1,945 research outputs found
Factor Substitution and Unobserved Factor Quality in Nursing Homes
This paper studies factor substitution in one important sector: the nursing home industry. Specifically, we measure the extent to which nursing homes substitute materials for labor when labor becomes relatively more expensive. From a policy perspective, factor substitution in this market is important because materials-intensive methods of care are associated with greater risks of morbidity and mortality among nursing home residents. Studying longitudinal data from 1991-1998 on nearly every nursing home in the United States, we use the method of instrumental variables (IV) to address the potential endogeneity of nursing home wages. The results from the IV models are consistent with the theory of factor substitution: higher nursing home wages are associated with lower staffing, greater use of materials (specifically, physical restraints), and a higher proportion of residents with pressure ulcers. A comparison of OLS and IV results suggests that empirical studies of factor substitution should take into account unobserved heterogeneity in factor quality.
Inertial and retardation effects for dislocation interactions
A new formulation for the equation of motion of interacting dislocations is
derived. From this solution it is shown that additional coupling forces, of
kinetic and inertial origin, should be considered in Dislocation Dynamics (DD)
simulations at high strain rates. A heuristic modification of this general
equation of motion enables one to introduce retardation into inertial and
elastic forces, in accordance with a progressive rearrangement of fields
through wave propagation. The influence of the corresponding coupling terms and
retardation effects are then illustrated in the case of dislocation dipolar
interaction and coplanar annihilation. Finally, comparison is made between the
modified equation of motion and a precise numerical solution based on the
Peierls-Nabarro Galerkin method. Good agreement is found between the
Peierls-Nabarro Galerkin method and the EoM including retardation effects for a
dipolar interaction. For coplanar annihilation, it is demonstrated that an
unexpected mechanism, involving a complex interplay between the core of the
dislocations and kinetics energies, allows a renucleation from the completely
annihilated dislocations. A description of this phenomenon that could break the
most favourable reaction between dislocations is proposed
PRIORITY OF CLAIMS IN PUBLIC UTILITY RECEIVERSHIPS
The subject of receiverships as applied to public utilities is far too extensive to be subject to complete treatment in the limited space here available. We shall, however, attempt a rather thorough analysis of the extent to which certain classes of pre-existing indebtedness may be preferred in payment, either out of the income of the receivership or out of the proceeds of foreclosure, as against the claims of mortgage bondholders
Atomic displacements accompanying deformation twinning: shears and shuffles
Deformation twins grow by the motion of disconnections along their interfaces, thereby coupling shear with migration. Atomic-scale simulations of this mechanism have advanced to the point where the trajectory of each atom can be followed as it transits from a site in the shrinking grain, through the interface, and onwards to a site in the growing twin. Historically, such trajectories have been factorised into shear and shuffle components according to some defined convention. In the present article, we introduce a method of factorisation consistent with disconnection motion. This procedure is illustrated for the case of {10-12} twinning in hcp materials, and shown to agree with simulated atomic trajectories for Zr.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Dislocation core field. I. Modeling in anisotropic linear elasticity theory
Aside from the Volterra field, dislocations create a core field, which can be
modeled in linear anisotropic elasticity theory with force and dislocation
dipoles. We derive an expression of the elastic energy of a dislocation taking
full account of its core field and show that no cross term exists between the
Volterra and the core fields. We also obtain the contribution of the core field
to the dislocation interaction energy with an external stress, thus showing
that dislocation can interact with a pressure. The additional force that
derives from this core field contribution is proportional to the gradient of
the applied stress. Such a supplementary force on dislocations may be important
in high stress gradient regions, such as close to a crack tip or in a
dislocation pile-up
Thermal-mechanical behavior of oceanic transform faults : implications for the spatial distribution of seismicity
