Assessing the time-sensitive impacts of energy efficiency and flexibility in the US building sector

The building sector consumes 75% of US electricity, offering substantial energy, cost, and CO2 emissions savings potential. New technologies enable buildings to flexibly manage electric loads across different times of day and season in support of a low-cost, low-carbon electric grid. Assessing the value of such technologies requires an understanding of building electric load variability at a higher temporal resolution than is demonstrated in previous studies of US building efficiency potential. We adapt Scout, an open-access model of US building energy use, to characterize sub-annual variations in baseline building electricity use, costs, and emissions at the national scale. We apply this baseline in time-sensitive analyses of the energy, cost, and CO2 emissions savings potential of various degrees of energy efficiency and flexibility, finding that efficiency continues to have strong value in a time-sensitive assessment framework while the value of flexibility depends on assumed electricity rates, measure magnitude and duration, and the amount of savings already captured by efficiency

Beam squint correction for a diplex, retrodirective phased array

Beam squint is eliminated by using received phase at each array element to control transmitted phase at another element. Correction method may extend to multi-element array by using ring structure

Contributions of local, lateral and contextual habitat variables to explaining variation in fisheries productivity metrics in the littoral zone of a reservoir

Puisque l’altération des habitats d’eau douce augmente, il devient critique d’identifier les composantes de l’habitat qui influencent les métriques de la productivité des pêcheries. Nous avons comparé la contribution relative de trois types de variables d’habitat à l’explication de la variance de métriques d’abondance, de biomasse et de richesse à l’aide de modèles d’habitat de poissons, et avons identifié les variables d’habitat les plus efficaces à expliquer ces variations. Au cours des étés 2012 et 2013, les communautés de poissons de 43 sites littoraux ont été échantillonnées dans le Lac du Bonnet, un réservoir dans le Sud-est du Manitoba (Canada). Sept scénarios d’échantillonnage, différant par l’engin de pêche, l’année et le moment de la journée, ont été utilisés pour estimer l’abondance, la biomasse et la richesse à chaque site, toutes espèces confondues. Trois types de variables d’habitat ont été évalués: des variables locales (à l’intérieur du site), des variables latérales (caractérisation de la berge) et des variables contextuelles (position relative à des attributs du paysage). Les variables d’habitat locales et contextuelles expliquaient en moyenne un total de 44 % (R2 ajusté) de la variation des métriques de la productivité des pêcheries, alors que les variables d’habitat latérales expliquaient seulement 2 % de la variation. Les variables les plus souvent significatives sont la couverture de macrophytes, la distance aux tributaires d’une largeur ≥ 50 m et la distance aux marais d’une superficie ≥ 100 000 m2, ce qui suggère que ces variables sont les plus efficaces à expliquer la variation des métriques de la productivité des pêcheries dans la zone littorale des réservoirs.As freshwater fisheries become increasingly prone to habitat alteration, it is critical we identify the components of habitat that greatly influence fisheries productivity metrics. Using fish habitat modeling, we compared relative contributions of three types of habitat variables to explain variation in abundance, biomass and richness metrics, and identified habitat variables most effective at explaining these variations. During the summers of 2012 and 2013, fish communities in 43 littoral sites were sampled from Lac du Bonnet, a reservoir in southeastern Manitoba (Canada). Seven different sampling scenarios, consisting of different sampling methods, years and time periods, were used to measure relative abundance, biomass and richness metrics for all species combined per site. Three types of habitat variables were measured: local (i.e. within site), lateral (i.e. shore characterization) and contextual (i.e. position relative to landscape attributes) variables. Together local and contextual habitat variables explained on average 44% R2adj of the variation across fisheries productivity metrics, while only 2% R2adj of the variation was explained by lateral habitat variables. Specifically, macrophyte coverage, distance to tributaries ≥ 50 m wide, and distance to marshes ≥ 100,000 m2 ranked most significant across metrics, suggesting these habitat variables may be most effective at explaining variation in fisheries productivity metrics in the littoral zone of reservoirs

Chapter 07. Message Design for Healthcare Simulation

Simulation is a teaching method that motivates and engages learners (Ifenthaler et al. 2020; Martin & Betrus, 2019), can provide better student performance outcomes compared to traditional classroom education (Chernikova et al. 2020; D’Angleo et al., 2014; Di Natale et al., 2020; Gralnick & Levy, 2011; Pellas et al., 2019), and can even replace some real-world learning experiences (Alexander et al., 2015). Instructional designers who develop healthcare simulations should use relevant learning theory and instructional message design to ensure that the simulation is learner-centered and based in evidence-based practice to maximize the potential for the learning experience

