Productive Efficiency in Water Usage: An Analysis of Differences among Farm Types and Sizes in Georgia

In Georgia, the price of irrigation water is equal to the cost of extraction, including pumping and diversion, storage, treatment, and delivery costs. These water-pricing conditions are repeated in locales around the world. In lieu of established water markets, water use and its efficient use are driven more by farm-level characteristics and management strategies than by the resource price. The purpose of the research presented herein is to examine what factors guide Georgia farmers’ water use decisions. Using data envelopment analysis (DEA) to calculate technical water use efficiency scores, a second step Tobit model is estimated to determine the effect of farm type and farm size. A farms’ use of conservation tillage or organic farming positively affected their water use efficiency, while farms of smaller size or solely owned were more inefficient in water use.technical/productive water use efficiency, organic agriculture, DEA, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

On the Bardeen-Petterson Effect in black hole accretion discs

We investigate the effect of black hole spin on warped or misaligned accretion discs - in particular i) whether or not the inner disc edge aligns with the black hole spin and ii) whether the disc can maintain a smooth transition between an aligned inner disc and a misaligned outer disc, known as the Bardeen-Petterson effect. We employ high resolution 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of $\alpha$-discs subject to Lense-Thirring precession, focussing on the bending wave regime where the disc viscosity is smaller than the aspect ratio $\alpha \lesssim H/R$. We first address the controversy in the literature regarding possible steady-state oscillations of the tilt close to the black hole. We successfully recover such oscillations in 3D at both small and moderate inclinations ($\lesssim 15^{\circ}$), provided both Lense-Thirring and Einstein precession are present, sufficient resolution is employed, and provided the disc is not so thick so as to simply accrete misaligned. Second, we find that discs inclined by more than a few degrees in general steepen and break rather than maintain a smooth transition, again in contrast to previous findings, but only once the disc scale height is adequately resolved. Finally, we find that when the disc plane is misaligned to the black hole spin by a large angle, the disc 'tears' into discrete rings which precess effectively independently and cause rapid accretion, consistent with previous findings in the diffusive regime ($\alpha \gtrsim H/R$). Thus misalignment between the disc and the spin axis of the black hole provides a robust mechanism for growing black holes quickly, regardless of whether the disc is thick or thin.Comment: 15 pages, 18 figures, movies available at http://users.monash.edu.au/~rnealon/ or YouTub

"It's my first real lit review:" Mentoring undergraduate students from reading to writing

Reviewing the literature in the field is often the first step to conducting research in one’s own area of interest. How do we translate library research skills into comprehensive, publishable literature reviews? This poster addresses the application of multigenerational, “just in time” instruction and mentoring for undergraduates, as they develop their own research questions and write reviews of the literature. In this case, undergraduates in a research group are mentored by two to three mentors. These mentors include the faculty member heading the group, graduate student research supervisors who have their own skill sets, and practitioners from the field. Multigenerational mentors allow the undergraduate the freedom of asking for different kinds of help from different people. The student builds confidence founded in the freedom to make mistakes, and the freedom to ask “stupid” questions to mentors who are not always faculty, who are instead graduate students and more like peers. Producing a publishable literature review has the added benefit of increasing the undergraduate student’s proficiency and confidence in reading and writing, which provides preparation for graduate studies

Background and lessons learned: "It’s My First Real Lit Review:” Mentoring Undergraduate Students From Reading to Writing

This supplemental document contains background framework and lessons learned for the poster presentation, “It’s My First Real Lit Review”: Mentoring Undergraduate Students From Reading to Writing

"I'm just wondering what to do:" Mentoring undergraduate students in an interdisciplinary research group

Aligning with the theme of "project based and transdisciplinary research instruction," this poster shares one model for situating a librarian within an interdisciplinary undergraduate research group, the Flight 93/ 9/11 Research Project at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. Reviewing the literature in the field is often step one in conducting research in one’s own area of interest. How do we help undergraduates translate library research skills into comprehensive, publishable literature reviews? This poster addresses the application of “just in time” instruction and mentoring for undergraduates, as they develop their own research questions and write reviews of the literature. In this case, undergraduates’ mentors include a reference librarian, the faculty member heading the group, graduate student research supervisors, and practitioners from the field. Students choose projects based on their disciplines and post-undergraduate goals, and they create literature reviews that become parts of co-authored, peer-reviewed articles or conference poster sessions. Situating a reference librarian in the mix helps students learn and apply research skills using the tools at their disposal, specifically in their areas of interest. Librarian mentors also allow undergraduates the freedom of asking for specific help without leaving the building, the workspace, or the research group. Students build confidence founded in the freedom to make mistakes, and the freedom to ask “stupid” questions to mentors who are not "the boss," but rather colleagues and co-researchers. Producing publishable literature reviews also increases undergraduate students’ proficiency and confidence in reading, writing and using the research tools available to them, further preparing them for their future endeavors

Regression Analysis: Graduation Rate in Kentucky Public High Schools

Kentucky’s Public High School graduation rates vary widely across the rural and urban regions in the state. In addition to their graduation rates, each of these schools have their own unique demographics, funding, teacher-student ratio, etc. that define said school’s identity. This research aims to analyze the aforementioned variables, as well as other variables listed on each school state report card, in order to create a model to predict any school’s graduation rate. In order to create this model, data was taken on all public high schools in Kentucky from the Kentucky Department of Education’s School Report Card. Data were then narrowed down to only schools that had data available for all categories in the research. This left only 223 schools of the original 1477 to study. Regression analysis was then performed in Microsoft Excel and the statistical program R in order to make a model to predict the schools’ graduation rates

Weathering a Different Kind of Storm: Vietnam\u27s Reaction to Financial Disaster

I chose to research Vietnam’s reaction to the global financial crisis as a conclusion to my study abroad experience. I thought of it as an opportunity to put in practice the methods I had learned creating the market risk index, while seeing if what I found in Vietnam applied to the theories on the future of capitalism I had researched. My findings are presented more in the style of a magazine or newspaper article, mostly because it is pieces such as these—not long, dry journal articles—that spark my interest and stick in my memory. The New York Times columns of Thomas Friedman and Paul Krugman are what made me decide to study politics and economics, and they continue to keep those interests alive. I have also chosen this style because these sources, after my interviews, were the most helpful part of my research, since Vietnam’s response to the financial crisis is far from over and truly comprehensive journal articles are yet to be published. The currency of the topic also meant that several useful figures were not yet available at the time of my research, so my methodology was much more qualitative than quantitative. My findings presented here are a compilation of what I learned in my interviews and readings during my last month in Vietnam, as well as what I learned through personal observations and interactions in the two months leading up to my formal research. - excerpt from Introductio