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 11 (2010): Q07001, doi:10.1029/2010GC003034.To investigate the spatial distribution of earthquakes along oceanic transform faults, we utilize a 3-D finite element model to calculate the mantle flow field and temperature structure associated with a ridge-transform-ridge system. The model incorporates a viscoplastic rheology to simulate brittle failure in the lithosphere and a non-Newtonian temperature-dependent viscous flow law in the underlying mantle. We consider the effects of three key thermal and rheological feedbacks: (1) frictional weakening due to mantle alteration, (2) shear heating, and (3) hydrothermal circulation in the shallow lithosphere. Of these effects, the thermal structure is most strongly influenced by hydrothermal cooling. We quantify the thermally controlled seismogenic area for a range of fault parameters, including slip rate and fault length, and find that the area between the 350°C and 600°C isotherms (analogous to the zone of seismic slip) is nearly identical to that predicted from a half-space cooling model. However, in contrast to the half-space cooling model, we find that the depth to the 600°C isotherm and the width of the seismogenic zone are nearly constant along the fault, consistent with seismic observations. The calculated temperature structure and zone of permeable fluid flow are also used to approximate the stability field of hydrous phases in the upper mantle. We find that for slow slipping faults, the potential zone of hydrous alteration extends greater than 10 km in depth, suggesting that transform faults serve as a significant pathway for water to enter the oceanic upper mantle.The material presented here
is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation
Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE) grants 0623188 (M.B. and
G.H.) and 0649103 (M.B.) and Division of Earth Sciences
(EAR) grant 0814513 (G.H.)
Proper motions and velocity asymmetries in the RW Aur jet
We present adaptive optics spectro-imaging observations of the RW Aur jet in
optical forbidden lines, at an angular resolution of 0.4 arcsec. Comparison
with HST data taken 2 years later shows that proper motions in the blueshifted
and redshifted lobes are in the same ratio as their radial velocities, a direct
proof that the velocity asymmetry in this jet is real and not an emissivity
effect. The inferred jet inclination to the line of sight is i = 46 +/- 3
degrees. The inner knot spacing appears best explained by time variability with
at least two modes: one irregular and asymmetric (possibly random) on
timescales of <3-10 yr, and another more regular with ~ 20 yr period. We also
report indirect evidence for correlated velocity and excitation gradients in
the redshifted lobe, possibly related to the blue/red velocity and brightness
asymmetry in this system.Comment: 4 pags, 3 figure
noise and avalanche scaling in plastic deformation
We study the intermittency and noise of dislocation systems undergoing shear
deformation. Simulations of a simple two-dimensional discrete dislocation
dynamics model indicate that the deformation rate exhibits a power spectrum
scaling of the type . The noise exponent is far away from a
Lorentzian, with . This result is directly related to the
way the durations of avalanches of plastic deformation activity scale with
their size.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
T Pyxidis: The First Cataclysmic Variable with a Collimated Jet
We present the first observational evidence for a collimated jet in a
cataclysmic variable system; the recurrent nova T Pyxidis. Optical spectra show
bipolar components of H with velocities , very similar
to those observed in the supersoft X-ray sources and in SS 433. We argue that a
key ingredient of the formation of jets in the supersoft X-ray sources and T
Pyx (in addition to an accretion disk threaded by a vertical magnetic field),
is the presence of nuclear burning on the surface of the white dwarf.Comment: 10 pages 2 figures to appear in ApJ Letter
Damping in high-frequency metallic nanomechanical resonators
We have studied damping in polycrystalline Al nanomechanical resonators by
measuring the temperature dependence of their resonance frequency and quality
factor over a temperature range of 0.1 - 4 K. Two regimes are clearly
distinguished with a crossover temperature of 1 K. Below 1 K we observe a
logarithmic temperature dependence of the frequency and linear dependence of
damping that cannot be explained by the existing standard models. We attribute
these phenomena to the effect of the two-level systems characterized by the
unexpectedly long (at least two orders of magnitude longer) relaxation times
and discuss possible microscopic models for such systems. We conclude that the
dynamics of the two-level systems is dominated by their interaction with
one-dimensional phonon modes of the resonators.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
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