A study of the relationship between consumer satisfaction and direct care staff turnover in an agency for the developmentally disabled

This study examined the relationship between direct care staff turnover and consumer satisfaction in an agency for the developmentally disabled. Twenty out of a possible 42 individuals with a developmental disability participated in the survey. There was a significant relationship between staff turnover and consumer satisfaction of day habilitation services. No significant relationship was evident in the areas of residential habilitation or respite. The findings indicate that agencies may need to prioritize direct care staffing patterns to reduce the negative effect on consumer satisfaction

Defensive Adaptations and Natural Enemies of a Case-Bearing Beetle, Exema canadensis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The larval habit of constructing and carrying a portable case has evolved many times in the Holometabola. It is a widespread trait of the Trichoptera and Lepidoptera (e.g. the Coleophoridae and Psychidae). Among the Coleoptera, casebearing is found in four related subfamilies of the Chrysomelidae, the so-called camptosomates: Clytrinae, Cryptocephalinae, Chlamisinae, and Lamprosomatinae (B6ving and Craighead 1931). The larval case of many insects is thought to function primarily in defense by providing armor or camouflage (Otto and Svensson 1980). Here we describe the uses of the case and other defenses in a chlamisine beetle, Exerna canadensis Pierce, and speculate briefly on the evolution and consequences of the case-bearing habit. The genus Exema Lacordaire contains nine species in North America (Karren 1966). All of the species appear to be univoltine and to feed on a fairly restricted range of herbaceous or shrubby genera in the Asteraceae (Jenks 1940; Karren 1966, 1972). In central New York E. canadensis is commonly found on goldenrods (Sol# dago spp.) and asters (Aster spp.). Its life cycle was summarized by Messina and Root (1980). Le Sage (1982) recently described the immature stages

A Model of Simultaneous Evolution of Competitive Ability and Herbivore Resistance in a Perennial Plant

Plant populations often experience the joint effects of intraspecific competition and herbivory, yet the impact of the interaction of these two factors on the outcome of evolution is largely unknown. Here, we develop a spatially explicit simulation model to examine interactions between the evolution of herbivore resistance and competitive ability in the goldenrod Solidago altissima. We define competitive ability as either competitive effect, the ability of a plant to deplete resources and make them unavailable to competitors, or competitive response, the ability to grow, survive, and reproduce despite depletion of resources by neighboring competitors. We considered symmetric and asymmetric modes of competition and explored the following questions: (1) Does the selective effect of competition differ for the two components of competitive ability? (2) What are the effects of the evolution of competitive ability and resistance on each other? (3) Can trade-offs between competitive ability and resistance emerge, given no relationship between these two traits prior to selection? Our results showed that competitive response evolved quickly regardless of the mode of competition, but self-suppression hindered the evolution of competitive effect. The evolution of resistance appeared to be independent of the evolution of competitive ability. Intraspecific competition was the major selective force in our model. At natural levels of herbivory, selection for resistance played a secondary role in structuring the population. Resistant genotypes were only favored at very low resistance costs. At high cost levels, the costs of maintaining resistance far outweighed the benefits. The selective forces of competition and herbivory resulted in trade-offs between competitive response and herbivore resistance, but only at low costs of resistance. Vigorous growth associated with a high competitive response might translate into trade-offs between herbivore tolerance and resistance. The strong selective effects of competitors, coupled with the weaker selection from herbivores, suggest that plant traits directly associated with growth that confer tolerance to both competitors and consumers may be the targets of selection

New electron source concept for single-shot sub-100 fs electron diffraction in the 100 keV range

We present a method for producing sub-100 fs electron bunches that are suitable for single-shot ultrafast electron diffraction experiments in the 100 keV energy range. A combination of analytical results and state-of-the-art numerical simulations show that it is possible to create 100 keV, 0.1 pC, 20 fs electron bunches with a spotsize smaller than 500 micron and a transverse coherence length of 3 nm, using established technologies in a table-top set-up. The system operates in the space-charge dominated regime to produce energy-correlated bunches that are recompressed by established radio-frequency techniques. With this approach we overcome the Coulomb expansion of the bunch, providing an entirely new ultrafast electron diffraction source concept

Root to Kellerer

We revisit Kellerer's Theorem, that is, we show that for a family of real probability distributions $(\mu_t)_{t\in [0,1]}$ which increases in convex order there exists a Markov martingale $(S_t)_{t\in[0,1]}$ s.t.\ $S_t\sim \mu_t$. To establish the result, we observe that the set of martingale measures with given marginals carries a natural compact Polish topology. Based on a particular property of the martingale coupling associated to Root's embedding this allows for a relatively concise proof of Kellerer's theorem. We emphasize that many of our arguments are borrowed from Kellerer \cite{Ke72}, Lowther \cite{Lo07}, and Hirsch-Roynette-Profeta-Yor \cite{HiPr11,HiRo12}.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Determining the top-antitop and ZZZZ Couplings of a Neutral Higgs Boson of Arbitrary CP Nature at the NLC

The optimal procedure for extracting the coefficients of different components of a cross section which takes the form of unknown coefficients times functions of known kinematical form is developed. When applied to \epem\to t\anti t+Higgs production at \rts=1\tev and integrated luminosity of 200\fbi, we find that the t\anti t\toHiggs CP-even and CP-odd couplings and, to a lesser extent, the $ZZ\to$Higgs (CP-even) coupling can be extracted with reasonable errors, assuming the Higgs sector parameter choices yield a significant production rate. Indeed, the composition of a mixed-CP Higgs eigenstate can be determined with sufficient accuracy that a SM-like CP-even Higgs boson can be distinguished from a purely CP-odd Higgs boson at a high level of statistical significance, and vice versa.Comment: 8 pages, full postscript file also available via anonymous ftp at ftp://ucdhep.ucdavis.edu/gunion/eetottbh.p

Paper Session II-C - Technology Transfer and The Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology

NASA has a continuing mission to develop and transfer advanced technologies for the benefit of government space programs, the aerospace industry and the nation\u27s economy. In October, 1992, the NASA Administrator created a new Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology (OACT) that is comprised of both the former NASA Office of Commercial Programs (OCP) and the Space Technology Directorate of the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST). The purposes of this new office include the development of innovative new technologies and concepts, and the rapid and effective transfer of technology into and from NASA as well as other organizations participating in the U.S. civil space program. In this paper, the character and interrelationships of OACT programs and plans will be summarized, including overarching strategic planning (e.g. the Integrated Technology Plan, ITP); space technology development efforts (for example, the NASA base and focused space research and technology programs); special technology innovation efforts (such as the Small Business Innovative Research, SBIR, program); and, efforts to promote commercial space development (e.g. the Centers for Commercial Development of Space, CCDSs). Particular emphasis will be given to technology transfer programs and efforts to improve technology transfer (such as the on-going development of the national technology transfer network). This paper will describe both existing technology transfer programs and current planning, as well as assessment and analysis activities aimed at enabling OACT to refine and energize NASA\u27s approaches to technology transfer. It will also evaluate recent recommendations made by internal and external review teams and others concerning technology transfer for the civil space program. These include a 1992 workshop on Technology Transfer and the Civil Space Program, as well as the results of two internal NASA-wide teams. Finally, the paper will identify options for the future of civil space technology transfer improvements