Adjudication of Grievances in Public Service of Canada

Avant 1967, les employés de la fonction publique fédérale n'avaient aucun moyen véritable d'obtenir le redressement de leurs griefs.La Loi concernant le service civil du Canada de 1961 prévoyait, cependant, un mécanisme d'appel dans les cas de promotion et de mutation, de refus d'augmentation de salaires, aussi bien que dans ceux de suspension, de rétrogradation et de renvoi. La Loi obligeait le comité d'appel à tenir une enquête sur le litige et à faire des recommandationsà la Commission sur la façon de disposer des appels. La décision finale revenait à la Commission de la Fonction publique. Comme le comité d'appel n'était pas habilité à prendre des décisions, au mieux sa fonction demeurait consultative.Depuis l'adoption de la Loi sur l'emploi dans la Fonction publique et de la Loi sur les relations de travail dans la Fonction publique, en 1967, la situation a beaucoup changé. Les griefs qui donnaient lieu antérieurement à une révision du comité d'appel ont été répartis entre le mécanisme permanent de règlement des réclamations et l'arbitrage prévus à la Loi sur les relations de travail dans la Fonction publique, d'une part et le comité d'appel prévu à la Loi sur l'emploi dans la Fonction publique, d'autre part.Des désaccords comme les nominations par « concours restreints », les promotions sans concours, les rétrogradations et les renvois pour incompétence ou incapacité relèvent encore de la Commission de la Fonction publique. La législation a prévu remède aux plaintes relatives aux suspensions, au refus d'augmentations de salaires, à la rétrogradation ou au renvoi pour inconduite au moyen du mécanisme permanent de règlement des réclamations et de l'arbitrage en vertu de laLoi sur les relations du travail dans la Fonction publique. La compétence du comité d'appel se limite maintenant à permettre à un fonctionnaire pris individuellement d'obtenir la révision des décisions des ministères qui ne sont pas du ressort du comité des réclamations et de l'arbitrage prévus à laLoi sur les relations de travail dans la Fonction publique. Il y a, toutefois, certains cas où le plaignant n'a droit ni à l'appel ni au mécanisme de règlement des griefs.LaLoi sur les relations de travail dans la Fonction publique a assuré à tout employé de la fonction publique fédérale le droit d'accéder à un mécanisme de règlement des réclamations pour trancher toute plainte contre son employeur. La LRTFE est unique en ce qu'elle permet même aux personnes qui occupent des postes de direction et de nature confidentielle de présenter des griefs. En règle générale, celles-ci font partie des cadres et ne sont pas comprises dans l'unité de négociation, qu'il s'agisse du secteur public ou du secteur privé.LaLoi sur les relations de travail dans la Fonction publique comporte un mécanisme permanent visant au règlement des griefs par un tribunal indépendant. La législation du travail dans les autres champs d'activité exige qu'une convention collective contienne une clause relative à l'arbitrage exécutoire comme dernière étape du processus de règlement des griefs. La Loi a stipulé qu'il pourrait y avoir arbitrage des réclamations peu importe qu'une convention collective s'applique ou non au plaignant. Par le mécanisme permanent d'arbitrage, la Chambre des Communes a tenté de substituer la « Rule of Law » (règle de droit) à la discrétion administrative totale dans le domaine des relations du travail dans la fonction publique. La Chambre des Communes n'a pas voulu, cependant, que l'arbitre nommé en vertu de la Loi ait l'autorité de s'immiscer dans les prérogatives de la direction en matière de gestion et de discipline non plus que d'y passer outre. Il a voulu que l'autorité de l'arbitre de réviser la décision de la direction en ces matières se limite aux cas où la direction allait jusqu'à la sanction.L'arbitrage ne semble pas toutefois suppléer à toutes les décisions unilatérales. Contrairement à la pratique générale, l'arbitrage, en vertu de la Loi, s'ajoute aux appels des ministères, pour ce qui est des griefs pour lesquels on ne dispose d'aucun remède satisfaisant.Trois catégories de griefs peuvent être référés à l'arbitrage par les plaignants eux-mêmes ou leur agents de négociation (les syndicats). La première catégorie comprend tout grief d'un employé qui a trait à l'interprétation ou à l'application d'une clause de convention collective ou à une décision arbitrale. La deuxième catégorie comprend les griefs où il y a eu sanction disciplinaire contre le plaignant qu'il s'agisse de renvoi, de suspension ou d'amendes. La troisième catégorie inclut les cas où l'on recherche l'exécution d'une obligation découlant d'une convention collective ou d'une sentence arbitrale. L'agent de négociation ou l'employeur peuvent soumettre ces griefs. On appelle familièrement cette catégorie de griefs des « griefs politiques ».La décision de l'arbitre est finale. La Commission des relations de travail dans la Fonction publique a été autorisée à réviser la décision d'un arbitre en matière de question de droit ou de compétence. Le système d'arbitrage fonctionne sous la surveillance générale de la Commission des relations de travail dans la fonction publique sous l'autorité de l'arbitre en chef. Au cours des cinq dernières années, les arbitres ont disposé d'un bon nombre de plaintes et ont ainsi donné une orientation nouvelle aux relations du travail dans la fonction publique fédérale.Employer-employee relations in the Federal Public Service of Canada entered a new era with the proclamation on March 13, 1967, of three Acts— The Public Service Staff Relations Act ; The Public Service Employment Act ; and anAct to Amend the Financial Administration Act. The employees have been guaranteed the right to organize, the right to bargain, the right to strike and the right to get grievances adjudicated by an independent tribunal. The statutory right to grieve and get the grievances adjudicated have provided to the federal public employees a sense of justice and « fairplay ». The adjudication system has made the private sector of industrial jurisprudence applicable to the federal public services with a remarkable success. This article deals with the function and operation of the statutory Grievance Process and Adjudication

