Women Miners\u27 Fight for Parental Leave

[Excerpt] In the late 1970s, for the first time in our nation\u27s history, coal miners started getting pregnant. In many cases, the mother had spent years fighting to get her coal mining job, fought against sexual harassment and discrimination in the mines, and worked hard to prove her competence and gain acceptance as a miner. For some, pregnancy forced them to quit their jobs, give up their seniority and lose their health insurance just when they needed it most. For others, pregnancy meant worries about the potential effects of mining on the fetus. In response to this problem and to the dramatic need of their union brothers, a small band of women miners—constituting less than 2% of the United Mine Workers of America— developed a campaign for parental leave as a formal employee benefit. At a minimum, parental leave would allow mothers and fathers to safeguard their jobs and insurance coverage while taking adequate time off to safely bring children into the world and to care for them during serious illnesses. The women miners have focused their campaign on two fronts simultaneously — building support for a parental leave clause in the UMWA contract and for federal legislation that would affect all working parents. Both approaches build on each other and connect with the efforts of women in other unions as momentum is gathering for a new approach to the relationship of family and work

A Probabilistic Monte Carlo model for pricing discrete barrier options

We present an original Probabilistic Monte Carlo (PMC) model for pricing European discrete barrier options. Based on Monte Carlo simulation, the PMC model computes the probability of not crossing the barrier for knock-out options and crossing the barrier for knock-in options. This probability is then multiplied by an average sample discounted payoff of a plain vanilla option that has the same inputs as the barrier option but without barrier and to which we have applied a filter. We test the consistency of our model with an analytical solution (Merton 1973 and Reiner & Rubinstein 1991) adjusted for discretization by Broadie et al. (1997) and a naïve numerical model using Monte Carlo simulation presented by Clewlow & Strickland (2000). We show that the PMC model accurately price barrier equity options. Market participants in need of selecting a reliable and simple numerical method for pricing discrete barrier options will find our paper appealing. Moreover, the idea behind the method is so elementary that it can be applied to the pricing of complex derivatives involving barriers, easing the valuation step significantly. Keywords: Monte Carlo Simulation, Option Pricing; Discrete Barrier Option

Investigation of Modular Multilevel Converter Performance under Non-Ideal Distribution System Conditions

The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) is an emerging power converter technology that has caught widespread attention mainly because of several technical and economic benefits such as modular realization, easy scalability, low total harmonic distortion, fail-safe operations etc. The MMC is comprised of a series connection of sub-modules (SM). A sub-module is made by either a half-bridge or a full-bridge IGBT device and a capacitor as a source of energy connected across the bridge. This modular structure allows for the possibility to design high-voltage converters handling hundreds of kilo-volts without direct series connection of the power semiconductor devices. Due to its modular and safe-fail structure, ability to work at low switching frequency (few hundreds of Hz) and reduced filtering requirements the MMCs are suitable for utility applications. One of the main challenges of a utility MMC is operation under non-ideal grid supply conditions. This includes phase to phase faults, phase to ground faults, non-sinusoidal grid supply etc. This dissertation presents a novel control strategy for MMC based on frequency domain decomposition of the converter currents. The converter supply voltage is also decomposed into symmetrical components. By using the positive sequence grid voltage component as a reference voltage the control system can produce symmetric sinusoidal phase currents under any type of grid unbalance condition. A novel circulating current controller based on frequency domain decomposition of arm currents is also presented which minimizes DC bus current ripples during unbalance grid supply A novel and simple method for estimating operating region of certain MMC parameters as a function of input variables (grid voltages and power references) is developed. The function of the operating region with respect to key system parameters ensures that the operating region can be maximized Finally, a new simplified loss modeling technique and a power reference computation algorithm is developed in order to extend its operating limit under certain unbalance conditions. The presented control architecture with a simplified real-time loss modeling method assures the best possible performance of a MMC during non-ideal supply conditions

An investigation of the relationship between biorhythm theory and swimming or track performances

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if any significant relationship exists between track or swimming performances and days identified as positive or negative by biorhythm theory. [This is an excerpt from the abstract. For the complete abstract, please see the document.

Hospitality Students' Perceptions Towards the Application of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) (A Case Study at SMKN 5 Barru)

This research aims to find out the students' perceptions about the implementation of communicative language teaching (CLT) to develop their speaking skills. The participants in this study involved twelfth-grade (XII) students from hospitality program at SMK N 5 Barru. This research conducted a descriptive qualitative approach and the data was gathered by observation using field notes and interviews. Data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing were used in analyzing the data. The findings indicated that most of the hospitality students agreed the application of CLT in classroom activities could help them in developing their language skills and self-confidence even though they found it quite challenging to implement in their learning process and thus, still required their teacher to use code-switching during classroom activities. Moreover, the students mostly favored active discussion activities and worked in pairs or groups that focused on their fields of study with the integration of additional tools, such as online platforms and applications to make their learning process more exciting. The results of this study showed that the hospitality students had positive perceptions toward the use of CLT that applied by the English teacher, as these enhanced their language learning experience and progressively improved the hospitality students speaking abilities in practicing the target language

