Social Networks and Voting

This paper uses a randomized experiment to study whether social networks aect vote choice. In a ercely contested presidential election in Peru with ten candidates, only 35% of subjects were aware how their friends intended to vote. We compare people who were randomly informed how one of their friends intended to vote to people who were randomly informed how an un-named stranger intended to vote. We nd no evidence that informing people people how their friends intended to vote aects their vote choice

The root morphology of some legume spp. in the south-western Cape and the relationship of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas with dry mass and phosphorus content of Acacia saligna seedlings

The root systems of Acacia saligna (Labill.) Wendl. have more extensive laterals than those examples of the Fabaceae indigenous to the Cape. Aspalathus flexuosa Thunb. and Rafnia angulata Thunb. had lateral roots infected with vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal fungi whereas those of Aspalathus albens L. were non-mycorrhizal. VA mycorrhizal fungi were found in the roots of seedlings of A. saligna. Chlamydospores of the genus Glomus and three types of Gigaspora auxiliary cells were identified. VA mycorrhizal colonization was correlated with the dry mass and phosphorus content of A. saligna seedlings. Seedling dry mass, phosphorus content, nodule production and VA mycorrhizal colonization decreased with increased sowing density. The more extensive root system and abundance of root nodules and VA mycorrhizas apparently contribute to the success of A. saligna as an invasive weed of the fynbos vegetation

Worker Overconfidence: Field Evidence and Implications for Employee Turnover and Firm Profits

Combining weekly productivity data with weekly productivity beliefs for a large sample of truckers over 2 years, we show that workers tend to systematically and persistently overpredict their productivity. If workers are overconfident about their own productivity at the current firm relative to their outside option, they should be less likely to quit. Empirically, all else equal, having higher productivity beliefs is associated with an employee being less likely to quit. To study the implications of overconfidence for worker welfare and firm profits, we estimate a structural learning model with biased beliefs that accounts for many key features of the data. While worker overconfidence moderately decreases worker welfare, it also substantially increases firm profits

Applying Non-Energy Impacts from Other Jurisdictions in Cost-Benefit Analyses of Energy Efficiency Programs: Resources for States for Utility Customer-Funded Programs

Avoided energy and capacity costs are the primary yardstick utilities use to determine which energy efficiency programs are cost-effective for their customers. But sometimes "non-energy impacts" — not commonly recognized as directly associated with energy generation, transmission and distribution — represent substantial benefits, such as improving comfort, air quality and public health.Considering whether and how to include non-energy impacts is an important part of cost-benefit analyses for these programs. This report offers practical considerations for deciding which non-energy impacts to include and how to apply values or methods from other jurisdictions.Researchers reviewed studies quantifying non-energy impacts used in 30 states and applied a five-point system to indicate transferability of a value or method from each study for 16 categories of non-energy impacts:Water resource costs and benefitsOther fuels costs and benefitsAvoided environmental compliance costsEnvironmental impactsProductivityHealth and safety Asset valueEnergy and/or capacity price suppression effectsAvoided costs of compliance with Renewable Portfolio Standard requirementsAvoided credit and collection costsAvoided ancillary servicesComfortEconomic development and job impactsPublic health impactsEnergy security impactsIncreased reliabilityThe U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office supported this work

The Voices of Victimhood and Survivorship

Sexual violence imprints noticeable marks on a victim (and later, survivor) throughout the person's life. Experiences of victimhood and survivorship prove challengingly intangible in a discursive landscape of denial, appropriation, invalidation, and dismissal. The Voices of Victimhood and Survivorship takes the firsthand testaments of selected victims and survivors of sexual violence and analyzes how these cases reflect the inequal dynamics of power over their own stories. Pertinent to this analysis are the disciplines of: rhetorical studies, media studies, English studies, criminology, law, victimology studies, psychology, and violence philosophy- all collaborating interdisciplinarity in the interest of a feminist hermeneutic. These disciplines synthesize the key concepts and theories to be discussed, including the meaning of voice, victimhood, survivorship, the contexts in which these discourses are produced, and how the medium and setting influence voice. Selected accounts-a judicial victim impact statement, a memoir, and an investigative documentary interview-serve as the primary texts upon which these theories comment. The thesis seeks to characterize the meaning and profile of language and power, and to cartograph the journeys of victims into survivors by means of using their voices for...Program Genderová studiaProgramme Gender StudiesFakulta humanitních studiíFaculty of Humanitie

