Are flexible contracts bad for workers? Evidence from job satisfaction data

If workers can choose between permanent and flexible contracts, compensating wage differentials should arise to equalize on-the-job utility in the two types of contracts. Estimating job satisfaction using the British Household Panel Survey shows that agency and casual contracts are associated with routinely lower satisfaction. This results because the low job satisfaction associated with less job security is not offset by higher compensation or other job characteristics. Job security is sufficiently important that holding constant this one facet of satisfaction eliminates the overall gap in job satisfaction between flexible and permanent contracts

LANDSAT application of remote sensing to shoreline-form analysis

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT imagery of the southern end of Assateague Island, Virginia, was enlarged to 1:80,000 and compared with high altitude (1:130,000) and low altitude (1:24,000) aerial photography in an attempt to quantify change in land area over a nine month period. Change in area and configuration was found with LANDSAT and low altitude photography. Change in configuration, but no change in area was found with high altitude photography. Due to tidal differences at time of image obtention and lack of baseline data, the accuracy of the LANDSAT measurements could not be determined. They were consistent with the measurements from the low altitude photography

Increasing vertical mixing to reduce Southern Ocean deep convection in NEMO3.4

Most CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) models unrealistically form Antarctic Bottom Water by open ocean deep convection in the Weddell and Ross seas. To identify the mechanisms triggering Southern Ocean deep convection in models, we perform sensitivity experiments on the ocean model NEMO3.4 forced by prescribed atmospheric fluxes. We vary the vertical velocity scale of the Langmuir turbulence, the fraction of turbulent kinetic energy transferred below the mixed layer, and the background diffusivity and run short simulations from 1980. All experiments exhibit deep convection in the Riiser-Larsen Sea in 1987; the origin is a positive sea ice anomaly in 1985, causing a shallow anomaly in mixed layer depth, hence anomalously warm surface waters and subsequent polynya opening. Modifying the vertical mixing impacts both the climatological state and the associated surface anomalies. The experiments with enhanced mixing exhibit colder surface waters and reduced deep convection. The experiments with decreased mixing give warmer surface waters, open larger polynyas causing more saline surface waters and have deep convection across the Weddell Sea until the simulations end. Extended experiments reveal an increase in the Drake Passage transport of 4 Sv each year deep convection occurs, leading to an unrealistically large transport at the end of the simulation. North Atlantic deep convection is not significantly affected by the changes in mixing parameters. As new climate model overflow parameterisations are developed to form Antarctic Bottom Water more realistically, we argue that models would benefit from stopping Southern Ocean deep convection, for example by increasing their vertical mixing

Profit Sharing and the Quality of Relations with the Boss

Profit sharing generates conflicting changes in the relationship between supervisors and workers. It may increase cooperation and helping effort. At the same time it can increase direct monitoring and pressure by the supervisor, and mutual monitoring and peer pressure from other workers that is transmitted through the supervisor. Using data on satisfaction with the boss, we initially show that workers under profit sharing tend to have lower satisfaction with their supervisor. Additional estimates show this is largely generated by groups of workers who would be least likely to respond to increased supervisory pressure with increase effort: women, those with dependents and those with health limitations. Despite this finding, profit sharing seems to have little or no influence on overall job satisfaction as the reduction in satisfaction with the boss is offset with increased satisfaction with earnings, a finding consistent with profit sharing enhancing productivity and earnings

Unions, Dissatisfied Workers and Sorting

A persistent and sizeable literature argues that the reported job dissatisfaction of union members is spurious. It reflects either the sorting of workers across union status or the sorting of union recognition across jobs. We cast doubt on this argument presenting the first estimates that use panel data to hold constant both worker and job match fixed effects. The estimates demonstrate that covered union members report greater dissatisfaction even when accounting for sorting in both dimensions. Moreover, covered union members are less likely to quit holding job satisfaction constant and their quit behaviour is far less responsive to job satisfaction. The paradox of the discontented union member remains intact

Combustion and operating characteristics of spark-ignition engines

The spark-ignition engine turbulent flame propagation process was investigated. Then, using a spark-ignition engine cycle simulation and combustion model, the impact of turbocharging and heat transfer variations or engine power, efficiency, and NO sub x emissions was examined

Separate processing of texture and form in the ventral stream : evidence from fMRI and visual agnosia.

