498 research outputs found
Organization Development for Social Change
The field of organization development (OD) has emerged from efforts to improve the performance of organizations, largely in the for-profit sector but more recently in the public and not-for-profit sectors as well. This paper examines how OD concepts and tools can be used to solve problems and foster constructive change at the societal level as well. It examines four areas in which OD can make such contributions: (1) strengthening social change-focused organizations, (2) scaling up the impacts of such agencies, (3) creating new inter-organizational systems, and (4) changing contexts that shape the action of actors strategic to social change. It discusses examples and the kinds of change agent roles and interventions that are important for each. Finally, it discusses some implications for organization development intervention, practitioners, and the field at large.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 25. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers
A Historical and Performance Companion to the Art Song of the 16th Century Spanish Vihuelistas With Texts and Translations
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance in the repertoire and performance practice of the art songs of the 16th century Spanish vihuela composers. The document begins with historical information on the music, discussing its specific genres, tablature, and origins. Further, three composers, Luis Milán (1500-1561), Luys de Narváez (fl. 1526-1549), and Alonso Mudarra (1508-1580), are discussed in detail. This study examines and offers insight into their lives and musical style. Eventually, my work in this area will expand to include the seven major vihuela composers. In later chapters, issues of performance practice are discussed, such as ornamentation, voice type, diction of early Spanish, and choice of instrument. Because so little has been written about this music in comparison to other genres of accompanied solo song, research posed no small challenge. The writings of John Ward and John Griffiths have been especially helpful. Both of these scholars have devoted their lives to this music and remain among the most respected experSts in the field. Their writings extensively informed this study. A unique part of our investigation is a section on the guitarist-singer collaboration. While there are many books dedicated to the pianist-singer collaboration, none familiar to me have been written on the collaboration between guitarist and singer. My own expertise as a performer served as the chief source of information. This section guides people in making the collaboration as effective as possible. Finally, as resource material, this study includes song texts and translations for compositions of the three composers discussed in detail
Stimulus-Specific Adaptation in the Inferior Colliculus of the Anesthetized Rat
[EN]To identify sounds as novel, there must be some neural representation of commonly occurring sounds. Stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA) is a reduction in neural response to a repeated sound. Previous studies using an oddball stimulus paradigm have shown that SSA occurs at the cortex, but this study demonstrates that neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) also show strong SSA using this paradigm. The majority (66%) of IC neurons showed some degree of SSA. Approximately 18% of neurons showed near-complete SSA. Neurons with SSA were found throughout the IC. Responses of IC neurons were reduced mainly during the onset component of the response, and latency was shorter in response to the oddball stimulus than to the standard. Neurons with near-complete SSA were broadly tuned to frequency, suggesting a high degree of convergence. Thus, some of the mechanisms that may underlie novelty detection and behavioral habituation to common sounds are already well developed at the midbrain
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Evaluation of Oregon Tack Coat Performance to Reduce Tracking and Increase Interlayer Shear Strength of Asphalt Pavements
CSS-1H is the most commonly used slow-setting emulsion grade in Oregon. “New” engineered emulsions were recently developed in Oregon to reduce tracking, the pick-up of tack coats by construction vehicle tires during construction activities, and increase interlayer shear strength (ISS), the amount of adhesive bond present between layers of asphalt pavement. Tracking reduces the amount of tack coat in particular areas and creates a non-uniform tack coat distribution between two pavement layers. The non-uniform tack coat distribution leads to localized distresses and significant reductions in interlayer shear strength, leading to complete failure of the pavement structure. The magnitude of this effect and performance of the tack coat is dependent on tack coat type, residual application rate, temperature, existing surface condition (cracked, milled, overlay), and curing time.
For this reason, reducing tracking and increasing interlayer shear strength between pavement layers becomes vital to the longevity of the pavement structure. The performance (ability to reduce tracking and increase ISS) of these emulsions, most effective application rates, the effects of pavement surface texture and traffic on ISS, and curing times were evaluated in this study.
Results show that lower temperatures and increased application rates lead to longer curing times, while higher wind speeds will reduce curing times. The results indicate that tracking will decrease with increased curing time. Results show that a positive correlation between pavement surface texture and interlayer shear strength exists and that milled surfaces provide significantly higher ISS than non-milled overlay surfaces. The results indicated that there are positive correlations between rheological tests and interlayer shear strengths from field cores. The results also showed significant variances in application rates by distributor trucks. Hence there is a need for unified guidelines on tack coat QC/QA and construction practices
A Search for Li in Stars with Planets
Using very high-resolution (R 125,000) and high quality (S/N
350) spectra, we have searched for Li in stars hosting extra-solar
planets. From detailed profile-fitting of the Li {\sc i} resonance line at
6707.7 \AA, we find no significant amount of Li relative to the Li
for any of 8 planet bearing stars (Li/Li 0.0 - 0.03) with a
strong Li {\sc i} lines. In particular, we do not confirm the presence of
Li with Li/Li = 0.13 reported by Israelian et al.(2001) for
HD 82943, a star with two known planets. Several of the 8 stars plus HD 219542
A, the planet-less primary of a binary, have been identified in the literature
as possible recipients of accreted terrestrial material. For all of the
planet-hosting stars and an additional 5 planet-less stars, we find no
Li.Comment: Accepted for MNRAS, 18 pages (12 figures included
Statistical Searches for Microlensing Events in Large, Non-Uniformly Sampled Time-Domain Surveys: A Test Using Palomar Transient Factory Data
Many photometric time-domain surveys are driven by specific goals, such as
searches for supernovae or transiting exoplanets, which set the cadence with
which fields are re-imaged. In the case of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF),
several sub-surveys are conducted in parallel, leading to non-uniform sampling
over its footprint. While the median PTF field has been imaged 40 times in \textit{R}-band,
have been observed 100 times. We use PTF data to
study the trade-off between searching for microlensing events in a survey whose
footprint is much larger than that of typical microlensing searches, but with
far-from-optimal time sampling. To examine the probability that microlensing
events can be recovered in these data, we test statistics used on uniformly
sampled data to identify variables and transients. We find that the von Neumann
ratio performs best for identifying simulated microlensing events in our data.
We develop a selection method using this statistic and apply it to data from
fields with 10 -band observations, light curves,
uncovering three candidate microlensing events. We lack simultaneous,
multi-color photometry to confirm these as microlensing events. However, their
number is consistent with predictions for the event rate in the PTF footprint
over the survey's three years of operations, as estimated from near-field
microlensing models. This work can help constrain all-sky event rate
predictions and tests microlensing signal recovery in large data sets, which
will be useful to future time-domain surveys, such as that planned with the
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ. fixed author
lis
An in-vitro evaluation of mechanical and esthetic properties of orthodontic sealants.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate mechanical and esthetic Properties of two commercially available orthodontic sealants: Opal(®)Seal (OS) and L.E.D. Pro Seal (PS).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Discs of each sealant were prepared to test the following properties: Micro hardness, wear resistance and color stability. Samples were randomly selected after the wear test for SEM imaging to analyze surface morphology.
RESULTS: OS was significantly harder than PS (P \u3c 0.001). PS was significantly more wear resistant than OS (P \u3c 0.05). PS showed a greater ∆E*ab (increased staining) when placed in wine or coffee showing a significant difference (P \u3c 0.05). SEM showed particle size, shape and distribution were different for PS and OS reflecting the pattern seen on wear surfaces.
CONCLUSION: Both orthodontic sealants are beneficial for protecting enamel. However with better wear properties PS was superior in resisting mechanical stresses. OS was more color stable
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