New York\u27s 1199 in 1989: Rebuilding a Troubled Union

[Excerpt] 1199\u27s contract campaign of 1989 resulted in more than a contract victory for 50,000 hospital and nursing home workers. It marked the moment when 1199 reconstituted itself. The method and form that reconstitution took had everything to with the peculiar history of the union and a fundamentally destabilizing leadership crisis, with the racial and ethnic diversity of the people in the union and the different kinds of work they do, and with the industry they work in. Ironically, some of the techniques used to achieve the victory, developed to compensate for structural weaknesses, reinforced those weaknesses. The union\u27s continuing problem is to find ways of integrating its successes with its ordinary life

Controlling Immigration Manually: Lessons from Moscow (Russia)

In 2007, the Russian government instituted quotas for immigrant work permits that were consistently lower than actual labour demand. While low quotas are politically popular on the mass level, this article argues that low quotas are also a tool of the government to distribute patronage resources to regional political and economic elites. For several years after quotas were instituted, they remained quite controversial, and during this time decisions about them were firmly in the hands of Vladimir Putin, first as president and then as prime minister, giving him a powerful tool to control the immigration process and labour market manually. While this type of manual control is effective in the short term to manage contentious policy arenas, it suffers a number of possible long-term consequences

Piracy, Policy, and Pandora: Outdated Copyright in a Digital World

This project examines how current copyright laws and digital distribution practices in music can be improved for both the creator and the consumer. The laws that govern our digital atmosphere, and thus a large portion of music distribution, are outdated and cause a wide variety of problems for both artists and fans. To create a comprehensive picture and establish the scope of this problem, I start by outlining the process a song goes through from when it is written to when it is in the hands, or rather ears, of listeners. From there, copyright laws are entwined with this process. It is important to acknowledge copyright was designed as a balance between copyright-holders and the public, not just one party. Next, I examine what problems arise from this series of transactions, such as loss of information and piracy. Many scholars have commented on the inefficiencies of our current legal state, but I seek to connect these problems to evolving solutions that are practical for here and now. How can emerging technologies (such as blockchain) and changes in policy make the process more transparent? I seek to educate readers on the intricacies of copyright, highlight pitfalls of our modern structure, and connect these problems to unfolding solutions

An Inhaler Tracking System Based on Acoustic Analysis:Hardware and Software

In treating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), acquisition of authentic and effective feedback from patients on regimen adherence is difficult. Face-to-face and oral reporting methods do not satisfy current intelligent medication best practices. This paper presents a system to track and analyze daily inhaler usage. A portable electronic device that attaches to the inhaler uses an accelerometer and capacitive sensors to detect users’ motion and an embedded digital microphone to capture sounds while the inhaler is in use. In terms of analysis, sound features are extracted, and breath phases are identified by employing a hidden Markov model with a Gaussian mixture model. A feature template is also constructed and used to search for and identify “canister pressed” events. The system provides objective feedback, quantifying asthma, and COPD patients’ adherence to medication regimens. Although interest in asthma adherence to medication regimens is growing, there is still a relative paucity of research and, indeed, compliance devices in this area; the tracking system can help doctors better understand the patient’s condition and choose an appropriated treatment plan. At the same time, patients can also improve their self-management by system feedback

“Body as a Machine”: How Adolescents With Sickle Cell Disease Construct Their Fatigue Experiences

Research exploring illness experiences of young people with sickle cell disease (SCD) has, to date, ignored fatigue, despite the distinctive anemic nature of SCD. To examine adolescents with SCD fatigue experiences, we conducted narrative and picture-elicitation interviews with 24 adolescents in Ghana. A grounded theory, “body as a machine,” was constructed from the narratives. Fatigue represented the most restrictive and disruptive aspect of growing up with SCD. Its meaning and significance laid in what it symbolized. Fatigue represented a socially undesirable feature that was stigmatizing, due to the expectations of high physicality in adolescence. Fatigue was therefore a major threat to “normalcy.” The social significance of the physical body and its capacities shaped the adolescents’ fatigue experiences. Managing fatigue to construct/maintain socially acceptable identities dominated the adolescents’ lives. Consequently, there is a need for a recognition of the significance of fatigue to adequately support young people growing up with SCD

A strategic assessment of alternative engineering concepts for a low volume sportscar manufacturer to meet european stage II pedestrian head impact legislative requirements

The Lotus Elite concept car was revealed at the Paris motor show in September 2010 and is a two- door 2+2 Sports Grand Tourer planned to compete in the High Luxury Sportscar vehicle segment and is part of a revolutionary model strategy based on a new platform to revitalise Lotus Cars into a profitable and sustainable business through increased margins and volumes. Future Lotus vehicles will therefore have to comply with any future legislative requirements. These are primarily focussed on vehicle and occupant safety crash performance and these requirements are an important attribute of the proposed Lotus Elite design and development programme. Road traffic fatalities are a worldwide issue according to a report by the World Health Organisation, an estimated 1.2 million people lost their lives and 50 million non-fatal injuries were due to Road Traffic Accidents. Over the past decade automotive safety initiatives have grown in scope to not only include the vehicle occupants but also to pedestrians. Legislation relating to Pedestrian Protection currently exists in the European Union with further requirements and stricter targets planned for introduction in 2012 and beyond. These new requirements pose a quandary for Lotus due to the fact that aesthetic style is an important attribute of delivering Lotus core brand values and legislation requirements relating to pedestrian protection may drive a need to compromise and potentially degrade the impact of this key attribute. These compromises are driven by the potential physical geometric changes that maybe required to the front end surfaces to meet targets. A review of current literature was extensively performed to benchmarking of competitors, identifies industry trends and market landscape to determine what has been, is, and is going to be possibly done in the future to meet pedestrian protection requirements. A set of requirements and targets were defined to enable a more structured review of what technology automotive vehicle manufacturers and suppliers are offering and whether these technologies or strategies could meet the needs of the Lotus Elite to meet requirements. The current status of the Lotus Elite showcar relating to the achievement of pedestrian protection head impact requirements was derived. Identifying the head impact landscape of the vehicle geometry and highlighted areas of the vehicle that require further analysis and engineering focus to meet pedestrian protection targets. Both legislative and consumer test regime validity to ‘real’ world accident injury data are reviewed and discussed with a view that existing test criteria and methods do not address the primary causes of injury to pedestrians in the windscreen and ‘A’ pillar areas. Conclusions draws on research and CAE testing carried out by the Lotus Cars Engineering team to recommend that Elite must meet pedestrian protection requirements in order to support its growth strategy. The adoption of a passive pedestrian protection design strategy is also proposed by the Elite programme team, potentially allowing a lower technical risk and a faster time to market with reduced cost compared to active systems.Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPSRC)Automotive Technology Managemen