Polybutadiene Cross-Linked With Various Diols – Effect On Thermal Stability

The relationship between cross-linking and thermal stability as related to polybutadiene is the focus of current research. Cross-linked polybutadienes have been prepared using various diols as the cross-linking agent. Cross-linked polymers have been characterized by gel content, swelling ratios, infrared spectroscopy, and thermal analysis. These polymers are not highly cross-linked, as seen by gel content and swelling ratios, and cross-linking does not have a large effect on the onset temperature of the degradation. Nonetheless, extensive formation of a non-volatile residue occurs

LESS OF A BALANCING ACT AND MORE OF A JUGGLING ACT: HOW WOMEN WHO WORK IN STUDENT AFFAIRS AND HAVE CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES NAVIGATE THEIR DUAL ROLES

Student affairs professionals often grapple with how to attain proper work/family balance (WFB), as being a part of a helping profession can make it extremely difficult for these professionals to set limits and boundaries. In addition, successfully balancing one\u27s work and family domains appears to be more challenging for parents that have children with disabilities than those with typically developing children. Unfortunately, there is a lack of literature examining how women who work in student affairs and have children with disabilities achieve WFB. As such, the purpose of this general qualitative study is to describe how women who work in student affairs and have at least one child with at least one disability, describe WFB and navigate their dual roles. The sample included 21 women who were selected utilizing a criterion sampling method and every individual participated in an in-depth semi-structured interview. The collected data was analyzed using process coding and pattern coding. The findings of this study suggest that these women do not try to achieve WFB but rather attempt to juggle their multiple roles. They strive to let go of the idea that balance is achievable, they need workplace flexibility, and they rely on the role of their spouse/partner, family support, the creation of networks, as well as hiring outside agencies, to successfully navigate their dual roles. The findings of this study can assist higher education leaders in understand the important role they play in helping their employees navigate their dual roles

Perceptions of zoo visitors about the suitability of Geochelone elegans as a pet based on exhibit design

Globally, the pet trade plays an active role in society even though many of the species involved are not always ideal pets. Zoos and other institutes may inadvertently contribute to the problem by housing animals in exhibits which may mislead the public about an animal\u27s suitability as a pet. The primary goal of this research is to test whether visitor perceptions of the suitability of Geochelone elegans (Indian star tortoise) as a pet were affected by exhibit design. G. elegans was displayed in two different exhibits; a naturalistic exhibit design and a tank design. After setting up the contrasting exhibits in the Blank Park Zoo\u27s Discovery Center, zoo visitors were interviewed about G. elegans and its suitability as a pet after visiting one of the two test exhibits. Exhibit design did influence visitor perceptions of the space requirements of G. elegans (p \u3c0.001). Visitors viewing the exhibit treatment were more likely to agree with the statement Indian star tortoise need an area the size of a child\u27s bedroom to live in , while visitors viewing the tank treatment were more likely to disagree. Consideration such as cost (p = 0.063) and ease of care (p = 0.065) influenced whether or not a visitor perceived the Indian star tortoise as a suitable pet. However, other factors such as age (p = 0.034) and whether or not a visitor had children or grandchildren (p = 0.032) were associated with whether or not a visitor would consider G. elegans as a potential pet. Visitors in the age group 30-49 who had children were more likely to answer no when asked whether or not they would consider getting a tortoise as a pet

Middlemarch: Eliot\u27s Spencerian Sociological Study of Provincial Life

Through the novel Middlemarch, George Eliot fulfills the intention of her subtitle and uses sociological theories to conduct A Study of Provincial Life. Eliot\u27s letters, journals, and various essays provide evidence of sociologist Herbert Spencer\u27s influence on her own writings. Spencer\u27s specific opinions and contributions not only strengthen the sociological message of Eliot\u27s novel, but a handful of his ideals shape the narrative voice of her novel. Variations of Spencer\u27s theories are seen in Eliot\u27s authorial narrator\u27s comments and observations of the Middlemarch couples. With her narrator, Eliot applies Spencer\u27s theories on belief and on the correlation of an individual\u27s worldview to his or her society. Furthermore, Eliot creates an emotionally-based connection between her narrator and her readers which allows her to lead her audience through her sociological study and ensures her authorial narrator\u27s voice provides reliable expertise on the provincial life of Middlemarch

