Cost analysis of a transition to green vehicle technology for light duty fleet vehicles in Public Works Department–Naval Support Activity Monterey (PWD Monterey)

MBA Professional ReportThe MBA Project is a detailed cost analysis of various mature green vehicle technologies that can be implemented by Public Works Department–Naval Support Activity Monterey (PWD Monterey) and its subordinate entities, with the intent of reducing both overall life-cycle vehicle costs and carbon emissions. The focus is on light-duty, non-tactical vehicles in use in the region. The cost analysis explores Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), the infrastructure required to operate them, and the social cost of carbon emissions (SCC). Our model indicates that it is not economically beneficial to implement green vehicle technologies on a fleet-wide level for PWD Monterey. Although there are SCC benefits, and right-sizing fleet vehicles to suitable alternatives leads to savings, the increased cost of PHEVs and relatively large required infrastructure cost outpace the total benefits.http://archive.org/details/costnalysisoftra1094547924Lieutenant Commander, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Strategic Leadership: Do Supply Chain Management Leaders make Better Senior Executives?

Starting in the 1990’s, various companies began to see Logistics and Supply Chain Management as tools to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace (Li et. Al., 2006). The rise of Supply Chain Management (SCM) as a critical element of various companies’ strategies raises the question of the abilities of various leaders. For most companies, there is an assumption that the senior leader(s) should be a person whose operational and tactical experiences are in the basic function the company performs (i.e., a manufacturing company would be best led by an engineer that progressed through the manufacturing process/floor/plant/etc.) However, the assumption that tactical success will result in strategic success is likely flawed. Furthermore, many organizations struggle to develop talented managers to become excellent strategic leaders. It is estimated that organizations in the United States spend up to $200 billion annually to train their workforce (Salas and Cannon-Bowers, 2001). A second study identified that over half of CEOs (62%) recognized the importance and challenges of developing trained employees (Mourao, 2018). While neither study focused specifically on strategic leadership or training, both highlight the importance companies have traditionally placed on the development of their organizations’ individuals. Given this importance across all levels of the organization, it would be safe to assume that the critical nature of strategic leadership would be equally, if not more, important to develop key employees’ skills. However, the question becomes how to select and develop the best candidates for strategic development. Traditionally, organizations were likely to choose managers for promotion that matched their primary business (Breaugh, 2011). For example, a manufacturing firm would like choose an engineer with an operations background to be its CEO or key strategic The assumption is that the functions, skills and abilities that make a person successful in an area, lead to their promotion to higher and higher levels within that organization and would be best suited to the C-level. Perhaps a better approach would be to develop strategic leaders from a pool of managers that have strategic level responsibilities within their organization. The implication is that a SCM executive is often positioned earlier in their career and has boarder set of responsibilities than many functional leaders and could possibly be a better candidate for the strategic level position. This abstract is an early step in developing the literature, theories, propositions and methodology needed to examine the role of SCM leaders as future strategic leaders in organizations

Transcatheter Electrical Ablation of Accessory Pathways in Children

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), the most common sustained symptomatic arrhythmia of childhood, is often supported hy a manifest or concealed accessory pathway. Permanent interruption of the accessory pathway usually requires surgical division. Recent experience with electrical ablation of posterior septal pathways in adults prompted us to apply the technique to children. Six children, ages 8 to 15 years, underwent a complete electrophysiological study followed by transcatheter electrical ablation. Five of the 6 children, 3 with a right posterior septal and 2 with a left posterior septal pathway, were approached with the ablation catheter at the os of the coronary sinus. In the remaining patient, a left lateral pathway was mapped with an electrode catheter in the coronary sinus and then approached with the ablation catheter through the patent foramen into the left atrium. Two patients are asymptomatic 18–24 months postabla-tion; one patient had return of anomalous conduction between 7 and 21 days after ablation. Two patients had transient interruption of anomalous conduction, whereas one patient experienced no effect. We conclude that in carefully selected patients, transcatheter electrical ablation ofers an alternative to surgery for permanent interruption of an accessory pathway. (PACE, Vol. 12, November 3989)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71986/1/j.1540-8159.1989.tb01865.x.pd

Knowns and unknowns for psychophysiological endophenotypes: Integration and response to commentaries

We review and summarize seven molecular genetic studies of 17 psychophysiological endophenotypes that comprise this special issue of Psychophysiology , address criticisms raised in accompanying Perspective and Commentary pieces, and offer suggestions for future research. Endophenotypes are polygenic, and possibly influenced by rare genetic variants. Because they are not simpler genetically than clinical phenotypes, they are unlikely to assist gene discovery for psychiatric disorder. Once genetic variants for clinical phenotypes are identified, associated endophenotypes are likely to provide valuable insights into the psychological and neural mechanisms important to disorder pathology. This special issue provides a foundation for informed future steps in endophenotype genetics, including the formation of large sample consortia capable of fleshing out the many genetic variants contributing to individual differences in psychophysiological measures.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109647/1/psyp12358.pd

