Regulation of Intermodal Rate Competition in Transportation

The controversy over intermodal rate competition comprehends both legal and economic issues. Clarity requires that each be explicitly stated and separately treated. The legal issues center on the meaning of section 15a(3) of the Interstate Commerce Act and the declaration of the National Transportation Policy that precedes the Act, which are the sources of the Commission\u27s authority. The economic issues involve the effect on resource allocation of rate-making proposals devised to carry out these provisions of the Act

Using M&S to Maximize Space Satellite Data Collection with Multiple Ground Stations

With the continued operations of FalconSAT-3 well beyond its design life, an opportunity exists to utilize multiple ground stations beyond the original site at the US Air Force Academy (USAFA) to enhance individual training missions at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), United States Military Academy (USMA), and the Undergraduate Space Training (UST) course at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Using multiple ground stations can enhance FalconSAT-3 experiments beyond the original design. However, with multiple ground stations coordination needs to increase. The problem of distributed files becomes an issue, and all files need to be compiled to maximize experiment analysis. A discrete event simulation of the file distribution was calculated to show how the files are spread across the ground stations. The characteristics of each ground station and available crew rates at the respective stations contribute to the overall ability to download (or miss the opportunity to download) files. The simulation shows the capability of each site to download files and which sites’ missed opportunities for file download were caused by crew availability. Implications of downloaded files and missed opportunities can affect the design of the distributed network of ground stations to support FalconSAT-3

Microwave to optical photon conversion via fully concentrated rare-earth-ion crystals

Most investigations of rare-earth ions in solids for quantum information have used crystals where the rare-earth ion is a dopant. Here, we analyze the conversion of quantum information from microwave photons to optical frequencies using crystals where the rare-earth ions, rather than being dopants, are part of the host crystal. These concentrated crystals are attractive for frequency conversion because of their large ion densities and small linewidths. We show that conversion with both high efficiency and large bandwidth is possible in these crystals. In fact, the collective coupling between the rare-earth ions and the optical and microwave cavities is large enough that the limitation on the bandwidth of the devices will instead be the spacing between magnon modes in the crystal

Classification and influence of agricultural information on striga and stemborer control in Suba and Vihiga Districts, Kenya

This paper reports on findings of a study to examine the sources used by farmers in search of agricultural information on striga and/or stemborers control technologies and factors that influence acquisition of such information in Western Kenya region. A random sample of 476 households in Suba and Vihiga districts were interviewed and 15 information pathways were identified. Using principle component analysis (PCA) to derive few latent variables that encapsulate maximum variance in the pathways, two components (latent variables) proxying for ‘agricultural knowledge’ were extracted. Type I-knowledge (first component) loaded heavily with sources that had ‘group’ information searching. Type II-knowledge (second component) loaded heavily with sources requiring individual farmer search. Both types of knowledge positively and significantly influenced the likelihood of households using improved technology to control stemborer, while only Type-II knowledge and social economic factors were important in influencing the farmers’ likelihood of using an improved technology to control striga. This study shows that information is an important factor in the households’ likelihood of using improved technologies in the control of striga and stem borer in Vihiga and Suba, Kenya. Methods of individual interaction are important to striga control.Agricultural information, improved technology, striga, stemborers, control technologies, Kenya, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Philippine Foreign Debt Problem: A Search For Alternative Policies

This paper was written with assistance from the Forum for Debt and Development (FONDAD)

Role of Self-efficacy, Optimism and Job Engagement in Positive Change: Evidence from the Middle East

Positive change comprises an examination of the factors that influence the adaptation of a positive lens, positively deviant performance, the effects of an affirmative bias, and the impact of pursuing the best of human conditions in an organization. To generate positive change, a Middle Eastern financial services firm designed and implemented a positive business initiative ‘RACE’, which involved various sports, arts, cultural, and everyday business activities, intended to engage employees and build their psychological strengths. In the context of RACE initiative, this study examines the role of self-efficacy, optimism, and job engagement in positive change. Self-efficacy is a specific, positive expectation of success based on belief in one’s individual abilities. Employees’ with higher levels of optimism tend to maintain positive expectation about what will happen to them in the process of change. Employees who are engaged in the jobs bring in their complete selves by investing physical, emotional, and cognitive energies. This study explores the relationship of self-efficacy and optimism with performance outcome. It further provides an explanation of this relationship through the mediating role of three dimensions of job engagement, that is, cognitive, emotional, and physical. Responses were collected from 406 employees who participated in the RACE initiative. While all of the respondents are based in the UAE, the sample is international in nature, encompassing 15 countries. These respondents were asked to assess their own self-efficacy, optimism, and job engagement, along with their perception of the team-level performance of the branch office in which they work. The hypothesized relationships were tested in AMOS 20 using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that higher levels of self-efficacy and optimism significantly predict higher levels of cognitive, emotional, and physical engagement. Also, the higher levels of cognitive, emotional, and physical engagement significantly predict performance. Further, significant indirect effects support the mediating role of job engagement in relationship between these psychological strengths and performance outcome. Thus, employees’ level of self-efficacy, optimism, and job engagement can be enhanced by designing and implementing business initiatives that are relevant to positive change

The Relationships Among Social Capital, HIV Self-Management, and Substance Use in Women.

Women living with HIV (WLHIV) face unique challenges to successfully self-manage HIV including substance use and limited social capital. We conducted a 6-month mixed-methods study to describe how social capital influences HIV self-management and substance use among WLHIV. Participants completed a self-report survey and in-depth interview at baseline, and 3 and 6 months. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to examine quantitative relationships. Qualitative data were analyzed using qualitative description. Current substance users reported lower social capital compared with past substance users (2.63 vs. 2.80; p = .34). Over time, substance use and social capital were associated with HIV self-management (Wald χ2 = 28.43; p < .001). Qualitative data suggest that HIV self-management is influenced by overlapping experiences with social capital, including influential trust, community, and value of self can be complicated by ongoing substance use. Social capital can facilitate improved HIV self-management; however, substance use and trauma can weaken this relationship