Value of Joint Programs Underestimated

[Excerpt] I am happy to comment on a provocative monograph that raises important issues for union policies and strategies. The authors make two main points: 1. Unions should be proactive in developing worker participation programs in industry and should push them beyond the shopfloor into strategic economic and technological issues. 2. As far as possible, worker participation programs should be controlled by the union. Union leaders should firmly reject programs jointly controlled by union and management. I agree with the first point and disagree with the second. I also question what I see as a bias in selecting case examples to support the Banks-Metzgar thesis. If authors are free to choose any cases to support their arguments, they can prove almost anything

An analysis of bi-directional use of frequencies for satellite communications

The bi-directional use of frequencies allocated for space communications has the potential to double the orbit/spectrum capacity available. The technical feasibility of reverse band use (RBU) at C-band (4 GHz uplinks and 6 GHz downlinks) is studied. The analysis identifies the constraints under which both forward and reverse band use satellite systems can share the same frequencies with terrestrial, line of sight transmission systems. The results of the analysis show that RBU satellite systems can be similarly sized to forward band use (FBU) satellite systems. In addition, the orbital separation requirements between RBU and FBU satellite systems are examined. The analysis shows that a carrier to interference ratio of 45 dB can be maintianed between RBU and FBU satellites separated by less than 0.5 deg., and that a carrier to interference ratio of 42 dB can be maintained in the antipodal case. Rain scatter propagation analysis shows that RBU and FBU Earth stations require separation distances fo less than 10 km at a rain rate of 13.5 mm/hr escalating to less than 100 km at a rain rate of 178 mm/hr for Earth station antennas in the 3 to 10 m range

Prevalence of common oral conditions in dogs and cats attending a veterinary teaching hospital in Spain

Our aim is to provide a look into the typical clinical caseload from odontology primary care, based on dogs and cats treated at a veterinary teaching hospital. From 2013 to 2019, 468 dogs and 139 cats were treated. Data come from primary care practice; no referral cases were considered. The most frequently detected conditions in dogs were periodontal disease (59.6%), oral tumors (11.3%), dental fractures (7.7%), class 1 malocclusion (7.1%), dental fistulas (5.8%), class 3 malocclusion (3.4%), gingivitis (1.7%), periodontal disease with tooth resorption (0.4%), class 2 malocclusion (0.2%) and others (2.8%). Different distributions of main conditions were found when considering age and weight/breed (p  0.05). No significant temporal trends were detected. These prevalence estimations can be useful in the diagnosis and establishment of preventive measures. Attention could be focused on different oral conditions depending on breed (dogs) and on age (both dogs and cats)

Inertial navigation systems for mobile robots

Cataloged from PDF version of article.A low-cost solid-state inertial navigation system (INS) for mobile robotics applications is described. Error models for the inertial sensors are generated and included in an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for estimating the position and orientation of a moving robot vehicle. Two Merent solid-state gyroscopes have been evaluated for estimating the orientation of the robot. Performance of the gyroscopes with error models is compared to the performance when the error models are excluded from the system. The results demonstrate that without error compensation, the error in orientation is between 5-15"/min but can be improved at least by a factor of 5 if an adequate error model is supplied. Siar error models have been developed for each axis of a solid-state triaxial accelerometer and for a conducting-bubble tilt sensor which may also be used as a low-cost accelerometer. Linear position estimation with information from accelerometers and tilt sensors is more susceptible to errors due to the double integration process involved in estimating position. With the system described here, the position drift rate is 1-8 cds, depending on the frequency of acceleration changes. An integrated inertial platform consisting of three gyroscopes, a triaxial accelerometer and two tilt sensors is described. Results from tests of this platform on a large outdoor mobile robot system are described and compared to the results obtained from the robot's own radar-based guidance system. Like all inertial systems, the platform requires additional information from some absolute position-sensing mechanism to overcome long-term drift. However, the results show that with careful and detailed modeling of error sources, low-cost inertial sensing systems can provide valuable orientation and position information particularly for outdoor mobile robot applications

Good Bye!

[Verse 1]Falling leaf, and fading tree,Lines of white in a sullen sea,Shadows rising on you and me; Shadows rising on you and me; The swallows are making them ready to fly,Wheeling out on a windy skyGood bye, Summer! Good bye, good bye, summer! Good bye, Good bye!Hush! A voice from the far away! “Listen and learn,”It seems to say,“All the tomorrows shall be as today.” “All the tomorrows shall be as today” The cord is frayed, the curse is dry,The link must break, and the lamp must dieGoodbye, to hope! Goodbye, goodbye! Goodbye to hope! Goodbye, Goodbye!What are we waiting for? Oh! My heart! Kiss me straight on the brows! And just!Again!Again! my heart! my heart!What are we waiting for, you and I?A pleading look a stifled cryGoodbye, forever! Goodbye, forever!Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye

Evaluation of solid-state gyroscope for robotics applications

Cataloged from PDF version of article.he evaluation of a low-cost solid-state gyroscope for robotics applications is described. An error model for the sensor is generated and included in a Kalman filter for estimating the orientation of a moving robot vehicle. Orientation eshation with the error model is compared to the performance when the error model is excluded from the system. The results demonstrate that without error compensation, the error in localization is between 5-15"/min but can be improved at least by a factor of 5 if an adequate error model is supplied. Like all inertial systems, the platform requires additional information from some absolute position-sensing mechanism to overcome long-term drift. However, the results show that with careful and detailed modeling of error sources, inertial sensors can provide valuable orientation information for mobile robot applications

7. The 1970s

From View from the Dean’s Office by Robert McKersie. “I had been on the job just a week when Keith Kennedy, vice provost, called and said we needed to make a trip to Albany to meet the chancellor of SUNY, Ernest Boyer. This was late August 1971. After a few pleasantries, it became clear that this was not just the courtesy call of a new dean reporting in to the top leader of the state university. Chancellor Boyer went right to the point: a new Labor College was going to open on the premises of Local 3 IBEW’s training facility on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, and the ILR School had to be there as a partner. It was not clear what unit of SUNY would take over the Labor College, but it was clear that given its broad mandate for labor education, the ILR School was going to play a key role.” Includes: View from the Dean’s Office; From Eric Himself; Another Perspective; Labor College Graduation: VanArsdale’s Dream Fulfilled; The View of a Visiting Faculty Member; Another Perspective; and The Student’s View

Symmetric sequence processing in a recurrent neural network model with a synchronous dynamics

The synchronous dynamics and the stationary states of a recurrent attractor neural network model with competing synapses between symmetric sequence processing and Hebbian pattern reconstruction is studied in this work allowing for the presence of a self-interaction for each unit. Phase diagrams of stationary states are obtained exhibiting phases of retrieval, symmetric and period-two cyclic states as well as correlated and frozen-in states, in the absence of noise. The frozen-in states are destabilised by synaptic noise and well separated regions of correlated and cyclic states are obtained. Excitatory or inhibitory self-interactions yield enlarged phases of fixed-point or cyclic behaviour.Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretica