An Examination of Trust, Distrust, and Shared Leadership in Distributed Teams

As workforce globalization continues to rise, it becomes crucial to understand the impacts that team distribution may have on various team components. The present study aimed to address this question by identifying how partially distributed teams develop team trust, distrust, and shared leadership in comparison to face-to-face teams. Specifically, this lab based study examines team distribution as a contextual input variable. Consistent with the hypothesized model, results indicate that collocated teams have higher levels of trust, while distributed teams have higher levels of distrust. Further, teams that are collocated and have higher levels of trust tend to outperform their distributed counterparts. Surprisingly, there appeared to be no indirect effect between team trust or distrust and performance through shared leadership due to a lack of variability in shared leadership across the teams. Overall, this study highlights the importance of trust within collocated and distributed teams and assists in clarifying the construct confusion that presently exists between trust and distrust. Implications for theoretical development, practical application, and areas for future research are discussed

Demand response within the energy-for-water-nexus - A review. ESRI WP637, October 2019

A promising tool to achieve more flexibility within power systems is demand re-sponse (DR). End-users in many strands of industry have been subject to research up to now regarding the opportunities for implementing DR programmes. One sector that has received little attention from the literature so far, is wastewater treatment. However, case studies indicate that the potential for wastewater treatment plants to provide DR services might be significant. This review presents and categorises recent modelling approaches for industrial demand response as well as for the wastewater treatment plant operation. Furthermore, the main sources of flexibility from wastewater treatment plants are presented: a potential for variable electricity use in aeration, the time-shifting operation of pumps, the exploitation of built-in redundan-cy in the system and flexibility in the sludge processing. Although case studies con-note the potential for DR from individual WWTPs, no study acknowledges the en-dogeneity of energy prices which arises from a large-scale utilisation of DR. There-fore, an integrated energy systems approach is required to quantify system and market effects effectively

Perceptions of the Impact of Non-contact Boxing on Social and Community Engagement for Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease: A qualitative study

Purpose: To explore the perceptions of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) on their experiences within a community based, non-contact boxing program. Specifically, this study considered how these individuals perceived non-contact boxing to influence their social and community engagement and factors influencing ongoing participation in this program. Method: This was a phenomenological case study that utilized qualitative methods for data collection including semi-structured interviews and observation. Colaizzi’s method was used for data analysis. A convenience sample obtained from a boxing club that offered PD specific boxing classes was used. The sample included 10 participants (3 female, 7 male) ranging in age from 52 to 84 years. Participants typically attended a 75 minute boxing class two to three times per week. Results: The exhaustive description of the phenomenon was that individuals with PD have a strong desire to maintain the life they had prior to their diagnosis and chose activities, such as non-contact boxing, which supported their ability to sustain that lifestyle. Two themes were identified which included 1) “The people I’ve met here and spent time with will be friends forever” and 2) “I don’t have to be Muhammed Ali. It’s not about that.” Conclusions: This study provided a basic understanding of the subjective experiences of individuals with PD who participated in non-contact boxing. Findings demonstrated that non-contact boxing facilitates the growth of supportive relationship for individuals with PD. The study also found that individuals with PD believe non-contact boxing provided a variety of physical, cognitive, and emotional benefits which facilitated their ability to maintain participation in valued activities

Models of demand response and an application for wastewater treatment plants1. ESRI Research Bulletin February 2020/04

Demand response can be defined as any change of the usual electricity demand pattern in response to a price signal from the electricity supplier. It is widely seen as a promising tool to increase energy system flexibility: electricity demand can increase when there is a surplus of electricity available, such as when wind levels are high, and can reduce when there is a shortage of electricity. In the industrial sector in particular, the potential for demand response can be significant. This is because electricity costs can be a big share of total costs and therefore there is a strong incentive to reduce electricity expenditures in order to be competitive. However, to date, the demand response from industrial electricity users has only been examined in a generic way, without taking account of their specific characteristics. Any results arising from these examinations are therefore of limited use for policy makers and industry participants

Advancing the Future of Nursing: A Report by the Building Academic Geriatric Nursing

