Spectral isolation of bi-invariant metrics on compact Lie groups

We show that a bi-invariant metric on a compact connected Lie group $G$ is spectrally isolated within the class of left-invariant metrics. In fact, we prove that given a bi-invariant metric $g_0$ on $G$ there is a positive integer $N$ such that, within a neighborhood of $g_0$ in the class of left-invariant metrics of at most the same volume, $g_0$ is uniquely determined by the first $N$ distinct non-zero eigenvalues of its Laplacian (ignoring multiplicities). In the case where $G$ is simple, $N$ can be chosen to be two.Comment: 10 pages, new title, revised abstract and introduction, minor typos corrected, to appear in Ann. Inst. Fourier (Grenoble

The discount window : time for reform?

For many years, the Federal Reserve's discount window has played an important role in monetary policy. Discount window borrowing helps individual depository institutions manage their reserve accounts in the presence of unexpected deposit and payments flows. Improved reserve management, in turn, helps stabilize the overnight federal funds market by reducing the volatility of short-term interest rates. Moreover, announced changes in the Federal Reserve's discount rate have often signaled important shifts in the stance of monetary policy and have frequently been associated with large changes in market interest rates, exchange rates, and asset prices.> In the 1990s, however, fewer and fewer institutions have relied on the window to meet short-term credit needs. Consequently, the usefulness of the discount window in smoothing reserve imbalances and stabilizing interest rates may have been reduced. In addition, changes in monetary policy operating procedures and the formal announcement of monetary policy decisions by the Federal Reserve may have reduced the effectiveness of discount rate changes in influencing market interest rates and asset prices.> Hakkio and Sellon analyze the changing role of the discount window in monetary policy and examine the case for discount window reform. One alternative to the traditional discount window is a "Lombard-type" lending facility in which depository institutions can borrow more freely than under the current system but at a higher rate. While there appear to be good arguments in favor of modernizing the discount mechanism, a number of conceptual and practical issues must be addressed before implementing a Lombard-type lending facility. An additional consideration, going forward, is the projected reduction in the supply of Treasury debt over the next few years. A shrinking supply of Treasury securities could complicate the use of open market operations in providing reserves to the banking system and require the Federal Reserve to place greater emphasis on the discount window. Consequently, any redesign of the discount window would need to address this issue.Discount window ; Discount ; Monetary policy

HOPE Longitudinal Study: Year 2 Results

Abstract pending

Rare Earth Element Partition Coefficients from Enstatite/Melt Synthesis Experiments

Enstatite (En(80)Fs(19)Wo(01)) was synthesized from a hypersthene normative basaltic melt doped at the same time with La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Dy, Er, Yb and Lu. The rare earth element concentrations were measured in both the basaltic glass and the enstatite. Rare earth element concentrations in the glass were determined by electron microprobe analysis with uncertainties less than two percent relative. Rare earth element concentrations in enstatite were determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry with uncertainties less than five percent relative. The resulting rare earth element partition signature for enstatite is similar to previous calculated and composite low-Ca pigeonite signatures, but is better defined and differs in several details. The partition coefficients are consistent with crystal structural constraints

Mediating and Moderating the Agenda-Setting Process: Three Studies of the Air Quality Issue

The primary focus of this study is to conceptualize and to develop a series of empirical models testing various mechanisms that might explain how a public information campaign and the resulting media coverage led to changes in the level of importance the public ascribes to air quality. The expressed purpose of the public information campaign was to focus attention on the issue of air quality and to change: (1) the publics perception of the importance of air quality; (2) attitudes about the social problem; and (3) specific behaviors, such as single occupancy driving. The issue advocates also sought to focus media attention on air quality, with the expectation that media coverage about the social problem would influence public concern. Therefore, public concern may change in response to the issue advocacy or the media coverage. In each paper of this manuscript, a mechanism or moderator that may account for changes in issue importance was hypothesized. The first paper, entitled The Mechanism of Transference: Projection and Conformity in the Agenda-Setting Process, tests two competing theories (projection and conformity) that may mediate the relationship between media coverage and public concern. The second paper, entitled Testing the Homogeneity Assumption of Public Opinion, tests two competing theories (heterogeneity and homogeneity) that may moderate the relationship between media coverage and public concern. Finally, the third paper, entitled Talk Back: The Impact of Social Communications on Media Coverage and Issue Importance, tests the importance of a mechanism that permits a feedback loop from the public to the media, through social communications. In all cases, the mechanism or moderator was hypothesized at the aggregate or mass level, but the findings shed light on where researchers should look for individual-level effects.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Henry, Gary; Committee Member: Bostrom, Ann; Committee Member: Edmiston, Kelly; Committee Member: Lewis, Gregory; Committee Member: Nicholson, Stephe