Phosphorylation of the Arp2 subunit relieves auto-inhibitory interactions for Arp2/3 complex activation.

Actin filament assembly by the actin-related protein (Arp) 2/3 complex is necessary to build many cellular structures, including lamellipodia at the leading edge of motile cells and phagocytic cups, and to move endosomes and intracellular pathogens. The crucial role of the Arp2/3 complex in cellular processes requires precise spatiotemporal regulation of its activity. While binding of nucleation-promoting factors (NPFs) has long been considered essential to Arp2/3 complex activity, we recently showed that phosphorylation of the Arp2 subunit is also necessary for Arp2/3 complex activation. Using molecular dynamics simulations and biochemical assays with recombinant Arp2/3 complex, we now show how phosphorylation of Arp2 induces conformational changes permitting activation. The simulations suggest that phosphorylation causes reorientation of Arp2 relative to Arp3 by destabilizing a network of salt-bridge interactions at the interface of the Arp2, Arp3, and ARPC4 subunits. Simulations also suggest a gain-of-function ARPC4 mutant that we show experimentally to have substantial activity in the absence of NPFs. We propose a model in which a network of auto-inhibitory salt-bridge interactions holds the Arp2 subunit in an inactive orientation. These auto-inhibitory interactions are destabilized upon phosphorylation of Arp2, allowing Arp2 to reorient to an activation-competent state

Onboard control, tracking and navigation for autonomous systems

To operate effectively and safely, autonomous systems must be able to navigate complex environments, precisely control their attitude, accurately estimate their own states and make real-time decisions. A new adaptive controller is designed for attitude tracking control of rigid spacecraft with inertia uncertainties and full state feedback of attitude and angular rate. The controller preserves the proportional-derivative plus feedforward (PD+) structure but introduces time varying feedback gains, wherein the desired attitude state is represented by quaternions. Stable asymptotic tracking of the desired reference trajectories is guaranteed without any further restrictions upon the initial conditions, reference trajectories or any requirement for a priori availability of bounds upon the inertia matrix. The onboard estimation of the angular velocity of a spacecraft using Rate-integrating Gyroscopes (RIGs) is considered next. RIGs provide measurements of angular displacement which need to a low pass filter or observer to obtain angular velocity of the system. A continuous time observer is proposed which estimates angular velocity using the RIG measurements and achieves exponential convergence, while asymptotic convergence is guaranteed for the adaptive inertia observer. Unlike conventional certainty equivalence methods, a novel adaptation update law is proposed with additional control knobs changing with the attitude states. The final part of the dissertation deals with the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) problem. Estimating the location of a robot along with the position of the surrounding features on a map can be done onboard recursively with a simple Extended Kalman Filter (EKF-SLAM), but has higher chances of divergence and inconsistency. The robocentric SLAM method transforms the map of features to a local reference frame centered at the robot's position, leading to reduced inconsistency due to lower linearization errors in the update function. Improvements to the robocentric SLAM methods are suggested in the form of addition of second order terms to the linear propagation step and elimination of the composition step by transforming the feature maps before every update step. These modifications provide better filter consistency and prevent divergence in cases which were previously not possible.Aerospace Engineerin

Gauge symmetry and Slavnov-Taylor identities for randomly stirred fluids

The path integral for randomly forced incompressible fluids is shown to have an underlying Becchi-Rouet-Stora (BRS) symmetry as a consequence of Galilean invariance. This symmetry must be respected to have a consistent generating functional, free from both an overall infinite factor and spurious relations amongst correlation functions. We present a procedure for respecting this BRS symmetry, akin to gauge fixing in quantum field theory. Relations are derived between correlation functions of this gauge fixed, BRS symmetric theory, analogous to the Slavnov-Taylor identities of quantum field theory.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, In Press Physical Review Letters, 200

