State ethics commissions : determinants and effects of commission adoption

Many state legislatures have adopted state ethics commissions over time. Beginning in the late 1960?s and early 1970?s, ethics laws, campaign finance reforms, and state ethics commissions diffused across states. With the adoption of both ethics commissions and ethics reforms, it has been taken as self-evident that these bodies have been adopted due to political scandal, that they reduce political corruption, that they increase public trust and confidence in government, and that they boost public approval of state political institutions. However, these claims have, in many cases, failed to be systematically and empirically examined. As a result, little scholarly attention has been paid to studying the determinants or effects of adopting these institutions. In an attempt to understand why states adopt ethics commissions, and the effects of doing so, the central questions that my dissertation will address are: Why do state legislatures adopt ethics commissions? And, does the adoption of these institutions have any effects on political corruption, trust and confidence in government, or public approval of state political institutions? I find that state ethics commissions are adopted in the wake of political scandal and because of the increasing need for administration of campaign finance laws. I also find that although state ethics commissions have no effect on corruption and trust and confidence in government, they do positively impact public approval

Biochemical, kinetic, and spectroscopic characterization of Ruegeria pomeroyi DddW - A mononuclear iron-dependent DMSP lyase

The osmolyte dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is a key nutrient in marine environments and its catabolism by bacteria through enzymes known as DMSP lyases generates dimethylsulfide (DMS), a gas of importance in climate regulation, the sulfur cycle, and signaling to higher organisms. Despite the environmental significance of DMSP lyases, little is known about how they function at the mechanistic level. In this study we biochemically characterize DddW, a DMSP lyase from the model roseobacter Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3. DddW is a 16.9 kDa enzyme that contains a C-terminal cupin domain and liberates acrylate, a proton, and DMS from the DMSP substrate. Our studies show that as-purified DddW is a metalloenzyme, like the DddQ and DddP DMSP lyases, but contains an iron cofactor. The metal cofactor is essential for DddW DMSP lyase activity since addition of the metal chelator EDTA abolishes its enzymatic activity, as do substitution mutations of key metal-binding residues in the cupin motif (His81, His83, Glu87, and His121). Measurements of metal binding affinity and catalytic activity indicate that Fe(II) is most likely the preferred catalytic metal ion with a nanomolar binding affinity. Stoichiometry studies suggest DddW requires one Fe(II) per monomer. Electronic absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies show an interaction between NO and Fe(II)-DddW, with NO binding to the EPR silent Fe(II) site giving rise to an EPR active species (g = 4.29, 3.95, 2.00). The change in the rhombicity of the EPR signal is observed in the presence of DMSP, indicating that substrate binds to the iron site without displacing bound NO. This work provides insight into the mechanism of DMSP cleavage catalyzed by DddW

Waveform-level time-domain simulation comparison study of three shipboard power system architectures

Detailed waveform-level modeling and simulation of three alternative shipboard power system architectures is presented herein. The three system architectures are based on conventional 60Hz medium-voltage ac (MVAC), higherfrequency 240Hz medium-voltage ac (HFAC) and mediumvoltage dc (MVDC) technologies. To support the quantitative assessment and comparison of these three different power system architectures, each technology was modeled using a common representative, notional baseline ship. The baseline ship represents a multi-mission destroyer fitted with an 80MW next generation integrated power system (NGIPS). Modeling of each power system architecture is set forth along with simulation studies for three fault scenarios. Each of the three power system architectures was implemented within the MATLAB/ Simulink environment. Continuity of service was evaluated for each architecture along with a fault scenario using an operability metric. After a brief description of the three power system architectures and the operability metric, quantitative results are presented.Center for Electromechanic

Interpreting the Ionization Sequence in Star-Forming Galaxy Emission-Line Spectra

High ionization star forming (SF) galaxies are easily identified with strong emission line techniques such as the BPT diagram, and form an obvious ionization sequence on such diagrams. We use a locally optimally emitting cloud model to fit emission line ratios that constrain the excitation mechanism, spectral energy distribution, abundances and physical conditions along the star-formation ionization sequence. Our analysis takes advantage of the identification of a sample of pure star-forming galaxies, to define the ionization sequence, via mean field independent component analysis. Previous work has suggested that the major parameter controlling the ionization level in SF galaxies is the metallicity. Here we show that the observed SF- sequence could alternatively be interpreted primarily as a sequence in the distribution of the ionizing flux incident on gas spread throughout a galaxy. Metallicity variations remain necessary to model the SF-sequence, however, our best models indicate that galaxies with the highest and lowest observed ionization levels (outside the range -0.37 < log [O III]/H\b{eta} < -0.09) require the variation of an additional physical parameter other than metallicity, which we determine to be the distribution of ionizing flux in the galaxy.Comment: 41 pages, 17 figures, 9 tables, accepted to MNRA

