Experimental studies of perceptual processes, section two Progress report, Jan. - Sep. 30, 1965

Complex discriminative behavior, fixed ratio reinforcement of large units of behavior and deferred reinforcement studied in chimpanzee

An analytical basis for assaying buried biological contamination Interim report

Assay techniques for determining biological contamination of spacecraft material

Thermal-structural panel buckling tests

The buckling characteristics of a titanium matrix composite hat-stiffened panel were experimentally examined for various combinations of thermal and mechanical loads. Panel failure was prevented by maintaining the applied loads below real-time critical buckling predictions. The test techniques used to apply the loads, minimize boundary were shown to compare well with a finite-element buckling analysis for previous panels. Comparisons between test predictions and analysis for this panel are ongoing

Single-strain-gage force/stiffness buckling prediction techniques on a hat-stiffened panel

Predicting the buckling characteristics of a test panel is necessary to ensure panel integrity during a test program. A single-strain-gage buckling prediction method was developed on a hat-stiffened, monolithic titanium buckling panel. The method is an adaptation of the original force/stiffness method which requires back-to-back gages. The single-gage method was developed because the test panel did not have back-to-back gages. The method was used to predict buckling loads and temperatures under various heating and loading conditions. The results correlated well with a finite element buckling analysis. The single-gage force/stiffness method was a valid real-time and post-test buckling prediction technique

Do Repatriation Taxes Matter? Evidence from the Tax Returns of U.S. Multinationals

An open question in the literature on the taxation of multinational corporations is whether repatriation taxes influence whether the profits of foreign subsidiaries are repatriated or reinvested abroad. Theoretical models suggest that dividend remittances should not be influenced by repatriation taxes. The results of recent empirical work indicate that dividend remittances are sensitive to repatriation taxes. This paper investigates whether the empirical evidence can be reconciled with the theoretical results by recognizing that repatriation taxes on dividends may vary over time and provide firms with an incentive to time repatriations so that they occur in years when repatriation tax rates are relatively low. We use information about cross-country differences in tax rates to separately estimate the influence of permanent tax changes, as would occur due to changes in statutory tax rates, and transitory tax changes on dividend repatriations. Our data contains U.S. tax return information for a large sample of U.S. corporations and their foreign subsidiaries. We find that the permanent tax price effect is significantly different from the transitory price effect and is not significantly different from zero, while the transitory tax price effect is negative and significant. This suggests that repatriation taxes do affect dividend repatriation behavior but only to the extent that they vary over time. Previous empirical work has apparently measured the effect of timing behavior.

An Investigation of Institutional Research in Tennessee Community Colleges: Functions, Technology Use, and Impact on Decision-making by College Presidents

For over a decade, three issues – institutional effectiveness, competitive market forces, and demand for accountability – have indelibly impacted the governance of all institutions of higher education, not in the least the community college. In the state of Tennessee, the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Defining Our Future plan, which was developed in response to state legislation requiring higher education systems to operate more efficiently and with more limited resources, positioned the office of Institutional Research as vital with regards to information processing, effective technology application, and decision-support by Tennessee community college presidents. The main purpose of this study was to gather descriptive data in order to describe the functions of the offices of institutional research and the extent of their utilization of technology in the thirteen Tennessee community colleges. This study addressed the characteristics and responsibilities of institutional research offices by means of a survey instrument completed by all thirteen chief officers of institutional research. The second main purpose was to link this descriptive data with the campus governance and leadership through the office of each college president. Person to person interviews were held with all thirteen Tennessee community college presidents regarding their perceptions of the roles of institutional research and their means of using institutional research in decision-making. The survey and the interview protocol were designed to provide answers to ten research questions on the current roles and responsibilities of institutional research offices; the types and level of utilization of technology in the offices of institutional research; and the perspectives of Tennessee’s community college presidents on the institutional research function. Analysis of the data provided answers to the research questions and, among other findings, it was found that the offices of institutional research universally serve a broad range of functions including institution-wide functions, efficiency considerations, academic-centered functions, student-centered functions, information reporting, external relations, and administrative duties. However, eight of the thirteen offices were staffed by only one full time professional. The study found that while technology was deemed as a highly utilized tool by institutional research offices, the use of and training in statistical analysis software and campus information systems was not fully realized. The data collected from interviews with college presidents suggested that the offices of institutional research are most widely referenced for institution-wide activities such as strategic planning, accreditation requirements, and institutional effectiveness as well as for budgeting decisions. Other key areas of collaboration between the college president and the office of institutional research include academic performance measures, enrollment management, and community outreach endeavors. This study determined the need for further research in several areas. First, it will be beneficial to assess its institutional research resources at each campus; second, to study how community college presidents use institutional research for specific functions; third, to conduct a broader comparison study of community college institutional research offices within the SACS region or nationwide; finally, to conduct a study of how other community college campus leaders – vice presidents and deans, for example – use institutional research in decision-making