018-01-01

Students targeted by homophobic discrimination are at risk for poor academic outcomes, yet few studies have examined how witnessing discrimination affects students. This study examined the impact of direct and indirect experiences of heterosexism on feelings of safety, belongingness, and connectedness among a sample of 1,702 students at a public…

Impact of porcine epidemic diarrhea on performance of growing pigs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julio Alvarez

Full Text Available The impact of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv infection on the US pork industry has mainly been attributed to the mortality that it causes in suckling piglets, and, consequently, much effort has been invested in the quantification of its effect in sow farms. However, no information on the performance of surviving pigs that were exposed to the PEDv as piglets is available. Here, a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the impact of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv infection on growing pigs' performance, as indicated by mortality, average daily gain (ADG, average daily feed intake (ADFI, and feed conversion ratio (FCR was performed using production records from weaned pigs in nursery and wean-to-finish sites from sow farms that became PEDv-infected between May 2013 and June 2014. Production records from the first batch of growing pigs weaned in infected flows after the PEDv outbreak ("infected batches" were compared with those from pigs weaned within the previous 14 to 120 days ("control batches". Performance records from infected and control batches, paired by flow, were compared using non-parametric paired tests. Mortality, ADG and FCR were significantly different in PEDv-positive (infected compared with PEDv-negative (control batches, with a mean increase of mortality and FCR of 11% and 0.5, respectively, and a decrease of ADG of 0.16 lb/day. Our results demonstrate a poorer performance of growing pigs weaned after a PEDv outbreak compared with those weaned within the previous 14-120 days, suggesting that in addition to the mortality induced by PEDv in suckling pigs, the disease also impairs the performance of surviving pig. These findings help to quantify the impact of PEDv infection in the US and, ultimately, contribute to efforts to quantify the cost-effectiveness of disease prevention and control measures.

Experiences and impact of mistreatment and obstetric violence on women during childbearing: a systematic review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

McGarry, Julie; Hinsliff-Smith, Kathryn; Watts, Kim; McCloskey, Paula; Evans, Catrin

2017-03-01

The aim of this review is to synthesize the best available evidence on the experiences of mistreatment and/or obstetric violence in women. Specifically, the objective is to explore, from a woman's point of view, the impacts and consequences of mistreatment and/or obstetric violence during childbearing. The review question is: "What are the experiences and impact of mistreatment and obstetric violence on women during the active period of childbearing?"

Radionuclide field lysimeter experiment (RadFLEx): geochemical and hydrological data for SRS performance assessments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaplan, D. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Powell, B. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Barber, K. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Devol, T. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Dixon, K. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Erdmann, B. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Maloubier, M. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Martinez, N. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Montgomery, D. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Peruski, K. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Roberts, K. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Witmer, M. [Clemson Univ., SC (United States)

2017-12-12

The SRNL Radiological Field Lysimeter Experiment (RadFLEx) is a one-of-a-kind test bed facility designed to study radionuclide geochemical processes in the Savannah River Site (SRS) vadose zone at a larger spatial scale (from grams to tens of kilograms of sediment) and temporal scale (from months to decade) than is readily afforded through laboratory studies. RadFLEx is a decade-long project that was initiated on July 5, 2012 and is funded by six different sources. The objective of this status report is as follows: 1) to report findings to date that have an impact on SRS performance assessment (PA) calculations, and 2) to provide performance metrics of the RadFLEx program. The PA results are focused on measurements of transport parameters, such as distribution coefficients (Kd values), solubility, and unsaturated flow values. As this is an interim report, additional information from subsequent research may influence our interpretation of current results. Research related to basic understanding of radionuclide geochemistry in these vadose zone soils and other source terms are not described here but are referenced for the interested reader.

Impact of performance-based financing on primary health care services in Haiti.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Wu; Cros, Marion; Wright, Katherine D; Shepard, Donald S

2013-09-01

To strengthen Haiti's primary health care (PHC) system, the country first piloted performance-based financing (PBF) in 1999 and subsequently expanded the approach to most internationally funded non-government organizations. PBF complements support (training and technical assistance). This study evaluates (a) the separate impact of PBF and international support on PHC's service delivery; (b) the combined impact of PBF and technical assistance on PHC's service delivery; and (c) the costs of PBF implementation in Haiti. To minimize the risk of facilities neglecting potential non-incentivized services, the incentivized indicators were randomly chosen at the end of each year. We obtained quantities of key services from four departments for 217 health centres (15 with PBF and 202 without) from 2008 through 2010, computed quarterly growth rates and analysed the results using a difference-in-differences approach by comparing the growth of incentivized and non-incentivized services between PBF and non-PBF facilities. To interpret the statistical analyses, we also interviewed staff in four facilities. Whereas international support added 39% to base costs of PHC, incentive payments added only 6%. Support alone increased the quantities of PHC services over 3 years by 35% (2.7%/quarter). However, support plus incentives increased these amounts by 87% over 3 years (5.7%/quarter) compared with facilities with neither input. Incentives alone was associated with a net 39% increase over this period, and more than doubled the growth of services (P < 0.05). Interview findings found no adverse impacts and, in fact, indicated beneficial impacts on quality. Incentives proved to be a relatively inexpensive, well accepted and very effective complement to support, suggesting that a small amount of money, strategically used, can substantially improve PHC. Haiti's experience, after more than a decade of use, indicates that incentives are an effective tool to strengthen PHC.

Experience of safety and performance improvement for fuel handling equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gyoon Chang, Sang; Hee Lee, Dae

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to provide experience of safety and performance improvement of fuel handling equipment for nuclear power plants in Korea. The fuel handling equipment, which is used as an important part of critical processes during the refueling outage, has been improved to enhance safety and to optimize fuel handling procedures. Results of data measured during the fuel reloading are incorporated into design changes. The safety and performance improvement for fuel handling equipment could be achieved by simply modifying the components and improving the interlock system. The experience provided in this study can be useful lessons for further improvement of the fuel handling equipment. (authors)

The Winfrith horizontal impact rig

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barr, P.

1985-12-01

The Horizontal Impact Rig has been designed to allow studies of the impact of radioactive material transport containers and their associated transport vehicles and impact limiters, using large scale models, and to allow physically large missiles to be projected for studying the impact behaviour of metal and concrete structures. It provides an adequately rigid support structure for impact experiments with targets of large dimensions. Details of its design, instrumentation, performance prediction and construction are given. (U.K.)

An analysis of budgetary goals impacting organizational performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheok MUI YEE

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study proposes a conceptual review of how budgetary goals impact organizational performance. The aim of this study is to get a better understanding of the direct and indirect relationship between the organization’s decision-making process and operational performances. Setting the budget particularly influences subordinates’ budget goal levels and motivations (i.e., budget goal acceptance and budget goal commitment, which ultimately enhances the organization’s performance. To test these relationships, data were collected using the three perspectives approach: budgetary goal, budgetary participation and budgetary evaluation. The study provided evidence that perception of fairness mediates the relation between the levels of budget participation and goal commitment, whereas goal commitment mediates the relation between fairness perceptions and performance. At the end of the article, there are some implications for SMEs industries and some suggestions for future studies.

Perform light and optic experiments in Augmented Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Wozniak, Peter; Vauderwange, Oliver; Curticapean, Dan; Javahiraly, Nicolas; Israel, Kai

2015-10-01

In many scientific studies lens experiments are part of the curriculum. The conducted experiments are meant to give the students a basic understanding for the laws of optics and its applications. Most of the experiments need special hardware like e.g. an optical bench, light sources, apertures and different lens types. Therefore it is not possible for the students to conduct any of the experiments outside of the university's laboratory. Simple optical software simulators enabling the students to virtually perform lens experiments already exist, but are mostly desktop or web browser based. Augmented Reality (AR) is a special case of mediated and mixed reality concepts, where computers are used to add, subtract or modify one's perception of reality. As a result of the success and widespread availability of handheld mobile devices, like e.g. tablet computers and smartphones, mobile augmented reality applications are easy to use. Augmented reality can be easily used to visualize a simulated optical bench. The students can interactively modify properties like e.g. lens type, lens curvature, lens diameter, lens refractive index and the positions of the instruments in space. Light rays can be visualized and promote an additional understanding of the laws of optics. An AR application like this is ideally suited to prepare the actual laboratory sessions and/or recap the teaching content. The authors will present their experience with handheld augmented reality applications and their possibilities for light and optic experiments without the needs for specialized optical hardware.

Cygnus Performance in Subcritical Experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

G Corrow; M Hansen; D Henderson; S Lutz; C Mitton

2008-01-01

The Cygnus Dual Beam Radiographic Facility consists of two identical radiographic sources with the following specifications: 4-rad dose at 1 m, 1-mm spot size, 50-ns pulse length, 2.25-MeV endpoint energy. The facility is located in an underground tunnel complex at the Nevada Test Site. Here SubCritical Experiments (SCEs) are performed to study the dynamic properties of plutonium. The Cygnus sources were developed as a primary diagnostic for these tests. Since SCEs are single-shot, high-value events - reliability and reproducibility are key issues. Enhanced reliability involves minimization of failure modes through design, inspection, and testing. Many unique hardware and operational features were incorporated into Cygnus to insure reliability. Enhanced reproducibility involves normalization of shot-to-shot output also through design, inspection, and testing. The first SCE to utilize Cygnus, Armando, was executed on May 25, 2004. A year later, April - May 2005, calibrations using a plutonium step wedge were performed. The results from this series were used for more precise interpretation of the Armando data. In the period February - May 2007 Cygnus was fielded on Thermos, which is a series of small-sample plutonium shots using a one-dimensional geometry. Pulsed power research generally dictates frequent change in hardware configuration. Conversely, SCE applications have typically required constant machine settings. Therefore, while operating during the past four years we have accumulated a large database for evaluation of machine performance under highly consistent operating conditions. Through analysis of this database Cygnus reliability and reproducibility on Armando, Step Wedge, and Thermos is presented

Cygnus Performance in Subcritical Experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

G. Corrow, M. Hansen, D. Henderson, S. Lutz, C. Mitton, et al.

2008-02-01

The Cygnus Dual Beam Radiographic Facility consists of two identical radiographic sources with the following specifications: 4-rad dose at 1 m, 1-mm spot size, 50-ns pulse length, 2.25-MeV endpoint energy. The facility is located in an underground tunnel complex at the Nevada Test Site. Here SubCritical Experiments (SCEs) are performed to study the dynamic properties of plutonium. The Cygnus sources were developed as a primary diagnostic for these tests. Since SCEs are single-shot, high-value events - reliability and reproducibility are key issues. Enhanced reliability involves minimization of failure modes through design, inspection, and testing. Many unique hardware and operational features were incorporated into Cygnus to insure reliability. Enhanced reproducibility involves normalization of shot-to-shot output also through design, inspection, and testing. The first SCE to utilize Cygnus, Armando, was executed on May 25, 2004. A year later, April - May 2005, calibrations using a plutonium step wedge were performed. The results from this series were used for more precise interpretation of the Armando data. In the period February - May 2007 Cygnus was fielded on Thermos, which is a series of small-sample plutonium shots using a one-dimensional geometry. Pulsed power research generally dictates frequent change in hardware configuration. Conversely, SCE applications have typically required constant machine settings. Therefore, while operating during the past four years we have accumulated a large database for evaluation of machine performance under highly consistent operating conditions. Through analysis of this database Cygnus reliability and reproducibility on Armando, Step Wedge, and Thermos is presented.

Importance of Performing Experience in Strength Training Periodization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Novosád Adrián

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Proper mastering of a training means seems to be an important determinant of the quality of strength training. Aim of the paper is to examine the differences in strength in relation to squat-performing experience and to offer a way of improving performance by means of increasing the quality of squat technique. Methods 1. Subjects were divided into two groups according to their previous experience with performing squat: a group of inexperienced (n = 9; age: 21.1 years ± 2.37; height: 179.2 cm ± 8.18; weight: 70.0 kg ± 7.38 and experienced (n = 9; age: 24.0 years ± 1.07; height: 182.1 cm ± 4.14; weight: 81.2 kg ± 4.29. We carried out a test of maximal isometric strength in deep squat (ISOmax50° and a modified diagnostic set (Fitro Force Plate which consisted of repetitions of heel raised deep squats with a gradually increasing external loading (FmaxBW+(0-100%. Posture and the body segments of the participants were not corrected during these tests. Mann-Whitney U test (α=0.05 was used to evaluate the data obtained. Results 1. After comparing the differences in the maximal value of force curve in dynamic muscular mode (FmaxBW+(0-100% and the maximal isometric force in deep squat (ISOmax50° between the groups we found significantly bigger differences in the group of experienced when the resistance represented +75 % (Δ 279.0 N and +100 % of body weight (Δ 332.2 N. Methods 2. Eleven inexperienced subjects (age: 22.1 years ± 1.52; weight: 78.2 kg ± 2.84 completed a short term experiment (with 4 training sessions in weeklong microcycle. The purpose was to practise deep squat without any content of targeted strength development.

The Effect of Corporate Citizenship Activities (CCAS on Financial Performance and Market Performance: The Omani Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaker Al Ani Mawih K.

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this study is to investigate and analyze the effects of corporate citizenship activities on the financial performance and market performance of Omani manufacturing companies in the Sultanate of Oman for the period 2009-2013. The Financial performance of companies is measured by two independent variables: return on assets (ROA and return on equity (ROE. Market performance is measured by the fair market value of shares (FMV. CCAs are determined by the voluntary disclosures of corporate citizenship activities by the companies. The study concludes that there is a positive impact by CCAs on the financial and market performance of the Omani companies that leads to profit maximization.

The impact of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction on athletic performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Price, Oliver J; Hull, James H; Backer, Vibeke

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) describes the phenomenon of transient airway narrowing in association with physical activity. Although it may seem likely that EIB would have a detrimental impact on athletic performance, this has yet to be established. OBJECTIVES: The aim of...

Why Complementary HRM Practices Impact Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Nicolai Juul; Pedersen, Torben; Reinholt, Mia

2015-01-01

the influence of single practices on individual-level knowledge sharing, but fails to include the influence of combinations of practices. We link the idea of fit between practices to employee motivation for knowledge sharing by arguing that rewards may be ambiguous and difficult to interpret...... in the form of a three-way interaction among these variables with respect to their impact on knowledge-sharing motivation. Our analysis of 1,523 employees in five knowledge-intensive firms shows that employees who are exposed to knowledge-sharing rewards experience higher levels of autonomous motivation......, but that such ambiguity may be reduced if rewards are combined with other aligned HRM practices, notably job design and work climate. Thus, fit is established through the ambiguity-reducing effect of combining specific HRM practices. Accordingly, we test for complementarities among rewards, job design, and work climate...

CT colonography: effect of experience and training on reader performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, Stuart A.; Burling, David; Morley, Simon; Bartram, Clive I.; Halligan, Steve; Bassett, Paul; Atkin, Wendy

2004-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effect of radiologist experience and increasing exposure to CT colonography on reader performance. Three radiologists of differing general experience (consultant, research fellow, trainee) independently analysed 100 CT colonographic datasets. Readers had no prior experience of CT colonography and received feedback and training after the first 50 cases from an independent experienced radiologist. Diagnostic performance and reporting times were compared for the first and second 50 datasets and compared with the results of a radiologist experienced in CT colonography. Before training only the consultant reader achieved statistical equivalence with the reference standard for detection of larger polyps. After training, detection rates ranged between 25 and 58% for larger polyps. Only the trainee significantly improved after training (P=0.007), with performance of other readers unchanged or even worse. Reporting times following training were reduced significantly for the consultant and fellow (P<0.001 and P=0.03, respectively), but increased for the trainee (P<0.001). In comparison to the consultant reader, the odds of detection of larger polyps was 0.36 (CI 0.16, 0.82) for the fellow and 0.36 (CI 0.14, 0.91) for the trainee. There is considerable variation in the ability to report CT colonography. Prior experience in gastrointestinal radiology is a distinct advantage. Competence cannot be assumed even after directed training via a database of 50 cases. (orig.)

Scaling Lean in primary care: impacts on system performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Dorothy Y; Harrison, Michael I; Martinez, Meghan C; Luft, Harold S

2017-03-01

We examined a wide range of performance outcomes after Lean methodology-a leading strategy to enhance efficiency and patient value-was implemented and scaled across all primary care clinics in a nonprofit, ambulatory care delivery system. Using a stepped wedge approach, we assessed changes associated with the phased introduction of Lean-based redesigns across 46 primary care departments in 17 different clinic locations. Longitudinal analysis of operational metrics included: workflow efficiency, physician productivity, operating expenses, clinical quality, and satisfaction among patients, physicians, and staff. We used interrupted time series analysis with generalized linear mixed models to estimate Lean impacts over time. Projected outcomes in the absence of changes (ie, counterfactuals) were compared with observed outcomes after Lean redesigns were implemented, and mean differences were assessed using 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs). We observed systemwide improvements in workflow efficiencies (eg, 95% CI, 5.8-10.4) and physician productivity (95% CI, 3.9-27.2), with no adverse effects on clinical quality. Patient satisfaction increased with respect to access to care (95% CI, 15.2-20.7), handling of personal issues (95% CI, 2.1-6.9), and overall experience of care (95% CI, 11.0-17.0), but decreased with respect to interactions with care providers (95% CI, -13.4 to -5.7). Departmental operating costs decreased, and annual staff and physician satisfaction scores increased particularly among early adopters, with key improvements in employee engagement, connection to purpose, relationships with staff, and physician time spent working. Lean redesigns can benefit primary care patients, physicians, and staff without negatively impacting the quality of clinical care. Study results may lead other delivery system leaders to innovate using Lean techniques and may further enhance support for Lean learning among public and private payers.