Governance mechanisms for infrastructure public-private partnerships : focus on India

Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 88-102).Infrastructure PPPs encounter unexpected changes in the technological, economic, social and political environments over their long lifetimes. They require governance frameworks that enable them to continue to deliver services efficiently and effectively when faced with such uncertainties. This thesis compares and contrasts alternative governance mechanisms that have been tried and tested over time and across geographies, with a focus on India. The usual governance mechanisms based on contracts or independent regulatory agencies appear to be insufficient in the face of turbulence. Contractual frameworks, wherein the public and private partners enter into long-term contracts that allocate risks, specify performance levels, tariffs and other terms of agreement, are effective in soliciting investment from the private sector. However, since all possible future scenarios and associated contingencies cannot be specified a priori, contracts are incomplete and contractual governance by itself inadequate. Regulatory frameworks, wherein independent regulators exercise discretion in setting tariffs and service levels in order to respond to changes over time are expensive and inefficient Moreover, they are inadequate by themselves in the complex institutional environments that characterize infrastructure in countries such as India. Most critically, the thesis finds that governance based on contracts and regulation seems to emphasize, institutionalize and reinforce antagonistic relationships between public and private 'partners'. To respond to unforeseen changes, however, it is necessary to move the focus away from arms-length relationships towards structures that emphasize real partnership. Based on case studies of successful PPPs in India, the thesis identifies best practices in engaging public sector partners and key stakeholders in projects, for instance through financial partnerships or representation on the project companies' Board of Directors. It finds that such structural mechanisms are effective supplements to the usual governance frameworks. Finally, the thesis proposes that the model of infrastructure delivery using Independent Public Authorities holds promise for infrastructure delivery in India. The ability of IPAs to mobilize private investment, engage public sector partners and internalize negotiations calls for further exploration of their suitability in Indian conditions.by Arjun P. Gupta.S.M.in Technology and Polic

Cosmology and Static Spherically Symmetric solutions in D-dimensional Scalar Tensor Theories: Some Novel Features

We consider scalar tensor theories in D-dimensional spacetime, D \ge 4. They consist of metric and a non minimally coupled scalar field, with its non minimal coupling characterised by a function. The probes couple minimally to the metric only. We obtain vacuum solutions - both cosmological and static spherically symmetric ones - and study their properties. We find that, as seen by the probes, there is no singularity in the cosmological solutions for a class of functions which obey certain constraints. It turns out that for the same class of functions, there are static spherically symmetric solutions which exhibit novel properties: {\em e.g.} near the ``horizon'', the gravitational force as seen by the probe becomes repulsive.Comment: Revtex. 21 pages. Version 2: More references added. Version 3: Issues raised by the referee are addressed. Results unchanged. Title modified; a new subsection and more references added. Verison to appear in Physical Review

Precision Attitude Stabilization with Intermittent External Torque

The attitude stabilization of a micro-satellite employing a variable-amplitude cold gas thruster which reflects as a time varying gain on the control input is considered. Existing literature uses a persistence filter based approach that typically leads to large control gains and torque inputs during specific time intervals corresponding to the 'on' phase of the external actuation. This work aims at reducing the transient spikes placed upon the torque commands by the judicious introduction of an additional time varying scaling signal as part of the control law. The time update mechanism for the new scaling factor and overall closed-loop stability are established through a Lyapunov-like analysis. Numerical simulations highlight the various features of this new control algorithm for spacecraft attitude stabilization subject to torque intermittence.Comment: Presented as paper AAS 21-402 at the 31st AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, Virtual, February 1-4 202

Cognitive Radio Relay Network Performance Analysis by using Game Theory

Cognitive radio plays a vital role in wireless communication system. The cognitive radio consists of a transceiver which is used to check the availability of channel for communication and avoids busy channels by shifting into a unused channel. The scope for spectrum availability and area of coverage is increased by using cognitive radio. In cooperative cognitive relay network the primary traffic the primary users (PUs) will nominate some of the secondary users (SUs) as a relay. To make the secondary users co-operate with the primary user, primary user have to allocate some channel to the secondary user for data transmission. This significantly reduces the performance of the primary users and secondary users. Therefore, performance can be significantly increased by using MIMO in co-operative cognitive radio. By using beam forming technique in spatial domain over the multiple inputs multiple output antenna permits multiple data streams and suppression of interference. Using Nash Equilibrium (NE) to control the power among SUs, the PUs utilities and SUs utilities are obtained in MIMO-CCRN. By using MIMO technique the secondary users can co-operatively relay the data for the primary users while concurrently accessing the same channel to transmit its data. Time domain and spatial domains are examined to improve the efficiency of the spectrum for arranging the MIMO co-operative cognitive radio networks. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.16043