Policy and Practice Brief: Funding of Assistive Technology to Make Work a Reality

This brief provides a definition of assistive technology and a discussion of funding sources for assistive technology including: public schools; state vocational rehabilitation agencies; Medicaid; Medicare; and, SSA’s Plan for Achieving Self Support. Eligibility is reviewed for each along with other protections and rights

Policy and Practice Brief: State and Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Programs

This brief provides an introduction to the state and federal vocational rehabilitation system outlined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It provides a review of how the vocational rehabilitation system is integrated within the broader Workforce Investment Act along with a break down for eligibility and available services. Discussed is financial need criteria, statutory requirements for maximization of employment, comparable services requirements and individual rights and appeals

RESEARCH AND EXTENSION ISSUES IN PRODUCTION ECONOMICS

Production Economics,

Bulk commodities and the Liverpool and London markets of the mid-19th century

We study British prices and the degree of commodity market integration between Liverpool, the bulk commodity port of mid-19th century, and London. A new wholesale commodity price index is presented for Liverpool and this is compared with the Klovland-Sauerbeck index. Next, we examine the relationship between Liverpool and London markets in specific bulk commodities. Our data consist of price indices for identically described goods in both Liverpool and London: three commodity groups (metal products, wood products, and processed foods), and the specific commodities of wheat and flour. Tests for cointegration reveal convergence among the six price pairs. We also find that the markets were highly integrated in the short-run because three of the commodity group pairs (processed foods, wheat, and flour) shared common features or cycles. A common cycle implies that transitory price shocks in Liverpool had the same impact on prices in London and vice versa. The importance of the London and Liverpool common cycle to a shock is brief. Its shock explains less than 20 percent of the variation in the relevant price levels after twelve months, on average.

Matching Contributions and the Voluntary Provision of a Pure Public Good: Experimental Evidence

Laboratory experiments are used to study the voluntary provision of a pure public good in the presence of an anonymous external donor. The external funds are used in two different settings, lump-sum matching and one-to-one matching, to examine how allocations to the public good are affected. The experimental results reveal that allocations to the public good under lumpsum matching are significantly higher, and have significantly lower within-group dispersion, relative to one-to-one matching and a baseline setting without external matching funds.public goods, free riding, laboratory experiments

Engineered surfaces to control secondary electron emission for multipactor suppression

A significant problem for space-based systems is multipactor - an avalanche of electrons caused by repeated secondary electron emission (SEE). The consequences of multipactor range from altering the operation of radio frequency (RF) devices to permanent device damage. Existing efforts to suppress multipactor rely heavily on limiting power levels below a multipactor threshold [1]. This research applies surface micromachining techniques to create porous surfaces to control the secondary electron yield (SEY) of a material for multipactor suppression. Surface characteristics of interest include pore aspect ratio and density. A discussion is provided on the advantage of using electroplating (vice etching) to create porous surfaces for studying the relationships between SEY and pore aspect ratio & density (i.e. porosity). Preventing multipactor through SEY reduction will allow power level restrictions to be eased, leading to more powerful and capable space-based systems

Developing Expert Systems for Small Business: An Application for Selecting a Legal Form of Organization

The success and value to clients of small business counseling programs such as those offered by Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs ) and Small Business Institutes (SBls) are directly related to the ai1ailability and quality of expert advice. This article provides an overview and it explores the possibilities for PC-based expert system development with particular attention to o s1nall business application. A proof-of-concept SBDC advisory system is described. It provides expert-based advice for selecting a legal form of business organization. Issues of client usability and liability are raised. Conclusions show that the use of expert systems for s1nall business consulting offers an expanded potential for relieving already overworked consulting staff members, for offering clients quality advice, and for providing a method of training less experienced  consultants

MULTISPECIES REVENUE FUNCTION ESTIMATION FOR NORTH PACIFIC GROUNDFISH FISHERIES

Multiproduct, multispecies revenue functions are estimated for the midwater and bottom-trawl pollock fisheries off Alaska. There are strong year and seasonal effects on coefficient estimates, and the technology is joint in outputs for each major operation type. The model is a step toward prediction of fishery regulatory effects.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Uniform Stationary-phase Methods For Energy Spectra Resulting From Collisions In A Complex Potential: Penning And Associative Ionization Of He*(2³S)+He*(23S)

Heavy-particle collisions involving strong electronic coupling can be conveniently described by using a complex (optical) potential in the entrance channel. Uniform JWKB stationary-phase techniques are used to evaluate T-matrix elements for transitions where an electron is ejected. The semi-analytic expressions for the resulting electron energy spectra are no more difficult to implement than corresponding ones for totally real potentials. Numerical results are reported for Penning and associative ionization from sub thermal He*(23S)+He*(23S) collisions. These are in excellent agreement with fully quantal, complex-potential computations. The stationary-phase expressions for T-matrix elements and differential cross sections are employed to elucidate the rapid and slow rainbow interference oscillations in the spectra, including the significant effects of turning points and the imaginary width of the entrance-channel potential. © 1990 IOP Publishing Ltd