The Labor Force Participation Rate: An Examination Of The Determinants Of Its Recent Precipitous Decline

The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is defined as those Americans in the labor force, i.e. above the age of sixteen, below retirement age, who are either actively employed or actively seeking employment.  From 1950 until 1998 it rose from 59.2% to 67.2%.  Given the near doubling of the U.S. population, its impact on our economy was enormous.  However, since 1998 the LFPR has declined steadily to 63.3%.  Parallel to this decline, we have seen a polarization of both wealth and income in the U.S.  Many economists have examined both trends – the decline of LFPR and inequality – and have put forth a variety of determinants.  These include technology and globalization – a decline or “hollowing out” of the middle class, if you will.  Also included are the demographics of an ageing society, and the increased racial and gender participation, but also a workforce that has become only marginally prepared by today’s educational institutions.  Another class of determinants is the welfare “safety net” at both the Federal and state levels, including extended unemployment benefits, disability payments and other subsidies.  The authors examine each class of determinants, including whether their aspects are cyclical, structural or even part of an ominous trend for our economy

Acoustic Enhancement of Polymer/ZnO Nanorod Photovoltaic Device Performance

Leverhulme Trust and EPSRC. Grant Numbers: EP/J500021/1, EP/G037515/1

The use of the Regier number in the structural design with flutter constraints

This preliminary investigation introduces the use of the Regier number as a flutter constraint criterion for aeroelastic structural optimization. Artificial neural network approximations are used to approximate the flutter criterion requirements as a function of the design Mach number and the parametric variables defining the aspect ratio, center of gravity, taper ratio, mass ratio, and pitch inertia of the wing. The presented approximations are simple enough to be used in the preliminary design stage without a well defined structural model. An example problem for a low-speed, high-aspect-ratio, light-aircraft wing is presented. The example problem is analyzed for the flutter Mach number using doublet lattice aerodynamics and the PK solution method. The use of the Regier number constraint criterion to optimize the example problem for minimum structural mass while maintaining a constant flutter Mach number is demonstrated

Evaluation of one type of foldable tube

Structural rigidity of foldable tube used for transportation of fluid

Acoustic enhancement of polymer/ZnO nanorod photovoltaic device performance

Acoustic vibrations are shown to enhance the photovoltaic efficiency of a P3HT/ZnO nanorod solar cell by up to 45%, correlated to a three‐fold increase in charge carrier lifetime. This is assigned to the generation of piezoelectric dipoles in the ZnO nanorods, indicating that the efficiency of solar cells may be enhanced in the presence of ambient vibrations by the use of piezoelectric materials

Increased expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in human pituitary tumors

PURPOSE: Subsets of pituitary tumors exhibit an aggressive clinical courses and recur despite surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Because modulation of the immune response through inhibition of T-cell checkpoints has led to durable clinical responses in multiple malignancies, we explored whether pituitary adenomas express immune-related biomarkers that could suggest suitability for immunotherapy. Specifically, programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) has emerged as a potential biomarker whose expression may portend more favorable responses to immune checkpoint blockade therapies. We thus investigated the expression of PD-L1 in pituitary adenomas. METHODS: PD-L1 RNA and protein expression were evaluated in 48 pituitary tumors, including functioning and non-functioning adenomas as well as atypical and recurrent tumors. Tumor infiltrating lymphocyte populations were also assessed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Pituitary tumors express variable levels of PD-L1 transcript and protein. PD-L1 RNA and protein expression were significantly increased in functioning (growth hormone and prolactin-expressing) pituitary adenomas compared to non-functioning (null cell and silent gonadotroph) adenomas. Moreover, primary pituitary adenomas harbored higher levels of PD-L1 mRNA compared to recurrent tumors. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes were observed in all pituitary tumors and were positively correlated with increased PD-L1 expression, particularly in the functional subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: Human pituitary adenomas harbor PD-L1 across subtypes, with significantly higher expression in functioning adenomas compared to non-functioning adenomas. This expression is accompanied by the presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. These findings suggest the existence of an immune response to pituitary tumors and raise the possibility of considering checkpoint blockade immunotherapy in cases refractory to conventional management

Analytic, Group-Theoretic Density Profiles for Confined, Correlated N-Body Systems

Confined quantum systems involving $N$ identical interacting particles are to be found in many areas of physics, including condensed matter, atomic and chemical physics. A beyond-mean-field perturbation method that is applicable, in principle, to weakly, intermediate, and strongly-interacting systems has been set forth by the authors in a previous series of papers. Dimensional perturbation theory was used, and in conjunction with group theory, an analytic beyond-mean-field correlated wave function at lowest order for a system under spherical confinement with a general two-body interaction was derived. In the present paper, we use this analytic wave function to derive the corresponding lowest-order, analytic density profile and apply it to the example of a Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Physics Review A. This document was submitted after responding to a reviewer's comment

Analysis and design of solid-state circuits utilizing the NASA analysis computer program Annual report

Network Analysis for Systems Application Program /NASAP/ applicable in analysis and design of solid state circuit