The impact of the maternal experience with a jaundiced newborn on the breastfeeding relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, Sharla K; Hannon, Patricia R; Scrimshaw, Susan C

2002-05-01

To examine the process by which mothers' experiences with neonatal jaundice affect breastfeeding. We used ethnographic interviews with grounded theory methodology. Audiotaped data were transcribed and analyzed for themes using ATLAS/ti qualitative data analysis software (Scientific Software Development, Berlin, Germany). We studied a total of 47 Spanish- and English-speaking breastfeeding mothers of otherwise healthy infants diagnosed with neonatal jaundice. Our outcomes were the qualitative descriptions of maternal experiences with neonatal jaundice. Interactions with medical professionals emerged as the most important factor mediating the impact of neonatal jaundice on breastfeeding. Breastfeeding orders and the level of encouragement from medical professionals toward breastfeeding had the strongest effect on feeding decisions. Maternal reaction to and understanding of information from their physicians also played an important role. Guilt was common, as many mothers felt they had caused the jaundice by breastfeeding. By providing accurate information and encouragement to breastfeed, medical professionals have great impact on whether a mother continues breastfeeding after her experience with neonatal jaundice. Health care providers must be aware of how mothers receive and interpret information related to jaundice to minimize maternal reactions, such as guilt, that have a negative impact on breastfeeding.

The Emotional Impact of Performance-Related Pay on Teachers in England

Science.gov (United States)

Mahony, Pat; Menter, Ian; Hextall, Ian

2004-01-01

This article reports on the emotional impact of Threshold Assessment on teachers and schools. Using data from an ESRC funded project, 'The impact of Performance Threshold Assessment on teachers' work' (ESRC R000239286), we seek to contribute to a growing literature on teachers' emotions by sharing some of the insights gained from 76 interviews…

New interpretation of Petty and Moran's ion-impact Ne--H+3 experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carney, G.D.

1979-01-01

The calculated energy intervals for breathing and bending vibrations of H + 3 given by Carney and Porter (2) agree with the observed ion-impact spectroscopy experiments of petty and Moran (1). The vibrational anharmonicity in H + 3 and rotational excitation processes are discussed

Methodology for performing RF reliability experiments on a generic test structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sasse, G.T.; de Vries, Rein J.; Schmitz, Jurriaan

2007-01-01

This paper discusses a new technique developed for generating well defined RF large voltage swing signals for on wafer experiments. This technique can be employed for performing a broad range of different RF reliability experiments on one generic test structure. The frequency dependence of a

Motivators and barriers to using patient experience reports for performance improvement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geissler, K.H.; Friedberg, M.W.; SteelFisher, G.K.; Schneider, E.C.

2013-01-01

Increasingly, patient experience surveys are available to provide performance feedback to physician groups. However, limited published literature addresses factors influencing use of these reports for performance improvement. To address this gap, we conducted semistructured interviews with leaders

Meeting performance goals by the use of experience data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salmon, M.W.; Kennedy, R.P.

1993-01-01

DOE Order 5480.28 requires that structures, systems and components (SSCs) be designed and constructed to withstand the effects of natural phenomena hazards. For SSCs to be acceptable, it must be demonstrated that there is a sufficiently low probability of failure of those SSCs consistent with established performance goals. For new design, NPH loads are taken from probabilistic hazard assessments and coupled with response and evaluation methods to control the levels of conservatism required to achieve performance goals. For components qualified by test, performance goals are achieved by specifying a test response spectrum that envelops a required response spectrum coupled with minimal acceptance standards. DOE Standard 1020-92 adapts both of these approaches to ensure that the required performance goals are met for new installations. For existing installations these approaches are generally not applicable. There is a need for a simple approach for use in verifying the performance of existing equipment subject to seismic hazards. The USNRC has adapted such an approach for the resolution of USI A-46 in the Generic Implementation Procedure (GIP). A simple set of screening rules, keyed to a generic bounding spectrum forms the basis of the USNRC approach. A similar approach is being adapted for use in the DOE. The DOE approach, however, must also ensure that appropriate performance goals are met when the general screens are met. This paper summarizes research to date on the topic of meeting performance goals by the use of experience data. The paper presents a review of the background material, a summary of the requirements for existing components, a summary of the approach used in establishing the performance goals associated with experience data approaches, and a summary of results to date. Simplified criteria are proposed

Hypervelocity dust particle impacts observed by the Giotto magnetometer and plasma experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Neubauer, F. M.; Glassmeier, K.-H.; Coates, A. J.; Goldstein, R.; Acuna, M. H.

1990-01-01

This paper describes 13 very short events in the magnetic field of the inner magnetic pile-up region of Comet Halley observed by the Giotto magnetometer experiment together with simultaneous plasma data obtained by the Johnstone plasma analyzer and the ion mass spectrometer experiments. The events are due to dust impacts in the milligram range on the spacecraft at the relative velocity between the cometary dust and the spacecraft of 68 km/sec. They are generally consistent with dust impact events derived from spacecraft attitude perturbations by the Giotto camera. Their characteristic shape generally involves a sudden decrease in magnetic-field magnitude, a subsequent overshoot beyond initial field values, and an asymptotic approach to the initial field (somewhat reminiscent of the magnetic-field signature after the AMPTE releases in the solar wind). These observations give a new way of analyzing ultra-fast dust particles incident on a spacecraft.

An experiment to test advanced materials impacted by intense proton pulses at CERN HiRadMat facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bertarelli, A., E-mail: alessandro.bertarelli@cern.ch [CERN, Engineering Department, Mechanical and Materials Engineering Group (EN-MME), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Berthome, E. [CERN, Engineering Department, Mechanical and Materials Engineering Group (EN-MME), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Boccone, V. [CERN, Engineering Department, Sources, Targets and Interactions Group (EN-STI), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Carra, F. [CERN, Engineering Department, Mechanical and Materials Engineering Group (EN-MME), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Cerutti, F. [CERN, Engineering Department, Sources, Targets and Interactions Group (EN-STI), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Charitonidis, N. [CERN, Engineering Department, Machines and Experimental Facilities Group (EN-MEF), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland); Charrondiere, C. [CERN, Engineering Department, Industrial Controls and Engineering Group (EN-ICE), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Dallocchio, A.; Fernandez Carmona, P.; Francon, P.; Gentini, L.; Guinchard, M.; Mariani, N. [CERN, Engineering Department, Mechanical and Materials Engineering Group (EN-MME), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Masi, A. [CERN, Engineering Department, Sources, Targets and Interactions Group (EN-STI), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Marques dos Santos, S.D.; Moyret, P. [CERN, Engineering Department, Mechanical and Materials Engineering Group (EN-MME), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Peroni, L. [Politecnico di Torino, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino (Italy); Redaelli, S. [CERN, Beams Department, Accelerators and Beams Physics Group (BE-ABP), CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Scapin, M. [Politecnico di Torino, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino (Italy)

2013-08-01

Predicting the consequences of highly energetic particle beams impacting protection devices as collimators or high power target stations is a fundamental issue in the design of state-of-the-art facilities for high-energy particle physics. These complex dynamic phenomena can be successfully simulated resorting to highly non-linear numerical tools (Hydrocodes). In order to produce accurate results, however, these codes require reliable material constitutive models that, at the extreme conditions induced by a destructive beam impact, are scarce and often inaccurate. In order to derive or validate such models a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind experiment has been recently carried out at CERN HiRadMat facility: performed tests entailed the controlled impact of intense and energetic proton pulses on a number of specimens made of six different materials. Experimental data were acquired relying on embedded instrumentation (strain gauges, temperature probes and vacuum sensors) and on remote-acquisition devices (laser Doppler vibrometer and high-speed camera). The method presented in this paper, combining experimental measurements with numerical simulations, may find applications to assess materials under very high strain rates and temperatures in domains well beyond particle physics (severe accidents in fusion and fission nuclear facilities, space debris impacts, fast and intense loadings on materials and structures etc.)

Impacts of a Southern Indiana Summer Camp: Adult Reflections on Childhood Experiences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin L. Snider

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Scholars have well documented the impact on youth of attending a residential summer camp. Quantitative studies, generally consisting of pre/post assessments, have found positive outcomes related to self-esteem, self-efficacy, hard skills, and social skills. We explored the long-term outcomes of the camp experience through adult recollections of the camp experience. Participants’ interviews provided four primary, emergent themes: self growth, affinity for nature, life skills, and relationship. Outcomes appear to stem from camper-counselor relationships and unstructured free time. This study highlights the lifelong benefits of the camp experience and suggests there is utility in collecting adult long-term recollections of childhood memories.

Hospital nurse job attitudes and performance: the impact of employment status.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Cheng-I; Hsu, Yao-Feng

2011-03-01

According to the 2007 Taiwan Labor Front Human Resources Report, as much as 47.6% of nurses at some public hospitals were contracted rather than full time. Furthermore, turnover rates for contract nurses were found to be as high as five to eight times of those for full-time nurses. Because high turnover rates are likely to induce negative impacts on the stability of care provided in the absence of staffing continuity, the association between nursing employment arrangement and nursing care quality is attracting greater attention. This study was designed to investigate the work status of contract versus full-time nurses at a public hospital in Taiwan and to examine the impact of such on work-related attitudes, organizational citizenship behavior, and job performance. Samples were recruited from a public hospital in Taiwan. In addition to self-rated items, researchers used supervisor-rated structured questionnaires for job performance to attenuate the possible effect of common method bias. The study investigated the impact of hospital nurse employment status on work-related attitudes, organizational citizenship behavior, and job performance using a regression model that included the critical work-related attitudes variables of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Study findings included the following: (a) organizational commitment, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, and job performance correlate positively with one another. (b) No significant difference between contract and full-time nurses was found in terms of organizational commitment, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, and self-rated job performance. However, when rated by supervisors, reported job performance levels for full-time nurses were significantly higher than those of contract nurses. (c) Organizational citizenship behavior exhibited a mediating effect between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance. In this study, supervisors

Patient Experience: A Critical Indicator of Healthcare Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Guler, Pamela H

2017-01-01

Patient experience has become a critical differentiator for healthcare organizations, and it will only grow in importance as transparency and consumerism dominate the healthcare landscape. Creating and sustaining a consistently exceptional experience that promotes patient engagement and the best outcomes is far more than just "satisfying" patients, going well beyond amenities that may be provided.Perception of care experience is often shaped by methods we use to address the biopsychosocial needs of patients. Building relationships and communicating well with our patients and families are primary approaches. In a complex healthcare situation, patients may not fully understand or remember the highly clinical nature of treatment. However, they always remember how we made them feel, how we communicated with them as a team, and what interactions they experienced while in our care.Patients who are fully informed and feel connected to their caregivers are often less anxious than those who are disengaged. Informed and engaged patients are enabled to participate in their healthcare. Organizations that focus on developing an accountable culture-one that inspires caregivers to communicate in a way that connects to patients' mind, body, and spirit while leveraging standard, evidence-based patient experience practices-find that patients' perception of care, or "the patient experience," is vastly improved.Adventist Health System has embarked on a journey to patient experience excellence with a commitment to whole-person care and standard patient experience practice across the system. Recognized with several national awards, we continue to strengthen our approach toward bringing all of our campuses and patient settings to sustained high-level performance. We have found that a combination of strong, accountable leadership; a focus on employee culture; engagement of physicians; standardized patient experience practices and education; and meaningful use of patient feedback are top

Production of Prebiotic Molecule Precursors from Hypervelocity Impact Simulation Experiments on Carbonate Sediments

Science.gov (United States)

Farcy, B. J.; Grubisic, A.; Li, X.; Pinnick, V. T.; Sutton, M.; Pavlov, A.; Brinckerhoff, W. B.

2017-12-01

Organic molecules, including amino acids and other biotic precursors, have been shown to form in the cooling and expanding plasma plume generated from hypervelocity impacts through the processes of atomization, ionization, and molecular recombination of impactor and impact surface. Various sources of carbon, such as atmospheric methane and carbonaceous material from meteorites, are known to yield cyano-bearing molecules and simple amino acids from impact plasmas. However, the role of mineralogical carbon has not yet been investigated in this process. We have performed experiments using laser ablation mass spectrometry (LA-MS) to study the negative ion yield of plasma-produced prebiotic molecules. A mixture of 10% NH4Cl and 90% CaCO3 was pressed into a pellet and ablated with a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser, and the resultant negative ions were measured by a plasma analyzer quadrupole MS. Mass spectra show characteristic peaks at m/z = 26 and m/z = 42, indicating the presence of CN- and CNO- ions. When isotopically labeled 15NH4Cl and Ca13CO3 were used in the sample ablation pellet, the purported CN- and CNO- peaks shifted according to their added isotopic mass. Indeed, comparison of resulting ion formation from momentum-based techniques, such as massive cluster secondary ion mass spectrometry, show comparable fragmentation and recombination of CN- and CNO- ions. These findings show that CN- ions, as well as CN radicals and thus HCN, can be formed during meteoritic bombardment of carbonate minerals. During the late heavy bombardment of the earth from 4.1-3.8 Ga, impact-driven chemistry could have played a dominant role in shaping the earth's early prebiotic inventory and sources of chemical energy. As carbonate sediments are common in the Archean, carbonate deposits are most likely an important contributor of carbon for this process, along with atmospheric and meteoritic carbon sources.

Cognitive Styles, Demographic Attributes, Task Performance and Affective Experiences: An Empirical Investigation into Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Core Users

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Rong

As a primary digital library portal for astrophysics researchers, SAO/NASA ADS (Astrophysics Data System) 2.0 interface features several visualization tools such as Author Network and Metrics. This research study involves 20 ADS long term users who participated in a usability and eye tracking research session. Participants first completed a cognitive test, and then performed five tasks in ADS 2.0 where they explored its multiple visualization tools. Results show that over half of the participants were Imagers and half of the participants were Analytic. Cognitive styles were found to have significant impacts on several efficiency-based measures. Analytic-oriented participants were observed to spent shorter time on web pages and apps, made fewer web page changes than less-Analytic-driving participants in performing common tasks, whereas AI (Analytic-Imagery) participants also completed their five tasks faster than non-AI participants. Meanwhile, self-identified Imagery participants were found to be more efficient in their task completion through multiple measures including total time on task, number of mouse clicks, and number of query revisions made. Imagery scores were negatively associated with frequency of confusion and the observed counts of being surprised. Compared to those who did not claimed to be a visual person, self-identified Imagery participants were observed to have significantly less frequency in frustration and hesitation during their task performance. Both demographic variables and past user experiences were found to correlate with task performance; query revision also correlated with multiple time-based measurements. Considered as an indicator of efficiency, query revisions were found to correlate negatively with the rate of complete with ease, and positively with several time-based efficiency measures, rate of complete with some difficulty, and the frequency of frustration. These results provide rich insights into the cognitive styles of ADS' core

Long Term Sorption Diffusion Experiment (LTDE-SD). Performance of main in situ experiment and results from water phase measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Widestrand, Henrik; Byegaard, Johan; Nilsson, Kersti; Hoeglund, Susanne; Gustafsson, Erik; Kronberg, Magnus

2010-12-01

The LTDE-SD experiment, (Long Term Sorption Diffusion Experiment) aimed at increasing the scientific knowledge of sorption and diffusion under in situ conditions and to provide data for performance and safety assessment calculations. Performance and results of the in situ experiment phase are presented in the report. In total, 21 radionuclide trace elements and one stable trace element were injected, circulated and sampled for ∼6.5 months in a closed borehole section. The trace elements represented non-sorbing tracers and sorbing tracers for which the sorption was dominated by a cation exchange mechanism, a surface complexation mechanism, or dependent on an electrochemical reduction in order to reach the tetravalent state (oxidation state IV) considered very strongly sorbing. The borehole section in contact with the tracer labelled groundwater consisted in part of a natural fracture surface and a borehole section in the unaltered matrix rock, devoid of natural fractures. Water samples were regularly extracted and analysed for trace element concentration and a few ion exchange speciation and filtered samplings were also conducted. Independent colloid filtering and chemical speciation calculations were performed in support the evaluation. Sorption was demonstrated for a series of elements present in the experiment. The amounts lost of the different respective tracers from the aqueous phase follow very well the general understanding of the relative sorption strength of the tracers, as inferred from e.g. batch sorption experiments and dynamic in situ tracer experiments. The chemical speciation calculations of the different tracers were in line with the results of the ion exchange speciation performed during the experiment. With the exception of UO 2 2+ carbonate complexes formed, no strong indications were obtained that aqueous complexation prevents adsorption under the chemical conditions of the experiment. The 20 nm filtered sampling indicated that radionuclide

The impact of workplace conditions on firm performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buhai, Ioan Sebastian; Cottini, Elena; Westergård-Nielsen, Niels Chr.

This paper estimates the impact of work environment health and safety practice on firm performance, and examines which firm-characteristic factors are associated with good work conditions. We use Danish longitudinal register matched employer-employee data, merged with firm business accounts...... and detailed cross-sectional survey data on workplace conditions. This enables us to address typical econometric problems such as omitted variables bias or endogeneity in estimating i) standard production functions augmented with work environment indicators and aggregate employee characteristics and ii) firm...... mean wage regressions on the same explanatory variables. Our findings suggest that improvement in some of the physical dimensions of the work health and safety environment (speci.cally, "internal climate" and "repetitive and strenuous activity") strongly impacts the firm productivity, whereas "internal...

COMPETITIVENESS, MARKETING ACCESS, AND NETWORK CAPABILITY AND ITS IMPACTS ON MARKETING PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teguh Iman Sayekti

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study is to determine what factors influencingthe performance of SMEs. The population in this study is SMEs in the Central Java. Sample collection was conducted with a purposive sampling method. Criteriaused to take into accountis the SMEs that are already running at leastfortwo years. The sample in this study is intended as the representative of total population,67 (sixty seven. The data were processed and analyzed by computer program of SPSS 20 for Windows. Based on the results of regression analysis, it can be concluded that competitiveness has positive and significant impact on marketing performance marketing access has positive and significant impact on marketing performance. It means that the higher competitiveness and marketing access, the higher its performance. Competitiveness and marketing access have influence on SMEs’ performance through network capability.   

Board Characteristics and Accounting Performance in Banking Industry: The Indonesian Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Agung Prabowo

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the effect of board characteristics on accounting return in Indonesian banking industry. The conceptual framework borrows from agency theory claiming that board is held liable for monitoring responsibilities and that monitoring effectiveness will lead to higher corporate achievement. Yet the theory predicts that board characteristics matter in constituting firm performance. It is hypothesized that leadership structure, representation of independent directors, board size, and the rank of college board chairperson attended are necessary attributes enable the board to deliver better performance. The investigation is based on a dataset consisting of 83 banks during 2009-2015. Panel data analysis reveal that the proportion of independent directors, board leadership structure, and board size shows insignificant influence. The rank of universities the board chairperson graduated is found to have an impact on accounting earnings. The impact is robust after the type of controlling owners is taken into account. Yet the association between university rank and performance is more pronounced in the listed-banks.

