The Creation of an Inclusive Culture: A Case Study of the Midwestern Region of a Large Retail Banking Organization

Through a case study of the Midwestern region of a large retail banking organization, this thesis set out to explore how the organization has worked to create an inclusive culture, as well as the associated challenges, measurement opportunities and outcomes of those activities. Though this case study focused on these efforts across the Midwestern region, the organization itself is one ofAmerica’s largest financial institutions and employs over 275,000 team members. A comprehensive literature review, conceptual and relational content analyses of the organization’s website, and interviews with seven leaders from the region were used in this research. The results of this research coincide with existing theoretical literature and add a practical perspective that connects existing theory to practice. As Chavez & Weisinger (2008) suggest, an organization can create an inclusive culture by “draw[ing] out and act[ing] on the unique perspectives” of its diverse workforce (p. 332). This case study explores how a region of one organization has done this. More specifically, this study highlights the important roles that cultural awareness, affinity groups and diverse groups and communities have played in the creation of an inclusive culture within the organization. This study also addresses the array of measurements that the organization has used in gauging the success of its inclusion efforts. It also outlines a number of positive outcomes of the organization’s efforts, including affirmative community response and increased business development, among others. Furthermore, this study notes the challenges this organization has faced with time and support to create an inclusive culture. Lastly, this study also presents a number of opportunities for future research around the topic of inclusive culture

Low NO sub x heavy fuel combustor concept program. Phase 1A: Combustion technology generation coal gas fuels

Combustion tests of two scaled burners using actual coal gas from a 25 ton/day fluidized bed coal gasifier are described. The two combustor configurations studied were a ceramic lined, staged rich/lean burner and an integral, all metal multiannual swirl burner (MASB). The tests were conducted over a range of temperature and pressures representative of current industrial combustion turbine inlet conditions. Tests on the rich lean burner were conducted at three levels of product gas heating values: 104, 197 and 254 btu/scf. Corresponding levels of NOx emissions were 5, 20 and 70 ppmv. Nitrogen was added to the fuel in the form of ammonia, and conversion efficiencies of fuel nitrogen to NOx were on the order of 4 percent to 12 percent, which is somewhat lower than the 14 percent to 18 percent conversion efficiency when src-2 liquid fuel was used. The MASB was tested only on medium btu gas (220 to 270 btu/scf), and produced approximately 80 ppmv NOx at rated engine conditions. Both burners operated similarly on actual coal gas and erbs fuel, and all heating values tested can be successfully burned in current machines

Trapping Ultracold Atoms in a Time-Averaged Adiabatic Potential

We report the first experimental realization of ultracold atoms confined in a time-averaged, adiabatic potential (TAAP). This novel trapping technique involves using a slowly oscillating ($\sim$ kHz) bias field to time-average the instantaneous potential given by dressing a bare magnetic potential with a high frequency ($\sim$ MHz) magnetic field. The resultant potentials provide a convenient route to a variety of trapping geometries with tunable parameters. We demonstrate the TAAP trap in a standard time-averaged orbiting potential trap with additional Helmholtz coils for the introduction of the radio frequency dressing field. We have evaporatively cooled 5 $\times 10^4$ atoms of $^{87}$Rb to quantum degeneracy and observed condensate lifetimes of over \unit[3]{s}.-Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Extension rates across the northern Shanxi Grabens, China, from Quaternary geology, seismicity and geodesy

Discrepancies between geological, seismic and geodetic rates of strain can indicate that rates of crustal deformation, and hence seismic hazard, are varying through time. Previous studies in the northern Shanxi Grabens, at the northeastern corner of the Ordos Plateau in northern China, have found extension rates of anywhere between 0 and 6 mm a−1 at an azimuth of between 95° and 180°. In this paper we determine extension rates across the northern Shanxi Grabens from offset geomorphological features and a variety of Quaternary dating techniques (including new IRSL and Ar-Ar ages), a Kostrov summation using a 700 yr catalogue of historical earthquakes, and recent campaign GPS measurements. We observe good agreement between Quaternary, seismic and geodetic rates of strain, and we find that the northern Shanxi Grabens are extending at around 1–2 mm a−1 at an azimuth of ≈151°. The azimuth of extension is particularly well constrained and can be reliably inferred from catalogues of small earthquakes. We do not find evidence for any substantial variations in extension rate through time, though there is a notable seismic moment rate deficit since 1750. This deficit could indicate complex fault interactions across large regions, aseismic accommodation of deformation, or that we are quite late in the earthquake cycle with the potential for larger earthquakes in the relatively near future

