Vista Hills Vineyard: Wine Industry Exploration Internship

This presentation on wine industry exploration at Vista Hills Vineyard was given by Lindsay Gardner as part of her Kemper Internship during 2009

The Acquisition of SM Energy as a Proposed Strategy of Growth for Chevron Corporation

The Energy Industry is worth $7.5 Trillion. As traditional sources of energy production become more costly to obtain due to scarcity of natural resources and a volatile international political climate, it is imperative that the United States be able to self-sufficiently produce sustainable energy. Chevron Corp. is a global company in the Energy Industry with Net Sales of$230.09 B and a market share of 3.60% in 2012. Extensive analysis of the External Industry Environment and a Company Assessment lead to the formation of the acquisition of SM Energy as a proposed strategy for Chevron Corp. growth. The acquisition would increase Chevron Corp.’s Exploration and Production Market Segment with domestic production of natural gas, allowing Chevron Corp. to recapture lost market share, while maintaining its commitment to “finding newer, cleaner ways to power the world” (Chevron, 2013). Chevron Corp. is ranked as the eighth producer of Energy in the world, facing competition from Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, PetroChina, Eni S.P.A, Conocco Phillips, Occidental Petroleum, and others. The Industry as a whole is experiencing increasing demand for energy as populations and standards of living rise in developing countries. Access to the oil supply is becoming increasingly difficult, so employing competitive technology is vital for success in maintaining and sustaining market share. The threat of Global Warming drives innovative technologies as sustainability becomes central to solving not only the environmental problems, but also to meet increasing demand. Chevron Corp.’s largest market segment is Exploration and Production, and it has been increasing revenue for the last ten years. Chevron Corp.’s net sales for 2012 were $230.09 billion. Chevron Corp. expects global energy demand to increase 53% between 2008 and 2035. The price of Natural Gas has experienced a 5.6% growth from 2013 to 2014, while Natural Gas Exports have increased by 5.9%. Due to increased domestic production and low prices relative to markets outside of the United States, projected exports have increased by 140% between the Annual Energy Report of 2013 and 2014. SM Energy is an independently competitive company that operates in four regions of the United States and is engaged in the Exploration and Production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in onshore North America. It operates in the Mid-Continent, Rocky Mountain, Permian, and South Texas & Gulf Coast regions. The acquisition of SM Energy, with domestic natural gas resources, is a way for Chevron Corp. to maintain and increase its market share. This Undergraduate Research project examined the External Environment, Industry Analysis, and Company Assessment using Strategic Management Methodologies. Then applied these findings to real strategies for our case subject, Chevron Corporation, in order to maintain competitive market advantage and increase or maintain market share

Managing self-access language learning: principles and practice

This paper is based on a research project looking at the management of self-access language learning (SALL) from the perspective of the managers of self-access centres. It looks at the factors which influence the practice of seven managers of self-access language learning in tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. The discussion centres around five themes: how managers interpret key concepts within the field of learner autonomy and self-access learning, the managers' beliefs about self-access language learning and the factors which influenced them, the purpose of a self-access centre, and the factors which influence the implementation of self-access learning. Our conclusion is that managing self-access language learning is a complex process and unique to each context but there are underlying principles for effective management of SALL. We identify five of these principles. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.postprin

Interactive 3-D Visualization: A tool for seafloor navigation, exploration, and engineering

Recent years have seen remarkable advances in sonar technology, positioning capabilities, and computer processing power that have revolutionized the way we image the seafloor. The massive amounts of data produced by these systems present many challenges but also offer tremendous opportunities in terms of visualization and analysis. We have developed a suite of interactive 3-D visualization and exploration tools specifically designed to facilitate the interpretation and analysis of very large (10\u27s to 100\u27s of megabytes), complex, multi-component spatial data sets. If properly georeferenced and treated, these complex data sets can be presented in a natural and intuitive manner that allows the integration of multiple components each at their inherent level of resolution and without compromising the quantitative nature of the data. Artificial sun-illumination, shading, and 3-D rendering can be used with digital bathymetric data (DTM\u27s) to form natural looking and easily interpretable, yet quantitative, landscapes. Color can be used to represent depth or other parameters (like backscatter or sediment properties) which can be draped over the DTM, or high resolution imagery can be texture mapped on bathymetric data. When combined with interactive analytical tools, this environment has facilitated the use of multibeam sonar and other data sets in a range of geologic, environmental, fisheries, and engineering applications

An Examination Of Trust In Contemporary American Society

It is hard to imagine a society functioning in the absence of trust. From the smallest incident—crossing the street when the light is green—to the most consequential events—a government fulfilling its pledge to pay Social Security—individuals must be able to rely on individuals and institutions to behave in a reliable and trustworthy manner. When trust is absent, chaos ensues. Of course, trust should not be given blindly; authentic trust needs to be earned and renewed (Fukuyama, 1995; Putnam, 2000)

Nurses and midwives in north Australia: a survey of their long-term conditions and how they manage them