Impact of organisational politics on employee performance in public sector organisations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quaiser Abbas

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The present study seeks to investigate the impact of organizational politics on employee performance in the public sector organizations. The study developed a framework on the basis of an extensive literature review which was then tested to provide an empirical insight about the proposed relationships. The data were collected from the employees of 15 public sector organizations in Pakistan. The data was statistically analyzed using regression analysis. The results revealed that organizational politics have a significant impact on employee performance. The findings of the study reinforce that the management needs to understand the perception of employees about the organizational politics prevailing in their organizations and have to adopt strategies that would minimize the perception of organizational politics and enhance employee performance. The present study has been conducted in a developing economy; therefore, the findings of the present study are partially generalized able to other developing economies as well. The future researchers can also perform the studies in other settings.

Impact of lithium on the plasma performance in the all-metal-wall tokamak ASDEX upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lang, P.T.; Moreno Quicios, R.; Arredondo Parra, R.; Ploeckl, B.; McDermott, R.; Neu, R.; Wolfrum, E. [MPI fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, 85748 Garching (Germany); Maingi, R.; Mansfield, D.K.; Diallo, A. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08543 (United States); Collaboration: ASDEX Upgrade Team

2016-07-01

Several tokamaks reported improvement in key plasma parameters concurrent with the presence of lithium in the plasma. At ASDEX Upgrade explorative experiments have been performed to find out if such effects can be observed when operating with an all-metal-wall. A gas gun launcher was developed capable to inject pellets containing about 1.6 x 10{sup 20} Li atoms at 2 Hz. The speed of about 600 m/s is sufficient to achieve core penetration and to create a homogeneous Li concentration of up to 10 %. With a typical sustainment time on the order of 100 ms, only transient Li presence without any pile up was achieved. Deposition of Li on plasma facing components, which remained for several discharges after injection, was observed. This short lived wall conditioning showed beneficial effects during plasma start-up. However, the accompanying surface contamination negatively impacted some diagnostics. The Li impact on the confinement was investigated in a dedicated plasma scenario with a proven sensitivity to nitrogen and helium. In phases with N seeding enhancing the confinement by about 30 %, Li injection resulted in a very modest, transient loss of confinement (about 5 %). No Li impact was found for pure Deuterium plasmas.

A study of the impact properties of adhesively-bonded aluminum alloy based on impact velocity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Teng; Cheon, Seong Sik; Cho, Jae Ung [Kongju National University, Cheonan (Korea, Republic of); Kinloch, Anthony J.; Blackman, Bamber R. K.; Sanchez, F. S. Rodriguez [Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom); Bang, Hye Jin; Lee, Sang Kyo; Cho, Chong Du [Inha University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-02-15

In this study, an experiment and a simulation were carried out on colliding an adhesively-bonded tapered double cantilever beam (TDCB) at the impact velocities of 5 m/s, 7.5 m/s and 12.5 m/s. The analysis method of the corrected beam theory (CBT) was used to obtain the rate of energy release in the bonded area according to the crack progression, and a simulation was performed to determine the maximum strain energy during the impact analysis as a means to examine the mechanical properties of aluminium alloy. The experimental data were found to be higher than the simulation data. This is deemed to explicable by the fact that the adhesive strength was maintained even after the specimen separated in the experiment. Crack progression occurred, irrespective of the impact velocity, and high strain energy occurred at the end of the bonded region, thereby causing the strain energy to increase in the final stages. Also, the maximum load applied on the pin and the maximum strain energy in the bonded area were shown increase at higher impact velocities. The results of the experiment and simulation performed in this study are expected to serve as important data in developing a safety design for composite materials that can help prevent the progression of cracks caused by impact.

Impact of Hypobarism During Simulated Transport on Critical Care Air Transport Team Performance

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-26

AFRL-SA-WP-SR-2017-0008 Impact of Hypobarism During Simulated Transport on Critical Care Air Transport Team Performance Dina...July 2014 – November 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Impact of Hypobarism During Simulated Transport on Critical Care Air Transport Team Performance 5a...During Critical Care Air Transport Team Advanced Course validation, three-member teams consisting of a physician, nurse, and respiratory therapist

The Dynamics of the Impact of Past Performance on Mutual Fund Flows

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goriaev, A.P.; Nijman, T.E.; Werker, B.J.M.

2002-01-01

This study reconsiders the determinants of flows into US growth funds, focusing in particular on the dynamics of the impact of past performance on flows.We model the flow-performance relationship at the monthly frequency, allowing for dependence of the sensitivity of flows to past performance on

Impact of Experience Corps(®) participation on school climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Parisi, Jeanine M; Ramsey, Christine M; Carlson, Michelle C; Xue, Qian-Li; Huang, Jin; Romani, William A; McGill, Sylvia; Seeman, Teresa E; Tanner, Elizabeth K; Barron, Jeremy; Tan, Erwin J; Gruenewald, Tara L; Diibor, Ike; Fried, Linda P; Rebok, George W

2015-07-01

We examined the impact of the Experience Corps(®) (EC) program on school climate within Baltimore City public elementary schools. In this program, teams of older adult volunteers were placed in high intensity (>15 h per week), meaningful roles in public elementary schools, to improve the educational outcomes of children as well as the health and well-being of volunteers. During the first year of EC participation, school climate was perceived more favorably among staff and students in EC schools as compared to those in comparison schools. However, with a few notable exceptions, perceived school climate did not differ for staff or students in intervention and comparison schools during the second year of exposure to the EC program. These findings suggest that perceptions of school climate may be altered by introducing a new program into elementary schools; however, research examining how perceptions of school climate are impacted over a longer period is warranted.

Impact of Experience Corps® Participation on School Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Parisi, Jeanine M.; Ramsey, Christine M.; Carlson, Michelle C.; Xue, Qian-Li; Huang, Jin; Romani, William A.; McGill, Sylvia; Seeman, Teresa E.; Tanner, Elizabeth K.; Barron, Jeremy; Tan, Erwin; Gruenewald, Tara L.; Diibor, Ike; Fried, Linda P.; Rebok, George W.

2015-01-01

We examined the impact of the Experience Corps® (EC) program on school climate within Baltimore City public elementary schools. In this program, teams of older adult volunteers were placed in high intensity (>15 hours per week), meaningful roles in public elementary schools, to improve the educational outcomes of children as well as the health and well-being of volunteers. During the first year of EC participation, school climate was perceived more favorably among staff and students in EC schools as compared to those in comparison schools. However, with a few notable exceptions, perceived school climate did not differ for staff or students in intervention and comparison schools during the second year of exposure to the EC program. These findings suggest that perceptions of school climate may be altered by introducing a new program into elementary schools; however, research examining how perceptions of school climate are impacted over a longer period is warranted. PMID:25708453

The impact of cyberstalking: the lived experience - a thematic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Short, Emma; Linford, Sarah; Wheatcroft, Jacqueline M; Maple, Carsten

2014-01-01

Cyberstalking (CS) can have major psychosocial impacts on individuals. Victims report a number of serious consequences of victimization such as increased suicidal ideation, fear, anger, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology. Research is largely limited to quantitative outcome research. This study examines the diversity of experiences reported by people who define themselves as having been cyberstalked. Thematic analysis was used to explore 100 CS victim narratives, gathered by means of an online survey questionnaire designed to capture structured text responses. Five emergent themes were evident in the data: control and intimidation; determined offender; development of harassment; negative consequences; and lack of support. Findings identify similarities and differences to traditional stalking, along with the necessity of support for victims and illustration of the negative impacts this form of harassment produces.

Time and motion, experiment M151. [human performance and space flight stress

Science.gov (United States)

Kubis, J. F.; Elrod, J. T.; Rusnak, R.; Mcbride, G. H.; Barnes, J. E.; Saxon, S. C.

1973-01-01

Astronaut work performance during the preparation and execution of experiments in simulated Skylab tests was analyzed according to time and motion in order to evaluate the efficiency and consistency of performance (adaptation function) for several different types of activity over the course of the mission; to evaluate the procedures to be used by the same experiment in Skylab; to generate characteristic adaptation functions for later comparison with Skylab data; and to examine astronaut performance for any behavioral stress due to the environment. The overall results indicate that the anticipated adaptation function was obtained both for individual and for averaged data.

On the feasibility to perform integral transmission experiments in the GELINA target hall at IRMM

Science.gov (United States)

Leconte, Pierre; Jean, Cyrille De Saint; Geslot, Benoit; Plompen, Arjan; Belloni, Francesca; Nyman, Markus

2017-09-01

Shielding experiments are relevant to validate elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections in the fast energy range. In this paper, we are focusing on the possibility to use the pulsed white neutron time-of-flight facility GELINA to perform this kind of measurement. Several issues need to be addressed: neutron source intensity, room return effect, distance of the materials to be irradiated from the source, and the sensitivity of various reaction rate distributions through the material to different input cross sections. MCNP6 and TRIPOLI4 calculations of the outgoing neutron spectrum are compared, based on electron/positron/gamma/neutron simulations. A first guess of an integral transmission experiment through a 238U slab is considered. It shows that a 10 cm thickness of uranium is sufficient to reach a high sensitivity to the 238U inelastic scattering cross section in the [2-5 MeV] energy range, with small contributions from elastic and fission cross sections. This experiment would contribute to reduce the uncertainty on this nuclear data, which has a significant impact on the power distribution in large commercial reactors. Other materials that would be relevant for the ASTRID 4th generation prototype reactor are also tested, showing that a sufficient sensitivity to nuclear data would be obtained by using a 50 to 100cm thick slab of side 60x60cm. This study concludes on the feasibility and interest of such experiments in the target hall of the GELINA facility.

Impact of inlet coherent motions on compressor performance

Science.gov (United States)

Forlese, Jacopo; Spoleti, Giovanni

2017-08-01

Automotive engine induction systems may be characterized by significant flow angularity and total pressure distortion at the compressor inlet. The impact of the swirl on compressor performance should be quantified to guide the design of the induction systems. In diesel engines, the presence of a valve for flow reduction and control of low pressure EGR recirculation could generate coherent motion and influence the performance of the compressor. Starting from experimental map, the compressor speed-lines have been simulated using a 3D CFD commercial code imposing different concept motion at the inlet. The swirl intensity, the direction and the number of vortices have been imposed in order to taking into account some combinations. Finally, a merit function has been defined to evaluate the performance of the compressor with the defined swirl concepts. The aim of the current work is to obtain an indication on the effect of a swirling motion at the compressor inlet on the engine performance and provide a guideline to the induction system design.

Challenging experiences: gender differences in task choice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Pater, I.E.; van Vianen, A.E.M.; Fischer, A.H.; van Ginkel, W.P.

2009-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine: gender differences in the choice to perform challenging tasks, gender differences in the actual performance of challenging tasks, and the impact of challenging experiences on supervisors' evaluations of individuals' potential for career advancement.

Hypervelocity dust particle impacts observed by the Giotto magnetometer and plasma experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neubauer, F.M.; Glassmeier, K.H.; Goldstein, R.; Acuna, M.H.; Musmann, G.; Coates, A.J.

1990-01-01

The authors report thirteen very short events in the magnetic field of the inner magnetic pile-up region of comet Halley observed by the Giotto magnetometer experiment together with simultaneous plasma data obtained by the Johnstone plasma analyzer and the ion mass spectrometer experiments. The events are due to dust impacts in the milligram range on the spacecraft at the relative velocity between the cometary dust and the spacecraft of 68 km/sec. They are generally consistent with dust impact events derived from spacecraft attitude perturbations by the Giotto camera [Curdt and Keller, private communication]. Their characteristic shape generally involves a sudden decrease in magnetic field magnitude, a subsequent overshoot beyond initial field values and an asymptotic approach to the initial field somewhat reminiscent of the magnetic field signature after the AMPTE releases in the solar wind. These observations give a new way of analyzing ultra-fast dust particles incident on a spacecraft

Centrifuge impact cratering experiment 5

Science.gov (United States)

1984-01-01

Transient crates motions, cratering flow fields, crates dynamics, determining impact conditions from total crater welt, centrifuge quarter-space cratering, and impact cratering mechanics research is documented.

Impact of TQM practices on innnovation performance among manufacturing companies in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Choi Sang Long

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This study examines the impact of total quality management (TQM practices on an organisation’s innovation performance. Correlation coefficient and regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between TQM practices and innovation performance. This study’s sample is drawn from the manufacturing organisations located in the district of Rawang in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The empirical results of this study confirm that TQM has a positive impact on innovation performance across five measured practices: customer focus, leadership, process management, strategic planning, and people management. Furthermore, the three most influential TQM practices are identfied as people management,process management, and customer focus. Managers in the manufacturing sector can find this study useful, especially if they are aiming to improve their organisation’s innovation performance with the help of quality management practices.

Coercive and legitimate authority impact tax honesty: evidence from behavioral and ERP experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Gangl, Katharina; Pfabigan, Daniela M; Lamm, Claus; Kirchler, Erich; Hofmann, Eva

2017-07-01

Cooperation in social systems such as tax honesty is of central importance in our modern societies. However, we know little about cognitive and neural processes driving decisions to evade or pay taxes. This study focuses on the impact of perceived tax authority and examines the mental chronometry mirrored in ERP data allowing a deeper understanding about why humans cooperate in tax systems. We experimentally manipulated coercive and legitimate authority and studied its impact on cooperation and underlying cognitive (experiment 1, 2) and neuronal (experiment 2) processes. Experiment 1 showed that in a condition of coercive authority, tax payments are lower, decisions are faster and participants report more rational reasoning and enforced compliance, however, less voluntary cooperation than in a condition of legitimate authority. Experiment 2 confirmed most results, but did not find a difference in payments or self-reported rational reasoning. Moreover, legitimate authority led to heightened cognitive control (expressed by increased MFN amplitudes) and disrupted attention processing (expressed by decreased P300 amplitudes) compared to coercive authority. To conclude, the neuronal data surprisingly revealed that legitimate authority may led to higher decision conflict and thus to higher cognitive demands in tax decisions than coercive authority. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

The impact of assistive technology services in post-secondary education for students with disabilities: Intervention outcomes, use-profiles, and user-experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Malcolm, Matthew P; Roll, Marla C

2017-01-01

The outcomes of assistive technology (AT) support services for post-secondary education students with disabilities are under-reported, and little is known about use-profiles and user experiences when AT interventions are applied to this rapidly growing population. We examined AT service outcomes related to performance and satisfaction of common academic tasks (using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure [COPM]), as well as how students with disabilities use and experience AT and AT services (employing an AT-use survey). Three-hundred fifty-three students with disabilities completed the AT-use survey, with a subset of these (n = 216) also participating with pre-post AT intervention COPM assessment. COPM performance and satisfaction ratings significantly increased from pre- to post-AT intervention in all academic task categories (reading, writing, note-taking, test-taking, and studying; p impacted their academic success, and believed they would continue using AT post-graduation. The study findings contribute to evidence-base for AT services with a hope we may improve AT services to best meet the changing needs of the growing number of college students with disabilities.

Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions on the Performance of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This research study examined the impact of mergers and acquisition on the performance of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. A total of thirty-five (35) companies formed the population of this study and questionnaire was used to collect data for this research work. Data generated from the study were analysed descriptively ...

Does Accumulated Knowledge Impact Academic Performance in Cost Accounting?

Science.gov (United States)

Alanzi, Khalid A.; Alfraih, Mishari M.

2017-01-01

Purpose: This quantitative study aims to examine the impact of accumulated knowledge of accounting on the academic performance of Cost Accounting students. Design/methodology/approach The sample consisted of 89 students enrolled in the Accounting program run by a business college in Kuwait during 2015. Correlation and linear least squares…

The performance assessment impacts of disposal of high-moisture, low-level radioactive waste at the Nevada Test Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowe, B.M.; Hansen, W.; Hechnova, A.; Voss, C.; Waters, R.; Sully, M.; Levitt, D.

1999-01-01

A panel of independent scientists was convened by the Department of Energy to assess the performance impacts of disposal of low-level radioactive waste from the Fernald Environmental Management Project. This waste stream was involved in a transportation incident in December 1997. A resulting outgrowth of investigations of the transportation incident was the recognition that the waste was transported and disposed in stress-fractured metal boxes and some of the waste contained excess moisture (high volumetric water contents). The panel was charged with determining whether disposal of this waste in the Area 5 radioactive waste management site on the Nevada Test Site has impacted the conclusions of the completed performance assessment. Three questions were developed by the panel to assess performance impacts: (1) the performance impacts of reduced container integrity, (2) the impact of reduced container integrity on subsidence of waste in the disposal pits and (3) the performance impacts of excess moisture. No performance or subsidence impacts were noted from disposal of the Fernald waste. The impacts of excess moisture were assessed through simulation modeling of the movement of moisture in the vadose zone assuming high water contents (wet waste) for different percentages of the waste inventory. No performance impacts were noted for either the base-case scenario (ambient conditions) or a scenario involving subsidence and flooding of the waste cells. The absence of performance impacts results form the extreme conservatism used in the Area 5-performance assessment and the robust nature of the disposal site

Integrating impact assessment and conflict management in urban planning: Experiences from Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peltonen, Lasse; Sairinen, Rauno

2010-01-01

The article examines the interlinkages between recent developments in conflict management and impact assessment procedures in the context of urban planning in Finland. It sets out by introducing the fields of impact assessment and conflict mediation. It then proceeds to discuss the development of impact assessment practices and the status of conflict mediation in Finnish land use planning. The case of Korteniitty infill development plan in Jyvaeskylae is used to demonstrate how the Finnish planning system operates in conflict situations - and how social impact assessment can contribute to managing planning conflicts. The authors ask how the processes of impact assessment contribute to conflict management. Based on the Finnish experience, it is argued that social impact assessment of land use plans can contribute to conflict management, especially in the absence of institutionalised conflict mediation processes. In addition, SIA may acquire features of conflict mediation, depending on extent and intensity of stakeholder participation in the process, and the quality of linkages it between knowledge production and decision-making. Simultaneously, conflict mediation practices and theoretical insights can inform the application of SIA to help it address land use conflicts more consciously.

