Saddling Up for Success: Rope or Wrangle? Comparing Experiential Learning Programs for Developing Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Emotional intelligence is characterized as the ability to jointly use intelligence and emotions to enhance reasoning. Corporate trainers have employed experiential learning methods to strengthen emotional competencies and often utilize experiential learning methods that involve challenge course programs that incorporate ropes and belay systems. A novel training method, equine-assisted learning, has recently gained traction and reportedly leverages the empathic nature of horses to enhance learning. This study had three primary purposes: (a) investigate the impact of a 1-day equine-assisted learning program upon emotional intelligence as compared to a 1-day challenge course program in a workplace population; (b) examine psychological safety as a potential mediator; (c) test a standardized intervention developed by the McCormick Research Institute known as the Camp McCormick manual. Amongst the equine-assisted learning literature, intervention protocols are sparse, theoretical foundations deficient, and research mostly involves case studies, small sample sizes, and a lack of control and comparison groups. This study addressed those gaps by comparing the two experiential learning methods using a pre-post design that also included a control condition. Volunteers were randomly assigned to either the challenge course, equine-assisted learning, or control condition. Within-subjects results associated with both experiential conditions provided support for Camp McCormick’s manual. Between-subjects results indicated that the challenge course condition performed significantly better than the control condition. The equine-assisted learning condition was not significantly different than the challenge course or control condition. Psychological safety did not mediate the relationship between training type (equine or challenge course) on emotional intelligence

Distances for Weighted Transition Systems: Games and Properties

We develop a general framework for reasoning about distances between transition systems with quantitative information. Taking as starting point an arbitrary distance on system traces, we show how this leads to natural definitions of a linear and a branching distance on states of such a transition system. We show that our framework generalizes and unifies a large variety of previously considered system distances, and we develop some general properties of our distances. We also show that if the trace distance admits a recursive characterization, then the corresponding branching distance can be obtained as a least fixed point to a similar recursive characterization. The central tool in our work is a theory of infinite path-building games with quantitative objectives.Comment: In Proceedings QAPL 2011, arXiv:1107.074

An Extensible, User- Modifiable Framework for Planning Activities

This software provides a development framework that allows planning activities for the Mars Science Laboratory rover to be altered at any time, based on changes of the Activity Dictionary. The Activity Dictionary contains the definition of all activities that can be carried out by a particular asset (robotic or human). These definitions (and combinations of these definitions) are used by mission planners to give a daily plan of what a mission should do. During the development and course of the mission, the Activity Dictionary and actions that are going to be carried out will often be changed. Previously, such changes would require a change to the software and redeployment. Now, the Activity Dictionary authors are able to customize activity definitions, parameters, and resource usage without requiring redeployment. This software provides developers and end users the ability to modify the behavior of automatically generated activities using a script. This allows changes to the software behavior without incurring the burden of redeployment. This software is currently being used for the Mars Science Laboratory, and is in the process of being integrated into the LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) mission, as well as the International Space Station

Calidad educativa desde las prácticas institucionales en la Institución Julia Sierra Iguarán del Municipio de Uribia

127 páginasLa presente investigación está basada en diseñar, implementar y evaluar una hoja de ruta que fortalezca las prácticas institucionales para el alivio de la Calidad Educativa en la Institución Julia Sierra Iguarán del alcaldía de Uribia desde 3 componentes: Clima Organizacional, Ambiente Escolar y Formación Docente ; Este proyecto se dinamizo con un enfoque cualitativo bajo un carácter descriptivo y diseño investigación-acción, la población en estudio fue de 30 personas (estudiantes – directivos – administrativos y docentes) donde se utilizó una entrevista construida exclusivamente para esta investigación. Basado en los resultados obtenidos desde los 3 componentes Clima Organizacional, Ambiente Escolar y Formación Docente se observó que la puesta en marcha de las Practicas Institucionales en la Institución Julia Sierra Iguarán se fortalecen desde 3 categorías: Formación y Practica, Comunicación, y alteración, mecanismos de gran relevancia que le suministran una categorización superior a los componentes, buscando que estos mismos se mantengan coherentes, equilibrados y secuenciales, bajo la primicia de robustecer las practicas institucionales.This research is based on Designing, Implementing and Evaluating a roadmap that strengthens institutional practices for the relief of Educational Quality in the Julia Sierra Iguarán Institution of the Uribia Mayor's Office from 3 components: Organizational Climate, School Environment and Teacher Training; This project was revitalized with a qualitative approach under a descriptive character and action research design, the study population was 30 people (students - managers - administrative and teachers) where an interview constructed exclusively for this research was used. Based in the results obtained from the 3 components Organizational Climate, School Environment and Teacher Training, it was observed that the implementation of Institutional Practices in the Julia Sierra Iguarán Institution are strengthened from 3 categories: Training and Practice, Communication, and alteration, mechanisms of great relevance that provide a superior categorization to the components, seeking that these remain coherent, balanced and sequential, under the scoop of strengthening Institutional practices.Maestría en Dirección y Gestión de Instituciones Educativas.Magíster en Dirección y Gestión de Instituciones Educativa

