The effects of cyclic queues on the balance of flow lines

This paper considers a flow line with different numbers of parallel machines at each stage and discusses findings regarding the effect of cyclic queues of containers on line balance. Three types of containers for holding work-in-process following different routes are stored in the cyclic queues. The degree of line imbalance is measured by the level of starving and blocking delays occurring through the line. Stage utilization rates are taken as the measure of performance. The structure of the flow line, which occurs in the cotton spinning industry, and some features of the simulation model are also presented.     

Conducting a Hispanic Health Needs Assessment in rural Kansas: building the foundation for community action

Healthy People 2020 states ethnic health disparities are a priority for the US. Although considerable national statistics document ethnic-related health disparities, information specific to rural areas is scarce and does not provide direction for implementing chronic disease prevention programming. Therefore, the purpose of our project was to use the Hispanic Health Needs Assessment (HHNA), a tool designed by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health (NAHH), in culturally diverse, rural Southwest Kansas. Our focus areas included: access to healthcare, heart disease, diabetes, overweight, nutrition, and physical activity. METHODS: The assessment followed six steps: (1) developing the assessment team, (2) data gathering using community member surveys, existing statistics and community leader interviews, (3) assembling the findings, (4) formulating recommendations for action at individual, institutional, community and policy levels, (5) sharing findings and program planning, and (6) sharing findings with NAHH. We identified several challenges collecting health related data in rural communities, but overall, the HHNA was a comprehensive and useful tool for guiding a community level health assessment. CONCLUSION: This process has provided our community partners with locally relevant statistics regarding the current status of health, health behaviors, and perceived community needs to inform resource allocation, program planning and applications for new funding initiatives.     

Homosexuality and heterosexism: views from academics in the helping professions

Summary This study describes and analyses attitudes towards homosexualityamong faculty in departments of three helping professions: socialwork, psychology and education. The sample consists of 235 facultymembers in the five main universities in Israel. Out of 849questionnaires that were sent to all faculty members of therelevant departments of social work, psychology and education,103 were completed and returned from social work, 56 from psychologyand 76 from education, representing a 27.7 per cent total responserate. The instrument used was the Index of Homophobia (IHP)(Hudson and Ricketts, 1980) in addition to professional backgroundand demographic information. Findings show that, overall, membersof academic departments of the helping professions present 'low-gradehomophobic' attitudes (Hudson and Ricketts, 1980). Statisticallysignificant differences surfaced among the three departments,with faculty members in schools of education emerging as mosthomophobic, followed by social work and psychology. Severalexplanations are put forward in an attempt to account for suchdifferences, including the theoretical framework of marginality,the variables traditionally associated with homophobia, andprofessional training.     

Nonparametric Random Variate Generation Using a Piecewise-Linear Cumulative Distribution Function

The standard approach to solving the interpolation problem for a trace-driven simulation involving a continuous random variable is to construct a piecewise-linear cdf that fills in the gaps between the data values. Some probabilistic properties of this estimator are derived, and three extensions to the standard approach (matching moments, weighted values, and right-censored data) are presented, along with associated random variate generation algorithms. The algorithm is a nonparametric blackbox variate generator requiring only observed data from the user.     

Measurement of changes: What criteria do we adopt?

Many changes in industrial working methods are now under discussion which are not easily evaluated and management is concerned about the probable return from investing in these methods. It is proposed that, whilst it is clear that improving work performance is a benefit, it is also of benefit to achieve changes in attitudes which correlate more closely with the objectives and state of the enterprise. Increased agreement in this respect is stated to lead to increased stability for the production process as there is less likelihood of disruption of output due to inappropriate decisions and actions. Since the loss due to various forms of interruption in output can be assessed it is described how the benefit of attitude change might thus be measured. A model for the relationships relevant to ergonomic and behavioural science changes in industry is given and its potential is illustrated by examples.     

Active Commuting Patterns at a Large,Midwestern College Campus

Abstract

Objective: To understand patterns and influences on active commuting (AC) behavior. Participants: Students and faculty/staff at a university campus. Methods: In April–May 2008, respondents answered an online survey about mode of travel to campus and influences on commuting decisions. Hierarchical regression analyses predicted variance in walking and biking using sets of demographic, psychological, and environmental variables. Results: Of 898 respondents, 55.7% were female, 457 were students (50.4%). Students reported more AC than faculty/staff. For students, the models explained 36.2% and 29.1% of the variance in walking and biking, respectively. Among faculty/staff, the models explained 45% and 25.8% of the variance in walking and biking. For all models, the psychological set explained the greatest amount of variance. Conclusions: With current economic and ecological concerns, AC should be considered a behavior to target for campus health promotion.