Selected Characteristics of Savings and Thrift Plans for Private Industry Workers

[Excerpt] This issue of Beyond the Numbers looks at the growth in the prevalence and at selected characteristics of employer-provided savings and thrift plans in private industry in the United States. The data for this article come from the National Compensation Survey: Health and Retirement Plan Provisions in Private Industry in the United States, 2012. In some instances, comparisons of 2012 data are made to 2009 data, which came from National Compensation Survey: Health and Retirement Plan Provisions in Private Industry in the United States, 2009

Two systems developed for purifying inert atmospheres

Two systems, one for helium and one for argon, are used for purifying inert atmospheres. The helium system uses an activated charcoal bed at liquid nitrogen temperature to remove oxygen and nitrogen. The argon system uses heated titanium sponge to remove nitrogen and copper wool beds to remove oxygen. Both use molecular sieves to remove water vapor

PHYTOSANITARY REGULATION AND AGRICULTURAL FLOWS: TOBACCO INPUTS AND CIGARETTES OUTPUTS

This paper examines the effects of the use of increasingly-popular phytosanitary regulations on production costs, and output and factor trade flows. The case addressed is that of the European regulation of maximum chemical residues in cigarettes manufactured with tobacco containing maleic hydrazide. The paper presents simulations of the effects of tightening the input/output market linkages and on the substitution away from the residue-contaminated U.S. input to residue-free non-U.S. inputs. This induced substitution results in higher costs, lower quantity supplied of the final product, and higher prices for U.S. cigarettes in Europe. Cross-price effects lead to higher quantities of EU cigarettes sold and a corresponding increase in the use of all inputs, including U.S. tobacco. When the U.S. tobacco price is allowed to fall, direct price effects stimulate the EU derived demand for U.S. tobacco. Although the regulation is protectionist in the output market, it leads to increased EU imports of the residue-contaminated input. When the price of U.S. tobacco adjusts, the regulation is actually antiprotective for EU growers. The regulation also indirectly influences production practices of U.S. tobacco growers and leads to lower levels of MH residues on U.S. leaf.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Determination of Frequency and Distribution of Hessian Fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) Biotypes in the Northeastern Soft Wheat Region

Fifteen collections of Hessian flies from the northern soft winter wheat region of the United States were used to determine the composition and frequency of biotypes. The wheat cultivars \u27Seneca\u27 (H7Hs), \u27Monon\u27 (H3), \u27Knox 62\u27 (~, H7Hg), and \u27Abe\u27 (Hs) were used as differentials. Biotypes J and L replaced biotype B as the prevalent biotype in Indiana, since wheat cultivars having the Hs and the H6 genes have been grown. Biotype GP, the least virulent of any Hessian fly biotypes, was still present in New York indicating that wheat cuItivars with no genes for resistance are still being grown there. The genetic variability of Hessian fly biotypes that enables them to overcome the resistance in wheat cultivars is discussed

Conductivity of Paired Composite Fermions

We develop a phenomenological description of the nu=5/2 quantum Hall state in which the Halperin-Lee-Read theory of the half-filled Landau level is combined with a p-wave pairing interaction between composite fermions (CFs). The electromagnetic response functions for the resulting mean-field superconducting state of the CFs are calculated and used in an RPA calculation of the q and omega dependent longitudinal conductivity of the physical electrons, a quantity which can be measured experimentally

Prompt energization of relativistic and highly relativistic electrons during a substorm interval: Van Allen Probes observations

Abstract On 17 March 2013, a large magnetic storm significantly depleted the multi-MeV radiation belt. We present multi-instrument observations from the Van Allen Probes spacecraft Radiation Belt Storm Probe A and Radiation Belt Storm Probe B at ~6 Re in the midnight sector magnetosphere and from ground-based ionospheric sensors during a substorm dipolarization followed by rapid reenergization of multi-MeV electrons. A 50% increase in magnetic field magnitude occurred simultaneously with dramatic increases in 100 keV electron fluxes and a 100 times increase in VLF wave intensity. The 100 keV electrons and intense VLF waves provide a seed population and energy source for subsequent radiation belt enhancements. Highly relativistic (\u3e2 MeV) electron fluxes increased immediately at L* ~ 4.5 and 4.5 MeV flux increased \u3e90 times at L* = 4 over 5 h. Although plasmasphere expansion brings the enhanced radiation belt multi-MeV fluxes inside the plasmasphere several hours postsubstorm, we localize their prompt reenergization during the event to regions outside the plasmasphere. Key Points Substorm dynamics are important for highly relativistic electron energization Cold plasma preconditioning is significant for rapid relativistic energization Relativistic / highly relativistic electron energization can occur in \u3c 5 hrs

Clustering Phase Transitions and Hysteresis: Pitfalls in Constructing Network Ensembles

Ensembles of networks are used as null models in many applications. However, simple null models often show much less clustering than their real-world counterparts. In this paper, we study a model where clustering is enhanced by means of a fugacity term as in the Strauss (or "triangle") model, but where the degree sequence is strictly preserved -- thus maintaining the quenched heterogeneity of nodes found in the original degree sequence. Similar models had been proposed previously in [R. Milo et al., Science 298, 824 (2002)]. We find that our model exhibits phase transitions as the fugacity is changed. For regular graphs (identical degrees for all nodes) with degree k > 2 we find a single first order transition. For all non-regular networks that we studied (including Erdos - Renyi and scale-free networks) we find multiple jumps resembling first order transitions, together with strong hysteresis. The latter transitions are driven by the sudden emergence of "cluster cores": groups of highly interconnected nodes with higher than average degrees. To study these cluster cores visually, we introduce q-clique adjacency plots. We find that these cluster cores constitute distinct communities which emerge spontaneously from the triangle generating process. Finally, we point out that cluster cores produce pitfalls when using the present (and similar) models as null models for strongly clustered networks, due to the very strong hysteresis which effectively leads to broken ergodicity on realistic time scales.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure

Toxicity of thermal degradation products of spacecraft materials

Three polymeric materials were evaluated for relative toxicity of their pyrolysis products to rats by inhalation: Y-7683 (LS 200), Y-7684 (Vonar 3 on Fiberglass), and Y-7685 (Vonar 3 on N W Polyester). Criteria employed for assessing relative toxicity were (1) lethality from in-chamber pyrolysis, (2) lethality from an outside-of-chamber pyrolysis MSTL Procedure, and (3) disruption of trained rats' shock-avoidance performance during sub-lethal exposures to in-chamber pyrolysis of the materials

Real-time observation of epitaxial graphene domain reorientation.

Graphene films grown by vapour deposition tend to be polycrystalline due to the nucleation and growth of islands with different in-plane orientations. Here, using low-energy electron microscopy, we find that micron-sized graphene islands on Ir(111) rotate to a preferred orientation during thermal annealing. We observe three alignment mechanisms: the simultaneous growth of aligned domains and dissolution of rotated domains, that is, 'ripening'; domain boundary motion within islands; and continuous lattice rotation of entire domains. By measuring the relative growth velocity of domains during ripening, we estimate that the driving force for alignment is on the order of 0.1 meV per C atom and increases with rotation angle. A simple model of the orientation-dependent energy associated with the moiré corrugation of the graphene sheet due to local variations in the graphene-substrate interaction reproduces the results. This work suggests new strategies for improving the van der Waals epitaxy of 2D materials