The Hedonic Price Structure of Faculty Compensation at U.S. Colleges and Universities

Economic theory suggests that the variation in academic salaries across institutions in part reflects compensating differences associated with variation in the levels of local quality of life factors such as environmental quality and the provision of local public services. This paper presents an econometric analysis of the hedonic, or implicit price structure, of faculty compensation at U.S. colleges and universities using data from AAUP merged with data on a host of location-specific characteristics. Quality of life factors are found to be important, accounting for between 7 percent and 12.8 percent of total compensation

Non-equilibrium dynamic critical scaling of the quantum Ising chain

We solve for the time-dependent finite-size scaling functions of the 1D transverse-field Ising chain during a linear-in-time ramp of the field through the quantum critical point. We then simulate Mott-insulating bosons in a tilted potential, an experimentally-studied system in the same equilibrium universality class, and demonstrate that universality holds for the dynamics as well. We find qualitatively athermal features of the scaling functions, such as negative spin correlations, and show that they should be robustly observable within present cold atom experiments.Comment: 4 pages + 2 page supplemen

Repair of Aberrant Splicing in Growth Hormone Receptor by Antisense Oligonucleotides Targeting the Splice Sites of a Pseudoexon

Context: The GH receptor (GHR) pseudoexon 6 Psi defect is a frequent cause of GH insensitivity (GHI) resulting from a non-functioning GH receptor (GHR). It results in a broad range of phenotypes and may also be present in patients diagnosed as idiopathic short stature.Objective: Our objective was to correct aberrant GHR splicing and inclusion of 6 Psi using exon-skipping antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs).Design and Setting: Three ASOs binding the 5' (ASO-5), 3' (ASO-3), and branch site (ASO-Br) of 6 Psi were tested in an in vitro splicing assay and a cell transfection system. The wild-type (wt) and mutant (mt) DNA minigenes (wt- and mtL1-GHR6 Psi-L2, respectively) were created by inserting the GHR 6 Psi in a well-characterized splice reporter (Adml-par). For the in vitro splicing assay, the wt- and mtL1-GHR6 Psi-L2 were transcribed into pre-mRNA in the presence of [alpha P-32]GTP and incubated with ASOs in HeLa nuclear extracts. For the cell transfection studies, wt-and mtL1-GHR6 Psi-L2 cloned into pcDNA 3.1 were transfected with ASOs into HEK293 cells. After 48 h, RNA was extracted and radiolabeled RT-PCR products quantified.Results: ASO-3 induced an almost complete pseudoexon skipping in vitro and in HEK293 cells. This effect was dose dependent and maximal at 125-250 nM. ASO-5 produced modest pseudoexon skipping, whereas ASO-Br had no effect. Targeting of two splice elements simultaneously was less effective than targeting one. ASO-Br was tested on the wtL1-GHR6 Psi-L2 and did not act as an enhancer of 6 Psi inclusion.Conclusions: The exon-skipping ASO approach was effective in correcting aberrant GHR splicing and may be a promising therapeutic tool. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 95: 3542-3546, 2010

Contingency power for small turboshaft engines using water injection into turbine cooling air

Because of one engine inoperative requirements, together with hot-gas reingestion and hot day, high altitude takeoff situations, power augmentation for multiengine rotorcraft has always been of critical interest. However, power augmentation using overtemperature at the turbine inlet will shorten turbine life unless a method of limiting thermal and mechanical stresses is found. A possible solution involves allowing the turbine inlet temperature to rise to augment power while injecting water into the turbine cooling air to limit hot-section metal temperatures. An experimental water injection device was installed in an engine and successfully tested. Although concern for unprotected subcomponents in the engine hot section prevented demonstration of the technique's maximum potential, it was still possible to demonstrate increases in power while maintaining nearly constant turbine rotor blade temperature

On orbital allotments for geostationary satellites

The following satellite synthesis problem is addressed: communication satellites are to be allotted positions on the geostationary arc so that interference does not exceed a given acceptable level by enforcing conservative pairwise satellite separation. A desired location is specified for each satellite, and the objective is to minimize the sum of the deviations between the satellites' prescribed and desired locations. Two mixed integer programming models for the satellite synthesis problem are presented. Four solution strategies, branch-and-bound, Benders' decomposition, linear programming with restricted basis entry, and a switching heuristic, are used to find solutions to example synthesis problems. Computational results indicate the switching algorithm yields solutions of good quality in reasonable execution times when compared to the other solution methods. It is demonstrated that the switching algorithm can be applied to synthesis problems with the objective of minimizing the largest deviation between a prescribed location and the corresponding desired location. Furthermore, it is shown that the switching heuristic can use no conservative, location-dependent satellite separations in order to satisfy interference criteria

Testing dogs in ape-like conditions: the effect of a barrier on dogs’ performance on the object-choice task

Recent reviews have found marked procedural and methodological differences in the testing of different taxonomic groups on the object-choice task. One such difference is the imposition of a barrier in the testing environment of nonhuman primates in the form of a cage, necessitated to ensure the experimenter’s safety. Here, we conducted two studies with domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in which we compared the performance of dogs tested from within a child’s playpen and dogs tested without this barrier present. In Study 1, in a within-subjects design, we found no effect of the barrier on dogs’ ability to use a pointing cue, but there was an increase in instances in which dogs failed to choose a cup. In Study 2, in a between-subjects design, dogs tested with a barrier failed to perform above chance, and were also more likely to fail to make a choice. When dogs tested without a barrier made an incorrect response, these were more likely to be incorrect choices than no choice errors. We discuss the implications of these differences in behavioural responses in function of the presence of a barrier and the necessity of ensuring matched conditions when comparing across species

Journal Bearing Analysis Suite Released for Planetary Gear System Evaluation

Planetary gear systems are an efficient means of achieving high reduction ratios with minimum space and weight. They are used in helicopter, aerospace, automobile, and many industrial applications. High-speed planetary gear systems will have significant dynamic loading and high heat generation. Hence, they need jet lubrication and associated cooling systems. For units operating in critical applications that necessitate high reliability and long life, that have very large torque loading, and that have downtime costs that are significantly greater than the initial cost, hydrodynamic journal bearings are a must. Computational and analytical tools are needed for sufficiently accurate modeling to facilitate optimal design of these systems. Sufficient physics is needed in the model to facilitate parametric studies of design conditions that enable optimal designs. The first transient journal bearing code to implement the Jacobsson-Floberg-Olsson boundary conditions, using a mass-conserving algorithm devised by Professor Emeritus Harold Elrod of Columbia University, was written by David E. Brewe of the U.S. Army at the NASA Lewis Research Center1 in 1983. Since then, new features and improved modifications have been built into the code by several contributors supported through Army and NASA funding via cooperative agreements with the University of Toledo (Professor Ted Keith, Jr., and Dr. Desikakary Vijayaraghavan) and National Research Council Programs (Dr. Vijayaraghavan). All this was conducted with the close consultation of Professor Elrod and the project management of David Brewe