Real-life visual object recognition requires the processing of more than just geometric (shape, size, and orientation) properties. Surface properties such as color and texture are equally important, particularly for providing information about the material properties of objects. Recent neuroimaging research suggests that geometric and surface properties are dealt with separately, within the lateral occipital cortex (LOC) and the collateral sulcus (CoS), respectively. Here we compared objects that either differed in aspect ratio or in surface texture only, keeping all other visual properties constant. Results on brain-intact participants confirmed that surface texture activates an area in the posterior CoS, quite distinct from the area activated by shape within LOC. We also tested two patients with visual object agnosia, one of whom (DF) performed well on the texture task but at chance on the shape task, while the other (MS) showed the converse pattern. This behavioral double dissociation was matched by a parallel neuroimaging dissociation, with activation in CoS but not LOC in patient DF, and activation in LOC but not CoS in patient MS. These data provide presumptive evidence that the areas respectively activated by shape and texture play a causally necessary role in the perceptual discrimination of these features

Effects of spaceflight on the proliferation of jejunal mucosal cells

The purpose of this project was to test the hypothesis that the generalized, whole body decrease in synthetic activity due to microgravity conditions encountered during spaceflight would be demonstrable in cells and tissues characterized by a rapid rate of turnover. Jejunal mucosal cells were chosen as a model since these cells are among the most rapidly proliferating in the body. Accordingly, the percentage of mitotic cells present in the crypts of Lieberkuhn in each of 5 rats flown on the COSMOS 2044 mission were compared to the percentage of mitotic cells present in the crypts in rats included in each of 3 ground control groups (i.e., vivarium, synchronous and caudal-elevated). No significant difference (p greater than .05) was detected in mitotic indices between the flight and vivarium group. Although the ability of jejunal mucosal cells to divide by mitosis was not impaired in flight group, there was, however, a reduction in the length of villi and depth of crypts. The concommitant reduction in villus length and crypth depth in the flight group probably reflects changes in connective tissue components within the core of villi

Upper ocean distribution of glacial meltwater in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

Pine Island Ice Shelf, in the Amundsen Sea, is losing mass due to increased heat transport by warm ocean water penetrating beneath the ice shelf and causing basal melt. Tracing this warm deep water and the resulting glacial meltwater can identify changes in melt rate and the regions most affected by the increased input of this freshwater. Here, optimum multi‐parameter analysis is used to deduce glacial meltwater fractions from independent water mass characteristics (standard hydrographic observations, noble gases and oxygen isotopes), collected during a ship‐based campaign in the eastern Amundsen Sea in February‐March 2014. Noble gases (neon, argon, krypton and xenon) and oxygen isotopes are used to trace the glacial melt and meteoric water found in seawater and we demonstrate how their signatures can be used to rectify the hydrographic trace of glacial meltwater, which provides a much higher resolution picture. The presence of glacial meltwater is shown to mask the Winter Water properties, resulting in differences between the water mass analyses of up to 4 g kg−1 glacial meltwater content. This discrepancy can be accounted for by redefining the ”pure” Winter Water endpoint in the hydrographic glacial meltwater calculation. The corrected glacial meltwater content values show a persistent signature between 150 ‐ 400 m of the water column across all of the sample locations (up to 535 km from Pine Island Ice Shelf), with increased concentration towards the west along the coastline. It also shows, for the first time, the signature of glacial meltwater flowing off‐shelf in the eastern channel

Piece Rates and Workplace Injury: Does Survey Evidence Support Adam Smith?

While piece rates are routinely associated with greater productivity and higher wages, they may also generate unanticipated effects. This paper uses cross-country European data to provide among the first broad survey evidence of a strong link between piece rates and workplace injury. Despite unusually good controls for workplace hazards, job characteristics and worker effort, workers on piece rates suffer a large 5 percentage point greater likelihood of injury. As injury rates are typically not controlled for when estimating the premium to piece rates, this raises the specter that a portion of the return to piece rates reflects a compensating wage differential for risk of injury