Alternative Dispute Resolution and Agricultural Workers: Testimony of Nelson Carrasquillo Before the Commission on the Future of Worker-Management Relations

Testimony_Carrasquillo_092994.pdf: 458 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Analysis of Five Health Insurance Options for New York State

Estimates the increase in coverage, private insurance crowd-out, net cost, and change in overall health spending of five options for expanding health insurance, including a single-payer program, "building block" proposals, and a market-oriented option

ECLSS and Thermal Systems Integration Challenges Across the Constellation Architecture

As the Constellation Program completes its initial capability Preliminary Design Review milestone for the Initial Capability phase, systems engineering of the Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) and Thermal Systems for the various architecture elements has progressed from the requirements to design phase. As designs have matured for the Ares, Orion, Ground Systems, and Extravehicular (EVA) System, a number of integration challenges have arisen requiring analyses and trades, resulting in changes to the design and/or requirements. This paper will address some of the key integration issues and results, including the Orion-to-Ares shared compartment venting and purging, Orion-to-EVA suit loop integration issues with the suit system, Orion-to-ISS and Orion-to-Altair intermodule ventilation, and Orion and Ground Systems impacts from post-landing environments

A Versatile and Open-Source Radio Framework for the D3 CubeSat Mission

This paper details the design and implementation of the communications system for the Drag De-OrbitDevice (D3) CubeSat mission. The D3 mission aims to validate the effectiveness of a novel approach to aerodynamically-based orbital maneuvering and controlled re-entry. Using four deployable tape-spring booms that can be retracted to any intermediate length, the D3 can accurately modulate the ballistic coefficient profile of the CubeSat in low Earth orbit (LEO). To compute the necessary boom deployment and reproduce a desired trajectory, the guidance profile of the CubeSat must be actively generated, which itself is a very computationally intensive process. The guidance will therefore be generated in a local computer, condensed into a transmittable file, and uplinked to the D3 CubeSat. In order to enable the transmission of telecommands, the execution of telecommands, and the collection of the CubeSat’s telemetry, robust radio libraries and protocols were developed to run on both the CubeSat’s onboard computer and the ground station. The ground station program, written in Python, interfaces with a terminal node controller (TNC), which itself interfaces with the ICOM9100 transceiver. The onboard radiolibrary runs was developed in C++ and built to be compatible with Linux. It interprets, executes, and responds to inbound telecommands when invoked using a single line of code. Both programs were developed using the same architecture and design principles, which can easily be ported over for other missions and applications. When fully tested, the software will become available for use by hobbyists, amateurs, and professionals for use in future CubeSat missions

A University-Based Summer Camp to Promote Construction Technology Career for High School Students

This presentation reports on high school students’ deep learning of fundamental concepts in programming during a pilot summer program organized to promote construction-related careers, especially construction technology careers, to high school students. The program introduced concepts from programming, virtual reality, and construction disciplines to students who had little to no experience in these fields. The two-week long program utilized a project-based learning approach to increase relevance and deep learning, in addition to exposing students to learning concepts using hands-on experiences. The program brought about interest in taking an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems in the field of construction. The project succeeded in informing and enticing the students of the possibilities of using technology to solving problems in other fields. Completion of a project was the focus of the program, and required the students to design and construct a building in a virtual environment using a programming language. To construct this building as specified in the project requirements, the students had to learn programming, use proficiently a virtual reality software, utilize their spatial visualization prior knowledge, and collaborate with each other. The objective of the program was to entice a new generation of tech-savvy students towards construction. By adding more technologically fluent minds in the field of construction, these minds will eventually expedite technological adaptations in the construction industry

Nonprofit Organizations in Partnerships: An Evaluation of Partnership for the Public Good’s Community Agenda

