Supervisors' Perceptions of the Performance of Cooperative Education Employees Working in Federal Agencies

Through cooperative education programs, many public agencies employ college students part time or intermittently and groom them for future full-time employment The combination of winnowing and nurturing that occurs in these programs is believed to produce higher performing employees This study tests this hypothesis by comparing Federal supervisors' perceptions of the performance of co-op employees with those recruited from other sources Data come from the 1992 Merit Principles Survey, US Merit Systems Protection Board The results indicate that co-op employees perform at high levels, but they do not outperform other employees as a whole Next, we compare the performance ratings of Federal workers from seven other recruitment sources to see if any source is superior Some interesting findings emerge Of course, performance ratings are an incomplete indicator of an employee's value to the organization These ratings merely reflect supervisors' perceptions, and while high performance is important, agencies may wish to promote other goals in their recruitment and retention efforts such as workforce diversityYeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Lean Manufacturing in Public Services: Prospects for Value Creation

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the utilization of lean manufacturing systems in public service operations for poten- tial added value. A case study of lean manufacturing implementation at a UK city council was carried out using in-depth interviews with key personnel coupled with documents collection. The Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) was administered among front-line employees. Results show that lean manufacturing systems could create signi cant added value to the business and employees. A strong relation- ship was demonstrated between the lean manufacturing implementation and the a ective commitment level of employees. This paper is one of a few studies that demonstrate the applicability of manufacturing systems in other settings and that they can generate significant added value for the service department and its employees

The roles of the formal and informal sectors in the provision of effective science education

For many years, formal school science education has been criticised by students, teachers, parents and employers throughout the world. This article presents an argument that a greater collaboration between the formal and the informal sector could address some of these criticisms. The causes for concern about formal science education are summarised and the major approaches being taken to address them are outlined. The contributions that the informal sector currently makes to science education are identified. It is suggested that the provision of an effective science education entails an enhanced complementarity between the two sectors. Finally, there is a brief discussion of the collaboration and communication still needed if this is to be effective

Search for Tensor, Vector, and Scalar Polarizations in the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background

The detection of gravitational waves with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo has enabled novel tests of general relativity, including direct study of the polarization of gravitational waves. While general relativity allows for only two tensor gravitational-wave polarizations, general metric theories can additionally predict two vector and two scalar polarizations. The polarization of gravitational waves is encoded in the spectral shape of the stochastic gravitational-wave background, formed by the superposition of cosmological and individually unresolved astrophysical sources. Using data recorded by Advanced LIGO during its first observing run, we search for a stochastic background of generically polarized gravitational waves. We find no evidence for a background of any polarization, and place the first direct bounds on the contributions of vector and scalar polarizations to the stochastic background. Under log-uniform priors for the energy in each polarization, we limit the energy densities of tensor, vector, and scalar modes at 95% credibility to Ω0T<5.58×10-8, Ω0V<6.35×10-8, and Ω0S<1.08×10-7 at a reference frequency f0=25 Hz. © 2018 American Physical Society

Measurement of jet suppression in central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

The transverse momentum(p(T)) spectrum and nuclear modification factor (R-AA) of reconstructed jets in 0-10% and 10-30% central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV were measured. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-k(T) jet algorithm with a resolution parameter of R = 0.2 from charged and neutral particles, utilizing the ALICE tracking detectors and Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). The jet p(T) spectra are reported in the pseudorapidity interval of \eta(jet)\ 5 GeV/c to suppress jets constructed from the combinatorial background in Pb-Pb collisions. The leading charged particle requirement applied to jet spectra both in pp and Pb-Pb collisions had a negligible effect on the R-AA. The nuclear modification factor R-AA was found to be 0.28 +/- 0.04 in 0-10% and 0.35 +/- 0.04 in 10-30% collisions, independent of p(T), jet within the uncertainties of the measurement. The observed suppression is in fair agreement with expectations from two model calculations with different approaches to jet quenching. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

The Cholecystectomy As A Day Case (CAAD) Score: A Validated Score of Preoperative Predictors of Successful Day-Case Cholecystectomy Using the CholeS Data Set

Background Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables. Methods Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set. Results Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy

Elliptic flow of identified hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

The elliptic flow coefficient (v2) of identified particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV was measured with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The results were obtained with the Scalar Product method, a two-particle corre- lation technique, using a pseudo-rapidity gap of | 06\u3b7| > 0.9 between the identified hadron under study and the reference particles. The v2 is reported for \u3c0\ub1, K\ub1, K0S, p+p, \u3c6, \u39b+\u39b, \u39e 12+\u39e+ and \u3a9 12+\u3a9+ in several collision centralities. In the low transverse momentum (pT) region, pT 3 GeV/c