In this textbook designed for courses on aviation labor relations, the authors-experts with many years of experience in these sectors-examine and evaluate the labor process for all aspects of the ...aviation and aerospace industries, including aerospace manufacturing, airlines, general aviation, federal and state administrative agencies, and public airports. Divided into three parts-Public Policy and Labor Law; Principles, Practices and Procedures in Collective Bargaining and Dispute Resolution; and the Changing Labor Relations Environment-the book provides an overview of the industries and the development of US labor law and policy, then explores the statutory, regulatory, and case laws applicable to each industry segment before concluding with an examination of current and developing issues and trends. The authors present the evolution of aviation and aerospace labor laws, going as far back as the early nineteenth century to lay the historical foundation, and cover the development and main features of the principal statutes governing labor relations in the United States today, the Railway Labor Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and the Civil Service Reform Act. They also investigate the growth of the industries and their impact on labor relations, as well as the current issues and challenges facing management and labor in each segment of this dynamic, sometimes volatile, business and their implications for collective bargaining. Twenty case studies not only illuminate practical applications of such fundamental concepts as unfair labor practices and unions' duty of fair representation but also enliven the subject, preparing the reader to use the concepts in real-world decision making.  A study guide with review questions, online assignments, supplemental readings, and exercises is available for students. For those teachers using the textbook in their courses, there is an instructor's manual with additional resources for developing courses in the classroom, online, or by blended learning, as well as a variety of assignments and materials to enhance and vary the mock negotiation exercise.  A revision and expansion of Robert W. Kaps's Air Transport Labor Relations, this outstanding new volume provides students and teachers with valuable information and perspectives on industries that are highly dependent on technologically skilled labor. Labor Relations in the Aviation and Aerospace Industries offers a sweeping and thorough treatment of labor relations, public policy, law, and practice and is the definitive work on the labor process in the aviation and aerospace sectors.
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•Climate-relevant Official Development Assistance (ODA) contributes to multiple SDGs.•Climate-relevant ODA and recipient countries’ climate action priorities are broadly ...correlated.•Recipients’ and donors’ climate priorities alignment has not improved after the Paris Agreement.•Donor’s balance between mitigation and adaptation became more aligned to that of recipients.
Climate change and development are strongly interconnected. An efficient use of financial resources would, thus require alignment between climate finance and development priorities, as set out in the context of both the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this paper, we investigate to what extent climate-related official development assistance (ODA) before and after the Paris Agreement adoption supports the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, we assess to what extent donors align this finance with recipient countries’ climate-related priorities as spelled out in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). First, we find that climate-relevant ODA contributes to multiple SDGs, above all SDG 7 (energy) and SDG 11 (cities). Second, we find that there is substantial alignment between donors’ and recipients’ SDG priorities, but that this alignment has not improved in recent years, since the conclusion of the Paris Agreement. Third, we find that albeit climate-finance continues to be allocated more to climate-change mitigation than to adaptation, the difference became smaller in recent years. This reduced the misalignment with recipient countries’ NDC climate activities, which focus more on adaptation than mitigation. Overall, we identify coherence, gaps and opportunities for further alignment of climate and development actions, and related finance. Such an alignment is essential to increase the likelihood of implementation of the two international agreements and to ensure that action is guided by recipient countries’ needs.
Abstract
Introduction:
The use of activity monitors for sleep measurement purposes has increased in research and consumer settings. However, validation of such monitors is lacking. This study ...examined agreement on total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency (SE) between polysomnography and three activity monitors - Actiwatch Spectrum Pro (ACT), Fitbit One (FB) and Jawbone UP2 (JB). Differences between polysomnography and each activity monitor, and differences between research-grade ACT and commercial devices FB and JB, were examined.
Methods:
Twenty-two healthy adults (Mage =29.3, SDage=11.4) had one night of sleep measured by polysomnography and each activity monitor simultaneously in a laboratory. Minute-by-minute data were extracted and compared. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests assessed statistical differences between measures, and Bland-Altman analyses examined clinically meaningful differences between measures, using cut-offs of ±30 minutes for TST and ±5% for SE.
Results:
Compared to polysomnography, all activity monitors significantly overestimated TST and SE. Differences between polysomnography and each monitor were also clinically meaningful, as Bland-Altman upper and lower limits of agreement for TST exceeded clinical cut-offs for ACT (-64.7min-+166.1min), FB (-66.1min-+189.2min), and JB (-103.6min-+186.2min). Similarly, upper and lower limits of agreement for SE exceeded clinical cut-offs for ACT (-13.0%-+34.0%), FB (-13.1%-+38.5%), and JB (-20.7%-+37.9%). Compared to ACT, only FB significantly overestimated TST and SE. However, differences between ACT and each of FB and JB were clinically meaningful. For FB, Bland-Altman upper limits of agreement exceeded clinical cut-offs for TST (-18.7min-+40.2min) and SE (-3.8%-+8.1%). For JB, upper and lower limits of agreement exceeded clinical cut-offs for TST (-100.4min-+79.3min) and SE (-20.1%-+16.0%). Agreement between devices decreased as TST and SE decreased. All monitors demonstrated poor specificity (18.8–35.6%), but high sensitivity (94.2–99.2%).
