Three essays in macroeconomics

The dissertation is composed of three separate essays. The first deals, somewhat briefly, with the efforts of Rudolf Hilferding as a theoretician and as a Finance Minister. The second reconsiders Keynes\u27 notion of full employment, while the third looks at Keynes and rational expectations

Increasing Operator Skills in a Manufacturing Environment

A plastic-injection molding facility is converting many machines into more automated systems. These complex systems require higher-level skill sets than current operators have been trained in. There is a need to increase the level of competency in most, if not all, of the operators at the Facility, and create a system of levels that engages employees and encourages learning new skills to increase their position and pay. There is a need for a clear path of compensation based on skills and actions. The Facility is currently not optimizing or maximizing their current portfolio of machines and resources, leaving an unknown capacity. With the future of the facility residing in automation and robotics, capital investments will not be made to continue to automate machines without showing it is able to maximize current assets

Studies of the Pathogenicity of Helminthosporium sativum P. K. and B. on Wheat

Botany and Plant Patholog

Driver Distraction and Reliance: Adaptive Cruise Control in the Context of Sensor Reliability and Algorithm Limits

This study investigated how system failures influenced drivers’reliance on Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). A medium-fidelity driving simulatorwas used to evaluate the effect of driving condition (traffic, rain) and automation(manual control, ACC) on headway maintenance and brake response. Inconditions of rain, the signal continuity of the ACC sensors was degraded and inconditions of heavy traffic, the braking limits of the ACC system were exceeded.Dependent variables included response time to lead vehicle (LV) braking, numberof collisions, and both time headway (THW) and time-to-collision (TTC) atinstant of the brake response. Throughout the drive, a continuous (forced-paced)secondary task was introduced to determine how an in-vehicle task interactedwith ACC reliance. Results showed that the failure type influenced driver’sreliance on ACC with drivers relying more on ACC in traffic periods than in rainperiods. ACC appeared to offer a safety benefit when drivers were distracted withcomplex mental tasks in periods of heavy traffic

Importance of low-relief nursery habitat for reef fishes

Coastal restoration projects to mitigate environmental impacts have increased global demand for sand resources. Unfortunately, these resources are often extracted from sand/shell banks on the inner continental shelf, resulting in significant alteration or loss of low-relief reefs in coastal oceans. Experimental reefs (oyster shell, limestone rubble, composite) were deployed in the western Gulf of Mexico to assess their potential value as nurseries for newly settled reef fishes. Occurrence, abundance, and species richness of juvenile fishes were significantly higher on all three types of low-relief reefs compared with unconsolidated sediment. Moreover, reefs served as nursery habitat for a range of reef fish taxa (angelfishes, grunts, sea basses, snappers, and triggerfishes). Red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) was the dominant species present on all experimental reefs (100% occurrence), and mean density of this species was markedly higher on each of the three low-relief reefs (\u3e40.0 individuals/reef) relative to comparable areas over unconsolidated sediment (0.2 individuals). Our results suggest creation or restoration of structurally complex habitat on the inner shelf has the potential to markedly increase early life survival and expedite the recovery of exploited reef fish populations, and therefore may represent a critical conservation tool for increasing recruitment and maintaining reef fish diversity