Industrial Relations in Switzerland

Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries are noted for their low levels of industrial conflict. Thereafter the similarity between the two approaches to industrial relations becomes rather tenuous. The Swiss system of industrial relations is anything but centralised. It demonstrates what many outside observers might consider acute sensitivity to the preservation of individual freedom of choice. To some extent this may be explained in terms of Switzerland's unique form of direct democracy. At the same time, there is evidence that this multi cultural federation with complications of language and religion has achieved a large measure of consensus on the procedural aspects of industrial relations. In this respect, the peace agreement approach first introduced in 1937 has been described by an experienced Swiss mediator as the main pillar of Swiss industrial peace

Has the Next Bus Gone Yet?: Industrial Relations in the 1980s

This title was drawn from the punch line in one of those Irish stories which still creep into local publications despite the Human Rights Commission. Paddy's query on arriving at the bus stop (the writer argues) seems to summarise much current concern about industrial relations

A Randomized Depression Prevention Trial Comparing Interpersonal Psychotherapy—Adolescent Skills Training To Group Counseling In Schools

Given the rise in depression disorders in adolescence, it is important to develop and study depression prevention programs for this age group. The current study examined the efficacy of Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST), a group prevention program for adolescent depression, in comparison to group programs that are typically delivered in school settings. In this indicated prevention trial, 186 adolescents with elevated depression symptoms were randomized to receive IPT-AST delivered by research staff or group counseling (GC) delivered by school counselors. Hierarchical linear modeling examined differences in rates of change in depressive symptoms and overall functioning from baseline to the 6-month follow-up assessment. Cox regression compared rates of depression diagnoses. Adolescents in IPT-AST showed significantly greater improvements in self-reported depressive symptoms and evaluator-rated overall functioning than GC adolescents from baseline to the 6-month follow-up. However, there were no significant differences between the two conditions in onset of depression diagnoses. Although both intervention conditions demonstrated significant improvements in depressive symptoms and overall functioning, results indicate that IPT-AST has modest benefits over groups run by school counselors which were matched on frequency and duration of sessions. In particular, IPT-AST outperformed GC in reduction of depressive symptoms and improvements in overall functioning. These findings point to the clinical utility of this depression prevention program, at least in the short-term. Additional follow-up is needed to determine the long-term effects of IPT-AST, relative to GC, particularly in preventing depression onset

Giant optical Faraday rotation induced by a single electron spin in a quantum dot: Applications to entangling remote spins via a single photon

We propose a quantum non-demolition method - giant Faraday rotation - to detect a single electron spin in a quantum dot inside a microcavity where negatively-charged exciton strongly couples to the cavity mode. Left- and right-circularly polarized light reflected from the cavity feels different phase shifts due to cavity quantum electrodynamics and the optical spin selection rule. This yields giant and tunable Faraday rotation which can be easily detected experimentally. Based on this spin-detection technique, a scalable scheme to create an arbitrary amount of entanglement between two or more remote spins via a single photon is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Directional interacting whispering gallery modes in coupled dielectric microdisks

We study the optical interaction in a coupled dielectric microdisks by investigating the splitting of resonance positions of interacting whispering gallery modes (WGMs) and their pattern change, depending on the distance between the microdisks. It is shown that the interaction between the WGMs with odd parity about y-axis becomes appreciable at a distance less than a wavelength and causes directional emissions of the resulting interacting WGMs. The directionality of the interacting WGMs can be understood in terms of an effective boundary deformation in ray dynamical analysis. We also discuss about the oscillation of the splitting when the distance is greater than a wavelength.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

Quantitative Ultrasonic Tomographic Imaging

An ultrasonic transmission technique is described which images the velocity variation within metal parts. The arrival time of the first ultrasonic pulse to traverse the object is detected and displayed as a gray scale on a cathode ray tube while the part is being scanned horizontally and vertically. The velocity variation imaged within several cast turbine parts will be shown. The system can detect voids as small as 0.020 inch. With a more complex computer program and knowing the dimensions of the part, tomographic reconstruction of the velocity variation within parts with curved surfaces should be possible

ISSUES IN ANALYSIS OF A LONG-TERM INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT FIELD STUDY

A team of 14 scientists conducted a 6-year, 16-ha, integrated pest management field study in the dryland wheat production area of the Pacific Northwest. Objectives were to develop a profitable crop production system that controls weeds effectively and reduces soil erosion. Farm-size machinery was used to till, plant, and harvest crops grown in either a continuous wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) sequence or a 3-year crop rotation of winter wheat-spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) -spring pea (Pisum sativum L.) in conservation and conventional tillage systems. Main plot factor levels were two tillage systems and three rotation positions of winter wheat. Subplot factor levels were three weed management levels . Issues in analysis oflong-term field studies are discussed. Multiple objectives and complexity of the design make analysis of these studies challenging. Results of one analysis of the data as a split plot analysis of variance averaged over years showed that conservation tillage systems for winter wheat met conservation compliance on highly erodible lands of the Pacific Northwest, reduced income risks, and lessened weather related fluctuations. Wheat yield was highest in the conservation tillage, 3-year crop rotation at maximum weed management level

Satellite Emission Range Inferred Earth Survey (SERIES) project

The Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed by the Department of Defense primarily for navigation use by the United States Armed Forces. The system will consist of a constellation of 18 operational Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging (NAVSTAR) satellites by the late 1980's. During the last four years, the Satellite Emission Range Inferred Earth Surveying (SERIES) team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed a novel receiver which is the heart of the SERIES geodetic system designed to use signals broadcast from the GPS. This receiver does not require knowledge of the exact code sequence being transmitted. In addition, when two SERIES receivers are used differentially to determine a baseline, few cm accuracies can be obtained. The initial engineering test phase has been completed for the SERIES Project. Baseline lengths, ranging from 150 meters to 171 kilometers, have been measured with 0.3 cm to 7 cm accuracies. This technology, which is sponsored by the NASA Geodynamics Program, has been developed at JPL to meet the challenge for high precision, cost-effective geodesy, and to complement the mobile Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) system for Earth surveying