Impact of aging and material structure on CANDU plant performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nadeau, E.; Ballyk, J.; Ghalavand, N.

2011-01-01

In-service behaviour of pressure tubes is a key factor in the assessment of safety margins during plant operation. Pressure tube deformation (diametral expansion) affects fuel bundle dry out characteristics resulting in reduced margin to trip for some events. Pressure tube aging mechanisms also erode design margins on fuel channels or interfacing reactor components. The degradation mechanisms of interest are primarily deformation, loss of fracture resistance and hydrogen ingress. CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium, a registered trademark of the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited used under exclusive licence by Candu Energy Inc.) owners and operators need to maximize plant capacity factor and meet or exceed the reactor design life targets while maintaining safety margins. The degradation of pressure tube material and geometry are characterized through a program of inspection, material surveillance and assessment and need to be managed to optimize plant performance. Candu is improving pressure tubes installed in new build and life extension projects. Improvements include changes designed to reduce or mitigate the impact of pressure tube elongation and diametral expansion rates, improvement of pressure tube fracture properties, and reduction of the implications of hydrogen ingress. In addition, Candu provides an extensive array of engineering services designed to assess the condition of pressure tubes and address the impact of pressure tube degradation on safety margins and plant performance. These services include periodic and in-service inspection and material surveillance of pressure tubes and deterministic and probabilistic assessment of pressure tube fitness for service to applicable standards. Activities designed to mitigate the impact of pressure tube deformation on safety margins include steam generator cleaning, which improves trip margins, and trip design assessment to optimize reactor trip set points restoring safety and operating margins. This paper provides an

The impact of risk factors on the financial performance of the commercial banking sector in Barbados

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony Wood

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to determine the impact of risk factors on the financial performance of the commercial banking sector in Barbados using quarterly data for the period 2000 to 2015. The empirical results indicate that Capital Risk, Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk, Interest Rate Risk and Operational Risk have statistically significant impacts on financial performance. The only risk variable which does not derive this result is Country Risk. In addition, of those variables which proxy external factors, only GDP Growth has a statistically insignificant influence on financial performance. Credit risk exerted a negative impact on the banks’ financial performance, thus the banks must ensure they adopt appropriate measures to minimise the impact of this risk. Higher levels of capital impacted positively on the banking sector’s profitability. This paper is the first effort employing such an extensive dataset based on Barbados’ commercial banking sector and shows the main factors that influence commercial banks’ financial performance in this developing economy.

Laser performance upgrade for precise ICF experiment in SG-Ⅲ laser facility

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Wanguo Zheng

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The SG-Ⅲ laser facility (SG-Ⅲ is the largest laser driver for inertial confinement fusion (ICF researches in China, which has 48 beamlines and can deliver 180 kJ ultraviolet laser energy in 3 ns. In order to meet the requirements of precise physics experiments, some new functionalities need to be added to SG-Ⅲ and some intrinsic laser performances need upgrade. So at the end of SG-Ⅲ's engineering construction, the 2-year laser performance upgrade project started. This paper will introduce the newly added functionalities and the latest laser performance of SG-Ⅲ. With these function extensions and performance upgrade, SG-Ⅲ is now fully prepared for precise ICF experiments and solidly paves the way towards fusion ignition.

ACCOUNTING STUDENT’S LEARNING APPROACHES AND IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

OpenAIRE

Suhaiza Ismail

2009-01-01

The objective of the study is threefold. Firstly, the study explores the learning approaches adopted by students in completing their Business Finance. Secondly, it examines the impact that learning approaches has on the student’s academic performance. Finally, the study considers gender differences in the learning approaches adopted by students and in the relationship between learning approaches and academic performance. The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was used...

Impact of additive manufacturing on aircraft supply chain performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ghadge, Abhijeet; Karantoni, Georgia; Chaudhuri, Atanu

2018-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of additive manufacturing (AM) implementation on aircraft supply chain (SC) networks. Additive and conventional manufacturing spare part inventory control systems are studied and compared, revealing insights into SC performance. Design....... Originality/value – The study provides robust evidence for making critical managerial decisions on SC re-design driven by a new and disruptive technology. Next-generation SC and logistics will replace the current demand for fulfilling material products by AM machines. Keywords Performance measurement......, Simulation, Additive manufacturing, Supply chains, Aerospace industry...

Effect of video-game experience and position of flight stick controller on simulated-flight performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Bo-Keun; Aghazadeh, Fereydoun; Al-Qaisi, Saif

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of video-game experience and flight-stick position on flying performance. The study divided participants into 2 groups; center- and side-stick groups, which were further divided into high and low level of video-game experience subgroups. The experiment consisted of 7 sessions of simulated flying, and in the last session, the flight stick controller was switched to the other position. Flight performance was measured in terms of the deviation of heading, altitude, and airspeed from their respective requirements. Participants with high experience in video games performed significantly better (p increase (0.78 %). However, after switching from a center- to a side-stick controller, performance scores decreased (4.8%).

The Impact of Mobile Learning on ESP Learners' Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fahad Alkhezzi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study explores the impact of using mobile phone applications, namely Telegram Messenger, on teaching and learning English in an ESP context. The main objective is to test whether using mobile phone applications have an impact on ESP learners’ performance by mainly investigating the influence such teaching technique can have on learning vocabulary, and how this can affect the learner's’ ability to use grammar correctly and whether their writing skill is improved. The results showed that using mobile phone applications to teach a foreign language skill or subskill is fruitful and does impact learners’ comprehension of vocabulary and grammatical rules. The results specifically indicate that mobile phones can be used in many different ways to teach and learn technical and semi-technical vocabulary easily outside the classroom, however, to teach grammatical rules and writing it is recommended that certain strategies be used due to certain limitations.

The Impact of ICT on Work-Life Experiences among University Teaching Assistants

Science.gov (United States)

Osterlund, Katherine; Robson, Karen

2009-01-01

Email is now commonplace in the university environment, but little research has addressed the impact of this technology on the work-life experiences of Teaching Assistants (TAs). These workers are of interest as they are typically responsible for most day-to-day, routine interaction with undergraduates, for ensuring students understand lectures…

The impact of internationalization and diversification on construction industry performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Horta, Isabel M.; Kapelko, Magdalena; Oude Lansink, Alfons; Camanho, Ana S.

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of internationalization and diversification strategies on the financial performance of construction industry companies. The results obtained can guide the design of strategies to pursue company growth and achieve competitive advantage. The evaluation of

Addressing forecast uncertainty impact on CSP annual performance

Science.gov (United States)

Ferretti, Fabio; Hogendijk, Christopher; Aga, Vipluv; Ehrsam, Andreas

2017-06-01

This work analyzes the impact of weather forecast uncertainty on the annual performance of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant. Forecast time series has been produced by a commercial forecast provider using the technique of hindcasting for the full year 2011 in hourly resolution for Ouarzazate, Morocco. Impact of forecast uncertainty has been measured on three case studies, representing typical tariff schemes observed in recent CSP projects plus a spot market price scenario. The analysis has been carried out using an annual performance model and a standard dispatch optimization algorithm based on dynamic programming. The dispatch optimizer has been demonstrated to be a key requisite to maximize the annual revenues depending on the price scenario, harvesting the maximum potential out of the CSP plant. Forecasting uncertainty affects the revenue enhancement outcome of a dispatch optimizer depending on the error level and the price function. Results show that forecasting accuracy of direct solar irradiance (DNI) is important to make best use of an optimized dispatch but also that a higher number of calculation updates can partially compensate this uncertainty. Improvement in revenues can be significant depending on the price profile and the optimal operation strategy. Pathways to achieve better performance are presented by having more updates both by repeatedly generating new optimized trajectories but also more often updating weather forecasts. This study shows the importance of working on DNI weather forecasting for revenue enhancement as well as selecting weather services that can provide multiple updates a day and probabilistic forecast information.

High-definition television evaluation for remote handling task performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujita, Y.; Omori, E.; Hayashi, S.; Draper, J.V.; Herndon, J.N.

1986-01-01

In a plant that employs remote handling techniques for equipment maintenance, operators perform maintenance tasks primarily by using the information from television systems. The efficiency of the television system has a significant impact on remote maintenance task performance. High-definition television (HDTV) transmits a video image with more than twice the number of horizontal scan lines as standard-resolution television (1125 for HDTV to 525 for standard-resolution NTSC television). The added scan lines dramatically improve the resolution of images on the HDTV monitors. This paper describes experiments designed to evaluate the impact of HDTV on the performance of typical remote tasks. The experiments described in this paper compared the performance of four operators using HDTV with their performance while using other television systems. The experiments included four television systems: (a) high-definition color television, (b) high-definition monochromatic television, (c) standard-resolution monochromatic television, and (d) standard-resolution stereoscopic monochromatic television

Performance criteria for solidified high-level radioactive wastes. Environmental impact statement. Revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1977-09-01

This draft Environmental Impact Statement on performance criteria for solidified high-level radioactive wastes (PCSHLW) covers: considerations for PCSHLW development, the proposed rulemaking, characteristics of the PCSHLW, environmental impacts of the proposed PCSHLW, alternatives to the PCSHLW criteria, and cost/benefit/risk evaluation. Five appendices are included to support the technical data required in the Environmental Impact Statement

Assessing the performance of reinforced concrete structures under impact loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Akanshu; Reddy, G.R.; Vaze, K.K.; Ozbolt, Josko; Hofmann, J.

2011-01-01

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures housing nuclear facilities must qualify against much stringent requirements of operating and accidental loads than conventional structures. One such accidental load that must be considered while assessing the performance of safety related RC structures is impact load. It is known that the behavior of concrete/reinforced concrete structures is strongly influenced by the loading rate. The RC structural members subjected to impact loads behave quite differently as compared to the same subjected to quasi-static loading due to the strain-rate influence on strength, stiffness, and ductility as well as to the activation of inertia forces. Moreover, for concrete structures, which exhibit damage and fracture phenomena, the failure mode and cracking pattern depend significantly on loading rate. In general, there is a tendency that with the increase of loading rate the failure mode changes from mode-I to mixed mode. In order to assess the performance of existing structures against impact loads that may be generated mainly due to man-made accidental conditions, it is important to have models that can realistically predict the impact behavior of concrete structures. The present paper focuses on a relatively new approach for 3D finite element analysis of RC structures under impact loads. The approach uses rate sensitive micro-plane model as constitutive law for concrete, while the strain-rate influence is captured by the activation energy. Inertia forces are implicitly accounted for through dynamic finite element analysis. It is shown with the help of different examples that the approach can very well simulate the behavior of RC structural elements under high rate loading. (author)

Evaluation of the Impact of Outsourcing on the Performance of Lithuanian Electricity Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ligita Gasparėnienė

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at evaluation of the impact of outsourcing on the performance of Lithuanian electricity industry. Research methods include systematic analysis of the scientific literature and expert evaluation. Theoretical analysis of the literature has enabled to identify the most significant outsourcing determinants, which have the impact on the performance of electricity industry, and the main outsourcing-related risks for the companies operating in this industry. The results of the empirical research have revealed the effects of various outsourcing determinants on the performance of Lithuanian electricity industry as well as negative outcomes of outsourcing application in the researched industry.

Long Term Sorption Diffusion Experiment (LTDE-SD). Performance of main in situ experiment and results from water phase measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Widestrand, Henrik; Byegaard, Johan; Nilsson, Kersti; Hoeglund, Susanne; Gustafsson, Erik (Geosigma AB, Uppsala (Sweden)); Kronberg, Magnus (Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (Sweden))

2010-12-15

The LTDE-SD experiment, (Long Term Sorption Diffusion Experiment) aimed at increasing the scientific knowledge of sorption and diffusion under in situ conditions and to provide data for performance and safety assessment calculations. Performance and results of the in situ experiment phase are presented in the report. In total, 21 radionuclide trace elements and one stable trace element were injected, circulated and sampled for approx6.5 months in a closed borehole section. The trace elements represented non-sorbing tracers and sorbing tracers for which the sorption was dominated by a cation exchange mechanism, a surface complexation mechanism, or dependent on an electrochemical reduction in order to reach the tetravalent state (oxidation state IV) considered very strongly sorbing. The borehole section in contact with the tracer labelled groundwater consisted in part of a natural fracture surface and a borehole section in the unaltered matrix rock, devoid of natural fractures. Water samples were regularly extracted and analysed for trace element concentration and a few ion exchange speciation and filtered samplings were also conducted. Independent colloid filtering and chemical speciation calculations were performed in support the evaluation. Sorption was demonstrated for a series of elements present in the experiment. The amounts lost of the different respective tracers from the aqueous phase follow very well the general understanding of the relative sorption strength of the tracers, as inferred from e.g. batch sorption experiments and dynamic in situ tracer experiments. The chemical speciation calculations of the different tracers were in line with the results of the ion exchange speciation performed during the experiment. With the exception of UO{sub 2} 2+ carbonate complexes formed, no strong indications were obtained that aqueous complexation prevents adsorption under the chemical conditions of the experiment. The 20 nm filtered sampling indicated that

Impacts of a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience in Introductory Astronomy Using Robotic Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Dobaria, Archana S.; Coble, Kimberly A.; Alejandra, Le; Berryhill, Katie; McLin, Kevin M.; Cominsky, Lynn R.

2018-06-01

As part of a general education undergraduate astronomy course at a minority-serving university in the Midwestern US, students completed an observing project with the Global Telescope Network (GTN), where they participated in realistic practices used by professional astronomers, including proposal writing and peer review. First, students went through the process of applying for telescope time by choosing an astronomical object and writing an observing proposal. Then they performed an NSF-style review of classmates’ proposals, including written peer reviews and a review panel. After obtaining images from GTN telescopes, students presented their project and findings in front of the class.This study investigates students’ experiences and perceived impacts of participation in the project. The data analyzed includes an essay assignment [N = 59] administered over seven semesters and individual interviews [N = 8] collected over two semesters. Students were prompted to address what they liked, disliked, or would change about the project experience. These data were coded iteratively into nine categories. A Kruskal-Wallis (KW) test was used to determine that essay results from different semesters could be combined. We find that students expressed an overall strong positive affect, increased perception of self-efficacy, enjoyment of the experience of peer review, an appreciation for being able to use real scientific tools and to take on the role of astronomers, as well as a small number of dislikes such as real-world constraints on observing.

The Impacts of Type 1 Diabetes on the K-12 Educational Experience

Science.gov (United States)

McKerns-O'Donnell, Monica A.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to uncover the impacts that type 1 diabetes have on a child's or adolescent's school educational experience. The study used a phenomenological approach based upon the work of Moustakas (1994). Purposeful sampling was used to identify participants. The participant group was comprised of 10…

Impact of Knowledge Management on Employee Work Performance: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bader Alyoubi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Knowledge Management (KM has become critical in todayrs highly competitive, uncertain, and rapidly changing business environment. The objective of this study is to measure the effects of knowledge management processes (knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, knowledge creation and knowledge retention and knowledge management approaches (social networks, codification and personalization on job satisfaction and examines how they increase employeesr work performance. A theoretical model based on KM processes and approaches is proposed. It is empirically tested with structural equation modeling (SEM and partial least squares (PLS of survey data collected from employees of the King Fahd National Library in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The analysis showed that there is a significant and positive impact of KM processes and approaches on job satisfaction and work performance. Knowledge sharing, knowledge retention, codification and personalization approaches have significant impacts on job satisfaction, and knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation and a social network approach have no significant impacts on job satisfaction. Managers are advised to implement KM activities in their organizations to improve knowledge worker performance and the welfare of employees at work. This is the first study that theoretically examines the effect of knowledge management processes and knowledge management approaches on lsoftr human issues such as the job satisfaction and work performance of individual employees in an academic library.

SIMS chemical and isotopic analysis of impact features from LDEF experiments AO187-1 and AO187-2

Science.gov (United States)

Stadermann, Frank J.; Amari, Sachiko; Foote, John; Swan, Pat; Walker, Robert M.; Zinner, Ernst

1995-01-01

Previous secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) studies of extended impact features from LDEF capture cell experiment AO187-2 showed that it is possible to distinguish natural and man-made particle impacts based on the chemical composition of projectile residues. The same measurement technique has now been applied to specially prepared gold target impacts from experiment AO187-1 in order to identify the origins of projectiles that left deposits too thin to be analyzed by conventional energy-dispersive x-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The results indicate that SIMS may be the method of choice for the analysis of impact deposits on a variety of sample surfaces. SIMS was also used to determine the isotopic compositions of impact residues from several natural projectiles. Within the precision of the measurements all analyzed residues show isotopically normal compositions.

The impact of spatial concentration on enterprise performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia Borisovna Davidson

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to reveal the impact of spatial concentration of business in the Russian cities on enterprise productivity. The hypotheses are the following: urbanization level and home market potential positively affect enterprise performance; localization economies are positive and start decreasing after some point due to congestion and excessive competition; regional transport infrastructure, business climate and human capital positively affect enterprise performance. We use firm level data augmented with city and regional data. Fixed effects are applied in order to deal with endogeneity. Agglomeration economies are considered in the light of opportunities for knowledge spillovers, input sharing and labor market pooling. Our results confirm that agglomeration economies and home market potential are important for the enterprise performance. We find positive urbanization and diversity economies, while localization economies have an inverted U shape. Results can be used to improve regional policy. For instance, significance of home market potential emphasizes the importance of transport infrastructure. Significance of agglomeration effects implies that if a sufficiently large number of firms work in a city, performance of each firm improves.

A novel method for measuring health care system performance: experience from QIDS in the Philippines.

Science.gov (United States)

Solon, Orville; Woo, Kimberly; Quimbo, Stella A; Shimkhada, Riti; Florentino, Jhiedon; Peabody, John W

2009-05-01

Measuring and monitoring health system performance is important albeit controversial. Technical, logistic and financial challenges are formidable. We introduced a system of measurement, which we call Q, to measure the quality of hospital clinical performance across a range of facilities. This paper describes how Q was developed, implemented in hospitals in the Philippines and how it compares with typical measures. Q consists of measures of clinical performance, patient satisfaction and volume of physician services. We evaluate Q using experimental data from the Quality Improvement Demonstration Study (QIDS), a randomized policy experiment. We determined its responsiveness over time and to changes in structural measures such as staffing and supplies. We also examined the operational costs of implementing Q. Q was sustainable, minimally disruptive and readily grafted into existing routines in 30 hospitals in 10 provinces semi-annually for a period of 2(1/2) years. We found Q to be more responsive to immediate impacts of policy change than standard structural measures. The operational costs totalled USD2133 or USD305 per assessment per site. Q appears to be an achievable assessment tool that is a comprehensive and responsive measure of system level quality at a limited cost in resource-poor settings.

