Simultaneous assessment of CO2 sensitivity in the respiratory network and its neurons

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation IOS-1 022442

Assessing B2G Customer/Contractor Relationships Using Social Exchange Theory During the Search and Selection Stage

Social Exchange Theory (SET) is used widely to explain commercial business-to-business (B2B) relationship exchange. However, very little literature is dedicated to SET’s use in explaining business-to-government (B2G) relationship exchange. More specifically, little if any literature explores: How customer/contractor relationship is developed during the SET search and selection process The influence exerted by contractors to shape customer’s requirements and selection criteria (Positioning) Impact of contractors’ communication interchange on development of perceived customer relationship (trust and commitment) Success competing for contract award as measured by reputational trust and reputational performance satisfaction This ethnomethodology match pair study utilizes Wilson’s (1995) search and selection phase of the relationship development model of SET as a lens to evaluate Business Development (BD) personnel interaction with customers in the B2G business sector impact award decisions. This study looks at the development of perceived trust, perceived commitment, positioning, and communications interchange by the contractor\u27s BD personnel with government customers prior to the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) and how the customer\u27s evaluation of reputational trust and reputational performance satisfaction impacted the contract award decision following formal proposal evaluation. In this way, the match pair approach looks at the 1) contractors’ evaluation of the customer at the point of the RFP’s release and 2) the customer’s evaluation of the contractor’s post-proposal submission allowing the researcher to contrast the two viewpoints as compared to the results—award decision. This research expands the use of SETs to predict future contract awards based on the customer/contractor relationship exchange during the search and selection phase. Additionally, this research improves the understanding of how contractors influence the B2G customer’s requirements during the development process. A key finding in this research was that Contractors who engage in active Communications Interchange to develop customer Perceived Trust and Perceived Commitment and Position themselves for upcoming contract opportunities prior to solicitation release indicated a trend showing a statistically significant, positive impact on the award decision. Perceived Trust and Perceived Commitment in the absence of Communications Interchange indicated a trend showing a statistically significant, negative impact on the award decision. Additional key findings from the customer debriefs indicated a trend showing Reputational Trust was a reliable predictor of the awardee. However, Reputational Performance Satisfaction consisting of the customer\u27s overall rating of the contractor\u27s past performance, was not a reliable predictor of the contract awardee

A Robust Approach to Human-Computer Interface Design Using the Taguchi Method

The application of Dr. Genichi Taguchi\u27s approach for design optimization, called Robust Design, to the design of human-computer interface software is investigated. The Taguchi Method is used to select a near optimum set of interface design alternatives to improve user acceptance of the resulting interface software product with minimum sensitivity to uncontrollable noise caused by human behavioral characteristics. Design alternatives for interaction with personal micro-computers are identified. Several important and representative alternatives are chosen as design parameters for the Taguchi matrix experiment. A noise field with three human behavioral characteristics as noise factors were chosen as a representative noise array. Task accomplishment scenarios were developed for demonstration of the design parameters on an interactive human-computer interface. Experimentation was conducted using selected human subjects to study the effect of the various settings of the design parameters on user acceptance of the interface. Using the results of the matrix experiment, a near optimum set of design parameter values was selected. A verification experiment was developed and performed using the predicted near optimum design parameter values. Analysis of the follow-up experiment indicated improved levels of user acceptance with the near optimum values. This study suggests that the Taguchi Method of design optimization is applicable to human-machine engineering in general, and to the design of human-computer interface software in particular, as a means of selecting a near optimum set of design alternatives. This methodology is useful in reducing the number of total experiments required for optimization where several design alternatives exist in a richly interdependent context

