Z-Beamlet: a multikilojoule, terawatt-class laser system

A large-aperture (30-cm) kilojoule-class Nd:glass laser system known as Z-Beamlet has been constructed to perform x-ray radiography of high-energy-density science experiments conducted on the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The laser, operating with typical pulse durations from 0.3 to 1.5 ns, employs a sequence of successively larger multipass amplifiers to achieve up to 3-kJ energy at 1054 nm. Large-aperture frequency conversion and long-distance beam transport can provide on-target energies of up to 1.5 kJ at 527 nm.     

An investigation of the reliability of Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) as a method of assessment of children's computing posture

Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) is a quick observation method of posture analysis. RULA has been used to assess children's computer-related posture, but the reliability of RULA on a paediatric population has not been established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the use of RULA with children. Video recordings of 24 school children were independently viewed by six trained raters who assessed their postures using RULA, on two separate occasions. RULA demonstrated higher intra-rater reliability than inter-rater reliability although both were moderate to good. RULA was more reliable when used for assessing the older children (8-12 years) than with the younger children (4-7 years). RULA may prove useful as part of an ergonomic assessment, but its level of reliability warrants caution for its sole use when assessing children, and in particular, younger children.     

Extending the forecast model: Predicting Western Lake Erie harmful algal blooms at multiple spatial scales

Lake Erie is a classic case of development, recovery from, and return to eutrophication, hypoxia, and harmful algal blooms. Forecast models are used annually to predict bloom intensity for the whole Western Lake Erie Basin, but do not necessarily reflect nearshore conditions or regional variations, which are important for local stakeholders. In this study we: 1) developed relationships between observed whole basin and nearshore bloom sizes, and 2) updated and extended a Bayesian seasonal bloom forecast model to provide new regional predictions. The western basin was subdivided into 5 km near-shore regions, and bloom start date, size, and intensity were quantified with MODIS-derived images of chlorophyll concentrations for July–October 2002–2016 for each subdivision and for the entire basin. While bloom severity within each subdivision is temporally and spatially unique, it increased over the study period in each subdivision. The models for the 5 km subdivisions explained between 83 and 95% of variability between regional sizes and whole bloom size for US subdivisions and 51% for the Canadian subdivision. By linking predictive basin-wide models to regional regression estimates, we are now able to better predict potential bloom impacts at scales and in specific areas that are vital to the economic well-being of the region and allow for better management responses.     

Using design strategies from microfluidic device patents to support idea generation

Microfluidics has been an important method in providing answers to a wide variety of research questions in chemistry, biochemistry, and biology. Microfluidic designers benefit from instructional textbooks describing foundational principles and practices in developing microfluidic devices; however, these texts do not offer guidance about how to generate design concepts for microfluidic devices. Research on design in related fields, such as mechanical engineering, documents the difficulties engineers face when attempting to generate novel ideas. For microfluidic device designers, support during idea generation may lead to greater exploration of potential innovations in design. To investigate successful idea generation in microfluidics, we analyzed successful microfluidic US patents, selecting those with the key word “microfluidic” over a 2-year period. After analyzing the features and functions of 235 patents, we identified 36 distinct design strategies in microfluidic devices. We document each strategy, and demonstrate their usefulness in a concept generation study of practitioners in microfluidic design. While some of the identified design strategies may be familiar to microfluidic designers, exposure to this large set of strategies helped participants generate more diverse, creative, and unique microfluidic design concepts, which are considered best practices in idea generation.     

Toward a deeper understanding of IT adoption: A multilevel analysis

This study adopts a multilevel perspective and uses cross-level modeling to explore how resistance to change (RTC) influences information technology (IT) adoption behaviors. RTC is conceptualized at two levels of analysis (personal and contextual) and with two levels of specificity (distal and proximal). Data were collected from 258 employees within 25 administrative work units undergoing a new IT initiative. The findings from this study reveal a “maverick effect” wherein pro-initiative employees react in contrast to their workplace contexts. They champion IT adoption when their work units resist the IT initiative and prolong IT adoption when their work units readily embrace the IT initiative. This study introduces a novel interactionist perspective on IT adoption that considers employee dispositions and perceptions, as well as workplace climate and culture, as enablers and inhibitors of IT adoption. Moreover, the study advocates for change management practices that account for multilevel interactions among the personal and contextual influences of IT adoption.     

