Web Single Sign-On Authentication using SAML

Companies have increasingly turned to application service providers (ASPs) or Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors to offer specialized web-based services that will cut costs and provide specific and focused applications to users. The complexity of designing, installing, configuring, deploying, and supporting the system with internal resources can be eliminated with this type of methodology, providing great benefit to organizations. However, these models can present an authentication problem for corporations with a large number of external service providers. This paper describes the implementation of Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) and its capabilities to provide secure single sign-on (SSO) solutions for externally hosted applications

Power Generation: A Non-Functional Subsystem

This paper endeavors to make clear the scope, breadth, diversity, and complexity of the power generation technical area insofar as Air Force interests are concerned. This will be done by presenting the non-functional character of power generation and the non-uniformity of specifying state-of-the-art. There follows an outlining of a means of categorization which encompasses power generation technology, functional subsystems and equipment, systems, and agencies influential upon power generation technology. A general approach to specifying power generation State of Technology will be suggested from the categorization

SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE UNDER THE 2002 FARM BILL: A REPRESENTATIVE FARMS APPROACH

The 2002 Farm Bill affects economic activity of farms and ranches in the southern United States. Using stochastic simulation techniques, key financial variables were projected for 39 representative farms and ranches in ten southern states. Results indicate 24 of 39 farms studied have more than a 40 percent likelihood of having annual cash flow deficits during the period 2002 through 2007. Results are largely consistent across commodities and between moderate and large size farms in the same geographic area.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Evaluating A Math Instructors Clarity: An Analysis Of Low-To-Moderate Items Versus A High Inference Item

Instructors and students identify communication skills as being essential to successful classroom teaching and student learning. This study investigates the stability of student evaluations with respect to items related to instructor’s clarity. The majority of student evaluations completed at the end of a semester at the college level contain a question directly related to clarity. A pilot study was conducted which utilized four finite mathematics courses being taught by the same instructor. After assessing reliability and validity, a follow-up study was conducted utilizing four sections of introductory statistics employing the same design as the pilot. Ninety-four students completed some component of the researcher-constructed evaluation resulting in an overall 96% response rate. Seventy-one students completed the entire evaluation, allowing for a comparison between the high inference and the low-to-moderate inference items used to measure instructor’s clarity, resulting in a useable response rate of 72%. After a statistical transformation of the high inference item, descriptive statistics were produced for each type of item. Through a t-test, a statistically significant difference was found between the high and low-to-moderate clarity items. The difference between the types of clarity ratings was then analyzed via ANOVA techniques to explore differences by gender and expected course grade. Males tended to rate the instructor inconsistently, assigning lower ratings for the low-to-moderate inference items, while other ratings appear to demonstrate consistency

Exploring The Reliability, Validity, And Utility Of A Higher Education Faculty Review Process

Institutions of learning face significant calls for accountability, leading to an increased interest in measuring faculty performance. The purpose of this research is to describe and analyze the process of faculty evaluation in a college of education at a southeastern university. The process is outlined with attention given to the reliability, validity, and utility through documenting strengths and weaknesses. Included is a detailed review of the instruments utilized in the process.  Suggestions for improvements and modifications are central to the outcomes, including plans for aligning the process with relevant research.  The degree to which the faculty review process is deemed credible, professional, and relevant may serve as an indicator of the link between theory and practice.  Potential ramifications of a weak or bias system, as faculty promotion and tenure are intertwined with this process, are of utmost importance. Legal issues, including challenges, rise to the forefront.  This topic is of importance to students, faculty, and administrators, as all involved and impacted by the review process, either directly or indirectly.  The applicability of this work beyond the example institution is also addressed

Challenging the Validity of Higher Education Course Evaluations

In higher education, course evaluations are given much attention, with results directly impacting such events as merit review and tenure/promotion. The accurate presentation and proper use of the evaluation results is a critical issue. The typical course evaluation process involves distributing a Likert-type survey to a class, compiling the data and reporting means/standard deviations (classical test theory approach, CTT). One alternative analytical technique is the Rasch model. A theoretical review of each model and an empirical example utilizing end of semester course evaluations from an introductory statistics course taught at a Midwest community college is presented to demonstrate the step-by-step process of feedback via each model. A contention is made that the CTT summary is not producing a valid picture of the evaluation data. The survey research community and institutions analyzing similar rating scale data will benefit from the results of this study as it provides a sound methodology for analyzing such data. The education community will also benefit by receiving better-informed results

