The State of the Anti-Union Address: A Rhetorical Critique of Select Service Worker Training Methods

This is an interdisciplinary master\u27s level thesis that explores links among technical writing, training manuals, surveillance, and anti-union rhetoric used with service workers in select American chains and franchises. Brief histories are provided, including those of technical writing, the rise of unions in America, and how technical writing became inextricably linked with labor. A major shift occurred in the 20th century when workers began interacting less with products and more with the public. The research focuses on training manuals, techniques, and rehearsed dialogues of McDonald\u27s, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Panera, and Publix, though similar organizations are referenced. Service worker language, uniforms, and store decorum are sometimes analyzed for their rhetorical content. The idea of a single, technically written training manual in the service sector is a misnomer; training is delivered through a pastiche of manuals, videos, computers, apps, flipcharts, and on the job training. Unions are avoided through franchising (and therefore eat outlet not possessing enough workers to organize), creating conditions of high turnover rates, rhetoric, and use of euphemism. Global corporations are likened to superfiefdoms, with service workers equated to modern serfs. If the world has evolved into supercorporations, it is argued then that the Publix employee-owned model may be the best approach and the most dignified of all. The technical writing and instruction in state-sponsored and federalized school pedagogies, which emphasize drills and compliance, may be culturally linked to the training found in these entry-level service jobs, and more academic study exploring these links is called for

Testing General Relativity and gravitational physics using the LARES satellite

The discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe, thought to be driven by a mysterious form of `dark energy' constituting most of the Universe, has further revived the interest in testing Einstein's theory of General Relativity. At the very foundation of Einstein's theory is the geodesic motion of a small, structureless test-particle. Depending on the physical context, a star, planet or satellite can behave very nearly like a test-particle, so geodesic motion is used to calculate the advance of the perihelion of a planet's orbit, the dynamics of a binary pulsar system and of an Earth orbiting satellite. Verifying geodesic motion is then a test of paramount importance to General Relativity and other theories of fundamental physics. On the basis of the first few months of observations of the recently launched satellite LARES, its orbit shows the best agreement of any satellite with the test-particle motion predicted by General Relativity. That is, after modelling its known non-gravitational perturbations, the LARES orbit shows the smallest deviations from geodesic motion of any artificial satellite. LARES-type satellites can thus be used for accurate measurements and for tests of gravitational and fundamental physics. Already with only a few months of observation, LARES provides smaller scatter in the determination of several low-degree geopotential coefficients (Earth gravitational deviations from sphericity) than available from observations of any other satellite or combination of satellites

Fundamental Physics and General Relativity with the LARES and LAGEOS satellites

Current observations of the universe have strengthened the interest to further test General Relativity and other theories of fundamental physics. After an introduction to the phenomenon of frame-dragging predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity, with fundamental astrophysical applications to rotating black holes, we describe the past measurements of frame-dragging obtained by the LAGEOS satellites and by the dedicated Gravity Probe B space mission. We also discuss a test of String Theories of Chern-Simons type that has been carried out using the results of the LAGEOS satellites. We then describe the LARES space experiment. LARES was successfully launched in February 2012 to improve the accuracy of the tests of frame-dragging, it can also improve the test of String Theories. We present the results of the first few months of observations of LARES, its orbital analyses show that it has the best agreement of any other satellite with the test-particle motion predicted by General Relativity. We finally briefly report the accurate studies and the extensive simulations of the LARES space experiment, confirming an accuracy of a few percent in the forthcoming measurement of frame-dragging.Comment: To be publihed in Nuclear Physics. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1306.1826, arXiv:1211.137

A new laser-ranged satellite for General Relativity and space geodesy: I. An introduction to the LARES2 space experiment

We introduce the LARES 2 space experiment recently approved by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The LARES 2 satellite is planned for launch in 2019 with the new VEGA C launch vehicle of ASI, ESA and ELV. The orbital analysis of LARES 2 experiment will be carried out by our international science team of experts in General Relativity, theoretical physics, space geodesy and aerospace engineering. The main objectives of the LARES 2 experiment are gravitational and fundamental physics, including accurate measurements of General Relativity, in particular a test of frame-dragging aimed at achieving an accuracy of a few parts in a thousand, i.e., aimed at improving by about an order of magnitude the present state-of-the-art and forthcoming tests of this general relativistic phenomenon. LARES 2 will also achieve determinations in space geodesy. LARES 2 is an improved version of the LAGEOS 3 experiment, proposed in 1984 to measure frame-dragging and analyzed in 1989 by a joint ASI and NASA study

