Pegasus thermal design

Electronic and micrometeoroid detector panels for Pegasus thermal desig

Original Free Will Baptist Clergy Role Stress: A Definition and Its Emotional Consequences

The role of a clergyperson is often understood as one that creates a connection between the human and the divine, faith and God. However, such a vast role is typically executed in specific ways, such as leading Bible studies, visiting the sick, leading worship, and the act of preaching. At times, such a role demands even more nuanced behaviors based upon the context, population, and time. As this study posited, the problem is that such a multiplicity of clergy expectations inevitably create role stress, as understood through the constructs of role ambiguity and role conflict. In particular, how one might best define role stress as it is experienced by rural, Original Free Will Baptist clergy was previously unknown. Therefore, this study’s purpose was to define role stress and its emotional outcomes based upon first-hand experiences by the Original Free Will Baptist clergy population. Research was conducted through an interpretative phenomenological analysis, which identified and interviewed nine Original Free Will Baptist clergy in a semistructured interview format. Data were gathered through semistructured interviews and memos and analyzed through a coding process. Emerging themes attested to the complicated nature of rurality and the role stress experienced, the perception of clergy as hired help, a tenure and age connection to negative emotional outcomes, and the physiological experience of role stress. Findings also suggested that professional development and self-awareness may be key in helping to limit role stress and its consequences. Furthermore, it is suggested that Original Free Will Baptist leadership and congregations be made aware of these findings, as the findings may give the opportunity for more targeted intervention strategies

Land tenure and the adoption of agricultural technology in Haiti:

There has long been an active debate in Haiti - as in many other developing countries - over whether or not the customary tenure system constrains technology adoption and agricultural development, and whether cadaster and land titling should be national priorities. This paper contributes to this debate by reviewing and interpreting the body of literature and new empirical evidence concerning the relationship between land tenure and the adoption of technology in rural Haiti. The findings suggest that (a) formal title is not necessarily more secure than informal arrangements, (b) informal arrangements based on traditional social capital resources assure affordable and flexible access to land for most people, and (c) perceived stability of access to land-via stability of personal and social relationships-is a more important determinant of technology adoption than mode of access. The paper concludes that there is no definitive relationship between tenure and technology adoption by peasants; peasants are preoccupied more by political and economic insecurity than insecure tenure; and rather than tinkering with formalizing tenure, policy makers should prioritize other more fundamental rural sector reforms. The paper ends by considering some of the implications for theory and suggests several avenues for future research on land policy.

Optical and X-ray Variability in The Least Luminous AGN, NGC4395

We report the detection of optical and X-ray variability in the least luminous known Seyfert galaxy, NGC4395. The featureless continuum changed by a factor of 2 in 6 months, which is typical of more luminous AGN. The largest variation was seen at shorter wavelengths, so that the spectrum becomes `harder' during higher activity states. In a one week optical broad band monitoring program, a 20% change was seen between successive nights. In a 1 month period the spectral shape changed from a power law with spectral index alpha ~0 (characteristic of quasars) to a spectral index alpha ~2 (as observed in other dwarf AGN). ROSAT HRI and PSPC archive data show a variable X-ray source coincident with the galactic nucleus. A change in X-ray flux by a factor \~2 in 15 days has been observed. When compared with more luminous AGN, NGC4395 appears to be very X-ray quiet. The hardness ratio obtained from the PSPC data suggests that the spectrum could be absorbed. We also report the discovery of weak CaIIK absorption, suggesting the presence of a young stellar cluster providing of the order of 10% of the blue light. Using HST UV archive data, together with the optical and X-ray observations, we examine the spectral energy distribution for NGC4395 and discuss the physical conditions implied by the nuclear activity under the standard AGN model. The observations can be explained by either an accreting massive black hole emitting at about 10^(-3) L_(Edd) or by a single old compact SNR with an age of 50 to 500 yr generated by a small nuclear starburst.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, to appear in MNRA

