The Correlation of Welath Across Generations

This paper examines the similarity in wealth between parents and their children, and explores alternative explanations for this relationship. We find that the age-adjusted elasticity of child wealth with respect to parental wealth is 0.37, before the transfer of bequests. Lifetime income and ownership of particular assets, both of which exhibit strong intergeneration similarity, jointly explain nearly two-thirds of the wealth elasticity. Education, past parental transfers, and expected future bequests account for little of the remaining elasticity. Using new experimental evidence, we assess the importance of risk tolerance. The risk tolerance measures vary as theory would predict with the ownership of risky assets, and are highly correlated between parents and children. However, they explain little of the intergenerational correlation in the propensity to own different assets, suggesting that children's savings propensities are determined by mimicking their parents' behavior, or the inheritance of preferences not related to risk tolerance. Additionally, these risk tolerance measures explain only a small part of the remaining intergenerational wealth elasticity.

Conspicuous Consumption and Race

Using nationally representative data on consumption, we show that Blacks and Hispanics devote larger shares of their expenditure bundles to visible goods (clothing, jewelry, and cars) than do comparable Whites. We demonstrate that these differences exist among virtually all sub-populations, that they are relatively constant over time, and that they are economically large. While racial differences in utility preference parameters might account for a portion of these consumption differences, we emphasize instead a model of status seeking in which conspicuous consumption is used to reflect a household's economic position relative to a reference group. Using merged data on race and state level income, we demonstrate that a key prediction of our model -- that visible consumption should be declining in mean reference group income -- is strongly borne out in the data separately for each racial group. Moreover, we show that accounting for differences in reference group income characteristics explains most of the racial difference in visible consumption. We conclude with an assessment of the role of conspicuous consumption in explaining lower spending by racial minorities on items likes health and education, as well as their lower rates of wealth accumulation.

The Effects of a Simulated Self-Evaluative Routine on Teachers' Grades, Intraclass Correlations, and Feedback Characteristics

English language arts teachers committed to the teaching of writing must allocate substantial time and energy to the evaluation of student essays. And in doing so, these teachers wrestle with at least two star-crossed expectations. First, they must fulfill the institutional obligation of making reliable holistic judgments of the papers they receive, stratifying papers according to their successes against a set of stipulated criteria. Second--and more importantly for the sake of teaching and learning--they must also be the providers of insightful, inviting feedback that promotes rather than hinders students` progress toward robust literacies. The qualities of such feedback, having been studied by Kluger and DeNisi (1996), Hattie and Timperley (2007), and others, have recently been made available to classroom practitioners in Brookhart`s How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students (2008). The current study leverages Brookhart`s transmission of previous research to investigate how teachers might improve their feedback characteristics by way of a self-evaluation routine administered to students prior to the submission of so-called final-draft essays. Specifically, the study tested teachers` scoring and feedback practices, with respect to their work on stronger and weaker essays across control and experimental conditions pertaining to the absence or presence of simulated self-evaluative comments by student authors. Scoring practices were considered by way of group means, distributions, and intraclass correlations of participating teachers` evaluative scores; similarly these teachers` feedback was coded according to criteria suggested by Brookhart, and then compared by way of a 2x2 ANOVA comparison of feedback variances across stronger and weaker papers under control and experimental conditions. The analyses of these data demonstrated a medium-sized positive effect for the desirable feedback trait of focus on self-regulation (partial ç2 = 0.079), as well as a small-sized positive effect for the desirable trait of comparisons to an imaginable previous or successive draft (partial ç2 = 0.032). These desirable improvements in feedback were accompanied while maintaining comparative stability in the grades imposed by teachers, limiting the concern that a "friendlier" approach derived from principles in interpersonal psychology (Heider, 1958) might somehow weaken the integrity of rigor in scoring

Conspicuous Consumption and Race

Using nationally representative data on consumption, we show that Blacks and Hispanics devote larger shares of their expenditure bundles to visible goods (clothing, jewelry, and cars) than do comparable Whites. These differences exist among virtually all subpopulations, are relatively constant over time, and are economically large. Although racial differences in utility preference parameters might account for a portion of these consumption differences, we emphasize instead a model of status seeking in which conspicuous consumption is used as a costly indicator of a household\u27s economic position. Using merged data on race- and state-level income, we demonstrate that a key prediction of the status-signaling model—that visible consumption should be declining in reference group income—is strongly borne out in the data for each racial group. Moreover, we show that accounting for differences in reference group income characteristics explains most of the racial difference in visible consumption

The thyroid secretion rate in the mouse and its relation to various physiological processes

Publication authorized may 12, 1948Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references (pages 52-62)

IMPLEMENTING CATEGORY MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE U.S. MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS COMMAND

