Toward a Fluid Dance in Seamless Dress: The Field of Pre- and Perinatal Development Challenges Researchers to Integrate Scientific and Spiritual Orientations

The response of humankind to mystery is explored here, relative to the historically sharp distinction between scientific and spiritual ways of knowing. The evolving image of a dancer in a half-male/half-female costume serves as a metaphor for the rapport between these two basic research orientations, and for how they might be reconciled—in the interest of both research and the researcher. Findings from the highly interdisciplinary field of pre- and perinatal development illustrate the need for an integrated approach to understanding \"reality.\

CORRELATION OF PERCEIVED QUALITY OF PROGRAM AND RETENTION AMONG ONLINE NON-TRADITIONAL PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT COLLEGE STUDENTS

Online learning for undergraduate college students has significantly grown in demand and allows for more diverse and nontraditional students (e.g., 24 years old or older, attend part-time, work fulltime, have dependents) to pursue a college education. Although research studies indicate that online education is just as effective and robust as traditional, face-to-face delivery, students in online courses have lower retention rates (Bawa, 2016). Understanding the students’ perceived quality of online programming, along with demographic variables, will provide insight to understand retention of undergraduate students within online programs. This post-positivists, correlational research study examined two research questions including the relationship between perceived quality of online instruction to perceived estimated retention of nontraditional, undergraduate online college students and the role demographic factors play in online student retention. Through a convenience sample using a Qualtrics survey, 163 students in the Professional Management Department at a small, midwestern university completed a four-part questionnaire consisting of demographic questions, SLS-OLE, API, and open-ended questions. Both descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests were used to find the relationships. Participants indicated overall high satisfaction (76.4%) and high intention of retention (96.9%). The results using Spearman rank order correlation indicated that there was no correlation between overall student satisfaction and estimated retention. Although overall student satisfaction could not predict students’ intention to persist, it does provide that the elements creating high levels of student satisfaction also contributed to the decision of intended program completion. Implications for practice include faculty getting to know their audience, provide a social presence within the online courses, and keep online learning management course design similar among degree program courses

Characterizing Wildfire in the Frank Church Wilderness, Idaho, Between 1972-2012

I examined wildfire characteristics in the Frank Church Wilderness, central Idaho, between 1972-2012. Studying fire characteristics in the Frank Church Wilderness provides an opportunity to understand the history of wildfires in a federally designated wilderness area, largely devoid of management impacts with limited human access and activity. The ~958,000-hectare Frank Church Wilderness area encompasses the Middle Fork Salmon River. Vegetation cover ranges from high elevation (~2500-3200 meters) mixed conifer forests in the headwaters to low-elevation (~600-1000 meters) sagebrush-steppe and ponderosa pine (Pinus Ponderosa) forests. The Frank Church Wilderness is defined as unmanaged because effective fire suppression (e.g., vehicle and air-assisted fire suppression), logging, road access, and motorized vehicle use are extremely limited; therefore, this area provides an excellent location to examine historical changes in wildfire characteristics in the absence of substantial management influence. Studies of wildfires in the Western USA show an increase in area burned in the past several decades; however, the root cause of the trend is attributed to both historical fire suppression and a warming climate. This research aims to understand fire characteristics and their correlation with a warming climate in the Frank Church Wilderness. Our research questions are: How do landscape fire metrics relate to warming trends in an unmanaged wilderness? How are landscape metrics of burned areas correlated with one another? As a proxy for the influence of warming and drying on vegetation, I use vapor pressure deficit (VPD), which measures air aridity and is the difference between moisture pressure in the air and its value at saturation. The study uses fire atlas data from 1972-2012, remotely sensed data, and historical VPD records to test correlations among climate aridity, burn area, and other fire metrics. This analysis shows that burned area in the Frank Church Wilderness increased between 1972-2012 and is significantly correlated with VPD, indicating that fires become larger as aridity increases. Severe fire years with large burn areas include 1988, 2000, and 2008. This work supports studies that attribute the growth in burned areas (1972-2012) to background warming and drying. I used FRAGSTATS software and landscape metric calculations in a pilot study to better understand the changes to wildfire shape and total area burned in the Frank Church Wilderness. FRAGSTATS show a high positive correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.57) between total area burned and VPD (p-value of 0.001). The number of patches also positively correlated with VPD (p-value of 0.002). The landscape shape index had a positive correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.48) to VPD with a p-value of 0.01. Perimeter-area fractal dimension index metric had a negative correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient of -0.38) with VPD with a p-value of 0.05. While additional work is needed, the scientific and land management communities can benefit from the nuanced understanding of the relationship between climate aridity and burned landscape patterns in an unmanaged region

Estimating ground cover via spectral data

Potato ground cover and spectral data were measured in the Columbia Basin during the 1990 growing season. Three spectral were correlated with ground cover; normalized difference, near infrared-red ratio, and the first derivative of the spectral curve at 750 nm. All models were statistically significant at the 99% level. Normalized was most correlated followed by the near infrared-red ratio, and the first derivative of the spectral curve at 750 nm

