On Price-Taking Behavior in Asymmetric Information Economies

It is understood that rational expectations equilibria may not be incentive compatible: agents with private information may be able to affect prices through the information conveyed by their market behavior. We present a simple general equilibrium model to illustrate the connection between the notion of informational size presented in McLean and Postlewaite (2002) and the incentive properties of market equilibria. Specifically, we show that fully revealing market equilibria are not incentive compatible for an economy with few privately informed producers because of the producers’ informational size, but that replicating the economy decreases agents’ informational size. For sufficiently large economies, there exists an incentive compatible fully revealing market equilibrium.Rational Expectations Equilibria, Informational Smallness

INVESTIGATION OF FRP STABILIZATION OF PLASTIC BUCKLING BEHAVIOR OF SLENDER STEEL SECTIONS

An innovative use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials, to control the manifestation of local buckling in a flanged steel section, is proposed. In this method, the high stiffness and linear behavior of FRP materials are utilized to provide "bracing" against web or flange local buckling in a manner that strategically leverages the unique mechanical properties of each material in an efficient application domain. The experimental research reported is aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of using small quantities of FRP to provide cross-sectional stability through the bonding of FRP strips to flange elements of the cross-section, thereby increasing the critical load of the member; constraining plastic flow in the cross-sectional flange elements; and facilitating the manifestation of a well-formed and stable hysteretic response of the member under cyclic loading. The member becomes, in effect, an FRP stabilized steel section.An experimental program investigating the inelastic buckling behavior of FRP stabilized members is reported. In all cases, WT 6x7 steel sections were used. Unretrofit control specimens and four retrofit scenarios were investigated using either high strength (HS) carbon FRP (CFRP) strips or ultra-high modulus (UHM) glass FRP (GFRP) strips. For each material two cases were considered: a single 2 in. (50.8 mm) wide strip applied to the WT stem; and two 1 in. (25.4 mm) wide strips placed on top of each other at the same location. The FRP strips were applied to each side of the WT stem. The two FRP configurations used result in the same area of FRP materials having the same centroid applied to the steel section. Fifteen 14 in. (356 mm) long WT sections were tested in concentric compression to failure. Three specimens of each detail were tested. The specimen length was selected to ensure local buckling of the WT stem with no lateral torsional buckling of the section. Each specimen was dominated by web (stem) local buckling (WLB) behavior. No evidence of flange local buckling or lateral torsional buckling was observed. The presence of the FRP increased the axial load carrying capacity of the WT section between 4% and 14%. The bifurcation loads were increased as much as 17%. In these tests, the CFRP specimens exhibited a more pronounced improvement in behavior. Similarly, the specimens having two 1 in. wide FRP strips performed better that those with one 2 in. strip. Debonding of the FRP strips was a post-peak phenomenon in all tests. Generally debonding occurred at an applied load of about 75% of the peak load on the descending branch of the load curve

Swimming with ShARCS: Comparison of On-sky Sensitivity With Model Predictions for ShaneAO on the Lick Observatory 3-meter Telescope

The Lick Observatory's Shane 3-meter telescope has been upgraded with a new infrared instrument (ShARCS - Shane Adaptive optics infraRed Camera and Spectrograph) and dual-deformable mirror adaptive optics (AO) system (ShaneAO). We present first-light measurements of imaging sensitivity in the Ks band. We compare measured results to predicted signal-to-noise ratio and magnitude limits from modeling the emissivity and throughput of ShaneAO and ShARCS. The model was validated by comparing its results to the Keck telescope adaptive optics system model and then by estimating the sky background and limiting magnitudes for IRCAL, the previous infra-red detector on the Shane telescope, and comparing to measured, published results. We predict that the ShaneAO system will measure lower sky backgrounds and achieve 20\% higher throughput across the $JHK$ bands despite having more optical surfaces than the current system. It will enable imaging of fainter objects (by 1-2 magnitudes) and will be faster to reach a fiducial signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of 10-13. We highlight the improvements in performance over the previous AO system and its camera, IRCAL.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Montreal 201

Self-regulation for and of learning : student insights for online success in a Bachelor of Nursing Program in regional Australia

