Critical Thinking, Decision Making and Mindfullness

Everyone in an organization have experienced the act of choosing. While some members may have to choose something very minuscule, other team members have to choose options that can be beneficial or detrimental towards the organization, depending on their position, rank or title. For example, education is an organization that constantly must choose options that will advance students’ achievement. From having to choose the type of students that are placed into certain classrooms, to deciding whether the organization will use certain resources for students to use to gain success, the possibilities are endless. This process of choosing is entitled decision-making, and it serves as one of the primary factors that drives any organization to its plateau or its breaking point. This module of the handbook emphasizes how decision-making is not an easy task but with the proper training and evaluations, one will learn how to effectively make better decisions that will elevate all aspects of the organization. This module will enlighten any members of an organization on an array of topics as it pertains to decision making. There are steps that needs to be extracted before, during and after the decision-making process and this handbook will guide you on the do’s and don’ts of decision making. If you’ve ever had a question or just needed clarity on decision making, then this chapter should respond to all of your needs. This should serve as your go-to guide in formulating and executing decisions. Whether you are part of a committee of the organization, or take on a leadership role, this module is aimed to attract all members of the organization to become a better and avid decision maker

Comparison of source detection procedures for XMM-Newton images

Procedures based on current methods to detect sources in X-ray images are applied to simulated XMM images. All significant instrumental effects are taken into account, and two kinds of sources are considered -- unresolved sources represented by the telescope PSF and extended ones represented by a b-profile model. Different sets of test cases with controlled and realistic input configurations are constructed in order to analyze the influence of confusion on the source analysis and also to choose the best methods and strategies to resolve the difficulties. In the general case of point-like and extended objects the mixed approach of multiresolution (wavelet) filtering and subsequent detection by SExtractor gives the best results. In ideal cases of isolated sources, flux errors are within 15-20%. The maximum likelihood technique outperforms the others for point-like sources when the PSF model used in the fit is the same as in the images. However, the number of spurious detections is quite large. The classification using the half-light radius and SExtractor stellarity index is succesful in more than 98% of the cases. This suggests that average luminosity clusters of galaxies (L_[2-10] ~ 3x10^{44} erg/s) can be detected at redshifts greater than 1.5 for moderate exposure times in the energy band below 5 keV, provided that there is no confusion or blending by nearby sources. We find also that with the best current available packages, confusion and completeness problems start to appear at fluxes around 6x10^{-16} erg/s/cm^2 in [0.5-2] keV band for XMM deep surveys.Comment: 20 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Driven particle in a random landscape: disorder correlator, avalanche distribution and extreme value statistics of records

We review how the renormalized force correlator Delta(u), the function computed in the functional RG field theory, can be measured directly in numerics and experiments on the dynamics of elastic manifolds in presence of pinning disorder. We show how this function can be computed analytically for a particle dragged through a 1-dimensional random-force landscape. The limit of small velocity allows to access the critical behavior at the depinning transition. For uncorrelated forces one finds three universality classes, corresponding to the three extreme value statistics, Gumbel, Weibull, and Frechet. For each class we obtain analytically the universal function Delta(u), the corrections to the critical force, and the joint probability distribution of avalanche sizes s and waiting times w. We find P(s)=P(w) for all three cases. All results are checked numerically. For a Brownian force landscape, known as the ABBM model, avalanche distributions and Delta(u) can be computed for any velocity. For 2-dimensional disorder, we perform large-scale numerical simulations to calculate the renormalized force correlator tensor Delta_{ij}(u), and to extract the anisotropic scaling exponents zeta_x > zeta_y. We also show how the Middleton theorem is violated. Our results are relevant for the record statistics of random sequences with linear trends, as encountered e.g. in some models of global warming. We give the joint distribution of the time s between two successive records and their difference in value w.Comment: 41 pages, 35 figure

Estilos de amor y violencia en las relaciones de enamoramiento en adultos jóvenes de Trujillo

El presente estudio se desarrolló mediante un enfoque cuantitativo delas diseño correlacional, con una muestra de 150 participantes y la aplicación de instrumentos como la escala de estilos de amor y el inventario de violencia en las relaciones de noviazgo concluyó que existe relación con 3 estilos de amor, el estilo ludus, manía y eros, donde el estilo ludus y manía presentan relación de tipo directa con la violencia sufrida y cometida a diferencia del estilo eros que presenta una relación inversa con ambas subescala. Por otra parte, el resultado comparativo concluyó que no existían diferencias entre hombres y mujeres en la violencia cometida y sufrida, lo que indica que tanto hombres y mujeres pueden presentar o experimentar violencia en la dinámica de enamoramiento

Sectoral vs. Aggregate Shocks: A Structural Factor Analysis of Industrial Production

This paper uses factor analytic methods to decompose industrial production (IP) into components arising from aggregate shocks and idiosyncratic sector-specific shocks. An approximate factor model finds that nearly all (90%) of the variability of quarterly growth rates in IP are associated with common factors. Because common factors may reflect sectoral shocks that have propagated by way of input-output linkages, we then use a multisector growth model to adjust for the effects of these linkages. In particular, we show that neoclassical multisector models, of the type first introduced by Long and Plosser (1983), produce an approximate factor model as a reduced form. A structural factor analysis then indicates that aggregate shocks continue to be the dominant source of variation in IP, but the importance of sectoral shocks more than doubles after the Great Moderation (to 30%). The increase in the relative importance of these shocks follows from a fall in the contribution of aggregate shocks to IP movements after 1984.

Assessment of glomerular filtration rate in dogs

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is considered as the best indicator of renal function. Its determination is clinically useful to diagnose early stage of subclinical chronic renal failure (CRF). GFR can be estimated indirectly by measuring plasma creatinine levels, but this method is not sensitive enough to detect early stage CRF. Direct measurement of GFR are based on the determination of urine or plasma clearance of an appropriate marker, but most of these methods cannot be used in routine practice. Plasma exogenous creatinine clearance test (PECCT), recently developed and validated, is easy to use in veterinary medecine. Besides its clinical interest, it should improve our understanding of the pharmacokinetics of creatinine, which remains the most commonly tested marker in medical biology.Le débit de filtration glomérulaire (DFG) est considéré comme le meilleur indicateur de la fonction rénale. Sa détermination offre un intérêt clinique pour le diagnostic précoce de l'insuffisance rénale chronique (IRC) subclinique chez le chien. Le DFG peut être estimé de façon indirecte par la mesure de la concentration plasmatique de la créatinine. Cette approche est cependant peu sensible pour dépister les stades précoce de l'IRC. Les méthodes directes de mesure reposent sur la détermination de la clairance rénale ou plasmatique d'un marqueur approprié, mais ne sont pas utilisables pour la plupart en pratique courante. Le test de la clairance plasmatique de la créatinine exogène, récemment développé et validé, est facile à mettre en oeuvre en médecine vétérinaire. Outre son intérêt clinique, il devrait également permettre une meilleure compréhension de la pharmacocinétique de la créatinine qui reste le marqueur le plus dosé en biologie médicale

Observations of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays

The status of measurements of the arrival directions, mass composition and energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 3 x 10^18 eV (3 EeV) is reviewed using reports presented at the 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference held in Pune, India, in August 2005. The paper is based on a plenary talk given at the TAUP2005 meeting in Zaragoza, 10 - 14 September 2005.Comment: 7 pages and two figure