Comparison of Factors Influencing Salaries of Agricultural Economics Professionals in Academic and Federal Employment

Results of two ordered probit models find differences in the major factors that influence salaries of agricultural economists employed in academia and in federal government. However some similarities were found; both sets of salaries were influenced by factors that measure job performance and neither set of salaries were significantly influenced by gender or ethnicity.Salary survey, job performance, Labor and Human Capital, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Household decision-making about delivery in health facilities: evidence from Tanzania.

This study investigated how partners' perceptions of the healthcare system influence decisions about delivery-location in low-resource settings. A multistage population-representative sample was used in Kasulu district, Tanzania, to identify women who had given birth in the last five years and their partners. Of 826 couples in analysis, 506 (61.3%) of the women delivered in the home. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with delivery in a health facility were agreement of partners on the importance of delivering in a health facility and agreement that skills of doctors are better than those of traditional birth attendants. When partners disagreed, the opinion of the woman was more influential in determining delivery-location. Agreement of partners regarding perceptions about the healthcare system appeared to be an important driver of decisions about delivery-location. These findings suggest that both partners should be included in the decision-making process regarding delivery to raise rates of delivery at facility

Factors Influencing Salaries of Agricultural Economics Professionals at Land Grant Institutions

Research in the mid 1900s suggested that salary gaps existed between men and women in academia. Though the research helped bring attention to salary gaps, less focus was on causes of salary differences. More recent research suggested differences in salaries were based on performance. A survey was sent to agricultural economics professionals at land grant intuitions to identify the factors that influence their salaries. Results of the ordered probit model suggest that seven variables can be used to explain salaries: having attained tenure, working at an 1862 institution, the amount of grant dollars, the number of journal articles, highest academic rank and the percentage of appointment that is in administration (positive influences) and importance of family time (negative influence). Other variables tested – gender, ethnicity and other preferences – were not found to influence salary levels.salary and performance, tracking survey, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, A11, A14,

Generation of Porous Structures Using Fused Deposition

The Fused Deposition Modeling process uses hardware and software machine-level language that are very similar to that of a pen-plotter. Consequently, the·use of patterns with poly-lines as basic geometric features, instead of the current method based on filled polygons (monolithic models), can increase its efficiency. In the current study, various toolpath planning methods have been developed to fabricate porous structures. Computational domain decomposition methods can be applied to the physical or to slice-level domains to generate structured and unstructured grids. Also, textures can be created using periodic tiling of the layer with unit cells (squares, honeycombs, etc). Methods 'based on curves include fractal space filling curves and.change of effective road width Within a layer or within a continuous curve. Individual phases can also be placed in binary compositions. In present investigation, a custom software has been developed and implemented to generate build files (SML) and slice files (SSL) for the above-mentioned structures, demonstrating the efficient control ofthe size, shape, and distribution ofporosity.Mechanical Engineerin

Factors Influencing Salaries of Agricultural Economics Professionals in Federal Employment - Part I

Since the early 1900s much research has been conducted on salary gaps between men and women in different professions. While some of that work has focused on agricultural economics professionals, little research could be found specifically relating to agricultural economic professionals in federal employment. A survey was sent to known agricultural economics professionals within USDA. The data from this survey are being used for two purposes. The first is to determine whether differences exist between men and women (and between employees in different agencies) in factors that influence job choice and potential problems in the workplace. The second is to identify factors that influence salaries of men and women agricultural economics professionals in federal employment. This paper addresses the first purpose.salary and performance studies, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Characterizing the Circumgalactic Medium of Nearby Galaxies with HST/COS and HST/STIS Absorption-Line Spectroscopy: II. Methods and Models

We present basic data and modeling for a survey of the cool, photo-ionized Circum-Galactic Medium (CGM) of low-redshift galaxies using far-UV QSO absorption line probes. This survey consists of "targeted" and "serendipitous" CGM subsamples, originally described in Stocke et al. (2013, Paper 1). The targeted subsample probes low-luminosity, late-type galaxies at $z<0.02$ with small impact parameters ($\langle\rho\rangle = 71$ kpc), and the serendipitous subsample probes higher luminosity galaxies at $z\lesssim0.2$ with larger impact parameters ($\langle\rho\rangle = 222$ kpc). HST and FUSE UV spectroscopy of the absorbers and basic data for the associated galaxies, derived from ground-based imaging and spectroscopy, are presented. We find broad agreement with the COS-Halos results, but our sample shows no evidence for changing ionization parameter or hydrogen density with distance from the CGM host galaxy, probably because the COS-Halos survey probes the CGM at smaller impact parameters. We find at least two passive galaxies with H I and metal-line absorption, confirming the intriguing COS-Halos result that galaxies sometimes have cool gas halos despite no on-going star formation. Using a new methodology for fitting H I absorption complexes, we confirm the CGM cool gas mass of Paper 1, but this value is significantly smaller than found by the COS-Halos survey. We trace much of this difference to the specific values of the low-$z$ meta-galactic ionization rate assumed. After accounting for this difference, a best-value for the CGM cool gas mass is found by combining the results of both surveys to obtain $\log{(M/M_{\odot})}=10.5\pm0.3$, or ~30% of the total baryon reservoir of an $L \geq L^*$, star-forming galaxy.Comment: 51 pages, 20 figures, 11 tables, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Serie

