A Multilevel Jurisdictional Analysis of the Impact of Walmart on Host Communities

This research takes a holistic approach to answer the empirical question about what impacts Walmart has on host jurisdictions. This consists of a thorough review of the extant literature; a formalization of Walmart’s potential impact into a theoretical framework; a consideration of endogeneity within Walmart’s operations from multiple angles; a nationwide analysis of impacts on labor and retail markets at both the county and municipal level; a nationwide analysis of the impacts on housing prices and property tax revenue post Walmart; a multistate analysis of host jurisdictions’ reactions to these changes through the lens of local sales taxes; finally, a nationwide analysis of the changes in revenue and tax structure post Walmart

Handshake: The University\u27s New Internship and Job Tool

An overview of Handshake, the new internship and job posting system being implemented by the Career Center. Handshake is available to all students and faculty. This session includes how to use the system to help students find internships and jobs as well as how to automate your Department\u27s Internship Application Process

Effects of Kerr Spacetime on Spectral Features from X-Ray Illuminated Accretion Discs

We performed detailed calculations of the relativistic effects acting on both the reflection continuum and the iron line from accretion discs around rotating black holes. Fully relativistic transfer of both illuminating and reprocessed photons has been considered in Kerr spacetime. We calculated overall spectra, line profiles and integral quantities, and present their dependences on the black hole angular momentum. We show that the observed EW of the lines is substantially enlarged when the black hole rotates rapidly and/or the source of illumination is near above the hole. Therefore, such calculations provide a way to distinguish among different models of the central source.Comment: 9 pages, latex, 13 figures, 3 Tables; accepted for publication in MNRA

Better Bullets: How to Shoot Varmints Without Poisoning Scavengers

Recreational shooters kill millions of varmints each year. The carcasses can contain fragments of lead that scavengers can ingest. Less toxic bullets may alleviate the problem but their performance needs to be determined. In this study, ground squirrels were shot with .17 HMR, .22 LR, and .223 Rem rifles with expanding and non-expanding lead and nonlead bullets. We monitored whether the bullets instantly incapacitated ground squirrels and then estimated lead concentrations in each carcass using radiographs. We found lead in the majority of ground squirrel carcasses that were shot with five out of six lead bullets tested. Expanding ammunition in the .17 HMR and the .223 Rem calibers left the highest estimated concentrations of lead in ground squirrels, which had, on average, 23.6 and 91.2 mg/carcass, respectively. Within a caliber, expanding bullets did not contaminate ground squirrels more than non-expanding bullets. Non-lead bullets incapacitated ground squirrels as well as lead bullets. Recreational shooters and land managers may reduce the amount of lead available to scavengers by using non-lead bullets when shooting ground squirrels and other varmints

Controlling Soil Erosion After Wildfire and Guiding Recovery in Southern Utah

Wildfire is a natural part of many ecosystems in the Four Corners region (Southern Utah, Northern Arizona, Southwest Colorado, and Northwest New Mexico). However, after decades of fire suppression, the intensity and size of wildfires is increasing. This fact sheet is intended to help those in dry, monsoonal regions understand what happens to land after a wildfire and explains the processes of soil erosion. It outlines factors that influence how wildfire can affect soils and plants and provides suggestions for reducing soil erosion when necessary. The information presented is relevant to both private landowners and public lands managers whose landscapes have been affected by wildfire

Chandra monitoring of UGC 4203: the structure of the X-ray absorber

We present a Chandra monitoring campaign of the highly variable Seyfert galaxy UGC 4203 (the "Phoenix Galaxy") which revealed variations in the X-ray absorbing column density on time scales of two weeks. This is the third, clear case, after NGC 1365 and NGC 7582, of dramatic N_H variability on short time scales observed in a "changing look" source, i.e. an AGN observed in the past in both a reflection-dominated and a Compton-thin state. The inferred limits on the distance of the X-ray absorber from the center suggest that the X-ray "torus" could be one and the same with the broad emission line region. This scenario, first proposed for an "ad-hoc" picture for NGC 1365, may be the common structure of the circumnuclear medium in AGN.Comment: 5 Pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Missing references added and typos correcte

JME 4110: Automated Railway Decoupler, Optimized

Disconnecting freight cars from one another in trains that may be many thousands of feet long involves the dangerous and inefficient operation of manual decoupling. We have produced a system that enables freight cars to disconnect remotely, streamlining rail operations and boosting efficiency

Tuning of Kilopixel Transition Edge Sensor Bolometer Arrays with a Digital Frequency Multiplexed Readout System

A digital frequency multiplexing (DfMUX) system has been developed and used to tune large arrays of transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers read out with SQUID arrays for mm-wavelength cosmology telescopes. The DfMUX system multiplexes the input bias voltages and output currents for several bolometers on a single set of cryogenic wires. Multiplexing reduces the heat load on the camera's sub-Kelvin cryogenic detector stage. In this paper we describe the algorithms and software used to set up and optimize the operation of the bolometric camera. The algorithms are implemented on soft processors embedded within FPGA devices operating on each backend readout board. The result is a fully parallelized implementation for which the setup time is independent of the array size.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Drilled by the jet? XMM-Newton discovers a Compton-thick AGN in the GPS galaxy Mkn668

We report the XMM-Newton discovery of the first Compton-thick obscured AGN in a Broad Line Radio Galaxy, the Gigahertz Peaked-Spectrum source Mkn668 (OQ+208). The remarkably flat 2-10 keV X-ray spectrum (observed photon index, \Gamma ~ 0.7), alongside with a prominent iron K-alpha fluorescent emission line, is a clear signature of a Compton-reflection dominated spectrum. Mkn688 represents a remarkable example of discrepancy between X-ray spectral properties and optical classification, as its optical spectrum is characterized by broad and asymmetric Balmer lines. The obscuring matter is constrained to be located within the radio hotspots, in turn separated by about 10 pc. If the jets are piercing their way through a Compton-thick medium pervading the nuclear environment, one could be largely underestimating the radio activity dynamical age determined from the observed hotspot recession velocity. The soft X-ray spectrum is dominated by a much steeper component, which may be due to nuclear continuum electron scattering, or inverse Compton of the - remarkably large - far infrared emission. Soft X-rays are suppressed by a further Compton-thin (N_H ~ 10^21/cm/cm) absorbing system, that we identify with matter responsible for free-free absorption of the radio lobes.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysic