Human Resources: Key to Competitive Advantage

[Excerpt] As difficult as it may be and as fuzzy as it may turn out, we all must invest in an attempt to peer into the future to discern what implications it has for our human resources. It is not a precise effort, and it certainly can be challenged from many quarters; however, it is not only noble, but may prove to be extremely worthwhile for a competitive firm. As with almost every organization activity, the competitive world makes a paradigm shift inevitable for the human resource function. Understanding the nature of that shift and how to implement meaningful change are the fundamental questions for us all

Jaynes-Cummings dynamics with a matter wave oscillator

We propose to subject two Bose-Einstein condensates to a periodic potential, so that one condensate undergoes the Mott insulator transition to a state with precisely one atom per lattice site. We show that photoassociation of heteronuclear molecules within each lattice site is described by the quantum optical Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian. In analogy with studies of this Hamiltonian with cavity fields and trapped ions, we are thus able to engineer quantum optical states of atomic matter wave fields and we are able to reconstruct these states by quantum state tomography.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Analytical model of non-Markovian decoherence in donor-based charge quantum bits

We develop an analytical model for describing the dynamics of a donor-based charge quantum bit (qubit). As a result, the quantum decoherence of the qubit is analytically obtained and shown to reveal non-Markovian features: The decoherence rate varies with time and even attains negative values, generating a non-exponential decay of the electronic coherence and a later recoherence. The resulting coherence time is inversely proportional to the temperature, thus leading to low decoherence below a material dependent characteristic temperature.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure

Breaking News: A Woman is Running

As women are still underrepresented in legislative offices, it is important to examine the road it takes for them to get there. Many scholars have explored gender bias in the media when covering female candidates for elected office. Fowler and Lawless (2009) uncover bias in media coverage of candidates between 1990 and 1997 in Looking for Sex in All the Wrong Places: Press Coverage and the Electoral Fortunes of Gubernatorial Candidates. This paper replicates the method used by Fowler and Lawless (2009) to examine gubernatorial candidates between 2008 and 2014. The independent variable in my research is the gender bias in news coverage of candidates. The dependent variable in my research is successful candidacy. In order to identify any gender bias in news coverage of candidates, I will code articles from the most widely read newspapers in the gubernatorial candidate’s state for personal traits coverage, women’s issue coverage, personal background coverage, political background coverage, action coverage, and position coverage. By comparing my research with Fowler and Lawless, I find that many differences in the way male and female candidates are portrayed in newspaper articles can still be seen today. Using both female versus female and male versus female races, my findings suggest the possibility that females garner different coverage depending on the gender of their opponent. In addition, I find that females with the same experience as a male candidate are less successful in a gubernatorial race from 2008-2014. These findings suggest that, at the aggregate level, women receive a different type of media coverage than men and this may have an impact on the female candidate’s success

Study of low frequency hydromagnetic waves using ATS-1 data

Low frequency oscillations of the magnetic field at ATS-1 were analyzed for the 25 month data interval, Dec., 1966 through 1968. Irregular oscillations and those associated with magnetic storms were excluded from the analysis. Of the 222 events identified, 170 were found to be oscillating predominantly transverse to the background magnetic field. The oscillations were observed to occur most frequently in the early afternoon hours. They also seemed to occur more frequently during Dec., Jan., and Feb. than at any other time of the year. During a given event, the frequency was fairly constant. The event duration varied between a minimum of 10 min. and a maximum of 14 hrs and 26 min. During a given event the amplitude varied

Letter from B. F. Cummings

Letter concerning establishment of a farm journal

Estimation of Costs of Phosphorus Removal In Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Adaptation of Existing Facilities

As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement pollutant trading within Georgia watersheds, this is the second of two reports addressing the issue of estimating costs for upgrades in the performance of phosphorus removal in point-source wastewater treatment facilities. Earlier, preliminary results are presented in Jiang et al (2004) (Working Paper # 2004-010 of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center). The present study is much more detailed and employs an advanced software package (WEST®, Hemmis nv, Kortrijk, Belgium) for simulating a variety of treatment plant designs operating under typical Georgia conditions. Specifically, upgrades in performance, in a single step, from a plant working at an effluent limit of less than 2.0 mg/l phosphorus to one working with limits variously ranging between less than 1.0 mg/l to less than 0.05 mg/l phosphorus are simulated and the resulting costs of the upgrade estimated.Five capacities of plant are considered, from 1 MGD to 100 MGD. Three strategic, alternative designs for the facility are considered: the basic activated sludge (AS) process with chemical addition, the Anoxic/Oxic (A/O) arrangement of the AS process, and the Anaerobic/Aerobic/Oxic (A/A/O) arrangement of the AS process. Upgrades in performance are consistent with the logical alternatives for adapting these options. Cost comparisons are made primarily on the basis of the incremental cost of the upgrade, i.e., from the base-case, reference plant to that performing at the higher level, as expressed through the incremental Total Annual Economic Cost (TAEC; in $) and the marginal unit cost of phosphorus removal, expressed in ($/kg).For the most stringent upgrade, for example, to a plant generating an effluent with less than 0.05 mg/l phosphorus, these marginal costs -- the cost of the additional phosphorus removed as a result of the upgrade -- amount to something of the order of 150-425 $/kg, with the upper bound being associated with the smallest plant configuration (1 MGD). Working Paper Number 2005-001

Dispersal Dynamics in a Wind-Driven Benthic System

Bedload and water column traps were used with simultaneous wind and water velocity measurements to study postlarval macrofaunal dispersal dynamics in Manukau Harbour, New Zealand. A 12-fold range in mean wind condition resulted in large differences in water flow (12-fold), sediment flux (285-fold), and trap collection of total number of individuals (95-fold), number of the dominant infaunal organism (84-fold for the bivalve Macomona liliana), and number of species (4-fold). There were very strong, positive relationships among wind condition, water velocity, sediment flux, and postlarval dispersal, especially in the bedload. Local density in the ambient sediment was not a good predictor of dispersal. Results indicate that postlarval dispersal may influence benthic abundance pat- terns over a range of spatial scales