Firm Turnover, Restructuring and Labour Productivity in Transition: The Case of Poland

This paper explores the impact of turnover and restructuring on labour productivity in the Polish economy over the period 1988-1993. Changes in aggregate productivity are decomposed into elements corresponding to productivity growth among survivors, market share growth by survivors and the contributions of entering and exiting firms. The traditional entry and exit effects begin to work as transition to a market economy progresses. However, initial productivity improvements are due to changes to market shares of the existing firms following the break-up of large enterprises. Regression analysis shows that changes in the firm-level productivity are affected by restructuring and a more competitive economic environment.

Robustness of the Thirty Meter Telescope Primary Mirror Control System

The primary mirror control system for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) maintains the alignment of the 492 segments in the presence of both quasi-static (gravity and thermal) and dynamic disturbances due to unsteady wind loads. The latter results in a desired control bandwidth of 1Hz at high spatial frequencies. The achievable bandwidth is limited by robustness to (i) uncertain telescope structural dynamics (control-structure interaction) and (ii) small perturbations in the ill-conditioned influence matrix that relates segment edge sensor response to actuator commands. Both of these effects are considered herein using models of TMT. The former is explored through multivariable sensitivity analysis on a reduced-order Zernike-basis representation of the structural dynamics. The interaction matrix ("A-matrix") uncertainty has been analyzed theoretically elsewhere, and is examined here for realistic amplitude perturbations due to segment and sensor installation errors, and gravity and thermal induced segment motion. The primary influence of A-matrix uncertainty is on the control of "focusmode"; this is the least observable mode, measurable only through the edge-sensor (gap-dependent) sensitivity to the dihedral angle between segments. Accurately estimating focus-mode will require updating the A-matrix as a function of the measured gap. A-matrix uncertainty also results in a higher gain-margin requirement for focus-mode, and hence the A-matrix and CSI robustness need to be understood simultaneously. Based on the robustness analysis, the desired 1 Hz bandwidth is achievable in the presence of uncertainty for all except the lowest spatial-frequency response patterns of the primary mirror

Firm Turnover, Restructuring and Labour Productivity in Transition: The Case of Poland

This paper explores the impact of turnover and restructuring on labour productivity in the Polish economy over the period 1988-1993. Changes in aggregate productivity are decomposed into elements corresponding to productivity growth among survivors, market share growth by survivors and the contributions of entering and exiting firms. The traditional entry and exit effects begin to work as transition to a market economy progresses. However, initial productivity improvements are due to changes to market shares of the existing firms following the break-up of large enterprises. Regression analysis shows that changes in the firm-level productivity are affected by restructuring and a more competitive economic environment

Intrapartum epidural analgesia and breastfeeding: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND Anecdotal reports suggest that the addition of fentanyl (an opioid) to epidural analgesia for women during childbirth results in difficulty establishing breastfeeding. The aim of this paper is to determine any association between epidural analgesia and 1) breastfeeding in the first week postpartum and 2) breastfeeding cessation during the first 24 weeks postpartum. METHODS A prospective cohort study of 1280 women aged > or = 16 years, who gave birth to a single live infant in the Australian Capital Territory in 1997 was conducted. Women completed questionnaires at weeks 1, 8, 16 and 24 postpartum. Breastfeeding information was collected in each of the four surveys and women were categorised as either fully breastfeeding, partially breastfeeding or not breastfeeding at all. Women who had stopped breastfeeding since the previous survey were asked when they stopped. RESULTS In the first week postpartum, 93% of women were either fully or partially breastfeeding their baby and 60% were continuing to breastfeed at 24 weeks. Intrapartum analgesia and type of birth were associated with partial breastfeeding and breastfeeding difficulties in the first postpartum week (p < 0.0001). Analgesia, maternal age and education were associated with breastfeeding cessation in the first 24 weeks (p < 0.0001), with women who had epidurals being more likely to stop breastfeeding than women who used non-pharmacological methods of pain relief (adjusted hazard ratio 2.02, 95% CI 1.53, 2.67). CONCLUSION Women in this cohort who had epidurals were less likely to fully breastfeed their infant in the few days after birth and more likely to stop breastfeeding in the first 24 weeks. Although this relationship may not be causal, it is important that women at higher risk of breastfeeding cessation are provided with adequate breastfeeding assistance and support.Christine Roberts is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Public Health Practitioner Fellowship and Siranda Torvaldsen is supported by a NHMRC Australian Research Training Fellowship. The cohort study was supported by a project grant from The Canberra Hospital Private Practice Fund. Additional funding was provided by The Canberra Hospital Auxiliary, the Nurses' Board of the Australian Capital Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory Department of Health & Community Care

