Carve-Outs in Workers\u27 Compensation: An Analysis of the Experience in the California Construction Industry

Employers and unions in several states during the 1990s were allowed to carve out their own workers\u27 compensation systems. These innovative reforms gave the parties the right to collectively bargain their own systems outside the statutory systems. In addition, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) systems were implemented in order speed the legal process and reduce litigation costs. This book offers an evaluation of the first few years\u27 experience with these organizational reforms in California.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1054/thumbnail.jp

Generación sistematizada de indicadores de bienestar animal para equinos de carrera en hipódromos de Santiago de Chile

This work focuses on the review of scientific literature to develop potential direct and indirect indicators of well-being of racehorses. In total, 149 indicators are described based on the principles and criteria of Welfare Quality®. Once the indicators were described, 32 experts dedicated to national equestrianism from various areas of knowledge and specialty (veterinarians, horse trainers of thoroughbreds, riders, foremen and keepers), evaluated the validity, reliability, feasibility in the field and acceptance of each indicator. Among the items with the most observations were those related to the provision and calculation of diet, health indicators and training practices. This research has explored some of the most relevant practical criteria in Chilean equestrian activity, to generate a valid and efficient tool, which will allow obtaining confidence from the main actors of this sporting activity.El trabajo se enfoca en la revisión de literatura científica para desarrollar potenciales indicadores directos e indirectos de bienestar de caballos de carrera. Se describen 149 indicadores basados en los principios y criterios del Welfare Quality®. Una vez descritos los indicadores, 32 expertos dedicados a la hípica nacional de diversas áreas de conocimiento y especialidad (médicos veterinarios, preparadores de caballos Fina sangre de carrera, jinetes, capataces y cuidadores), evaluaron la validez, confiabilidad, factibilidad en terreno y aceptación de cada indicador. Entre los ítems con mayores observaciones se encontraron los que tenían relación con la provisión y cálculo de la dieta, indicadores de salud y prácticas de entrenamiento. Esta investigación ha explorado algunos de los criterios prácticos más relevantes en la actividad hípica chilena, para generar una herramienta válida y eficiente, que permitirá obtener confianza de los principales actores de esta actividad deportiva

Double Fed Induction Generator Control Design Based on a Fuzzy Logic Controller for an Oscillating Water Column System

Oscillating water column (OWC) systems are water power generation plants that transform wave kinetic energy into electrical energy by a surrounded air column in a chamber that changes its pressure through the waves motion. The chamber pressure output spins a Wells turbine that is linked to a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG), flexible devices that adjust the turbine speed to increase the efficiency. However, there are different nonlinearities associated with these systems such as weather conditions, uncertainties, and turbine stalling phenomenon. In this research, a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) combined with an airflow reference generator (ARG) was designed and validated in a simulation environment to display the efficiency enhancement of an OWC system by the regulation of the turbine speed. Results show that the proposed framework not only increased the system output power, but the stalling is also avoided under different pressure profiles.This research was funded by the Basque Government, through the project EKOHEGAZ (ELKARTEK KK-2021/00092), Diputación Foral de Álava (DFA) through the project CONAVANTER, and to the UPV/EHU through the project GIU20/063

Revisión bibliográfica: alcance de la ecografía de tórax en las salas de urgencia

El ultrasonido diagnostico es una herramienta diagnostica para identificar las principales patologías que afectan la caja torácica en emergencias médicas. Generalmente las principales patologías que s eprese3ntan en la caja torácica y abdomen. La ecografía es un método sencillo , ágil, practico y sobre todo rápido, que puede tomarse al pie de la cama sin necesidad de trasladar a paciente en otras áreas donde no pueda estar monitorizado. La ecografía es de gran utilidad en las salas de emergencias medicas y van tomando relevancia principalmente por sus implicaciones clínicas

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation

Creating Protected Areas on Public Lands: Is There Room for Additional Conservation?

Most evaluations of the effectiveness of PAs have relied on indirect estimates based on comparisons between protected and unprotected areas. Such methods can be biased when protection is not randomly assigned. We add to the growing literature on the impact of PAs by answering the following research questions: What is the impact of Chilean PAs on deforestation which occurred between 1986 and 2011? How do estimates of the impact of PAs vary when using only public land as control units? We show that the characteristics of the areas in which protected and unprotected lands are located differ significantly. To satisfactorily estimate the effects of PAs, we use matching methods to define adequate control groups, but not as in previous research.We construct control groups using separately nonprotected private areas and non-protected public lands.We find that PAs avoid deforestation when using unprotected private lands as valid controls, however results show no impact when the control group is based only on unprotected public land. Different land management regimes, and higher levels of enforcement inside public lands may reduce the opportunity to add additional conservation benefits when the national systems for PAs are based on the protection of previously unprotected public lands. Given that not all PAs are established to avoid deforestation, results also admit the potential for future studies to include other outcomes including forest degradation (not just deforestation), biodiversity, wildlife, primary forests (not forests in general), among others

Are Government Incentives Effective for Avoided Deforestation in the Tropical Andean Forest?

In order to ensure the provision of goods and services from forests, many governments have promoted less-traditional conservation initiatives such as programs of payments for ecosystem services called, more broadly, direct payments for conservation. The Socio Bosque Program (SBP) is a governmental program in Ecuador that directly provides economic incentives to rural families and local and indigenous communities who have voluntarily agreed to comply with some conservation activities. An impact evaluation method (matching) was used to assess the impact of the SBP between 2008 and 2014. This study revealed that on average, the SBP reduced deforestation by 1.5% in those forests that received the SBP\u27s direct payment. These forests would have been deforested if the SBP had not been implemented. Assessment of the impact of the SBP on individual and collective contracts, using the matching method, revealed that 3.4% and roughly 1% of the forest would have been deforested in the absence of the program, respectively. In other words, the protected area in the collective SBP was 1,247,500 ha and, if the SBP had not been implemented, an area of 11,227 ha would have been lost between 2008 and 2014. The 165,700 ha protected by the individual SBP, it was estimated that 5,733 ha were not deforested due to the implementation of the conservation program. Conventional estimates of the impact of the SBP tend to overestimate avoided deforestation because they do not control for observable covariates that correlate with or affect both SBP participation and deforestation. The conclusions are robust, even given potential hidden biases. The present study demonstrated that the SBP serves to mitigate the effects of climate change, especially with those contracts that are intended for individual owners

How do protected landscapes associated with high biodiversity and population levels change?

<div><p>Most protected areas (PA) try to limit logging of forests by means of restrictions on access and use, especially in areas where local communities coexist with the forests and depend on resources derived from PAs. In such contexts, achieving full or effective protection of the forests is almost impossible. This fact has led to researching beyond PAs boundaries in order to examine large surrounding landscapes with multiple forms of properties and restriction on forests use. The present study assessed the change in forest cover and fragmentation between 1990 and 2014, in addition to the drivers that explain such changes in a landscape with the presence of PAs and high-density population belonging to the Chocó-Darien biodiversity hotspot. Results indicated differences in the extent and spatial patterns of change in forest cover of PAs and their surrounding landscapes. Two PAs exhibited a tendency to increase fragmentation and lose their forests in comparison with the stable protection of the forests in other PAs during this period. However, the greatest change in forest cover and fragmentation was observed in the surrounding landscapes, where the best connection to markets and transport networks were the dominating deforestation drivers. Our findings corroborated that the PAs were a shield against the deforestation of the tropical Andean forest, especially in landscapes with high-density population. However, the fragmentation of the forest cannot be avoided around the PAs limits. It is expected that, if this tendency continues in the future, the biodiversity in the Chocó-Darien hotspot will be seriously affected.</p></div

Location of the study area in the protected landscape.

<p>Location of the study area in the protected landscape.</p