6,615 research outputs found
The Experiences of Social Workers in Corporate America
The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of social workers in Corporate America, including their role in corporate social responsibility (CSR). The data collected was from four semi-structured interviews that lasted between 20 to 45 minutes each. Each participant was employed by or consulted for a large corporation and had roles in a variety of departments, including government affairs, internal consulting, talent and change management and leadership development. None of the participants had direct CSR responsibilities, however, each participant had experience with their CSR programs and valued them in their organizations. The study explored the participants\u27 responsibilities in their organization, and how their social work practice and skills were incorporated in their work. Themes from the data indicated that social workers are most valued in their organizations for their abilities to build relationships, effectively implement change and see things in a different perspective from their co-workers. Participants reported that they used their social work skills in their daily work even within their business roles, and believed that corporations could benefit from having more individuals with the social work perspective in their organizations. The findings in this study fill a gap in the current literature and may have implications for social work in corporate settings, in social work education, and in future social work research
Effects of interspecific competition, salinity, and hurricanes on the success of an invasive fish, the Rio Grande cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus)
The Rio Grande cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus) has been established in the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan Area (GNOMA) for at least 20 years. It is often the most common fish species in urban canals and has also been found in natural waterways outside of the GNOMA. The effects and potential for further spread of H. cyanoguttatus is uncertain. My research addressed how extensive the cichlids spread in the GNOMA, how H. cyanoguttatus interacted with L. macrochirus, a native fish, and what salinity tolerance this species has. Surveys on Lake Pontchartrain and in the GNOMA indicated that H. cyanoguttatus is well established in urban habitats. These surveys also indicate that H. cyanoguttatus has spread rapidly into Bayou Saint John and City Park in recent years and that H. cyanoguttatus populations were relatively unaffected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. There is little evidence that H. cyanoguttatus has become established outside of the GNOMA, but this lack of persistence cannot be explained by abiotic variables I measured. Salinity may be a factor and this was measured in growth trials of H. cyanoguttatus. Salinities up to 16 ppt, however, had no significant effect on H. cyanoguttatus growth. Interspecific behavioral experiments were conducted to examine potential biotic interactions with native fish species. Prior resident trials indicated that H. cyanoguttatus was aggressive whether holding territory or not, and that native bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) was only aggressive while holding territory. Feeding experiments were performed to examine biotic interactions between H. cyanoguttatus and L. macrochirus. Lepomis macrochirus grew faster than H. cyanoguttatus when inter- and intraspecific trials were compared; however, no significant growth differences were seen when trials were structured with L. macrochirus as prior residents. The major findings of my research are a high salinity tolerance of H. cyanoguttatus, a potential mechanism for H. cyanoguttatus affecting native fishes through aggression as residents and invaders, and the presence of H. cyanoguttatus throughout the GNOMA, before and after the hurricanes
Quantum techniques using continuous variables of light
We present schemes for the generation and evaluation of continuous variable
entanglement of bright optical beams and give a brief overview of the variety
of optical techniques and quantum communication applications on this basis. A
new entanglement-based quantum interferometry scheme with bright beams is
suggested. The performance of the presented schemes is independent of the
relative interference phase which is advantageous for quantum communication
applications.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; minor correction, accepted versio
Thermal Conductivity and Specific Heat of the Spin-Ice Compound DyTiO: Experimental Evidence for Monopole Heat Transport
Elementary excitations in the spin-ice compound DyTiO can be
described as magnetic monopoles propagating independently within the pyrochlore
lattice formed by magnetic Dy ions. We studied the magnetic-field dependence of
the thermal conductivity {\kappa}(B) for B || [001] and observe clear evidence
for magnetic heat transport originating from the monopole excitations. The
magnetic contribution {\kappa}_{mag} is strongly field-dependent and correlates
with the magnetization M(B). The diffusion coefficient obtained from the ratio
of {\kappa}_{mag} and the magnetic specific heat is strongly enhanced below 1 K
indicating a high mobility of the monopole excitations in the spin-ice state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Substitution effects on the temperature vs. magnetic-field phase diagrams of the quasi-1D effective Ising spin-1/2 chain system BaCoVO
BaCoVO is a one-dimensional antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain
system with pronounced Ising anisotropy of the magnetic exchange. Due to finite
interchain interactions long-range antiferromagnetic order develops below
K, which is accompanied by a structural distortion in
order to lift magnetic frustration effects. The corresponding temperature magnetic-field phase diagram is highly anisotropic with respect to the
magnetic-field direction and various details are still under vivid discussion.
Here, we report the influence of several substitutions on the magnetic
properties and the phase diagrams of BaCoVO. We investigate the
substitution series
BaSrCoVO
over the full range as well as the influence of a partial
substitution of the magnetic Co by small amounts of other magnetic
transition metals or by non-magnetic magnesium. In all cases, the phase
diagrams were obtained on single crystals from magnetization data and/or
high-resolution studies of the thermal expansion and magnetostriction.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure
Variance-Based Sensitivity Analysis of -type Quantum Memory
The storage and retrieval of photonic quantum states, quantum memory, is a
key resource for a wide range of quantum applications. Here we investigate the
sensitivity of -type quantum memory to experimental fluctuations and
drift. We use a variance-based approach, focusing on the effects of
fluctuations and drift on memory efficiency. We consider shot-to-shot
fluctuations of the memory parameters, and separately we consider longer
timescale drift of the control field parameters. We find the parameters that a
quantum memory is most sensitive to depend on the quantum memory protocol being
employed, where the observed sensitivity agrees with physical interpretation of
the protocols. We also present a general framework that is applicable to other
figures of merit beyond memory efficiency. These results have practical
ramifications for quantum memory experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Magnetostrictive Neel ordering of the spin-5/2 ladder compound BaMn2O3: distortion-induced lifting of geometrical frustration
The crystal structure and the magnetism of BaMnO have been studied by
thermodynamic and by diffraction techniques using large single crystals and
powders. BaMnO is a realization of a spin ladder as the
magnetic interaction is dominant along 180 Mn-O-Mn bonds forming the
legs and the rungs of a ladder. The temperature dependence of the magnetic
susceptibility exhibits well-defined maxima for all directions proving the
low-dimensional magnetic character in BaMnO. The susceptibility and
powder neutron diffraction data, however, show that BaMnO exhibits a
transition to antiferromagnetic order at 184 K, in spite of a full frustration
of the nearest-neighbor inter-ladder coupling in the orthorhombic
high-temperature phase. This frustration is lifted by a remarkably strong
monoclinic distortion which accompanies the magnetic transition.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; in V1 fig. 2 was included twice and
fig. 4 was missing; this has been corrected in V
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