The Impact of Human Capital on Company performance Abera D

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

capital development towards accelerating the economic growth by devoting necessary ... extent does human capital create impact on firm performance? This study ... Till 2010 majority of their exports are semi-processed leather products such as pickled ...... Leather Industry Development Institute, AAU MSc thesis economics.

Size, but not experience, affects the ontogeny of constriction performance in ball pythons (Python regius).

Science.gov (United States)

Penning, David A; Dartez, Schuyler F

2016-03-01

Constriction is a prey-immobilization technique used by many snakes and is hypothesized to have been important to the evolution and diversification of snakes. However, very few studies have examined the factors that affect constriction performance. We investigated constriction performance in ball pythons (Python regius) by evaluating how peak constriction pressure is affected by snake size, sex, and experience. In one experiment, we tested the ontogenetic scaling of constriction performance and found that snake diameter was the only significant factor determining peak constriction pressure. The number of loops applied in a coil and its interaction with snake diameter did not significantly affect constriction performance. Constriction performance in ball pythons scaled differently than in other snakes that have been studied, and medium to large ball pythons are capable of exerting significantly higher pressures than those shown to cause circulatory arrest in prey. In a second experiment, we tested the effects of experience on constriction performance in hatchling ball pythons over 10 feeding events. By allowing snakes in one test group to gain constriction experience, and manually feeding snakes under sedation in another test group, we showed that experience did not affect constriction performance. During their final (10th) feedings, all pythons constricted similarly and with sufficiently high pressures to kill prey rapidly. At the end of the 10 feeding trials, snakes that were allowed to constrict were significantly smaller than their non-constricting counterparts. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Toward development of a Tophus Impact Questionnaire: a qualitative study exploring the experience of people with tophaceous gout.

Science.gov (United States)

Aati, Opetaia; Taylor, William J; Horne, Anne; Dalbeth, Nicola

2014-08-01

Although tophi are known to affect physical function, the impact of tophi on the lives of people with gout has not been explored in detail. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the experience of people living with tophaceous gout, as the first step to developing a patient-reported Tophus Impact Questionnaire. Twenty-five people with tophaceous gout (22 men; median age, 66 years; median gout disease duration, 26 years) participated in semistructured interviews that explored their experiences and perceptions of tophi. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were analyzed and coded to identify themes using content analysis. Three major interrelated themes arose from the interviews. The first theme was functional impact affecting body structures and functions (causing pain, restricted joint range of motion and deformity, and complications), and causing activity limitation and participation restriction (affecting day-to-day activities, leisure activities, employment participation, and family participation). The second theme was psychological impact including low self-esteem, embarrassment, resignation, but also optimism. The third theme was the lack of impact in some participants. Gouty tophi can have an important impact on many aspects of the patient's life. In addition to the impact of tophi on physical function, tophi may also influence social and psychological functioning. Capturing these aspects of the patient experience will be important in the development of a patient-reported outcome measure of tophus burden.

Impact of surgical experience on management and outcome of pancreatic surgery performed in high- and low-volume centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Stella, Marco; Bissolati, Massimiliano; Gentile, Daniele; Arriciati, Alessandro

2017-09-01

Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is one of the procedures in general surgery with the highest rate of life-threatening complications. The positive impact of the volume-outcome ratio on outcomes and mortality in pancreatic surgery (PS) has led to policy-level efforts toward centralization of care for PS that is currently under evaluation by some Regional Health Services. The role of the surgeon's experience and training is still under debate. The aim of this paper is to compare the outcomes of PS by the same surgeon in a high volume (HV) and in a low volume (LV) hospital to assess whether a specific training in PS could outdo the benefits of hospital volume. 124 pancreatic resections (98 PD) were conducted by a single surgeon from 2004 to 2014 in two different Italian hospitals with different PS volumes as well as in general surgical activities. The results were retrospectively analyzed. All data regarding demographics, oncological characteristics, surgical parameters and post-operative outcomes were compared between patients operated on in the HV (group A) and LV hospital (group B). The surgical experience in the LV hospital has been then divided into a first period (group B1) and in a second period (group B2). χ 2 test or Fisher's exact test (when variables were dichotomous) was used. The unpaired t test was used to compare continuous data between the two groups. Values are expressed as n. of cases (percent) for categorical data or as mean (standard deviation) for continuous data. A p value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. From 2004 to 2014, 124 patients underwent pancreatic resection by the same surgeon: 69 in an HV hospital (group A) and 55 in an LV hospital (group B). We focused our attention on PD outcomes, 54 in group A and 44 in group B (22 in group B1 and 22 in group B2, accordingly to the aforementioned criteria). A higher incidence of ASA 3 patients, although not statistically significant, was found in group B than in group A (34 vs. 18%; p

Dynamic Performance Assessment of Side Facing Troop Seats During Impact

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-30

piston in a closed cylinder. The impact acceleration occurs at the beginning of the experiment as stored high-pressure air is allowed to impinge the...surface of the thrust piston , thus propelling the sled. As the sled breaks contact with the thrust piston , the sled coasts to a stop or 5...determined height to provide the required acceleration and velocity profile and then dropped. On the HIA the cylinder was pumped up to pre-determined

Child-Oral impacts on daily performances: A socio dental approach to assess prevalence and severity of oral impacts on daily performances in South Indian school children of Bangalore city: A cross-sectional survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neha Agrawal

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Oral disorders can have a negative impact on the functional, social and psychological well-being of children and their families. Oral health and dental treatment may have an impact on eating, speaking and appearance, thereby affecting quality of life. Thus, there has been a greater focus on the measurement of quality of life as a complement to the clinical measures. Objective: The aim was to assess the prevalence, characteristics and severity of oral impacts in south Indian school children using Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (Child-OIDP index as a measure of oral health related quality of life. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among the six government, and six private school children aged 11-12 years, of Karnataka, South India randomly selected as cluster, and all their 563 children were invited to participate. A cross culturally adapted and validated oral health-related quality of life measure; Child-OIDP was used to assess oral impacts. Results: The common perceived oral health problems were tooth ache reported by 342 children, a sensitive tooth reported by 230 children, tooth decay - hole in the tooth reported by 226 children. Eating was the most common performance affected (68.3%. The severity of impacts was high for eating and cleaning mouth and low for the study and social contact performances. Conclusion: The study reveals that oral health impacts on quality of life of school children of Karnataka aged 11-12 years. Oral impacts were prevalent, but not severe. The impacts mainly related to difficulty eating. Toothache, a sensitive tooth, tooth decay and bleeding gums contributed largely to the incidence of oral impacts.

Thought Experiment to Examine Benchmark Performance for Fusion Nuclear Data

Science.gov (United States)

Murata, Isao; Ohta, Masayuki; Kusaka, Sachie; Sato, Fuminobu; Miyamaru, Hiroyuki

2017-09-01

There are many benchmark experiments carried out so far with DT neutrons especially aiming at fusion reactor development. These integral experiments seemed vaguely to validate the nuclear data below 14 MeV. However, no precise studies exist now. The author's group thus started to examine how well benchmark experiments with DT neutrons can play a benchmarking role for energies below 14 MeV. Recently, as a next phase, to generalize the above discussion, the energy range was expanded to the entire region. In this study, thought experiments with finer energy bins have thus been conducted to discuss how to generally estimate performance of benchmark experiments. As a result of thought experiments with a point detector, the sensitivity for a discrepancy appearing in the benchmark analysis is "equally" due not only to contribution directly conveyed to the deterctor, but also due to indirect contribution of neutrons (named (A)) making neutrons conveying the contribution, indirect controbution of neutrons (B) making the neutrons (A) and so on. From this concept, it would become clear from a sensitivity analysis in advance how well and which energy nuclear data could be benchmarked with a benchmark experiment.

Thought Experiment to Examine Benchmark Performance for Fusion Nuclear Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murata Isao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available There are many benchmark experiments carried out so far with DT neutrons especially aiming at fusion reactor development. These integral experiments seemed vaguely to validate the nuclear data below 14 MeV. However, no precise studies exist now. The author’s group thus started to examine how well benchmark experiments with DT neutrons can play a benchmarking role for energies below 14 MeV. Recently, as a next phase, to generalize the above discussion, the energy range was expanded to the entire region. In this study, thought experiments with finer energy bins have thus been conducted to discuss how to generally estimate performance of benchmark experiments. As a result of thought experiments with a point detector, the sensitivity for a discrepancy appearing in the benchmark analysis is “equally” due not only to contribution directly conveyed to the deterctor, but also due to indirect contribution of neutrons (named (A making neutrons conveying the contribution, indirect controbution of neutrons (B making the neutrons (A and so on. From this concept, it would become clear from a sensitivity analysis in advance how well and which energy nuclear data could be benchmarked with a benchmark experiment.

Impact of Gatorade Beverage on Elite Female Badminton Players’ Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sepideh Mehraein

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Sports beverages assumed as one the principle factor on players' performance, and impact on their indicators, noticeably. Gatorade beverage is one of this primary beverages that in present study focused on its impact on elite female badminton players' performance in Iran. In the present survey has been considered in 2 groups of Gatorade and control that included 79 participants. The data has been got based on 24 hours’ recall questionnaire on three different days in every week. As well, skin folds’ brachial triceps index was applied for body fat percent assessment. To quantity VO2max, Shuttle runs sub-maximal test was used. Also, for controlling fluid intake in every two groups based on players’ body weight,150 ml per every 70 kg weight for every 15 minutes was recommended. Besides, for control of blood volume changes related to plasma blood glucose, hematocrit, hemoglobin, sodium, and potassium was measured during three time periods of zero, 30 minutes after the start and 90 minutes after the start. To end, to measure performance, standardized tests measure the indicators: aerobic power, speed, flexibilityy, agility, muscular strength, and endurance were used. The results showed that supply adequate water and fluids in during of sport, play a critical role in gaining the high level of female badminton players’ performance. In truth, the players who supply enough water shown better performance as compared with those who provide Gatorade beverage.

Liner Stability Experiments at Pegasus: Diagnostics and Experimental Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, D.A.; Morgan, D.V.; Rodriguez, G.

1998-01-01

A series of experiments to compare imploding liner performance with magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) modeling has been performed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Pegasus II pulse power machine. Liner instability growth originating from initial perturbations machined into the liner has been observed with high resolution. Three major diagnostics were used: radiography, Velocity Interferometer for a Surface of Any Reflector (VISAR), and fiber optic impact pins. For radiography, three flash x-ray units were mounted radially to observe liner shape at three different times during the implosion. Liner velocity was measured continuously with the VISAR for the entire distance traveled in two experiments. Optical impact pins provide a high-resolution measure of liner symmetry and shape near the end of travel. Liner performance has compared well with predictions

Masticatory performance and chewing experience with implant-retained mandibular overdentures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geertman, ME; Slagter, AP; van't Hof, MA; van Waas, MAJ; Kalk, W

The relationship between masticatory performance and chewing experience has not yet been explored for patients with implant-retained overdentures. Although many relationships have been found between parameters of objective and subjective oral function, the structure of these relationships remain

Utility experience using THERMAC for plant thermal performance analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, P.K.; Doran, K.J.

1993-01-01

THERMAC is a state-of-the-art software package designed to assist those responsible for monitoring and evaluating the thermal performance of fossil and nuclear power plants. It is an integrated program, available on PCs and selected workstations, that combines strong analytical capabilities with a graphical user interface and object-oriented database. The software accurately analyses all of the components of a power plant from first principles. The graphical user interface is employed to build plant specific models; it can also be used to create custom screen displays. THERMAC is able to read plant measurements and statistically account for any missing or erroneous plant data; it does not require any additional plant instrumentation. THERMAC can be used to archive historical data, generate customized trending plots and periodic performance reports. open-quotes What-if close-quote studies can be conducted to predict the impact of corrective actions on thermal performance

Performance assessment experience at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, D.W.

1994-01-01

The development of a performance assessment (PA) for low-level radioactive waste disposal operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was initiated in 1989 and is continuing. A draft PA was prepared in September 1990 and submitted to the DOE Peer Review Panel for review and comment. Recommendations were received that formed the basis for a revised PA that was completed in December 1993. The review of the revised PA is continuing. This paper reviews the experience gained in the preparation of the PA including the technical difficulties associated with performance assessment in Oak Ridge and an overview of the methods used in the PA. Changes in waste operations that resulted from the findings in the PA include improved waste acceptance criteria, waste certification, and waste management practices. The discussion includes issues that relate to the application of current performance objectives to older disposal facilities, which are being addressed as part of the CERCLA process

The Impact of Customer Experience Toward Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty of Ciputra World Surabaya

OpenAIRE

Chandra, Silvana

2014-01-01

Ciputra World Surabaya is facing a tense competition, especially with the upcoming new shopping malls. Author believes that customer satisfaction and loyalty is the ultimate solutions to maintain the visitors traffic, which can be achieved by encouraging customer experience. The research succeeds to gather 142 respondents using simple random sampling method. Thus, by applying the Path Analysis with Regression, it is able to prove that customer experience has significant impact towa...

Performance-based pay is fair, particularly when I perform better : Differential fairness perceptions of allocators and recipients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Yperen, N.W.; Van den Bos, K.P.; de Graaff, D.

2005-01-01

We examined in two experiments the impact of the roles that people enact (allocator or recipient) and performance attributions (talent or effort) on fairness perceptions of pay systems (performance-based pay or job-based pay). To test the relative effects of the roles that people enact, in the

Setting a New Research Agenda: Professional Migration Experiences and Their Impact on Family Well-Being

Science.gov (United States)

Dunlop, Ted

2011-01-01

In this article, the author talks about the growing pattern of migration experiences for professional people and the impact these have on the well-being of the family as a whole and individual family members who reside outside their home countries for prescribed periods of time. It is easy to argue that the experiences of such families are far…

Analysis of the GCFR pin streaming experiment performed at the TSF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slater, C.O.; Bartine, D.E.

1976-01-01

An experiment is described which was performed to provide benchmark data to test GCFR fuel pin streaming calculations. The experiment, performed at the Tower Shielding Facility, consisted of 902 UO 2 fuel pins arranged on a triangular pitch with a void fraction comparable to that of the GCFR. A spectrum modifier consisting of a spectrum modifier was used to provide a spectrum similar to that of a fast reactor. Spectral measurements tended to show a strong streaming effect with the total flux showing a sharp drop over small angular traverses from the centerline. Two-dimensional calculations employing both homogeneous and heterogeneous models were used to calculate neutron spectra. Data are presented and compared

The effects of video game experience and active stereoscopy on performance in combat identification tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Keebler, Joseph R; Jentsch, Florian; Schuster, David

2014-12-01

We investigated the effects of active stereoscopic simulation-based training and individual differences in video game experience on multiple indices of combat identification (CID) performance. Fratricide is a major problem in combat operations involving military vehicles. In this research, we aimed to evaluate the effects of training on CID performance in order to reduce fratricide errors. Individuals were trained on 12 combat vehicles in a simulation, which were presented via either a non-stereoscopic or active stereoscopic display using NVIDIA's GeForce shutter glass technology. Self-report was used to assess video game experience, leading to four between-subjects groups: high video game experience with stereoscopy, low video game experience with stereoscopy, high video game experience without stereoscopy, and low video game experience without stereoscopy. We then tested participants on their memory of each vehicle's alliance and name across multiple measures, including photographs and videos. There was a main effect for both video game experience and stereoscopy across many of the dependent measures. Further, we found interactions between video game experience and stereoscopic training, such that those individuals with high video game experience in the non-stereoscopic group had the highest performance outcomes in the sample on multiple dependent measures. This study suggests that individual differences in video game experience may be predictive of enhanced performance in CID tasks. Selection based on video game experience in CID tasks may be a useful strategy for future military training. Future research should investigate the generalizability of these effects, such as identification through unmanned vehicle sensors.

Minimal Impact of Organic Chemistry Prerequisite on Student Performance in Introductory Biochemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Robin; Cotner, Sehoya; Winkel, Amy

2009-01-01

Curriculum design assumes that successful completion of prerequisite courses will have a positive impact on student performance in courses that require the prerequisite. We recently had the opportunity to test this assumption concerning the relationship between completion of the organic chemistry prerequisite and performance in introductory…

BASEL III IMPACT ON ROMANIAN BANKING SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana G. NEDELCU (BUNEA

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In the context of economic and financial crisis triggered in EU by autumn 2008, Romania's banking system like that in the other European countries, faced with the consequences of decreasing the standard of living the worsening of purchasing power (in terms of retail and with gaps and Delay occurred in the payment of corporate clients. However the deteriorating the quality of bank investments, increasing non-performing loans in bank portfolios totate ultimately causing the accumulation of excessive risks that banks were exposed. On the background of the crisis, the impact of Basel III is not only a financial regulation that is applicable to the banking industry and will fundamentally determine the profitability of the banking system. Through this study, we propose a series of measures applicable to the credit institutions to mitigate the impact of alignment with the new capital requirements.

