Using the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System as a global timing system

The application of NAVSTAR GPS to the problems of PTTI dissemination is discussed. A short review of the GPS concept lead to a detailed description of the implementation of time transfer through NAVSTAR GPS. Time was followed from the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) through the ground control, satellite, and receiving segments of GPS to the user's clock system. The three options by which a user's system can receive from the GPS receivers, currently under development by the DOD, are defined in detail. The electrical/digital/mechanical interface parameters along with suggested methods for their use are outlined for each option. A detailed error model is also presented for the traceability of UTC (GPS) to UTC (USNO). Real time synchronization between stationary users on the time continent can be controlled to within a few nanoseconds, and absolute post processed time offset with UTC (USNO) measured within 25 nanoseconds or better. A discussion of some of the potential work around techniques and their applications are included

Analysis and testing of numerical formulas for the initial value problem

Three computer programs for evaluating and testing numerical integration formulas used with fixed stepsize programs to solve initial value systems of ordinary differential equations are described. A program written in PASCAL SERIES, takes as input the differential equations and produces a FORTRAN subroutine for the derivatives of the system and for computing the actual solution through recursive power series techniques. Both of these are used by STAN, a FORTRAN program that interactively displays a discrete analog of the Liapunov stability region of any two dimensional subspace of the system. The derivatives may be used by CLMP, a FORTRAN program, to test the fixed stepsize formula against a good numerical result and interactively display the solutions

An evaluation of hospital breastfeeding policies in the Philadelphia metropolitan area 1994-2009: a comparison with the baby-friendly hospital initiative ten steps.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe current breastfeeding policies and practices among Philadelphia, PA metropolitan hospitals and changes in their policies and practices over time. METHODS: In-person group interviews were conducted to obtain a composite picture of actual breastfeeding policies and practices. One questionnaire per hospital was completed based on responses from group consensus. Twenty-five hospitals providing maternity care were contacted. Information was obtained from personnel representing different areas of maternity services. Hospitals were classified according to the degree to which they were implementing the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. RESULTS: Mean breastfeeding rates at suburban hospitals were significantly higher than urban hospitals (72% vs. 49%, p = 0.015). Most hospitals were classified as high or moderately high implementers on six of the Ten Steps, including staff training (67%), printed information distributed to breastfeeding mothers (94%), breastfeeding initiation (61%), oral breastfeeding instruction given to mothers (83%), infant feeding schedules (89%), and hospital postpartum support (83%). Most hospitals reported partial or low implementation on two maternity practices: infant formula supplementation (61%) and rooming-in (72%). CONCLUSIONS: In the past 15 years, hospitals in the Philadelphia area have an increased awareness about breastfeeding and enhanced support of breastfeeding by healthcare professionals. In spite of an increase in overall breastfeeding rates, formula supplementation in hospitals and contact time between mothers and their newborns continue to be areas of concern

ADR: An Eclectic Array ofProcesses, Rather ThanOne Eclectic Process

When mediators try to resolve a controversy by providing their analysis of the legal – or other – merits, they are providing the service that judges, arbitrators and neutral experts provide. In essence, such endeavors use the neutral’s judgment, award or opinion to determine or jump-start a resolution. This article urges that this add-on activity to mediation should be called by its proper name. The essay highlights the advantages of calling mediation plus evaluation a mixed process and discusses the advantages of having an eclectic and diverse mix of processes from which parties and counsel can choose to promote party choice and self-determination

Evaluative Meditation Is An Oxymoron

An essential characteristic of mediation is facilitated negotiation wherein the mediator remains neutral throughout the process. Inconsistent with this role is an evaluative mediator who assesses the strengths and weaknesses of legal claims, proposes settlement terms, pushes parties to accept a particular settlement, and predicts court outcomes or the impact of not settling. A mediator’s assessment invariably favors one side over the other and jeopardizes neutrality. This article argues that mediation should stand as a distinct and clear-cut alternative to the evaluative and frequently highly-adversarial adjudicatory processes and that mediators should not evaluate

Inevitability of the Eclectic: Liberating ADR from Ideology, The

In this essay, I continue to argue against such rigid characterization of the mediation enterprise and in favor of what I term an eclectic approach to mediation. The eclectic style is one in which a mediator - while maintaining neutrality and impartiality at all times - attempts to both assist the disputants in finding acceptable solutions on their own and also remains free to provide necessary guidance as to the outcomes that might obtain in the legal regime that will govern their dispute should no agreement result from the mediation. In short, my view of good mediation practice is one where the mediator may employ both facilitative and evaluative techniques in order to assist the parties. Permissible mediation conduct should vary not according to some ironclad formula but should instead reflect the personal style of the mediator as well as the desires of the disputants and the context and nature of the dispute.