Intimate Partner Violence in Immigrant/Refugee Populations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common type of violence affecting women. Globally, Central Africa and South Asia have some of the highest rates of IPV. In Vermont, the majority of refugees are from these regions. Individual, interpersonal, and especially cultural values play critical roles in the definition/appraisal and decision to seek help in these women. This study examines ways to mitigate challenges that healthcare professionals have in identifying women who need help and barriers preventing these women from seeking help.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1276/thumbnail.jp

Advanced Computed Tomography Inspection System (ACTIS): An overview of the technology and its application

The Advanced Computed Tomography Inspection System (ACTIS) was developed by NASA Marshall to support solid propulsion test programs. ACTIS represents a significant advance in state-of-the-art inspection systems. Its flexibility and superior technical performance have made ACTIS very popular, both within and outside the aerospace community. Through technology utilization efforts, ACTIS has been applied to inspection problems in commercial aerospace, lumber, automotive, and nuclear waste disposal industries. ACTIS has been used to inspect items of historical interest. ACTIS has consistently produced valuable results, providing information which was unattainable through conventional inspection methods. Although many successes have already been shown, the full potential of ACTIS has not yet been realized. It is currently being applied in the commercial aerospace industry by Boeing. Smaller systems, based on ACTIS technology, are becoming increasingly available. This technology has much to offer the small business and industry, especially in identifying design and process problems early in the product development cycle to prevent defects. Several options are available to businesses interested in this technology

Predicting the Sun's Polar Magnetic Fields with a Surface Flux Transport Model

The Sun's polar magnetic fields are directly related to solar cycle variability. The strength of the polar fields at the start (minimum) of a cycle determine the subsequent amplitude of that cycle. In addition, the polar field reversals at cycle maximum alter the propagation of galactic cosmic rays throughout the heliosphere in fundamental ways. We describe a surface magnetic flux transport model that advects the magnetic flux emerging in active regions (sunspots) using detailed observations of the near-surface flows that transport the magnetic elements. These flows include the axisymmetric differential rotation and meridional flow and the non-axisymmetric cellular convective flows (supergranules) all of which vary in time in the model as indicated by direct observations. We use this model with data assimilated from full-disk magnetograms to produce full surface maps of the Sun's magnetic field at 15-minute intervals from 1996 May to 2013 July (all of sunspot cycle 23 and the rise to maximum of cycle 24). We tested the predictability of this model using these maps as initial conditions, but with daily sunspot area data used to give the sources of new magnetic flux. We find that the strength of the polar fields at cycle minimum and the polar field reversals at cycle maximum can be reliably predicted up to three years in advance. We include a prediction for the cycle 24 polar field reversal.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, ApJ accepte

Bomb radiocarbon and tag-recapture dating of sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus)

The sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) was the cornerstone species of western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico large coastal shark fisheries until 2008 when they were allocated to a research-only fishery. Despite decades of fishing on this species, important life history parameters, such as age and growth, have not been well known. Some validated age and growth information exists for sandbar shark, but more comprehensive life history information is needed. The complementary application of bomb radiocarbon and tag-recapture dating was used in this study to determine valid age-estimation criteria and longevity estimates for this species. These two methods indicated that current age interpretations based on counts of growth bands in vertebrae are accurate to 10 or 12 years. Beyond these years, we could not determine with certainty when such an underestimation of age begins; however, bomb radiocarbon and tag-recapture data indicated that large adult sharks were considerably older than the estimates derived from counts of growth bands. Three adult sandbar sharks were 20 to 26 years old based on bomb radiocarbon results and were a 5- to 11-year increase over the previous age estimates for these sharks. In support of these findings, the tag-recapture data provided results that were consistent with bomb radiocarbon dating and further supported a longevity that exceeds 30 years for this species

The Market for Vice-Chancellors

How homogenous is the market for top managerial talent? We analyse data from university annual reports on Vice Chancellors’ remuneration for the period 1995-2002 and test to see whether there is alignment between the market for Vice-Chancellors and the market for CEOs in Australia. While the responsiveness of pay to institution size is not dissimilar, Vice-Chancellors receive on average about 60 percent less than CEOs. In addition, we also compare the remuneration of Australian Vice-Chancellors to those in the United States and the United Kingdom and find that the Australians receive the highest real remuneration when using purchasing power parity exchange rates. The remuneration of Australian Vice-Chancellors is even more attractive once taxation and quality of life factors are taken into consideration. We also construct a demographic profile of Vice-Chancellors, showing that relative to CEOs, Vice-Chancellors are appointed later in life and do not have shorter tenures. Regarding Vice-Chancellor backgrounds, there is an over-representation of Vice-Chancellors from social and pure sciences and an under-representation of Vice-Chancellors from management and commerce relative to the number of award completions in those areas.

How Different are Universities from Companies? Financial Reporting Perspectives and the Market for Vice Chancellors (Part 2)

The oldest university still in operation is approximately 1,750 years old (wordiQ.com, 2004). When compared to firms, universities have stood the test of time, while firms seem to lack longevity. The oldest listed firm still operating is around 225 years old (O’Hara and Mandel, 2004), a lifespan of approximately one-eighth that of the oldest university. Whilst this comparison involves extremes, it is still the case that the average university is much older than the average company. What distinctive features of universities promote their long lifespans? Summers (2003) argues that it is the importance placed on knowledge and ideas in universities that help them withstand the test of time. He goes further to suggest that corporations may do better in meeting their challenges if they adopt some of the features of the university model. However, over time, we have seen universities moving away from their traditional positions as nonprofit organisations to institutions that are concerned with their financial viability. To what extent are universities becoming transformed into corporations? There is evidence suggesting that earnings quality for universities has improved over time, consistent with the theory that universities face increased pressure to become more like corporates and for greater public accountability as they seek to raise revenue from non-traditional sources in the face of federal funding cuts to higher education. We look at two dimensions of earnings quality for Australian universities: one based on the adherence of financial statements to prescribed requirements and the second based on accruals and earnings persistence. Although universities are nominally nonprofit organisations, there is evidence that they behave like companies and have incentives to avoid reporting negative earnings results. However, there is little evidence of opportunistic accruals earnings management. How does leadership affect the dynamics of these organisations? We investigate this by looking at the workings of the market for Vice-Chancellors. A picture of the typical Vice-Chancellor emerges. We see that they are appointed at relatively older ages than CEOs in the private sector, although they do not have shorter tenure. On an international comparison between Vice-Chancellors, Australian Vice-Chancellors enjoy the highest real remuneration, favourable taxation arrangements and a better quality of life relative to their counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom. There is also a large disparity between the remuneration of Vice-Chancellors and CEOs, with the discount associated with university top management positions at 60 percent relative to the private sector. The evidence suggests that on the spectrum of organisation type from nonprofits to corporates, the traditional way in which we view universities as predominantly nonprofits is not consistent with the underlying behaviour of these institutions. This raises interesting implications for the future of higher education in Australia and the quality of the public good provided.