Moving Beyond CAP-X to Combinations of Alternative Intersections That Might Be Worth Further Investigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 2674 (8) ◽  
pp. 902-910
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Hummer
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Hybrid Design ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
The Past ◽  
Efficiency Increase ◽  
Design Options ◽  
Alternative Designs ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Do So

Many intersection project sites in North Carolina, and probably across the U.S., have asymmetric conditions. There is typically heavier demand from one approach than the others, right of way is more restricted in one or two quadrants than in the others, pedestrian demand is concentrated in one crosswalk, and so forth. However, the literature on alternative intersections and the software that planners and engineers use to explore suitable alternatives primarily provide symmetric and full designs. Analysts reading the FHWA guidebooks on alternative designs or looking at the menus of CAP-X or VJUST would be led to believe that their options were limited. Fortunately, in the past few years it has become apparent that there are many more intersection design options than presented in CAP-X or VJUST. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that designers can combine pieces of the alternatives in many creative ways to find asymmetric designs that better fit whatever asymmetric conditions they are given. This paper shows some hybrid at-grade and grade-separated intersection designs that seem to have potential to increase efficiency, increase the quality of the pedestrian and bicyclist crossing experience, decrease impacts, and have other benefits. Based on these examples, it should be apparent that many interesting combinations are possible. Designers wanting to explore a hybrid cannot use the usual software to do so, but the tools to analyze a hybrid design are available if one knows where to look.

The theater of memory: Direct speech in Palestinian oral history

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-648
Author(s):  
Kobi Peled
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Striking Feature ◽  
Direct Speech ◽  
The Past ◽  
Theatrical Performance ◽  
Main Thing ◽  
Significant Figures ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Do So

A striking feature of Palestinian oral history projects is the extensive use that interviewees make of direct speech to communicate their memories—especially those born before the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. They do so irrespective of whether or not they participated in or actually heard the dialogues they wish to convey. This article seeks to characterize and explain this phenomenon. In the interviews conducted by the author—an Arabic-speaking Jew—as well as in other projects, this mode of speech is marked by ease of transition from character to character and between different points in time. It clearly gives pleasure to those engaged in the act of remembering, and it grades readily into a theatrical performance in which tone of speech and the quality of the acting become the main thing. This form of discourse sprang up from the soil of a rural oral culture and still flourishes as a prop for supporting memory, a vessel for collecting and disseminating stories, and a technique for expressing identification with significant figures from the past.

scholarly journals The Value of Citizen Science in Increasing Our Knowledge of Under-Sampled Biodiversity: An Overview of Public Documentation of Auchenorrhyncha and the Hoppers of North Carolina

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle D. Kittelberger ◽  
Solomon V. Hendrix ◽  
Çağan Hakkı Şekercioğlu
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
The United States ◽  
Undescribed Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

Due to the increasing popularity of websites specializing in nature documentation, there has been a surge in the number of people enthusiastic about observing and documenting nature over the past 2 decades. These citizen scientists are recording biodiversity on unprecedented temporal and spatial scales, rendering data of tremendous value to the scientific community. In this study, we investigate the role of citizen science in increasing knowledge of global biodiversity through the examination of notable contributions to the understanding of the insect suborder Auchenorrhyncha, also known as true hoppers, in North America. We have compiled a comprehensive summary of citizen science contributions—published and unpublished—to the understanding of hopper diversity, finding over fifty previously unpublished country and state records as well as dozens of undescribed and potentially undescribed species. We compare citizen science contributions to those published in the literature as well as specimen records in collections in the United States and Canada, illuminating the fact that the copious data afforded by citizen science contributions are underutilized. We also introduce the website Hoppers of North Carolina, a revolutionary new benchmark for tracking hopper diversity, disseminating knowledge from the literature, and incorporating citizen science. Finally, we provide a series of recommendations for both the entomological community and citizen science platforms on how best to approach, utilize, and increase the quality of sightings from the general public.

scholarly journals Lessons on Monetary Policy from the 1980s

1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 51-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin M Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Federal Reserve ◽  
Price Stability ◽  
Money Stock ◽  
The Past ◽  
Reserve System ◽  
Past Half ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Half Decade ◽  
Do So

The half-decade running from mid-1982 to mid-1987 was a pretty good era for U.S. monetary policy, as these things go. Even the severe 1981-82 recession served its intended purpose of substantially restoring price stability. At least as judged by the outcomes for the standard objectives of macroeconomic policy, U.S. monetary policy was a distinct success. Economists hoping to say something useful about monetary policy in the 1980s have had a tougher time. The quantitative relationships connecting income and price movements to the growth of familiar monetary aggregates, including especially the M1 measure of the money stock that had been the chief focus of monetary policy during 1979-82, utterly fell apart during this period. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that there is now a conceptual vacuum at the center of the U.S. monetary policymaking process. In the meanwhile, the Federal Reserve System has not ceased operations. Nor should it be inclined to do so, in light of the performance of both income and prices during the past half-decade.

