The Effects of Gain Sharing on the Basic Wage: The Case of IMPROSHARE

Although gain-sharing plans are typically promoted to workers as a way of increasing total compensation, workers are often concerned that gain-sharing bonuses may becvomne substitutes for future wage increases that would have occurred in the absence of the plan. I examine the theoretical and empirical interaction among wages, bonuses, effort, and productivity in firms that implemented IMPROSHARE, a well-known gain-sharing plan. Using longitudinal data obtained from detailed survey questionnaire, I find that one can usually reject both the perfectly competitive model in which effort is held constant (in which case bonuses are a perfect substitute for wages) and the \u27pure gravy\u27 model (9n which case bonuses are a perfect substitute for wages) and the \u27pure gravy\u27 model ;(in which bonuses completely complement the wage rate). there is no evidence that higher bonuses lead to higher relative wages. The results, however, are not very robust. Although the net effect of the bonuses on the wage rate is usually negative, it is not always statistically significant

Thriving -- Not Just Surviving: New Realities For

The United States has the economic engine that the rest of the world typically envies. In spite of criticism from both the political right and left, the public service system has played a major role in helping to bring our economy to success. The public management literature carries spirited debates on whether service is improving or otherwise. However, even with disagreement over service philosophy and huge economic and social diversity, the public sector provide unparalleled opportunities to many citizens. This work argues that while our current successes are enviable, simply continuing what we do now in the public sector, even while making organizations more efficient, will likely fail to meet the challenges of the future

Photovoltaic Plasma Interaction Test 2

The International Space Station (ISS) program is developing a plasma contactor to mitigate the harmful effects of charge collection on the station's large photovoltaic arrays. The purpose of the present test was to examine the effects of charge collection on the solar array electrical circuit and to verify the effectiveness of the plasma contactor. The results showed that the plasma contactor was able to eliminate structure arcing for any array output voltage. However, the current requirements of the plasma contactor were higher than those for prior testing and predicted by analysis. Three possible causes for this excess current demand are discussed. The most likely appeared to be a high local pressure on or very near the surface of the array as a result of vacuum tank conditions. Therefore, in actual space conditions, the plasma contactor should work as predicted

Reactivating Fetal Hemoglobin Expression in Human Adult Erythroblasts Through BCL11A Knockdown Using Targeted Endonucleases.

We examined the efficiency, specificity, and mutational signatures of zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcriptional activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 systems designed to target the gene encoding the transcriptional repressor BCL11A, in human K562 cells and human CD34+ progenitor cells. ZFNs and TALENs were delivered as in vitro transcribed mRNA through electroporation; CRISPR/Cas9 was codelivered by Cas9 mRNA with plasmid-encoded guideRNA (gRNA) (pU6.g1) or in vitro transcribed gRNA (gR.1). Analyses of efficacy revealed that for these specific reagents and the delivery methods used, the ZFNs gave rise to more allelic disruption in the targeted locus compared to the TALENs and CRISPR/Cas9, which was associated with increased levels of fetal hemoglobin in erythroid cells produced in vitro from nuclease-treated CD34+ cells. Genome-wide analysis to evaluate the specificity of the nucleases revealed high specificity of this specific ZFN to the target site, while specific TALENs and CRISPRs evaluated showed off-target cleavage activity. ZFN gene-edited CD34+ cells had the capacity to engraft in NOD-PrkdcSCID-IL2Rγnull mice, while retaining multi-lineage potential, in contrast to TALEN gene-edited CD34+ cells. CRISPR engraftment levels mirrored the increased relative plasmid-mediated toxicity of pU6.g1/Cas9 in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs), highlighting the value for the further improvements of CRISPR/Cas9 delivery in primary human HSPCs

The Words We Use, the Actions We Take, and the Perceptions We Hold: First-step assessments to inform wellness curricula and burnout prevention programming