The Damages of Outstanding Veterans Disability Compensation Claims

The Department of Veterans Affairs failed to process service disability claims promptly, which resulted a backlog from 1993 to present. This impacted veterans by limiting medical care and affected their quality of life. For the past 30 years or longer, military veterans have complained about their quality of life and the status of their service-connected disability claim. The fundamental purpose of the study was to discover how veterans’ quality of life was affected while waiting for their final word on disability comprehensive benefits and or their appeal cases. Human resource theory and the Institutional Analysis and Development assessment were used to understand organizational and professional identity. The qualitative research methodology encompassed Monday Morning Workload and Board of Appeals Reports, and National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics charts, as reference of data on how many claims were still pending. The research questions were related to the veteran’s barriers with processing claims from paper to electronic submissions, the quality of life from failed return of claims, and lack of understanding of electronic portal eBenefits. The findings show the benefits claim process was a complex system. The research participants were not discouraged by the backlog, and 62% submitted a claim. Even with new acts, executive orders, and improved programs within VBA to reform process claims, the reality was that the backlog of disability claims will continue to exist. The implication for positive social change is military veteran should be initiative-taking in reaching out to representatives of the Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign War, and other veteran groups to change their quality of life

Sustained High Rates Of Job Creation And Destruction In Substate Economies

Widely utilized net employment change statistics actually mask an extremely volatile process of job creation and destruction.  In the past decade economists have addressed this problem by exploiting newly available longitudinal data series to estimate these job flows and the subsequent amount of job churning at the national, state and MSA level.  This study is unique in that it uses an innovative technique to capture job flows within and between industries at the local area level where longitudinal BLS data series are not available.  The geographic unit of analysis in this paper is a Cohesive Commercial Statistical Area™ (CCSA), a substate aggregate of cities and towns sharing common economic interests but not a Metropolitan Statistical Area.  The paper examines job flows in two very different Massachusetts substate economies: the MetroWest CCSA, a technology sensitive research and development economy, and the South Shore CCSA, a mature economy with a competitive edge in financial services. This study establishes that a sizable portion of disaggregated job flows can be captured at a substate level using available employment data. Building upon techniques used in earlier studies, the authors confirmed very high levels of employment volatility, “job churning”, in both substate regions.  The authors found that over two decades, job reallocation rates in MetroWest averaged 9%, affecting one out of 11 jobs annually. The study traced the pattern of job creation and destruction over the course of local business cycles and found that both job creation and destruction existed during all phases of the business cycle. Although, as expected, job creation dominated the expansion phase and destruction dominated the contraction phase, the total amount of job reallocation (creation plus destruction) remained relatively stable through all stages of the business cycle.   However, the composition of the job reallocation varied dramatically by stage of business cycle.  A Job Replacement Ratio has been developed as a quick test to confirm economic expansion or contraction and to focus economic development efforts