An evaluation of the implementation of Georgia's Pre-k program: Report of the findings from the Georgia Early Childhood Study (2002-03)

After ten years, Georgia continues to lead the nation in providing full day, publicly subsidized Pre-K to four-year-olds whose parents choose to enroll them. In this report, we assess the extent to which differences in the way Pre-K is implemented affect children's development. Do teachers with higher levels of education have more positive impacts on children's development? Do teaching styles make a difference in terms of children's outcomes by the end of kindergarten? Do children taught using certain curricula fare better than those taught using others? Answers to questions such as these can assist Pre-K administrators in refining Georgia's program and inform those in other states who are developing or expanding their prekindergarten programs

CallE: An Effect System for Method Calls

Effect systems are used to statically reason about the effects an expression may have when evaluated. In the literature, such effects include various behaviours as diverse as memory accesses and exception throwing. Here we present CallE, an object-oriented language that takes a flexible approach where effects are just method calls: this works well because ordinary methods often model things like I/O operations, access to global state, or primitive language operations such as thread creation. CallE supports both flexible and fine-grained control over such behaviour, in a way designed to minimise the complexity of annotations. CallE's effect system can be used to prevent OO code from performing privileged operations, such as querying a database, modifying GUI widgets, exiting the program, or performing network communication. It can also be used to ensure determinism, by preventing methods from (indirectly) calling non-deterministic primitives like random number generation or file reading

Plant Sterols as Dietary Adjuvants in the Reduction of Cardiovascular Risk: Theory and Evidence

Plant sterol-enriched foods are an effective dietary adjuvant in reducing cardiovascular risk by lowering total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) in serum by up to ∼15%. The mechanism of action of plant sterols is different from those of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A inhibitors (statins) and thus their effect is additive. Combining plant sterols with other dietary components known to reduce cholesterol in a portfolio approach has proven to be most effective for reduction of hypercholesterolemia and provide an alternative treatment option for clinicians. Plant sterol-enriched foods provides clinicians with a relatively cheap, safe, and effective way to help patients manage their cardiovascular risk

HOPE Longitudinal Study: First Year Results

The first wave of the six-year HOPE Longitudinal Study, commissioned by the Council for School Performance and partially sponsored by the Board of Regents, addresses three major questions. First, to what extent do thirteen to fifteen-year-olds and their parents know about the eligibility requirements of the HOPE Scholarship and the associated benefits? Second, what factors affect the expectations students form about attending and graduating from college? Finally, seventh and eighth graders were asked about the new PREP It Up! Program to determine how they heard about the program and to what extent they are able to recall college prep curriculum requirements.The survey was undertaken during the spring of 1997. Given that a database of students with telephone numbers is generally not available, the Applied Research Center called over 44,000 households throughout the state to locate and gain consent of 800 students and their parents to participate in the study

Spectral isolation of naturally reductive metrics on simple Lie groups

We show that within the class of left-invariant naturally reductive metrics $\mathcal{M}_{\operatorname{Nat}}(G)$ on a compact simple Lie group $G$, every metric is spectrally isolated. We also observe that any collection of isospectral compact symmetric spaces is finite; this follows from a somewhat stronger statement involving only a finite part of the spectrum.Comment: 19 pages, new title and abstract, revised introduction, new result demonstrating that any collection of isospectral compact symmetric spaces must be finite, to appear Math Z. (published online Dec. 2009