Measured electron contribution to Shuttle plasma environment: Abbreviated update

The differential energy spectra of electrons between 1 and 100 eV were measured by an electron spectrometer flown on an early shuttle. This energy range was scanned in 64 incremental steps with a resolution of 7%. The most striking feature that was observed throughout these spectra was a relatively flat distribution of the higher energy electrons out to 100 eV. This is in contrast to normal ambient spectra which consistently show a rapid decline in quantitative flux beyond 50 to 55 eV. The lower energy (1 to 2 eV) end of these spectra showed steep thermal trails comparable to normal ambient spectral structure. In general, daytime fluxes were significantly higher than those obtained during nighttime measurements. Quantitative flux excursions which may possibly be associated with thruster firing were frequently observed. Spectral structure suggestive of the N2 vibrational excitation energy loss mechanism was also seen in the data from some measurement periods. Examples of these spectra are shown and possible correlations are discussed

The Theory Disconnect: Reconciling Theories of Justice, Ethics, and Morality with the Practice of Public Administration

This paper examines the disconnect between theories of good public administration and the actual practice of public administration. An analysis of the relationship between theory of all types and the practice of public administration – with a specific focus on the apparent discrepancy between theories of justice and the field – is conducted. The findings reveal that the on-the-ground practice of public administration is not governed by justice, ethics, and morality but rather by professional guidelines and norms

Mitigating Covid-19 Infection Rates and Increasing Vaccination Rates for Children Ages 5-11: A Content Analysis of How Two Hospitals’ Use of Effective Social Media Engagement Helped to Influence a Healthier Public

The Covid-19 outbreak initiated an international public health crisis, altering our publics dependency on health organizations communication strategies and tactics. Immediate crisis communication and public health efforts were needed to mitigate panic and infectious disease across the globe. The digital marketing strategies utilized for social media began to reflect the value of accurate and timely information spread in correlation to a healthier targeted public for large health organizations. The significance of this thesis in the field of communications directly correlates to the health belief model, which is used to observe the motivation and decision-making processes that influence an individual’s choice to seek medical intervention. This Quantitative Analysis approach will use qualitative and quantitative research studying two out-of-state hospitals from leading health organizations and analyze their promotional success and failures concerning pediatric Covid-19 rates, specifically children ages 5-11. After analyzing the hospital\u27s social media engagement metrics, data comparisons will be drawn to establish a correlation between effective communication and a healthier, informed, and motivated public through increased engagement as a factor for these health outcomes. I will begin by analyzing three chosen social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. My analysis will compare Children’s of Alabama with records of high pediatric Covid-19 infection and Boston Children’s Hospital with lower records of pediatric Covid-19 infection rates. This will lead to an informed analysis focusing on which hospital\u27s social media accounts are most engaging, resulting in their public being well-informed and motivated to act as a healthier public when reflected in their infection rates

From Rage (and Love) to Stage: Musical Reinforcement of Narrative Themes in the Stage Musical American Idiot

American Idiot, the Broadway musical by the band Green Day and theater veteran Michael Mayer, embodies the experience of a generation of Americans. The story revolves around youths coming of age during the presidency of George W. Bush, living through the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, two wars, ever increasing media and technology saturation, and a breakdown of the suburban ideal. As the primary theme and the driving force in the dramatic action of American Idiot, the characters’ internal struggle between rage and love is reinforced through several devices present in the music. There are four notable ones. First, allusion to a variety of rock styles and songs highlight themes of disillusionment, alienation, and false hope. Second, the use of recurring musical material draws connections in the storyline, promotes continuity, and creates foreshadowing. Third, the modification of songs from their original versions reinforce dramatic climaxes, and fourth, the use of specific styles to represent characters adds to their depth and significance. In order to provide context for the musical, this thesis will examine some of its antecedents and influences. The three most important of these are the history of Green Day and its members, the position of American Idiot in the rock opera genre, and the transformation of the original 2004 album into the 2010 Broadway musical. Finally, an examination of youth and suburbia in America at the turn of the twenty-first century will demonstrate the connection to themes expressed in the narrative of American Idiot

Every Kid in a Park Climate Change Academies: Notes from the field

Students learn about climate change at on-site academies, with examples from Indiana Dunes National Park and Cape Cod National Seashore

