Competing Explanations of U.S. Defense Industry Consolidation in the 1990s and Their Policy Implications

Was the consolidation of defense industry in the 1990s driven by U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) directives, or was it driven instead by the same forces that drove consolidation in many other sectors of the U.S. economy in the 1990s? To better understand the roles of DOD policy and economy-wide forces in shaping the U.S. defense industry, we test for structural breaks in defense industry and spending data and compare our findings to those relating to other sectors and the general economy. We identify structural breaks in the defense-related data in the early 1980s and throughout the 1990s, roughly consistent with changes in the U.S. economy, including broader merger trends. Overall, our results are more consistent with the view that economy-wide factors drove defense industry consolidation, largely independent of the DOD policy changes that occurred early in the 1990s.

Technology test bed engine real-time failure control

The Real-Time Failure Control (RTFC) program involves development of a failure detection algorithm, for the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). This failure detection approach is signal-based and entails monitoring SSME measurement signals based on predetermined as well as on-line computed mean and standard deviation values. Twenty-four engine measurements are monitored in the algorithm and provisions are made to add more parameters if needed. Each of the first values of every measurement signal at the algorithm start is checked against safety limits placed around a pre-computed engine-to-engine mean value (MV) with a bandwidth equal to a given multiple of the pre-computed standard deviation (SD). If several parameters are out of the bounds of these limits a failure is signaled. During the first two seconds (after algorithm start) a moving average (MA) and a SD is computed on-line in real-time. The moving average of each parameter is computed by averaging the incoming signal measurement with the four most recent previous signal measurements. The moving average is updated at every sampling interval (40 msec) and is checked against a similar safety band around the initial signal value for each parameter. If several anomalies are registered, a failure is signaled by the algorithm. At the end of the two-second interval the MA is fixed as the mean value for the rest of the algorithm operation and a safety band is placed above and below this value equal to a multiple of the computed SD. However, the safety band is adjusted by adjusting the mean value when propellant tank repressurization and venting take place. 'Influence Coefficients' are used to make the necessary adjustments to the safety limits of those parameters that are affected by repressurization and venting or valve closure and opening. The MA is, in both cases, continuously updated and checked against the safety band. Once more, if several parameters exceed the limits a failure is signaled. At the start of every scheduled power transient the algorithm is stopped. It is re-initiated after two seconds from the termination of the power transient and the process is repeated. The final report is divided into four major sections. The most encompassing of all is the discussion section that has sub-sections on: (1) RTFC algorithm development, (2) RTFC simulations; (3) RTFC current limitations; and (4) enhancements planned for

Holographic renormalisation group flows and renormalisation from a Wilsonian perspective

From the Wilsonian point of view, renormalisable theories are understood as submanifolds in theory space emanating from a particular fixed point under renormalisation group evolution. We show how this picture precisely applies to their gravity duals. We investigate the Hamilton-Jacobi equation satisfied by the Wilson action and find the corresponding fixed points and their eigendeformations, which have a diagonal evolution close to the fixed points. The relevant eigendeformations are used to construct renormalised theories. We explore the relation of this formalism with holographic renormalisation. We also discuss different renormalisation schemes and show that the solutions to the gravity equations of motion can be used as renormalised couplings that parametrise the renormalised theories. This provides a transparent connection between holographic renormalisation group flows in the Wilsonian and non-Wilsonian approaches. The general results are illustrated by explicit calculations in an interacting scalar theory in AdS space.Comment: 63 pages. Minor changes and references added. Matches JHEP versio

Service provider difficulties in operationalising coercive control

We examined perspectives of social workers, police officers, and specialist domestic abuse practitioners about their perceived ability and organizational readiness to respond effectively to incidents of coercive and controlling behavior. Interviews revealed intervention and risk assessment strategies structured around an outdated, maladaptive concept of domestic abuse as an unambiguous and violent event and frontline services that lacked appreciation of the power dynamics inherent in controlling relationships. The analysis demonstrates how lack of definitional clarity around nonphysical domestic abuse can increase the use of discretion by frontline services and, by extension, increase the discounting of coercive control by pressured frontline officers

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE RED IMPORTED FIRE ANT ON THE METROPLEXES OF TEXAS

This research estimates the annual economic impact of the fire ant on key urban sectors in Texas. A study was conducted in 1998-1999 in the 5 metroplexes of Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston to estimate the costs of controlling and managing fire ants (Lard, et al). This study found that the annual expenditure for fire ant control and management by selected sectors in these metroplexes totaled more than $581 million. The total annual expense by sector amounted to$526 million for households, $29 million for golf courses,$25 million for schools, and $0.6 million for cities. These annual cost figures do not include all urban costs or costs borne by electrical utility companies, communication firms and cable companies. These results can be used to assess damages and estimate the potential costs and benefits of control and management programs, such as the community-based effort underway as part of the Texas Fire Ant Initiative.Crop Production/Industries,

Constraining differential renormalization in abelian gauge theories

We present a procedure of differential renormalization at the one loop level which avoids introducing unnecessary renormalization constants and automatically preserves abelian gauge invariance. The amplitudes are expressed in terms of a basis of singular functions. The local terms appearing in the renormalization of these functions are determined by requiring consistency with the propagator equation. Previous results in abelian theories, with and without supersymmetry, are discussed in this context.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX. Some equations corrected and a reference added. Complete ps paper also available at http://www-ftae.ugr.es/papiros.html or ftp://ftae3.ugr.es/pub/rmt/ugft73.p

An Unfinished Canvas: Local Partnerships in Support of Arts Education in California

In 2006, at the request of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, SRI International conducted a study aimed at assessing the status of arts education in California relative to state goals. The final report, An Unfinished Canvas. Arts Education in California: Taking Stock of Policy and Practice, revealed a substantial gap between policy and practice. The study found that elementary schools in particular are failing to meet state goals for arts education. In light of these findings, The Hewlett Foundation commissioned a series of follow-up studies to identify policy mechanisms or other means of increasing student access to arts education. This study, focusing on the ability of school districts to leverage support for arts education through partnerships with local arts organizations, is one of the follow-up studies.Partnerships may allow for the pooling of resources and lend support to schools in a variety of ways including artists-in-residency programs, professional development for teachers, exposing students to the arts through the provision of one-time performances at school sites, and organizing field trips to performances and exhibits. According to the California Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools, partnerships among districts, schools, and arts organizations are most successful when they are embedded within a comprehensive, articulated program of arts education. Questions about the nature of partnerships that California districts and schools have been able to form with arts organizations, and the success of these partnerships to increase students' access to a sequential standards-based course of study in the four arts disciplines, served as the impetus for this study.A team of SRI researchers conducted case studies of partnerships between districts and arts organizations in six diverse California communities in spring 2008. The case study sites were selected for their particular arts education activities and diverse contexts and, as a result, do not offer generalizable data about partnerships between school districts and arts organizations in California. Instead, we highlight the ways that a sample of partnerships promotes arts education in California elementary schools to inform others who may be interested in building partnerships between school districts and arts organizations