What are Some New and Innovative Ways Companies are Encouraging, Delivering, and Utilizing Feedback?

[Excerpt] The role of feedback in the employee experience is well entrenched. However, until relatively recently, its role in not only evaluating performance, but in shaping and improving it, has been largely misunderstood and misapplied. This includes not only giving meaningful feedback to employees, but receiving it as well. A recent survey conducted by Deloitte reports that 79% of companies survey employees annually or less. While conventional practices lead companies to meet the needs of shareholders above other stakeholders, turning attention to employee needs such as providing adequate feedback systems can enable companies and employees to better take care of customers, who in turn take care of shareholders in a reversal of the stakeholder arrangement

Asexual Propagation of Four Cultivars of Vaccinium Corymbosum and Weed Management in an Established Orchard of Vaccinium Corymbosum \u27Bluejay\u27 (Highbush Blueberry) in South Central Kentucky

In response to the changing economy of Kentucky tobacco, producers are seeking an economically viable alternative that can be produced on a similarly small acreage. Blueberries are an emerging crop that satisfy the needs of these producers and are popular with consumers for their flavor and health benefits. In addition to selling the berries, local producers are experiencing much success selling blueberry plants to homeowners and other producers. However, the protocol for propagating specific cultivars under local environmental conditions is unknown. Rooting percentages for producers has been extremely variable. A two year study conducted at Western Kentucky University investigated asexual propagation of four commercially significant cultivars of Vaccinium corymbosum, highbush blueberry, \u27Jersey\u27, \u27Elliot\u27, \u27Bluecrop\u27, and \u27Bluejay\u27. The study was a randomized complete block design with four replications. Cuttings were taken from a producer\u27s field in Metcalfe County and planted in a bed of pure peat under a mist system at the Western Kentucky University Agricultural Research and Education Center. Propagation techniques were designed to closely mimic the systems used by producers. The effect of cutting phenology, rooting hormone, and cutting location along the stem was investigated as they affected rooting percentage, and dry matter mass of leaves, shoots, and roots. Hormones had no effect on rooting or growth of first year cuttings. The greatest rooting percentages and dry mass gain was found in descending order, \u27Jersey\u27, \u27Elliot\u27, \u27Bluecrop\u27, and \u27Bluejay\u27. There was a correlation between location of the cutting and time of the year the cutting was acquired. Basal cuttings performed well early in the season, while apical cuttings performed well later in the season. The effects of four weed management schemes were investigated on berry yield components and new growth in an established orchard of \u27Bluecrop\u27 blueberries in Metcalfe County, Kentucky. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Plots consisted of six established plants but data was collected on the innermost four. Treatments were weed-free strips 0.609 or 1.828 meters wide within the row, mowing, and an untreated control. Weed-free strips were maintained as necessary with directed sprays of labeled rates of glyphosate, a phloem-mobile, nonselective herbicide. Highly significant differences in new growth were noted during both years from the herbicide-treated plots compared with the non-treated plots. In 2005, highly significant differences were noted within total berry weight and berry weight per plant from the herbicide-treated plots compared with the non-treated plots. In 2006, highly significant differences were noted within total berry numbers, number of clusters per plant, and mean berries per cluster from the herbicide-treated plots compared with the non-treated plots

Swing with Me

This is my Capstone Project for IPS introducing my business plan for Swing with Me, a country swing dance business me and my girlfriend Chelsea are going to start here in Ontario

The Static and Fatigue Behaviour of Through-Bolt Shear Connectors in Steel-Precast Composite Bridge Girders

