China scholars and the media: improving an awkward, important relationship

Public interest in China, as reflected in the level of media attention, is burgeoning in the West and elsewhere in the world. This interest is driven by China's increasing presence and importance in the lives of people around the world; and for the same reason is likely to continue growing. Since media discourses are the main way in which Western publics receive information about China, contributing to media reports and helping journalists reach deeper understandings is an important task and opportunity for academics whose specialist knowledge of China is often more nuanced than that of generalist China correspondents. Although developments in the two professions are demanding closer and more frequent interactions, many scholars are reluctant to engage. This is partly due to structural disincentives within the academy, and partly due to obstacles in the scholar–media relationship. Focusing on the latter, the objective of this article is to illuminate how China scholars and journalists currently interact, and to identify means to increasing their efficiency and sustainability

Motivations of Antitrafficking Volunteers

Abstract Human trafficking is a worldwide crisis, and agencies rely on volunteers to help serve its victims. Past researchers have suggested that motivation to volunteer is multifaceted and that volunteer turnover hinders accomplishing mission objectives. The research question was to examine if there were any differentiating motivations of antitrafficking volunteers from the current literature. This study was a qualitative case study of an antitrafficking religion-sponsored agency in the United States. Self-determination theory guided the research consisting of 7 agency volunteers. Candidates met the established criteria of minimum age and duration of service. The interpretive phenomenological analysis process helped to assess individual data separately and then collectively with participants adding clarification and member checking through follow-up e-mails. The analysis process produced themes about relating to others, work competency, autonomy, sense of obligation, religious motivations, personal satisfaction, recognition, and agency leadership styles as motivators. Their religious affiliation with the agency produced a strong emphasis on spiritual motivations. An element of egocentric motivations emerged as differences from the current volunteering literature. The egocentric motivations emerged from the participant\u27s view that God was watching and their actions brought God\u27s favor to them. Agency leaders need to focus on helping potential and current volunteers feel important as contributors to the spiritual wellbeing of themselves and others. This finding was a key aspect of recruitment and retention of volunteers, who could help this underserved population and thus promote positive social change

Teacher Voice

In many of today's education debates, "teacher voice" is invoked as a remedy to, or the cause of, the problems facing public schools. Advocates argue that teachers don't have a sufficient voice in setting educational policy and decision-making while critics maintain that teachers have too strong an influence. This study aims to bring some clarity to the contested and often ill-defined notion of "teacher voice." I begin with an original analytical framework to establish a working definition of teacher voice and a means by which to study teachers' educational, employment, and policy voice, as expressed individually and collectively, to their colleagues, supervisors, and policymakers. I then use this framework in Part I of my paper which is a historical review of the development and expression of teacher voice over five major periods in the history of public education in the United States, dating from the colonial era through today. Based on this historical interpretation and recent empirical research, I estimate the impact of teacher voice on two outcomes of interest: student achievement and teacher working conditions. In Part II of the paper, I conduct an original quantitative study of teacher voice, designed along the lines of my analytical framework, with particular attention to the relationship between teacher voice and teacher turnover, or "exit." As presented in Parts I and II and summarized in my Conclusion, teacher voice requires an enabling context. For much of the history of public education in the United States, a number of social and political factors presented conditions that inhibited teacher voice. As the state acquired more responsibility for the delivery of schooling, the required institutional context took shape allowing for the emergence of teacher voice in its various forms. Collective bargaining laws established formal procedures for the expression of teacher collective voice, originally on matters of employment but quickly spreading to issues of education and policy. Over the past thirty years, just as teacher voice gained strength at the negotiating table and in the corridors of power, the evolving institutional context has privileged choice, or "exit," over voice; a concurrent centralization of authority has made decision making less susceptible to voice efforts. At present, and despite mechanisms that promote teacher voice such as unionization and collective bargaining, teachers feel as if they do not have much of a voice in educational, employment, or policy decisions. Context matters, though, for when teachers are satisfied with their place of work, when represented by an effective union, and when the issues they raise are implemented or addressed, voice levels are at their highest. My findings also indicate that the right working conditions are associated with higher levels of teacher voice even among those educators who are inclined to leave their school. This finding suggests, and additional research is required to confirm, that promoting teacher voice can reduce unwanted turnover in schools. I conclude with thoughts on the future prospects of teacher voice. New technologies, social media, and other forms of connectivity are providing teachers with new opportunities to voice ideas amongst themselves and with supervisors and policymakers. Although it is too early to tell, there is reason to believe that these new voice pathways will serve as an effective medium for teachers to influence decisions and policies and expand the enabling context for teacher, and public, voice in education