scholarly journals Meta-Analysis in Vocational Behavior: A Systematic Review and Recommendations for Best Practices

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cort Rudolph ◽  
Kahea Chang ◽  
Rachel Sisu Rauvola ◽  
Hannes Zacher
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
The Past ◽  
Vocational Behavior ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Statistical Conclusion ◽  
Field Of Inquiry ◽  
Do So

Meta-analysis is a powerful tool for the synthesis of quantitative empirical research. Overall, thefield of vocational behavior has benefited from the results of meta-analyses. Yet, there is still quite a bit to learn about how we can improve the quality of meta-analyses reported in this field of inquiry. In this paper, we systematically review all meta-analyses published in the Journal of Vocational Behavior (JVB) to date. We do so to address two related goals: First, based on guidance from various sources (e.g., the American Psychological Association’s meta-analysis reporting standards; MARS), we introduce ten facets of meta-analysis that have particular bearing on statistical conclusion validity. Second, we systematically review meta-analyses published in JVB over the past 32 years, with a particular focus on the methods employed; this review informs a discussion of 19 associated “best practices” for researchers who are considering conducting a meta-analysis in the field of vocational behavior (or in related fields). Thus, this work serves as an important benchmark, indicating where we “have been” and where we “should go,” with respect to conducting and reporting meta-analyses on vocational behavior topics.

scholarly journals The Advantages of Five-Option Multiple-Choice Items in Classroom Tests of Student Mastery

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. p59
Author(s):  
Michael Joseph Wise
Keyword(s):  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multiple Choice Items ◽  
Writing Tests ◽  
Do So

The effectiveness of multiple-choice (MC) items depends on the quality of the response options—particularly how well the incorrect options (“distractors”) attract students who have incomplete knowledge. It is often contended that test-writers are unable to devise more than two plausible distractors for most MC items, and that the effort needed to do so is not worthwhile in terms of the items’ psychometric qualities. To test these contentions, I analyzed students’ performance on 545 MC items across six science courses that I have taught over the past decade. Each MC item contained four distractors, and the dataset included more than 19,000 individual responses. All four distractors were deemed plausible in one-third of the items, and three distractors were plausible in another third. Each increase in plausible distractor led to an average of a 13% increase in item difficulty. Moreover, an increase in plausible distractors led to a significant increase in the discriminability of the items, with a leveling off by the fourth distractor. These results suggest that—at least for teachers writing tests to assess mastery of course content—it may be worthwhile to eschew recent skepticism and continue to attempt to write MC items with three or four distractors.

scholarly journals Early Flowering Pollenizers for Improved Yield and Quality of Gynoecious Pickling Cucumbers

HortScience ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 495B-495
Author(s):  
Todd C. Wehner
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Cucumis Sativus ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Early Flowering ◽  
Internal Quality ◽  
Ratio Test ◽  
Yield And Quality ◽  
Pickling Cucumbers ◽  
The U.S

Most gynoecious hybrid cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) grown in the U.S. require pollination for proper fruit set. Early flowering pollenizers may help yield, earliness, or quality. Two experiments were run to measure the value of early pollenizers using fields isolated from other cucumbers by at least 1 km. The first experiment used `Armstrong Early Cluster' and `Sumter' as the early and normal pollenizer, with 30 and 35 days to flower, respectively. Gy 2, Gy 3, Gy 4, and Gy 14 were used as the gynoecious pickling cucumbers. The experiment was run in 2 years (1994, 1995) and seven locations in North Carolina with two pollenizers and the four gynoecious inbreds. There were four replications of plots within each whole plot to help control variability inherent in an experiment where treatments are in separate fields. The second experiment had only 1 year (1996), but the same seven locations, four replications, and four gynoecious inbreds, but only one pollenizer (`Sumter') planted at the same time, or 2 weeks earlier than the gynoecious lines. Plots were harvested once when 30% of the fruits were >50 mm diameter. None of the differences in either experiment were significant (F-ratio test, 10% level). Therefore, it does not appear that use of early flowering pollenizers in blends with gynoecious pickling cucumbers will have a large effect on the yield, earliness, or internal quality of the crop.

scholarly journals When Elephants Fight, It’s the Grass That Suffers

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-26
Author(s):  
Laila Al-Soulaiman
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
The United States ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Current Form ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
The Will ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Do So

