2018 Census of California Water Transit Services

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics conducts a nationwide census of ferry boat operators for the U.S. Department of Transportation and the collected information is used for statistical purposes. The Caltrans Division of Local Assistance has been asked by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to gather data regarding ferry operations under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). MAP-21 includes a new formula program for ferry boats and ferry terminal facilities eligible under 23 USC 129(c) which authorizes federal participation in toll roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries. FHWA has asked that Caltrans assure the ferry boat data is current for MAP-21.The Mineta Transportation Institute was initially contacted by Caltrans to conduct this census in 2012 and a report was delivered later that year. Now the census has been completed with updates through November 2018. The research team collected information from 25 water transportation operators throughout California and produced 42 accompanying maps that depict routes and terminals where the operators provide service. Tabular information for each operator catalogs their number of vessels, passenger counts, fares, seating capacity, route lengths and other data points. Note that a number of operators, despite repeated contact via phone and email, chose not to reply.This report organizes water transportation operations into three sections based on California geography: northern California, the Sacramento Delta region; and southern California. A fourth section documents four operators who did not fall within those three geographic regions.The report concludes with a listing of recreational voyage operators (e.g. cruises, fishing trips) that the authors felt did not constitute “water transportation” for the purposes of the detailed census yet may be of interest to those applying a broader definition of water transport

An Industry Perspective on the Benefits of and Regulation of Genetically Engineered Plants

The seed industry has routinely incorporated new technology into its research and development programs. Plant generic engineering is the most recent technology to be utilized for seed product development efforts. New sources of herbicide, insect, and disease resistance are being incorporated into crop plants using cellular and molecular biology techniques. New regulatory guidelines have been developed which require regulatory approval before genetically engineered plants can be reseed in the field and ultimately marketed. The impact of these regulations on product development is unclear. Hopefully a dialogue will develop among industry, government agencies, and the public such that reasonable and appropriate regulatory procedures evolve. Those procedures need to facilitate the development of beneficial plant products while assuring the public that safety and environmental risks are acceptable

Upstream database and digital asset management in variable data printing

This study outlines the upstream database and digital asset management issues for variable data printing. The goal is to clarify what work environment and processes are needed during digital asset and data preparation. A literature review was conducted and complemented with the experiential experience of establishing and using a variable data preparation and testing platform

Permanence of toner on paper-Based on the life cycle of documents

This study outlines the life cycle of digitally printed marketing and promotional materials, transactional and business communications, direct mail, and on-demand color books. For each of the stages of the life cycle, stresses that influence permanence are discussed. A methodology is laid out to test the key variables determining the life expectancy of digitally printed products

Genes, Economics, and Happiness

We explore the influence of genetic variation on subjective well-being by employing a twin design and genetic association study. In a nationally-representative twin sample, we first show that about 33% of the variation in life satisfaction is explained by genetic variation. Although previous studies have shown that baseline happiness is significantly heritable, little research has considered molecular genetic associations with subjective well-being. We study the relationship between a functional polymorphism on the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and life satisfaction. We initially find that individuals with the longer, transcriptionally more efficient variant of this genotype report greater life satisfaction (n=2,545, p=0.012). However, our replication attempts on independent samples produce mixed results indicating that more work needs to be done to better understand the relationship between this genotype and subjective well-being. This work has implications for how economists think about the determinants of utility, and the extent to which exogenous shocks might affect individual well-being.life satisfaction, twin study, genetic association, serotonin transporter gene, 5-HTTLPR, rs2020933

Genes, Economics and Happiness

A major finding from research into the sources of subjective well-being is that individuals exhibit a "baseline" level of happiness. We explore the influence of genetic variation by employing a twin design and genetic association study. We first show that about 33% of the variation in happiness is explained by genes. Next, using two independent data sources, we present evidence that individuals with a transcriptionally more efficient version of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) report significantly higher levels of life satisfaction. These results are the first to identify a specific gene that is associated with happiness and suggest that behavioral models benefit from integrating genetic variation.wellbeing, socio-demographics, happiness, genetics, life satisfaction

Launch and Commissioning of the Deep Space Climate Observatory

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), formerly known as Triana, successfully launched on February 11th, 2015. To date, each of the five space-craft attitude control system (ACS) modes have been operating as expected and meeting all guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) requirements, although since launch, several anomalies were encountered. While unplanned, these anomalies have proven to be invaluable in developing a deeper understanding of the ACS, and drove the design of three alterations to the ACS task of the flight software (FSW). An overview of the GN&C subsystem hardware, including re-furbishment, and ACS architecture are introduced, followed by a chronological discussion of key events, flight performance, as well as anomalies encountered by the GN&C team

Using the Basic Course to Prepare Digital Natives for New Role as Reverse Mentors

When Millennials began to enter the workforce in the mid-2000s, employers struggled to engage this indecisive group (i.e., job-hoppers). At the same time, they also battled the threat of a labor shortage due to the impending retirement of an aging baby-boomer workforce (Chaudhuri & Ghosh, 2012). Organizations began to combat both issues by embracing intergenerational learning programs focused on the strengths of each group (Gerpott et al., 2017; Greengard, 2002). One strategy that has proved valuable in popular press and among companies, although fairly absent from academic literature (Kaše et al., 2019; McCann, 2017), is reverse mentoring

An Electrochemical Cell for the Efficient Turn Around of Wafer Working Electrodes

We present a new design for an electrochemical cell for use with wafer working electrodes. The key feature of the design is the use of half turn thumb screws to form a liquid-tight seal between an o-ring and the sample surface. The assembly or disassembly of the cell requires a half turn of each thumb screw, which facilitates the quick turn around of wafer samples. The electrochemical performance of the cell is demonstrated by cyclic voltammetry and double step chronoamperometry measurements of the ferricyanide/ferrocyanide couple