Productivity at the Post: its Drivers and its Distribution

We study the economic, financial and distributional performance of the United States Postal Service subsequent to its 1971 reorganization. We investigate the economic drivers of productivity change (technical change, change in cost efficiency, and scale economies), and the distribution of the financial benefits of productivity change (consumers of postal services, postal employees and other resource suppliers, and residual claimants). We find improvements in technology to have been the main driver of, and diseconomies of scale to have been the main drag on, productivity change. We find labor to have been the main beneficiary, and consumers of postal services the main losers, from postal reorganization.

Profits and Productivity

In this study we consider the linkage between productivity change and profit change. We develop an analytical framework in which profit change between one period and the next is decomposed into three sources: (i) a productivity change effect (which includes a technical change effect and an operating efficiency effect), (ii) an activity effect (which includes a product mix effect, a resource mix effect and a scale effect), and (iii) a price effect. We then show how to quantify the contribution of each effect, using only observed prices and quantities of products and resources in the two periods. We illustrate our analytical decomposition of profit change with an empirical application to Spanish banking during the period 1987 - 1994.Profits, Productivity

Two neutron decay of 16Be

Recently, the first example of two-neutron decay from the ground state of an unbound nucleus, $^{16}$Be, was seen. Three-body methods are ideal for exactly treating the degrees of freedom important for these decays. Using a basis expansion over hyperspherical harmonics and the hyperspherical R-matrix method, we construct a realistic model of $^{16}$Be in order to investigate its decay mode and the role of the two-neutron interaction. The neutron-$^{14}$Be interaction is constrained using shell model predictions. We obtain a ground state for $^{16}$Be that is over-bound by approximately 1 MeV with a width of approximately 0.23 MeV. This suggests, that for such systems, the three-body force needs to be repulsive.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, contribution to the proceedings for the 21st International Conference on Few Body Problems in Physics, Chicago, Illinois, US

IL-12 and IL-4 activate a CD39-dependent intrinsic peripheral tolerance mechanism in CD8+ T cells

Immune responses to protein antigens involve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, which follow distinct programs of differentiation. Naïve CD8 T cells rapidly develop cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) activity after T-cell receptor stimulation, and we have previously shown that this is accompanied by suppressive activity in the presence of specific cytokines, i.e. IL-12 and IL-4. Cytokine-induced CD8+ regulatory T (Treg) cells are one of several Treg-cell phenotypes and are Foxp3− IL-10+ with contact-dependent suppressive capacity. Here, we show they also express high level CD39, an ecto-nucleotidase that degrades extracellular ATP, and this contributes to their suppressive activity. CD39 expression was found to be upregulated on CD8+ T cells during peripheral tolerance induction in vivo, accompanied by release of IL-12 and IL-10. CD39 was also upregulated during respiratory tolerance induction to inhaled allergen and on tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells. Production of IL-10 and expression of CD39 by CD8+ T cells was independently regulated, being respectively blocked by extracellular ATP and enhanced by an A2A adenosine receptor agonist. Our results suggest that any CTL can develop suppressive activity when exposed to specific cytokines in the absence of alarmins. Thus negative feedback controls CTL expansion under regulation from both nucleotide and cytokine environment within tissues

Changing Concepts in Veterinary Medical Education

Education in veterinary medicine is being influenced by the revolution that is taking place in the entire field of education. All over the United States, colleges and universities are scrutinizing the value of traditional curricula that have characterized our educational system for the last century. Many institutions of higher learning are experimenting with departures from the rigid prescribed schedule of courses known as the lock-step type curriculum

Constructing A Sense of Place on Top of the World

This thesis examines written texts in summit logs by rock climbers at the peak of Baboquivari, located in southern Arizona. After scaling the mountain, rock climbers complete the ritual of documenting their success in a log located on the summit. Guided by the concepts of sense of place and ritual communication, this study investigated discourses articulated in summit logs in order to understand how rock climbers construct their sense of place for a contested landscape.;Baboquivari is the cosmological home of the Tohono O\u27odham and their creator I\u27itoi is believed to reside on the peak today. A good portion of Baboquivari is not located on Tohono O\u27odham lands, but on land overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. In 1998, the Tohono O\u27odham put forth a bill in order to regain ownership of the entire peak and rock climbers may have lost access to a premier climbing destination.;Utilizing a grounded theory approach, summit logs between April 1998 to April 1999 are analyzed to identify the construction of meaning of this contested place. The data was organized in categories of response: cultivation, celebration, and experience, culminating in a core category of stewardship. Stewardship presents both a strong sense of the right to be on Baboquivari and a commitment to the care and maintenance of the landscape and community for the purposes of rock climbing activities. The data further suggests that through both their practice and beliefs, rock climbers perceive a feeling of belonging or an insider status within a sacred space

Veterinary Medicine in Norway

The following is a report on observations made during the academic year 1960-61 while the author was engaged in study and research at the Institute of Reproductive Physiology and Pathology of the Veterinary College of Norway, Oslo. This activity was supported by a North Atlantic Treaty Organization Postdoctoral Fellowship under the direction of the National Science Foundation. A number of such fellowships are awarded each year in all areas of science to foster the understanding and exchange of information between scientists of the North Atlantic Treaty countries and to encourage the scientific careers of young men in the various fields of science