The Loss and Persistence of Black-Owned Farms and Farmland: A Review of the Research Literature and Its Implications *
A method of forming an improved planarization mask for shallow trench isolation process area in integrated circuit manufacturing is disclosed. The planarization mask is generated automatically by using actual mask data as a reference. The invention discloses an algorithm which measures the geometric and relative separation distances of the active areas and performs the necessary merging, deletion and differential biasing to produce the planarization mask which has relaxed geometric boundaries, thereby allowing low cost and simplified manufacturing.
Race and Wildfire Risk Perceptions among Rural Forestland Owners in North-Central Florida
The southern United States is susceptible to wildfire, from its climate, growing seasons, lightning frequency, and decades of fire suppression. With much known about wildfire's biophysical risks, less is understood about sociodemographic obstacles, including race, income, and education. Blacks in the rural southeastern United States are typically among the most marginalized Americans and least likely to have sufficient knowledge about resource protection. Because disaster preparedness has been shown to vary by sociodemographic status and race, this study focused on race and wildfire prevention by rural forestland owners in north-central Florida. Results show that while Whites were more aware of existing resources, they were less likely to incorporate preventative measures. In contrast, Blacks earned lower incomes and utilized their land less, but were more likely to manage and live on their land. We conclude that wildfire mitigation programs may be more effective when they work to connect absentee rural land owners to their land.
Application of the Kano Model for a Better Understanding of Customer Requirements in Higher Education—A Pilot Study
Various pieces of information and knowledge turn into “know-how” simply by their application in the market. This applies to all spheres of activities. It is therefore important to know and understand the requirements of customers already in the stage of making a product, and to confront these with the possibilities of a producer. In this article we are exploring the possibilities of a better understanding of the requirements of customers and stakeholders in the process of the creation of products in educational services. In particular, we examined seven general requirements: practice orientation, ethical orientation, research orientation, quality resources, innovation orientation, skills orientation, and quality staff. We use the Kano model on a pilot sample of respondents at an institution of higher education. Our results showed that “practice orientation” and “quality resources” are the most stable requirements, while “quality staff” is the least stable. The most linear requirement (the same effect on satisfaction and dissatisfaction) is “innovation orientation”. “Research orientation” belongs to attractive requirements and we also found that in the case of “ethical orientation” there are weak relations between positive and negative responses in our survey. The “skills orientation” proved to be too general, and our research shows that it could be indifferent. It is therefore advisable to specify the investigated skills when investigating requirements on educational services. The main contribution based on the proposed research procedures is an effective linking of customers and producers already from the beginning of constructing a value chain. Investing in sophisticated management approaches when modelling products and processes can thus become a significant source of the competitive advantage of an educational institution. At the same time, it is a contribution to better placing of its graduates in the labor market.