An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang's Finances

We analyze a unique data set detailing the financial activities of a drug-selling street gang on a monthly basis over a four-year period in the recent past. The data, originally compiled by the gang leader to aid in managing the organization, contain detailed information on both the sources of revenues (e.g. drug sales, extortion) and expenditrues (e.g. costs of drugs sold, weapons, tribute to the central gang organization, wages paid to various levels of the gang). Street-level drug dealing appears to be less lucrative than is generally though. We estimate the average wage in the organization to rise from roughly $6 per hour to$11 per hour over the time period studied. The distribution of wages, however, is extremely skewed. Gang leaders earn far more than they could in the legitimate sector, but the actual street-level dealers appear to earn less than the minimum wage throughout most of our sample, in spite of the substantial risks associated with such activities (the annual violent death rate in our sample is 0.07), There is some evidence consistent both with compensating differentials and efficiency wages. The markup on drugs suggests that the gang has substantial local market power. Gang wars appear to have an important strategic component: violence on another gang's turf shifts demand away from that area. The gang we observe responds to such attacks by pricing below marginal cost, suggesting either economic punishment for the rival gang or the presence of switching for users that makes market share maintenance valuable. We investigate a range of alternative methods for estimating the willingness of gang members to accept risks of death, all of which suggest that the implicit value that gang members place on their own lives is very low.

Backaction-Driven Transport of Bloch Oscillating Atoms in Ring Cavities

We predict that an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate strongly coupled to an intracavity optical lattice can undergo resonant tunneling and directed transport when a constant and uniform bias force is applied. The bias force induces Bloch oscillations, causing amplitude and phase modulation of the lattice which resonantly modifies the site-to-site tunneling. For the right choice of parameters a net atomic current is generated. The transport velocity can be oriented oppositely to the bias force, with its amplitude and direction controlled by the detuning between the pump laser and the cavity. The transport can also be enhanced through imbalanced pumping of the two counter-propagating running wave cavity modes. Our results add to the cold atoms quantum simulation toolbox, with implications for quantum sensing and metrology.Comment: Published version: 5 pages, 4 figures; Supplementary Material include

A novel ingress node design for video streaming over optical burst switching networks

This paper introduces a novel ingress node design which takes advantage of video data partitioning in order to deliver enhanced video streaming quality when using H.264/AVC codec over optical burst switching networks. Ns2 simulations show that the proposed scheme delivers improved video traffic quality without affecting other traffic, such as best effort traffic. Although the extra network load is comparatively small, the average gain in video PSNR was 5 dB over existing burst cloning schemes, with a maximum end-to-end delay of 17 ms, and jitter of less than 0.35 ms

Multi Objective Optimization of Hot Machining of 15-5PH Stainless Steel Using Grey Relation Analysis

AbstractIn this paper an experimental investigation was carried out to optimize the performance characteristics (surface roughness and Metal removal rate) simultaneously in hot machining process. The experiments were conducted on 15-5PH stainless steel using K313 carbide tool based on Taguchi L27 orthogonal array design. The work-piece material was heated using oxy-acetylene gas flame which is the cost effective method compare to other heating technique used in hot machining process. Analysis of variance is performed to get the contribution of each parameter on the performance characteristics and it was observed that cutting speed is most significantly affect the performance characteristics compare to feed, depth of cut and temperature. The optimal set of process parameters were found to be cutting speed at 31 m/min, feed rate at 0.4mm/rev, depth of cut at 0.4mm and workpiece temperature at 400°C to maximize material removal rate and minimize surface roughness

Performance Enhancement of Routing in MANETs by using EOMD

Usually large scale of network applications requires communication of the single copy of same information packets simultaneously to many destinations. Applying the infrastructure- based multicast routing protocols in Mobile Ad hoc wireless Networks (MANETs) is a big challenge task. The circumstances that make Multicasting in ad hoc networks is extra intricate than in wired networks are node mobility, Interference of Wi-Fi alerts and broadcast nature of the communication. Tree based Protocols aren't suitable for common topology modifications as an excessive amount of overhead for updating the filter information and additionally no longer suitable for partition or isolation. The major impact of routing for multi-hop MANETs comes due to mobility of the node, as performance is prone to modifications in network topology. When any link breaks, the direction should be repaired or changed, similar to direction preservation or route discovery, respectively. The rerouting process charges in radio bandwidth and battery energy, and the extra routing latency can also affect QoS for community packages, degrading communication performance. The ODMRP is more robust to mobility and unreliable wireless links as its core layout relies on periodic floods of path discovery and renovation. ODMRP periodically reconstructs the ?forwarding mesh? on a fixed quick interval. The path refresh is the most essential parameter because it has the important effect at the protocol overhead. We proposed an Extended - On Demand Multicast Routing Protocol with motion detection (EOMD), which reduces communication overhead and performance improvisation in mobile Ad-Hoc Network in Mobility

Design and Implementation of a Beam Forming Network for a Phased Array Antenna

This dissertation presents a beam forming network (BFN) for phased array antenna-based on coherently radiating periodic structure (CORPS). The elements of CORPS are selected in such a way to obtain broad band characteristics, good return loss and good isolation between the radiating elements. These elements were arranged in such a way that the BFN naturally produces Gaussian amplitude. This methodology reduces the complexity of the conventional phased array design making it more flexible and minimizing the loss of energy inside the structure. A phase shifter design is proposed for the CORPS. The entire BFN’s sub-blocks have been designed for the frequency band of 5.925 GHz to 6.425 GHz, which find applications in communication satellite, fixed wireless systems.Defence Science Journal, Vol. 65, No. 1, January 2015, pp.46-52, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.65.694

A STUDY ON FACTOR PATTERNS OF RETAIL STORES INFLUENCING THE BUYING BEHAVIOUR IN COIMBATORE CITY

The surfacing of retail market structure has observed a significant change in the recent days in India. Both the evolving demand of customers and the intensified competition among the domestic and foreign companies have created a pressure for the need of innovations in rendering services in the emerging market. Measuring service quality has thus come in a way to examine the areas in which one has to improve and compete successfully. This study evaluates applicability of a widely accepted scale, Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS) in India. Factor analyses of the component structures indicate good fit of the RSQS dimensions and the items. The present study aims at identifying the factors patterns of supermarkets influencing the buying behaviour. The study is based upon a response of 200 respondents with convenience sampling. The research data were collected by using questionnaire and validated to the present study. Factor analysis was employed to identify factor loadings. As per factor analysis the loadings were grouped into 6 categories from 24 factors. The study revealed the factor patterns of retail services in Indian retail stores with special reference to Supermarkets and Hypermarkets in Coimbatore City