MOX and UOX PWR fuel performances EDF operating experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Provost, Jean-Luc; Debes, Michel

2005-01-01

Based on a large program of experimentations implemented during the 90s, the industrial achievement of new FAs designs with increased performances opens up new prospects. The currently UOX fuels used on the 58 EDF PWR units are now authorized up to a maximum FA burn-up of 52 GWd/t with a large experience from 45 to 50 GWd/t. Today, the new products, along with the progress made in the field of calculation methods, still enable to increase further the fuel performances with respect to the safety margins. Thus, the conditions are met to implement in the next years new fuel managements on each NPPs series of the EDF fleet with increased enrichment (up to 4.5%) and irradiation limits (up to 62 GWd/t). The recycling of plutonium is part of EDF's reprocessing/recycling strategy. Up to now, 20 PWR 900 MW reactors are managed in MOX hybrid management. The feedback experience of 18 years of PWR operation with MOX is satisfactory, without any specific problem regarding manoeuvrability or plant availability. EDF is now looking to introduce MOX fuels with a higher plutonium content (up to 8.6%) equivalent to natural uranium enriched to 3.7%. It is the goal of the MOX Parity core management which achieve balance of MOX and UOX fuel performance with a significant increase of the MOX average discharge burn-up (BU max: 52 GWd/t for MOX and UOX). The industrial maturity of new FAs designs, with increased performances, allows the implementation in the next years of new fuel managements on each NPPs series of the EDF fleet. The scheduling of the implementation of the new fuel managements on the PWRs fleet is a great challenge for EDF, with important stakes: the nuclear KWh cost decrease with the improvement of the plant operation performance. (author)

The Relationship between Cultural Values and Learning Preference: The Impact of Acculturation Experiences upon East Asians

Science.gov (United States)

Chuang, Szu-Fang

2012-01-01

Globalization and technology advancement are creating more biculturalism at workplaces and learning settings. However, little is known about acculturation experience and its influence on a person's cultural values and learning preference. The research reported in this study investigates the impact of acculturation experiences upon the relationship…

Impact of aging and material structure on CANDU plant performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nadeau, E.; Ballyk, J.; Ghalavand, N. [Candu Energy Inc., Mississauga, Ontario (Canada)

2011-07-01

In-service behaviour of pressure tubes is a key factor in the assessment of safety margins during plant operation. Pressure tube deformation (diametral expansion) affects fuel bundle dry out characteristics resulting in reduced margin to trip for some events. Pressure tube aging mechanisms also erode design margins on fuel channels or interfacing reactor components. The degradation mechanisms of interest are primarily deformation, loss of fracture resistance and hydrogen ingress. CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium, a registered trademark of the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited used under exclusive licence by Candu Energy Inc.) owners and operators need to maximize plant capacity factor and meet or exceed the reactor design life targets while maintaining safety margins. The degradation of pressure tube material and geometry are characterized through a program of inspection, material surveillance and assessment and need to be managed to optimize plant performance. Candu is improving pressure tubes installed in new build and life extension projects. Improvements include changes designed to reduce or mitigate the impact of pressure tube elongation and diametral expansion rates, improvement of pressure tube fracture properties, and reduction of the implications of hydrogen ingress. In addition, Candu provides an extensive array of engineering services designed to assess the condition of pressure tubes and address the impact of pressure tube degradation on safety margins and plant performance. These services include periodic and in-service inspection and material surveillance of pressure tubes and deterministic and probabilistic assessment of pressure tube fitness for service to applicable standards. Activities designed to mitigate the impact of pressure tube deformation on safety margins include steam generator cleaning, which improves trip margins, and trip design assessment to optimize reactor trip set points restoring safety and operating margins. This paper provides an

Impact of the internet on academic performance of students in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This research work investigates the impact of the internet on the academic performance of students in some selected tertiary institutions in Nigeria. A survey research design was adopted in conducting this research. Questionnaire was the instrument employed for data collection. Frequency count and simple percentage was ...

Evaluating the use of key performance indicators to evidence the patient experience.

Science.gov (United States)

McCance, Tanya; Hastings, Jack; Dowler, Hilda

2015-11-01

To test eight person-centred key performance indicators and the feasibility of an appropriate measurement framework as an approach to evidencing the patient experience. The value of measuring the quality of patient care is undisputed in the international literature, however, the type of measures that can be used to generate data that is meaningful for practice continues to be debated. This paper offers a different perspective to the 'measurement' of the nursing and midwifery contribution to the patient experience. Fourth generation evaluation was the methodological approach used to evaluate the implementation of the key performance indicators and measurement framework across three participating organisations involving nine practice settings. Data were collected by repeated use of claims, concerns and issues with staff working across nine participating sites (n = 18) and the senior executives from the three partner organisations (n = 12). Data were collected during the facilitated sessions with stakeholders and analysed in conjunction with the data generated from the measurement framework. The data reveal the inherent value placed on the evidence generated from the implementation of the key performance indicators as reflected in the following themes: measuring what matters; evidencing the patient experience; engaging staff; a focus for improving practice; and articulating and demonstrating the positive contribution of nursing and midwifery. The implementation of the key performance indicators and the measurement framework has been effective in generating evidence that demonstrates the patient experience. The nature of the data generated not only privileges the patient voice but also offers feedback to nurses and midwives that can inform the development of person-centred cultures. The use of these indicators will produce evidence of patient experience that can be used by nurse and midwives to celebrate and further inform person-centred practice. © 2015 John

Evaluating the Impact of Communication Network Performance on Supervisory Supermarket Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Jacob Theilgaard; Minko, Tomasz; Madsen, Tatiana Kozlova

2017-01-01

This paper addresses the evaluation of the impact of non-ideal communication networks on system performance of hierarchical control systems. It develops a stepwise evaluation approach that is applied to the example scenario of a supervisory controller for supermarket temperature control, addressing...... of communication network performance on the supermarket refrigeration control and resulting energy costs using simulation models. The results show that the controller is resilient to downstream information delays, however upstream delays or up- and downstream information loss can cause significant performance...

Premenstrual syndrome and perception of impact on sport performance from brazilian indoor soccer athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrícia Aparecida Gaion

2009-01-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2009v11n1p73   This study’s objective was to verify the association between Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS and perceived impact on sport performance from Brazilian indoor soccer athletes. A total of 112 athletes were enrolled, with ages varying from 18 to 31years old, and who participated in the Brazilian Clubs Cup in 2007. The instruments used were: a self-reported sheet based on criteria from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist (2000 for the diagnosis of PMS and a sport performance impact perception sheet, organized in a Likert scale with values ranging from 0 (“not affected” to 3 (“extremely affected”. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test, Pearson’s chi-square and Poisson regression with robust variance. The prevalence of PMS was 47.32% and the perceived impact on sport performance for those with PMSwas RP 1.71 (95%CI 1.23 to 2.38. The symptoms associated with sport performance impact were depression, irritability, breast tenderness, difficulty concentrating, back pain and tiredness. The intensity with which the athletes with PMS feel their performance affected during the premenstrual phase was significant in the “lowly affected “(RP 2.1 95%CI 1.26 to 3.55 and “extremely affected” (RP 3.5 95%CI 2.23 to 5.62 categories. Athletes with 6 to 9 symptoms presented higher risk (RP 3.20 95%CI 1.53 to 6.71 than athletes with 4 to 5 symptoms (RP 2.82 95%CI 1.32 to 6.05 or with 2 to 3 symptoms (RP 2.57 95%CI 1.25 to 5.30. In conclusion, the presence of PMS, the number and the kind of symptoms all exhibited associations with the sport performance impact perceived by Brazilian indoor soccer athletes.

The impact of teaching experience on interview performance of different candidates of basic medical sciences in PhD admission.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehridehnavi, Alireza

2015-01-01

Admission includes written and interview at universities belonging to the ministry of the health and medical education of Iran at PhD level. In the present work, it was tried to find out the likelihood of interview performance of different candidates with their teaching experience in Iranian national medical PhD admission in the year 1386-87. In this study, applicants' exam results were extracted from their score workbooks for year 86-87. PhD applicants' categories were public (ordinary) and employed lecturers. Invited numbers of candidates for interview were 556 from 29 different fields of study. As the number of written subjects were not the same within different fields of study, at the first, each group score distribution were normalized to one and then combined together for final consideration. Accept and reject percentage within public applicants were 45.1 and 54.9, respectively, while the accept percentage within lecturer applicants was 66 and the reject was 34 respectively. Scores of all 29 groups were combined after normalization. The overall performance including test plus interview for public and lecturers were 1.02 ± 0.12 and 0.95 ± 0.1, respectively. The average and standard deviation of test exam of public and lecturer were 1.04 ± 0.16 and 0.91 ± 0.12, respectively. The average and standard deviation of interview exam of public applicants and lecturers applicants were 0.98 ± 0.18 and 1.04 ± 0.17, respectively. As results show, the interview performance of lecturers is better than public applicants. Unbalanced acceptance rate amongst lecturers was increased due to the hold of reservation toward interview and due to their higher results gain during interview. If the test performance was a reliable measure for viability of applicant, this reservation would change the acceptance rate close to balance.

Pedestrian headform testing: inferring performance at impact speeds and for headform masses not tested, and estimating average performance in a range of real-world conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchinson, T Paul; Anderson, Robert W G; Searson, Daniel J

2012-01-01

Tests are routinely conducted where instrumented headforms are projected at the fronts of cars to assess pedestrian safety. Better information would be obtained by accounting for performance over the range of expected impact conditions in the field. Moreover, methods will be required to integrate the assessment of secondary safety performance with primary safety systems that reduce the speeds of impacts. Thus, we discuss how to estimate performance over a range of impact conditions from performance in one test and how this information can be combined with information on the probability of different impact speeds to provide a balanced assessment of pedestrian safety. Theoretical consideration is given to 2 distinct aspects to impact safety performance: the test impact severity (measured by the head injury criterion, HIC) at a speed at which a structure does not bottom out and the speed at which bottoming out occurs. Further considerations are given to an injury risk function, the distribution of impact speeds likely in the field, and the effect of primary safety systems on impact speeds. These are used to calculate curves that estimate injuriousness for combinations of test HIC, bottoming out speed, and alternative distributions of impact speeds. The injuriousness of a structure that may be struck by the head of a pedestrian depends not only on the result of the impact test but also the bottoming out speed and the distribution of impact speeds. Example calculations indicate that the relationship between the test HIC and injuriousness extends over a larger range than is presently used by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), that bottoming out at speeds only slightly higher than the test speed can significantly increase the injuriousness of an impact location and that effective primary safety systems that reduce impact speeds significantly modify the relationship between the test HIC and injuriousness. Present testing regimes do not take fully into

Examining the impact of business process orientation on organizational performance: the case of Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ljubica Milanović Glavan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The competitive global market of the new millennium has raised awareness of business processes as the most important management paradigm. Extensive literature on business process management suggests that organizations can enhance their overall performance by adopting a process view of business. However, empirical research in this field is lacking. The aim of this paper is to examine the how business process orientation (BPO impacts financially and non-financially organizational performance (OP using empirical data from Croatian companies. A questionnaire survey was conducted on a sample of 127 companies in Croatia and propositions were tested using a structural equation model. The results suggest that the BPO practice relates positively to non-financial performance. In addition, the impact of non-financial performance on financial performance has been verified as well. This effect on financial performance is indirectly caused by non-financial factors suggesting that companies should view performance in such terms as well. The paper is valuable for academics and practitioners because the impact of BPO on OP is confirmed. An improved understanding and the clearly demonstrated financial and non-financial benefits of implementing and practicing BPO opens up a wider application of such systems in everyday business, which will eventually lead to their refinement and further development.

Simulator experiments: effects of experience of senior reactor operators and of presence of a shift technical advisor on performance in a boiling water reactor control room

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beare, A.N.; Dorris, R.E.; Gray, L.H.

1984-12-01

This report describes the first experiment in a Nuclear Regulatory Commission-sponsored program of training simulator experiments and field data collection to evaluate the effects of selected performance shaping factors on the performance of nuclear power plant control room operators. The factors investigated were the experience level of the Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) and the presence of a Shift Technical Advisor (STA). Data were collected from 16 two-man crews of licensed operators (one SRO and one RO). The crews were split into high and low SRO-experience groups on the basis of the years of experience of the SROs as SROs. One half (4 of the 8 crews in each group) of the high- and low-SRO experience groups were assisted by an STA or an SRO acting as an STA. The crews responded to four simulated plant casualties which ranged in severity from an uncomplicated turbine trip to an anticipated transient without scram (ATWS). No significant differences in overall performance were found between groups led by high (25 to 114 months licensed as an SRO) and low (1 to 17 months as an SRO) experience SROs. However, crews led by low experience SROs tended to have shorter task performance times than crews led by high experience SROs. Although a tendency for the STA-assisted groups to score higher on four of the five measures was observed, the presence of the STA had no statistically significant effect on overall team performance. The correlation between individual performance, as measured by four of the task performance measures, and experience, measured by months as a licensed operator, was not statistically significant, nor was the correlation between task performance and recency of simulator training. 18 references, 5 figures, 13 tables

Impact of Interfacial Water Transport in PEMFCs on Cell Performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotaka, Toshikazu; Tabuchi, Yuichiro; Pasaogullari, Ugur; Wang, Chao-Yang

2014-01-01

Coupled cell performance evaluation, liquid water visualization by neutron radiography (NRG) and numerical modeling based on multiphase mixture (M2) model were performed with three types of GDMs: Micro Porous Layer (MPL) free; Carbon Paper (CP) with MPL; and CP free to investigate interfacial liquid water transport phenomena in PEMFCs and its effect on cell performance. The visualized results of MPL free GDM with different wettability of bi-polar plates (BPPs) showed hydrophilic BPP improved liquid water transport at the interface between CP and channel. Numerical modeling results indicated that this difference with BPP wettability was caused by the liquid water coverage difference on CP surface. Thus, controlling liquid water coverage is the one of the key strategies for improving cell performance. Additionally, liquid water distributions across the cell for three types of GDMs were compared and significant difference in liquid water content at the interface between Catalyst Layer (CL) and GDM was observed. Numerical modeling suggests this difference is influenced by the gap at the interface and that the MPL could minimize this effect. The CP free cell (i.e. only MPL) showed the best performance and the lowest liquid water content. There were multiple impacts of interfacial liquid water transport both at CL-GDM and GDM-channel interfaces. High hydrophobicity and fine structure of MPLs contributed to enhanced liquid water transport at GDM-channel interface and as a result reduced the liquid water coverage. At the same time, MPL improves contact at the CL-GDM interface in the same manner as seen in CP with MPL case. Thus, the CP free concept showed the best performance. It is suggested that the design of the interface between each component of the PEMFC has a great impact on cell performance and plays a significant role in achievement of high current density operation and cost reduction in FCEVs

Impact of error management culture on knowledge performance in professional service firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tabea Scheel

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Knowledge is the most crucial resource of the 21st century. For professional service firms (PSFs, knowledge represents the input as well as the output, and thus the fundamental base for performance. As every organization, PSFs have to deal with errors – and how they do that indicates their error culture. Considering the positive potential of errors (e.g., innovation, error management culture is positively related to organizational performance. This longitudinal quantitative study investigates the impact of error management culture on knowledge performance in four waves. The study was conducted in 131 PSFs, i.e. tax accounting offices. As a standard quality management system (QMS was assumed to moderate the relationship between error management culture and knowledge performance, offices' ISO 9000 certification was assessed. Error management culture correlated positively with knowledge performance at a significant level and predicted knowledge performance one year later. While the ISO 9000 certification correlated positively with knowledge performance, its assumed moderation of the relationship between error management culture and knowledge performance was not consistent. The process-oriented QMS seems to function as facilitator for the more behavior-oriented error management culture. However, the benefit of ISO 9000 certification for tax accounting remains to be proven. Given the impact of error management culture on knowledge performance, PSFs should focus on actively promoting positive attitudes towards errors.

Does IS/IT Investments Impact on Firm Financial Performance: “Stakeholder” versus “Shareholder” Orientation

OpenAIRE

Guerreiro, António

2015-01-01

This research project addresses a central question in the IS business value field: Does IS/IT investments impact positively on firm financial performance? IS/IT investments are seen has having an enormous potential impact on the competitive position of the firm, on its performance, and demand an active and motivated participation of several stakeholder groups. Actual research conducted in the Information Systems field, relating IS/IT investments with firm performance use transactions costs...

Overview of large scale experiments performed within the LBB project in the Czech Republic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kadecka, P.; Lauerova, D. [Nuclear Research Institute, Rez (Czechoslovakia)

1997-04-01

During several recent years NRI Rez has been performing the LBB analyses of safety significant primary circuit pipings of NPPs in Czech and Slovak Republics. The analyses covered the NPPs with reactors WWER 440 Type 230 and 213 and WWER 1000 Type 320. Within the relevant LBB projects undertaken with the aim to prove the fulfilling of the requirements of LBB, a series of large scale experiments were performed. The goal of these experiments was to verify the properties of the components selected, and to prove the quality and/or conservatism of assessments used in the LBB-analyses. In this poster, a brief overview of experiments performed in Czech Republic under guidance of NRI Rez is presented.

Performance Analysis of a Liquid Metal Heat Pipe Space Shuttle Experiment

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Dickinson, Timothy

1996-01-01

.... The objectives of the experiment were characterization of the frozen startup and restart transients, comparison of flight and ground test data to establish a performance baseline for analytical model...

Job satisfaction and job performance – impacts on human capital

OpenAIRE

Gotvassli, Kjell-Åge; Haugset, Anne Sigrid

2010-01-01

Within macroeconomics it is a well established point of view that investments in human capital is important for the economic growth of a region. In this paper we will look at the connection between job satisfaction and job performance and its impact on the “use” of human capital.

The Impact of Nature Experience on Willingness to Support Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Zaradic, Patricia A.; Pergams, Oliver R. W.; Kareiva, Peter

2009-01-01

We hypothesized that willingness to financially support conservation depends on one's experience with nature. In order to test this hypothesis, we used a novel time-lagged correlation analysis to look at times series data concerning nature participation, and evaluate its relationship with future conservation support (measured as contributions to conservation NGOs). Our results suggest that the type and timing of nature experience may determine future conservation investment. Time spent hiking or backpacking is correlated with increased conservation contributions 11–12 years later. On the other hand, contributions are negatively correlated with past time spent on activities such as public lands visitation or fishing. Our results suggest that each hiker or backpacker translates to $200–$300 annually in future NGO contributions. We project that the recent decline in popularity of hiking and backpacking will negatively impact conservation NGO contributions from approximately 2010–2011 through at least 2018. PMID:19809511

Effects of memory rehearsal on driver performance: experiment and theoretical account.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvucci, Dario D; Beltowska, Joanna

2008-10-01

We report an experiment and a theoretical analysis concerning the effects of an exclusively cognitive task, specifically a memory rehearsal task, on driver performance. Although recent work on driver distraction has elucidated the sometimes significant effects of cognitive processing on driver performance, these studies have typically mixed cognitive with perceptual and motor processing, making it difficult to isolate the effects of cognitive processing alone. We asked participants to drive in a driving simulator during only the rehearsal stage of a serial-recall memory task while we measured their ability to maintain a central lane position and respond to the illumination of a lead vehicle's brake lights. Memory rehearsal significantly affected drivers' steering performance as measured by lateral deviation from lane center, and it also significantly affected drivers' response time to the braking stimulus for the higher load memory task. These results lend support to a theoretical account of cognitive distraction provided by threaded cognition theory in terms of a cognitive bottleneck in procedural processing, and they also suggest that consideration of task urgency may be important in accounting for performance trade-offs among concurrent tasks. The experiment augments the current understanding of cognitive driver distraction and suggests that even exclusively cognitive secondary tasks may sometimes affect driver performance.

