Intuition in Nursing: Correlation with Area of Practice and Years of Experience in Registered Nurses in a Rural, Community Hospital

This study assessed the levels of intuition in nursing in relation to area of practice and years of experience. The goal was to provide data indicating whether or not levels of nursing intuition is affected by area of practice and years of experience in nursing. No relationship was found in regard to levels of intuition in nursing, area of practice, and years of nursing experience. Implications for nurse educators and nurse managers based on this finding suggested the importance of knowing the competency levels and intuitive abilities of nursing staff to help in the decision-making process of initial and ongoing education

The Role of Structural Dynamics and Testing in the Shuttle Flowliner Crack Investigation

During a normal inspection of the main propulsion system at Kennedy Space Center, small cracks were noticed near a slotted region of a gimbal joint flowliner located just upstream from one of the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME). These small cracks sparked an investigation of the entire Space Shuttle fleet main propulsion feedlines. The investigation was initiated to determine the cause of the small cracks and a repair method that would be needed to return the Shuttle fleet back to operation safely. The cracks were found to be initiated by structural resonance caused by flow fluctuations from the SSME low pressure fuel turbopump interacting with the flowliner. The pump induced backward traveling wakes that excited the liner and duct acoustics which also caused the liner to vibrate in complex mode shapes. The investigation involved an extensive effort by a team of engineers from the NASA civil servant and contractor workforce with the goal to characterize the root cause of the cracking behavior of the fuel side gimbal joint flowliners. In addition to working to identify the root cause, a parallel path was taken to characterize the material properties and fatigue capabilities of the liner material such that the life of the liners could be ascertained. As the characterization of the material and the most probable cause matured, the combination of the two with pump speed restrictions provided a means to return the Shuttle to flight in a safe manner. This paper traces the flowliner investigation results with respect to the structural dynamics analysis, component level testing and hot-fire flow testing on a static testbed. The paper will address the unique aspects of a very complex problem involving backflow from a high performance pump that has never been characterized nor understood to such detail. In addition, the paper will briefly address the flow phenomena that excited the liners, the unique structural dynamic modal characteristics and the variability of SSME operation which has ultimately ensured the safe and reliable operation of the shuttle main engines for each flight

Integer Echo State Networks: Hyperdimensional Reservoir Computing

We propose an approximation of Echo State Networks (ESN) that can be efficiently implemented on digital hardware based on the mathematics of hyperdimensional computing. The reservoir of the proposed Integer Echo State Network (intESN) is a vector containing only n-bits integers (where n<8 is normally sufficient for a satisfactory performance). The recurrent matrix multiplication is replaced with an efficient cyclic shift operation. The intESN architecture is verified with typical tasks in reservoir computing: memorizing of a sequence of inputs; classifying time-series; learning dynamic processes. Such an architecture results in dramatic improvements in memory footprint and computational efficiency, with minimal performance loss.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 1 tabl

Relationships between selected characteristics of Tennessee corn silage producers, their farm operations, extension contacts, and their use of selected production, harvesting, and storage practices