Background/Aims: Although nurses and midwives are ageing, are in short supply, and they comprise the largest proportion of the health workforce, very little is known about how they manage any personal long-term conditions. This study aimed to identify the types and impacts of reported long-term conditions, and to identify strategies used to self-manage these conditions. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. All nurses and midwives employed by the Health Service were sent a paper-based questionnaire, comprising six sections; 665 (30.9%) completed surveys were returned. The questionnaires were anonymous, and took no more than 25 minutes to complete; less if the nurse/midwife reported no long-term conditions. Results: Approximately two-thirds (n=401) reported having at least one long-term condition; musculoskeletal conditions were most frequently identified. More experienced nurses/midwives reported having more than one long-term condition. More than one quarter (n=107) identified conditions relating to mental health and wellbeing. Respondents were more likely to use personal than workplace-related strategies for managing their long-term conditions. Conclusion: Although this is a non-representative sample, it is evident that nurses and midwives struggle with their own long-term conditions. The lower uptake of employer-provided strategies needs to be examined to minimise the loss of nurses and midwives from the workforce. This study has informed a similar study being undertaken with doctors and health practitioners in the Health Service; a larger cohort study involving nurses and midwives across metropolitan, rural and remote areas is recommended

“I am a Runner”: A qualitative analysis of women-runners’ pregnancy experiences

Background Women runners are a group with potential for health maintenance and health promotion in pregnancy. When providers counsel women to discontinue or cut back on running without cause, an opportunity for health benefits to both woman and baby may be lost. Aim This study aims to explicate the experience women runners have in pregnancy to further providers’ understanding of this population’s unique needs. Methods An online, qualitative inquiry was employed to explore the experiences of an online community of women runners in pregnancy (N = 22). The Doing Pregnancy framework provided guidance for final stages of the analysis. Findings Four themes emerged, explicating a process for “Doing Pregnancy” as a woman-runner: (1) I am a runner; (2) running tunes me into my pregnant body; (3) adjusting to pregnancy’s changes; and (4) trusting my instincts & knowledge vs. listening to others. Discussion Women’s sense of embodiment caused them to feel strongly tuned into the needs of their maternal-fetal dyad and to trust that they knew what was healthy regarding running during pregnancy. When provider advice was conflicting or was not evidence-based, women lost trust in their providers. Conclusion Providers caring for women runners should recognize running as a key piece of their identities and enter into shared partnership as women navigate changes in pregnancy. Women have a strong sense of embodiment and are tuned into the needs of their body as well as the needs of their baby

Capacitance matrix technique for avoiding spurious eigenmodes in the solution of hydrodynamic stability problems by Chebyshev collocation method

We present a simple technique for avoiding physically spurious eigenmodes that often occur in the solution of hydrodynamic stability problems by the Chebyshev collocation method. The method is demonstrated on the solution of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation for plane Poiseuille flow. Following the standard approach, the original fourth order differential equation is factorised into two second-order equations using a vorticity-type auxiliary variable with unknown boundary values which are then eliminated by a capacitance matrix approach. However the elimination is constrained by the conservation of the structure of matrix eigenvalue problem, it can be done in two basically different ways. A straightforward application of the method results in a couple of physically spurious eigenvalues which are either huge or close to zero depending on the way the vorticity boundary conditions are eliminated. The zero eigenvalues can be shifted to any prescribed value and thus removed by a slight modification of the second approach.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, minor revision, to appear in J. Comp. Phy

Investigating the geochemical controls on Pb bioaccessibility in urban agricultural soils to inform sustainable site management

The solid-phase speciation of contaminants in soil plays a major role in regulating both the environmental mobility of contaminants and their bioavailability in biological receptors such as humans. With the increasing prevalence of urban agriculture, in tandem with growing evidence of the negative health impacts of even low levels of exposure to Pb, there is a pressing need to provide regulators with a relevant evidence base on which to build human health risk assessments and construct sustainable site management plans. We detail how the solid-phase fractionation of Pb from selected urban agricultural soil samples, using sequential extraction, can be utilised to interpret the bioaccessible fraction of Pb and ultimately inform sustainable site management plans. Our sequential extraction data shows that the Pb in our urban soils is primarily associated with Al oxide phases, with the second most important phase associated with either Fe oxyhydroxide or crystalline FeO, and only to a limited extent with Ca carbonates. We interpret the co-presence of a P component with the Al oxide cluster to indicate the soils contain Pb phosphate type minerals, such as plumbogummite (PbAl3(PO4)2(OH)5·H2O), as a consequence of natural “soil aging” processes. The presence of Pb phosphates, in conjunction with our biomonitoring data, which indicates the lack of elevated blood Pb levels in our gardeners compared to their non-gardening neighbours, suggests the (legacy) Pb in these soils has been rendered relatively immobile. This study has given confidence to the local authority regulators, and the gardeners, that these urban gardens can be safe to use, even where soil Pb levels are up to ten times above the UK’s recommended lead screening level. The advice to our urban gardeners, based on our findings, is to carry on gardening but follow recommended good land management and hygiene practices