Machine-Proof Your Career

The Jetsons imagined a futuristic world where a typical work week was a single hour, two days a week. Technology took care of the rest for George Jetson and his co-workers – representing the great hope that technology would make human lives easier. But the animated series also foreshadowed a longstanding fear about automation: that it would inevitably steal human jobs and leave people struggling to find work in a technological world

A Study of Perceptions of Achievement Factors for At-Risk Students in Comparison to Honor Students at a Northeast Tennessee High School.

Student success and motivation are issues that baffle parents and educators. Various factors go a long way in explaining why these educational phenomena occur. Current research has confirmed that issues such as parental involvement, home life, attitude, intellect, and teacher and student relations and rapport have an impact on motivation and future success of students. This research project focused on students\u27 perceptions of factors that affect their success and achievement. These factors were categorized into four areas: intrapersonal influences, parental influences, educational influences, and external influences. These areas were explored in an attempt to promote an awareness of the factors necessary for student success. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of honor and at-risk high school students regarding achievement factors. The method of acquiring information for this phenomenological study was exclusively through indepth interviews. The study was limited to 16 students at a specific Northeast Tennessee high school. Sixteen students were selected from a stratified purposeful sample. Eight students were selected from the top 10% of their class and eight students were selected from the bottom 10% of their class. Each interview contained semistructured and open-ended questions. The questions were prewritten but flexible in interview presentation. The results of this study should promote an awareness of the factors that foster success and those that are detrimental to the success of all students. This awareness might motivate educators to work harder at preventing students from slipping through the cracks

Teacher and Staff Perception of School Climate: A Case Study

The purpose of this study is to determine how different public-school teachers and staff perceive school climate at an achieving public middle school. The research sought to find relationships between teacher sub-groups and other staff members, and how they perceived the school climate, either negatively or positively. The researcher believed that there would be a positive perception of school climate, which coincided with high student achievement. Additionally, it was believed that there would be no relationship between teacher types or demographics, and how the climate would be perceived among the different groups. This paper also presents a review of the current literature and the limitations of these studies. The last section of the paper describes the personal experiences and frameworks that could potentially influence the study. The proposed study used a mixed methods approach using quantitative and qualitative methods to seek understanding of the relationships from a case study approach. This study sought to understand the following research questions: What perceptions of school climate exist within a school with high student achievement; and how do different teacher and staff member groups perceive school climate within a school with high student achievement? Answers to the following sub-questions were also sought: Do selected demographic factors have an effect on teacher perceptions of school climate; and do differences exist in how sub-groups of teachers and staff members within the same school perceive climate? The study incorporated the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Middle Schools (OCDQ-RM) by Hoy (1998) as the quantitative climate instrument. For the qualitative data, the researcher asked a series of 12 open-ended questions. A total of 53 questionnaires were returned out of 67 (rate of 79%). A total of 6 interviews were conducted. Several sub-group comparisons were made and several groups had significant differences in how they perceived the school climate on various dimensions of the OCDQ-RM. Of all the group comparisons with significant differences, the reading group compared to the all-other participants group had the most significant differences with 4 of the 8 climate dimensions. Some primary conclusions or explanations for the reading group’s perceptual differences were that they are highly monitored by administrators and instructional facilitators, the students as a whole are behind in reading to begin with, and reading is a high-stakes tested area. Other group differences and explanations are provided as well

TOWARD AN ETHICAL RESPONSE: READER COMPLICITY IN TONI MORRISON\u27S BELOVED AND PARADISE

This thesis argues that the relationship that exists among author, text and reader, compels the reader toward complicity. While a market share of new narrative theory aspires to relieve the writer of his duties once the text is complete, other theories attest that the writer retains his mastery over meaning, spawned by an authorial consciousness that leaves the reader somewhat passive, if not impotent, to reality. Thus, the reader is manipulated by a traditional consciousness of reader as merely interpreter of events that relinquishes any responsibility on the reader\u27s part of what lies within the text. Yet, a more contemporary body of literary criticism suggest that there exists a mutual, universal understanding among author, text and reader which transcends the boarders of a given text, leaving the reader susceptible to complicity. But how can a reader be held responsible for something he did not create? Is it possible for the reader to participate in acts that occur in a work of fiction? Using reader-response theory as a foundation, I will explore these questions to examine the ethical responsibility readers incur in Toni Morrison\u27s Beloved and Paradise

Fact Sheet: Climate Adaptation at the Federal Level

Climate change adaptation is a risk-management strategy characterized by adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climate change. Climate adaptation (or resiliency) efforts can vary widely based on the needs of a region, but they commonly include better climate information and decision-making tools, new building and infrastructure standards, and infrastructure modifications that improve resiliency to storm water or extreme temperatures.Due to concerns over national climate vulnerability and unavoidable increases in climate risk in the coming decades, policymakers have expanded their focus beyond climate mitigation to include resiliency efforts. Many efforts are ongoing at the state and local level. Although progress by the federal government has lagged, strides have been made in the last few years. Action at the federal level can serve to provide guidelines and resources to states and cities, promote collaboration, and improve financing availability. This fact sheet will explore federal climate resiliency efforts, the majority of which are in progress

