Social Justice Documentary: Designing for Impact

Explores current methodologies for assessing social issue documentary films by combining strategic design and evaluation of multiplatform outreach and impact, including documentaries' role in network- and field-building. Includes six case studies

Method and apparatus for obtaining complete speech signals for speech recognition applications

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for obtaining complete speech signals for speech recognition applications. In one embodiment, the method continuously records an audio stream comprising a sequence of frames to a circular buffer. When a user command to commence or terminate speech recognition is received, the method obtains a number of frames of the audio stream occurring before or after the user command in order to identify an augmented audio signal for speech recognition processing. In further embodiments, the method analyzes the augmented audio signal in order to locate starting and ending speech endpoints that bound at least a portion of speech to be processed for recognition. At least one of the speech endpoints is located using a Hidden Markov Model

Structure and hydration of the C4H4 •+ ion formed by electron impact ionization of acetylene clusters

Here we report ion mobility experiments and theoretical studies aimed at elucidating the identity of the acetylene dimer cation and its hydrated structures. The mobility measurement indicates the presence of more than one isomer for the C4H4 •+ ion in the cluster beam. The measured average collision cross section of the C4H4 •+ isomers in helium (38.9 ± 1 Å2) is consistent with the calculated cross sections of the four most stable covalent structures calculated for the C4H4 •+ ion [methylenecyclopropene (39.9 Å2), 1,2,3-butatriene (41.1 Å2), cyclobutadiene (38.6 Å2), and vinyl acetylene (41.1 Å2)]. However, none of the single isomers is able to reproduce the experimental arrival time distribution of the C4H4 •+ ion. Combinations of cyclobutadiene and vinyl acetylene isomers show excellent agreement with the experimental mobility profile and the measured collision cross section. The fragment ions obtained by the dissociation of the C4H4 •+ion are consistent with the cyclobutadiene structure in agreement with the vibrational predissociation spectrum of the acetylene dimer cation (C2H2)2 •+[R. A. Relph, J. C. Bopp, J. R. Roscioli, and M. A. Johnson, J. Chem. Phys.131, 114305 (2009)]. The stepwise hydration experiments show that dissociative proton transfer reactions occur within the C4H4 •+(H2O)nclusters with n ≥ 3 resulting in the formation of protonated water clusters. The measured bindingenergy of the C4H4 •+H2O cluster, 38.7 ± 4 kJ/mol, is in excellent agreement with the G3(MP2) calculated binding energy of cyclobutadiene•+·H2O cluster (41 kJ/mol). The binding energies of the C4H4 •+(H2O)n clusters change little from n = 1 to 5 (39–48 kJ/mol) suggesting the presence of multiple binding sites with comparable energies for the water–C4H4 •+ and water–waterinteractions. A significant entropy loss is measured for the addition of the fifth water molecule suggesting a structure with restrained water molecules, probably a cyclic water pentamer within the C4H4 •+(H2O)5 cluster. Consequently, a drop in the binding energy of the sixth watermolecule is observed suggesting a structure in which the sixth water molecule interacts weakly with the C4H4 •+(H2O)5 cluster presumably consisting of a cyclobutadiene•+ cation hydrogen bonded to a cyclic water pentamer. The combination of ion mobility, dissociation, and hydration experiments in conjunction with the theoretical calculations provides strong evidence that the (C2H2)2 •+ ions are predominantly present as the cyclobutadiene cation with some contribution from the vinyl acetylene cation

Positive Organizational Leadership and Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Phenomenon of Institutional Fossil Fuel Divestment

