The impact of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games on employment and wages in Georgia

Using the standard differences-in-differences (DD) technique and a modified DD technique in the slopes, this paper determines that hosting the 1996 Summer Olympic Games boosted employment by 17% in the counties of Georgia affiliated with and close to Olympic activity, relative to employment increases in other counties in Georgia (the rate of growth increased by 0.002 percentage points per quarter). Estimation of a random-growth model confirms a positive impact of the Olympics on employment. In addition, the employment impact is shown not to be merely a "metropolitan statistical area (MSA) effect"; employment in the northern Olympic venue areas was found to increase 11% more post- versus pre-Olympics than it did in other, similar southern MSAs. The evidence of an Olympic impact on wages is weak

Application of chicken microarrays for gene expression analysis in other avian species

BACKGROUND: With the threat of emerging infectious diseases such as avian influenza, whose natural hosts are thought to be a variety of wild water birds including duck, we are armed with very few genomic resources to investigate large scale immunological gene expression studies in avian species. Multiple options exist for conducting large gene expression studies in chickens and in this study we explore the feasibility of using one of these tools to investigate gene expression in other avian species. RESULTS: In this study we utilised a whole genome long oligonucleotide chicken microarray to assess the utility of cross species hybridisation (CSH). We successfully hybridised a number of different avian species to this array, obtaining reliable signals. We were able to distinguish ducks that were infected with avian influenza from uninfected ducks using this microarray platform. In addition, we were able to detect known chicken immunological genes in all of the hybridised avian species. CONCLUSION: Cross species hybridisation using long oligonucleotide microarrays is a powerful tool to study the immune response in avian species with little available genomic information. The present study validated the use of the whole genome long oligonucleotide chicken microarray to investigate gene expression in a range of avian species

Freshman learning communities, college performance, and retention

This paper applies a standard treatment effects model to determine that participation in Freshman Learning Communities (FLCs) improves academic performance and retention. Not controlling for individual self-selection into FLC participation leads one to incorrectly conclude that the impact is the same across race and gender groups. Accurately assessing the impact of any educational program is essential in determining what resources institutions should devote to it.

The Glass Menagerie

Tom, who is both a narrator and a character in Tennessee Williams\u27 masterwork, recalls his family\u27s struggle to escape the realities of life in 1939 St. Louis. Amanda, his mother, is trying to provide for the future in difficult times, but the responsibility of being the breadwinner has fallen to Tom. His frail sister, Laura, has shielded herself from society\u27s expectations with a homebound life where she finds comfort caring for her collection of little glass animals. Inevitably, Tom becomes desperate to escape his circumstances and follow his dreams just as a gentleman caller arrives for Laura - a caller who could be either a sign of hope or a disturbance that will shatter their fragile home. This haunting American classic speaks as profoundly to our 21st century way of life as it did when it premiered in 1945. Its timeless themes of enduring family crises, escaping reality, and dreaming of a better future resonate powerfully in our turbulent times and make it an excellent reminder of how to fully embrace the reality of our lives.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1021/thumbnail.jp

Diffusion Coefficients Of N-Heptane And N-Decane In N-Alkanes And N-Alcohols At Several Temperatures

The diffusion coefficients of the solutes n-heptane and n-decane were measured in the series of alkane solvents n-hexane through n-decane and in the alcohol solvents n-hexanol and n-heptanol. Mutual and self-diffusivities in most cases were measured at the temperatures of 20°, 25°, 30°, and 40°C. Concentrations of the diffusion species were in the infinitely dilute region. An unsteady state porous frit technique was used with carbon-14 tagged diffusion species. The diffusion coefficients measured were compared with various liquid diffusivity prediction correlations. © 1974, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved

Relaxation energies and excited state structures of poly(para-phenylene)

We investigate the relaxation energies and excited state geometries of the light emitting polymer, poly(para-phenylene). We solve the Pariser-Parr-Pople-Peierls model using the density matrix renormalization group method. We find that the lattice relaxation of the dipole-active $1^1B_{1u}^-$ state is quite different from that of the $1^3B_{1u}^+$ state and the dipole-inactive $2^1A_g^+$ state. In particular, the $1^1B_{1u}^-$ state is rather weakly coupled to the lattice and has a rather small relaxation energy ca. 0.1 eV. In contrast, the $1^3B_{1u}^+$ and $2^1A_g^+$ states are strongly coupled with relaxation energies of ca. 0.5 and ca. 1.0 eV, respectively. By analogy to linear polyenes, we argue that this difference can be understood by the different kind of solitons present in the $1^1B_{1u}^-$, $1^3B_{1u}^+$ and $2^1A_g^+$ states. The difference in relaxation energies of the $1^1B_{1u}^-$ and $1^3B_{1u}^+$ states accounts for approximately one-third of the exchange gap in light-emitting polymers.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review

An Energy and Performance Exploration of Network-on-Chip Architectures

In this paper, we explore the designs of a circuit-switched router, a wormhole router, a quality-of-service (QoS) supporting virtual channel router and a speculative virtual channel router and accurately evaluate the energy-performance tradeoffs they offer. Power results from the designs placed and routed in a 90-nm CMOS process show that all the architectures dissipate significant idle state power. The additional energy required to route a packet through the router is then shown to be dominated by the data path. This leads to the key result that, if this trend continues, the use of more elaborate control can be justified and will not be immediately limited by the energy budget. A performance analysis also shows that dynamic resource allocation leads to the lowest network latencies, while static allocation may be used to meet QoS goals. Combining the power and performance figures then allows an energy-latency product to be calculated to judge the efficiency of each of the networks. The speculative virtual channel router was shown to have a very similar efficiency to the wormhole router, while providing a better performance, supporting its use for general purpose designs. Finally, area metrics are also presented to allow a comparison of implementation costs