LinkedIn: Key Principles and Best Practices for Online Networking & Advocacy by Nonprofit Organizations

This research investigated the question: What are the key strategic principles and the best practices of using LinkedIn for online interactive engagement and networking that nonprofit advocacy organizations can utilize to bolster constituent activism in support of shared goals? The methodology included a comprehensive literature review as well as a series of formal and informal conversations with thought leaders and practitioners of online advocacy. Analysis of research data provided the basis for recommendations and considerations for nonprofit organizations contemplating LinkedIn’s potential value for advocacy and networking efforts. These principles, best practices, recommendations and considerations for using LinkedIn’s networking toolset establish a framework for nonprofits to assess LinkedIn. The author recommends that advocacy organizations consider LinkedIn’s capabilities in the context of their mission, goals, culture and constituents. Among the research findings is the conclusion that LinkedIn is an exceptional social media platform in a number of respects, including the comprehensive amount of data LinkedIn contains and the sophisticated tools LinkedIn provides to mine and refine that data. LinkedIn consequently enables advocacy organizations to map strategic relationships and to customize their interaction with various segments of their audience

Diets of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in Southeast Alaska, 1993−1999

The diet of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) was determined from 1494 scats (feces) collected at breeding (rookeries) and nonbreeding (haulout) sites in Southeast Alaska from 1993 to 1999. The most common prey of 61 species identified were walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus), Pacific salmon (Salmonidae), arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias), rockfish (Sebastes spp.), skates (Rajidae), and cephalopods (squid and octopus). Steller sea lion diets at the three Southeast Alaska rookeries differed significantly from one another. The sea lions consumed the most diverse range of prey categories during summer, and the least diverse during fall. Diet was more diverse in Southeast Alaska during the 1990s than in any other region of Alaska (Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands). Dietary differences between increasing and declining populations of Steller sea lions in Alaska correlate with rates of population change, and add credence to the view that diet may have played a role in the decline of sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands

Characterization of XIA UltraLo-1800 Response to Measuring Charged Samples

Commercial alpha counters are used in science and industry applications to screen materials for surface radon progeny contamination. In this paper, we characterize an XIA UltraLo-1800, an ionization drift alpha counter, and study the response to embedded charge in polyethylene sample measurements. We show that modeling such effects is possible in a Geant4-based simulation framework and attempt to derive corrections. This paper also demonstrates the effectiveness of an anti-static fan to eliminate the charge on the same and recover a 97.73% alpha detection efficiency

Related neuropeptides use different balances of unitary mechanisms to modulate the cardiac neuromuscular system in the American lobster, Homarus americanus

To produce flexible outputs, neural networks controlling rhythmic motor behaviors can be modulated at multiple levels, including the pattern generator itself, sensory feedback, and the response of the muscle to a given pattern of motor output. We examined the role of two related neuropeptides, GYSDRNYLRFamide (GYS) and SGRNFLRFamide (SGRN), in modulating the neurogenic lobster heartbeat, which is controlled by the cardiac ganglion (CG). When perfused though an isolated whole heart at low concentrations, both peptides elicited increases in contraction amplitude and frequency. At higher concentrations, both peptides continued to elicit increases in contraction amplitude, but GYS caused a decrease in contraction frequency, while SGRN did not alter frequency. To determine the sites at which these peptides induce their effects, we examined the effects of the peptides on the periphery and on the isolated CG. When we removed the CG and stimulated the motor nerve with constant bursts of stimuli, both GYS and SGRN increased contraction amplitude, indicating that each peptide modulates the muscle or the neuromuscular junction. When applied to the isolated CG, neither peptide altered burst frequency at low peptide concentrations; at higher concentrations, SGRN decreased burst frequency, whereas GYS continued to have no effect on frequency. Together, these data suggest that the two peptides elicit some of their effects using different mechanisms; in particular, given the known feedback pathways within this system, the importance of the negative (nitric oxide) relative to the positive (stretch) feedback pathways may differ in the presence of the two peptides