Climate change is one of the most significant dynamics of our time.The predominant contributor to climate change is combustion of fossil fuels by humans.This study deepened understanding of organizational leaders’ role in enacting one approach to addressing climate change:institutional fossil fuel divestment.The study used a qualitative research design to explore U.S.-based foundation leaders’ readiness to pursue fossil fuel divestment by their institutions.The study examined leaders’ motivations and actions in pursuing divestment, while simultaneously exercising their fiduciary duty to steward institutional assets.Research questions focused on the divestment behavior change process and the outcomes of divestment on leaders and their organizations.Data collection and analysis were derived from two datasets:34 foundation divestment commitment statements and semi-structured interviews with 18 foundation leaders.The study highlighted leaders’ intentional actions, outside the norms of the philanthropic sector and corporate governance, to enact their values and beliefs through divestment, as a form of socially responsible investing.Leaders’ pursuit of divestment constituted mission-aligned positive deviance.Findings suggested that leaders of mission-driven institutions can benefit by taking more direct responsibility for institutional investing in ways that are consistent with institutional mission.Doing so, they may unleash new energy that enhances the well-being of the organization and its members and sparks innovation in the financial services sector.They may also experience higher levels of satisfaction, pride, happiness, and engagement with their organizational roles.This study extends scholarship on divestment, foundations as change agents, leadership and positive deviance, psychology of climate change, pro-environmental behavior (PEB), socially responsible investing, and the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM).Implications for theory and practice:(a) develops models of mission-aligned investing and of mission-aligned leadership, (b) builds on Stern’s PEB typology to include investing; (c) extends the TTM to include a change leadership dimension; and (d) provides analysis that can inform practitioner-designed behavior change initiatives and that may inform and inspire other institutional leaders to address climate change through institutional fossil fuel divestment.This dissertation is available in open-access at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd and AURA:Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu

Positive Organizational Leadership and Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Phenomenon of Institutional Fossil Fuel Divestment

Climate change is one of the most significant dynamics of our time.The predominant contributor to climate change is combustion of fossil fuels by humans.This study deepened understanding of organizational leaders’ role in enacting one approach to addressing climate change:institutional fossil fuel divestment.The study used a qualitative research design to explore U.S.-based foundation leaders’ readiness to pursue fossil fuel divestment by their institutions.The study examined leaders’ motivations and actions in pursuing divestment, while simultaneously exercising their fiduciary duty to steward institutional assets.Research questions focused on the divestment behavior change process and the outcomes of divestment on leaders and their organizations.Data collection and analysis were derived from two datasets:34 foundation divestment commitment statements and semi-structured interviews with 18 foundation leaders.The study highlighted leaders’ intentional actions, outside the norms of the philanthropic sector and corporate governance, to enact their values and beliefs through divestment, as a form of socially responsible investing.Leaders’ pursuit of divestment constituted mission-aligned positive deviance.Findings suggested that leaders of mission-driven institutions can benefit by taking more direct responsibility for institutional investing in ways that are consistent with institutional mission.Doing so, they may unleash new energy that enhances the well-being of the organization and its members and sparks innovation in the financial services sector.They may also experience higher levels of satisfaction, pride, happiness, and engagement with their organizational roles.This study extends scholarship on divestment, foundations as change agents, leadership and positive deviance, psychology of climate change, pro-environmental behavior (PEB), socially responsible investing, and the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM).Implications for theory and practice:(a) develops models of mission-aligned investing and of mission-aligned leadership, (b) builds on Stern’s PEB typology to include investing; (c) extends the TTM to include a change leadership dimension; and (d) provides analysis that can inform practitioner-designed behavior change initiatives and that may inform and inspire other institutional leaders to address climate change through institutional fossil fuel divestment.This dissertation is available in open-access at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd and AURA:Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu

Transgenerational, dynamic methylation of stomata genes in response to low relative humidity

Transgenerational inheritance of abiotic stress-induced epigenetic modifications in plants has potential adaptive significance and might condition the offspring to improve the response to the same stress, but this is at least partly dependent on the potency, penetrance and persistence of the transmitted epigenetic marks. We examined transgenerational inheritance of low Relative Humidity-induced DNA methylation for two gene loci in the stomatal developmental pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana and the abundance of associated short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Heritability of low humidity-induced methylation was more predictable and penetrative at one locus (SPEECHLESS, entropy ≤ 0.02; χ2 < 0.001) than the other (FAMA, entropy ≤ 0.17; χ2 ns). Methylation at SPEECHLESS correlated positively with the continued presence of local siRNAs (r2 = 0.87; p = 0.013) which, however, could be disrupted globally in the progeny under repeated stress. Transgenerational methylation and a parental low humidity-induced stomatal phenotype were heritable, but this was reversed in the progeny under repeated treatment in a previously unsuspected manner.Penny J. Tricker, Carlos M. Rodríguez López, George Gibbings, Paul Hadley and Mike J. Wilkinso