The Costs of Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Firm Adjustments

[Excerpt] While it is obvious that the costs of term life insurance vary directly with age, it is less obvious how employers\u27 contributions to pension funds, which comprise a major share of nonwage compensation, vary. As such, we focus in this paper on the most common variant of pension plans and demonstrate how an employer\u27s cost of fully funding a plan varies with the age and service characteristics of his work force. This cost, as a percent of annual salary, is seen to increase with employees\u27 ages and, in some cases, years of service. This variation has important implications for the level and shape of life-cycle earnings profiles, for labor turnover, and for the likely impact of pension reform legislation, such as the Employees Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), on the well-being of workers. These implications are discussed in this paper

Social network analysis:Foundations and frontiers on advantage

We provide an overview of social network analysis focusing on network advantage as a lens that touches on much of the area. For reasons of good data and abundant research, we draw heavily on studies of people in organizations. Advantage is traced to network structure as a proxy for the distribution of variably sticky information in a population. The network around a person indicates the person's access and control in the distribution. Advantage is a function of information breadth, timing, and arbitrage. Advantage is manifest in higher odds of proposing good ideas, more positive evaluations and recognition, higher compensation, and faster promotions. We discuss frontiers of advantage contingent on personality, cognition, embeddedness, and dynamics.</p

Shared language in the team network-performance association: Reconciling conflicting views of the network centralization effect on team performance

We reconcile two conflicting views of the network centralization effect on team performance. In one view, a centralized network is problematic because it limits knowledge transfer, making it harder for team members to discover productive combinations of their know-how and expertise. In the alternative view, the limits on knowledge transfer encourage search and experimentation, leading to the discovery of more valuable ideas. We maintain the two sides are not opposed but reflect two distinct ways centralization can affect a team’s shared problem-solving framework. The shared framework in our research is a shared language. We contend that team network centralization affects both how quickly a shared language emerges and the performance implications of the shared language that develops. We analyze the performance of 77 teams working to identify abstract symbols for 15 trials. Teams work under network conditions that vary with respect to centralization. Results indicate that centralized teams take longer to develop a shared language, but centralized teams also create a shared language that is more beneficial for performance. The findings also indicate that the highest performing teams are assigned to networks that combine elements of a centralized and a decentralized network

Microwave pulse compression using a helically corrugated waveguide

There has been a drive in recent years to produce ultrahigh power short microwave pulses for a range of applications. These high-power pulses can be produced by microwave pulse compression. Sweep-frequency based microwave pulse compression using smooth bore hollow waveguides is one technique of passive pulse compression, however, at very high powers, this method has some limitation due to its operation close to cutoff. A special helical corrugation of a circular waveguide ensures an eigenwave with strongly frequency dependent group velocity far from cutoff, which makes the helically corrugated waveguide attractive for use as a passive pulse compressor for very high-power amplifiers and oscillators. The results of proof-of-principle experiments and calculations of the wave dispersion using a particle in cell particle-in-cell (PIC) code are presented. In the experiments, a 70-ns 1-kW pulse from a conventional traveling-wave tube (TWT) was compressed in a 2-m-long helical waveguide. The compressed pulse had a peak power of 10.9 kW and duration of 3 ns. In order to find the optimum pulse compression ratio, the waveguide's dispersion characteristics must be well known. The dispersion of the helix was calculated using the PIC code Magic and verified using an experimental technique. Future work detailing plans to produce short ultrahigh power gigawatt (GW) pulses will be discussed

Ariel - Volume 4 Number 5

Editors David A. Jacoby Eugenia Miller Tom Williams Associate Editors Paul Bialas Terry Burt Michael Leo Gail Tenikat Editor Emeritus and Business Manager Richard J. Bonnano Movie Editor Robert Breckenridge Staff Richard. Blutstein Mary F. Buechler Alice M. Johnson J.D. Kanofskv Rocky Webe

Toll-like receptor 9 inhibition reduces mortality in polymicrobial sepsis

The high rate of mortality in patients with sepsis results from an inappropriately amplified systemic inflammatory response to infection. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important for the activation of innate immunity against microbial pathogens. We demonstrate a critical role of TLR9 in the dysregulated immune response and death associated with sepsis. Compared with wild-type (WT) mice, TLR9−/− mice exhibited lower serum inflammatory cytokine levels, higher bacterial clearance, and greater survival after experimental peritonitis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Protection of TLR9−/− mice after CLP was associated with a greater number of peritoneal dendritic cells (DCs) and granulocytes than in WT controls. Adoptive transfer of TLR9−/− DCs was sufficient to protect WT mice from CLP and increased the influx of peritoneal granulocytes. Subsequent experiments with a depleting antibody revealed that granulocytes were required for survival in TLR9−/− mice. Remarkably, a single injection of an inhibitory CpG sequence that blocks TLR9 protected WT mice, even when administered as late as 12 h after CLP. Our findings demonstrate that the detrimental immune response to bacterial sepsis occurs via TLR9 stimulation. TLR9 blockade is a potential strategy for the treatment of human sepsis

Advances in the Epidemiological Study of Oral-Facial Diseases

Both demographic patterns and disease distribution are changing rapidly in the United States. These developments have led to the recognition that the epidemiology of many conditions is poorly understood, and that other research has thus been hindered. Four areas of epidemiological study were chosen for detailed analysis of how new technology will affect the conduct of future research. These areas, selected because information about them will be increasingly needed in an aging society, were periodontitis, temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and other orofacial pain, salivary gland disturbances, and health services research. The potential effect of new technology was examined in the short, intermediate, and long term. While the nature of epidemiological study is unlikely to change with the advent of new technology, the scope of potential studies will become broader. Advances in diagnostic techniques from elsewhere will permit far more precise diagnosis than is possible at present. Computer technology will permit an efficient system of epidemiological surveillance to provide current data on trends in tooth loss, caries, and periodontitis—data which will complement the results of national surveys. Analytical studies to produce hypotheses on the etiology of oral conditions, especially in such poorly-understood areas as chronic pain and TMD, will help direct clinical research in those areas.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66664/2/10.1177_08959374890030010301.pd

Helically corrugated waveguides for compression of frequency swept microwave pulses

Short pulse high power microwave radiation can be used for time of flight diagnostic measurements in plasmas, e.g. density profiles by reflectometry. A three-fold helical corrugation of the inner surface of a waveguide synthesises eigenwaves having useful dispersive properties by combining two distinct counter-rotating modes of a corresponding circular waveguide. The dispersion may be tailored to the requirements of an application by adjusting the amplitude and period of the corrugations. Such dispersive properties have proven useful in broadband radiation amplifiers, or to achieve passive compression of smoothly frequency modulated microwave pulses. The paper presents results of experiments using a solid state source to produce an optimised frequency-chirped input pulse and amplified by a high power Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA). The waveforms of the input and output microwave signals were captured on a UHF Digital Storage Oscilloscope. The results demonstrated at 5.7kW input power levels that X-band radiation pulses of 67ns duration with 5% frequency modulation can be compressed into a 2.8ns pulse having 12 times higher peak power, whilst retaining 50% of the energy in the input signal. The technique offers great potential for scaling to higher frequencies and power levels