Conclusion:
Results suggest these models of ACT, FB, and JB cannot be used interchangeably with polysomnography. When activity monitors must be used, such as in field settings, FB and JB cannot replace research-grade ACT. Overall, users should account for each monitor’s potential to overestimate or underestimate TST and SE to an unacceptable degree. Future research should examine within-subject variability over time to determine whether monitors can be used to track long-term sleep patterns.
Support (If Any):
N/A.
Economic partnership agreements (EPAs) mark a new era in economic relations between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries that will lead to reciprocal tariff ...liberalization. Model‐based impact assessments have become a powerful tool in trade negotiations and mixed results are reported for ACP countries. Given their set‐up within a neoclassical framework, these models neglect important issues such as impacts on employment, macroeconomic balances and adjustment costs. The structuralist computable general equilibrium model applied in this article for three African EPA regions addresses these shortcomings and shows negative macroeconomic and distributional effects and important adjustment costs associated with employment and public revenue losses. These results highlight the importance of policy responses to deliver on promises associated with EPAs, namely sustainable economic development. More generally, they show the importance of alternative models to understand implementation challenges and facilitate broader debates about bilateral trade agreements.
Abstract
Introduction
Scoring algorithms have the potential to increase polysomnography (PSG) scoring efficiency while also ensuring consistency and reproducibility. We sought to validate an updated ...event detection algorithm (Somnolyzer; Philips, Monroeville PA USA) against manual scoring, by analyzing a dataset we have previously used to report scoring variability across nine center-members of the Sleep Apnea Global Interdisciplinary Consortium (SAGIC).
Methods
Fifteen PSGs collected at a single sleep clinic were scored independently by technologists at nine SAGIC centers located in six countries, and auto-scored with the algorithm. Arousals, apneas, and hypopneas were identified according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommended criteria. We calculated the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and performed a Bland-Altman analysis comparing the average manual- and auto-scored apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), arousal index (ArI), apneas, obstructive apneas, central apneas, mixed apneas, and hypopneas. We hypothesized that the values from auto-scoring would show good agreement and reliability when compared to the average across manual scorers.
Results
Participants contributing to the original dataset had a mean (SD) age of 47 (12) years, AHI of 24.7 (18.2) events/hour, and 80% were male. The ICCs (95% confidence interval) between average manual- and auto-scoring were almost perfect (ICC=0.80–1.00) for AHI 0.989 (0.968, 0.996), ArI 0.897 (0.729, 0.964), hypopneas 0.992 (0.978, 0.997), total apneas 0.973 (0.924, 0.991), and obstructive apneas 0.919 (0.781, 0.972), and moderately reliable (ICC=0.40–0.60 for central 0.537 (0.069, 0.815) and mixed 0.502 (0.021, 0.798) apneas. Similarly, Bland-Altman analyses supported good agreement for event detection between techniques, with a mean difference (limits of agreement) of only 1.45 (-3.22, 6.12) events/hour for AHI, total apneas 5.2 (-23.9, 34.3), obstructive apneas 1.8 (-45.9, 49.5), central apneas 1.8 (-9.7, 13.4), mixed apneas 1.6 (-14.8, 17.9), and hypopneas 4.3 (-12.4, 20.9).
Conclusion
Results support almost perfect reliability between auto-scoring and manual scoring of AHI, ArI, hypopneas, total apneas, and obstructive apneas, as well as moderate reliability for central and mixed apneas. There was good agreement between methods, with small mean differences; wider limits of agreement for specific type of apneas did not affect accuracy of the overall AHI. Thus, the auto-scoring algorithm appears reliable for event detection.
Support (if any)
Philips
Abstract
Introduction
Scoring algorithms have the potential to increase polysomnography (PSG) scoring efficiency while also ensuring consistency and reproducibility. We sought to validate an updated ...sleep staging algorithm (Somnolyzer; Philips, Monroeville PA USA) against manual sleep staging, by analyzing a dataset we have previously used to report sleep staging variability across nine center-members of the Sleep Apnea Global Interdisciplinary Consortium (SAGIC).
Methods
Fifteen PSGs collected at a single sleep clinic were scored independently by technologists at nine SAGIC centers located in six countries, and auto-scored with the algorithm. Each 30-second epoch was staged manually according to American Academy of Sleep Medicine criteria. We calculated the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and performed a Bland-Altman analysis comparing the average manual- and auto-scored total sleep time (TST) and time in each sleep stage (N1, N2, N3, rapid eye movement REM). We hypothesized that the values from auto-scoring would show good agreement and reliability when compared to the average across manual scorers.