Increasing demand for the rapid and economically efficient construction of bridges has encouraged engineers to employ the use of accelerated bridge construction through modular assembly. The replacement of vehicular bridges in highly populated areas using traditional construction methods typically results in significant social and economic impacts as a consequence of lengthy closures of these bridges during construction. Accelerated bridge construction through modular assembly offers an advantageous alternative, as it can drastically reduce the duration for which the bridge is out of service, therefore minimizing the corresponding impacts. Full-depth, precast concrete decks connected to steel girders using mechanical shear connectors is one form of accelerated bridge construction where the major components can be fabricated off-site. Employing modular bridge components takes advantage of improved quality and efficient construction through prefabrication, resulting in easier and more rapid installation on-site. Currently, welded, headed shear studs are the most common type of shear connector used in composite bridge construction. An attractive alternative to this connection type is the use of slip-critical through-bolt shear connectors as they are expected to offer advantages with regards to their reduced installation and disassembly times, as well as their fatigue performance. Currently, relatively little is known about the true static load-slip and the fatigue behaviour of slip-critical through-bolt shear connectors in composite beams. Therefore, the following research project investigates the static and fatigue performance of these connectors. In order to do this, three large-scale composite beam specimens were fabricated, instrumented, and tested in an experimental program involving both static and fatigue loading. In order to better understand the static load-slip behaviour of this connector type, a mechanistic model was also developed, along with a nonlinear finite element (FE) model of a through-bolt connection. Results of the beam tests were compared with results from a previous study employing a simpler push test configuration, in order to understand the behaviour differences resulting from the choice of test configuration. Comparisons were also made between the experimental results and load-slip predictions made using the developed mechanistic and FE models. The fatigue testing did not result in the failure of any through-bolt shear connectors for the configurations considered in this experimental program. The fatigue performance of the through-bolt shear connectors far exceeded the predicted fatigue life obtained using the current fatigue design provisions for welded, headed shear studs. The static beam test and the push test resulted in similar peak shear loads prior to the onset of failure of the through-bolts. However, the slopes of the two load-slip curves were quite different, with the through-bolt shear connectors behaving in a much less stiff manner when tested in a beam test relative to a push test. Moreover, the slip required to produce a through-bolt failure is seen to be much higher in a beam test. The static load-slip behaviour of a through-bolt push test specimen was predicted using a mechanistic model. Comparison of the load-slip curves generated by the mechanistic model with the available push test results revealed that the mechanistic model is capable of accurately predicting the load-slip behaviour of through-bolt shear connectors. A comparison of the load-slip curves generated by the FE analysis revealed that the FE models are also able to predict the load-slip behaviour of through-bolt shear connectors. The findings in this study suggest that the performance of composite bridges, in terms of fatigue life, could be significantly improved if through-bolts were used in place of traditional headed shear studs. However, further experimental testing is recommended to fully develop this connection concept

The Texas Spoofing Test Battery: Toward a Standard for Evaluating GPS Signal Authentication Techniques

A battery of recorded spoofing scenarios has been compiled for evaluating civil Global Positioning System (GPS) signal authentication techniques. The battery can be considered the data component of an evolving standard meant to define the notion of spoof resistance for commercial GPS receivers. The setup used to record the scenarios is described. A detailed description of each scenario reveals readily detectable anomalies that spoofing detectors could target to improve GPS securityAerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanic

QUANTIFICATION OF FACTORS GOVERNING DRUG RELEASE KINETICS FROM NANOPARTICLES: A COMBINED EXPERIMENTAL AND MECHANISTIC MODELING APPROACH

Advancements in nanoparticle drug delivery of anticancer agents require mathematical models capable of predicting in vivo formulation performance from in vitro characterization studies. Such models must identify and incorporate the physicochemical properties of the therapeutic agent and nanoparticle driving in vivo drug release. This work identifies these factors for two nanoparticle formulations of anticancer agents using an approach which develops mechanistic mathematical models in conjunction with experimental studies. A non-sink ultrafiltration method was developed to monitor liposomal release kinetics of the anticancer agent topotecan. Mathematical modeling allowed simultaneous determination of drug permeability and interfacial binding to the bilayer from release data. This method also quantified the effects of topotecan dimerization and surface potential on total amount of drug released from these liposomal formulations. The pH-sensitive release of topotecan from unilamellar vesicles was subsequently evaluated with this method. A mechanistic model identified three permeable species in which the zwitterionic lactone form of topotecan was the most permeable. Ring-closing kinetics of topotecan from its carboxylate to lactone form were found to be rate-limiting for topotecan drug release in the neutral pH region. Models were also developed to non-invasively analyze release kinetics of actively-loaded liposomal formulations of topotecan in vivo. The fluorescence excitation spectra of released topotecan were used to observe release kinetics in aqueous solution and human plasma. Simulations of the intravesicular pH in the various release media indicated accelerated release in plasma was a consequence of increased intravesicular pH due to ammonia levels in the plasma instead of alterations in bilayer integrity. Further studies were performed to understand the roles of dimerization, ion-pairing, and precipitation on loading and release kinetics obtained from actively-loaded topotecan. Extension of this type of modeling for other types of nanoparticles was illustrated with doxorubicin-conjugated polymeric micelles. Mathematical modeling of experimental studies monitoring doxorubicin release identified conjugation stability during storage, hydrazone hydrolysis kinetics, and unconjugated doxorubicin partitioning affected micellar doxorubicin release. This work identifies several of the key parameters governing drug release from these liposomal and micellar nanoparticles and lays the framework for future development of in vivo release models for these formulations