The major purpose of this study was to characterize Tennessee corn silage producers and their farming operations, their use of recommended production, harvesting, and storage practices, their contact with Extension agents and to determine the relationships between and among these variables. A total of 515 corn silage producers in 64 Tennessee counties were interviewed by Extension agents during the fall of 1985. The chi square test was used to determine the strength of the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Chi square values achieving the .05 level of probability were accepted as significant. Major findings include: 1. Ninety-three percent of the corn silage producers were full-time farmers and 78 percent were less than 56 years of age. The mean age was 46. 2. Seventy-four percent of the corn silage producers indicated dairy as their major source of farm income. ,p\u3e3. The mean acres of corn silage harvested was 57 and the mean yield was 18 tons per acre. 4. Farming status was not significantly related to the number of contacts corn silage producers had with Extension agents. Part-time farmers were as likely as full-time farmers to contact Extension. 5. Producers\u27 age was significantly related to the number of contacts producers had with Extension agents. Younger producers (age 40 or less) appeared to have more contacts with Extension than older producers (41 or older). However, the direction of the relationship could not be determined. 6. Producers 40 years and younger were more likely than older producers to plant a recommended early season variety of corn for silage, plant a recommended full season variety, use row spacings of 36 inches or less, and desire a higher corn plant population per acre. 7. Full-time farmers were more likely than part-time farmers to double crop corn silage, plant corn for silage in April, fertilize and lime by soil test recommendations, and use the U.T. soil testing lab. Full-time producers were more likely to harvest corn silage in the dent stage than part-time farmers. 8. Row crop producers were more likely than dairy or other producers to plant a recommended early or mid season variety. Dairy producers were more likely than row crop or other producers to double crop corn, plant some corn for silage in May, fertilize and lime by soil test recommendations, use the U.T. soil testing lab, apply more potash per acre of corn silage grown, apply one or more tons of lime per acre, harvest corn silage in the dent stage, and store corn silage in and upright silo. Row crop and dairy producers were more likely than others to plant some corn in April and harvest corn silage in the dough stage. 9. Eleven of the 25 selected production, harvesting, and storage practices studied were significantly related to the number of contacts corn silage producers had with Extension agents in 1985. The direction of relationship between Extension contacts and corn silage double cropped was inconclusive. Producers with a higher number of contacts (i.e., 4 or more) were more likely than others to scout corn silage for insects, plant a recommended full season variety, plant corn in rows 37 inches or wider, plant corn plants 7 to 9 inches in the row, fertilize and lime corn silage acreage by soil test, use the U.T. soil testing lab, average applying 101 to 149 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer per acre, average applying one or more tons of lime per acre, and harvest corn silage in the dough stage. Implications and recommendations were also made

Sisterhood as strategy : the collaborations of American women artists in the gilded age

Field of study: Art history and archaeology.Dr. Kristin Schwain, Dissertation Adviser.Includes vita.Pagination does not include pages 212-305."May 2018."This dissertation employs four case studies--illustrator Alice Barber Stephens in Philadelphia; Louisville-born sculptor Enid Yandell; photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston in Washington, D.C.; and the Newcomb College Pottery in New Orleans--to show how individual women artists from a variety of media utilized collaborative strategies to advance their professional careers. These strategies included mentoring, teaching, and sharing commissions with one another; establishing art organizations; sharing studio and living spaces; organizing and participating in all-female art exhibitions; and starting businesses to market their work. At a historical moment when expectations and ideas towards gender roles and feminine performance were shifting, these women artists negotiated these changes as well as those of a fine art world that was redefining itself in an increasingly consumer-based culture that challenged traditional definitions of the "professional" artist. "Sisterhood as Strategy" intersects with important work in the fields of American History, Women's and Gender Studies, and Art History. It bridges a gap between broad, cultural histories of women's artistic production and more focused scholarly studies on women's labor and organized womanhood. Indeed, this dissertation brings more specificity to these areas by focusing on particular artists who were highly acclaimed during their lifetime but who have since fallen through the cracks of the art historical canon and by attending to the wide array of genres and media that all artists, men and women, worked with during the era: illustration, photography, public sculpture, and the decorative arts. By analyzing the art produced as a result of collaboration; the artists' letters, photographs, and personal papers; and contemporary mass media, particularly art journals and popular ladies' magazines, this dissertation recovers the voices of artists who served as professional role models and creates a far more diverse picture of the people and art forms that constituted early modern American visual culture.Includes bibliographical references (pages 306-348)

Becky Sowerbutts and John Frady in a Joint Senior Recital

This is the program for the joint senior recital of soprano Becky Sowerbutts and tenor John Frady. Pianist Krisie Holmes accompanied Sowerbutts; pianist Terri Lucas accompanied Frady. The recital took place on March 7, 1991, in the Mabee Fine Arts Center Recital Hall