Earthquake Arrival Association with Backprojection and Graph Theory

The association of seismic wave arrivals with causative earthquakes becomes progressively more challenging as arrival detection methods become more sensitive, and particularly when earthquake rates are high. For instance, seismic waves arriving across a monitoring network from several sources may overlap in time, false arrivals may be detected, and some arrivals may be of unknown phase (e.g., P- or S-waves). We propose an automated method to associate arrivals with earthquake sources and obtain source locations applicable to such situations. To do so we use a pattern detection metric based on the principle of backprojection to reveal candidate sources, followed by graph-theory-based clustering and an integer linear optimization routine to associate arrivals with the minimum number of sources necessary to explain the data. This method solves for all sources and phase assignments simultaneously, rather than in a sequential greedy procedure as is common in other association routines. We demonstrate our method on both synthetic and real data from the Integrated Plate Boundary Observatory Chile (IPOC) seismic network of northern Chile. For the synthetic tests we report results for cases with varying complexity, including rates of 500 earthquakes/day and 500 false arrivals/station/day, for which we measure true positive detection accuracy of > 95%. For the real data we develop a new catalog between January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2017 containing 817,548 earthquakes, with detection rates on average 279 earthquakes/day, and a magnitude-of-completion of ~M1.8. A subset of detections are identified as sources related to quarry and industrial site activity, and we also detect thousands of foreshocks and aftershocks of the April 1, 2014 Mw 8.2 Iquique earthquake. During the highest rates of aftershock activity, > 600 earthquakes/day are detected in the vicinity of the Iquique earthquake rupture zone

The trajectory of inclusive beliefs in beginning teachers

Inclusive education is supported by the belief that all students belong and are valued members of their neighborhood school communities. Teachers must possess beliefs that support inclusion before they are able to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to implement effective inclusive practice. Using The Beliefs About Learning and Teaching Questionnaire (BLTQ), 396 participants were followed for 4 years, from their initial year in preservice teacher education through to their second year of teaching to determine the trajectory of the development of inclusive beliefs. Distinct groups were identified. Those who began with lower inclusive beliefs that tended to decrease over time were more likely to be male. Those who began with higher inclusive beliefs that remained stable were more likely to be in the elementary panel and have greater professional experience. In addition, those with higher inclusive beliefs were more likely to have greater personal experience and weeks on practicum when they began their first course in inclusive education. Results are discussed with respect to teacher education for inclusive education

Evidence based millennials

The workforce is changing, as Boomers are retiring and being replaced by Millennials. This paper explores how organizations can best prepare to train Millennials in new, or existing, initiatives, in an effort to increase successful adoption, by the younger workforce

Over the years I\u27ve come to realize that every student has the right to learn : An Exploration of the Experiences that Influence Beginning Teachers\u27 Beliefs about Diverse Learners and Inclusive Education

The current study explored the experiences that influence beginning teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning in diverse classrooms. Teachers’ beliefs inform their instructional practice, which in turn has direct bearing on their students’ success. Interview data was collected as part of a larger study by the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education. Fifteen pre-service teachers and 13 new teachers sorted the data using Trochim’s (1989) group concept mapping method to identify themes. Pre-service teachers identified four distinct themes: (a) education, (b) practicum/collaboration, (c) work experience, and (d) personal experience with diversity. New teachers identified eight distinct themes: (a) education/training, (b) overall teaching experience, (c) classroom experience with exceptionalities, (d) learning from students, (e) teacher collaboration, (f) learning from personal experience, (g) organizations, and (h) other. These results underscore the importance of both professional and personal experiences and implicate teacher education programs and schools in the development process

Metamorphic Domain-Specific Languages: A Journey Into the Shapes of a Language

External or internal domain-specific languages (DSLs) or (fluent) APIs? Whoever you are -- a developer or a user of a DSL -- you usually have to choose your side; you should not! What about metamorphic DSLs that change their shape according to your needs? We report on our 4-years journey of providing the "right" support (in the domain of feature modeling), leading us to develop an external DSL, different shapes of an internal API, and maintain all these languages. A key insight is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution or no clear superiority of a solution compared to another. On the contrary, we found that it does make sense to continue the maintenance of an external and internal DSL. The vision that we foresee for the future of software languages is their ability to be self-adaptable to the most appropriate shape (including the corresponding integrated development environment) according to a particular usage or task. We call metamorphic DSL such a language, able to change from one shape to another shape