Folic Acid Food Fortification—Its History, Effect, Concerns, and Future Directions

Periconceptional intake of folic acid is known to reduce a woman’s risk of having an infant affected by a neural tube birth defect (NTD). National programs to mandate fortification of food with folic acid have reduced the prevalence of NTDs worldwide. Uncertainty surrounding possible unintended consequences has led to concerns about higher folic acid intake and food fortification programs. This uncertainty emphasizes the need to continually monitor fortification programs for accurate measures of their effect and the ability to address concerns as they arise. This review highlights the history, effect, concerns, and future directions of folic acid food fortification programs

Dedication of Boyce Thompson Arboretum April 1929

Desert Plants is published by The University of Arizona for the Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum. For more information about this unique botanical journal, please email the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Publications Office at [email protected]

Communicating entrepreneurial passion: Personal passion vs. perceived passion in venture pitches

Research problem: Entrepreneurial passion has been shown to play an important role in venture success and therefore in investors’ funding decisions. However, it is unknown whether the passion entrepreneurs personally feel or experience can be accurately assessed by investors during a venture pitch. Research questions: (1) To what extent does entrepreneurs’ personal passion align with investors’ perceived passion? (2) To what cues do investors attend when assessing entrepreneurs’ passion? Literature review: Integrating theory and research in entrepreneurship communication and entrepreneurial passion within the context of venture pitching, we explain that during venture pitches, investors make judgments about entrepreneurs’ passion that have consequences for their investment decisions. However, they can attend to only those cues that entrepreneurs outwardly display. As a result, they may not be assessing the passion entrepreneurs personally feel or experience. Methodology: We used a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design. For our data collection, we surveyed 40 student entrepreneurs, video‐recorded their venture pitches, and facilitated focus groups with 16 investors who viewed the videos and ranked, rated, and discussed their perceptions of entrepreneurs’ passion. We conducted statistical analyses to assess the extent to which entrepreneurs’ personal passion and investors’ perceived passion aligned. We then performed an inductive analysis of critical cases to identify specific cues that investors attributed to passion or lack thereof. Results and conclusions: We revealed that there was a large misalignment between entrepreneurs’ personal passion and investors’ perceived passion. Our critical case analysis revealed that entrepreneurs’ weak or strong presentation skills led investors either to underestimate or overestimate, respectively, perceptions of entrepreneurs’ passion. We suggest that entrepreneurs should develop specific presentation skills and rhetorical strategies for displaying their passion, yet at the same time, investors should be wary of attending too closely to presentation skills when assessing passion

Spectral Hardness Decay with Respect to Fluence in BATSE Gamma-Ray Bursts

We have analyzed the evolution of the spectral hardness parameter Epk as a function of fluence in gamma-ray bursts. We fit 41 pulses within 26 bursts with the trend reported by Liang & Kargatis (1996) which found that Epk decays exponentially with respect to photon fluence. We also fit these pulses with a slight modification of this trend, where Epk decays linearly with energy fluence. In both cases, we found the set of 41 pulses to be consistent with the trend. For the latter trend, which we believe to be more physical, the distribution of the decay constant is roughly log-normal, with a mean of 1.75 +/- 0.07 and a FWHM of 1.0 +/- 0.1. Regarding an earlier reported invariance in the decay constant among different pulses in a single burst, we found probabilities of 0.49 to 0.84 (depending on the test used) that such invariance would occur by coincidence, most likely due to the narrow distribution of decay constant values among pulses.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure pages, 2 table pages, submitted to The Astrophysical Journa

Flash-Heating of Circumstellar Clouds by Gamma Ray Bursts

The blast-wave model for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has been called into question by observations of spectra from GRBs that are harder than can be produced through optically thin synchrotron emission. If GRBs originate from the collapse of massive stars, then circumstellar clouds near burst sources will be illuminated by intense gamma radiation, and the electrons in these clouds will be rapidly scattered to energies as large as several hundred keV. Low-energy photons that subsequently pass through the hot plasma will be scattered to higher energies, hardening the intrisic spectrum. This effect resolves the "line-of-death" objection to the synchrotron shock model. Illuminated clouds near GRBs will form relativistic plasmas containing large numbers of electron-positron pairs that can be detected within ~ 1-2 days of the explosion before expanding and dissipating. Localized regions of pair annihilation radiation in the Galaxy would reveal past GRB explosions.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, submitted to ApJ Letter