Precarious Recovery: Ohio's Final Jobs Report for 2012 Shows Decline in Unemployment, but Also in Jobs, Labor Force

There was mixed news for Ohio's job market as 2012 ended, but two surveys released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) showed the precarious state of the economic recovery. The unemployment rate continued to decline in December, but Ohio saw a drop in the labor force and another decline in the number of jobs

Employment Connection: Demand-Driven Model Increases Job Placement

In this report, we examine the transition to a demand-facing, employer-driven model that focuses on the transition impact to the adult and dislocated worker populations served by the Workforce Investment Act. By looking beyond the Workforce Investment Act common measures, we found that the number exiting the program to employment increased five-fold. Even as more people exit the program, a higher percentage of exiters are being placed in jobs. These are surprisingly strong results in a still-troubled regional economy

Ohio Job Data Send a Mixed Message

Data from two separate surveys released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) today present a mixed message on the state job market in September

Trade Adjustment Assistance in Ohio

The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program was established to mitigate the economic and personal harm caused by trade-related job loss. During the 2007 recession, Ohio saw record numbers of workers become eligible for the program. In 2011, the second year of the recovery, the number of petitions certified under the program and the number of impacted workers has sharply declined.Eligibility requirements and benefits have varied since the program's enactment in 1974. TAA has generally provided subsidized training, a refundable tax credit for health coverage, case management and some income support to eligible workers who exhaust unemployment insurance benefits. TAA provides more comprehensive support than unemployment compensation and is available for a longer period of time, going beyond even the 99 weeks of unemployment compensation that was available under federal extended UC benefits until earlier this year.Key findingsTAA petitions and certifications, fell in 2011. The number of impacted workers dropped more than 78 percent.Most 2011 petitions cited outsourcing as the cause for TAA coverage.The service sector, which won't be eligible if current TAA rules are allowed to lapse in 2013, accounted for nearly 40 percent of certifications for outsourcing.More than a quarter of all 2011 certifications would be ineligibl

LEC System Development

The Lajet Energy Company (LEC) 460 is described. A parabolic dish which incorporates a microprocessor to automatically point it toward the Sun from sunrise to sunset is used. The dish is composed of a set of mirrors (made of reflective polymeric film) which focus and concentrate the Sun's energy on a receiver, producing intense but controlled amounts of heat. The LEC 460 employs a design concept that permits the use of common and low cost materials. All major structural components are fabricated from low carbon, low alloy steel using methods adaptable to mass production. The mirrors are supported on a steel tubing frame. This frame is attached near its center of gravity to a cantilevered support structure. The mirrors and frame are counterbalanced by the weight of the receiver, thus reducing the energy needed to move the collector (parasitic load) and allowing movement on two axes. Each LEC 460 solar concentrator contains a reflective array consisting of twenty four 60 inch diameter mirrors

Book Review: Catalogue des Aphididae du Monde

Catalogue des Aphididae du Monde by Georges Remaudiere and Marc Remaudiere (Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique, INRA Editions, Route de St Cyr, F 78026, Versailles, France), 1997 [FF450 (+FF30 for postage and packing charges) - about $65]

Maintaining a frozen shipping environment for Phase I clinical trial distribution

The need for stringent temperature control provides significant challenges to pharmaceutical distributors operating in all sectors of the industry. Products with a frozen storage label requirement can be significantly problematic. This study aimed to provide evidence of robust and reproducible frozen shipment arrangements to be operated by a Phase I clinical trial unit. Dry ice was used to achieve a deep frozen internal parcel environment and was tested in a laboratory setting using ultra low temperature loggers within dummy product packs within the test parcels. The laboratory dry ice packing configuration was then repeatedly tested in real time transits using a Glasgow to London delivery schedule. An internal temperature specification was set to not exceed −10 °C during the transport. During each delivery, external temperature monitoring measured the temperature stress experienced by the box in transit. Results demonstrated the ability of the chosen system to not exceed −13.6 °C on average (−10 °C maximum) when exposed to external temperatures of up to +20.1 °C (mean kinetic temperature). The effect was maintained for at least 52.5 h

Collaborative and collective! Reflexive coordination and the dynamics of open innovation in clusters

Economic geography increasingly conceptualises "innovation as a collective action" (Storper, 1996). However, cluster literature often reduces the collective dimension to the circulation of knowledge between local-regional organisations based on various forms of (market, organisational, social, institutional or cognitive) coordination. This paper departs from this grass-roots perspective by discussing the role of collective actions in clusters, i.e. actions developed by a large number of cluster members acting as a group. Empirical evidence drawing on a study of three digital clusters in the Paris region shows that the cluster as a collective entity holds agency and - thanks to reflexive coordination - can contribute to open innovation - including innovation-seeking partnerships in the early stages of cluster lifecycles.open innovation; reflexive coordination; collaborative / collective actions; territory

Spartocera batatas (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Coreidae) : newly established in Florida

Spartocera batatas (Fabricius) was found for the first time in the USA in Homestead, Florida, in 1995. Records from Brazil, British Guiana, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Jamaica, Martinique, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saba, and Venezuela also are reported. The bug can be a pest of sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas

Dipsocoridae (Heteroptera) found for the first time in Florida

Dipsocorid bugs were found in samples collected from suction traps (Allison and Pike 1988) in a citrus nursery near LaBelle, Hendry County, Florida. In all, five specimens were collected: 15-22-X- 2001 (1 male), 22-29 X 2001 (1 female), 9-16-XI- 2001 (2 females), 16-21-XI-2001 (1 female). This is the first record of the family Dipsocoridae in Florida. Specimens are deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA)