Communication system features dual mode range acquisition plus time delay measurement

Communication system combines range acquisition system and time measurement system for tracking high velocity aircraft and spacecraft. The range acquisition system uses a pseudonoise code to determine range and the time measurement system reduces uncontrolled phase variations in the demodulated signal

Job Satisfaction and the Effects and Influences on Nurse Retention

Researchers have predicted that by 2020 the United States will experience a severe shortage of registered nurses. The purpose of this correlation study, using the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses 2008, was to investigate the relationship between nurse job satisfaction and its effect on nurse retention nationwide. Secondary data sets from the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and examining relationships between the variable of nurse retention and job satisfaction. Bivariate (correlation coefficient, chi squares, and simple linear regression) and multivariate (logistic regression) analyses identified and connected associations and examined measurement levels between the dependent and independent variables, including correlation coefficient (r), alpha values, and confidence intervals. Significant inverse relationships, although weak, were found between nurses\u27 age and their job satisfaction level and between the numbers of years since nurses graduated from an initial RN education program and their job satisfaction. In addition, there was a statistically significant relationship between the nurses\u27 highest education level and their job satisfaction. The ordinal regression results showed nurses\u27 age, education, and years practicing since earning the RN were significant predictors of job satisfaction, although other factors might explain changes in satisfaction levels. This study will help bring social change to the health care industry by increasing understanding of what many nurses believe to be important within the nursing field, which could help health care facilities retain qualified nurses. Specifically, the results could help community hospital leaders find innovative ways to support nurses and increase nurse retention in small rural hospitals

The Use of Malic, Maleic and Fumaric Acids in Volumetric Analysis

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Interprofessional education for first year psychology students: career plans, perceived relevance and attitudes

Undergraduate psychology students have been largely excluded from interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives. In contrast to many health professions, undergraduate psychology students do not engage in work placements as part of their degree, and many enter careers outside the health care context. However, the collaborative skills gained through an IPE experience may well be beneficial to students who work in this wider context. This research examines whether undergraduate psychology students’ views of IPE vary according to their planned career directions, and if so, whether the perceived relevance of IPE mediates the relationships. A sample of 188 Australian university undergraduate psychology students completed an online questionnaire following completion of a first-year IPE health sciences program. Path analysis indicated that psychology students’ attitudes towards IPE are associated with both professional identification and practitioner orientation, fully mediated through the perceived relevance of IPE to future career and study plans. Stronger professional identification and practitioner orientation were associated with greater perceived relevance and more positive and less negative attitudes towards IPE. Placing a stronger emphasis on the generalizability of IP skills taught may increase students’ awareness of the relevance outside of the health context, reducing disengagement of students planning alternative careers

The Logbook, A Publication of the Wayne E. Meyer Institute of Systems Engineering / December 2003

www.nps.navy.mil/meyerinstitute Email:[email protected] Phone:(831) 656-7847 Fax:(831) 656-2336 Naval Postgraduate School, 777 Dyer Rd., Mail Code 97, Monterey, CAArticles including: Systems Analysis Certificate Program Takes Off! etc.Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, C

Risk Dynamics Around Restatement Announcements

We investigate the dynamic nature and temporal daily changes in systematic (beta), as well as idiosyncratic and total risk around restatement announcements. We find that beta increases by 51% at restatement announcement but it reverts to the pre-restatement level within 1 month. However, idiosyncratic risk experiences a longer-term increase of approximately 20% following a restatement. Cross-sectional analysis shows that the results are more pronounced with restatements associated with irregularity. Overall, our findings suggest that risk components are time-varying with the systematic component rapidly mean-reverting but the idiosyncratic component experiencing a longer-term increase

Estimating stand-level economic impacts of black bear damage to intensively managed forests

