Pay While You Save: Utility-bill Financing for Energy-efficiency Improvements

Utility-bill financing or repayment allows consumers to upgrade their homes and business to be more energy efficientand pay for the work over time through a monthly upgrade fee on their utility bill. Energy savings on gas and electric billsshould outweigh the monthly upgrade fee, depending in part on the length of the payment term and which measures are implemented. Essentially, consumers pay for the upgrade while they save from it

Green Electricity and Transportation (GET) Smart: Policy Solutions to Increase Energy Independence

Ohioans spend a large amount of money on energy. In 2010, we spent $45 billion, nearly 10 percent of our state's gross domestic product. Nearly half of those energy dollars (or more than$20 billion) was spent to fuel cars, trucks, and buses, and nearly all of which left the state or country in order to import oil. Ohio can reduce its dependence on imported oil by promoting electric vehicles (EVs) and buses, as well as passenger and freight rail

Capturing Energy Waste in Ohio: Using Combined Heat and Power to Upgrade Our Electric System

Assesses the state's potential for capturing heat generated during electricity production or industrial processes to meet thermal needs, cut fossil fuel use, and reduce emissions. Recommends ways to remove barriers to combined heat and power adoption

Revised Perturbation Statistics for the Global Scale Atmospheric Model

Magnitudes and scales of atmospheric perturbations about the monthly mean for the thermodynamic variables and wind components are presented by month at various latitudes. These perturbation statistics are a revision of the random perturbation data required for the global scale atmospheric model program and are from meteorological rocket network statistical summaries in the 22 to 65 km height range and NASA grenade and pitot tube data summaries in the region up to 90 km. The observed perturbations in the thermodynamic variables were adjusted to make them consistent with constraints required by the perfect gas law and the hydrostatic equation. Vertical scales were evaluated by Buell's depth of pressure system equation and from vertical structure function analysis. Tables of magnitudes and vertical scales are presented for each month at latitude 10, 30, 50, 70, and 90 degrees

Describing Independent and Chain Pharmacies Within the Kentucky Medicaid Network

The shift in healthcare towards cost-savings mechanisms is hindering business operations of pharmacies in Kentucky, especially independent pharmacies. Independent pharmacists have reported that the operations of pharmacy benefit managers within Kentucky Medicaid networks have created financial hardships for their pharmacies and there is a threat of closure that could be associated with a potential access barrier to pharmacy services for Medicaid beneficiaries. During legislative meetings, much focus was on this issue and several bills are currently being drafted to correct this issue. It is important to define independent pharmacy and describe, geographically and in terms of utilization, chain and independent pharmacies in the Kentucky Medicaid network. Describing independent and chain pharmacies in the Kentucky Medicaid network provides insight for upcoming legislative issues and provides additional value to public health efforts. Medicaid pharmacy claims data for the 2017 fiscal year (July 2016- June 2017) were examined subsequent to defining “independent pharmacy” to determine if the closing of independent pharmacies would impact the delivery of medications to the Kentucky Medicaid population. ArcGIS software was utilized to map the radius between pharmacy types throughout Kentucky. Regional claims data was used to define the percent of chain and independent pharmacies within regions. Claim counts and total expenditures were evaluated to identify potential differences in the types of medications supplied to the Medicaid population by chains and independent pharmacies and/or potential differences in the utilization of pharmacy types. According to distance requirements set by the Department for Medicaid Services contracts with Managed Care Organizations, there would not be an access issue if independent pharmacies were to close. However, when the proportions and utilization of independents and chains are described regionally, results suggest a chain pharmacy access to be a barrier for rural regions of the state. Descriptions of the most common medications within regions by total spend and claim count implies essential services are also provided by independent pharmacies compared to chains

Summary of BMW v. Roth, 127 Nev. Adv. No. 11

Consolidated appeals from the Eighth Judicial District Court order granting a new trial in a tort action and from post-judgment orders regarding an award of attorney fees and costs

