The Effects of Variable Work Arrangements on the Organizational Commitment of Contingent Workers

Drawing on social exchange theory and research on organizational commitment, we developed a model of contingent workers’ commitment to two foci: their hiring agencies and the organizations to which they have been assigned. Hypotheses were tested using survey data from 197 contingent workers. We found that commitment to the hiring agency was positively related to pay satisfaction and perceived organizational support from the agency. Commitment to the client organization was positively related to perceived organizational support from the client, co-worker relations, and job satisfaction. Preference for contingent work exhibited a positive relationship with pay and job satisfaction. Holding job and pay satisfaction constant, we found that commitment was negatively related to preference for contingent work. Of the factors studied, perceived organizational support exhibited the largest effect. Implications for theory and practice are discussed

Too retro for religion: Self-identity and the presence of God in the works of L. J. Smith and Bram Stoker

Since vampirism threatens the psychological stability of human beings, religion is utilized to combat vampires in Bram Stoker\u27s Dracula. Jutta Schulze alludes to a dominant discourse that establishes moral binaries through religion. However, when the presence of God is limited or non-existent, individuals within L. J. Smith\u27s Secret Vampire cannot rely on moral binaries to understand vampires. Instead, they must redefine their self-identity without Christian beliefs that would otherwise deem vampires unacceptable. Too Retro for Religion examines the exclusive nature presented by religious binaries in Victorian literature in comparison with the transformative human-vampire relationship in modern fiction

Comprehension of spacecraft telemetry using hierarchical specifications of behavior ⋆

Abstract. A key challenge in operating remote spacecraft is that ground operators must rely on the limited visibility available through spacecraft telemetry in order to assess spacecraft health and operational status. We describe a tool for processing spacecraft telemetry that allows ground operators to impose structure on received telemetry in order to achieve a better comprehension of system state. A key element of our approach is the design of a domain-specific language that allows operators to express models of expected system behavior using partial specifications. The language allows behavior specifications with data fields, similar to other recent runtime verification systems. What is notable about our approach is the ability to develop hierarchical specifications of behavior. The language is implemented as an internal DSL in the Scala programming language that synthesizes rules from patterns of specification behavior. The rules are automatically applied to received telemetry and the inferred behaviors are available to ground operators using a visualization interface that makes it easier to understand and track spacecraft state. We describe initial results from applying our tool to telemetry received from the Curiosity rover currently roving the surface of Mars, where the visualizations are being used to trend subsystem behaviors, in order to identify potential problems before they happen. However, the technology is completely general and can be applied to any system that generates telemetry such as event logs.

A tabulation of pipe length to diameter ratios as a function of Mach number and pressure ratios for compressible flow

Computer programs and resulting tabulations are presented of pipeline length-to-diameter ratios as a function of Mach number and pressure ratios for compressible flow. The tabulations are applicable to air, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen for compressible isothermal flow with friction and compressible adiabatic flow with friction. Also included are equations for the determination of weight flow. The tabulations presented cover a wider range of Mach numbers for choked, adiabatic flow than available from commonly used engineering literature. Additional information presented, but which is not available from this literature, is unchoked, adiabatic flow over a wide range of Mach numbers, and choked and unchoked, isothermal flow for a wide range of Mach numbers

Potential Benefits on Impairment of Endothelial Function after a High-Fat Meal of 4 Weeks of Flavonoid Supplementation

Studies with foods high in flavonoids have demonstrated improvement in endothelial function. We investigated whether 4 weeks of flavonoid supplementation would prevent an adverse impact on endothelial function of a high-fat meal. Endothelial function was measured by reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT). The RH-PAT index was measured both before and 3 h after a high-fat meal, in 23 healthy volunteers. Subjects were randomized in a double-blind, cross-over design to 4 weeks of daily supplementation with OPC-3, or a matching placebo. RH-PAT index before and after the high-fat meal was measured at the beginning and end of each 4-week treatment phase. The high-fat meal caused a decline in endothelial function at baseline in the placebo (-10.71%, P = .006) and flavonoid [-9.97% (P = .077)] groups, and there was no difference in decline between arms (P = .906). The high-fat meal produced a decline after 4 weeks of placebo [-12.37% (P = .005)], but no decline after 4 weeks of flavonoid supplement [-3.16% (P = .663)], and the difference between the two responses was highly significant (P < .0001). Within-group comparisons revealed no difference in endothelial function decline in the placebo arm between baseline and 4 weeks [-10.71% versus -12.37% (P = .758)]. In the flavonoid supplement arm, the difference in endothelial function decline between baseline and 4 weeks was -9.97% versus -3.16%, but did not reach statistical significance (P = .451). These results suggest that the flavonoid supplement used in this study mitigates the impairment of endothelial function caused by a high-fat meal. Whether certain subpopulations derive greater or lesser benefit remains unclear

Tabletop Die Cast System

The project was to design, manufacture, and test a tabletop die cast system to be used as lab equipment in MET 257 – Casting Processes. The motivation for this project was the MET 257 – Casting Processes instructor’s desire to physically demonstrate the die casting process, but they were unable to find a system that would meet all of their requirements. They required a system design that was small, portable, would fit in the foundries limited space, had an open concept to allow students to see what was occurring during the pour, and compatibility with the foundries current equipment. The project was broken into three sections. The first section was the design and analysis of the system. This process included modeling the system, calculating the crucial elements of the design, and a full proposal of the system design that would be built and tested. The second section, the manufacturing process, involved manually and CNC milling steel stock into the desired parts, as well as producing a few simple wood parts and modifying a couple purchased parts. The third section, testing, evaluated the systems functionality as well as the system’s viability as an educational tool. The success criterion for the system was the viability of the system as a piece of educational equipment that could be operated by the MET 257 – Casting Processes instructor

Runtime verification of parametric properties using SMEDL

Parametric properties are typical properties to be checked in runtime verification (RV). As a common technique for parametric monitoring, trace slicing divides an execution trace into a set of sub traces which are checked against non-parametric base properties. An efficient trace slicing algorithm is implemented in MOP. Another RV technique, QEA further allows for nested use of universal and existential quantification over parameters. In this paper, we present a methodology for parametric monitoring using the RV framework SMEDL. Trace slicing algorithm in MOP can be expressed by execution of a set of SMEDL monitors. Moreover, the semantics of nested quantifiers is encoded by a hierarchy of monitors for aggregating verdicts of sub traces. Through case studies, we demonstrate that SMEDL provides a natural way to monitor parametric properties with more potentials for flexible deployment and optimizations

Tree Buffers

In runtime verification, the central problem is to decide if a given program execution violates a given property. In online runtime verification, a monitor observes a program’s execution as it happens. If the program being observed has hard real-time constraints, then the monitor inherits them. In the presence of hard real-time constraints it becomes a challenge to maintain enough information to produce error traces, should a property violation be observed. In this paper we introduce a data structure, called tree buffer, that solves this problem in the context of automata-based monitors: If the monitor itself respects hard real-time constraints, then enriching it by tree buffers makes it possible to provide error traces, which are essential for diagnosing defects. We show that tree buffers are also useful in other application domains. For example, they can be used to implement functionality of capturing groups in regular expressions. We prove optimal asymptotic bounds for our data structure, and validate them using empirical data from two sources: regular expression searching through Wikipedia, and runtime verification of execution traces obtained from the DaCapo test suite