Dissecting the regulatory strategies of NF-kB RelA target genes in the inflammatory response reveals differential transactivation logics

Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) RelA is the potent transcriptional activator of inflammatory response genes. We stringently defined a list of direct RelA target genes by integrating physical (chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing [ChIP-seq]) and functional (RNA sequencing [RNA-seq] in knockouts) datasets. We then dissected each gene’s regulatory strategy by testing RelA variants in a primary-cell genetic-complementation assay. All endogenous target genes require RelA to make DNA-base-specific contacts, and none are activatable by the DNA binding domain alone. However, endogenous target genes differ widely in how they employ the two transactivation domains. Through model-aided analysis of the dynamic time-course data, we reveal the gene-specific synergy and redundancy of TA1 and TA2. Given that post-translational modifications control TA1 activity and intrinsic affinity for coactivators determines TA2 activity, the differential TA logics suggests context-dependent versus context-independent control of endogenous RelA-target genes. Although some inflammatory initiators appear to require co-stimulatory TA1 activation, inflammatory resolvers are a part of the NF-κB RelA core response

Development of Defoamers for Confinenment Foam

Aqueous foam concentrate (AFC) 380 foam was developed by Sandia National Laboratory as a blast mitigation foam for unexploded ordnance (UXO) and its ''engineered foam structure'' is reported to be able to ''envelop chemical or biological aerosols'' [1]. It is similar to commercial fire-fighting foams, consisting mostly of water with small amounts of two alcohols, an ether and surfactant. It also contains xanthan gum, probably, to strengthen the foam film and delay drainage. The concentrate is normally diluted in a 6:94 ratio with water for foaming applications. The diluted solution is normally foamed with air to an expansion factor of about 100 (density 0.01 g/cc), which is called ''dry'' foam. Higher density foam (0.18 > {rho} > 0.03 g/cc) was discovered which had quite different characteristics from ''dry'' foam and was called ''wet'' foam. Some characterization of these foams has also been carried out, but the major effort described in this document is the evaluation, at the small and medium scale, of chemical, mechanical and thermal approaches to defoaming AFC 380 foam. Several chemical approaches to defoaming were evaluated including oxidation and precipitation of the xanthan, use of commercial oil-emulsion or suspension defoamers, pH modification, and cation exchange with the surfactant. Of these the commercial defoamers were most effective. Two mechanical approaches to defoaming were evaluated: pressure and foam rupture with very fine particles. Pressure and vacuum techniques were considered too difficult for field applications but high surface area silica particles worked very well on dry foam. Finally simple thermal techniques were evaluated. An order-disorder transition occurs in xanthan solutions at about 60 C, which may be responsible for the effectiveness of hot air as a defoamer. During defoaming of 55 gallons of foam with hot air, after about 70% of the AFC 380 foam had been defoamed, the effectiveness of hot air was dramatically reduced. Approximately 15 gal of residual foam containing mostly small bubbles was resistant to further defoaming by methods that had been effective on the original, dry foam. In this paper the residual foam is referred to as ''wet'' and the original foam is referred to as ''dry''. Methods for generating ''wet'' foam in small to moderate quantities for defoaming experiments have been developed. Methods for defoaming wet foam are currently under study

Fiscal Centralization, Limited Government, and Public Revenues in Europe, 1650-1913

Old Regime polities typically suffered from fiscal fragmentation and absolutist rule. By the start of World War I, however, many such countries had centralized institutions and limited government. This article uses a new panel data set to perform a statistical analysis of political regimes and public revenues in Europe from 1650 to 1913. Panel regressions indicate that centralized and limited regimes were associated with significantly higher revenues than fragmented and absolutist ones. Structural break tests also suggest close relationships between major turning points in revenue series and political transformations