Employment and Labor Relations in Nevada

Nevada generally gets high marks for its labor market conditions, sustained economic growth, and high standards of living. Compared to the employment situation in many other regions, Nevada does indeed post impressive numbers. Yet, a closer look at the local employment and occupation structure reveals a complex pattern requiring a nuanced assessment. While some workers in Nevada have high earnings, median wages for year-round workers are no higher than the national average. Nevada has low unemployment rates and a robust union movement, but many jobs in the state are in the service sector that offers relatively low salaries and few long-term career opportunities. Employment rates are certainly important, and so is the employment structure, which significantly affects the overall quality of life enjoyed by state’s residents and local communities

An economic analysis of the Bahamas Currency

Abstract. This paper seeks to answer whether the replacement of the Bahamas currency board by a central bank was a rational decision given the subsequent economic performance climate of the central bank and the Bahamian economy. The paper describes the currency board’s establishment; its switch from the pound sterling to the U.S. dollar as the anchor currency; and its replacement by a proto-central bank soon succeeded by the Central Bank of the Bahamas, which continues in existence today. Statements of the currency board from the Bahamas Gazette as well as other sources will help analyze the aforementioned periods and illustrate the effects each transition had on the economy. The paper will examine the later years of the currency board and test whether it behaved in an orthodox or unorthodox manner as well as exploring its relation to government finance.Keywords. Bahamas; Currency board.JEL. E59; N16; N26

Salt weathering in the coastal environment: the deterioration of wall paintings at Delos, Greece.

Salt weathering, apart from being an important geomorphologic agent, comprises a major hazard for both modern and heritage structures. Although its action is witnessed globally, it is particularly aggressive in coastal environments. The coastline attracted in antiquity a considerable part of human activity that has left valuable built traces. Conservation research is frequently called upon to define sustainability in this aggressive context. Wall paintings comprise an integral part of the built heritage. The particular importance of wall paintings and finishing layers derives from their unique aesthetic function in the building's integrity as well as the plethora of information that they carry. Whereas wall paintings are more susceptible than masonry materials, the tolerance against loss is much smaller due to their descriptive nature and scale. It is not until recently that international heritage organisations recognised the technical particularities of wall paintings suggesting that they must be investigated independently and treated in situ. This project aims to identify the particularities of wall paintings' susceptibility to salt weathering in the coastal environment. The methodology is composed of both in situ and ex situ experiments. The in situ investigation follows a comparative approach, guided by specific variables, in a number of monuments at the archaeological site of Delos island. The goal of the in situ investigation is to determine the optimal conditions for preservation, by modeling the salts interactions, in an effort to define sustainability against salt weathering in this aggressive environment. The ex situ approach comprises laboratory simulation of the weathering mechanism and aims to describe the particularities of the substrate that lead to the distinct loss of the external finishing layer, which carries the principal information. The results of the project underline the importance of kinetic deviations deriving from the solution and the substrate properties. Despite the limitations of determining the optimal conditions for preservation, the variables that directed the comparative approach permitted the generation of a periodic model in agreement with the phenomenological observations. The model suggests that the potential of salt damage in real conditions of various contamination pathways and sources cannot be restricted to a single resultant. Although the model follows a certain periodicity in response to the annual climatic cycle, random events and fractionated accumulation lead to the production of mixtures with variable composition. Additionally the results stress the role of solar radiation and air movement as evaporation accelerators. Consequently environmental control against salt weathering should be directed towards multiple components which in the case of coastal environments, mainly due to the presence of marine aerosols, cannot be achieved simply by hygrothermal management. On the other hand we traced specific deviations from the theoretical model of salts interactions, concerning mixtures commonly found in coastal regions that should also be taken into account. Besides we tested the hypothesis of salts accumulation at the interface of rendering layers, caused by hydraulic discontinuity, with a weathering simulation. The aim of this investigation was to provide evidence descriptive of damage. It has been shown that the external layer of wall paintings is particularly susceptible to marine aerosols and it can be damaged independently and in advance of the bulk mortar. The salts crystallise selectively under the lime wash layer causing gradually its detachment from the mortar. The results of the weathering simulation raise serious implications for remedial and preventive conservation practice and suggest that research must focus as well on the kinetics of particular cases

Widowhood and the end of spousal caregiving: Wear and tear or relief?