A Test of General Relativity Using the LARES and LAGEOS Satellites and a GRACE Earth's Gravity Model

We present a test of General Relativity, the measurement of the Earth's dragging of inertial frames. Our result is obtained using about 3.5 years of laser-ranged observations of the LARES, LAGEOS and LAGEOS 2 laser-ranged satellites together with the Earth's gravity field model GGM05S produced by the space geodesy mission GRACE. We measure $\mu = (0.994 \pm 0.002) \pm 0.05$, where $\mu$ is the Earth's dragging of inertial frames normalized to its General Relativity value, 0.002 is the 1-sigma formal error and 0.05 is the estimated systematic error mainly due to the uncertainties in the Earth's gravity model GGM05S. Our result is in agreement with the prediction of General Relativity.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, published on EPJ

Overuse of non-prescription analgesics by dental clinic patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many patients present to dental clinics for treatment of painful conditions. Prior to seeking treatment, many of these patients will self-medicate with non-prescription analgesics (NPA), and some will unintentionally overdose on these products. The objective of this study is to describe the use of NPA among dental patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All adult patients presenting to an urban dental clinic during a two-week period in January and February of 2001 were approached to participate in this research project. Trained research assistants using a standardized questionnaire interviewed patients. Patient demographics and the NPA usage over the 3 days preceding the office visit were recorded. We defined a supra-therapeutic dose as any dose greater than the total recommended daily dose stated on package labeling.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We approached 194 patients and 127 participated. The mean age of participants was 35.5 years, 52% were male. Analgesic use preceding the visit was reported by 99 of 127 patients, and most (81/99) used a NPA exclusively. Fifty-four percent of NPA users were taking more than one NPA. NPA users reported using ibuprofen (37%), acetaminophen (27%), acetaminophen/aspirin combination product (8%), naproxen (8%), and aspirin (4%). Sixteen patients reported supra-therapeutic use of one or more NPA (some ingested multiple products): ibuprofen (14), acetaminophen (3), and naproxen (5).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>NPA use was common in patients presenting to a dental clinic. A significant minority of patients reported excessive dosing of NPA. Ibuprofen was the most frequently misused product, followed by naproxen and acetaminophen. Though mostly aware of the potential toxicity of NPA, many patients used supra-therapeutic dosages.</p

Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons With Co-Occurring Disorders

Summary: This TIP, Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons With Co-Occurring Disorders, revises TIP 9, Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Coexisting Mental Illness and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. The revised TIP provides information about new developments in the rapidly growing field of co-occurring substance use and mental disorders and captures the state-of-the-art in the treatment of people with co-occurring disorders. The TIP focuses on what the substance abuse treatment clinician needs to know and provides that information in an accessible manner. The TIP synthesizes knowledge and grounds it in the practical realities of clinical cases and real situations so the reader will come away with increased knowledge, encouragement, and resourcefulness in working with clients with co-occurring disorders. View book on publisher\u27s websit

The Administration of a Republican Form of Government (enforcement)

Panel on enforcement

LARES Satellite Thermal Forces and a Test of General Relativity

We summarize a laser-ranged satellite test of frame-dragging, a prediction of General Relativity, and then concentrate on the estimate of thermal thrust, an important perturbation affecting the accuracy of the test. The frame dragging study analysed 3.5 years of data from the LARES satellite and a longer period of time for the two LAGEOS satellites. Using the gravity field GGM05S obtained via the Grace mission, which measures the Earth's gravitational field, the prediction of General Relativity is confirmed with a 1-$\sigma$ formal error of 0.002, and a systematic error of 0.05. The result for the value of the frame dragging around the Earth is $\mu$ = 0.994, compared to $\mu$ = 1 predicted by General Relativity. The thermal force model assumes heat flow from the sun (visual) and from Earth (IR) to the satellite core and to the fused silica reflectors on the satellite, and reradiation into space. For a roughly current epoch (days 1460 - 1580 after launch) we calculate an average along-track drag of -0.50 $pm/s^{2}$.Comment: 6 pages, multiple figures in Proceedings of Metrology for Aerospace (MetroAeroSpace), 2016 IEE