CHARGE DIRECTION INDICATING USBC CABLE

A hardware based solution is proposed for indicating charging direction in a USB-C cable. The solution comprises of bi-color red/green LEDs attached to the connector of the USB-C cable. The LEDs are electrically connected and will glow when the USB-C supportive device is connected to the USB-C supportive system either for receiving or providing power. The device which is providing power or receiving power is identified by the color of the glowing LED at the specific end of the connector of USB-C cable, for example green could indicate providing end and red the receiving end. The LEDs are always connected in the opposite orientation on each end of the cable such that they always have opposing color

MOUNTING SCREW BASED SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION

A mounting screw identification system can be used to determine a software configuration for an electronic device based on a type of electronic device chassis. A Printed Circuit Board (PCB), having screw holes with an open electrical circuit formed upon them, is placed in an electronic device chassis with mounting screw receiving threads. Conductive mounting screws are then inserted through the aligned PCB screw holes into the mounting screw receiving threads of the chassis to hold the PCB in place with the device chassis and also fill the electrical gap in the PCB screw holes to close the electrical circuit. A processor in the electronic device reads values on general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins, which can be either high or low, that are connected to the PCB screw holes to determine which screw holes have inserted screws that complete the electrical connection. Subsequently, the processor decodes the GPIO pin values to identify a binary code for the device chassis and determines the corresponding software configuration for the electronic device

SPEAR-1: An experiment to measure current collection in the ionosphere by high voltage biased conductors

An experiment is described in which a high electrical potential difference, up to 45 kV, was applied between deployed conducting spheres and a sounding rocket in the ionosphere. Measurements were made of the applied voltage and the resulting currents for each of 24 applications of different high potentials. In addition, diagnostic measurements of optical emissions in the vicinity of the spheres, energetic particle flow to the sounding rocket, dc electric field and wave data were made. The ambient plasma and neutral environments were measured by a Langmuir probe and a cold cathode neutral ionization gauge, respectively. The payload is described and examples of the measured current and voltage characteristics are presented. The characteristics of the measured currents are discussed in terms of the diagnostic measurements and the in-situ measurements of the vehicle environment. In general, it was found that the currents observed were at a level typical of magnetically limited currents from the ionospheric plasma for potentials less than 12 kV, and slightly higher for larger potentials. However, due to the failure to expose the plasma contactor, the vehicle sheath modified the sphere sheaths and made comparisons with the analytic models of Langmuir-Blodgett and Parker-Murphy less meaningful. Examples of localized enhancements of ambient gas density resulting from the operation of the attitude control system thrusters (cold nitrogen) were obtained. Current measurements and optical data indicated localized discharges due to enhanced gas density that reduced the vehicle-ionosphere impedance

A Growth Model for Porous Sedimentary Rocks

A growth model for porous sedimentary rocks is proposed, using a simple computer simulation algorithm. We generate the structure by ballistic deposition of particles with a bimodal size distribution. Porosity and specific surface area are calculated varying the proportion of small and larger particles. Permeability and its variation with porosity are studied. The fractal nature of the pore space is also discussed.Comment: 11 pages, Latex format, figures available on reques

Psychological interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees and asylum seekers: a systematic review and meta-analysis

There is a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in refugee and asylum seeker populations which can pose distinct challenges for mental health professionals. This review included 16 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with 1111 participants investigating the effect of psychological interventions on PTSD in these populations. We searched PsychInfo, ProQuest (including selected databases ASSIA, IBSS, PILOTS), Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Database of Controlled Studies (CENTRAL) and Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews (CDSR) to identify peer-reviewed, primary research articles up to May 2018. We used rigorous methods to assess the quality of included trials and evidence using Cochrane, SURE and GRADE systems. 525 trials were reviewed, 16 were included with 15 contributed to meta-analyses. Despite the challenges of conducting research in this field we found evidence for trauma-focused psychological interventions for PTSD in this population. Following sub-group analyses, we found evidence to support the use of EMDR and Narrative Exposure Therapy for PTSD symptoms. We considered these findings in relation to the broader PTSD treatment literature and related literature from survivors of large scale conflict. These findings suggest that trauma focused psychological therapies can be effective in improving symptoms for refugees and asylum seekers with PTSD

Phased array transducer for billet inspection

A phased array transducer design for billet inspection is presented. The transducer sweeps a uniform focus in both depth and angle to assure uniform coverage of the billet volume, particularly at the billet center, where coverage depends critically on transducer alignment. Design concepts are presented which enable the transducer to sweep a tight focus in both depth and angle using 63 discrete time delays. Design concepts and specifications are summarized, and experimental verification of design performance is presented. Data acquisition protocols are discussed enabling the phased array inspection to operate at production speeds