Change Theory in the Middle: An Ethnohistory of a Rural Georgia Middle School

This study provided an analytic description of the transition of one rural Georgia school as its staff sought to embrace the middle school concept. Development of such a description required that the researcher examine the school through the filter or sieve of change theory and in an holistic manner, using techniques appropriate to ethnohistorical, qualitative research. Specifically, the description spanned an eighteen-year, bounded period and used participant observation, individual and group interviews, and documentation to uncover the meaning participants in the school attached to the changes. While Georgia provided an incentive grant to encourage eligible schools to move toward the middle school concept, the specific state criteria excluded some schools from qualification. Farpoint Middle School (masked) did not meet the grant\u27s grade level requirements until years after its transition was made. Because the school was ineligible for the incentive grant, the school district never raised the possibility of looking at the middle school concept. Thus, the transition toward use of the middle school concept that occurred at Farpoint Middle School was neither mandated by the state nor influenced by the school district. The focus of this study, therefore, was to understand why the transition occurred there and how it was accomplished. Accordingly, the researcher sought to determine the connection between the events, roles, and factors relevant to the school\u27s changes from 1978 to 1996. In turn, these were compared to the related literature: national reform movement, middle school movement, organizational theory of schools, traditional roles of teachers and administrators, university influence upon public schools, participatory decision making, schools as learning organizations, change theory, and factors and roles leading to change. The latter included a detailed look at change theory from science and business perspectives--particularly the concepts of paradigm, paradigm shifts, and paradigm shifters. The study determined that those inside and outside the school agreed that the change toward use of the middle school concept occurred from inside. Specifically, a small group of individual teachers connected with professors at the local university and influenced the principal to develop an interest in the middle school concept. The principal, in turn, involved the rest of the staff and a collective decision was made to pursue the middle school concept for better meeting the needs of the school\u27s students. Various external factors such as federal, regional, state, county, and university influences were found to directly or indirectly support the changes going on inside the school throughout the eighteen-year period. The bulk of this transition took place over a five-year period from 1988 to 1993, called The Middle Years. However, the ten years prior to 1988, The Early and Between Years, were crucial to setting the stage to explain how the school was so receptive to such a shift. The three years after 1993, The Later Years, were included to show the continued progress, despite the relocation of the school and the loss of both the original core group of teachers and the long-term principal. No single body of research was found to explain the circumstances of change at Farpoint Middle School. Instead data analysis centered around the divergent analysis styles of theoretical application and synthesis, as explained by LeCompte and Preissle. Accordingly, pieces of research and analytic frames from various fields were used to offer a collection of conclusions. This study, in the end, offered an example of and reinforcement for the paradigm shift being made in educational change theory: organizations change from the inside, but their changes must be supported from the outside

Mediation Among Maladaptive Perfectionism, Maladaptive Emotion Regulation, and Distress

Perfectionism is a personality trait characterized by high standards for performance (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990) and a striving for flawlessness (Flett & Hewitt, 2002). Maladaptive perfectionism, which has to do with self-critical thoughts (Dunkley, Zuroff, & Blankstein, 2003) and feelings of falling short of high standards (Slaney, Rice, & Ashby, 2002), is often associated with maladaptive strategies of emotion regulation (Aldea & Rice, 2006; Dunkley et al., 2003; Rudolph, Flett, & Hewitt, 2007). Additionally, research has shown that general use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies mediates the relation between maladaptive perfectionism and distress (Aldea & Rice, 2006; Di Schiena, Luminet, Philippot, & Douilliez, 2012; Macedo et al., 2015). However, to my knowledge, this mediation had not been studied when an individual experiences acute distress and must actively regulate his or her emotions. This study set out to validate the general mediation model and then determine if this model occurs between maladaptive perfectionism, momentary maladaptive emotion regulation, and momentary distress when an experience of failure is induced. I elicited distress to determine if the level of failure that one faced would moderate the pathway between maladaptive perfectionism and maladaptive emotion regulation in the mediation model. Results showed that when all three mediators were examined in a structural equation model, typical use of rumination mediated the relation between trait levels of maladaptive perfectionism and typical distress, but typical use of suppression and reappraisal did not. In the acute distress model, moderated mediation was present for one’s momentary use of rumination, but not for suppression and reappraisal. More specifically, momentary rumination mediated the path between maladaptive perfectionism and momentary distress in the low-failure condition but not in the high-failure condition. This finding demonstrates that for individuals high in maladaptive perfectionism, situations that result in extremely high distress may result in one detaching from his or her goals in order to avoid feeling inferior. Limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed

PRECISION LIVESTOCK FARMING AND PERSONALITY AS TOOLS TO UNDERSTAND DAIRY CALF INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN PERFORMANCE, BEHAVIOR, AND RESPONSE TO STRESS

Individual differences impact animal responses to their environments and can be observed with animal personality (stable behavioral differences with populations) and food neophobia (avoidance of unfamiliar feeds). These individual differences can influence cattle performance and welfare. Precision technologies, such as automatic feeding systems (AFS) and accelerometers continuously measure feeding behaviors and activity and may allow us to relate individual differences to behaviors in the home environment. Therefore, the first objective was to determine if food neophobia was associated with feeding behaviors measured by AFS. Food neophobia was associated with rewarded visits to the AFS, but to no other feeding behaviors. The second objective was to determine if personality traits (PT) were associated with activity, feeding behavior, and average daily gain (ADG). The PT ‘active’ was associated with higher activity in the home environment, more starter consumed, and with greater ADG overall. The PT ‘explorative’ was associated with less starter consumed and lower ADG only during weaning. Finally, the last objective was to determine if PT were associated with the magnitude change in feeding behaviors and activity during stressful events, including weaning, dehorning, and disease. We found that the PT ‘fearful’, ‘active’, and ‘explorative’ were linked to the magnitude of behavioral changes during stressors, though these associations varied with stressor type. These studies provide evidence that individual differences in dairy calves relate to precision technology behaviors, solid feed intake, performance, and response to stressors. These studies highlight the importance of considering the individual for optimal welfare and performance of dairy cattle