An Examination of Sudden Warming Events Associated with Cold Fronts in Iowa

Abrupt temperature increases have been documented accompanying the passage of some cold fronts. These warming events can raise the temperature by as much as 4oC in mere minutes, and can sometimes last hours. Previous studies in Oklahoma, focused primarily on nocturnal periods, have indicated that these events are caused by strong winds associated with frontal passage mixing warm, elevated air down to the surface. This study examined front-associated warming events, both nocturnal and diurnal, at five airports in Iowa from 2014 to 2016. Strong warming events were found to be rare and restricted mostly to nighttime hours. Altogether, 11.2% of cold fronts during this period produced at least one warming event. Fall months recorded the most events, and had the highest frequency of warming when normalized for total frontal passages. A coarse spatial analysis also found that warming events were more common in north-central Iowa. Comparisons between warming events and control periods revealed that warming generally occurred in the presence of weaker initial winds and stronger low-level thermal inversions. These results align with previous studies indicating that shallow inversions play a role in development of these events. They also show that while daytime warming events are rare, they do exist. Spatial results also suggest possible topographic influences, given the prevalence of warming events over Iowa’s flatter, more open areas

Creating and Maintaining the Therapeutic Relationship with LGBT Elders: An Exploratory Study

As the aging population rapidly rises in the United States, so does the need for social workers who are competent to practice with older adults. Social workers must also be prepared to serve subpopulations within their generational context that may have unique needs and histories of inequality and oppression. The LGBT elder community has historically been overlooked in generalist and clinical practice with older adults. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how mental health practitioners create and maintain the therapeutic relationship with LGBT elders. Individual interviews were conducted with nine mental health practitioners holding LICSW, LISW, and LGSW degrees. The major themes that emerged from the data were: 1) definition of the therapeutic relationship, 2) the importance of avoiding assumptions, 3) the importance of cultural competency, 4) the validation and recognition of life experience, 5) the development of trust, 6) the importance of safety and acceptance, and 7) challenges in developing the therapeutic relationship. Implications for social work, future research, and policy are discussed

Leadership in VolunTourism

This paper explores the opportunities for leadership development in the evolving field of VolunTourism. VolunTourism, a relatively new term within the tourism industry used to describe travelers paying to take a trip in which they spend their time volunteering, has been growing in populariry without any universally established guidelines or a program model for leaders to follow. Currently, there is a lack of research regarding the sustainability of projects and the impact of leadership sfyles on the success of VolunTourism programs. This paper also explores the opportunities for leadership development within the evolving field of VolunTourism, based on the experiences of participants and leaders. It will also recommend which leadership models, when applied, would create the most beneficial environment for all of the participants involved in the program in order to increase the success and longevity of the program and relationship

Creating and Maintaining the Therapeutic Relationship with LGBT Elders: An Exploratory Study

As the aging population rapidly rises in the United States, so does the need for social workers who are competent to practice with older adults. Social workers must also be prepared to serve subpopulations within their generational context that may have unique needs and histories of inequality and oppression. The LGBT elder community has historically been overlooked in generalist and clinical practice with older adults. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how mental health practitioners create and maintain the therapeutic relationship with LGBT elders. Individual interviews were conducted with nine mental health practitioners holding LICSW, LISW, and LGSW degrees. The major themes that emerged from the data were: 1) definition of the therapeutic relationship, 2) the importance of avoiding assumptions, 3) the importance of cultural competency, 4) the validation and recognition of life experience, 5) the development of trust, 6) the importance of safety and acceptance, and 7) challenges in developing the therapeutic relationship. Implications for social work, future research, and policy are discussed

The biodiversity of dictyostelids in mountain forests: a case study in the French Alps

Forest management can seriously modify the biodiversity of forest dwelling species, but the consequences are poorly known for certain taxa, particularly soil fauna, for which few studies have been published. We compared the biodiversity of dictyostelids cellular slime moulds in a managed and an unmanaged forest in the French Alps and analysed the influence of environmental factors on species richness and abundance of dictyostelids. To our knowledge, this study is the first one undertaken in the European Alps. We must better understand the influence of various environmental factors on the biodiversity of these organisms if we want to accurately define their functional role in the soil. In our study, dictyostelids showed lower levels of diversity compared to previously published results. The mean species richness of dictyostelids was marginally higher in unmanaged than in managed forests and biodiversity indices were significantly correlated with elevation and pH. This suggests that environmental factors have a predominant effect on the biodiversity of dictyostelids and that the effect of forest management is secondary