Experience with breast cancer, pre-screening perceived susceptibility and the psychological impact of screening

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Absetz, Pilvikki; Aro, Arja R; Sutton, Stephen R

2003-01-01

responded to the follow-ups. Psychological impact was measured as anxiety (STAI-S), depression (BDI), health-related concerns (IAS), and breast cancer-specific beliefs and concerns. Data was analyzed with repeated measures analyses of variance, with estimates of effect size based on Eta-squared. Women......This prospective study examined whether the psychological impact of organized mammography screening is influenced by women's pre-existing experience with breast cancer and perceived susceptibility (PS) to the disease. From a target population of 16,886, a random sample of women with a normal...... with breast cancer experience had higher risk perception already before screening invitation; after screening they were also more distressed. Women with high PS were more distressed than women with low PS also at pre-invitation. The distress was not alleviated by screening, but instead remained even after...

Performance Evaluation of Pressure Transducers for Water Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Vassilakos, Gregory J.; Stegall, David E.; Treadway, Sean

2012-01-01

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle is being designed for water landings. In order to benchmark the ability of engineering tools to predict water landing loads, test programs are underway for scale model and full-scale water impacts. These test programs are predicated on the reliable measurement of impact pressure histories. Tests have been performed with a variety of pressure transducers from various manufacturers. Both piezoelectric and piezoresistive devices have been tested. Effects such as thermal shock, pinching of the transducer head, and flushness of the transducer mounting have been studied. Data acquisition issues such as sampling rate and anti-aliasing filtering also have been studied. The response of pressure transducers have been compared side-by-side on an impulse test rig and on a 20-inch diameter hemisphere dropped into a pool of water. The results have identified a range of viable configurations for pressure measurement dependent on the objectives of the test program.

Individual differences in object permanence performance at 8 months: locomotor experience and brain electrical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, M A; Fox, N A

1997-12-01

This work was designed to investigate individual differences in hands-and-knees crawling and frontal brain electrical activity with respect to object permanence performance in 76 eight-month-old infants. Four groups of infants (one prelocomotor and 3 with varying lengths of hands-and-knees crawling experience) were tested on an object permanence scale in a research design similar to that used by Kermoian and Campos (1988). In addition, baseline EEG was recorded and used as an indicator of brain development, as in the Bell and Fox (1992) longitudinal study. Individual differences in frontal and occipital EEG power and in locomotor experience were associated with performance on the object permanence task. Infants successful at A-not-B exhibited greater frontal EEG power and greater occipital EEG power than unsuccessful infants. In contrast to Kermoian and Campos (1988), who noted that long-term crawling experience was associated with higher performance on an object permanence scale, infants in this study with any amount of hands and knees crawling experience performed at a higher level on the object permanence scale than prelocomotor infants. There was no interaction among brain electrical activity, locomotor experience, and object permanence performance. These data highlight the value of electrophysiological research and the need for a brain-behavior model of object permanence performance that incorporates both electrophysiological and behavioral factors.

Estimating the Impact of Private Tutoring on Academic Performance: Primary Students in Sri Lanka

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Rachel

2017-01-01

Worldwide private tutoring is documented extensively, but its impact is unclear. I estimate the impact of tutoring on performance to assess the degree to which tutoring is a vehicle of educational stratification in Sri Lanka. I find that on average, five months of tutoring has no impact on Year 5 students' exam scores. I produce suggestive…

Dynamic Incentive Effects of Relative Performance Pay: A Field Experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Delfgaauw (Josse); A.J. Dur (Robert); J.A. Non (Arjan); W.J.M.I. Verbeke (Willem)

2010-01-01

textabstractWe conduct a field experiment among 189 stores of a retail chain to study dynamic incentive effects of relative performance pay. Employees in the randomly selected treatment stores could win a bonus by outperforming three comparable stores from the control group over the course of four

The impact of patellar tendinopathy on sports and work performance in active athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

De Vries, Astrid J; Koolhaas, Wendy; Zwerver, Johannes; Diercks, Ron L; Nieuwenhuis, Kari; Van Der Worp, Henk; Brouwer, Sandra; Van Den Akker-Scheek, Inge

2017-01-01

Greater insight into sports and work performance of athletes with patellar tendinopathy (PT) will help establish the severity of this common overuse injury. Primary aim of this study is to investigate the impact of PT on sports and work performance. Seventy seven active athletes with PT (50 males; age 28.1 ± 8.2 years; Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment Patella 56.4 ± 12.3) participated in this survey. Sports performance, work ability and work productivity were assessed using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center overuse injury questionnaire, the single-item Work Ability Index and the Quantity and Quality questionnaire, respectively. Reduced sports performance was reported by 55% of the participants; 16% reported reduced work ability and 36% decreased work productivity, with 23% and 58%, respectively, for physically demanding work. This study shows that the impact of PT on sports and work performance is substantial and stresses the importance of developing preventive measures.

Research Performance Progress Report: Diverging Supernova Explosion Experiments on NIF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Plewa, Tomasz [Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)

2016-10-25

The aim of this project was to design a series of blast-wave driven Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The experiments of this kind are relevant to mixing in core-collapse supernovae (ccSNe) and have the potential to address previously unanswered questions in high-energy density physics (HEDP) and astrophysics. The unmatched laser power of the NIF laser offers a unique chance to observe and study “new physics” like the mass extensions observed in HEDP RT experiments performed on the Omega laser [1], which might be linked to self-generated magnetic fields [2] and so far could not be reproduced by numerical simulations. Moreover, NIF is currently the only facility that offers the possibility to execute a diverging RT experiment, which would allow to observe processes such as inter-shell penetration via turbulent mixing and shock-proximity effects (distortion of the shock by RT spikes).

A Wireless Sensor Network for Structural Health Monitoring: Performance and Experience

OpenAIRE

Paek, Jeongyeup; Chintalapudi, Krishna; Caffrey, John; Govindan, Ramesh; Masri, Sami

2005-01-01

While sensor network research has made significant strides in the past few years, the literature has relatively few examples of papers that have evaluated and validated a complete experimental system. In this paper we discuss our deployment experiences and evaluate the performance of a multi-hop wireless data acquisition system (called Wisden) for structural health monitoring (SHM) on a large seismic test structure used by civil engineers. Our experiments indicate that, with the latest sensor...

Hypervelocity Impact Performance of Open Cell Foam Core Sandwich Panel Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, S.; Ordonez, E.; Christiansen, E. L.; Lear, D. M.

2010-01-01

Open cell metallic foam core sandwich panel structures are of interest for application in spacecraft micrometeoroid and orbital debris shields due to their novel form and advantageous structural and thermal performance. Repeated shocking as a result of secondary impacts upon individual foam ligaments during the penetration process acts to raise the thermal state of impacting projectiles ; resulting in fragmentation, melting, and vaporization at lower velocities than with traditional shielding configurations (e.g. Whipple shield). In order to characterize the protective capability of these structures, an extensive experimental campaign was performed by the Johnson Space Center Hypervelocity Impact Technology Facility, the results of which are reported in this paper. Although not capable of competing against the protection levels achievable with leading heavy shields in use on modern high-risk vehicles (i.e. International Space Station modules), metallic foam core sandwich panels are shown to provide a substantial improvement over comparable structural panels and traditional low weight shielding alternatives such as honeycomb sandwich panels and metallic Whipple shields. A ballistic limit equation, generalized in terms of panel geometry, is derived and presented in a form suitable for application in risk assessment codes.

Exogenous and Endogenous Impacts into Teachers' Work Performance Sphere

Science.gov (United States)

Nasrun

2016-01-01

By this synopsis research which conveyed of findings to unfold mutual effect between teachers' performance and incentive scheme and teachers' personal competency, and principal leadership, and work motivation, by means of explanatory research in which ex facto method was ad hock model chosen because of classified as non-experiment. The grounds…

An examination of the impact of a first year experience course on STEM persistence

Science.gov (United States)

Welchert, Tammy S.

A review of STEM literature indicates that increased attention is being paid to STEM initiatives particularly with K-12 teachers and programs designed to foster interest in STEM fields at the secondary education level, both of which feed the STEM pipeline. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, Presidents of Higher Education Institutions, and an increased global awareness of the shortfall of workers in the STEM pipeline are driving the increased attention. Recognition that an inability to meet STEM workforce demands may jeopardize the position of the United States as a world leader is significant. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a first year experience course, Biology 115: First Year Seminar, specifically with regards to academic performance and retention, and to evaluate how the impact changes when course instruction was delivered in a 16-week versus an 8-week model. Three sample groups (N = 596) consisting of first time college freshmen declared as biology majors from 2005-2012 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City were selected for participation. Data was collected from student's high school and college transcripts and college applications by the Office of Institutional Research. A three phase analysis including descriptive statistics and t-tests, principle component analysis, and binary logistic regression were performed using a hierarchical model informed by Alexander Astins' Input-Environment-Output model. The majority of students were female, residents of the State of Missouri, and White. Analysis results indicated that students enrolled in the Biology 115 course earned higher grade point averages, were in better academic standing, and were retained at a higher level than the control group. Additionally, students enrolled in the course in the 8-Week model earned higher grade point averages and had higher retention from Year 1 to Year 2 and retention as biology majors over the 16-week model.

Impact of English Proficiency on Academic Performance of International Students

Science.gov (United States)

Martirosyan, Nara M.; Hwang, Eunjin; Wanjohi, Reubenson

2015-01-01

Using an ex-post facto, non-experimental approach, this research examined the impact of English language proficiency and multilingualism on the academic performance of international students enrolled in a four-year university located in north central Louisiana in the United States. Data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire from 59…

Exploratory Study on the Impact of Information on Performance Psychology on Stress and Anxiety Levels of Brazilian Music Performers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Ray

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the impact of information on psychology of music on Stress and Anxiety Levels of Brazilian students of music performance, both undergraduate and graduate, and cross information on their levels of stress and anxiety. It includes an investigation on curricular programs of Brazilian public universities based on previous investigation by the authors (RAY; et al, 2011. The main goals: 1 to investigate how much information Brazilian music performance students has access to access during their courses; and 2 to identify potential indicators of the impact this information may have on the levels of stress and anxiety in the performances of these students; Methodology:  Students from six Brazilian public universities were requested to fill out three forms: the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (K-MPAI; the Inventory of Stress Symptoms LIPP and an additional form that investigated the participants routine for preparation to performance. Results: information on music performance psychology is only presented privately at teacher’s discretion. As compulsory classes have not been included in the curriculum, it was not possible to infer results on this subject. More than half of the participants (51,72% don’t present stress condition. Almost half of them (48,27% have some level of stress. All participants fit within some level of anxiety.

Experimental constraints on impact-induced winds

Science.gov (United States)

Quintana, Stephanie N.; Schultz, Peter H.; Horowitz, Seth S.

2018-05-01

A new class of wind streaks on Mars uniquely associated with impact craters is most clearly detected in nighttime thermal infrared imaging. Thermally bright streaks radiate from some well-preserved impact craters and are related to the impact process. Using laboratory experiments performed at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range, we test the hypothesis that these streaks are formed from either the winds within an air-blast or winds set up by expanding impact vapor interacting with the atmosphere. The experiments use a variety of tracers and instruments to document three interrelated processes occurring in the impact of a Pyrex projectile into an easily vaporized powdered dolomite target: (1) a surface roughening spreading outward from the impact point, (2) an expanding vapor plume, and (3) outward winds made visible by dust trails from vertically placed, dusty pipe cleaners. The clear connection between the surface roughening, vapor expansion, and outward winds implicate an expanding vapor interacting with the atmosphere as the controlling process.

Determinants of Academic Performance in Public Day Secondary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Determinants of Academic Performance in Public Day Secondary Schools, Manga District, Kenya. ... Journal of Technology and Education in Nigeria ... student's discipline, student's entry mark, teacher's teaching experience and level of education among others have significant impact in academic performance of a child.

The Impact of Strategic Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luftim CANIA

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Organizational performance is getting more and more important, especially in a market with greater competition and dynamic. Organizational performance is measured through different indicators. It guarantees the continuity of the organization to be competitive in a global marketplace. Normally, the implementation of performance indicators achieved through human resources. Human resources are the key for keeping the organization in the market so competitive. These human resources need to be managed effectively to achieve the required performance of the organization. It is necessary to manage strategically the human resources and to adapt at its strategy with organizational strategy. The aim of this study is focused on the impact of the strategic management of human resource in achieving organizational performance. This study was conducted based on primary and secondary sources. How much organizations appear competitive in the market through achieving the performance indicators? How important is the management of human resources in achieving organizational performance? So, through the skills, behaviors and attitudes would be expected by human resources to achieve the required performance in the organization.

IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT TOOLS, PARTNER RELATIONSHIP AND SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramayah T.

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a model that assesses the usage of information technology (IT tools, commitment of partner relationships, and supply chain performance in the Malaysian manufacturing industry. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to manufacturingcompanies located in Penang, which is in the northern region of Malaysia. Applying multiple regression analysis, the study indicated that a higher level of supply chain partner commitment leads to a higher level of supply chain reliability and flexibility. Trust among supply chain partners also contributes to improving supply chain flexibility. The study focused only on inter-organisational relationships. Future research should examine how both inter- and intra-organisational collaboration impact supply chain performance. Although researchers have recognised that IT is an enabler of supply chain management (SCM activities, there has been limited research that has directly associated the usage of IT and partner relationships to supply chain performance. This research is essential in order to ascertain the impact of IT usage and partnerrelationships on improving supply chain performance, particularly in the Malaysian manufacturing environment.

ICT Adoption Impact on Students’ Academic Performance: Evidence from Saudi Universities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wael Sh. Basri

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigates and explores the adoption of information communication technology by the universities and the impact it makes on the university students’ academic performance. The study also examines the moderators’ effect of gender, GPA, and student majors on the relationship between ICT and academic achievement. By using a quantitative research approach and a sample size of 1000 students, data were collected about the ICT adoption in universities and the relative performance of students belonging to four Saudi universities. Structure equation modelling was chosen to determine the validity of the research model. The Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS, specially used for structural equation modelling and path analysis, was used as the research tool. The findings reveal that there exists a relationship between ICT adoption and academic performance in a conservative environment. An additional finding also stated that ICT adoption resulted in the improvement of the performance of female students more than the male. However, students’ IT major was found to be making no impact on students’ academic achievement. A discussion of findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research has been provided in the study. Finally, it also provides implications of the current study to the existing knowledge.

Effect of impact angle on vaporization

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, Peter H.

1996-09-01

Impacts into easily vaporized targets such as dry ice and carbonates generate a rapidly expanding vapor cloud. Laboratory experiments performed in a tenuous atmosphere allow deriving the internal energy of this cloud through well-established and tested theoretical descriptions. A second set of experiments under near-vacuum conditions provides a second measure of energy as the internal energy converts to kinetic energy of expansion. The resulting data allow deriving the vaporized mass as a function of impact angle and velocity. Although peak shock pressures decrease with decreasing impact angle (referenced to horizontal), the amount of impact-generated vapor is found to increase and is derived from the upper surface. Moreover, the temperature of the vapor cloud appears to decrease with decreasing angle. These unexpected results are proposed to reflect the increasing roles of shear heating and downrange hypervelocity ricochet impacts created during oblique impacts. The shallow provenance, low temperature, and trajectory of such vapor have implications for larger-scale events, including enhancement of atmospheric and biospheric stress by oblique terrestrial impacts and impact recycling of the early atmosphere of Mars.

Impacts of organization and management on outage performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Yuhao; Cheng, S.-K.

2004-01-01

From probabilistic safety assessments and root cause analyses for incidents/accidents, the risk at refueling outage has recently been recognized to be comparable to (or even more significant than) the commonly evaluated risk at power in a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). This paper summarizes the major findings in the aspect of 'organization and management', which is identified to have significant impacts on outage performance in the qualitative assessment of a PWR plant. In order to reduce the potential risk arisen from those identified imperfections, the corresponding suggestions are also proposed. (author)

Impact of graphene polycrystallinity on the performance of graphene field-effect transistors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiménez, David; Chaves, Ferney [Departament d' Enginyeria Electrònica, Escola d' Enginyeria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193-Bellaterra (Spain); Cummings, Aron W.; Van Tuan, Dinh [ICN2, Institut Català de Nanociencia i Nanotecnologia, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Kotakoski, Jani [Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Wien (Austria); Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 43, 00014 University of Helsinki (Finland); Roche, Stephan [ICN2, Institut Català de Nanociencia i Nanotecnologia, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08070 Barcelona (Spain)

2014-01-27

We have used a multi-scale physics-based model to predict how the grain size and different grain boundary morphologies of polycrystalline graphene will impact the performance metrics of graphene field-effect transistors. We show that polycrystallinity has a negative impact on the transconductance, which translates to a severe degradation of the maximum and cutoff frequencies. On the other hand, polycrystallinity has a positive impact on current saturation, and a negligible effect on the intrinsic gain. These results reveal the complex role played by graphene grain boundaries and can be used to guide the further development and optimization of graphene-based electronic devices.