Black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780) peel conifers in early spring to forage on energy-rich vascular tissues, resulting in damage to timber stands. The objective of our study was to develop and demonstrate a conceptual framework and methods for estimating stand-level volume and economic losses from black bear damage. We created tree lists from surveys of healthy and bear-damaged trees in timber stands of western Washington and Oregon. The forest growth model Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) was used to project stand volume under two damage scenarios and an undamaged scenario. One damage scenario (salvage) accounted for mortality and volume losses of fully and partially girdled trees; a second scenario (total loss) assumed complete loss of all trees peeled by black bears, regardless of peeling severity. The Fuel Reduction Cost Simulator (FRCS) was applied to estimate the value of logs delivered to the mill after accounting for logging and hauling costs associated with harvest. Present value of stands was calculated to translate volume losses into economic losses associated with bear damage. Economic losses ranged from 4% to 16% (salvage) and from 17% to 46% (total loss) of net present value. Our approach can be adapted for other forest settings and for forest management plans that assess wildlife damage. L’ours noir (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780) arrache l’écorce des conifères tôt au printemps pour se nourrir des tissus vasculaires riches en énergie et cause des dommages aux peuplements forestiers. L’objectif de notre étude consistait à élaborer et présenter un cadre conceptuel et des méthodes pour estimer à l’échelle du peuplement les pertes de volume ainsi que financières dues aux dommages causés par l’ours noir. Nous avons créé des listes d’arbres sains et d’arbres endommagés par les ours à partir des inventaires de peuplements forestiers de l’ouest des États de Washington et de l’Oregon. Un modèle de croissance de la forêt, le simulateur de végétation forestière, a été utilisé pour prévoir le volume d’un peuplement selon deux scénarios comportant des dommages et un troisième qui n’en comporte pas. Un scénario comportant des dommages (récupération) tenait compte de la mortalité et des pertes de volume des arbres partiellement et complètement annelés; un second scénario (perte totale) assumait la perte complète de tous les arbres endommagés par les ours noirs, peu importe la sévérité des dommages. Le simulateur du coût de réduction des combustibles a été appliqué pour estimer la valeur des billes livrées à l’usine après avoir pris en compte les coûts de la coupe et du débardage associés à la récolte. La valeur actualisée des peuplements a été calculée pour traduire les pertes de volume en pertes financières associées aux dommages causés par les ours. Les pertes financières variaient de 4–16 % (récupération) et de 17–46 % (perte totale) de la valeur actualisée nette. Notre approche peut être adaptée à d’autres situations ainsi qu’aux plans d’aménagement forestier qui évaluent les dommages causés par la faune

Estimating economic impact of black bear damage to western conifers at a landscape scale

Black bear (Ursus americanus) damage to trees in the Pacific Northwest is common, although volume and economic losses are unknown. Common measures to quantify bear damage to conifers at large scales rely solely on aerial estimates of red tree crowns (caused by complete girdling) and broad assumptions about stand characteristics. We surveyed 122 vulnerable stands in the Coast Range and western Cascades of Oregon using both aerial surveys and ground surveys. Then, we modeled 4 damage scenarios (Salvage; Total Loss; Root Disease; and Combined Damage) with the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) growth and yield model and the Fuel Reduction Cost Simulator (FRCS). Damage polygons, digitized in real time from aerial surveys identifying red (dead or dying) tree crowns, overestimated bear damage by approximately 5-fold due to misclassification with root disease, and failed to detect partially peeled trees that contributed to economic loss. Damage polygons assessed from the air generally did not include red crowns, and were a mean distance of 58.8m (SE=8.8) from damage polygons’ outer edges to the nearest red crown. We accounted for mortality and volume losses from partially girdled trees that did not show red crowns in our Salvage scenario, whereas we assumed that all bear-peeled trees resulted in complete loss in the Total Loss scenario. At the landscape scale, economic loss was ≤0.35% of net present value under both damage scenarios, while processing bear damage trees (Salvage) was the most efficacious option. At the landscape scale, our worst-case scenario (Total Loss) resulted in an estimated loss of $56/ha to bear damage, 10-fold less than a previously reported estimate of$585/ha. Root disease was a more prevalent damage agent than bear damage but did not affect net present value at harvest. The majority (92%) of bear damage observed in ground surveys was older (\u3e 2 yrs) and existed at a low frequency (1.5 bear damaged trees/ha) and severity across the landscape. Our results suggest that black bear damage is not uniformly distributed and that perceived impact varies with spatial scale. On-the-ground monitoring of the status of bear damage across the western Oregon landscape will identify hot spots of severe peeling and provide an understanding of these changes over time