Bonuses and Employment in Japan

Japan has a relatively unique system of labor compensation. Most Japanese workers are paid large bonuses twice a year. This paper examines the cyclical movement of bonuses compared with wages and the relation of bonuses to employment in the context of the Weitzman "share economy." The paper makes three basic points:(1) The Japanese bonus is much more pro-cyclical than Japanese base wages,but not as cyclically variable as profits. Bonuses can be interpreted as containing a quantitatively significant revenue or profit-sharing component.(2) Bonuses have quite different employment consequences than do base wages. Even after controlling for other economic factors, bonuses are positively related to employment, whereas base wages are negatively related to employment.(3) The bonus system of paying workers, while far from explaining the whole macroeconomic story in Japan, seems to play a role in helping to stabilize Japanese unemployment at comparatively low levels.

Density Functional Calculations On First-Row Transition Metals

The excitation energies and ionization potentials of the atoms in the first transition series are notoriously difficult to compute accurately. Errors in calculated excitation energies can range from 1--4 eV at the Hartree-Fock level, and errors as high as 1.5eV are encountered for ionization energies. In the current work we present and discuss the results of a systematic study of the first transition series using a spin-restricted Kohn-Sham density-functional method with the gradient-corrected functionals of Becke and Lee, Yang and Parr. Ionization energies are observed to be in good agreement with experiment, with a mean absolute error of approximately 0.15eV; these results are comparable to the most accurate calculations to date, the Quadratic Configuration Interaction (QCISD(T)) calculations of Raghavachari and Trucks. Excitation energies are calculated with a mean error of approximately 0.5eV, compared with \sim 1\mbox{eV} for the local density approximation and 0.1eV for QCISD(T). These gradient-corrected functionals appear to offer an attractive compromise between accuracy and computational effort.Comment: Journal of Chemical Physics, 29, LA-UR-93-425

Low-frequency vibration environment for five Shuttle missions

The Microgravity Science and Applications Division's (MSAD) program to record and analyze the Shuttle's vibration environment is reviewed. This program provides microgravity science investigators with time and frequency analyses of the acceleration environment during their experiments' operation. Information is also provided for future investigators on the expected Shuttle vibration environment. As background, the two major elements of the program are discussed, the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) and the Acceleration Characterization and Analysis Project (ACAP). A comparison of the acceleration measurements from five Shuttle missions is discussed

Welfare Reform in Agricultural California

When welfare reforms were enacted in 1996, a higher than average percentage of residents in the agricultural heartland of California, the San Joaquin Valley, received cash assistance. Average annual unemployment rates during the 1990s ranged from 12% to 20%, and 15% to 20% of residents in major farming counties received cash benefits. This analysis develops and estimates a two-equation cross-sectionally correlated and timewise autoregressive model to test the hypothesis that in agricultural areas, seasonal work, low earnings, and high unemployment, as well as few entry-level jobs that offer wages and benefits equivalent to welfare benefits, promote welfare use and limit the potential of local labor markets to absorb ex-welfare recipients.cross-sectionally correlated and timewise autoregressive model, farm workers, immigration, welfare reform, Public Economics,

Homotaurine, a safe blood-brain barrier permeable GABAA-R-specific agonist, ameliorates disease in mouse models of multiple sclerosis.

There is a need for treatments that can safely promote regulatory lymphocyte responses. T cells express GABA receptors (GABAA-Rs) and GABA administration can inhibit Th1-mediated processes such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis in mouse models. Whether GABAA-R agonists can also inhibit Th17-driven processes such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of multiple sclerosis (MS), is an open question. GABA does not pass through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) making it ill-suited to inhibit the spreading of autoreactivity within the CNS. Homotaurine is a BBB-permeable amino acid that antagonizes amyloid fibril formation and was found to be safe but ineffective in long-term Alzheimer's disease clinical trials. Homotaurine also acts as GABAA-R agonist with better pharmacokinetics than that of GABA. Working with both monophasic and relapsing-remitting mouse models of EAE, we show that oral administration of homotaurine can (1) enhance CD8+CD122+PD-1+ and CD4+Foxp3+ Treg, but not Breg, responses, (2) inhibit autoreactive Th17 and Th1 responses, and (3) effectively ameliorate ongoing disease. These observations demonstrate the potential of BBB-permeable GABAA-R agonists as a new class of treatment to enhance CD8+ and CD4+ Treg responses and limit Th17 and Th1-medaited inflammation in the CNS

Designs for the ATDRSS tri-band reflector antenna

Two approaches to design a tri-band reflector antenna for the Advanced TDRSS are examined. Two reflector antenna configurations utilizing frequency selective surfaces for operation in three frequency bands, S, Ku, and Ka, are proposed. Far-field patterns and the antenna feed losses were computed for each configuration. An offset-fed single reflector antenna configuration was adapted for conceptual spacecraft design. CADAM drawings were completed and a 1/13th scale model of the spacecraft was constructed

Challenges in Reconciling Different Views of Neuroanatomy in a Reference Ontology of Anatomy

A fundamental requirement for integrating neuroscience data is a well-structured ontology that can incorporate, accommodate and reconcile different neuroanatomical views. Here we describe the challenges in creating such ontology, and, because of its principled design, illustrate the potential of the Foundational Model of Anatomy to be that ontology

Molecular Gas and Star Formation in the Cartwheel

Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 12CO(J=1-0) observations are used to study the cold molecular ISM of the Cartwheel ring galaxy and its relation to HI and massive star formation (SF). CO moment maps find $(2.69\pm0.05)\times10^{9}$ M$_{\odot}$ of H$_2$ associated with the inner ring (72%) and nucleus (28%) for a Galactic I(CO)-to-N(H2) conversion factor ($\alpha_{\rm CO}$). The spokes and disk are not detected. Analysis of the inner ring's CO kinematics show it to be expanding ($V_{\rm exp}=68.9\pm4.9$ km s$^{-1}$) implying an $\approx70$ Myr age. Stack averaging reveals CO emission in the starburst outer ring for the first time, but only where HI surface density ($\Sigma_{\rm HI}$) is high, representing $M_{\rm H_2}=(7.5\pm0.8)\times10^{8}$ M$_{\odot}$ for a metallicity appropriate $\alpha_{\rm CO}$, giving small $\Sigma_{\rm H_2}$ ($3.7$ M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$), molecular fraction ($f_{\rm mol}=0.10$), and H$_2$ depletion timescales ($\tau_{\rm mol} \approx50-600$ Myr). Elsewhere in the outer ring $\Sigma_{\rm H_2}\lesssim 2$ M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$, $f_{\rm mol}\lesssim 0.1$ and $\tau_{\rm mol}\lesssim 140-540$ Myr (all $3\sigma$). The inner ring and nucleus are H$_2$-dominated and are consistent with local spiral SF laws. $\Sigma_{\rm SFR}$ in the outer ring appears independent of $\Sigma_{\rm H_2}$, $\Sigma_{\rm HI}$ or $\Sigma_{\rm HI+H_2}$. The ISM's long confinement in the robustly star forming rings of the Cartwheel and AM0644-741 may result in either a large diffuse H$_2$ component or an abundance of CO-faint low column density molecular clouds. The H$_2$ content of evolved starburst rings may therefore be substantially larger. Due to its lower $\Sigma_{\rm SFR}$ and age the Cartwheel's inner ring has yet to reach this state. Alternately, the outer ring may trigger efficient SF in an HI-dominated ISM.Comment: 10-pages text; 5-figure