Upscaling transmissivity under radially convergent flow in heterogeneous media

Most field methods used to estimate transmissivity values rely on the analysis of drawdown under convergent flow conditions. For a single well in a homogeneous and isotropic aquifer and under steady state flow conditions, drawdown s is directly related to the pumping rate Q through transmissivity T. In real, nonhomogeneous aquifers, s and Q are still directly related, now through a value called equivalent transmissivity Teq. In this context, Teq is defined as the value that best fits Thiem's equation and would, for example, be the transmissivity assigned to the well location in the classical interpretation of a steady state pumping test. This equivalent or upscaled transmissivity is clearly not a local value but is some representative value of a certain area surrounding the well. In this paper we present an analytical solution for upscaling transmissivities under radially convergent steady state flow conditions produced by constant pumping from a well of radius rw in a heterogeneous aquifer based upon an extension of Thiem's equation. Using a perturbation expansion, we derive a second‐order expression for Teq given as a weighted average of the fluctuations in log T throughout the domain. This expression is compared to other averaging formulae from the literature, and differences are pointed out. Teq depends upon an infinite series which may be expressed in terms of coefficients of the finite Fourier transform of the log transmissivity function. Sufficient conditions for convergence of this series are examined. Finally, we show that our solution agrees with existing analytical ones to second order and test the solution with a numerical exampl

Tunable ionic-conductivity of collapsed Sandia octahedral molecular sieves (SOMS).

This proposal focuses on the synthesis and characterization of ''tunable'' perovskite ceramics with resulting controlled strength and temperature of dielectric constants and/or with ionic conductivity. Traditional methods of synthesis involve high temperature oxide mixing and baking. We developed a new methodology of synthesis involving the (1) low temperature hydrothermal synthesis of metastable porous phases with ''tuned'' stoichiometry, and element types, and then (2) low temperature heat treatment to build exact stoichiometry perovskites, with the desired vacancy concentrations. This flexible pathway can lead to compositions and structures not attainable by conventional methods. During the course of this program, a series of Na-Nb perovskites were synthesized by calcining and collapsing microporous Sandia Octahedral Molecular Sieve (SOMS) phases. These materials were studied by various characterization techniques and conductivity measurements to better delineate stability and stoichiometry/bulk conductivity relationships. The conductivity can be altered by changing the concentration and type of the substituting framework cation(s) or by ion exchange of sodium. To date, the Na{sub 0.9}Mg{sub 0.1}Nb{sub 0.8}Ti{sub 0.2}O{sub 3-{delta}} shows the best conductivity

Desalination of brackish ground waters and produced waters using in-situ precipitation.

The need for fresh water has increased exponentially during the last several decades due to the continuous growth of human population and industrial and agricultural activities. Yet existing resources are limited often because of their high salinity. This unfavorable situation requires the development of new, long-term strategies and alternative technologies for desalination of saline waters presently not being used to supply the population growth occurring in arid regions. We have developed a novel environmentally friendly method for desalinating inland brackish waters. This process can be applied to either brackish ground water or produced waters (i.e., coal-bed methane or oil and gas produced waters). Using a set of ion exchange and sorption materials, our process effectively removes anions and cations in separate steps. The ion exchange materials were chosen because of their specific selectivity for ions of interest, and for their ability to work in the temperature and pH regions necessary for cost and energy effectiveness. For anion exchange, we have focused on hydrotalcite (HTC), a layered hydroxide similar to clay in structure. For cation exchange, we have developed an amorphous silica material that has enhanced cation (in particular Na{sup +}) selectivity. In the case of produced waters with high concentrations of Ca{sup 2+}, a lime softening step is included

Membranes for H2 generation from nuclear powered thermochemical cycles.

In an effort to produce hydrogen without the unwanted greenhouse gas byproducts, high-temperature thermochemical cycles driven by heat from solar energy or next-generation nuclear power plants are being explored. The process being developed is the thermochemical production of Hydrogen. The Sulfur-Iodide (SI) cycle was deemed to be one of the most promising cycles to explore. The first step of the SI cycle involves the decomposition of H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} into O{sub 2}, SO{sub 2}, and H{sub 2}O at temperatures around 850 C. In-situ removal of O{sub 2} from this reaction pushes the equilibrium towards dissociation, thus increasing the overall efficiency of the decomposition reaction. A membrane is required for this oxygen separation step that is capable of withstanding the high temperatures and corrosive conditions inherent in this process. Mixed ionic-electronic perovskites and perovskite-related structures are potential materials for oxygen separation membranes owing to their robustness, ability to form dense ceramics, capacity to stabilize oxygen nonstoichiometry, and mixed ionic/electronic conductivity. Two oxide families with promising results were studied: the double-substituted perovskite A{sub x}Sr{sub 1-x}Co{sub 1-y}B{sub y}O{sub 3-{delta}} (A=La, Y; B=Cr-Ni), in particular the family La{sub x}Sr{sub 1-x}Co{sub 1-y}Mn{sub y}O{sub 3-{delta}} (LSCM), and doped La{sub 2}Ni{sub 1-x}M{sub x}O{sub 4} (M = Cu, Zn). Materials and membranes were synthesized by solid state methods and characterized by X-ray and neutron diffraction, SEM, thermal analyses, calorimetry and conductivity. Furthermore, we were able to leverage our program with a DOE/NE sponsored H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} decomposition reactor study (at Sandia), in which our membranes were tested in the actual H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} decomposition step