An analysis of the design, implementation and measurement of a 401K employee communication campaign for Checkpoint Systems, Inc. headquarters employees to evaluate their understanding of the plan

This project evaluates the effectiveness of a 401(k) communications campaign for employees at Checkpoint Systems, Inc. headquarters located in Thorofare, New Jersey. Information searches for relevant literature were conducted through several databases cataloging books, periodicals, journals and articles. The findings of this literature search identified elements of effective 401(k) communication campaigns. These elements were used as a guide to measure the design of Checkpoint\u27s plan. Focus groups were conducted with managers and employees to determine their understanding of the plan and obtain feedback to be used as evaluation. The compiled data was analyzed to determine the overall effectiveness of the 401(k) communications campaign. This study identified two critical elements necessary to ensure the effectiveness of a 401(k) communication campaign. Further studies are recommended for Checkpoint management and the 401(k) plan sponsor

A laboratory study of the expiratory airflow and particle dispersion in the stratified indoor environment

Understanding the role of human expiratory flows on respiratory infection in ventilated environments is useful for taking appropriate interventions to minimize the infection risk. Some studies have predicted the lock-up phenomenon of exhaled flows in stratified environments; however, there is a lack of high-quality experimental data to validate the theoretical models. In addition, how thermal stratification affects the transport of exhaled particles has not been explored so far. In this study, a water tank experiment was conducted according to the similarity protocols to mimic how the expiratory airflow and particles behaved in both uniform and stratified environments. The lock-up phenomenon was visualized and compared with the predicted results by an integral model. Results showed that our previously developed theoretical model of a respiratory airflow was effective to predict the airflow dispersion in stratified environments. Stratification frequency (N) of the background fluid and the Froude Number 〖"Fr" 〗_"0" of the thermal flow jointly determined the lock-up layer in a power law. For the particle dispersion, it indicated that small particles such as fine droplets and droplet nuclei would be ‘locked’ by indoor thermal stratification, and disperse with the thermal flow over a long distance, potentially increasing the long-range airborne infection risk. Large particles such as large droplets can deposit within a short distance, hardly affected by thermal stratification, however, droplet infection could happen to the susceptible people at a close contact with the infector. This study could give some guidance in view of cross-infection control indoors for stratified environment

An investigation into the theoretical and analytical basis for the spread of airborne influenza

With the threat of a pandemic drawing near and the possibility of a new , more deadly, form of the influenza virus from genetic re-assortment of avian and human influenza viruses, there is dire need for a better understanding of the transmission mechanisms of this virus. The present study focuses on the aerosol mode of transmission, particularly via the mechanism of human cough. Utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD), an in-house code was developed to model the transport of a sputum droplet (cough expectorant) within a jet of air (representative of a human cough). A parametric study was conducted using the model, in order to more thoroughly identify and visualize the conditions that a virus housed within such a droplet would be subject to while in the airborne state. Also, the commercial CFD solver FLUENT was used to perform simulations of an experimental setup at the Morgantown NIOSH facility involving a specialized room containing an apparatus capable of reproducing the flow rate and particle size distribution of a human cough. A scenario of a human producing multiple, consecutive coughs within this room was simulated through the use of this software, as well. In these simulations, small particles were injected into the room at the source of the cough, and their trajectories were tracked over time. The calculated particle dispersion within the room was then compared to experimental data to assess the suitability and accuracy of CFD simulations for such a flow