The Beauties of DECOMPOSITION

The Beauties of DECOMPOSITION paula roush & Michael Hampton Foil-stamped grey board box contains: Unique handmade paper specimen Three laser printed books (varied sizes), with loose colour photograph on gloss paper. Special edition of 12 copies accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the authors. msdm publications 2017 Concept-specific paper is a refined substrate in the world of artists’ books. The logic of the work is materially inscribed in the fibres of handmade paper. In the case of The Beauties of DECOMPOSITION, the paper’s meaning is derived from ‘The Book Dispersed’ exhibition project curated by the collective Media Instaveis/ Unstable Media. Each bookwork contains a paper specimen composed of pulp from the abortive funding application for ‘The Book Dispersed,’ blended with pulp from Michael Hampton’s magnum opus "Unshelfmarked: Reconceiving the artist’s book" (author’s copy), together with extra pulp from Samuel Smiles’s Self-Help (a print on demand copy purchased on eBay). The book, dedicated to the late Auto-Destructive artist and activist Gustav Metzger, is a work about dispersion exploring in the book medium the tension between collecting/organising and scattering. Book 1 is composed of an essay, cartoon and documentary photographs of the working process, placing it in a continuum along with other self-published books such as Smiles’s. ["Decomposition," 40 pages, 21x15cm, stapled, colour, evercolor cream paper 80gsm, varied inserts] Book 2 aggregates the scanned records of the handmade paper specimens, verso and recto, viewing them as a series. Since they will be dispersed, each original specimen is included in one book of the edition of 12. ["Scanned record of paper specimens: #1-12," 24 pages, 27×19.5cm, stapled b&w , corona offset paper 120gsm] Book 3 contains the scanned letters that Gustav Metzger sent to Michael Hampton by Royal Mail Post (always first class), mostly trying to arrange meet ups at specific galleries to see exhibitions, and participate in symposia and other art events.[“Thanks for the information and good news,” 25 pages, 18.5x17cm, scanned b&w letters bound by a brass cylinder post, canon paper 80gsm

Importance of site of infection and antibiotic selection in the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis

ABSTRACT In a retrospective analysis of 215 patients with carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis, we observed a significantly higher risk of mortality associated with respiratory tract infection (risk ratio [RR], 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04 to 1.39; P = 0.010) and lower risk with urinary tract infection (RR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.90; P = 0.004). Aminoglycoside monotherapy was associated with increased mortality, even after adjusting for confounders (adjusted RR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.03 to 2.85; P = 0.037), consistent across multiple sites of infection. </jats:p

Complex Hydrides for Hydrogen Storage

This report describes research into the use of complex hydrides for hydrogen storage. The synthesis of a number of alanates, (AIH4) compounds, was investigated. Both wet chemical and mechano-chemical methods were studied

Initial investigation using statistical process control for quality control of accelerator beam steering

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study seeks to increase clinical operational efficiency and accelerator beam consistency by retrospectively investigating the application of statistical process control (SPC) to linear accelerator beam steering parameters to determine the utility of such a methodology in detecting changes prior to equipment failure (interlocks actuated).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Steering coil currents (SCC) for the transverse and radial planes are set such that a reproducibly useful photon or electron beam is available. SCC are sampled and stored in the control console computer each day during the morning warm-up. The transverse and radial - positioning and angle SCC for photon beam energies were evaluated using average and range (Xbar-R) process control charts (PCC). The weekly average and range values (subgroup n = 5) for each steering coil were used to develop the PCC. SCC from September 2009 (annual calibration) until two weeks following a beam steering failure in June 2010 were evaluated. PCC limits were calculated using the first twenty subgroups. Appropriate action limits were developed using conventional SPC guidelines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PCC high-alarm action limit was set at 6 standard deviations from the mean. A value exceeding this limit would require beam scanning and evaluation by the physicist and engineer. Two low alarms were used to indicate negative trends. Alarms received following establishment of limits (week 20) are indicative of a non-random cause for deviation (Xbar chart) and/or an uncontrolled process (R chart). Transverse angle SCC for 6 MV and 15 MV indicated a high-alarm 90 and 108 days prior to equipment failure respectively. A downward trend in this parameter continued, with high-alarm, until failure. Transverse position and radial angle SCC for 6 and 15 MV indicated low-alarms starting as early as 124 and 116 days prior to failure, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Radiotherapy clinical efficiency and accelerator beam consistency may be improved by instituting SPC methods to monitor the beam steering process and detect abnormal changes prior to equipment failure.</p> <p><b>PACS numbers: </b>87.55n, 87.55qr, 87.56bd</p