Performance-Based Pay for Teachers

CRS ReportCRSTeachersPerformancePay01.pdf: 10899 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

A passively adaptive screwdriver: a novel concept for controlling off-diagonal stiffness

A concept for an automated screw driving mechanism is presented. The proposed mechanism has a self-adjusting axial stiffness that depends on the torsional resistance against screwing. It delivers a greater axial thrust when the torsional resistance is greater, for example, towards the final stage of a screwing operation

Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Anxiety & Depression in Primary Care Patients

The objective of this study was to examine effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on the ability to decrease anxiety and depression and increase mindfulness compared to cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM). Thirty-five subjects were recruited from a community healthcare center and took part in MBSR (n = 21) and CBSM (n =14) groups. There were no initial differences between MBSR and CBSM subjects on demographics including age, gender, education, and income. MBSR was an 8-week course using meditation, gentle yoga, and body scanning exercises to increase mindfulness. CBSM was an 8-week course using cognitive and behavioral techniques to change thinking and reduce distress. Anxiety, depression, and mindfulness were assessed before and after each group. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine initial group differences between MBSR and CBSM and between Latinos and Non-Latino Whites (NLWs). Effect sizes and paired t-tests were used to examine changes in pre to post measures within groups and ethnicities. Correlational analyses were used to examine changes in anxiety, depression, and mindfulness, as well as changes in mindfulness subscales. Chi-square analyses examined dropout rates between Latino and NLW subjects. Results showed no significant differences in depression and anxiety when comparing MBSR and CBSM groups, but effect sizes showed significant reductions in anxiety and depression and increases in mindfulness. MBSR also showed significant reductions in all three variables, while CBSM showed reductions in anxiety depression, but no changes in mindfulness. NLWs showed reductions in both anxiety and depression, while Latinos decreased only in depression. NLWs showed large effects on all variables, while Latinos showed small increases in mindfulness, medium reductions in anxiety, and large reductions in depression. There were significant correlations between reductions in anxiety and increases in mindfulness and between reductions in depression and increases in mindfulness. There were no significant differences in attrition between groups or ethnicities. Future research should compare cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based interventions in a large sample. Research may also benefit from studying the mechanisms involved in mindfulness instead of focusing on group differences

The Potential of the Port of New York in the Export/Domestic Coal Trade

This paper researches the potential of the Port of New York in the Export/Domestic coal trade markets.The Port is faced with short-term and long-term proposals in order to enter these markets. On a short-term basis, the Port will be able to offer an advantage to export markets because of the backlog at the traditional coal ports of Hampton Roads, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. A modest export trade can develop this way. In the domestic trade, substantial inroads can be made due to the conversion of power plants in New England to coal-fired. In the long-term, the Port is faced with the primary issues of dredging, establishing a competitive freight rate, and environmental constraints. These particular issues must be resolved in order for the Port to effectively compete in the export markets. In the domestic markets, the Port must be able to provide a portion of the terminal for the coastal trade exclusively

The development of methods for the reproduction in continuous tone of digitally printed colour artworks

Advances in printing technologies in the late 19th century led to the development of half-toning techniques enabling the economical reproduction of photographic images in print. Whilst undoubtedly successful in low cost high volume image reproduction, half-toning representations are less faithful in detail when compared to continuous tone photomechanical methods in use at that time. This thesis asks the question: can the creative application of 21st century digital fabrication technologies enable the qualities of continuous tone imaging to be regained? In the 21st-century, printmaking may be seen as the interchange of ideas, experimental practice and interdisciplinary thinking. Printmaking has always been a means of combining modern technology and methods with existing traditional and commercial imaging processes. Technological advancement in print however does not always provide a finer quality of print. Qualities often attributed to pre-digital continuous tone printing can be lost in the transition to a digital half tone print workflow. This research project examines a near obsolete 19th century print process, the continuous tone Woodburytype, developed to address the issue of permanence in photography. Through a methodological approach analyses of the Woodburytype an empirical reconstruction of the process provides a comprehensive critique of its method. The Woodburytype’s surface qualities are not found in other photomechanical printing methods capable of rendering finely detailed photographic images. Its method of image translation results in the printed tonal range being directly proportional to the deposition thickness of the printing ink, however it never successfully developed into a colour process. By examining and evaluating digital imaging technology this study identifies, current computer aided design and manufacturing techniques and extends upon known models of Woodburytype printing through the development of this deposition height quality enabling a new digital polychromatic colour printing process

Tidying Up? 'EU'ropean Regionalisation and the Swedish 'Regional Mess'

The regional level of governance has been intensively discussed in Sweden since the 1980s. One of the reasons is that Sweden has an obvious national level of administration and an equally obvious local level of administration (with relatively independent municipalities). However, despite the debates regarding change, the county (regional/meso) administration level actually remained incoherent, meaning that the term ‘regional mess’ is frequently used to describe it. Drawing on empirical work, this article evaluates recent attempts to change regional governance in Sweden that have resulted from domestic and international (and especially ‘EU’ropean) pressures. In particular, the article focuses on the experimental reform at regional level – the development of Regional Pilot Project regions and, subsequently, the Regional Development Councils. It establishes the mix of domestic and European pressures, which produced these changes, and argues that the result has been an exacerbation, rather than a cleaning-up, of the ‘regional mess’