Results
The participants contributing to the original dataset had a mean (SD) age of 47 (12) years and 80% were male. Auto-scoring showed substantial (ICC=0.60-0.80) or almost perfect (ICC=0.80-1.00) reliability compared to manual-scoring average, with ICCs (95% confidence interval) of 0.976 (0.931, 0.992) for TST, 0.681 (0.291, 0.879) for time in N1, 0.685 (0.299, 0.881) for time in N2, 0.922 (0.791, 0.973) for time in N3, and 0.930 (0.811, 0.976) for time in REM. Similarly, Bland-Altman analyses showed good agreement between methods, with a mean difference (limits of agreement) of only 1.2 (-19.7, 22.0) minutes for TST, 13.0 (-18.2, 44.1) minutes for N1, -13.8 (-65.7, 38.1) minutes for N2, -0.33 (-26.1, 25.5) minutes for N3, and -1.2 (-25.9, 23.5) minutes for REM.
Conclusion
Results support high reliability and good agreement between the auto-scoring algorithm and average human scoring for measurements of sleep durations. Auto-scoring slightly overestimated N1 and underestimated N2, but results for TST, N3 and REM were nearly identical on average. Thus, the auto-scoring algorithm is acceptable for sleep staging when compared against human scorers.
Support (if any)
Philips.
Abstract
Introduction
Sleep staging of polysomnography (PSG) is a time-consuming task, it requires significant training, and significant variability among scorers is expected. A new software ...(MEBsleep by Medibio Limited) was developed to automatically perform sleep scoring based on machine learning algorithms. This study aimed to perform an extensive investigation of its agreement with expert sleep technicians.
Methods
Forty polysomnography recordings of patients that were referred for sleep evaluation to three sleep clinics were retrospectively collected. Three experienced technicians independently staged the recording complying with the scoring rules of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine guidelines. Positive Percent Agreement (PPA), Positive Predictive Value (PPV), and other agreement statistics between the automatic and manual staging, among the staging performed by the three technicians, and their differences were calculated. Bootstrap resampling was used to calculate 95% confidence intervals and statistical significance of the differences.
Results
Automatic staging took less than two minutes per PSG on a consumer laptop. The automatic staging resulted for the most comparable (PPA difference of N1, N3, and REM; PPV difference of N1, N2, N3, and REM) or statistically significantly more in agreement with the technicians’ staging than the between-technician agreement (PPA difference of N2: 3.90%, 95% bootstrap CI 1.79%-6.01%; PPV difference of Wake: 1.16%, 95% bootstrap CI 0.64%/1.67%), with the sole exception of a partial reduction in the positive percent agreement of the Wake stage (PPA difference of Wake -7.04%, 95% bootstrap CI -10.40%/-3.85%). The automatic staging also demonstrated very high accuracy in an indirect comparison with other similar software.
Conclusion
Given these promising results, the use of this software may support sleep clinicians by improving efficiency in sleep scoring.
Support (if any):
This study investigates the impact of non-competition agreements on the type of R&D activity undertaken by companies. Non-competition agreements, by reducing outbound mobility and knowledge leakages ...to competitors, make high-risk R&D projects relatively more valuable than low-risk ones. Thus, they induce companies to choose riskier R&D projects, such that corporate inventions are more likely to lie in the tails of the inventions' value distribution (as breakthroughs or failures) and be in novel technological areas. This study uses data about U.S. patent applications from 1990 to 2000 and considers longitudinal variation in the enforcement of non-compete clauses. The results indicate that in states with stricter enforcement, companies undertake riskier R&D paths than in states that do not enforce non-compete agreements as strictly.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade
Organization (WTO) have been touted as premier examples of international
institutions, but few studies have offered empirical ...proof. This article
comprehensively evaluates the effects of the GATT/WTO and other trade
agreements since World War II. Our analysis is organized around two
factors: institutional standing and institutional
embeddedness. We show that many countries had rights and obligations,
or institutional standing, in the GATT/WTO even though they were not
formal members of the agreement. We also expand the analysis to include a
range of other commercial agreements that were embedded with the
GATT/WTO. Using data on dyadic trade since 1946, we demonstrate that
the GATT/WTO substantially increased trade for countries with
institutional standing, and that other embedded agreements had similarly
positive effects. Moreover, our evidence suggests that international trade
agreements have complemented, rather than undercut, each other.An earlier version of this article was presented
at the 99th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
Association, Philadelphia, August 28–31, 2003. We thank Tim
Büthe, Joanne Gowa, Miles Kahler, Andrew Rose, Arthur Stein, Richard
Steinberg, and seminar participants at Stanford University, the University
of Chicago (PIPES), the University of California, Los Angeles, the
University of California, San Diego, and the University of Virginia, for
many helpful comments. We especially thank Claire Adida, Ashley Conner,
Moonhawk Kim, Erin Krampetz, James Morrison, Mike Nardis, Natan Sachs,
Rachel Rubinfeld, and Jessica Weeks for excellent research assistance. We
are grateful for financial support from the National Science Foundation
(CAREER grant SES-0548285 to Tomz), the Stanford Center for International
Development, and the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at
Stanford.
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