Disability Benefits Available Under the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Veterans Disability Compensation (VDC) Programs

[Excerpt] Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Veterans Disability Compensation (VDC)— administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) respectively—are two of the largest federal disability programs, but strongly differ along several dimensions, including the populations served, how each program defines a “disability,” as well as varying eligibility requirements. This report provides a description and comparative analysis of the SSDI and VDC programs. These issues will be of particular interest to Congress because of the expected increase in the numbers of SSDI and VDC claims. The recent economic decline and aging baby-boomers have continued to place a strain on SSA’s resources. The aging of the veteran population and expansion of presumptive conditions policies have contributed to the increase in VDC claims

Primer on Disability Benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

[Excerpt] This report presents information on two components of federal disability benefits, those provided through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. The SSDI program is an insured program that provides benefits to individuals who have paid into the system and meet certain minimum work requirements. The SSI program, in contrast, is a means-tested program that does not have work or contribution requirements, but individuals must meet the asset and resource limitations. To receive disability benefits under either program, individuals must meet strict medical requirements

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): The Five-Month Waiting Period for Benefits

[Excerpt] Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is authorized by Title II of the Social Security Act and provides income replacement for eligible individuals who are unable to work due to a long-term injury or illness that is expected to last at least one year or result in death. Current eligibility requirements include (1) verification of an applicant’s disability, (2) filing a claim, (3) a “recent work” and “duration of work” test, (4) verification that an individual has not reached normal retirement age, and (5) a five-month waiting period from disability-onset. In implementing the five-month waiting period for SSDI benefits, Congress sought to set a time frame that would be long enough for a short-term injury or illness to be corrected, but would also deter individuals who can work from applying for benefits. The first month counted as part of the waiting period can be no more than 17 months before the month of application, and benefits can be applied retroactively for up to 12 months. The Social Security Administration (SSA) encourages eligible individuals to apply for benefits as soon as possible after the onset of a disabling condition. The waiting period does not apply to individuals who have been previous recipients of SSDI in the five years prior to any current disability. Several other programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), temporary disability insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment compensation, and private disability insurance, can provide funds for eligible SSDI applicants facing financial hardship during the five-month wait period. This report explains the five-month waiting period and its legislative history and will be updated to reflect legislative activit

KINERJA DOSEN DALAM MELAKUKAN PENELITIAN UNTUK PENINGKATAN MUTU PENDIDIKAN TINGGI SWASTA PADA UNIVERSITAS SERAMBI MEKKAH BANDA ACEH

KINERJA DOSEN DALAM MELAKUKAN PENELITIAN UNTUK PENINGKATAN MUTU PENDIDIKAN TINGGI SWASTAPADA UNIVERSITAS SERAMBI MEKKAHBANDA ACEH Oleh : Ali Umar NPM : 1609200050043Komisi Pembimbing:1. Prof. Dr .Yusrizal, M. Pd.2. Dr. Niswanto, M. Pd.ABSTRAKRuang lingkup yang lebih besar akan mendorong dosen untuk lebih aktif dan terus menambah pengetahuan mereka terhadap ilmu yang akan mereka ajarkan dan didarma baktikan untuk peningkatan mutu pendidikan tinggi. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah: untuk mengetahui kinerja dosen dalam melakukan penelitian untuk peningkatan mutu pendidikan tinggi swasta pada Universitas Serambi Mekkah. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode deskriptif. Teknik pengumpulan data yaitu: wawancara, observasi, studi dokumentasi. Teknik analisis data dengan reduksi data, display data, mengambil kesimpulan dan verifikasi. Subjek penelitian ini adalah Rektor, Dosen, dan Mahasiswa pada perguruan tinggi swasta pada universitas serambi mekkah. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian diperoleh bahwa: (1) Kualitas proposal dosen dalam melakukan penelitian untuk peningkatan mutu pendidikan tinggi swasta pada Universitas Serambi Mekkah harus meningkatkan kualitas diri dengan memahami dan meningkatkan kompetensi diri, memiliki keterampilan dalam menghasilkan proposal dosen dalam melakukan penelitian, yang lebih inovasi dan kreatifitas yang tinggi sehingga berjalan dengan baik, secara efektif dan efisien; (2) Kemampuan pelaksanaan penelitian dosen dalam melakukan penelitian untuk peningkatan mutu pendidikan tinggi swasta pada Universitas Serambi Mekkah sudah menunjukkan kenaikan dari tahun sebelumnya; (3) Strategi untuk mempublikasikan hasil penelitian dosen dalam melakukan penelitian untuk peningkatan mutu pendidikan tinggi swasta pada Universitas Serambi Mekkah adalah pelatihan metodologi dan etika penelitian ilmiah, penyediaan sarana dan fasilitas, pengaturan beban jam mengajar, dan mendukung dana atau membantu menghubungkan dengan lembaga yang dapat membiayai proyek penelitian mereka.Kata Kunci: Kinerja Dosen dan Peningkatan Mutu Pendidika