In the United States, the number of older adults will double during the next 25 years (United States Census Bureau, 2008). This dramatic demographic shift is changing the landscape of health care practice as more people live longer with multiple chronic conditions. To better prepare nurses to care for this future population, the John A. Hartford Foundation partnered with the American Academy of Nursing in 2000 to launch the Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity (BAGNC) program. Since that time, 251 scholarships and fellowships have been awarded to nurses to advance geriatric nursing education, research, and practice. In 2009, the BAGNC nurse scholars and fellows formed an alumni organization to expand and continue their leadership development through peer networking and mentored policy initiatives. The BAGNC Alumni organization represents an elite set of new leaders in gerontological nursing to advance geriatric nursing education, research, and practice (Fagin, 2012). To this end, at the 2011 Council for Advancement of Nursing Science\u27s Special Topics Meeting, the BAGNC Alumni presented their ongoing and completed projects that relate to the Institute of Medicine (2011) (IOM) report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Summaries of the individual presentations from this panel addressed the four key IOM messages and are presented in this article to highlight the action of these scholars and fellows

Modelling demand response with process models and energy systems models: Potential applications for wastewater treatment within the energy-water nexus

A promising tool to achieve more flexibility within power systems is demand response (DR). End users in many strands of industry have been subject to research regarding the opportunities for implementing DR programmes. We review recent DR modelling approaches in the realm of energy systems models and industrial process models. We find that existing models over- or underestimate the available DR potential from an industrial end user for two main reasons. First, the interaction between power system operation and industrial process operation caused by DR is not taken into account. Second, models abstract from critical physical process constraints affecting the DR potential. To illustrate this, we discuss the wastewater treatment process as one industrial end user within the energy-water nexus, for which the lack of suitable modelling tools is affecting the accurate assessment of the DR potential. Case studies indicate the potential for wastewater treatment plants to provide DR, but no study acknowledges the endogeneity of energy prices which arises from a large-scale utilisation of DR. Therefore, we propose an integrated modelling approach, combining energy system optimisation with the level of operational detail in process simulation models. This will yield a higher level of accuracy regarding the assessment of DR potential from a specific process, such as wastewater treatment.Science Foundation IrelandESIPP UC

Retirements of Coal and Oil Power Plants in California: Association With Reduced Preterm Birth Among Populations Nearby.

Coal and oil power plant retirements reduce air pollution nearby, but few studies have leveraged these natural experiments for public health research. We used California Department of Public Health birth records and US Energy Information Administration data from 2001-2011 to evaluate the relationship between the retirements of 8 coal and oil power plants and nearby preterm (gestational age of <37 weeks) birth. We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis using adjusted linear mixed models that included 57,005 births-6.3% of which were preterm-to compare the probability of preterm birth before and after power plant retirement among mothers residing within 0-5 km and 5-10 km of the 8 power plants. We found that power plant retirements were associated with a decrease in the proportion of preterm birth within 5 km (-0.019, 95% CI: -0.031, -0.008) and 5-10 km (-0.015, 95% CI: -0.024, -0.007), controlling for secular trends with mothers living 10-20 km away. For the 0-5-km area, this corresponds to a reduction in preterm birth from 7.0% to 5.1%. Subgroup analyses indicated a potentially larger association among non-Hispanic black and Asian mothers than among non-Hispanic white and Hispanic mothers and no differences in educational attainment. Future coal and oil power plant retirements may reduce preterm birth among nearby populations

Quantitation of drug sensitivity by human metastatic melanoma colony-forming units.