全球头发定型剂和固定剂纵览

对过去4年的头发定型剂和固定剂的发展情况作了综述,讨论了各公司的定型剂和固定剂品牌的概况,市场对定型剂和固定剂产品的需求不断增长.进一步讨论了定型剂和固定剂配方中所使用的聚合物和流变改性剂的发展情况.不断研发出许多新的聚合物和流变改性剂,推动了定型剂和固定剂市场向前发展.     

Rated helpfulness and partner-reported smoking cessation support across the pregnancy-postpartum continuum.

Support interventions have not changed smoking cessation rates significantly. The pregnancy-postpartum continuum presents a unique opportunity to examine patterns of support. Expectant couples (N = 477) were surveyed twice during pregnancy and 3 times postpartum. Partners reported positive and negative smoking-specific support; women reported the helpfulness of partner support. Linear trends suggest that women viewed support as more helpful during pregnancy than during postpartum. Partners' provision of positive support across the continuum depended on their smoking; provision of negative support depended on women's smoking. Partners who smoked provided lower levels of both positive and negative support, especially postpartum. Women who smoked throughout the pregnancy perceived their partner's negative support as helpful. Implications are that partners who smoke may need help staying engaged in the support process. Partners may provide negative support in response to women's smoking cues. Women who are struggling with cessation may not view negative support as negative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence-based practice for equating health status items: sample size and IRT model

BACKGROUND: In the development of health outcome measures, the pool of candidate items may be divided into multiple forms, thus "spreading" response burden over two or more study samples. Item responses collected using this approach result in two or more forms whose scores are not equivalent. Therefore, the item responses must be equated (adjusted) to a common mathematical metric. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of sample size, test size, and selection of item response theory model in equating three forms of a health status measure. Each of the forms was comprised of a set of items unique to it and a set of anchor items common across forms. RESEARCH DESIGN: The study was a secondary data analysis of patients' responses to the developmental item pool for the Health of Seniors Survey. A completely crossed design was used with 25 replications per study cell. RESULTS: We found that the quality of equatings was affected greatly by sample size. Its effect was far more substantial than choice of IRT model. Little or no advantage was observed for equatings based on 60 or 72 items versus those based on 48 items. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that samples of less than 300 are clearly unacceptable for equating multiple forms. Additional sample size guidelines are offered based on our results.     

Evidence for High T C Superconducting Transitions in Isolated Al 45? and Al 47? Nanoclusters

Heat capacities measured for Al₄₅⁻ and Al₄₇⁻ nanoclusters have reproducible jumps at ∼200 K. These jumps are consistent with theoretical predictions that some clusters with highly degenerate electronic states near the Fermi level will undergo a transition into a high T _C superconducting state. An analysis based on a theoretical treatment of pairing in Al₄₅⁻ and Al₄₇⁻ agrees well with the experimental data in both the value of the critical temperature and in the size and width of the jumps in the heat capacity.     

Current Barriers to Large‐scale Interoperability of Traceability Technology in the Seafood Sector

Interoperability is a critical component of full‐chain digital traceability, but is almost nonexistent in the seafood industry. Using both quantitative and qualitative methodology, this study explores the barriers impeding progress toward large‐scale interoperability among digital traceability systems in the seafood sector from the perspectives of seafood companies, technology vendors, and supply chains as a whole. We highlight lessons from recent research and field work focused on implementing traceability across full supply chains and make some recommendations for next steps in terms of overcoming challenges and scaling current efforts.