Yellmans Pass

A quarreling couple\u27s hike takes an unexpected turn when the forest answers their call

Adaptation and Validation of the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique for Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists

Anesthesia is a health care specialty fraught with high workload demands, stressful work environments, increased production pressure, work areas with many distractions, an increasing use of advanced technology, and the constant need to prioritize work actions. Effective clinical judgment in this dynamic environment necessitates that the provider demonstrate the ability to project what may occur secondary to actual or potential condition changes. These key elements operationalize situation awareness (SA). High level SA is an important characteristic for the successful development of student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs). With Endsley’s “Theory of Situation Awareness” as the foundation, the goal of this study was to adapt and validate the “Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique” (SAGAT), to quantify SRNAs\u27 SA during a specific simulated anesthesia event. With IRB approval, purposeful sampling identified a group of CRNA, nurse educator subjects and an exploratory sequential mixed methods design utilized. Delphi methods during qualitative data collection and validation used a seven-member sample. Content analysis resulted in items for the adapted SAGAT. Quantitative methods utilized data collected from a second 40-member sample yielding item content validity and scale content validity indices (S-CVI/Ave. 0.92). Additionally, exploratory factor analysis provided further reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.937. Findings revealed that a SAGAT specific to the anesthesia domain and the SRNA subgroup was amenable to adaptation and validation, providing positive implications in SRNA education and training. Additionally, results support the further adaptation, validation, and use of this instrument in other anesthetic content areas, as well as other health care domains

Millimeter wave satellite communication studies. Results of the 1981 propagation modeling effort

Theoretical modeling associated with rain effects on millimeter wave propagation is detailed. Three areas of work are discussed. A simple model for prediction of rain attenuation is developed and evaluated. A method for computing scattering from single rain drops is presented. A complete multiple scattering model is described which permits accurate calculation of the effects on dual polarized signals passing through rain

Enforcement Piggybacking and Multistate Actions

Civil enforcement in the United States is uniquely “multienforcer.” Numerous public and private enforcers including federal agencies, state attorneys general (AGs), and private litigants have overlapping authority to enforce myriad federal and state laws. Ideally, enforcers would complement one another’s efforts and use their comparative enforcement advantages to broaden the scope of enforcement and act as a check on underenforcement. But in reality, enforcers are often attracted to the same targets—large, public, deep-pocketed corporations. This means that multiple enforcers may pursue essentially the same enforcement action, arising from the same series of events and against the same target. Redundant enforcement actions may be necessary to adequately deter future misconduct and compensate victims of corporate fraud. However, duplicate actions may simply be the result of enforcers “piggybacking” on one another’s efforts and “piling on” to high-profile and lucrative enforcement actions. Scholarly conversations about enforcement often treat broad categories of enforcers as static substitutes for one another rather than considering them as dynamic actors who are intertwined together. AGs are an example of dynamic enforcers that have changed the enforcement landscape by combining together in multistate actions. In some ways, state enforcement is a microcosm of the broader multienforcer system, with multiple state enforcers who can bring duplicative actions under fifty states’ laws. AGs can piggyback in multistate actions much like other public and private enforcers routinely do in enforcement actions. However, multistate actions don’t merely mimic the dynamics that occur in a multienforcer system. Multistate actions are also an innovation that changes the enforcement environment, potentially intensifying the practices of piggybacking and piling on in a multienforcer system

Teacher Morale in Rural Northeast Tennessee

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the factors that influence the morale levels of teachers in the public school systems of 3 contiguous counties in rural northeast Tennessee. The level of teacher morale was measured using the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire. Data associated with the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) teacher effect score, grade level taught, years of service, gender, and level of education were gathered. The morale score and the teacher effect score were then examined to ascertain if there was a relationship with the other factors. Data from this study were examined using the Statistical Process for Social Sciences (SPSS) data analysis program. By determining if there was a relationship between teacher morale and factors such as Tennessee TVAAS teacher effectiveness scores, grade level taught, years of service, gender, and level of education, further research could be completed related to indentifying and improving the morale of teachers in rural northeast Tennessee. Improved teacher morale might increase student learning. The sample for this study consisted of 209 licensed teachers who were employed in rural northeast Tennessee during the 2011-2012 school year. Four research questions were used to direct the study and 20 hypotheses were used to test the data. The findings revealed that the overall level of teacher morale was significantly positive. There was not a significant relationship found between teacher morale levels and the TVAAS teacher effect scores. There was no significant difference in teacher effect scores by years of experience nor by level of education. A significant relationship was found between TVAAS teacher effect scores and the grade level taught. It appears individuals who teach at the secondary level had significantly lower TVAAS teacher effect scores than teachers who teach at the elementary and middle levels. There was not a significant relationship found between teacher morale level and the teachers\u27 levels of education and gender. However, there was a significantly negative relationship between teacher morale level and teachers\u27 years of experience. A significantly negative difference was also found in the relationship between teacher morale level and grade level taught

Identifying Outliers in a Random Effects Model For Longitudinal Data

Identifying non-tracking individuals in a population of longitudinal data has many applications as well as complications. The analysis of longitudinal data is a special study in itself. There are several accepted methods, of those we chose a two-stage random effects model coupled with the Estimation Maximization Algorithm (E-M Algorithm) . Our project consisted of first estimating population parameters using the previously mentioned methods. The Mahalanobis distance was then used to sequentially identify and eliminate non-trackers from the population. Computer simulations were run in order to measure the algorithm\u27s effectiveness. Our results show that the average specificity for the repetitions for each simulation remained at the 99% level. The sensitivity was best when only a single non-tracker was present with a very different parameter a. The sensitivity of the program decreased when more than one tracker was present, indicating our method of identifying a non-tracker is not effective when the estimates of the population parameters are contaminated

Teacher Morale in Rural Northeast Tennessee

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the factors that influence the morale levels of teachers in the public school systems of 3 contiguous counties in rural northeast Tennessee. The level of teacher morale was measured using the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire. Data associated with the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) teacher effect score, grade level taught, years of service, gender, and level of education were gathered. The morale score and the teacher effect score were then examined to ascertain if there was a relationship with the other factors. Data from this study were examined using the Statistical Process for Social Sciences (SPSS) data analysis program. By determining if there was a relationship between teacher morale and factors such as Tennessee TVAAS teacher effectiveness scores, grade level taught, years of service, gender, and level of education, further research could be completed related to indentifying and improving the morale of teachers in rural northeast Tennessee. Improved teacher morale might increase student learning. The sample for this study consisted of 209 licensed teachers who were employed in rural northeast Tennessee during the 2011-2012 school year. Four research questions were used to direct the study and 20 hypotheses were used to test the data. The findings revealed that the overall level of teacher morale was significantly positive. There was not a significant relationship found between teacher morale levels and the TVAAS teacher effect scores. There was no significant difference in teacher effect scores by years of experience nor by level of education. A significant relationship was found between TVAAS teacher effect scores and the grade level taught. It appears individuals who teach at the secondary level had significantly lower TVAAS teacher effect scores than teachers who teach at the elementary and middle levels. There was not a significant relationship found between teacher morale level and the teachers\u27 levels of education and gender. However, there was a significantly negative relationship between teacher morale level and teachers\u27 years of experience. A significantly negative difference was also found in the relationship between teacher morale level and grade level taught