Dynamic in-situ X-ray Diffraction of Catalyzed Alanates

Abstract States Government under contra~. The discovery that hydrogen can be reversible absorbed and addition of catalysts has created an entirely new prospect for NaAIH~releases hydrogen through the following set of decomposition reactions. desorbed from NaAIHdby the lightweight hydrogen storage. IVaAlH4 + l/3(cx-Na#H6) -+2/3Al -t-Hz + I?aH + Al +-3Z2HZ These decomposition reactions as well as the reverse recombination reactions were directly observed using time-resolved in-situ x-ray powder diffraction. These measurements were performed under conditions similar to those found in PEM fuel cell operations (hydrogen absorption: 50-70°C, 10-15 bar Hz, hydrogen resorption: 80-110"C, 5-100 mbar Hz). Catalyst doping was found to dramatically improve kinetics under these conditions. In this study, the alanate was doped with a catalyst by dry ball-milling NaAIHAwith 2 mol.% solid TiCl~. X-ray diffraction clearly showed that TiCl~reacts with NaAIHAto form NaCl during the doping process. Partial resorption of NaAIHAwas even observed to occur during the catalyst doping process

Structural and mechanistic insights into s-block bimetallic catalysis : sodium magnesiate-catalyzed guanylation of amines

To advance the catalytic applications of s-block mixed-metal complexes, sodium magnesiate [NaMg(CH2SiMe3)3] (1) is reported as an efficient precatalyst for the guanylation of a variety of anilines and secondary amines with carbodiimides. First examples of hydrophosphination of carbodiimides by using a Mg catalyst are also described. The catalytic ability of the mixed-metal system is much greater than that of its homometallic components [NaCH2SiMe3 ] and [Mg(CH2SiMe3)2]. Stoichiometric studies suggest that magnesiate amido and guanidinate complexes are intermediates in these catalytic routes. Reactivity and kinetic studies imply that these guanylation reactions occur via (tris)amide intermediates that react with carbodiiimides in insertion steps. The rate law for the guanylation of N,N'-diisopropylcarbodiimide with 4-tert-butylaniline catalyzed by 1 is first order with respect to [amine], [carbodiimide], and [catalyst], and the reaction shows a large kinetic isotopic effect, which is consistent with an amine-assisted rate-determining carbodiimide insertion transition state. Studies to assess the effect of sodium in these transformations denote a secondary role with little involvement in the catalytic cycle

Measuring the population burden of injuries-implications for global and national estimates: A multicentre prospective UK longitudinal study

Current methods of measuring the population burden of injuries rely on many assumptions and limited data available to the global burden of diseases (GBD) studies. The aim of this study was to compare the population burden of injuries using different approaches from the UK Burden of Injury (UKBOI) and GBD studies.The UKBOI was a prospective cohort of 1,517 injured individuals that collected patient-reported outcomes. Extrapolated outcome data were combined with multiple sources of morbidity and mortality data to derive population metrics of the burden of injury in the UK. Participants were injured patients recruited from hospitals in four UK cities and towns: Swansea, Nottingham, Bristol, and Guildford, between September 2005 and April 2007. Patient-reported changes in quality of life using the EQ-5D at baseline, 1, 4, and 12 months after injury provided disability weights used to calculate the years lived with disability (YLDs) component of disability adjusted life years (DALYs). DALYs were calculated for the UK and extrapolated to global estimates using both UKBOI and GBD disability weights. Estimated numbers (and rates per 100,000) for UK population extrapolations were 750,999 (1,240) for hospital admissions, 7,982,947 (13,339) for emergency department (ED) attendances, and 22,185 (36.8) for injury-related deaths in 2005. Nonadmitted ED-treated injuries accounted for 67% of YLDs. Estimates for UK DALYs amounted to 1,771,486 (82% due to YLDs), compared with 669,822 (52% due to YLDs) using the GBD approach. Extrapolating patient-derived disability weights to GBD estimates would increase injury-related DALYs 2.6-fold.The use of disability weights derived from patient experiences combined with additional morbidity data on ED-treated patients and inpatients suggests that the absolute burden of injury is higher than previously estimated. These findings have substantial implications for improving measurement of the national and global burden of injury