DIETARY DIVERSITY AND RURAL LABOR PRODUCTIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTAN

The relationship between rural labor productivity and food diversity was analyzed from the household consumption survey data of Pakistan. The elasticity of wage to diversity (0.77) was higher than to food expenditure (0.13). Lowering the prices of meats and fruits and vegetables will have the greatest impact on labor productivity.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Labor and Human Capital,

Hybrid multiobjective genetic algorithm for integrated dynamic scheduling and routing of jobs and automated guided vehicles in flexible manufacturing systems

The dynamic continues trend of adoption and improvement inventive automated technologies is one of the main competing strategies of many manufacturing industries. Effective integrated operations management of Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system in Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) environment results in the overall system performance. Routing AGVs was proved to be NP-Complete and scheduling of jobs was also proved to be NP hard problems. The running time of any deterministic algorithms solving these types of problems increases very rapidly with the size of the problem, which can be many years with any computational resources available presently. Solving AGVs conflict free routing, dispatching and simultaneous scheduling of the jobs and AGVs in FMS in an integrated manner is identified as the only means of safeguarding the feasibility of the solution to each sub-problem. Genetic algorithm has recorded of huge success in solving NP-Complete optimization problems with similar nature to this problem. The objectives of this research are to develop an algorithm for integrated scheduling and conflict-free routing of jobs and AGVs in FMS environment using a hybrid genetic algorithm, ensure the algorithm validity and improvement on the performance of the developed algorithm. The algorithm generates an integrated scheduling and detail paths route while optimizing makespan, AGV travel time, mean flow time and penalty cost due to jobs tardiness and delay as a result of conflict avoidance. The integrated algorithms use two genetic representations for the individual solution entire sub-chromosomes. The first three sub-chromosomes use random keys to represent jobs sequencing, operations allocation on machines and AGV dispatching, while the remaining sub-chromosomes are representing particular routing paths to be used by each dispatched AGV. The multiobjective fitness function use adaptive weight approach to assign weights to each objective for every generation based on objective improvement performance. Fuzzy expert system is used to control genetic operators using the overall population performance history. The algorithm used weight mapping crossover (WMX) and Insertion Mutation (IM) as genetic operators for sub-chromosomes represented with priority-based representation. Parameterized uniform crossover (PUX) and migration are used as genetic operators for sub-chromosomes represented using random-key based encoding. Computational experiments were conducted on the developed algorithm coded in Matlab to test the effectiveness of the algorithm. First scenario uses static consideration, the second scenario uses dynamic consideration with machine failure recovery. Sensitivity analysis and convergence analysis was also conducted. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in generating the integrated scheduling, AGVs dispatching and conflict-free routing. The comparison of the result of the developed integrated algorithm using two benchmark FMS scheduling algorithms datasets is conducted. The comparison shows the improvement of 1.1% and 16% in makespan of the first and the second benchmark production dataset respectively. The major novelty of the algorithm is an integrated approach to the individual sub-problems which ensures the legality, and feasibility of all solutions generated for various sub-problems which in the literature are considered separately

Implementasi Pendekatan Pembelajaran Kontekstual dengan Hypnoteaching untuk Mereduksi Tingkat Kecemasan Matematika (Mathematics Anxiety) Siswa

Artikel ini merupakan hasil penelitian yang bertujuan untuk mengetahui penurunan tingkat kecemasan matematika siswa antara sebelum dan sesudah diajar dengan pendekatan kontekstual dengan hypnoteaching. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian eksperimen semu dengan desain penelitian One Group Pretest – Postest Design. Sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah kelas VIIIA SMP Siti Chadijah. Instrumen penelitian berupa angket kecemasan matematika yang diberikan kepada kelas eksperimen sebelum dan sesudah diberikan perlakuan. berdasarkan hasil analisi angket dapat disimpulkan bahwa model pembelajaran kontekstual dengan hypnoteaching mampu mereduksi tingkat kecemasan matematis siswa

Veterans’ Benefits: The Impact of Military Discharges on Basic Eligibility

[Excerpt] This report discusses the discharge or separation requirement for veteran status or, more specifically, how the VA assesses character of service to determine whether a former service member’s separation from the military can be considered other than dishonorable. In some instances, the military characterization of discharge is relatively uncomplicated, creating a binding entitlement to VA benefits (i.e., an honorable or general discharge [under honorable conditions]), assuming the individual meets other eligibility requirements for veteran status. However, if the characterization of discharge may preclude access to veteran’s benefits, the VA must develop the case, through an assessment of service records and other evidence related to a claimant’s time in the military. This report includes a hypothetical example (in Appendix C) illustrating the complexities associated with making character of service determinations by the VA