Impact of graphene polycrystallinity on the performance of graphene field-effect transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiménez, David; Chaves, Ferney; Cummings, Aron W.; Van Tuan, Dinh; Kotakoski, Jani; Roche, Stephan

2014-01-01

We have used a multi-scale physics-based model to predict how the grain size and different grain boundary morphologies of polycrystalline graphene will impact the performance metrics of graphene field-effect transistors. We show that polycrystallinity has a negative impact on the transconductance, which translates to a severe degradation of the maximum and cutoff frequencies. On the other hand, polycrystallinity has a positive impact on current saturation, and a negligible effect on the intrinsic gain. These results reveal the complex role played by graphene grain boundaries and can be used to guide the further development and optimization of graphene-based electronic devices

The State of Alaska's early experience with institutionalization of health impact assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul J. Anderson

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Background . Many nations routinely include health impact assessments (HIA in public policy decisions. Institutionalization of HIA formally integrates health considerations into a governmental decision-making process. We describe an example of institutionalization in the United States through Alaska's early experience with institutionalization of HIA. Literature review . HIA arose from a series of health conferences in the 1970s that affirmed the importance of “health for all.” A number of key milestones eventually defined HIA as a unique field of impact assessment. There are several approaches to institutionalization, and one common approach in the United States is through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA. NEPA formed the basis for the earliest HIAs in Alaska. Program description . Early HIAs in Alaska led to conferences, working groups, a state guidance document and the institutionalization of a HIA program within the Department of Health and Social Services in 2010. A medical epidemiologist staffs the program, which utilizes contractors to meet rising demand for HIA. The HIA program has sustainable funding from the state budget and from the state's natural resource permitting process. The HIA document is the main deliverable, but the program performs other tasks, including fieldwork and technical reviews. The HIA program works closely with a host of collaborative partners. Conclusion . Alaska's institutionalized HIA program benefits from sustainable funding that promotes continuous quality improvement and involves the program in the entire life cycle of a development project. The program structure adapts well to variations in workflow and supports a host of quality control activities. Currently, the program focuses on HIAs for natural resource development projects.

Impact of Management Style on Performance Indicators of Academic Staff

Science.gov (United States)

Irtwange, S. V.; Orsaah, S.

2009-01-01

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of management style on academic staff performance with University of Agriculture, Makurdi as a case study. The management style of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi between the periods, September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001 was determined using the Ohio State…

Virtual navigation performance: the relationship to field of view and prior video gaming experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Anthony E; Collaer, Marcia L

2011-04-01

Two experiments examined whether learning a virtual environment was influenced by field of view and how it related to prior video gaming experience. In the first experiment, participants (42 men, 39 women; M age = 19.5 yr., SD = 1.8) performed worse on a spatial orientation task displayed with a narrow field of view in comparison to medium and wide field-of-view displays. Counter to initial hypotheses, wide field-of-view displays did not improve performance over medium displays, and this was replicated in a second experiment (30 men, 30 women; M age = 20.4 yr., SD = 1.9) presenting a more complex learning environment. Self-reported video gaming experience correlated with several spatial tasks: virtual environment pointing and tests of Judgment of Line Angle and Position, mental rotation, and Useful Field of View (with correlations between .31 and .45). When prior video gaming experience was included as a covariate, sex differences in spatial tasks disappeared.

Recovery based on plot experiments is a poor predictor of landscape-level population impacts of agricultural pesticides.

Science.gov (United States)

Topping, Christopher John; Kjaer, Lene Jung; Hommen, Udo; Høye, Toke Thomas; Preuss, Thomas G; Sibly, Richard M; van Vliet, Peter

2014-07-01

Current European Union regulatory risk assessment allows application of pesticides provided that recovery of nontarget arthropods in-crop occurs within a year. Despite the long-established theory of source-sink dynamics, risk assessment ignores depletion of surrounding populations and typical field trials are restricted to plot-scale experiments. In the present study, the authors used agent-based modeling of 2 contrasting invertebrates, a spider and a beetle, to assess how the area of pesticide application and environmental half-life affect the assessment of recovery at the plot scale and impact the population at the landscape scale. Small-scale plot experiments were simulated for pesticides with different application rates and environmental half-lives. The same pesticides were then evaluated at the landscape scale (10 km × 10 km) assuming continuous year-on-year usage. The authors' results show that recovery time estimated from plot experiments is a poor indicator of long-term population impact at the landscape level and that the spatial scale of pesticide application strongly determines population-level impact. This raises serious doubts as to the utility of plot-recovery experiments in pesticide regulatory risk assessment for population-level protection. Predictions from the model are supported by empirical evidence from a series of studies carried out in the decade starting in 1988. The issues raised then can now be addressed using simulation. Prediction of impacts at landscape scales should be more widely used in assessing the risks posed by environmental stressors. © 2014 SETAC.

What is the peak stress in ceramic bar impacts?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simha, C. Hari Manoj; Bless, S.J.; Bedford, A.

2000-01-01

The bar impact experiment has been extensively used to characterize the high strain rate properties of high strength ceramics. In particular, alumina AD-99.5 has been widely studied; both stress gauge and VISAR bar impact data are available for this material. We have performed plate-on-bar impact experiments using this material in some novel configurations. An interface was introduced in the target bar (by cutting it) in the zone where the material fails by axial splitting. Such experiments resulted in a dramatic drop in the peak stress measured in the experiment, when compared to experiments with no interface. We show that the damage kinetics in tension influence these measurements. Since the peak stress is dependent on the damage kinetics we conclude that the measurement cannot be correlated to some intrinsic strength of the ceramic

An Examination of the Outcomes of the Undergraduate Leadership Teaching Assistant (ULTA) Experience as a High-Impact Practice in Leadership Education

Science.gov (United States)

Odom, Summer F.; Ho, Sarah P.; Moore, Lori L.

2015-01-01

The Undergraduate Leadership Teaching Assistant (ULTA) experience offers students a high-impact opportunity to develop, practice, and evaluate their leadership knowledge, skills, and abilities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine outcomes of the ULTA experience as a high-impact practice for students studying leadership. Weekly…

Performative exhibition and its different modes of experience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schwarzbart, Judith

The avant-gardes of the late 60s and 70s challenged many conventions associated with the (classical) modernist art exhibition such as: a static timeless display of autonomous objects, the spectator as a disembodied visual receptor, and the personal experience emphasizing the individual and never...... the social. The avant-gardes have not, however, let to the disappearance of a modernist exhibition format but to a proliferation of formats including some that are more performative in its character, which means: more dynamic, developing over time, with a higher degree of bodily and discursive exchange, and...

The imperative of culture: a quantitative analysis of the impact of culture on workforce engagement, patient experience, physician engagement, value-based purchasing, and turnover

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Owens K

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Katie Owens,1 Jim Eggers,2 Stephanie Keller,1 Audrey McDonald1 1HealthStream Engagement Institute, Pensacola, FL, 2Analytics, HealthStream, Laurel, MD, USA Abstract: Current uncertainty for the future of the health care landscape is placing an increasing amount of pressure on leadership teams to be prepared to steer their organization forward in a number of potential directions. It is commonly recognized among health care leaders that culture will either enable or disable organizational success. However, very few studies empirically link culture to health care-specific performance outcomes. Nearly every health care organization in the US specifies its cultural aspirations through mission and vision statements and values. Ambitions of patient-centeredness, care for the community, workplace of choice, and world-class quality are frequently cited; yet, little definitive research exists to quantify the importance of building high-performing cultures. Our study examined the impact of cultural attributes defined by a culture index (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88 on corresponding performance with key health care measures. We mapped results of the culture index across data sets, compared results, and evaluated variations in performance among key indicators for leaders. Organizations that perform in the top quartile for our culture index statistically significantly outperformed those in the bottom quartile on all but one key performance indicator tested. The culture top quartile organizations outperformed every domain for employee engagement, physician engagement, patient experience, and overall value-based purchasing performance with statistical significance. Culture index top quartile performers also had a 3.4% lower turnover rate than the bottom quartile performers. Finally, culture index top quartile performers earned an additional 1% on value-based purchasing. Our findings demonstrate a meaningful connection between performance in the culture index and

Dynamic Impact of Online Word-of-Mouth and Advertising on Supply Chain Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Jian; Liu, Bin

2018-01-04

Cooperative (co-op) advertising investments benefit brand goodwill and further improve supply chain performance. Meanwhile, online word-of-mouth (OWOM) can also play an important role in supply chain performance. On the basis of co-op advertising, this paper considers a single supply chain structure led by a manufacturer and examines a fundamental issue concerning the impact of OWOM on supply chain performance. Firstly, by the method of differential game, this paper analyzes the dynamic impact of OWOM and advertising on supply chain performance (i.e., brand goodwill, sales, and profits) under three different supply chain decisions (i.e., only advertising, and manufacturers with and without sharing cost of OWOM with retailers). We compare and analyze the optimal strategies of advertising and OWOM under the above different supply chain decisions. Secondly, the system dynamics model is established to reflect the dynamic impact of OWOM and advertising on supply chain performance. Finally, three supply chain decisions under two scenarios, strong brand and weak brand, are analyzed through the system dynamics simulation. The results show that the input of OWOM can enhance brand goodwill and improve earnings. It further promotes the OWOM reputation and improves the supply chain performance if manufacturers share the cost of OWOM with retailers. Then, in order to eliminate the retailers from word-of-mouth fraud and establish a fair competition mechanism, the third parties (i.e., regulators or e-commerce platforms) should take appropriate punitive measures against retailers. Furthermore, the effect of OWOM on supply chain performance under a strong brand differed from those under a weak brand. Last but not least, if OWOM is improved, there would be more remarkable performance for the weak brand than that for the strong brand in the supply chain.

Dynamic Impact of Online Word-of-Mouth and Advertising on Supply Chain Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Jian

2018-01-01

Cooperative (co-op) advertising investments benefit brand goodwill and further improve supply chain performance. Meanwhile, online word-of-mouth (OWOM) can also play an important role in supply chain performance. On the basis of co-op advertising, this paper considers a single supply chain structure led by a manufacturer and examines a fundamental issue concerning the impact of OWOM on supply chain performance. Firstly, by the method of differential game, this paper analyzes the dynamic impact of OWOM and advertising on supply chain performance (i.e., brand goodwill, sales, and profits) under three different supply chain decisions (i.e., only advertising, and manufacturers with and without sharing cost of OWOM with retailers). We compare and analyze the optimal strategies of advertising and OWOM under the above different supply chain decisions. Secondly, the system dynamics model is established to reflect the dynamic impact of OWOM and advertising on supply chain performance. Finally, three supply chain decisions under two scenarios, strong brand and weak brand, are analyzed through the system dynamics simulation. The results show that the input of OWOM can enhance brand goodwill and improve earnings. It further promotes the OWOM reputation and improves the supply chain performance if manufacturers share the cost of OWOM with retailers. Then, in order to eliminate the retailers from word-of-mouth fraud and establish a fair competition mechanism, the third parties (i.e., regulators or e-commerce platforms) should take appropriate punitive measures against retailers. Furthermore, the effect of OWOM on supply chain performance under a strong brand differed from those under a weak brand. Last but not least, if OWOM is improved, there would be more remarkable performance for the weak brand than that for the strong brand in the supply chain. PMID:29300361

Assessing the Impact of Surgeon Experience on Urinary Continence Recovery After Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: Results of Four High-Volume Surgeons.

Science.gov (United States)

Fossati, Nicola; Di Trapani, Ettore; Gandaglia, Giorgio; Dell'Oglio, Paolo; Umari, Paolo; Buffi, Nicolò Maria; Guazzoni, Giorgio; Mottrie, Alexander; Gaboardi, Franco; Montorsi, Francesco; Briganti, Alberto; Suardi, Nazareno

2017-09-01

To test the impact of surgeon experience on urinary continence (UC) recovery after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). The study included 1477 consecutive patients treated with RARP by four surgeons between 2006 and 2014. UC recovery was defined as being completely dry over a 24-hour period at follow-up. Surgeon experience was coded as the total number of RARP performed by the surgeon before the patient's operation. Multivariable analysis tested the association between surgeon experience and UC recovery. Covariates consisted of patient age, Charlson comorbidity index, preoperative International Index of Erectile Function-Erectile Function domain (IIEF-EF), nerve-sparing surgery (none vs unilateral vs bilateral), and preoperative risk groups (low- vs intermediate- vs high risk). The number of cases performed by each surgeon was 541, 413, 411, and 112, respectively. Median follow-up was 24 months (inter-quartile range: 18, 40). The UC recovery rate at 1 year after surgery was 82%. At multivariable analyses, surgeon experience represented an independent predictor of UC recovery (hazard ratio: 1.02, p < 0.001). The surgical learning curve was similar among surgeons, moving linearly from ∼60% of UC rate at the initial cases to almost 90% after more than 400 procedures. In patients undergoing RARP, surgeon experience is a significant predictor of UC recovery. The surgical learning curve of UC recovery does not reach a plateau even after more than 100 cases, suggesting a continuous improvement of the surgical technique. These findings deserve attention for patient counseling and future comparative studies evaluating functional outcomes after RARP.

Impact of operator fatigue on endoscopy performance: implications for procedure scheduling.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Harewood, Gavin C

2009-08-01

With increasing volumes of endoscopic procedures, endoscopists\\' workload has had to increase to meet this escalating demand. The aim of this study was to characterize the impact of endoscopist fatigue on quality of endoscopy performance by comparing outcomes based on chronological procedure order.

Contractual Alliance Governance: Impact of Different Contract Functions on Alliance Performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Faems, D.L.M.; Alberink, Rutger; Groen, Arend J.; Klein Woolthuis, Rosalinde

2010-01-01

Recent research on alliance governance has emphasized that contracts can have both a control and coordination function. In this paper, we test the impact of these different contract functions on alliance performance. Conducting structural equation analyses on a sample of 270 Dutch technology

Design of a factorial experiment with randomization restrictions to assess medical device performance on vascular tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Diestelkamp, Wiebke S; Krane, Carissa M; Pinnell, Margaret F

2011-05-20

Energy-based surgical scalpels are designed to efficiently transect and seal blood vessels using thermal energy to promote protein denaturation and coagulation. Assessment and design improvement of ultrasonic scalpel performance relies on both in vivo and ex vivo testing. The objective of this work was to design and implement a robust, experimental test matrix with randomization restrictions and predictive statistical power, which allowed for identification of those experimental variables that may affect the quality of the seal obtained ex vivo. The design of the experiment included three factors: temperature (two levels); the type of solution used to perfuse the artery during transection (three types); and artery type (two types) resulting in a total of twelve possible treatment combinations. Burst pressures of porcine carotid and renal arteries sealed ex vivo were assigned as the response variable. The experimental test matrix was designed and carried out as a split-plot experiment in order to assess the contributions of several variables and their interactions while accounting for randomization restrictions present in the experimental setup. The statistical software package SAS was utilized and PROC MIXED was used to account for the randomization restrictions in the split-plot design. The combination of temperature, solution, and vessel type had a statistically significant impact on seal quality. The design and implementation of a split-plot experimental test-matrix provided a mechanism for addressing the existing technical randomization restrictions of ex vivo ultrasonic scalpel performance testing, while preserving the ability to examine the potential effects of independent factors or variables. This method for generating the experimental design and the statistical analyses of the resulting data are adaptable to a wide variety of experimental problems involving large-scale tissue-based studies of medical or experimental device efficacy and performance.

Impact of Group Emotions on Student Collective Action Tendencies, Ties, and Task Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Sundararajan, Malavika; Sundararajan, Binod; Manderson, Jill

2016-01-01

The authors tested the dynamics of collective action tendencies of student teams when trying to accomplish a shared goal, with a focus on the impact of member ties and team member interaction and emotional responses on team performance. The results show the direct and indirect impacts of both positive and negative group emotions on the student…

Enhanced science-stakeholder communication to improve ecosystem model performances for climate change impact assessments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jonsson, Anna Maria; Anderbrant, Olle; Holmer, Jennie

2015-01-01

In recent years, climate impact assessments of relevance to the agricultural and forestry sectors have received considerable attention. Current ecosystem models commonly capture the effect of a warmer climate on biomass production, but they rarely sufficiently capture potential losses caused...... by pests, pathogens and extreme weather events. In addition, alternative management regimes may not be integrated in the models. A way to improve the quality of climate impact assessments is to increase the science–stakeholder collaboration, and in a two-way dialog link empirical experience and impact...... a discussion among the science–stakeholder communities on how to quantify the potential for climate change adaptation by improving the realism in the models....

The reliability of finite element analysis results of the low impact test in predicting the energy absorption performance of thin-walled structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alipour, R.; Nejadx, Farokhi A.; Izman, S. [Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru (Malaysia)

2015-05-15

The application of dual phase steels (DPS) such as DP600 in the form of thin-walled structure in automotive components is being continuously increased as vehicle designers utilize modern steel grades and low weight structures to improve structural performance, make automotive light and reinforce crash performance. Preventing cost enhancement of broad investigations in this area can be gained by using computers in structural analysis in order to substitute lots of experiments with finite element analysis (FEA). Nevertheless, it necessitates to be certified that selected method including element type and solution methodology is capable of predicting real condition. In this paper, numerical and experimental studies are done to specify the effect of element type selection and solution methodology on the results of finite element analysis in order to investigate the energy absorption behavior of a DP600 thin-walled structure with three different geometries under a low impact loading. The outcomes indicated the combination of implicit method and solid elements is in better agreement with the experiments. In addition, using a combination of shell element types with implicit method reduces the time of simulation remarkably, although the error of results compared to the experiments increased to some extent.

Hypervelocity impact on Zr51Ti5Ni10Cu25Al9 bulk metallic glass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, W.; Huang, Y.J.; Pang, B.J.; Shen, J.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Hypervelocity impact experiments were performed on a bulk metallic glass. → Morphology of the bullet hole presents three different regions. → The post-impact samples keep glassy structure. → Mechanical properties of the post-impact samples were studied by nanoindentation. → Mechanical properties of the post-impact samples were discussed by free-volume model. - Abstract: In this study, the hypervelocity impact experiments were performed on Zr 51 Ti 5 Ni 10 Cu 25 Al 9 bulk metallic glass using a two-stage light gas gun. The morphologies of the bullet holes exhibit three different regions: melting area, vein-pattern area, and radiating core feature area, suggesting that various regions experience different stress states during the hypervelocity impact. For the post-impact samples, the nano-hardness increases and plastic deformability decreases both with the increase in the distance from the bullet hole and with the decrease in the impact velocity, which is discussed by means of spherical stress wave theory and free-volume model.

Impact of Smartphone Addiction on Business Students’ Academic Performance: A Case Study

OpenAIRE