An Investigation Of 'Honesty Check' Items In Higher Education Course Evaluations

The reliability and validity of course evaluations in higher education is often assumed. The typical Likert-type surveys utilized when students' evaluate the course and instructor often overlook measurement issues, or deal with them in an ineffective manner. Given the importance that is placed on higher education course evaluations, with results impacting such events as merit raises and promotion, the proper construction and use of evaluation tools is a critical issue. In an effort to assure 'honesty' in student responses, many institutions include items written positively and negatively, which are intended to measure the same construct. Using 537 course evaluations for a mathematics faculty member at a Midwest college, an item analysis is conducted with attention given to means and standard deviations, frequency counts, nonparametric correlations and tests of significant differences between questions that should, in theory, produce a similar measure or exactly opposite. A contention is made that the way the item is asked does matter, at least in some instances, and it should not be assumed that an item written in the positive and negative should directly correlate. The survey research community and institutions utilizing similar rating scale instruments will benefit from the results of this study, as well as the education community in general

Professional decision-making in medicine: Development of a new measure and preliminary evidence of validity

INTRODUCTION: This study developed a new Professional Decision-Making in Medicine Measure that assesses the use of effective decision-making strategies: seek help, manage emotions, recognize consequences and rules, and test assumptions and motives. The aim was to develop a content valid measure and obtain initial evidence for construct validity so that the measure could be used in future research or educational assessment. METHODS: Clinical scenario-based items were developed based on a review of the literature and interviews with physicians. For each item, respondents are tasked with selecting two responses (out of six plausible options) that they would choose in that situation. Three of the six options reflect a decision-making strategy; these responses are scored as correct. Data were collected from a sample of 318 fourth-year medical students in the United States. They completed a 16-item version of the measure (Form A) and measures of social desirability, moral disengagement, and professionalism attitudes. Professionalism ratings from clerkships were also obtained. A sub-group (n = 63) completed a second 16-item measure (Form B) to pilot test the instrument, as two test forms are useful for pre-posttest designs. RESULTS: Scores on the new measure indicated that, on average, participants answered 75% of items correctly. Evidence for construct validity included the lack of correlation between scores on the measure and socially desirable responding, negative correlation with moral disengagement, and modest to low correlations with professionalism attitudes. A positive correlation was observed with a clerkship rating focused on professionalism in peer interactions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate modest proficiency in the use of decision-making strategies among fourth-year medical students. Additional research using the Professional Decision-Making Measure should explore scores among physicians in various career stages, and the causes and correlates of scores. Educators could utilize the measure to assess courses that teach decision-making strategies

Anatomy of the binary black hole recoil: A multipolar analysis

We present a multipolar analysis of the gravitational recoil computed in recent numerical simulations of binary black hole (BH) coalescence, for both unequal masses and non-zero, non-precessing spins. We show that multipole moments up to and including l=4 are sufficient to accurately reproduce the final recoil velocity (within ~2%) and that only a few dominant modes contribute significantly to it (within ~5%). We describe how the relative amplitudes, and more importantly, the relative phases, of these few modes control the way in which the recoil builds up throughout the inspiral, merger, and ringdown phases. We also find that the numerical results can be reproduced by an ``effective Newtonian'' formula for the multipole moments obtained by replacing the radial separation in the Newtonian formulae with an effective radius computed from the numerical data. Beyond the merger, the numerical results are reproduced by a superposition of three Kerr quasi-normal modes (QNMs). Analytic formulae, obtained by expressing the multipole moments in terms of the fundamental QNMs of a Kerr BH, are able to explain the onset and amount of ``anti-kick'' for each of the simulations. Lastly, we apply this multipolar analysis to help explain the remarkable difference between the amplitudes of planar and non-planar kicks for equal-mass spinning black holes.Comment: 28 pages, 20 figures, submitted to PRD; v2: minor revisions from referee repor