Local cultures in institutional contexts: The functions of academic departments in liberal arts colleges

The academic department remains understudied as a context of faculty work, particularly in institutional settings beyond the research university. In this article, we report findings from a study of faculty experiences within academic departments in liberal arts colleges, through analysis of interviews with 55 faculty members representing a 13-member consortium of liberal arts institutions in the mid-western U.S. Through inductive analysis and deductive coding from existing models, we identified five functions of departments in liberal arts colleges, including: (a) faculty hiring, retention, and promotion; (b) new faculty socialization; (c) informal interactions, mentoring, and network-building; (d) establishing and communicating institutional and departmental policies, practices, and procedures; and (e) the structuring of academic work. Findings suggest that departmental functions in liberal arts colleges are generally the same as those in other institution types, but play out differently and thus have different consequences for academic careers. Across functions, liberal arts colleges seem to be undergoing an evolution, or perhaps revolution, that has implications for academic work in such contexts

Systems Alignment for Comprehensive Faculty Development in Liberal Arts Colleges

Using an alignment framework, the authors explore faculty development initiatives in liberal arts colleges in order to understand the connection between organizational priorities and processes as connected to faculty members’ stated needs. The study draws on mixed methods data from The Initiative for Faculty Development in Liberal Arts Colleges (IFDLAC), including survey andinterview data from the 13 member institutions of the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA).The authors offer future implications for faculty development practice

Do slower life history strategies reduce sociodemographic sex differences?

This study examines the relations between sociodemographic sex differences and life history strategies in the populations of Mexican States. Sex differences in anatomy and behavior was measured with traits such as educational achievement, mortality, and morbidity. The data were obtained from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI) and sampled from thirty-one Mexican states and the Federal District (N = 32). An extension analysis was performed selecting only the sex ratio variables that had a correlation with the slow Life History factor greater than or equal to an absolute value of .25. A unit-weighted sex ratio factor was created using these variables. Across 32 Mexican states, the correlation between latent slow life history and sex ratio was .57 (p .05). These results are consistent with our hypothesis that slower life histories favor reduced sexual dimorphism in physiology and behavior among human subnational populations. The results of the study further understanding of variations in population sex differences, male-biased behaviors toward sexual equality, and the differences among subnational (regional) populations within the United States of Mexico.   DOI:10.2458/azu_jmmss_v6i1_chavarria_miner

The Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey - I: Survey Description, Data Analysis, and Initial Results

We describe an ongoing search for pulsars and dispersed pulses of radio emission, such as those from rotating radio transients (RRATs) and fast radio bursts (FRBs), at 350 MHz using the Green Bank Telescope. With the Green Bank Ultimate Pulsar Processing Instrument, we record 100 MHz of bandwidth divided into 4,096 channels every 81.92 $\mu s$. This survey will cover the entire sky visible to the Green Bank Telescope ($\delta > -40^\circ$, or 82% of the sky) and outside of the Galactic Plane will be sensitive enough to detect slow pulsars and low dispersion measure ($<$30 $\mathrm{pc\,cm^{-3}}$) millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with a 0.08 duty cycle down to 1.1 mJy. For pulsars with a spectral index of $-$1.6, we will be 2.5 times more sensitive than previous and ongoing surveys over much of our survey region. Here we describe the survey, the data analysis pipeline, initial discovery parameters for 62 pulsars, and timing solutions for 5 new pulsars. PSR J0214$+$5222 is an MSP in a long-period (512 days) orbit and has an optical counterpart identified in archival data. PSR J0636$+$5129 is an MSP in a very short-period (96 minutes) orbit with a very low mass companion (8 $M_\mathrm{J}$). PSR J0645$+$5158 is an isolated MSP with a timing residual RMS of 500 ns and has been added to pulsar timing array experiments. PSR J1434$+$7257 is an isolated, intermediate-period pulsar that has been partially recycled. PSR J1816$+$4510 is an eclipsing MSP in a short-period orbit (8.7 hours) and may have recently completed its spin-up phase.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables, accepted by Ap

The Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey II: The Discovery and Timing of Ten Pulsars