Оценка легитимности американского «мифа основания

Поступила в редакцию: 30.10.2020. Принята к печати: 02.12.2020.Submitted: 30.10.2020. Accepted: 02.12.2020.Цель этой статьи — обсудить причины и последствия недавнего разрушения исторических памятников в США. Автор использует концепцию «мифа основания», а также результаты опросов общественного мнения и случаи из современной истории для аргументации идеи продолжающейся поляризации в американском обществе. Результаты показывают, что хотя политические элиты относительно едины в вопросе исторической памяти, есть определенное разделение среди простых граждан. Причины недавних нападений на памятники кроются в кризисе, вызванном пандемией, экономическим спадом и протестами против расизма. Однако основная причина — в хронических социально-экономических, культурных и политических трудностях, в частности, в неравенстве доходов, политической поляризации элит и массовизации американского общества. В заключение автор рассказывает о том, как дискурс об исторических личностях и мифах основания повлиял на президентские выборы 2020 г. в США и как конкретная повестка дня, связанная с отцами-основателями, использовалась президентом США Дональдом Трампом во время его предвыборной кампании.This article aims to discuss the reasons and consequences of the recent historical monuments’ destruction in the United States. The author uses the concept of Foundation myths as well as opinion polls’ results and cases from modern history to provide argumentation for the idea of ongoing polarization in American society. The results show that, although the political elites are relatively united on the issue of historical memory, there is a certain division among ordinary citizens. The causes for the recent attacks on the monuments and the historical figures they represent lies in the crisis, caused by the COVID-pandemic, economic downturn and protests over racism. However, the fundamental reason lies in the chronic socio-economic, cultural, and political difficulties, particularly income inequality, political polarization of elites and mass publics of American society. In the conclusion of the article, the author discusses how the discourse over historical figures and foundation myths shaped 2020 Presidential elections in the US and how specific agenda related to Founding Fathers was used by the US President Donald Trump during his campaign

Child Care Provider Survival Analysis

The aggregate ability of child care providers to meet local demand for child care is linked to employment rates in many sectors of the economy. Amid growing concern regarding child care provider sustainability due to the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local governments have received large amounts of new funding to better support provider stability. In response to this new funding aimed at bolstering the child care market in Florida, this study was devised as an exploratory investigation into features of child care providers that lead to business longevity. In this study we used optimal survival trees, a machine learning technique designed to better understand which providers are expected to remain operational for longer periods of time, supporting stabilization of the child care market. This tree-based survival analysis detects and describes complex interactions between provider characteristics that lead to differences in expected business survival rates. Results show that small providers who are religiously affiliated, and all providers who are serving children in Florida's universal Prekindergarten program and/or children using child care subsidy, are likely to have the longest expected survival rates.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figure

The XBabelPhish MAGE-ML and XML Translator

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MAGE-ML has been promoted as a standard format for describing microarray experiments and the data they produce. Two characteristics of the MAGE-ML format compromise its use as a universal standard: First, MAGE-ML files are exceptionally large – too large to be easily read by most people, and often too large to be read by most software programs. Second, the MAGE-ML standard permits many ways of representing the same information. As a result, different producers of MAGE-ML create different documents describing the same experiment and its data. Recognizing all the variants is an unwieldy software engineering task, resulting in software packages that can read and process MAGE-ML from some, but not all producers. This Tower of MAGE-ML Babel bars the unencumbered exchange of microarray experiment descriptions couched in MAGE-ML.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed XBabelPhish – an XQuery-based technology for translating one MAGE-ML variant into another. XBabelPhish's use is not restricted to translating MAGE-ML documents. It can transform XML files independent of their DTD, XML schema, or semantic content. Moreover, it is designed to work on very large (> 200 Mb.) files, which are common in the world of MAGE-ML.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>XBabelPhish provides a way to inter-translate MAGE-ML variants for improved interchange of microarray experiment information. More generally, it can be used to transform most XML files, including very large ones that exceed the capacity of most XML tools.</p

Derivation of tropospheric methane from TCCON CH₄ and HF total column observations

The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) is a global ground-based network of Fourier transform spectrometers that produce precise measurements of column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of atmospheric methane (CH₄). Temporal variability in the total column of CH₄ due to stratospheric dynamics obscures fluctuations and trends driven by tropospheric transport and local surface fluxes that are critical for understanding CH₄ sources and sinks. We reduce the contribution of stratospheric variability from the total column average by subtracting an estimate of the stratospheric CH₄ derived from simultaneous measurements of hydrogen fluoride (HF). HF provides a proxy for stratospheric CH₄ because it is strongly correlated to CH₄ in the stratosphere, has an accurately known tropospheric abundance (of zero), and is measured at most TCCON stations. The stratospheric partial column of CH₄ is calculated as a function of the zonal and annual trends in the relationship between CH₄ and HF in the stratosphere, which we determine from ACE-FTS satellite data. We also explicitly take into account the CH₄ column averaging kernel to estimate the contribution of stratospheric CH₄ to the total column. The resulting tropospheric CH₄ columns are consistent with in situ aircraft measurements and augment existing observations in the troposphere

Halothane hepatitis with renal failure treated with hemodialysis and exchange transfusion

A 38-year-old white female, hepatitis B antigen negative, developed fluminating hepatic failure associated with oliguria and severe azotemia after two halothane anesthesia and without exposure to other hepatotoxic drugs or blood transfusions. She was treated with multiple hemodialysis and exchange blood transfusion. The combined treatment corrected the uremic abnormalities and improved her level of consciousness. The liver and kidney function gradually improved, and she made a complete recovery, the first recorded with hepatic and renal failure under these post-anesthetic conditions. Further evaluation of this combined treatment used for this patient is warranted. © 1974 The Japan Surgical Society