We measured the effect of 6 standard (Adriamycin, BCNU, DTIC, melphalan, vinblastine, actinomycin D) and 3 Phase II agents (cis-platinum, vindesine, AMSA) on melanoma colony-forming units (CFU) in soft agar from biopsies of 50 patients with metastatic melanoma. Melanoma CFU demonstrated marked heterogeneity in chemosensitivity to these 9 drugs. Reduction in survival of CFU below 38% at one-tenth the pharmacologically achievable 1h concentration (our operational definition of chemosensitivity) was obtained in only 19% of 200 in vitro trials, and was usually the same whether or not patients had been exposed to prior chemotherapy, suggesting that melanoma CFU are inherently resistant to presently available chemotherapeutic drugs. The soft-agar assay was 86% accurate (25/29 cases) in identifying drugs to which the tumour was resistant in vivo, and 63% accurate (12/19 trials) in identifying drugs to which the tumour was clinically sensitive, counting mixed responses as responses. In contrast, if mixed responses were classified as progressive disease, the accuracy of identification of sensitivity fell to 42% (8/19 trials). These investigations furnish a quantitative description of the chemosensitivity of human metastatic melanoma CFU. Additionally, these studies serve as a useful step towards the development of an in vitro chemosensitivity test for human melanoma, and provide an operational quantitative basis for further exploration of in vitro-directed therapy in metastatic neoplasms

Dog Training Intervention Shows Social-Cognitive Change in the Journals of Incarcerated Youth

There is limited research assessing the effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Therapy in at-risk adolescent populations. In a recent study, 138 adjudicated adolescents participated in a randomized controlled trial of an animal-assisted intervention, in which participants either trained shelter dogs (Teacher's Pet group) or walked the dogs (control group), with both groups participating in classroom work related to dogs (1). Journal writing was a part of class activities for all youth in the study. Conventional assessments of youth behavior made by staff or youth themselves did not demonstrate the expected differences between the groups favoring the dog training group, as youth in both groups showed a significant increase in staff and youth rated internalizing behavior problems and empathy from the beginning to the end of the project (1). However, subsequent analysis of the journal content from 73 of the adjudicated youth reported here, did reveal significant differences between treatment and control groups, favoring the Teacher's Pet group. Youth participating in the dog training intervention showed through their journal writing greater social-cognitive growth, more attachment, and more positive attitudes toward the animal-assisted intervention compared to youth in the control group. The 73 youth whose journals were available were very similar to youth in the larger group. Their results illustrate that journaling can be a useful method of assessing effects of similar animal-assisted interventions for at-risk youth. Writing done by youth receiving therapy appeared to promote self-reflection, desirable cognitive change, and prosocial attitudes that may signify improving quality of life for such youth. The expressive writing of participants could reveal important effects of treatment beyond the behavioral changes that are often the targeted outcomes of animal-assisted interventions

Deep Synoptic Array Science: Polarimetry of 25 New Fast Radio Bursts Provides Insights into their Origins

We report on a full-polarization analysis of the first 25 as yet non-repeating FRBs detected at 1.4 GHz by the 110-antenna Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-110) during commissioning observations. We present details of the data reduction, calibration, and analysis procedures developed for this novel instrument. The data have 32 $\mu$s time resolution and sensitivity to Faraday rotation measures (RMs) between $\pm10^{6}$rad m$^{-2}$. RMs are detected for 20 FRBs with magnitudes ranging from $4-4670$ rad m$^{-2}$. $9/25$ FRBs are found to have high ($\ge 70\%$) linear-polarization fractions. The remaining FRBs exhibit significant circular polarization ($3/25$), or are either partially depolarized ($8/25$) or unpolarized ($5/25$). We investigate the mechanism of depolarization, disfavoring stochastic RM variations within a scattering screen as a dominant cause. Polarization-state and possible RM variations are observed in the four FRBs with multiple sub-components, but only one other FRB shows a change in polarization state. We combine the DSA-110 sample with polarimetry of previously published FRBs, and compare the polarization properties of FRB sub-populations and FRBs with Galactic pulsars. Although FRBs are typically far more polarized than the average profiles of Galactic pulsars, and exhibit greater spread in polarization fractions than pulsar single pulses, we find a remarkable similarity between FRB polarization fractions and the youngest (characteristic ages $<10^{5}$ yr) pulsars. Our results support a scenario wherein FRB emission is intrinsically highly linearly polarized, and where propagation effects within progenitor magnetospheres can result in conversion to circular polarization and depolarization. Young pulsar emission and magnetospheric-propagation geometries may form a useful analogy for the origin of FRB polarization.Comment: 43 pages, 17 figure