Institutions Under Influence: The Case of Knowledge Stratification within the U.S. Land Grant System

The U.S. land grant system is notably stratified in its distribution of knowledge and power. In the upper strata are historically white land grant (HWLG) institutions often referred to as 1862 Institutions, which command power and resources from their historic ability to produce the agricultural and scientific knowledge supportive of state and national economic development goals. In the lower strata are historically black land grant (HBLG) institutions often called 1890 institutions. They struggle against the historical conditioning that has, until recently, restricted their efforts in producing knowledge to the manual applications and teaching of farming. This article examines how historical forces have influenced the production of knowledge within HBLG institutions and subsequently attenuated their competitiveness within the modem research arena. Also discussed is a different approach for transforming a land grant system long characterized by patterns of institutional stratification

Hidden Voices: Linking Research, Practice, and Policy to the Everyday Realities of Rural People

Presidential Addres

Kinetic models of ion transport through a nanopore

Kinetic equations for the stationary state distribution function of ions moving through narrow pores are solved for a number of one-dimensional models of single ion transport. Ions move through pores of length $L$, under the action of a constant external field and of a concentration gradient. The interaction of single ions with the confining pore surface and with water molecules inside the pore are modelled by a Fokker-Planck term in the kinetic equation, or by uncorrelated collisions with thermalizing centres distributed along the pore. The temporary binding of ions to polar residues lining the pore is modelled by stopping traps or energy barriers. Analytic expressions for the stationary ion current through the pore are derived for several versions of the model, as functions of key physical parameters. In all cases, saturation of the current at high fields is predicted. Such simple models, for which results are analytic, may prove useful in the study of the current/voltage relations of ion channels through membranes

European Central Bank Tools and Policy Actions A: Open Market Operations, Collateral Expansion and Standing Facilities

Beginning in August 2007, the European Central Bank (ECB) responded to market turmoil with a variety of standard and non-standard monetary policy tools. This case discusses the operational framework of the ECB’s open market operation tools and standing facilities before and during the financial crisis. Specifically, this case describes the ECB’s use of its main refinancing and longer-term refinancing operations, the expansion of collateral eligible for use in Eurosystem credit operations, and the ECB’s standing facilities, including its marginal lending and deposit facilities

Mixed population of competing TASEPs with a shared reservoir of particles

We introduce a mean-field theoretical framework to describe multiple totally asymmetric simple exclusion processes (TASEPs) with different lattice lengths, entry and exit rates, competing for a finite reservoir of particles. We present relations for the partitioning of particles between the reservoir and the lattices: these relations allow us to show that competition for particles can have non-trivial effects on the phase behavior of individual lattices. For a system with non-identical lattices, we find that when a subset of lattices undergoes a phase transition from low to high density, the entire set of lattice currents becomes independent of total particle number. We generalize our approach to systems with a continuous distribution of lattice parameters, for which we demonstrate that measurements of the current carried by a single lattice type can be used to extract the entire distribution of lattice parameters. Our approach applies to populations of TASEPs with any distribution of lattice parameters, and could easily be extended beyond the mean-field case.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

European Central Bank Tools and Policy Actions B: Asset Purchase Programs

Beginning in August 2007, the European Central Bank (ECB) used standard and non-standard monetary policies as the global financial markets progressed from initial turmoil to a widespread sovereign debt crisis. This case describes the key features of the ECB’s asset purchase programs throughout the Global Financial Crisis and subsequent European sovereign debt crisis. These programs include the Covered Bond Purchase Programs (CBPP1, CBPP2, CBPP3), Securities Markets Program (SMP), Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), Asset-backed Securities Purchase Program (ABSPP) and the Public Sector Purchase Program (PSPP). In combating the crises, the ECB designed various innovative programs which it successively employed as the crises progressed. While some programs proved highly effective, others were less so. A major program, the OMT, was challenged in court and ultimately found to be within the ECB’s legal operating framework