Police and Fire Pensions in Florida: A Comparison of Conditions After 10 Years

This article is an analysis of 31 defined benefit police and fire pension plans of 20 municipalities in Florida. The authors conducted a similar assessment of these same plans ten years earlier to determine the fiscal impact of these plans due to state mandates that accompany state funding for each of these plans. The current study analyzes key measures of fiscal health over the last ten years for these same plans to ascertain whether the fiscal condition of these plans remained constant, that is, whether underfunded plans continued to be questionably managed and whether well-funded plans continued to be fiscally stable considering economic trends and the lessening of state mandates on the use of state funding for these plans. The findings show that the overwhelming majority of the plans neither significantly changed their financial condition nor their general ranking among the plans evaluated.

Effects of Temporary Mark Withholding on Academic Performance

Although feedback engagement is important for learning, students often do not engage with provided feedback to inform future assignments. One factor for low feedback uptake is the easy access to grades. Thus, systematically delaying the grade release in favor of providing feedback first— temporary mark withholding—may increase students’ engagement with feedback. We tested the hypothesis that temporary mark withholding would have positive effects on (a) future academic performance (Experiments 1 and 2) and (b) feedback engagement (Experiment 2) in authentic psychology university settings. For Experiment 1, 116 Year 2 students were randomly assigned to either a Grade-before-feedback or Feedback-before-grade condition for their report in semester 1 and performance was measured on a similar assessment in semester 2. In Experiment 2, a Year 3 student cohort ( t) was provided with feedback on their lab report before marks were released in semester 1 (mark withholding group, N = 97) and compared to the previous Year 3 cohort ( t-1) where individual feedback and grades were released simultaneously (historical control group, N = 90). Using this multi-methodological approach, we reveal positive effects of temporary mark withholding on future academic performance and students’ feedback engagement in authentic higher education settings. Practical implications are discussed.

Together Apart during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessing Students’ Readiness for Online Assessments Using an E-Learning System

Electronic learning (e-learning) is an indispensable management system that supports face-to-face, blended, or fully online courses. In January 2020, 258 students in a second-year management course at a regional university were evaluated on their preparedness for online lectures via e-learning. However, by mid-semester, the COVID-19 pandemic halted face-to-face teaching, pushed final assessments to an online modality, and forced some governments to quickly repatriate their students. This chapter evaluates students’ level of e-learning readiness (e-readiness) and whether it had any effect on their performance in the final assessment. The results show that six percent of the cohort had returned to their home country, six percent had no privacy to take their final online assessments, while 31% depended on Wi-Fi. However, although two-thirds of the cohort preferred the online modality, only a third had acceptable levels of e-readiness. E-ready students felt the disruption in their study routine most, while those who were not e-ready found more time to study after the curfew restrictions were in place. E-ready students attempted their final online assessment earlier than those who were not yet e-ready, but the two groups had similar assessment grades. Evaluating students’ level of e-readiness is vital in providing support for those who have challenges with online learning.

Ecological and coenotic groups of Orenburg Region vascular plants flora and biotopes phytoindication

The expert and statistical assessment of ecological and coenotic groups of Orenburg Region vascular plants flora has been done for A.L. Belgards coenomorphs scheme and scheme of vascular plants flora of temperate forest zone of European Russia. The regimes of principal ecological factors have identified for detected groups of flora. Both suggested schemes of groups give adequate and similar assessment of biotopes, proposed groups of Orenburg Region vascular plants flora are identified in phytometer scales space definitely and its groups can used for regional assessment of biotopes. It has been established, that steppe coenomorph has extensive coenotic amplitude in Orenburg Region conditions and make petrophilic, chasmophilic, mountain and semi-desert vegetation elements also. Sylvant coenomorph has formed boreal and nemoral sciophytes and heliosciophytes and coenotic group of semiarid steppe forests has not specific biotopic and coenotic value. Pratal coenomorph has been made up humidity-meadow flora, dry-meadow coenotic group is not specific. For Orenburg Region is recommends using unite pratal (meadow) and paludal coenomorphs and separation coenotic group of oligotrophic bogs and ruderal coenomorph, the separation of mountain coenotic group is not confirmed statistical. The best assessment of ecological flora of region are realize by combined coenomorphs and coenotic group schemes approach at the same time. It has been established methodical problems of statistical methods using by phytoindication, problems of transitional coenotic groups and problem of wood species assessment in phytometer scales, which are require further researches.

Jaroslav Vanek, participation and labor management: an assessment including some bibliometric analysis

PurposeThe main aim of this paper is to provide an assessment of the intellectual impact of the work of Jaroslav Vanek in the related fields of participation and labor management (hereafter, PLM) and participation and employee ownership (hereafter, PEO).Design/methodology/approachThis paper used mixed methods including bibliometric analysis.FindingsVanek's work, particularly the General Theory of Labor-Managed Market Economies, (Vanek, 1970) is the building block for the modern scientific study of cooperatives and for helping to establish the fields of PLM and PEO. Vanek (1970) continues to be the highest cited publication each year that investigates the pure case of a labor-managed firm. Arguably his work has played a significant role is setting the stage for the development of adjacent fields in economics such as the new institutional economics. For an economist, his work has had an unusually strong impact on work outside of economics.Originality/valueNo similar assessment has been undertaken before.

Assessment of seismic hazard in mines

The assessment of seismic hazard in mines has several peculiarities compared to the similar assessment for tectonic earthquakes: (a) in mines seismicity is typically induced by the extraction of rocks, what makes the assessment of hazard depends on the planned mining sequence, (b) many seismic events in mines have source mechanisms different from the mechanisms of tectonic earthquakes, (c) the likelihoods of both strong ground motion from distant seismic events and localized sudden inelastic deformation on the contour of excavations are of interest, (d) the spatial distribution of seismic hazard may experience significant change over relatively short periods of time (several years), which makes it possible to implement rigorous testing of the hazard forecasts, selection of optimal forecast method and its calibration. This paper provides a brief review of recent publications on the assessment of seismic hazard in mines. The method of intermediate- and long-term hazard forecast based on the combination of observed seismicity and seismicity modeled for the planned mining sequence is discussed in detail. The application of this method at the acting underground mine in Australia is presented.

Metaphysics of Group Moral Responsibility

The concept of group moral responsibility is apparently problematic, in that it is unobvious in what sense a group, which is evidently not a conscious rational subject like an individual person, can be held morally accountable. It is unclear how a group can be said to have the ability to form beliefs and intentions needed for genuine group actions of moral assessment. Broadly speaking, there are two separate platforms from which one can investigate this problem: individualism and collectivism. Subscribing to the doctrinal position of methodological individualism, individualists suggest that individual members are the only capable entities, who can meaningfully bear the burden of moral responsibility, either individually or in a shared way. Collectivists, on the other hand look for an alternative position wherein they advocate the genuine possibility of attributing moral responsibility to groups qua groups. The collectivist approach has received substantial philosophical attention in recent years. However, most supporters of collectivism search for such possibility without strongly invoking the idea of group moral agency. In this article, I argue for an irreducible moral agential status of groups in terms of the intentional actions of their constituent individual members and their special conglomeration. I suggest that certain collective or group entities are capable of being identified as proper agents of moral assessment analogous to that of individual agents of similar assessment.

Acquisition of phonology in child Icelandic Sign Language: Unique findings

Research shows that acquisition of sign language phonology is a developmental process and involves multiple articulatory cues. Among these cues, handshape has been shown to be crucial and orientation has been argued to be potentially disregardable as being internal to sign production rather than encoding a minimal contrast. We administered a non-word repetition task and a picture naming task to 17 (age 3-15) deaf and hard-of-hearing signers of Icelandic Sign Language (ÍTM)—an endangered indigenous language of the Deaf community in Iceland—targeting the same articulatory features. The tasks were modeled after similar assessment tools for other languages. All of the participants use ÍTM for daily activities at school and at home; the vast majority were early learners (before 36ms). Results show an upward trajectory in the non-word repetition task scores but without a ceiling effect. Contrary to predictions, no effect of handshape was observed. Instead, on both pseudo- and real-word tasks, the majority of errors were in orientation/mirroring. The results suggest that orientation plays a non-trivial role in acquisition of sign language phonology

MEDICAL REHABILITATION SYSTEM AND ITS QUALITY CONTROL IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD

The aim: To review scientific literature dealing with evaluation of medical rehabilitation effectiveness and quality in the world. Materials and methods: Review and generalization of scientific literature on the criteria of evaluation of medical rehabilitation quality in advanced industrialized societies. Conclusions: Despite differences in the structure of medical rehabilitation in world societies, the end point is similar – assessment of quality of life of a sick person, measured by various criteria and standards. This experience is of great value for the development of national system of rehabilitation services.

Determining the Performance Quality of Combine Harvesters Operating

Modern methods of monitoring the performance quality of combine harvesters during their testing are applied in a «swath laying» mode. The authors have shown the relevance of a similar assessment method used in the most common “crushing-and-spreading” mode and developed a simple and reliable method and a technical tool for assessing grain losses in the field during the combine harvester operation. (Research purpose) To develop a method for controlling grain loss of a combine harvester operating in a “chopping-and-spreading” mode using a two-chamber sampler prototype. (Materials and methods) The authors have proposed a new design of the prototype of a two-chamber sampler. They have proved that it ensures separate collection of the lost grain resulting from combine harvester units. A limited number of samplers were installed in the field and a method for sampling grain losses from working units of a combine harvester based on the developed sampler was applied. The applied method of control consists in evaluating the test results of a two-chamber sampler prototype during a combine harvester test in a «chopping-and-spreading» mode. (Results and discussion) The authors have developed the prototype of a two-chamber sampler of a fundamentally new design. They offer a method for determining the performance quality of a combine harvester. They have obtained graphs of grain losses distribution across the width of a threshing-and-separating unit and the spreading width equal to the operating width of a header. (Conclusion) It has been established that the use of a two-chamber sampler will ensure separate sequential sampling behind a header, a threshing unit, and a chopping spreader, while excluding sequential overlapping of errors. It has been revealed that the proposed scheme for sampling a grain losses resulting from the working units of a combine harvester will reduce the total number of samplers used - no more than 7 in each replication, regardless of the width of a threshing-and-separating unit or a header.