Type II Supernova Light Curves and Spectra From the CfA

We present multiband photometry of 60 spectroscopically-confirmed supernovae (SN): 39 SN II/IIP, 19 IIn, one IIb and one that was originally classified as a IIn but later as a Ibn. Forty-six have only optical photometry, six have only near infrared (NIR) photometry and eight have both optical and NIR. The median redshift of the sample is 0.016. We also present 192 optical spectra for 47 of the 60 SN. All data are publicly available. There are 26 optical and two NIR light curves of SN II/IIP with redshifts z > 0.01, some of which may give rise to useful distances for cosmological applications. All photometry was obtained between 2000 and 2011 at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO), via the 1.2m and 1.3m PAIRITEL telescopes for the optical and NIR, respectively. Each SN was observed in a subset of the $u'UBVRIr'i'JHK_s$ bands. There are a total of 2932 optical and 816 NIR light curve points. Optical spectra were obtained using the FLWO 1.5m Tillinghast telescope with the FAST spectrograph and the MMT Telescope with the Blue Channel Spectrograph. Our photometry is in reasonable agreement with other samples from the literature. Comparison with Pan-STARRS shows that two-thirds of our individual star sequences have weighted-mean V offsets within $\pm$0.02 mag. In comparing our standard-system SN light curves with common Carnegie Supernova Project objects using their color terms, we found that roughly three-quarters have average differences within $\pm$0.04 mag. The data from this work and the literature will provide insight into SN II explosions, help with developing methods for photometric SN classification, and contribute to their use as cosmological distance indicators.Comment: Accepted to ApJS. TAR of light curves and star sequences here: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/supernova/fmalcolm2017/cfa_snII_lightcurvesndstars.june2017.tar ... Spectra can be found here: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/supernova/fmalcolm2017/cfaspec_snII.tar.gz ... Passbands and plot of spectra can be found here: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/supernova/SNarchive.htm

Energy Consumption Prediction of a Vehicle along a User-Specified Real-World Trip

Standard cycles provide an easy way to evaluate the energy consumption of vehicles, but it is the energy consumption that occurs on real-world trips that really matters to the driver and, to a larger extent, society. This study shows how digital maps and vehicle simulation tools can be used to estimate energy consumption on a real-world trip. The user (1) selects a trip in the mapping service ADAS-RP (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Research Platform), (2) defines a vehicle model in the vehicle powertrain simulation tool Autonomie, and (3) runs and analyzes the simulation in that same tool. For each section of the trip, ADAS-RP provides various information that can include speed limits, historic data on traffic pattern speeds, the slopes of the routes, and the positions of stop signs and traffic lights. The first stage of processing this information is to schedule the stops and to create an intermediate speed target that takes those stops into account. The final driver demand speed includes transitions – accelerations and decelerations – between sections with different intermediate speed targets, or around stops. The ADAS-RP/Autonomie process is then used to compute the energy consumption of a hybrid electric vehicle and a conventional vehicle on 10 trips defined across the United States and Germany. The hybrid vehicle is more fuel efficient, especially on congested routes and routes with downhill slopes, the effect of which is analyzed in further detail. Document type: Articl

Adult Attachment States of Mind: Measurement Invariance Across Ethnicity and Associations With Maternal Sensitivity

This study examined the developmental significance of mothers' adult attachment representations assessed prenatally with the Adult Attachment Interview in relation to observed maternal sensitivity at 6 months postpartum in an ethnically diverse sample (N = 131 African American; N = 128 European American). Multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for partial measurement invariance of a two-factor dismissing and preoccupied latent structure of adult attachment across the two ethnic groups of women. African American women showed modest elevations on the preoccupied factor relative to European American women. Although the dismissing factor showed an empirically equivalent negative association with maternal sensitivity in both ethnic groups, this effect was reduced to marginal significance when controlling for maternal socioeconomic status

Infant negative affect and maternal interactive behavior during the still-face procedure: the moderating role of adult attachment states of mind

The current study examined associations between attachment state of mind measured prenatally (N = 259) and maternal behavior in the reunion episode of the still-face procedure when infants were six months of age both as a main effect and in conjunction with infant negative affect. Using a dimensional approach to adult attachment measurement, dismissing and preoccupied states of mind were negatively associated with maternal sensitivity, and each correlated with distinct parenting behaviors. Positive associations were found between dismissing states of mind and maternal monitoring and preoccupied states of mind and maternal withdraw. Maternal preoccupation moderated associations between infant negative affect and maternal intrusive, withdrawn, and monitoring behaviors, supporting the notion that maternal attachment influences parenting behavior via a modulatory process in which infant distress cues are selectively filtered and responded to. Analyses using a traditional AAI scale and classification approach also provided evidence for distinct parenting behavior correlates of insecure adult attachment representations. The importance of measuring global and stylistic differences in maternal behavior in contexts which allow for the activation of the entire range of infant affective states is discussed

The Infant Crying Questionnaire: Initial factor structure and validation

The current project reports on an initial investigation into the factor structure of the Infant Crying Questionnaire (ICQ), a measure designed to assess parental beliefs about infant crying, in a sample of 259 primiparous mothers. Exploratory factor analyses yielded evidence for a five-factor structure to the ICQ, with two factors that may be conceptually viewed as infant-oriented beliefs regarding infant crying (Attachment/Comfort and Crying as Communication) and three factors conceptually reflecting parent-oriented beliefs regarding infant crying (Minimization, Directive Control, and Spoiling). Each of the scales demonstrated strong internal consistency and was associated with concurrent measures of mothers’ causal attributions about emotional responses to infant crying. Predictive validity to observed maternal sensitivity at 6 months and mother-reported infant behavioral problems at one year was demonstrated. The importance of a questionnaire method to assess parents’ beliefs regarding infant crying in developmental research is discussed and future methodological directions are outlined