We present timing solutions for ten pulsars discovered in 350 MHz searches with the Green Bank Telescope. Nine of these were discovered in the Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap survey and one was discovered by students in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory program in analysis of drift-scan data. Following discovery and confirmation with the Green Bank Telescope, timing has yielded phase-connected solutions with high precision measurements of rotational and astrometric parameters. Eight of the pulsars are slow and isolated, including PSR J0930$-$2301, a pulsar with nulling fraction lower limit of $\sim$30\% and nulling timescale of seconds to minutes. This pulsar also shows evidence of mode changing. The remaining two pulsars have undergone recycling, accreting material from binary companions, resulting in higher spin frequencies. PSR J0557$-$2948 is an isolated, 44 \rm{ms} pulsar that has been partially recycled and is likely a former member of a binary system which was disrupted by a second supernova. The paucity of such so-called `disrupted binary pulsars' (DRPs) compared to double neutron star (DNS) binaries can be used to test current evolutionary scenarios, especially the kicks imparted on the neutron stars in the second supernova. There is some evidence that DRPs have larger space velocities, which could explain their small numbers. PSR J1806+2819 is a 15 \rm{ms} pulsar in a 44 day orbit with a low mass white dwarf companion. We did not detect the companion in archival optical data, indicating that it must be older than 1200 Myr.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Elusive Ethylene Detected in Saturns Northern Storm Region

The massive eruption at 40 deg. N (planetographic latitude) on Saturn in 2010 December has produced significant and lasting effects in the northern hemisphere on temperature and species abundances. The northern storm region was observed on many occasions in 2011 by Cassini's Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). In 2011 May, temperatures in the stratosphere greater than 200 K were derived from CIRS spectra in the regions referred to as "beacons" (warm regions in the stratosphere). Ethylene has been detected in the beacon region in Saturn's northern storm region using CIRS. Ground-based observations using the high-resolution spectrometer Celeste on the McMath-Pierce Telescope on 2011 May 15 were used to confirm the detection and improve the altitude resolution in the retrieved profile. The derived ethylene profile from the CIRS data gives a C2H4 mole fraction of 5.9 +/- 4.5 x 10(exp -7) at 0.5 mbar, and from Celeste data it gives 2.7 +/- 0.45 x 10(exp -6) at 0.1 mbar. This is two orders of magnitude higher than the amount measured in the ultraviolet at other latitudes prior to the storm. It is also much higher than predicted by photochemical models, indicating that perhaps another production mechanism is required or a loss mechanism is being inhibited

The Green Bank North Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey. IV: Four New Timing Solutions

We present timing solutions for four pulsars discovered in the Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap (GBNCC) survey. All four pulsars are isolated with spin periods between 0.26$\,$s and 1.84$\,$s. PSR J0038$-$2501 has a 0.26$\,$s period and a period derivative of ${7.6} \times {10}^{-19}\,{\rm s\,s}^{-1}$, which is unusually low for isolated pulsars with similar periods. This low period derivative may be simply an extreme value for an isolated pulsar or it could indicate an unusual evolution path for PSR J0038$-$2501, such as a disrupted recycled pulsar (DRP) from a binary system or an orphaned central compact object (CCO). Correcting the observed spin-down rate for the Shklovskii effect suggests that this pulsar may have an unusually low space velocity, which is consistent with expectations for DRPs. There is no X-ray emission detected from PSR J0038$-$2501 in an archival swift observation, which suggests that it is not a young orphaned CCO. The high dispersion measure of PSR J1949+3426 suggests a distance of 12.3$\,$kpc. This distance indicates that PSR J1949+3426 is among the most distant 7% of Galactic field pulsars, and is one of the most luminous pulsars.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Hybrid Wing Body Aircraft Acoustic Test Preparations and Facility Upgrades

NASA is investigating the potential of acoustic shielding as a means to reduce the noise footprint at airport communities. A subsonic transport aircraft and Langley's 14- by 22-foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel were chosen to test the proposed "low noise" technology. The present experiment studies the basic components of propulsion-airframe shielding in a representative flow regime. To this end, a 5.8-percent scale hybrid wing body model was built with dual state-of-the-art engine noise simulators. The results will provide benchmark shielding data and key hybrid wing body aircraft noise data. The test matrix for the experiment contains both aerodynamic and acoustic test configurations, broadband turbomachinery and hot jet engine noise simulators, and various airframe configurations which include landing gear, cruise and drooped wing leading edges, trailing edge elevons and vertical tail options. To aid in this study, two major facility upgrades have occurred. First, a propane delivery system has been installed to provide the acoustic characteristics with realistic temperature conditions for a hot gas engine; and second, a traversing microphone array and side towers have been added to gain full spectral and directivity noise characteristics