The blended online digital (BOLD) approach to teaching is popular within many universities. Despite this popularity, our understanding of the experiences of students making the transition to online learning is limited, specifically an examination of those elements associated with success. The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of students transitioning from a traditional mode of delivery to a more online approach in an inaugural BOLD Bachelor of Nursing program at a regional multi-campus institution in Victoria, Australia. Fifteen students across two regional campuses participated in one of four focus groups. This qualitative exploration of students’ experience contributes to contemporary insights into how we might begin to develop programs of study that help students develop self-regulation. A modified method of thematic analysis of phenomenological data was employed to analyse the focus group interview data to identify themes that represent the meaning of the transition experience for students. This qualitative exploration of students’ experience contributes to contemporary insights into how we might begin to develop programs of study that help students develop self-regulation

Traversing the funambulist’s fine line between nursing and male identity : a systematic review of the factors that influence men as they seek to navigate the nursing profession

Nursing has seen a dominance of women within the profession, and today, the presence of men in the role remains less understood and appreciated. Males considering or entering nursing face challenges concerning role misconception, marginalization, and gender bias. With a looming shortage of nurses on the horizon, it is more important now than ever before to find better ways of engaging males into nursing. The aim of the study was to examine the psychological constructs that influence male perceptions of nursing as they seek to navigate the profession, and what aspects influence men to consider nursing as a career. To achieve this, a systematic review and mixed research synthesis (integrated design) was conducted. English language research published between 1999 and 2019 was eligible. The methodological rigor of qualitative articles followed the Critical Appraisal Skills Program, while the Best Evidence Medical Education guided the quantitative review. Among the 24 publications identified, three sub-themes emerged from the overarching theme of the funambulist or tightrope walker. Sub-themes included societal, inner and collective voices that inform men’s place in nursing or their decision making about entering the profession. There is a need to re-visit what it means to be a nurse in order to address the gendered stereotypes that impact men entering the nursing profession. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Is nursing student personality important for considering a rural career?

Purpose: Identifying and measuring personality traits assists to understanding professional career choices, however, what impact personality traits have on nursing student rural career choice remains absent. The purpose of this paper is to identify personality traits among nursing students that may be predictive of pursuing a rural career. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional design was used to examine the importance Bachelor of Nursing students place on undertaking rural careers. All nursing students (n=1,982) studying a three-year bachelor’s degree were invited to complete a questionnaire examining personality traits and rural practice intentions. Findings: Students who saw themselves working rurally after graduation had higher levels of conscientiousness than those who wanted metropolitan careers. Students with higher levels of agreeableness or open-mindedness were more likely to consider rural practice when individual community factors were carefully considered. Finally, students with higher levels of neuroticism were less likely to consider rural practice as a future career pathway. Research limitations/implications: The cohort had high numbers of student from rural and regional settings, which may limit the ability to generalise the findings. In addition, student respondents of the survey may not be representative of the whole student cohort given the low response rate. Originality/value: Key personality traits are identifying factors that contribute to nursing student decision making regarding rural practice. Students who displayed higher levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness and open-mindedness have traits that are most likely to impact the consideration of rural practice across their nursing career, which gives additional insight into targeted recruitment strategies. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

Quantification of Dynamic Model Validation Metrics Using Uncertainty Propagation from Requirements

The Space Launch System, NASA's new large launch vehicle for long range space exploration, is presently in the final design and construction phases, with the first launch scheduled for 2019. A dynamic model of the system has been created and is critical for calculation of interface loads and natural frequencies and mode shapes for guidance, navigation, and control (GNC). Because of the program and schedule constraints, a single modal test of the SLS will be performed while bolted down to the Mobile Launch Pad just before the first launch. A Monte Carlo and optimization scheme will be performed to create thousands of possible models based on given dispersions in model properties and to determine which model best fits the natural frequencies and mode shapes from modal test. However, the question still remains as to whether this model is acceptable for the loads and GNC requirements. An uncertainty propagation and quantification (UP and UQ) technique to develop a quantitative set of validation metrics that is based on the flight requirements has therefore been developed and is discussed in this paper. There has been considerable research on UQ and UP and validation in the literature, but very little on propagating the uncertainties from requirements, so most validation metrics are "rules-of-thumb;" this research seeks to come up with more reason-based metrics. One of the main assumptions used to achieve this task is that the uncertainty in the modeling of the fixed boundary condition is accurate, so therefore that same uncertainty can be used in propagating the fixed-test configuration to the free-free actual configuration. The second main technique applied here is the usage of the limit-state formulation to quantify the final probabilistic parameters and to compare them with the requirements. These techniques are explored with a simple lumped spring-mass system and a simplified SLS model. When completed, it is anticipated that this requirements-based validation metric will provide a quantified confidence and probability of success for the final SLS dynamics model, which will be critical for a successful launch program, and can be applied in the many other industries where an accurate dynamic model is required