Expanding a Fixed Route Bus System with the Lower Anthracite Transit System

We worked in partnership with the Lower Anthracite Transit System (LATS) to develop a proposed bus route in the town of Sunbury, PA, expanding their system to include more of Northumberland County. This bus route is predicated upon community-based feedback through surveys, where we designed and implemented a survey analyzing general transportation desires and interest in the route. We collected 207 total responses, where community feedback in these responses informed decisions about stop locations along the route. Survey responses are hugely beneficial for LATS, allowing them to understand what aspects of their transportation services work well and what can be improved further. This can help with future cases for funding and state approvals. We also created a webpage for the organization, to increase online presence and accessibility. This included maps that we were able to develop of the existing routes that are now available through the website to view, download, and print. Altogether, our work presents a practical and efficient solution to address transportation needs within the town of Sunbury. Continued collaboration between LATS and community members, even after our work on this project is complete, is critical in finalizing a fixed-route bus service that meets the diverse needs of the populations of Mount Carmel, Shamokin, and Sunbury. By carefully considering factors such as passenger demand and route feasibility, LATS can create a system that enhances accessibility, reduces traffic congestion, and promotes sustainability

Quantitative Assessment of the Anatomical Footprint of the C1 Pedicle Relative to the Lateral Mass: A Guide for C1 Lateral Mass Fixation

Study Design: Anatomic study. Objectives: To determine the relationship of the anatomical footprint of the C1 pedicle relative to the lateral mass (LM). Methods: Anatomic measurements were made on fresh frozen human cadaveric C1 specimens: pedicle width/height, LM width/height (minimum/maximum), LM depth, distance between LM’s medial aspect and pedicle’s medial border, distance between LM’s lateral aspect to pedicle’s lateral border, distance between pedicle’s inferior aspect and LM’s inferior border, distance between arch’s midline and pedicle’s medial border. The percentage of LM medial to the pedicle and the distance from the center of the LM to the pedicle’s medial wall were calculated. Results: A total of 42 LM were analyzed. The C1 pedicle’s lateral aspect was nearly confluent with the LM’s lateral border. Average pedicle width was 9.0 ± 1.1 mm, and average pedicle height was 5.0 ± 1.1 mm. Average LM width and depth were 17.0 ± 1.6 and 17.2 ± 1.6 mm, respectively. There was 6.9 ± 1.5 mm of bone medial to the medial C1 pedicle, which constituted 41% ± 9% of the LM’s width. The distance from C1 arch’s midline to the medial pedicle was 13.5 ± 2.0 mm. The LM’s center was 1.6 ± 1 mm lateral to the medial pedicle wall. There was on average 3.5 ± 0.6 mm of the LM inferior to the pedicle inferior border. Conclusions: The center of the lateral mass is 1.6 ± 1 mm lateral to the medial wall of the C1 pedicle and approximately 15 mm from the midline. There is 6.9 ± 1.5 mm of bone medial to the medial C1 pedicle. Thus, the medial aspect of C1 pedicle may be used as an anatomic reference for locating the center of the C1 LM for screw fixation

Nonequilibrium relaxation and scaling properties of the two-dimensional Coulomb glass in the aging regime

We employ Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the two-time density autocorrelation function for the two-dimensional Coulomb glass. We find that the nonequilibrium relaxation properties of this highly correlated disordered system can be described by a full aging scaling ansatz. The scaling exponents are non-universal, and depend on temperature and charge density.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures included; revised version: corrected exponents, and some additional explanations and references added; to appear in EP

Recessionary changes at work and employee well-being: the protective roles of national- and workplace institutions

The recession following the 2008 financial crisis brought major changes to employees’ experiences at work. We investigate the adverse effects of two of such changes: perceived organizational distress and job deterioration. We also examine the extent to which institutions at national level (employment protection legislation and collective bargaining coverage) and at workplace level (employment contract and union membership) may act as buffers against these effects. Using data from 21 European countries, we show that recessionary changes were associated with reduced psychological well-being and greater levels of work–nonwork interference

A Dynamic Model of Unemployment with Migration and Delayed Policy Intervention

The purpose of this paper is to build and analyse a model of unemployment, where jobs search is open to both natives and migrant workers. Markets and government intervention respond jointly to unemployment when creating new jobs. Full employment of resources is the focal point of policy action, stimulating vacancy creation. We acknowledge that policy is implemented with delays, and capture labour market outcomes by building a non-linear dynamic system. We observe jobs separation and matching, and extend our model to an open economy with migration and delayed policy intervention meant to reduce unemployment. We analyse the stability behaviour of the resulting equilibrium for our dynamic system, including models with Dirac and weak kernels. We simulate our model with alternative scenarios, where policy action towards jobs creation considers both migration and unemployment, or just unemployment

Enforcement of labor regulations and job flows: evidence from Brazilian cities

The frequency of labor inspections in Brazil increased in the late 1990s. In the years that followed, between 2003 and 2007, formal employment expanded significantly in the country. This paper examines whether these city-level changes in labor inspections could be a significant factor contributing to the increase in the number of formal labor contracts at the city level. We exploit unique administrative data on formal employment on different indicators for job and worker flows—including job creation, destruction, reallocation, accessions, and separations—between 1996 and 2006, and on the intensity of labor inspections, both at the city level. The results show that increases in the enforcement of labor market regulations at the subnational level led to an increase in gross and net formal job creation rates and accession rates in a period when the Brazilian GDP and formal employment were growing and informality rates were declining. In contrast, increases in enforcement of regulations are not significantly correlated with changes in the rate of job destruction. This finding is robust to different specifications and is consistent with a model where formal jobs become more attractive to workers when enforcement of different types of labor regulations increases. JEL ClassificationJ21, J63, E24, H80, C23

The Job Search Intensity Supply Curve: How Labor Market Conditions Affect Job Search Effort

During the Great Recession of 2007, unemployment reached nearly 10 percent and the ratio of unemployment to open positions (as measured by the Help Wanted OnLine Index) more than tripled. The weak labor market prompted an unprecedented extension in the length of time in which a claimant can collect unemployment insurance (UI) to 99 weeks, at an expense to date of $226.4 billion. While many claim that extending UI during a recession will reduce search intensity, the effect of weak labor market conditions on search remains a mystery. As a result, policymakers are in the dark as to whether UI extensions reduce already low search effort during recessions or perhaps decrease excessive search, which causes congestion in the labor market. At the same time, modelers of the labor market have little empirical justification for their assumptions on how search intensity changes over the business cycle. This paper develops a search model where the impact of macro labor market conditions on a worker’s search effort depends on whether these two factors are substitutes or complements in the job search process. Parameter estimates of the structural model using a sample of unemployment spells from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 indicate that macro labor market conditions and individual search effort are complements and move together over the business cycle. The estimation also reveals that more risk-averse and less wealthy individuals exhibit less search effort