Emergency Operations Methodology for Extreme Winter Storm Events

Winter storms have increased in frequency and intensity since the 1950s, and average annual precipitation is projected to continue to increase across the northern United States. In response to these trends, many states have developed, or are interested in developing, emergency-response plans for extreme winter storm events. This report provides a series of six emergency response plan case studies as well as a synthesis of best practices related to emergency-response planning for extreme winter weather. It is intended to provide a blueprint for transportation agencies seeking to develop or improve their own extreme winter weather emergency-response plans, including how to coordinate an effective response across multiple agencies and jurisdictions

Synthesis of Technical Requirements and Considerations for Automated Snowplow Route Optimization: Final Report

DOTs and other transportation agencies are increasingly using automated methods for snowplow route optimization, which have been demonstrated to produce significant savings when they result in the implementation of new routes. However, many route optimization projects have fallen short of implementation due to technical/operational issues with the routes produced or institutional barriers to change. These shortcomings can be substantially mitigated with improvements to the process of soliciting, selecting, and managing the route optimization software or service provider. This project’s objective was to provide DOTs with the tools needed to make these improvements. The key lessons from this project are provided in two complementary documents: a Decision Support Guidance document and a Contracting Language Template. The Decision Support Guidance provides DOT staff with an accessible and in-depth discussion of the technical requirements for route optimization and the key decisions DOTs should consider when developing the project scope and managing a provider. The Contracting Language Template provides DOTs with a flexible template to assist with the development of a scope of work for a Request for Proposals (RFP) for automated snowplow route optimization services. The language suggested in the Contracting document is intended to ensure that DOTs and service providers have a shared understanding of the scope of work that the DOT requires and to maximize the likelihood that the project will result in safe, feasible, implementation-ready routes

Is Medical Education Ethical?

No abstract provide

Snow and Ice Control Performance Measurement: Comparing Grip, Traffic Speed Distributions and Safety Outcomes During Winter Storms

Effective performance measurement provides benchmarking for transportation agencies to promote transparency, accountability, cost-effectiveness, and process improvement. Vaisala’s proprietary “Grip measure provides an imputed measure of the condition of the road surface (Jensen et al., 2014). VTrans’ Average Distribution Deviation (ADD) measures changes in the distribution of vehicle speeds during and after winter weather events (Sullivan et al., 2016). The algorithm for the calculation of Grip was reverseengineered from Road Weather Information System (RWIS) data over the winters of 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. The resulting algorithm is consistent with research connecting snow, water and ice layer thicknesses to skidding friction. ADD and Grip were found to be relatively poorly correlated, indicating that each measure is independently useful and one cannot be used as a proxy for the other. In fact, the exploration revealed that instances when ADD and Grip diverge maybe especially useful for signaling high-risk situations, or situations when the traveling public is not correctly perceiving the road surface conditions. Finally, a review of winter storm and season severity indices concluded that the precipitation-based Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index was appropriate for use in Vermont because it was well calibrated, captured key factors influencing winter maintenance activities and calculated from data that are readily available across the state

Cool White Polymer Coatings based on Glass Bubbles for Buildings.

While most selective emitter materials are inadequate or inappropriate for building applications, here we present a techno-economically viable optical coating by integrating glass bubbles within a polymer film. A controlled glass bubble volume concentration from 0 to 70% leads to a selective solar reflectivity increase from 0.06 to 0.92 while the mid-infrared emissivity remains above 0.85. Outdoor measurements show the polymer coating on a concrete surface can provide a temperature reduction up to 25 °C during the day when conduction and convection are limited and a net cooling power greater than 78 W/m2 at a cost less than $0.005/W. The impact of polymer coating on common buildings is estimated as potential annual energy savings of 2-12 MJ/m2 and CO2 emission savings of 0.3-1.5 kg/m2. More savings are expected for higher surface-area-to-volume-ratio buildings, and the polymer coating is also expected to resolve cooling issues for old buildings with no air conditioning