The Efficiency of Private Universities As Measured By Graduation Rates

It is well known that human capital is enhanced by graduation from a college or university. How efficient are such institutions in conveying this mark of human capital? Efficiency and productivity in private higher education is measured by using undergraduate graduation rates as the output, and demographic variables, the quality of the students, and the annual expenditures (adjusted for academic mission) as inputs. Tests of several models using OLS and stochastic frontier analysis confirm that private schools can increase their graduation rates by increasing focused expenditures and through more selective admissions. Estimated elasticities are reported and point toward increasing expenditures as the most responsive method. Estimate graduation efficiencies of 93.0, 91.5, and near 100% are also reported for four, five and six year graduation rates respectively. A rank correlation with the U S News and World Report 2008 rankings is consistent with our measure of relative efficiencies

Generating Sequences of Clique-Symmetric Graphs via Eulerian Digraphs

Let {Gp1,Gp2, . . .} be an infinite sequence of graphs with Gpn having pn vertices. This sequence is called Kp-removable if Gp1 ≅ Kp, and Gpn − S ≅ Gp(n−1) for every n ≥ 2 and every vertex subset S of Gpn that induces a Kp. Each graph in such a sequence has a high degree of symmetry: every way of removing the vertices of any fixed number of disjoint Kp’s yields the same subgraph. Here we construct such sequences using componentwise Eulerian digraphs as generators. The case in which each Gpn is regular is also studied, where Cayley digraphs based on a finite group are used

Food and nutritional security requires adequate protein as well as energy, delivered from whole-year crop production

© 2016 Coles et al.Human food security requires the production of sufficient quantities of both high-quality protein and dietary energy. In a series of case-studies from New Zealand, we show that while production of food ingredients from crops on arable land can meet human dietary energy requirements effectively, requirements for high-quality protein are met more efficiently by animal production from such land. We present a model that can be used to assess dietary energy and quality-corrected protein production from various crop and crop/animal production systems, and demonstrate its utility. We extend our analysis with an accompanying economic analysis of commercially- available, pre-prepared or simply-cooked foods that can be produced from our case-study crop and animal products. We calculate the per-person, per-day cost of both quality-corrected protein and dietary energy as provided in the processed foods. We conclude that mixed dairy/cropping systems provide the greatest quantity of high- quality protein per unit price to the consumer, have the highest food energy production and can support the dietary requirements of the highest number of people, when assessed as all-year-round production systems. Global food and nutritional security will largely be an outcome of national or regional agroeconomies addressing their own food needs. We hope that our model will be used for similar analyses of food production systems in other countries, agroecological zones and economies

Remote Marine Aerosol: A Characterization of Physical, Chemical and Optical Properties and their Relation to Radiative Transfer in the Troposphere

Our research effort is focused on improving our understanding of aerosol properties needed for optical models for remote marine regions. This includes in-situ and vertical column optical closure and involves a redundancy of approaches to measure and model optical properties that must be self consistent. The model is based upon measured in-situ aerosol properties and will be tested and constrained by the vertically measured spectral differential optical depth of the marine boundary layer, MBL. Both measured and modeled column optical properties for the boundary layer, when added to the free-troposphere and stratospheric optical depth, will be used to establish spectral optical depth over the entire atmospheric column for comparison to and validation of satellite derived radiances (AVHRR)

Closed-Neighborhood Anti-Sperner Graphs

For a simple graph G let NG[u] denote the closed-neighborhood of vertex u ∈ V (G). Then G is closed-neighborhood anti-Sperner (CNAS) if for every u there is a v ∈ V (G)\{u} with NG [u] ⊆ NG [v] and a graph H is closed-neighborhood distinct (CND) if every closed-neighborhood is distinct, i.e., if NH[u] ≠ NH[v] when u ≠ v, for all u and v ∈ V (H). In this paper we are mainly concerned with constructing CNAS graphs. We construct a family of connected CNAS graphs with n vertices for each fixed n ≥ 2. We list all connected CNAS graphs with ≤ 6 vertices, and find the smallest connected CNAS graph that lies outside these families. We indicate how some CNAS graphs can be constructed from a related type of graph, called a NAS graph. Finally, we present an algorithm to construct all CNAS graphs on a fixed number of vertices from labelled CND graphs on fewer vertices

