A report on the survey carried out at W. H. Allens, Queens Works, Bedford

The original terms of reference under which the project was undertaken are included in this report and the requirements requested are satisfied. On initial contact at Aliens, I was introduced to Mr. Colson, who informed me that his company of Consulting Engineers had introduced a scheme of methods engineering work study and incentives payment and that the results on the grinding section were not fully satisfactory. The machine loading was based on synthetics which were working in other factories. There was methods and planning charts from which the Methods Engineering and Planning Sections worked when loading work onto the shops and it was required that the shortcomings of these charts should be corrected. I was then introduced to Mr. Sargent, Chief Methods Engineer. He assigned one of his staff to me. It was suggested that we went down to the shop floor and consider the Lumsden grinding machine, as this machine stalled when the feeds and speeds suggested from the methods sheets were applied, but the main problem which it was essential to tackle as soon as possible was the grinding of gudgeon pins. Details of the work carried out on each machine are included in separate sections

Retirement Savings Accounts: President’s Budget Proposal for FY2005

CRS ReportCRSretiresavingsprop.pdf: 243 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Older Workers: Employment and Retirement Trends

CRSRetirement1001RL30629.pdf: 1464 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Experimental prediction of performance by superconducting cables

Broken superconductor method of short sample testing makes possible the prediction of the performance of well cooled, stabilized, superconducting cable coils. It yields a field-versus-current curve for a short sample of cable. Plots are given for the superconductor and copper currents at various magnetic field strengths

401(k) Plans and Retirement Savings: Issues for Congress

[Excerpt] Over the past 25 years, defined contribution (DC) plans—including 401(k) plans—have become the most prevalent form of employer-sponsored retirement plan in the United States. The majority of assets held in these plans are invested in stocks and stock mutual funds, and the decline in the major stock market indices in 2008 greatly reduced the value of many families’ retirement savings. The effect of stock market volatility on families’ retirement savings is just one issue of concern to Congress with respect to defined contribution retirement plans. This report describes seven major policy issues with respect to defined contribution plans: 1. Access to employer-sponsored retirement plans. In 2007, only 61% of employees in the private sector were offered a retirement plan of any kind at work. Fifty-five percent were offered a DC plan. Only 45% of workers at establishments with fewer than 100 employees were offered a retirement plan of any kind in 2007. Forty-two percent were offered a defined contribution plan. 2. Participation in employer-sponsored plans. Between 20% and 25% of workers whose employer offers a DC plan do not participate. Workers under age 35 are less likely than older workers to participate. 3. Contribution rates. On average, participants in DC plans contributed 6% of pay to the plan in 2007. The median contribution by household heads who participated in a DC plan in 2007 was $3,360. This was just 22$15,500 in that year. 4. Investment choices. At year-end 2007, 78% of all DC plan assets were invested in stocks and stock mutual funds. This ratio varied little by age, indicating that many workers nearing retirement were heavily invested in stocks and risked substantial losses in a market downturn like that in 2008. Investment education and target date funds could help workers make better investment decisions. 5. Fee disclosure. Retirement plans contract with service providers to provide investment management, record-keeping, and other services. There can be many service providers, each charging a fee that is ultimately paid by participants in 401(k) plans. The arrangements through which service providers are compensated can be very complicated and fees are often not clearly disclosed. 6. Leakage from retirement savings. Pre-retirement withdrawals from retirement accounts are sometimes called “leakages.” Current law represents a compromise between limiting leakages from retirement accounts and allowing people to have access to their retirement funds in times of great need. In general, borrowing from a 401(k) plan poses less risk to retirement security than a withdrawal. Pre-retirement withdrawals can have adverse long-term effects on retirement income. 7. Converting retirement savings into income. Retirees face many financial risks, including living longer than they expected, investment losses, inflation, and possible large expenses for medical care and long-term care. Annuities can protect retirees from some of these risks, but few retirees purchase them. Developing polices that motivate retirees to convert assets into a reliable source of income will be a continuing challenge for Congress and other policymakers

Stranded superconducting cable of improved design

High-current cable developed in liquid helium cooled magnets uses aluminum wire interspersed with the superconductor strands. The aluminum maintains higher electrical conductivity, is light in weight, and has low thermal capacity

The effect of water-soluble carbohydrate concentration and type on in vitro rumen methane output of perennial ryegrass determined using a 24-hour batch-culture gas production technique

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to examine the effects of water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentration and type on the in vitro rumen methane (CH4) output of perennial ryegrass (PR) using a 24-hour batch-culture gas production technique. Dried and milled PR was incubated either alone (PR-O) or with added sucrose (PR-S), inulin (PR-I), or sucrose plus inulin (PR-S+I; sucrose:inulin ratio of 1:4) in sealed glass bottles [0.5 g total substrate dry matter (DM) per bottle] at 39 °C for 24 hours with buffered rumen fluid. The WSC types were added (except for PR-O) so that the WSC concentration in each fermentation bottle at the start of the incubation was either 180 (i.e., PR-O), 225, 270, 315, or 360 g/kg of total substrate DM incubated. There were linear decreases in CH4 output per gram of DM disappeared (CH4/ivDMD) and per mmol of total volatile fatty acid output (CH4/tVFA) with increasing WSC concentration in the incubated substrate. The WSC type had no effect on in vitro rumen CH4 output. It is concluded that since CH4/ivDMD and CH4/tVFA were reduced by increasing the concentration of WSC incubated with PR, it would be worthwhile to undertake in vivo experiments to examine these effects on in vivo CH4 emissions per unit of animal product.Funding for this study was provided under the National Development Plan through the Research Stimulus Fund administered by the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine (RSF no. 07 517)

