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Using panel data from a large sample of Canadian establishments, the authors examine whether there is any link between adoption of an employee profit-sharing plan and subsequent employee earnings. Overall, growth in employee earnings during the five-year period subsequent to adoption of profit sharing was significantly higher in establishments that had adopted profit sharing, as compared with those establishments that had not done so. Employees in establishments that paid high wages before profit sharing adoption appeared to benefit more than employees in other establishments, although employees in other establishments did eventually benefit from profit sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal analysis of employment in 510 Canadian firms over the period 1980 to 1985 provides evidence that union firms in both the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors experienced substantially slower employment growth than comparable nonunion firms. Controlling for industry sector, firm size, and firm age, the author finds that within the manufacturing sector, union firms grew 3.7% more slowly per year than nonunion firms, and within the nonmanufacturing sector, union firms grew 3.9% more slowly than nonunion firms. Small firms in both sectors, however, appear to have escaped any negative union effect on employment growth. Of the control variables, firm age appears to be much more important than firm size in explaining employment growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies are managing more diverse work forces, and pay systems must be designed to attract, retain and motivate employees who may have very different pay preferences from employees of even a decade ago. This study examines how employee characteristics (i.e., gender, age, education, work experience, annual pay and number of dependents) are related to pay preferences. We found that older respondents with more education and more dependents had a stronger preference for variable pay than did respondents who were younger, less educated and had fewer dependents. Older respondents and those with higher pay preferred less pay transparency than did younger and lower paid respondents. Pay differences based on capability were preferred by better educated employees. When controlling for the other demographic characteristic, we found significant differences among nationalities for all four measures of pay preferences, that is, pay differences, pay variability, bonus plans and pay transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative risk and efficiency of road crossing experienced by blind and sighted pedestrians at a single-lane roundabout with two levels of traffic volume and at two distances from the roundabout.Background: With the rapid spread of modern roundabouts across the United States,their accessibility to blind pedestrians has become an important concern. To date, accessibility research relevant to blind pedestrians has focused on multilane roundabouts, and single-lane roundabouts have been virtually ignored.Method: Blind and sighted participants made judgments about when they would cross a single-lane roundabout with high and low traffic volumes, at exit and entry lanes, and at the actual crosswalks and at locations farther from the roundabout.Results: Relative to sighted participants, blind participants' judgments about when to cross were more frequently risky, especially when traffic volume was high. Blind participants also were slower to make crossing judgments and accepted fewer crossing opportunities. Both groups made somewhat safer and more efficient judgments at locations farther from the roundabout.Conclusion: Some single-lane roundabouts may pose greater risk to blind pedestrians than to sighted pedestrians, especially when traffic volume is high. Crosswalk location merits further investigation as a design issue.Application: These findings are relevant to transportation planners and engineers who are responsible for the accessibility of public rights-of-way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital Pathology Systems (DPS) are dynamic, image-based computer systems that enable the acquisition, management, and interpretation of pathology information generated from digitized glass slides. This article provides a roadmap for (1) qualification of a whole slide scanner (WSS) during a validation project, (2) validation of software required to generate the whole slide image (WSI), and (3) an introduction to visual digital image evaluation and image analysis. It describes a validation approach that can be utilized when validating a DPS. It is not the intent of this article to provide guidance on when validation of DPS is required. Rather, the article focuses on technical aspects of validation of the WSS system (WSS, IT infrastructure, and associated software) portion of a DPS and covers the processes of setting up the WSS for scanning a glass slide through saving a WSI on a server. Validation of a computerized system, such as a DPS, for use in a regulated nonclinical environment is governed by Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 21 part 11: Electronic Records; Electronic Signature and predicate rules associated with Good Laboratory Practices documents including 21 CFR part 58. Similar regulation and predicate rules apply in the European Union and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five cues were evaluated with respect to their usefulness in directing the headings of pedestrians who were blind during street crossings. The study was conducted at a simulated crosswalk, with the angle of the crosswalk varied relative to the approach and direction of the slope of the ramp. Three cues worked well over the distance equivalent to the width of a six-lane road. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately aligning to a crosswalk is an important component of safe street crossing for pedestrians who are blind. Six alignment cues were evaluated in a simulated crosswalk environment in which the angle of the crosswalk was not always in line with the slope of the ramp. The effectiveness of each cue is reported and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The pathogenesis of lupus vulgaris, a form of cutaneous tuberculosis, is not always clear, especially in patients who do not have coexistent extracutaneous tuberculosis and in patients with single lesions. Objectives: To report a case of lupus vulgaris in a locus minoris resistentiae (a site of reduced resistance) and to use a unique set of clinical circumstances and laboratory tests to reconstruct the pathogenesis of the lesion and the response to treatment. Conclusion: Lupus vulgaris can occur in a locus minoris resistentiae; local trauma and possibly other factors, such as increased temperature, topical corticosteroids, and the virulence of the infecting strain, may facilitate the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis present at a locus minoris resistentiae as a result of a silent bacillemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents two target-location experiments. In the first experiment, 19 participants located a 25-foot chalk circle 93% of the time with a Global Positioning System (GPS) compared to 12% of the time without it. In a single-subject follow-up experiment, the participant came within 1 foot of the target on all GPS trials. Target-location techniques are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article describes the key differences between roundabouts and traditional intersections that have traffic signals or stop signs and discusses how these differences may affect the mobility of pedestrians who are visually impaired. It also provides a brief summary of the authors' research on this topic and suggests strategies for addressing the access issues that roundabouts sometimes create. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports two experiments about street crossing under conditions of free flowing traffic, with a focus on modem roundabout intersections. Experiment 1 was conducted at three roundabouts varying in size and traffic volume. Six totally blind and six sighted adults judged whether gaps in traffic were long enough to permit crossing to the median (splitter) island before the next vehicle arrived. Gap distributions and measures of judgment quality are reported. Overall, blind participants were about 2.5 times less likely to make correct judgments than sighted participants, took longer to detect crossable gaps, and were more likely to miss crossable gaps altogether. However, the differences were significant only at the two higher volume roundabouts. In Experiment 2, we evaluated the response of drivers to pedestrians with and without mobility devices (i.e., long canes, dog guides). The experiment was conducted at a single-lane roundabout, a midblock crossing, and a two-way-stop-controlled intersection. Site-specific characteristics appeared to have a greater impact on drivers' yielding than did a mobility device. Actual or potential applications of this research include the development of methods for assessing pedestrian safety and driver behavior as well as identifying intersections that may require modification in order to be accessible to blind pedestrians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the issue on the involvement of qualitative researchers in the educational policy-making process in the U.S. The Reading Excellence Act (REA) was used as an example to show that qualitative researchers had many points of access to influence policy which included development, implementation, and evaluation of REA. They can make an impact in the educational system like providing relevant information, interacting in a straightforward manner, and comprehending the conditions of policy making.

Abstract: This article reports on the development and initial implementation of a self-report outcomes measurement instrument. The instrument, tested with veterans in programs at four Veterans Administration Blind Rehabilitation Centers, provided assessments of their functioning on 32 personal and social activities at the beginning and near the end of their programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from a study of 114 Canadian companies conducted in 1990/91, this paper assesses the impact of new information technology on the job quality of white-collar workers. Results indicated that while both female and male employees experienced significant increases in job quality subsequent to the introduction of new IT, females experienced significantly larger increases than mates. This occurred because clerical and secretarial employees experienced much larger increases in job quality than did professional/technical employees or managerial employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines possible effects of introduction of formal employee participation in ownership and decision making on patterns of organizational influence, using longitudinal data obtained before and after conversion of an electronics firm to partial employee ownership. Although numerous formal participation mechanisms were introduced, including employee board representation, an employee council, and quarterly share- holder meetings, little change was found in perceived worker participation at any decision level. Employee ownership did not seem to increase desires for worker influence among either managers or nonmanagers, nor did it appear to significantly affect the total amount and distribution of influence within the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the effects of employee share ownership or employee participation in decisions (or control) have tended to focus on one or the other of the two variables or have assumed that they covary. Using data from an employee-owned company, this study attempts to empirically separate and assess the relative effects of each of these on a set of dependent variables (Job attitudes) which they are both thought to affect. Results indicated that employee share ownership and participation each had significant and independent effects on some job attitudes. However, little evidence of interaction effects between the two variables, which had been predicted, was found. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed, and possible directions for future research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noting a paucity of research on the subject, this article attempts to explore the effects of employee ownership, concentrating on possible relationships between ownership and such variables as organizational identification, employee job attitudes, and organizational performance, and on identifying variables which may moderate these relationships. After development of a conceptual framework, empirical data obtained from study of a trucking company recently purchased by most of its employees are presented and discussed. These data support the plausibility of many of the hypothesized relationships, but do not permit strong causal inferences. Although the author tentatively concludes that employee ownership appears to have improved employee attitudes and organizational performance in this case, he stresses that much further research, in a variety of settings, specifically designed to permit causal testing of the propositions suggested here, is badly needed before firm conclusions can be drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides framework of the graduate program for teachers of the humanities in the U.S. As defined by the new program, the teacher in humanities should be trained leading him to a Doctor in Philosophy degree. The author believes that such program should be based on five years higher education; the candidates should present the equivalent of a master's degree before beginning the curriculum outlined. The master's degree should be earned preferably in an historical discipline such as literature; philosophy; cultural history; history art; history of music; and history of religion. Teacher of humanities should be well-grounded on the mentioned field of knowledge.

Describes the range and frequency of abnormalities on computed tomographic scans in patients who met the American Thoracic Society case definition of Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease. Effect of time and treatment on the progression of the abnormalities; Minimal impairment of lung function.