Goal orientation framing and its influence on performance

Motivated by the regulatory focus theory and the Offensive Mindset theory, I researched the influence of framed instructions (offensive, defensive, no messaging) in stressful and stress-free environments. Participants (N = 213) completed one of two tests a basic math test in a quiet room and a simulated shooting course in a room with the games volume maximized. Participants were primarily active-duty military, along with civilian staff members, teaching professors and lecturers. Participants rolled dice to randomly select the framing instructions that they would be given. In the basic math test, participants who received framed instructions consistent with their regulatory focus answered more questions correctly than those who received framed instructions that were incompatible. For example, a promotion-focused participant receiving defensive messaging answered fewer questions correctly than one receiving offensive messaging. Under simulated shooting, course game offensive framing showed an increase in both speed and accuracy regardless of regulatory focus. This research represents one of the first tests of regulatory focus and messaging conducted under stress. The results were unexpected and may open new doors in research.http://archive.org/details/goalorientationf1094527891Lieutenant Commander, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The Role of Creativity in the Ethical Orientation of Oregon CPAs

Agency theory is the theoretical foundation upon which to explain the practice of accounting and the behavior of individual CPAs. Recent accounting scandals, however, cast doubt on agency theory\u27s adequacy for that purpose. This research explored the impact of individual characteristics of CPAs, primarily creativity, had relative to explaining their ethical orientation. The data generated herein from a sample of Oregon CPAs was not persuasive with respect to the study hypotheses, however, it did suggest a statistically significant inverse relationship between creativity and ethical idealism. It also suggested an alarming level of CPAs whose self-assessed creativity measure did not include the notion of honesty, a primary pillar upon which the agency theory framework of practice rests. Other observations and recommendations for future research were identified

On the spectroastrometric separation of binary point-source fluxes

Spectroastrometry is a technique which has the potential to resolve flux distributions on scales of milliarcseconds. In this study, we examine the application of spectroastrometry to binary point sources which are spatially unresolved due to the observational point spread function convolution. The technique uses measurements with sub-pixel accuracy of the position centroid of high signal-to-noise long-slit spectrum observations. With the objects in the binary contributing fractionally more or less at different wavelengths (particularly across spectral lines), the variation of the position centroid with wavelength provides some information on the spatial distribution of the flux. We examine the width of the flux distribution in the spatial direction, and present its relation to the ratio of the fluxes of the two components of the binary. Measurement of three observables (total flux, position centroid and flux distribution width) at each wavelength allows a unique separation of the total flux into its component parts even though the angular separation of the binary is smaller than the observations' point-spread function. This is because we have three relevant observables for three unknowns (the two fluxes, and the angular separation of the binary), which therefore generates a closed problem. This is a wholly different technique than conventional deconvolution methods, which produce information on angular sizes of the sampling scale. Spectroastrometry can produce information on smaller scales than conventional deconvolution, and is successful in separating fluxes in a binary object with a separation of less than one pixel. We present an analysis of the errors involved in making binary object spectroastrometric measurements and the separation method, and highlight necessary observing methodology.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Dynamic Model for Simulating Motion of the Right Ventricle

This report documents all the research, ideation, and mockups used to determine right ventricle motion and develop a system capable of reproducing that motion on a tissue sample. The model is intended for evaluating anchoring systems being developed by Edwards Lifesciences for use with tricuspid valve therapies. Several design solutions were considered for the primary functions of recreating motion of the right ventricle and attaching tissue to the device. From these ideas a primary means of producing motion and attaching tissue was selected. These ideas were then developed over the course of a school year to become the final system hardware delivered to the project sponsor. This document covers the design process including multiple iterations both in CAD and of structural prototypes. The document concludes by discussing the final hardware and the next steps proposed to improve upon the final design