In a time of economic uncertainty, networks and collaborations have become a vital tool for a nonprofit’s success. Networks and collaborations can assist a nonprofit operating independently to increase relationships within a neighborhood, or city, create a sense of community with the organizations within the collaboration, share resources from grants and other tools that a nonprofit developed to reach program outcomes and outputs, and build the network of nonprofits to expand their individual mission statements. Partnership of the Public Good (PPG) in Buffalo, New York has created an informal network collaboration to increase all of these characteristics within the City of Buffalo. One program that they have developed to build capacity is the Community Agenda. This program is a democratic process used by PPG to understand the issues that Buffalo is currently faced with, and how the member organizations will come together to work on these issues throughout the year. This study examined participation and the effectiveness of the program itself by surveying and interviewing partners and found that partners that actively participated in the Community Agenda program agreed that they enjoyed it and it benefitted their organization. This research was limited due to only a small portion of the entire collaboration participating in the web survey

Best Training Practices for Probation Officers and Staff Toward Building a More Sophisticated, Fair, and Effective System of Juvenile Justice in San Diego County

This report illustrates how probation leadership, officers, and staff in San Diego County can adopt best training practices to address and alleviate incidents in juvenile detention facilities and build a sophisticated, fair, and effective system of juvenile justice. The goal of implementing best training practices for probation officers and staff is to build a knowledgeable workforce to better serve youth and families and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. This report analyzes how innovations in management and the introduction of new programs has proven effective through research- and evidence-based practices and direct community involvement. In particular, this report closely examines the Santa Cruz County Probation Department which has reduced its dependence on detention and focused on improving youth experiences of justice

Cycle to Cycle Task Variations in Mixed-Model Assembly Lines and Their Effects on Worker Posture, Joint Loads, and Recovery Time.

Assembly work frequently requires workers to move their hands, arms and body repeatedly, sometimes assuming poor postures while exerting high forces and with little time to rest. These movements and posture conditions are causal factors of work related musculoskeletal disorders. This dissertation develops and provides supporting evidence for a conceptual model that describes the conditions under which workers of mixed-model assembly lines (MMALs) with cycle to cycle task variations are exposed to awkward postures and insufficient recovery time. To evaluate the effect of variations on worker posture and recovery time, an observation study was conducted. It found that the workstation with the most variations had 89% less recovery time and 57% more reaching outside the normal reach ranges than the workstation with the least. A discrete event simulation model of this system was created to predict work time and frequency of worker reaching upstream/downstream to complete the assigned tasks for a longer period of time. It may also be used to evaluate the changes in the assembly line parameters. A second study was conducted in the laboratory. In it, subjects’ recovery time and frequency of reaching outside the normal reach ranges were tested under 3 conveyor types and 3 product mix/sequence configurations. It found that the asynchronous indexing conveyor reduced reaching the most (19% vs. 63%) but none of the configurations provided sufficient recovery time (<5%). Third, a field study was conducted to evaluate worker posture and recovery time as customer demand fluctuated in a made to order, manual conveyor MMAL. This study found that increases in demand did not result in increased reach but it reduced recovery time by 15%. Recovery time exceeded 10% in all cases because workers were required to wait for processing time to complete the tasks. Finally, recommendations are provided to reduce the impact of cycle-to-cycle variations on workers’ exposure to reaching and insufficient recovery time. Providing workers with the opportunity to complete the work at their own pace, but with controls in the system to prevent them from working continuously, allows them to reduce reaching and provides time for recovery time.PhDIndustrial and Operations EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120744/1/vcarrasq_1.pd

Social Factors that Exacerbate Features of Borderline Personality Disorder in Young Adult Women Between 25 and 35 years of age Living in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

The high prevalence of BPD hospitalizations, unsuccessful treatments, poor social awareness, suicide attempts and complete suicides were motivating forces for this research study. The aim was to uncover pertinent social factors that exacerbate BPD in the lives of individuals with this affliction and therefore find ways to combat this disease. Since most of the individuals affected by this disease are female, the present research was focused on uncovering factors that increased the likelihood of BPD factors in women between the ages of 25-35 years. Borderline personality disorder is often viewed as difficult to treat. However, recent research shows that BPD can be treated effectively; therefore many people with this condition improve over time (Zanarini, Frankenburg, Hennen, Reich, & Silk, 2005). The findings of this study provide insight into this mental health problem and may potentially serve as useful literature for mental health clinicians at the forefront of this poorly understood disorder