Earnings - tenure profiles in the U.K. public and private sectors

The thesis examines the effect of tenure on earnings in the British public and private sectors. The characteristic differences between the labour markets associated with the two sectors are examined. Several theories underlying the earnings-tenure effect are then assessed for their suitability in explaining earnings patterns in each of the sectors under analysis. Cross sectional estimation is carried out using one year of the New Earnings Survey Panel. The results show a higher return to tenure in central and local government than in the private sector or public corporations. There also appears to be a higher return to tenure for females in all sectors than for males. Explanations are offered for these observations, based on the labour market characteristics of the sectors noted earlier. An attempt is then made to correct for estimation biases associated with job match heterogeneity, which are purported to overstate return to tenure. The correction is based on techniques adopted in the recent American literature using instrumental variables. Despite the use of this process, the expected decrease in return to tenure is not observed unless certain key variables are omitted from the estimating equation

Authority

Der Verfasser entwirft einen theoretischen Rahmen zur Erfassung von 'Autorität'. Er unterscheidet zwischen konjunkten (Interessenkongruenz zwischen Über- und Untergeordnetem) und disjunkten sowie zwischen einfachen (Autorität wird direkt von der Person ausgeübt, die mit Autorität ausgestattet ist) und komplexen Autoritätssystemen. Die Untersuchung solcher Systeme kann unter statischem oder dynamischem Aspekt erfolgen. Die statische Fragestellung untersucht Verhalten in Autoritätssystemen sowie fehlerhaftes Funktionieren des Systems (Beispiel: Bürokratie). Die dynamische Fragestellung untersucht das Problem des Ausstattens mit und Entziehens von Autorität (Beispiele: Revolution, Panik, Aufruhr). (WZ

Nucleation at the DNA supercoiling transition

Twisting DNA under a constant applied force reveals a thermally activated transition into a state with a supercoiled structure known as a plectoneme. Using transition state theory, we predict the rate of this plectoneme nucleation to be of order 10^4 Hz. We reconcile this with experiments that have measured hopping rates of order 10 Hz by noting that the viscosity of the bead used to manipulate the DNA limits the measured rate. We find that the intrinsic bending caused by disorder in the base-pair sequence is important for understanding the free energy barrier that governs the transition. Both analytic and numerical methods are used in the calculations. We provide extensive details on the numerical methods for simulating the elastic rod model with and without disorder.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figure

General Relativistic Simulations of Magnetized Plasmas around Merging Supermassive Black Holes

Coalescing supermassive black hole binaries are produced by the mergers of galaxies and are the most powerful sources of gravitational waves accessible to space-based gravitational observatories. Some such mergers may occur in the presence of matter and magnetic fields and hence generate an electromagnetic counterpart. In this Letter, we present the first general relativistic simulations of magnetized plasma around merging supermassive black holes using the general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic code Whisky. By considering different magnetic field strengths, going from non-magnetically dominated to magnetically dominated regimes, we explore how magnetic fields affect the dynamics of the plasma and the possible emission of electromagnetic signals. In particular we observe a total amplification of the magnetic field of ~2 orders of magnitude which is driven by the accretion onto the binary and that leads to much stronger electromagnetic signals, more than a factor of 10^4 larger than comparable calculations done in the force-free regime where such amplifications are not possible.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Minor changes to match version accepted for publication on The Astrophysical Journal Letter

Personhood, consciousness, and god : how to be a proper pantheist

© Springer Nature B.V. 2018In this paper I develop a theory of personhood which leaves open the possibility of construing the universe as a person. If successful, it removes one bar to endorsing pantheism. I do this by examining a rising school of thought on personhood, on which persons, or selves, are understood as identical to episodes of consciousness. Through a critique of this experiential approach to personhood, I develop a theory of self as constituted of qualitative mental contents, but where these contents are also capable of unconscious existence. On this theory, though we can be conscious of our selves, consciousness turns out to be inessential to personhood. This move, I then argue, provides resources for responding to the pantheist’s problem of God’s person.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Synaptotagmin 1 oligomers clamp and regulate different modes of neurotransmitter release

Release of neurotransmitters relies on submillisecond coupling of synaptic vesicle fusion to the triggering signal: AP-evoked presynaptic Ca2+ influx. The key player that controls exocytosis of the synaptic vesicle is the Ca2+ sensor synaptotagmin 1 (Syt1). While the Ca2+ activation of Syt1 has been extensively characterized, how Syt1 reversibly clamps vesicular fusion remains enigmatic. Here, using a targeted mutation combined with fluorescence imaging and electrophysiology, we show that the structural feature of Syt1 to self-oligomerize provides the molecular basis for clamping of spontaneous and asynchronous release but is not required for triggering of synchronous release. Our findings propose a mechanistic model that explains how Syt1 oligomers regulate different modes of transmitter release in neuronal synapses

Analysis of unannotated equine transcripts identified by mRNA sequencing

Sequencing of equine mRNA (RNA-seq) identified 428 putative transcripts which do not map to any previously annotated or predicted horse genes. Most of these encode the equine homologs of known protein-coding genes described in other species, yet the potential exists to identify novel and perhaps equine-specific gene structures. A set of 36 transcripts were prioritized for further study by filtering for levels of expression (depth of RNA-seq read coverage), distance from annotated features in the equine genome, the number of putative exons, and patterns of gene expression between tissues. From these, four were selected for further investigation based on predicted open reading frames of greater than or equal to 50 amino acids and lack of detectable homology to known genes across species. Sanger sequencing of RT-PCR amplicons from additional equine samples confirmed expression and structural annotation of each transcript. Functional predictions were made by conserved domain searches. A single transcript, expressed in the cerebellum, contains a putative kruppel-associated box (KRAB) domain, suggesting a potential function associated with zinc finger proteins and transcriptional regulation. Overall levels of conserved synteny and sequence conservation across a 1MB region surrounding each transcript were approximately 73% compared to the human, canine, and bovine genomes; however, the four loci display some areas of low conservation and sequence inversion in regions that immediately flank these previously unannotated equine transcripts. Taken together, the evidence suggests that these four transcripts are likely to be equine-specific

N=2 SUSY and the Hexipentisteriruncicantitruncated 7-Simplex

We study algorithms for recursively creating arbitrary N-extended `supermultiplets' given minimal matrix representations of off-shell, N = 1 supermultiplet matrices. We observe connections between the color vertex problems in graph theory and the different supermultiplet sets locations in the permutahedron by using the concepts of truncation and chromatic number. The concept of `hopping operators' is introduced, constructed, and then used to partition the 8! vertices of the permutahedron. We explicitly partition these into 5,040 octets constrained in locations on the permutahedron by a magic number rule. Boolean factors in this recursive construction are shown to obey a doubly even binary flip rule. Although these hopping operators do not generally constitute normal subgroups of the permutation group, we find that `ab-normal cosets' exist where the same left- and right-hoppers appear as unordered sets. Finally, using computer simulations, we investigate the types of faces on higher-order permutahedron which may give rise to lower-order supermultiplets.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figure