Publicly, the United States positions itself as the world’s protector and enforcer of democracy. This role, however, is more preferential than universal — especially in the case of the developing conflict in Syria. As the policy has evolved along with the ever-changing dynamics on the ground, it is clear that there are inherent contradictions between the moralistic rhetoric of policy and the amoral empirical realities of policy implementation. U.S. government officials have publicly pledged their support of the Syrian people, called for the abdication of Assad, and stated that the use of chemical weapons is a red line that, if crossed, would provoke military intervention. The U.S., however, has delivered on none of these commitments. In fact, the administration’s foreign policy response to Syria has left many questions unanswered. On one hand, the lack of impactful initiatives to deter the bloodshed over the past five years makes it clear that the U.S. policy did not aim to do so in the first place. If the U.S.’s response to this crisis continues in its current form, and Assad’s regime continues, violence and repression will persist. To this end, democracy will be impossible in Syria, and those who will truly bear the burden of such inaction will be the people of Syria. What exact proposals in need of reversing this conflict are uncertain, but what remains clear is that the U.S. faces an impasse due to its irrevocable decisions, and whatever is to occur in the future will ultimately be decided by the will of the Syrian people. 

scholarly journals Neo-monastics in North Carolina, de-growth and a theology of enough

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Cox Hall
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Spiritual Growth ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Emerging Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Growth Movement ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Do So

Abstract This article examines one intentional Christian community's attempts to live a life that eschews consumerism and material growth for a life focused on spiritual growth and collectivity. I articulate intentional Christian living, often referred to as neo-monasticism, with the de-growth movement. I do so to offer insight into the practice and pragmatics of de-growth's broadly understood call to revalue the ideals of life in an effort to reduce consumption. Neo-monasticism and de-growth have much in common including the critique of consumerism, individualism and increasing inequality. Both also promote relationships, locality, sharing, slowing down and quality of life over efficiency and incessant work. Drawing on four years of research with one residential Christian community, I suggest that the most challenging aspect of sharing a life together and slowing down is not simply consuming less or pooling resources but rethinking and living social values not driven by a consumerist-growth paradigm. While some de-growth advocates, such as Serge Latouche, promote ideals of harmony and oneness, in practice, living simply and sharing a life together is challenging and conflictual, even when religiously inspired. Key Words: De-growth, neo-monasticism, emerging church, millennial generation, Christianity, sharing economy

scholarly journals NAGS HEAD RENOURISHMENT – PLANNING, DESIGN, AND NUMERICAL MODELING

2018 ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Haiqing Liu Kaczkowski ◽  
Tim W Kana ◽  
Ruben Visser
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Beach Nourishment ◽  
Successful Completion ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recreational Beach ◽  
The Town ◽  
The U.S

The 16 kilometer (km) beach along Nags Head (North Carolina, USA) has sustained chronic erosion over the past 50 years. In 2011, 3.5 million cubic meters (m3) of beach-quality sand was dredged from offshore and placed along the oceanfront at fill densities ranging from 150 m3/m to 400 m3/m (averages 220 m3/m). It is the largest locally funded beach nourishment project completed to date in the U.S. Following successful completion of the project, the Town of Nags Head monitored performance and developed strategies for beach maintenance and preservation with the goal of improving protection to all properties and recreational beach area. The short-term plan is a renourishment anticipated to commence in the summer of 2018 or before the 2011 project reaches 50% fill remaining. The long-term plan targets a timeframe of 30 years. This abstract will focus on the short-term plan whose original purpose and goals are to supplement and enhance the initial 2011 project.

scholarly journals Are Self-Participation Rates Predictive of Accuracy in the U.S. Census?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
William P. O’Hare
Keyword(s):  
Census Bureau ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
The Past ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The U.S

Metrics related to the U.S. Census have been widely available for several decades but there has been a dearth of studies examining the relationship among key metrics in the Census. This paper provides empirical evidence about the link between self-participation rates and census accuracy using data from the 1990, 2000, and 2010 U.S Censuses. The preponderance of the evidence shows lower self-participation rates are highly correlated with higher net undercounts and omissions rates for key socio-demographic groups and states. Nine out of 11 correlations examined in this paper are statistically significant and in the predicted direction. One key reason self-participation rates are associated with census accuracy is the fact that the population not captured in the self-participation operation goes into the households for the Nonresponse Followup (NRFU) operation. Census Bureau data show data collected in NRFU is not as accurate as that collected in self-response. The larger the share of data collected for a population that is collected in NFRU, the lower the quality of data for that group. The connection between self-participation rates and census accuracy mean the differential self-participation rates seen in the 2020 Census suggest patterns of net Census undercounts seen in the past are likely to be seen in the 2020 Census.

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