A Graphical User Interface using Spatiotemporal Interpolation to determine Fine Particulate Matter Values in the United States

Fine particulate matter or PM2.5 can be described as a pollution particle that has a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller. These pollution particle values are measured by monitoring sites installed across the United States throughout the year. While these values are helpful, a lot of areas are not accounted for as scientists are not able to measure all of the United States. Some of these unmeasured regions could be reaching high PM2.5 values over time without being aware of it. These high values can be dangerous by causing or worsening health conditions, such as cardiovascular and lung diseases. Within this study, fine particulate matter values were interpolated at centroids of all counties in the United States throughout 2009 using the Python programming language and a spatiotemporal Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation method. Machine learning concepts, such as ten-fold cross-validation, and error statistics were used to assess the accuracy of the estimated PM2.5 values. The created Python programs display a graphical user interface for easy interaction between a user and the system. This allows the system to be used by more than just experts. The values reported in this study can also be used to determine if unmeasured county areas are reaching unsafe PM2.5 values throughout the year

Healthy Eating Opportunities and Choices for University Faculty

College food environments can be obesogenic settings due to the availability of fast food restaurants and buffet style cafeteria’s accessible to the university community. These environments often foster eating behaviors that can contribute to rising obesity rates in the United States. The aim of this study was to identify university faculty’s perceptions of the campus food environment and access to healthy foods. Investigated were barriers to making healthy food choices on campus and strategies ion how to provide and encourage better food choices. Questions were developed to identify barriers, perceptions, and solutions to improve the healthy eating environment on campus. Transcripts were analyzed and coded using a primarily deductive thematic approach based on the social-ecological model. Barriers identified to eating healthy on campus were; lackluster presentation of foods, poor availability of foods, lack of knowledge on healthy food availability, inaccurate nutritional information and portion sizes, and higher cost of healthier foods. Resolutions to creating a healthier eating environment included increasing availability of local produce, having easier access to healthy items, and marketing and providing nutrition information in all on-campus restaurants. Future efforts should invest in marketing to faculty about the nutrition resources available and how to effectively encourage the selection of healthy foods from campus dining venues

Survival of enterococcal and streptococcal species in natural waters

Survival capabilities of indicators of fecal pollution, such as enterococci, in the natural aquatic environment are of particular importance in proper management of a watershed. The Las Vegas Wash (LVW) is a naturally occurring and engineered tributary to Lake Mead; The ability of the Las Vegas Wash to sustain microbial viability over time was assessed utilizing ATCC cultures and environmentally isolated species. Wash water samples were autoclaved and seeded with known concentrations of enterococci. Microcosms were incubated at 25°C, and decline was measured by heterotrophic plate counts at specific time intervals. Results of survival studies using ATCC derived species showed that the Wash could sustain microbial viability over extended periods of time, with the longest-lived species, E. faecium, surviving 74 days. Some isolates, however, were not able to persist in the oligotrophic environment of the wash and were not able to sustain viable cell counts past three weeks. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Soil genesis and classification of brown iron ore spoils on the western highland rim in Tennessee

A pedologic investigation was conducted on the Western Highland Rim in Tennessee on 140-170 year old brown iron ore spoils. The ore had formed in pockets at the interface between Mississippian Limestone and the overlying Cretaceous sands and gravels. The objectives of this study were to 1) assess soil development on brown iron ore spoils; 2) compare properties in spoils to those in adjacent undisturbed soils; and 3) classify the spoils using Soil Taxonomy and the West Virginia Minesoil Classification System. Two minesoil profiles (spoils) and two soil profiles on adjacent undisturbed soils (native) were sampled and described according to National Cooperative Soil Survey Standards. Total carbon, free iron, total elemental analysis, pH, exchangeable bases, cation exchange capacity, and exchangeable acidity were selected for laboratory chemical analysis. Variances of selected chemical properties were compared between sites using a grid sampling design and Hartley\u27s test for homogeneity of variances. Differences in origin of overburden material and the degree of weathering prior to disturbance accounted for morphological and chemical differences between the spoils. Spoil 1 had developed a cambic horizon and spoil 2 had not developed a diagnostic subsurface horizon. Bridging voids were observed in both spoils but not in the native soils. The spoils were enriched with iron oxides due to their association with the iron ore mining. Clay free ratios of fine sand to total sand plus silt [fs:(ts + si)] and titanium to zirconium (Ti/Zr) ratios consistently identified either differences between horizons and/or lithologic discontinuities of parent material designated by field morphology for all study sites. Variations for total carbon, total aluminum, barium, manganese, phosphorus, titanium, and zirconium between 40-60 cm were not consistently significantly different between spoils and the native pedons at a 0.05 alpha level. Properties defined for the Spolent suborder, of the West Virginia Minesoil Classification System, better described the spoil properties than Soil Taxonomy. Spoil 1 classified as a clayey, mixed, acid thermic Cherty Udispolept and spoil 2 classified as a clayey-skeletal, mixed, acid, thermic Cherty Udispolent using a slight modification of the West Virginia Minesoil Classification system

Augusta Faro em Tradução: Scrap Heap

Tradução de: Alison Entrekin

Retention Management Of Critical (Core) Employees A Challenging Issue Confronting Organisations In The 21st Century

Employee retention is one of the challenges facing many business organisations today. Many industries are afflicted with high demand for specialised employees and are also suffering high levels of turnover. We have moved into a knowledge-based society where human capital is considered a key resource and a competitive business advantage. The high attrition rate of critical (core) employees is costly to corporations. Loss of these high talent employees results in the stripping of valuable human capital, critical skills and institutional memory. Consequently, companies are giving increased attention to ways of retaining their high performing employees rather than relying on costly replacement and retraining. New paradigm companies recognise that an important element in business management practices is the need to successfully motivate and retain employees who survive organisational restructuring, downsizing, consolidation, reorganising or re-engineering initiatives. This paper examines the current human resource practices on the retention of core employees in twelve Australian organisations. It explores the relationship between human resource (HR) practices and retention and further identifies the elements of HR practices, which strongly influence the decision for core employees to stay. It is part of a three phased study and the methodologies discussed in this paper consist of a) a Delphi survey of expert opinions and b) an in-depth interview of HR Managers of organisations. Results from this study will assist in the development of an effective HRM retention program for organisations. Businesses can successfully keep critical employees with a total retention strategy and HR programs to support it

Developing a Set of Scenarios for Enhancing Student Awareness of Business Ethical Issues

This paper reports on a study of ethical issues as identified in the Information Systems literature. The review of the literature was conducted with the aim of identifying categories of ethical issues posed by computing related technologies. It uses the categories identified there to build a set of scenarios for use in the classroom with the objective of raising student awareness of those issues. The paper draws on previous work and previously developed scenarios, and the authors’ classroom experience with those scenarios, to provide a new set related to the literature. The set is provided as part of this paper and colleagues are invited to use it as part of their teaching and for additional research. It is hoped that such use will continue the refinement of the scenarios