Triumph after Trauma: A Phenomenological Exploration into Women Survivor’s Perceptions of the Influence of Trauma on their Leadership

Most research around trauma is focused on negative life consequences. Although limited, there is research that explores the influence of resilience and how some survivors may experience growth after trauma (Kirschman, 2004). Furthermore, research is limited on how trauma influences the leadership style and career trajectories of women who have overcome trauma. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used as the methodological framework to explore the perspectives of women leaders who identify as survivors or overcomers of trauma. The study participants are women leaders in middle management positions to senior-level executives in educational organizations serving middle and high school students. In-depth interviews were used to explore their lived experiences and uncover themes within the domains of childhood trauma, resilience, and post-traumatic growth. Major themes emerged from the data within each of the domains demonstrating triumph after trauma. The participants revealed an alternative narrative to adverse life outcomes associated with trauma and utilized their lived experiences as motivation to benefit themselves and others. Moreover, they demonstrated resilience and post-traumatic growth in their pursuit to support youth in need by mentoring and advocating for opportunities through education, empathy, and leadership. Additionally, participants demonstrated effective leadership practices within the Bolman and Deal Leadership Typology, with all participants utilizing multiple leadership frames. Participants also reported hyper-independence and workaholism due to their trauma, indicating a need to promote work cultures with additional resources that support leaders and staff who have experienced trauma. Implications for practice in educational organizations and institutions include trauma-informed leadership training, inclusive work cultures and hiring practices, and promotion of wellness, self-care, and support networks to reduce burnout and enhance the quality of life in the workplace. Implications for practice for at-risk girls and young women include natural mentorship, positive coping mechanisms, and leadership opportunities. The results of this study suggest a need to move from conceptual ideas around this phenomenon to a transformational theory grounded in data from lived experiences informing future prevention, intervention, and leadership initiatives for women and girls

Ensemble prediction for nowcasting with a convection-permitting model - II: forecast error statistics

A 24-member ensemble of 1-h high-resolution forecasts over the Southern United Kingdom is used to study short-range forecast error statistics. The initial conditions are found from perturbations from an ensemble transform Kalman filter. Forecasts from this system are assumed to lie within the bounds of forecast error of an operational forecast system. Although noisy, this system is capable of producing physically reasonable statistics which are analysed and compared to statistics implied from a variational assimilation system. The variances for temperature errors for instance show structures that reflect convective activity. Some variables, notably potential temperature and specific humidity perturbations, have autocorrelation functions that deviate from 3-D isotropy at the convective-scale (horizontal scales less than 10 km). Other variables, notably the velocity potential for horizontal divergence perturbations, maintain 3-D isotropy at all scales. Geostrophic and hydrostatic balances are studied by examining correlations between terms in the divergence and vertical momentum equations respectively. Both balances are found to decay as the horizontal scale decreases. It is estimated that geostrophic balance becomes less important at scales smaller than 75 km, and hydrostatic balance becomes less important at scales smaller than 35 km, although more work is required to validate these findings. The implications of these results for high-resolution data assimilation are discussed

A method for merging flow-dependent forecast error statistics from an ensemble with static statistics for use in high resolution variational data assimilation

The background error covariance matrix, B, is often used in variational data assimilation for numerical weather prediction as a static and hence poor approximation to the fully dynamic forecast error covariance matrix, Pf. In this paper the concept of an Ensemble Reduced Rank Kalman Filter (EnRRKF) is outlined. In the EnRRKF the forecast error statistics in a subspace defined by an ensemble of states forecast by the dynamic model are found. These statistics are merged in a formal way with the static statistics, which apply in the remainder of the space. The combined statistics may then be used in a variational data assimilation setting. It is hoped that the nonlinear error growth of small-scale weather systems will be accurately captured by the EnRRKF, to produce accurate analyses and ultimately improved forecasts of extreme events