Probing the IGM/Galaxy Connection IV: The LCO/WFCCD Galaxy Survey of 20 Fields Surrounding UV Bright Quasars

We publish the survey for galaxies in 20 fields containing ultraviolet bright quasars (with z_em 0.1 to 0.5) that can be used to study the association between galaxies and absorption systems from the low-z intergalactic medium (IGM). The survey is magnitude limited (R~19.5 mag) and highly complete out to 10' from the quasar in each field. It was designed to detect dwarf galaxies (L ~ 0.1 L*) at an impact parameter rho 1Mpc (z=0.1) from a quasar. The complete sample (all 20 fields) includes R-band photometry for 84718 sources and confirmed redshifts for 2800 sources. This includes 1198 galaxies with 0.005 < z < (z_em - 0.01) at a median redshift of 0.18, which may associated with IGM absorption lines. All of the imaging was acquired with cameras on the Swope 40" telescope and the spectra were obtained via slitmask observations using the WFCCD spectrograph on the Dupont 100" telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (LCO). This paper describes the data reduction, imaging analysis, photometry, and spectral analysis of the survey. We tabulate the principal measurements for all sources in each field and provide the spectroscopic dataset online.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal Supplements; 20 pages, only 6 figures shown in this version. See http://www.ucolick.org/~xavier/WFCCDOVI/index.html for a full-length manuscript and other supportive materia

XMM-{\em Newton} and FUSE Tentative Evidence for a WHIM filament along the Line of Sight to PKS~0558-504

We present a possible OVIII X-ray absorption line at $z=0.117 \pm 0.001$ which, if confirmed, will be the first one associated with a broad HI Ly$\beta$ (BLB: FWHM=$160^{+50}_{-30}$ km s$^{-1}$) absorber. The absorber lies along the line of sight to the nearby ($z=0.1372$) Seyfert 1 galaxy PKS~0558-504, consistent with being a WHIM filament. The X-ray absorber is marginally detected in two independent XMM-Newton spectra of PKS~0558-504, a long $\sim 600$ ks Guest-Observer observation and a shorter, $\sim 300$ ks total, calibration observation, with a combined single line statistical significance of 2.8$\sigma$ (2.7$\sigma$ and 1.2$\sigma$ in the two spectra, respectively). When fitted with our self-consistent hybrid-photoionization WHIM models, the combined XMM-{\em Newton} spectrum is consistent with the presence of OVIII K$\alpha$ at $z=(0.117 \pm 0.001)$. This model gives best fitting temperature and equivalent H column density of the absorber of log$T=6.56_{-0.17}^{+0.19}$ K, and logN$_H=(21.5 \pm 0.3) (Z/Z_{0.01\odot})^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$. The statistical sigificance of this single X-ray detection is increased by the detection of broad and complex HI Ly$\beta$ absorption in archival FUSE spectra of PKS~0558-504, at redshifts $z=0.1183 \pm 0.0001$ consistent with the best-fitting redshift of the X-ray absorber. The single line statistical significance of this line is 4.1$\sigma$ (3.7$\sigma$ if systematics are considered), and thus the combined (HI+OVIII) statistical significance of the detection is of 5.0$\sigma$. The detection of both metal and H lines at a consistent redshift, in this hot absorbing system, allows us to speculate on its metallicity. By associating the bulk of the X-ray absorber with the BLB line detected in the FUSE spectrum at $z_{BLB}=0.1183 \pm 0.0001$, we obtain a metallicity of 1-4\% Solar.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figures, 3 Tables. Accepted for publication by the ApJ

The Photon Underproduction Crisis

We examine the statistics of the low-redshift Lyman-alpha forest from smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations in light of recent improvements in the estimated evolution of the cosmic ultraviolet background (UVB) and recent observations from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS). We find that the value of the metagalactic photoionization rate required by our simulations to match the observed properties of the low-redshift Lyman-alpha forest is a factor of 5 larger than the value predicted by state-of-the art models for the evolution of this quantity. This mismatch results in the mean flux decrement of the Lyman-alpha forest being underpredicted by at least a factor of 2 (a 10-sigma discrepancy with observations) and a column density distribution of Lyman-alpha forest absorbers systematically and significantly elevated compared to observations over nearly two decades in column density. We examine potential resolutions to this mismatch and find that either conventional sources of ionizing photons (galaxies and quasars) must be significantly elevated relative to current observational estimates or our theoretical understanding of the low-redshift universe is in need of substantial revision.Comment: Submitted to ApJ Letters; 6 pages including 3 figure