The purpose of this research is to conduct a spend analysis on the Marine Corps Logistics Command’s (MARCORLOGCOM) contracting spend data from Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 to FY 2022 to determine if category management (CM) can be implemented to improve the command's contracting procedures. CM is the purchasing strategy that the Department of Defense (DOD) has chosen to implement within its contracting organizations to increase the efficiency and to reduce costs associated with government purchasing. Although the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed the implementation of CM in 2014, it has yet to be fully integrated within all DOD contracting strategies. Our research analyzed MARCORLOGCOM's spend to identify trends with regard to product service codes (PSC), contract types, and contractors. Based on the implications of our research, we determined that although it appears MARCORLOGCOM has attempted to implement CM, there are opportunities for the command to expand its use of the strategy. We concluded our research with three recommendations for implementing CM within MARCORLOGCOM which included using multiple award indefinite delivery contracts (IDCs) rather than single award IDCs; expanding the use of IDCs; and increasing coordination, communication and organization among the command contracting units.Marine Corp Logistics CommandOutstanding ThesisCaptain, United States Air ForceCaptain, United States Air ForceCaptain, United States Air ForceApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Induced quantum dot probe for material characterization

We propose a non-destructive means of characterizing a semiconductor wafer via measuring parameters of an induced quantum dot on the material system of interest with a separate probe chip that can also house the measurement circuitry. We show that a single wire can create the dot, determine if an electron is present, and be used to measure critical device parameters. Adding more wires enables more complicated (potentially multi-dot) systems and measurements. As one application for this concept we consider silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor and silicon/silicon-germanium quantum dot qubits relevant to quantum computing and show how to measure low-lying excited states (so-called valley states). This approach provides an alternative method for characterization of parameters that are critical for various semiconductor-based quantum dot devices without fabricating such devices

Dopamine D 4 Receptor-Deficient Mice Display Cortical Hyperexcitability

The dopamine D(4) receptor (D(4)R) is predominantly expressed in the frontal cortex (FC), a brain region that receives dense input from midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons and is associated with cognitive and emotional processes. However, the physiological significance of this dopamine receptor subtype has been difficult to explore because of the slow development of D(4)R agonists and antagonists the selectivity and efficacy of which have been rigorously demonstrated in vivo. We have attempted to overcome this limitation by taking a multidimensional approach to the characterization of mice completely deficient in this receptor subtype. Electrophysiological current and voltage-clamp recordings were performed in cortical pyramidal neurons from wild-type and D(4)R-deficient mice. The frequency of spontaneous synaptic activity and the frequency and duration of paroxysmal discharges induced by epileptogenic agents were increased in mutant mice. Enhanced synaptic activity was also observed in brain slices of wild-type mice incubated in the presence of the selective D(4)R antagonist PNU-101387G. Consistent with greater electrophysiological activity, nerve terminal glutamate density associated with asymmetrical synaptic contacts within layer VI of the motor cortex was reduced in mutant neurons. Taken together, these results suggest that the D(4)R can function as an inhibitory modulator of glutamate activity in the FC.Fil: Rubinstein, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Cepeda, Carlos. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Hurst, Raymond S.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Flores Hernandez, Jorge. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Ariano, Marjorie A.. The Chicago Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Falzone, Tomas Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Kozell, Laura B.. Oregon Health Sciences University; Estados UnidosFil: Meshul, Charles K.. Oregon Health Sciences University; Estados UnidosFil: Bunzow, James R.. Oregon Health Sciences University; Estados UnidosFil: Low, Malcolm J.. Oregon Health Sciences University; Estados UnidosFil: Levine, Michael S.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Grandy, David K.. Oregon Health Sciences University; Estados Unido

Protective Effects of the Launch/Entry Suit (LES) and the Liquid Cooling Garment(LCG) During Re-entry and Landing After Spaceflight

Heart rate and arterial pressure were measured during shuttle re-entry, landing and initial standing in crewmembers with and without inflated anti-g suits and with and without liquid cooling garments (LCG). Preflight, three measurements were obtained seated, then standing. Prior to and during re-entry, arterial pressure and heart rate were measured every five minutes until wheels stop (WS). Then crewmembers initiated three seated and three standing measurements. In subjects without inflated anti-g suits, SBP and DBP were significantly lower during preflight standing (P = 0.006; P = 0.001 respectively) and at touchdown (TD) (P = 0.001; P = 0.003 respectively); standing SBP was significantly lower after WS. on-LeG users developed significantly higher heart rates during re-entry (P = 0.029, maxG; P = 0.05, TD; P = 0.02, post-WS seated; P = 0.01, post-WS standing) than LCG users. Our data suggest that the anti-g suit is effective, but the combined anti-g suit with LCG is more effective