Portfolio Analysis and Cognitive Development at Fairhaven College

Executive Summary: This study was undertaken to establish a technique for quantifying nontraditional assessment outcomes data, to ascertain the effectiveness of the Fairhaven methodology of education, and to provide feedback about that methodology to Fairhaven instructors and administrators. Two assessment tools were utilized: the Perry scheme and the Measure of Intellectual Development (MID). The Perry scheme is a stratified model of cognitive development; the MID is a rating system that allows researchers to assign scores to Perry scheme positions. For both, student writing samples are the most commonly used form of input data. In lieu of letter grades, Fairhaven students submit written evaluations. (See Appendix C for a discussion of student self-assessments.) These evaluations are collected in portfolios. For this study, writing samples were taken from 126 student portfolios. All were Fairhaven graduates, randomly selected for the study. From student numbers, they were identified as having entered Western/Fairhaven between the years of 1969 to 1988, and having graduated from Fairhaven between 1980 and 1990. Participants were about equally divided by gender (48.4% male versus 51.6% females) and admit status (53.3% native versus 46.8% transfer). Participants were overwhelmingly white, non-Hispanics (89.7% of those indicating ethnicity). Four samples were utilized: one set each of Student Self-Evaluations taken from courses early, middle, and late in a students\u27 academic career, and the senior year Summary and Evaluation paper, a more extensive piece that calls for students to summarize and reflect upon the total of their educational experience. The Center for the Study of Intellectual Development (CSID), an independent organization located in Olympia, served as raters for the Fairhaven samples. Their results were sent back in the winter of 1992. Along with the Fairhaven sample, results from writing samples taken from traditional college students were available, as well as results from a study similar to Fairhaven\u27s done at The Evergreen State College. All were rated by CSID raters and allowed for some small degree of comparison. From MID ratings, scores were grouped into Perry scheme categories. Writing samples taken early in Fairhaven students\u27 academic career had an average Perry position of 3.37. The average position for samples taken at the mid-point was 3.45, and the average position in the senior year (the late sample) was 3.68. Statistical tests indicate that this change was statistically significant (F = 14014.74, df= 115, p = .001). In other words, the cognitive abilities of Fairhaven students show improvement from early in their academic careers to late. Moreover, the score for the senior-year reflective piece averaged 4.20, a good indicator of the improvement in cognitive abilities of Fairhaven students in this sample. Furthermore, a considerable number of the cohort ranked at Position 5 of the Perry scheme (nearly 20%). According to some researchers, writing at this level nears a professional level; it is balanced, informed, and reasoned. Comparative results indicated that the Fairhaven cohort outperformed the cohort of traditional school students, and faired about equal to the cohort of Evergreen State College students

Early maturation processes in coal. Part 1: Pyrolysis mass balances and structural evolution of coalified wood from the Morwell Brown Coal seam

In this work, we develop a theoretical approach to evaluate maturation process of kerogen-like material, involving molecular dynamic reactive modeling with a reactive force field to simulate the thermal stress. The Morwell coal has been selected to study the thermal evolution of terrestrial organic matter. To achieve this, a structural model is first constructed based on models from the literature and analytical characterization of our samples by modern 1-and 2-D NMR, FTIR, and elemental analysis. Then, artificial maturation of the Morwell coal is performed at low conversions in order to obtain, quantitative and qualitative, detailed evidences of structural evolution of the kerogen upon maturation. The observed chemical changes are a defunctionalization of the carboxyl, carbonyl and methoxy functional groups coupling with an increase of cross linking in the residual mature kerogen. Gaseous and liquids hydrocarbons, essentially CH4, C4H8 and C14+ liquid hydrocarbons, are generated in low amount, merely by cleavage of the lignin side chain

Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic

Quantifying the diet composition of apex marine predators such as killer whales (Orcinus orca) is critical to assessing their food web impacts. Yet, with few exceptions, the feeding ecology of these apex predators remains poorly understood. Here, we use our newly validated quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) approach on nearly 200 killer whales and over 900 potential prey to model their diets across the 5000 km span of the North Atlantic. Diet estimates show that killer whales mainly consume other whales in the western North Atlantic (Canadian Arctic, Eastern Canada), seals in the mid-North Atlantic (Greenland), and fish in the eastern North Atlantic (Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway). Nonetheless, diet estimates also varied widely among individuals within most regions. This level of inter-individual feeding variation should be considered for future ecological studies focusing on killer whales in the North Atlantic and other oceans. These estimates reveal remarkable population- and individual-level variation in the trophic ecology of these killer whales, which can help to assess how their predation impacts community and ecosystem dynamics in changing North Atlantic marine ecosystems. This new approach provides researchers with an invaluable tool to study the feeding ecology of oceanic top predators