Development of respiratory centers in the bullfrog tadpole brainstem

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017Among vertebrates, rhythmic motor behaviors such as breathing, swallowing, and sucking are controlled by rhythm generators or neural oscillators located at various sites in the medulla of the brainstem. That all vertebrates exhibit these behaviors, leads investigators to hypothesize common ancestry for the cellular networks responsible for homeostatic rhythm generation in the brainstem. While the locations and functions of rhythm generating sites controlling some of these behaviors have been well investigated, details regarding the development of these sites remain largely unknown. Recent work has suggested that neural oscillators in the rostral and caudal medulla, which contribute to ventilation in amphibians, may be homologous with those controlling breathing in mammals. I first investigated the developmental contributions of these regions to CO₂ sensitivity and rhythm generation in bullfrog tadpoles at different stages of metamorphosis. I then characterized the function and structure of a neural oscillator essential for lung rhythmogenesis in the tadpoles and compared it to similar oscillators in mammals. To investigate functional aspects of brainstem, I used a combination of single-unit and whole-nerve electrophysiology in the presence of pharmacological agents (neuronal receptor agonists and antagonists) or following removal of portions of the isolated brainstem of bullfrog tadpoles at different stages of metamorphosis. Structural studies were accomplished using immunohistochemistry, staining for phenotypic markers common to mammalian rhythmogenic sites, and assessing the difference between early and late metamorphic bullfrog tadpoles. Taken together, my results suggest that amphibians may indeed have a rhythmogenic site in the rostral medulla that is homologous to a mammalian rhythmogenic site; it is both structurally and functionally similar to the mammalian parafacial respiratory group/retrotrapezoid nucleus complex. This region undergoes structural and functional changes as tadpoles develop through metamorphosis. Understanding the development of respiration in amphibians may provide clues into the evolution and development of breathing in mammals

Constitutive Rhetoric and Partisan Polarization in the 2016 Presidential Primary Debates

For decades political scientists and communication scholars have grappled with the connection between political primaries and rising polarization. Despite significant scholarly attention to the connection between primaries and polarization, little attention has been afforded to the rhetoric of polarization in primary campaigns. Through the lens of constitutive rhetoric, we investigate the intersection of primary campaigns and polarization from a rhetorical perspective. We analyze the rhetoric of the 2016 presidential primary debates to understand how candidates drew on traditional and innovative strategies of rhetorical polarization in constituting party identity. We find that establishment candidates depended on in-group affirmation and out-group subversion while partisan outsiders deployed entelechy and affect to constitute a unique partisan identity

Evaluating Mental Health Capitation Treatment: Lessons from Panel Data

The paper evaluates a capitation-financed system of mental health services delivery developed in Rochester, New York. Cost/benefit analysis of the treatment program is implemented on three years of data using program evaluation techniques. Patient outcomes are compared across randomly assigned study groups as well as across enrollment status. The analysis implements difference-in-difference econometric techniques recently developed in the labor economics literature to control for potentially non-random attrition as well as selective non-compliance. We find that patients enrolled in the capitation program do experience significantly lower costs without becoming sicker, even after controlling for attrition and sample selection.

Revisiting Plagiarism In An Internet Era: How Modern Technology Contributes To The Problem And Solutions

Plagiarism is widespread in academia. A vast and profitable new Internet-based industry has developed around students’ continued aversion towards doing their own work. Undergraduate and graduate students can acquire a paper on any topic for a cost of anywhere from free to over a hundred dollars a page. This article will acquaint the academic professional with the market place for college papers, name and evaluate several free and pay services for identifying plagiarism, and suggest assignment designs which aid in preventing the use of both the amateur and the professional paper

Micromanipulation of InP lasers with optoelectronic tweezers for integration on a photonic platform

The integration of light sources on a photonic platform is a key aspect of the fabrication of self-contained photonic circuits with a small footprint that does not have a definitive solution yet. Several approaches are being actively researched for this purpose. In this work we propose optoelectronic tweezers for the manipulation and integration of light sources on a photonic platform and report the positional and angular accuracy of the micromanipulation of standard Fabry-Pérot InP semiconductor laser die. These lasers are over three orders of magnitude bigger in volume than any previously assembled with optofluidic techniques and the fact that they are industry standard lasers makes them significantly more useful than previously assembled microdisk lasers. We measure the accuracy to be 2.5 ± 1.4 µm and 1.4 ± 0.4° and conclude that optoelectronic tweezers are a promising technique for the micromanipulation and integration of optoelectronic components in general and semiconductor lasers in particular

Exploring ecosystem markets for the delivery of public goods in the UK

Environmental restoration and conservation challenges go beyond what can be financed publicly. There are significant opportunities for private investment in the delivery of public goods, benefitting both commercial organisations whose business relies on ecosystem services, as well as landowners, land managers and the general public. Thus, public-private financing of natural capital improvement presents an opportunity to increase the availability of funding for payments for ecosystem services that provide environmental and societal benefits. Though public-private partnerships for the financing of ecosystem services is in its infancy in the UK. This new report explores the voluntary ecosystem services market in the UK. This is achieved by developing an understanding of how key actors (schemes, stakeholder engagement initiatives, trading platforms and supporting modelling tools) operate, and by identifying possible synergies, examples of good practice and challenges to implementation. Topics covered include, understanding how the identified actors account for the social distribution of ecosystem services, how values are attributed to ecosystem services, and the legal obligations linked to ventures’ operation