Performance models for unreliable flexible manufacturing systems

This paper deals with the analysis and application of queueing models for single and multi stage flexible manufacturing systems that are subject to resource failure. Exact results are derived for the single stage queueing system. Two approximations are presneted for the multi stage queueing system as a closed network. We validate the approximations by comparing their performance estimates against the exact global balance solution.     

Fertility and eugenics: Singapore's population policies

Singapore, after serving for two decades as a model for Third World birth control and economic development programs, is now abandoning its earlier population policies in favor of encouraging dramatic population growth. The initial eugenics-based program introduced in 1984 sought increased fertility for university-educated women and provided major subsidies for the voluntary sterilization of poor and uneducated parents. These much publicized and internationally discussed programs have now been abandoned in favor of new population programs seeking to encourage fertility in lower as well as better educated groups. A forty percent population increase is being set as a goal. To accomplish this the effective Singapore Family Planning and Population Board has been abolished and Housing Development Board policies are in the process of being reversed to encourage rather than discourage fertility.The research reported here was partially funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and by a grant from the Population Council's International Research Awards Program on the Determinants of Fertility in Developing Countries, a program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.     

Working Together to Improve Accessibility: Consortial E-Resource Accessibility and Advocacy

Abstract

In 2015, the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Libraries formed the BTAA Library E-Resource Accessibility Group. This group, which consists of members from each Big Ten library and the BTAA Library Initiatives staff, was charged with creating boilerplate accessibility license language for vendor contracts, as well as collectively funding high level accessibility testing of e-resources and posting these publicly for all libraries and users. Since the creation of the group, about 50 databases have been tested and accessibility license language has been created that can be used and adapted by anyone. In 2019, the group welcomed another consortia, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), to be partners in this work, renaming themselves the Library Accessibility Alliance. This paper examines the mission, accomplishments, and new partnership in more depth while also discussing the need for focused efforts to help ensure accessible e-resources.     

我为电影狂

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Benedict Cumberbatch:天才最性感

泰戈尔在某部小说中说,女性手中的花环,要么挂在禽兽的恶汉脖子上,要么献给强同虚构人手般空想。因为女性在心底深处,渴望被肉欲的车轮碾碎,又或者在思想的烈火中融化--这种言辞似乎过于极端,好像女人都像受虐狂--不过,女人确实热爱幻想田人的强大,或肉体,或精神.     

A Qualitative Assessment of South African Adolescents' Motivations For and Against Substance Use and Sexual Behavior

Focus groups (N=15 groups; 8 with girls, 7 with boys) with adolescents in high schools near Cape Town, South Africa, were used to conduct a qualitative investigation of reported reasons for using and not using substances and for having and not having sex. Adolescents reported Enhancement, Negative States, Social, and Aversive Social motivations for both substance use and sexual behavior. In addition, being addicted as a reason for using drugs and rape as a context for sexual behavior were frequently reported. Motivations against behaviors included Physical/Behavioral Consequences, Ethical Objections, Social Disapproval, and Incompatible Activities and Goals reasons. Preventive interventions should address existing motivations for and against substance use and sexual behavior to acknowledge adolescents' experiences in context.     

So you want to earn a Ph.D. in economics: how much do you think you'll make?

Using data from individuals who earned a Ph.D. in economics in 1996-97, this study identifies factors associated with securing full-time permanent positions and determinants of starting salaries for new Ph.D. economists. Where individuals attend graduate school and factors including the field of specialization and work as a teaching/research assistant impact whether graduates obtain full-time permanent jobs. Choice of graduate program and amount of time spent in the program influence starting salary, as does obtaining a position outside academia or in a research-oriented academic institution, both of which entail higher salaries relative to employment at a B.A.-level academic institution.     

The Education of the Senior Military Decision-Maker*

The armed forces are structurally changing in the direction of the bureaucratic-managerial model. This change is reflected in the increasingly important role played by the top military college charged with training senior officers to integrate the military and industrial spheres. Data are provided on the origin of the college and its mission, the demographic characteristics of the students, the changing content of the military-industrial curriculum, and the organization and quality of the faculty. Student performance on a standardized admissions test is compared with national norms. The overall strengths and weaknesses of the college and its role in turning out military leaders with managerial skills is discussed.