Introduction: In response to concerns about burnout, many medical schools have been initiating wellness curricula and programming. A key to the success of these efforts is having engagement from targeted audiences. Gathering input from these groups regarding preferred lexicon, wellness actions, and perceptions of judgement or guilt around such actions can help in developing and promoting such curricular and programmatic offerings. Engagement is especially important when it comes to the predictors of burnout (e.g., self-care, self-compassion, and emotional self-disclosure). Methods: Utilizing a focus-group methodology as a preliminary step, medical school faculty and students discussed terms regarding burnout predictors. Thematic analysis using grounded theory was used to analyze transcriptions with the generated preferred terms being incorporated into a follow-up survey. Surveys were completed by 23 faculty, 65 students, 23 residents, and 124 staff (n = 235). The survey asked for ranked preferences of lexicon terms, ratings of engagement and importance around wellness actions, perceptions of judgement and guilt around engaging in self-care, and disengagement and exhaustion via the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. Results: Overall, results revealed a preference for alternative language (i.e., “personal well-being” (p \u3c 0.001), “being kind to yourself” (p \u3c 0.001), “sharing your feelings” (p \u3c 0.001)) compared to phrases commonly used in the wellness literature (i.e., self-care, self-compassion, and emotional self-disclosure). Engagement in self-care (p \u3c 0.001), and self-compassion actions (p = 0.001) were inversely correlated with burnout, while perceptions of being judged (p \u3c 0.001) and feeling guilty for self-care (p \u3c 0.001) were positively correlated with burnout. Conclusion: Incorporating preferred lexicon terms and mitigation factors (correlating with the reduction of burnout) into wellness curricular development is encouraged as a valuable initial step for medical schools and organizations as they reach out to their intended audiences

The human ankyrin 1 promoter insulator sustains gene expression in a β-globin lentiviral vector in hematopoietic stem cells.

Lentiviral vectors designed for the treatment of the hemoglobinopathies require the inclusion of regulatory and strong enhancer elements to achieve sufficient expression of the β-globin transgene. Despite the inclusion of these elements, the efficacy of these vectors may be limited by transgene silencing due to the genomic environment surrounding the integration site. Barrier insulators can be used to give more consistent expression and resist silencing even with lower vector copies. Here, the barrier activity of an insulator element from the human ankyrin-1 gene was analyzed in a lentiviral vector carrying an antisickling human β-globin gene. Inclusion of a single copy of the Ankyrin insulator did not affect viral titer, and improved the consistency of expression from the vector in murine erythroleukemia cells. The presence of the Ankyrin insulator element did not change transgene expression in human hematopoietic cells in short-term erythroid culture or in vivo in primary murine transplants. However, analysis in secondary recipients showed that the lentiviral vector with the Ankyrin element preserved transgene expression, whereas expression from the vector lacking the Ankyrin insulator decreased in secondary recipients. These studies demonstrate that the Ankyrin insulator may improve long-term β-globin expression in hematopoietic stem cells for gene therapy of hemoglobinopathies

Telencephalon of the teleost Macropodus: experimental localization of secondary olfactory areas and of components of the lateral forebrain bundle

Connections of the telencephalic hemisphere were experimentally examined to facilitate investigations of the functions of this major brain area in teleosts. The distribution of afferent olfactory tract fibers was traced using a degeneration method and autoradiographic localization of axonally transported protein. Afferents terminate predominantly ipsilaterally in the medial, lateral, and posterior zones of the hemisphere and in the nucleus posterior tuberis of the diencephalon. Afferents also project to the contralateral olfactory bulb through the commissure of Goldstein. The results of similar experiments in five other teleosts are briefly reviewed. Evidence of retrograde transport of tritiated proline or metabolite is also discussed. Components of the lateral forebrain bundle originating in the extreme rostral end of the dorsal zone of the hemisphere were traced to: (1) the corresponding zone of the contralateral hemisphere; (2) nucleus entopenduncularis; and (3) the extreme ventral part of the posterior zone of the diencephalon. The anatomical findings are discussed in relation to previous experiments in Macropodus dealing with the location of brain areas which concentrate sex steroids and with the effects of brain lesions on reproductive behavior in the male.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24210/1/0000469.pd

Atmospheric correction of visible to middle-infrared EOS-MODIS data over land surfaces: Background, operational algorithm and validation

The NASA moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument will provide a global and improved source of information for the study of land surfaces with a spatial resolution of up to 250 m