Whole-body mathematical model for simulating intracranial pressure dynamics

A whole-body mathematical model (10) for simulating intracranial pressure dynamics. In one embodiment, model (10) includes 17 interacting compartments, of which nine lie entirely outside of intracranial vault (14). Compartments (F) and (T) are defined to distinguish ventricular from extraventricular CSF. The vasculature of the intracranial system within cranial vault (14) is also subdivided into five compartments (A, C, P, V, and S, respectively) representing the intracranial arteries, capillaries, choroid plexus, veins, and venous sinus. The body's extracranial systemic vasculature is divided into six compartments (I, J, O, Z, D, and X, respectively) representing the arteries, capillaries, and veins of the central body and the lower body. Compartments (G) and (B) include tissue and the associated interstitial fluid in the intracranial and lower regions. Compartment (Y) is a composite involving the tissues, organs, and pulmonary circulation of the central body and compartment (M) represents the external environment

The matricial relaxation of a linear matrix inequality

Given linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) L_1 and L_2, it is natural to ask: (Q1) when does one dominate the other, that is, does L_1(X) PsD imply L_2(X) PsD? (Q2) when do they have the same solution set? Such questions can be NP-hard. This paper describes a natural relaxation of an LMI, based on substituting matrices for the variables x_j. With this relaxation, the domination questions (Q1) and (Q2) have elegant answers, indeed reduce to constructible semidefinite programs. Assume there is an X such that L_1(X) and L_2(X) are both PD, and suppose the positivity domain of L_1 is bounded. For our "matrix variable" relaxation a positive answer to (Q1) is equivalent to the existence of matrices V_j such that L_2(x)=V_1^* L_1(x) V_1 + ... + V_k^* L_1(x) V_k. As for (Q2) we show that, up to redundancy, L_1 and L_2 are unitarily equivalent. Such algebraic certificates are typically called Positivstellensaetze and the above are examples of such for linear polynomials. The paper goes on to derive a cleaner and more powerful Putinar-type Positivstellensatz for polynomials positive on a bounded set of the form {X | L(X) PsD}. An observation at the core of the paper is that the relaxed LMI domination problem is equivalent to a classical problem. Namely, the problem of determining if a linear map from a subspace of matrices to a matrix algebra is "completely positive".Comment: v1: 34 pages, v2: 41 pages; supplementary material is available in the source file, or see http://srag.fmf.uni-lj.si

Greater Than the Sum: Systems Thinking in Tobacco control

Tobacco control and public health have evolved into a complex set of interconnected and largely self-organizing systems. Their components include international, national, and local governmental agencies; individual advocacy groups; policy makers; health care professionals; nonprofit foundations; and the general population itself. The issues require the exploration of approaches and methodologies that speak to the evolving, dynamic nature of this systems environment. This monograph focuses on the first two years of the Initiative on the Study and Implementation of Systems (ISIS), which was funded by the National Cancer Institute to examine the potential for systems thinking in tobacco control and public health. ISIS explored the general idea of a systems thinking rubric encompassing a great variety of systems-oriented methodologies and approaches. Four approaches have particular promise for their applicability to tobacco control and public health and thus were chosen as areas for initial investigation: (1) organizing and managing as a system, (2) system dynamics and how to model those dynamics, (3) system networks and their analysis, and (4) systems knowledge and its management and translation. As a transdisciplinary effort that linked both tobacco control stakeholders and systems experts, ISIS combined a number of exploratory projects and case studies within these four approaches with a detailed examination of the potential for systems thinking in tobacco control. Its end product was a set of expert consensus guidelines for the future implementation of systems thinking and systems perspectives for tobacco control and public health.https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/18/index.htm

Small business strategic management practices and performance: A configurational approach

Small businesses contribute to society on many fronts: job creation, tax revenues, functional products and services, charitable donations, technological developments, and social contributions to communities. Given these contributions, and small firms’ limited resources, it is important to understand what strategic management practices (SMPs)–activities engaged to develop and implement strategy–positively impact small firm performance. Small business leaders may apply various combinations of SMPs to achieve performance objectives. Here, we apply Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to explore how various combinations of six different SMPs–entrepreneurial orientation (EO), strategic planning, goal setting, total quality management (TQM), social capital, and small business owners’ analysis of financial ratios–affect performance. From a sample of U.S. printing companies, we found four different configurations of SMPs related to higher small business performance

The interaction of fire and mankind:Introduction

Fire has been an important part of the Earth system for over 350 Myr. Humans evolved in this fiery world and are the only animals to have used and controlled fire. The interaction of mankind with fire is a complex one, with both positive and negative aspects. Humans have long used fire for heating, cooking, landscape management and agriculture, as well as for pyrotechnologies and in industrial processes over more recent centuries. Many landscapes need fire but population expansion into wildland areas creates a tension between different interest groups. Extinguishing wildfires may not always be the correct solution. A combination of factors, including the problem of invasive plants, landscape change, climate change, population growth, human health, economic, social and cultural attitudes that may be transnational make a re-evaluation of fire and mankind necessary. The Royal Society meeting on Fire and mankind was held to address these issues and the results of these deliberations are published in this volume. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’