Workshop Training: Union Membership Mobilization and Collective Bargaining in an Open Shop Environment

Making the Case for Union Membership: The Strategic Value of New Hire Orientation

Workshop Training: Union Membership Mobilization and Collective Bargaining in an Open Shop Environment

Making the Case for Union Membership: The Strategic Value of New Hire Orientation

Workshop Training: Union Membership Mobilization and Collective Bargaining in an Open Shop Environment

Growing Your Union: Engaging Professionals Through New Hire Orientatio

Constitutive response of Rene 80 under thermal mechanical loads

The applicability of a classical constitutive model for stress-strain analysis of a nickel base superalloy, Rene' 80, in the gas turbine thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) environment is examined. A variety of tests were conducted to generate basic material data and to investigate the material response under cyclic thermomechanical loading. Isothermal stress-strain data were acquired at a variety of strain rates over the TMF temperature range. Creep curves were examined at 2 temperature ranges, 871 to 982 C and 760 to 871 C. The results provide optimism on the ability of the classical constitutive model for high temperature applications

From Regulatory Approval to Subsidized Patient Access in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Comparison of Systems Across Australia, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Thailand

AbstractObjectivesTo compare processes and timings of regulatory and subsidized access systems for medicines across seven jurisdictions within the Asia-Pacific region.MethodsA questionnaire was developed focusing on regulatory and health technology assessment–based subsidized access processes and timings in each of the seven surveyant’s jurisdictions.ResultsAustralia and Thailand are the only two jurisdictions that formally allow the subsidized access evaluation process to be conducted in parallel with the regulatory evaluation process. Australian, Japanese, Korean, New Zealand, and Taiwanese systems afford broad coverage, whereas Chinese and Thai systems provide limited coverage for medicines under patent. Subsidized access systems for all jurisdictions except Thailand have an associated patient co-payment for each medicine/prescription. The biggest disparity across the study group relates to time from regulatory submission to subsidized access of patented medicines—ranging from just over 1 year (Japan) to a minimum of 5 years (China).ConclusionsThere is consistency across the seven jurisdictions studied in relation to regulatory and subsidized patient access processes—that is, regulatory approval is required before subsidized access review; subsidized access coverage is broad; and the cost of medicine subsidization is offset, in part, by patient co-payments. Although local differences will always exist in relation to budget and pricing negotiation, there may be efficiencies that can be applied across systems to improve time to subsidized access. Closer understanding of regulatory and subsidized access systems can lead to best-practice sharing and, ultimately, timely access and better health outcomes for patients

On the Renormalization of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation

The Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation of nonlinear stochastic growth in d dimensions is studied using the mapping onto a system of directed polymers in a quenched random medium. The polymer problem is renormalized exactly in a minimally subtracted perturbation expansion about d = 2. For the KPZ roughening transition in dimensions d > 2, this renormalization group yields the dynamic exponent z* = 2 and the roughness exponent chi* = 0, which are exact to all orders in epsilon = (2 - d)/2. The expansion becomes singular in d = 4, which is hence identified with the upper critical dimension of the KPZ equation. The implications of this perturbation theory for the strong-coupling phase are discussed. In particular, it is shown that the correlation functions and the coupling constant defined in minimal subtraction develop an essential singularity at the strong-coupling fixed point.Comment: 21 pp. (latex, now texable everywhere, no other changes), with 2 fig

Pseudo-Newtonian Models for the Equilibrium Structures of Rotating Relativistic Stars

We obtain equilibrium solutions for rotating compact stars including the special relativistic effects. The gravity is assumed to be Newtonian, but we used the active mass density, which takes into account all the energies such as motions of the fluids, internal energy, pressure energy in addition to the rest mass energy, in computing the gravitational potential using Poisson's equation. Such a treatment could be applicable to the neutron stars with relativistic motions or relativistic equation of state. We applied the Hachisu's self-consistent field (SCF) method to find spheroidal as well as toroidal sequences of equilibrium solutions. Our solutions show better agreement than Newtonian relativistic hydrodynamic approach that does not take into account the active mass, with general relativistic solutions. The physical quantities such as the peak density, equatorial radii of our solutions agree with general relativistic ones within 5%.Therefore our approach can be a simple alternative to the fully relativistic one when large number of model calculations are necessary as it requires much less computational resources.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, to appear in MNRA

Composting Swine Manure from High Rise Finishing Facilities

Swine production has restructured considerably in recent years with increased production on fewer farms (Key et al., 2011). Most swine production facilities manage manure in liquid form either in deep pits underneath production facilities or in lagoons adjacent to the production facilities (Key et al., 2011). This management uses water to rinse manure from the facilities, which dilutes the nutrient concentration and value of the manure. The liquid forms are applied to land through irrigation systems or by liquid manure spreaders. Liquid manure management can have some operational constraints that composting eliminates (Bernal et al., 2009). The most common issue with handling liquid manure is that the manure has diluted nutrients and it is often not economical to transport large volumes of lagoon effluent to off‐site locations. Surface spreading through an irrigator is commonly used, but wet environments can delay application. Odor can be a concern if liquid manure is surface applied and not incorporated; and although soil incorporation does reduce manure odors, they can still be a concern

Increasing participation in the information society by people with disabilities and their families in lower-income countries using mainstream technologies

Assistive technology (AT) has been actively researched, developed and implemented throughout higher-income countries, but is relatively absent from lower-income countries. In lower-income countries, there is very little AT for reading, writing, communicating and for participation in the information society. In order for persons with disabilities in lower-income countries to participate fully in society, mainstream information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones should be used as AT. This paper explores the potential for using mainstream ICTs as AT in lower-income countries, keeping in mind current ICT trends, characteristics of the post-PC era and ICT-based AT in higher-income countries. The paper concludes with a case study where mobile phones and SMS were used by people with disabilities and their caregivers to access information in a resourced-limited community in Bogota, Colombia. Mobile phones, a readily available mainstream ICT in this community, were a useful tool for addressing the information exclusion of people with disabilities and caregivers