A note on an investigation of the surface grinding process with examples of wheel and coolant selection and planning data

This note deals with an investigation into the establishment of manufacturing techniques, on a production scale, for surface grinding, high tensile heat resistant alloy sheet approximately 7 feet by 5 feet. Rigid manufacturing tolerances are demanded in which surface finish must not exceed 10 micro-inches and the thickness tolerance is plus or minus 0. 0002 inches. The information contained in this report applies to the surface grinding process in general and can be used to aid production planning, as a correct estimate of wheel life when operating under set conditions can be made, and the necessary time for redressing allowed. Results from the work carried out suggest that it may be beneficial to pass components to be surface ground under a roughing wheel (Lumsden) type machine, which will set the constant metal thickness for final finishing. In this way a correct estimated time could be allowed for the operations roughing and finish grinding at optimum conditions

Maser Source Finding Methods in HOPS

The {\bf H}$_2${\bf O} Southern Galactic {\bf P}lane {\bf S}urvey (HOPS) has observed 100 square degrees of the Galactic plane, using the Mopra radio telescope to search for emission from multiple spectral lines in the 12\,mm band (19.5\,--\,27.5\,GHz). Perhaps the most important of these spectral lines is the 22.2\,GHz water maser transition. We describe the methods used to identify water maser candidates and subsequent confirmation of the sources. Our methods involve a simple determination of likely candidates by searching peak emission maps, utilising the intrinsic nature of water maser emission - spatially unresolved and spectrally narrow-lined. We estimate completeness limits and compare our method with results from the {\sc Duchamp} source finder. We find that the two methods perform similarly. We conclude that the similarity in performance is due to the intrinsic limitation of the noise characteristics of the data. The advantages of our method are that it is slightly more efficient in eliminating spurious detections and is simple to implement. The disadvantage is that it is a manual method of finding sources and so is not practical on datasets much larger than HOPS, or for datasets with extended emission that needs to be characterised. We outline a two-stage method for the most efficient means of finding masers, using {\sc Duchamp}.Comment: 8 pages, 1 table, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in PASA special issue on Source Finding & Visualisatio

Promoting and maintaining health of people with sight loss: A scoping study

This study was undertaken in response to a request by the Thomas Pocklington Trust to identify and explore the following issues: • The needs and concerns regarding immediate risks to health and safety related to sight loss; • Additional risks arising from sight loss for those who are also managing a long term disease; • The difficulties in maintaining and promoting health; • Whether or not health promotion activities and policies sufficiently address perceived needs. Findings pertaining to these objectives have been generated from data collected in Leeds, UK, a city where innovative programming for sight loss has either been planned or is being incorporated into health planning and a review of the literature. Findings related to the last two issues indicate that gaps exist in service provision for maintaining health and emphasise the need for more explicitly targeted health promotion initiatives that could address current weaknesses. - A review of the literature; - Focus group discussions with a range of people who had experienced sight loss; - Interviews with professional practitioners engaged in service provision to this population; - An expert hearing with four professional practitioners, one of whom had sight loss, and two service users with sight loss. Most participants were from the West Yorkshire region and the services described in the study are largely located in Leeds. Evidence from the literature review suggests that people with visual impairment have increased risk of accidents within the home and that ensuing consequences include injuries incurred and decreased confidence. Rates of depression among people who are blind or partially sighted are far higher than in the wider population and the likelihood of depression increases with age, although psycho-social interventions and technological assistance can be successfully implemented to improve quality of life. Sight loss together with other long term health conditions exacerbates the impact of other health conditions and has particularly severe impact on the wellbeing of older people insofar as it may affect their mobility, which in turn increases their risk of falls and depression. The nature and level of support available to people is variable but it is clear that access both to the right information at the right time and to appropriate services is a critical issue. Focus group discussions, interviews and the expert hearing corroborated and extended the themes noted in the literature and discuss the differential impact of different risks to health and the difficulties of coping with these at different times in a person’s life. A simple typology was defined using two dimensions of experience (‘stage of life’ and ‘early/late onset of sight loss’) as a means of organizing findings and providing a means of making further distinctions in interpreting the data. Potentially, this scheme can allow health promotion initiatives to be targeted more effectively to stages at which people with sight loss are more likely to encounter specific difficulties in managing and maintaining their health. There was a clear consensus throughout the study that interventions to meet the needs of people with sight loss must be tailored to meet the specific needs of individuals: people with sight loss are not a homogeneous group and the way in which each person experiences the challenges of sight loss and of managing their health will inevitably vary from person to person. Recommendations generated by this study include: • The scope for more pro-active services and need for closer collaboration between service providers; • The need for provision and promotion of targeted information; • The need for greater awareness of the needs of people with visual impairments among generic service providers; and • Further research that explores the usefulness of the typology with a larger sample more representative of population demographics such as BME communities that are more likely to slip through the cracks of service provision