Les bandes de Bollinger comme technique de réduction de la variance des prix d’options sur obligations obtenus par la simulation de Monte-Carlo

Dans cet article, nous proposons une nouvelle technique de réduction de la variance d’une simulation : les bandes de Bollinger. Nous montrons comment le recours aux bandes de Bollinger, une procédure utilisée en analyse technique, peut accroître considérablement la performance d’une simulation de Monte-Carlo en termes de réduction de la variance des simulations. La technique des bandes de Bollinger sert à filtrer les variations extrêmes qui s’observent dans une simulation. Nous appliquons cette technique à la simulation des prix de 38 options sur obligations (OBK) transigées à la Bourse de Montréal, ce en tirant profit du modèle de Fong et Vasicek pour simuler les prix des options. L’erreur quadratique moyenne des simulations se voit réduite considérablement à la suite de l’utilisation des bandes de Bollinger. Le modèle de Fong et Vasicek renforcé par les bandes de Bollinger se compare également très favorablement à celui de Black, Derman et Toy, soit le modèle encore le plus utilisé dans la pratique financière pour évaluer les options sur taux d’intérêt et sur obligations.In this paper, we propose a new variance reduction technique to speed up the convergence during a Monte-Carlo simulation : Bollinger Bands. Beside being used in technical analysis, we show how Bollinger Bands can filter the extreme variations appearing during a simulation. We apply this technique in conjunction with the Fong and Vasicek model to price bond options (OBK) traded at the Montreal Exchange. The MSE is drastically reduced when adding Bollinger Bands to the simulation. In addition, the Fong and Vasicek model in conjunction with the Bollinger Band-based technique performs very well compared to the Black, Derman and Toy model, a widespread model among professionals

Will Saudi Arabia get older? Will its pension system be sustainable? Spectral answers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to answer the following two questions: Will Saudi Arabia get older? Will its pension system be sustainable? Design/methodology/approach - The methodology/approach is to forecast KSA’s population with wavelet analysis combined with the Burg model which fits a pt h order autoregressive model to the input signal by minimizing (least squares) the forward and backward prediction errors while constraining the autoregressive parameters to satisfy the Levinson-Durbin recursion, then relies on an infinite impulse response prediction error filter. Findings - Spectral analysis projections of Saudi age groups are more optimistic than the Bayesian probabilistic model sponsored by the United Nations Population Division: Saudi Arabia will not get older as fast as projected by the United Nations model. The KSA’s pension system will stay sustainable based on spectral analysis, whereas it will not based on the U.N. model. Originality/value - Spectral analysis will provide better insight and understanding of population dynamics for Saudi government policymakers, as well as economic, health and pension planners

TWIST1 Plays a Pleiotropic Role in Determining the Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Phenotype

10 páginas, 5 figuras, 1 tabla.-- et al.[Context]:Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is one of the most aggressive human tumors; it is characterized by chemoresistance, local invasion, and distant metastases. ATC is invariably fatal. [Objective]:The aim was to study the role of TWIST1, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, in ATC. [Design]:Expression of TWIST1 was studied by immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR in normal thyroids and well-differentiated, poorly differentiated, and ATC. The function of TWIST1 was studied by RNA interference in ATC cells and by ectopic expression in well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma cells. [Results]:ATCs up-regulate TWIST1 with respect to normal thyroids as well as to poorly and well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas. Knockdown of TWIST1 by RNA interference in ATC cells reduced cell migration and invasion and increased sensitivity to apoptosis. The ectopic expression of TWIST1 in thyroid cells induced resistance to apoptosis and increased cell migration and invasion. [Conclusions]:TWIST1 plays a key role in determining malignant features of the anaplastic phenotype in vitro.This work was supported by the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro, the Istituto Superiore di Oncologia, the Italian Ministero della Salute, the Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca, the European Community Contract FP6-36495, and the Programa Ramón y Cajal–Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Social EU Funds, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain.Peer reviewe

Anciennes exploitations de quartz hyalins dans la vallée de la Tarentaise

Les recherches sur les anciennes exploitations de cristaux de quartz hyalins que nous avons entreprises depuis plusieurs années dans le massif alpin ont permis de mettre en évidence en altitude un ensemble de sites d’extraction qui témoignent d’une activité concernant l’ensemble des Alpes françaises et qui a pu représenter une véritable facteur d’occupation de la montagne avec une exploitation systématique des ressources en cristaux de quartz dans les vallées alpines. Des gîtes très important..

DESIGN AND MEASURED PERFORMANCE OF DUAL POLARISED APERTURE-COUPLED MICRO STRIP PATCH ANTENNAS

The paper discusses the design of aperture-coupled microstrip patch antennas for dual linear polarisation with special emphasis on achieving a wide bandwidth and a high polar- isation isolation. The coupling behaviour of crossed slot and offset slot designs is discussed and compared to each other. Several design examples for aperture-coupled antenna ele- ments illustrate how the polarisation isolation decreases as the bandwidth of the antenna elements is increasing. A design example for an 8xl element subarray for a frequency in X- band (9.6 G Hz) shows a standing wave ratio of VSWR< 1..5 and a polarisation isolation of better than 2.5 dB within a bandwidth of 470 MHz