This paper analyses the impact of spousal care-giving on survivors’ depressive symptoms six months into widowhood, and examines the applicability of a ‘ relief model’ of spousal adjustment during bereavement. We examine several aspects of the care-giving situation, including care-giver stress, care-giving demands, and type and duration of care and how these affect survivors’ depressive symptomatology. The sample is drawn from two waves of the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) survey, which was conducted in the United States in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, Michigan. The first wave of data was collected from couples and the second from the surviving spouse six months after the death of the partner. We use multiple regression analysis to examine the effects of key variables on depressive symptoms six months into widowhood, controlling for various demographic characteristics and personal circumstances. The results demonstrate that the duration of care-giving is the most influential predictor of survivors’ depressive symptoms six months after the death. Indeed, long-term care-givers experience greater relief than both non-caregivers and short-term care-givers, as the predicted probabilities indicate. The results lead us to emphasise that care-giving and spousal bereavement should be studied as related processes rather than distinct phenomena. Indeed, relief from a chronically stressful care situation may actually ameliorate the negative effect of spousal loss for survivors

Gendered disparities in take-ups of employee health benefits

Using a sample of 2,271 workers from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce whose employers offered personal health insurance, this article investigates the gendered nature of health insurance benefit take-ups. These analyses include family and employment characteristics in addition to employers’ contributions to health insurance premiums, a measure that is unexamined in sociological analyses of health benefits. Progressive logistic regression models predict the effects of gender and family characteristics. Results indicate that women with employed spouses are less likely to take up their own health benefits than are comparable men, net of basic employment characteristics. Gender differences disappear, however, when controlling for the level of employer contributions: women and men are equally likely to draw on their own employer’s health benefits once we account for their out-of-pocket expense. The authors conclude that family contexts and employment structures jointly influence individuals’ choices about their health benefits. The gendered structure of employment and, specifically, gendered patterns in employer contributions to health benefits are a better explanation for women’s lower chances of benefit take-ups than gender relations within families

Building a Better Term Paper: Integrating Scaffolded Writing and Peer Review

This paper presents a method for teaching undergraduate students how to write better term papers in philosophy. The method integrates two key assignment components: scaffolding and peer review. We explain these components and how they can be effectively combined within a single term paper assignment. We then present the results of our multi-year research study on the integrated method. Professor observations, quantitative measures, and qualitative feedback indicate that student writing improves when philosophy term paper assignments are designed to generate multiple rounds of drafting and review

Életnyomok a Lapisi Mészkő Formációból

A bükkösdi „Bükkösdkő” kőfejtőjének felhagyott részében 2010 tavaszán – sziklaomlás következtében – olyan nagyméretű réteglapok táródtak fel, amelyeken tömegesen fordulnak elő jó megtartású életnyomok. A leomlott blokkok rétegsorbeli helyzete rekonstruálható volt, így a leletek tudományos értékű feldolgozására nyílt lehetőség. További gyűjtést végeztem a Lapisi Mészkő közeli, goricaivölgyi feltárásaiból. Mivel a közelmúltban olyan publikáció jelent meg (Jaglarz & Uchman 2010), amely a hasonló életnyomokból újszerű fáciesértékelést adott, célul tűztem ki, hogy a bükkösdi leleteket az újabb szempontok szerint értékelem. Az értékelés során figyelembe vettem az egyes életnyomok jellemző képződési körülményeit, az előforduló életnyomok mennyiségét és rétegenkénti megoszlását. Tekintve, hogy hasonló életnyomegyüttesek találhatóak egyes német, lengyel és szardíniai területeken, az ott előforduló mintákat is összehasonlítottam a mecsekivel, valamint általános sztratigráfiai leírást követően azokat értékeltem. Ezek hasonló helyzete az elzárt lagunális helyzettől egészen külső rámpa fáciesig húzódik. Vizsgálataim és értékelésem alapján a négy helyről származó életnyomegyüttes karbonátos rámpán való helyzete egymással összefüggésben is viszonylag jól rekonstruálható. Mivel a vizsgált és összehasonlított területeken talált életnyomok összetétele igen hasonló, és tudomásom szerint az ilyen jellegű eredményeket bemutató munka még nem született, a tanulmányt időszerűnek tekintem

Το δικαίωμα αναιτιολόγητης υπαναχώρησης στις συμβάσεις από απόσταση και στις συμβάσεις εκτός εμπορικού καταστήματος∙ νομική φύση και νομική μεταχείριση

Στην παρούσα εργασία ερευνάται το δικαίωμα της αναιτιολόγητης υπαναχώρησης, το οποίο παρέχει ο νόμος στον καταναλωτή που προβαίνει στη σύναψη συμβάσεων από απόσταση και συμβάσεων εκτός εμπορικού καταστήματος, με έμφαση στη νομική του φύση και τη νομική του μεταχείριση.In this thesis the right of withdrawal without justification in distance contracts and off-premises contracts, which is provided by law to the consumers, is being thoroughly researched, with emphasis in its legal nature and treatment