Evaluating Pooled Evidence from the Reemployment Bonus Experiments

Social experiments conducted in Pennsylvania and Washington tested the effect of offering Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants a cash bonus for rapid reemployment. This paper combines data from the two experiments and uses a consistent framework to evaluate the experiments and determine with greater certainty the extent to which a reemployment bonus can affect economic outcomes. Bonus offers in each of the experiments generated statistically significant but relatively modest reductions in UI receipt. Since the estimated impacts on UI receipt were modest, the reemployment bonuses did not generate the UI savings necessary to pay for administering and paying the bonuses. Hence, contrary to earlier findings from a bonus experiment conducted in Illinois, findings from the Pennsylvania and Washington experiments strongly suggest that a reemployment bonus is not a cost-effective method of speeding the reemployment of UI claimants.unemployment, insurance, bonus, experiments, O'Leary, Decker

Cost-Effectiveness of Targeted Reemployment Bonuses

Targeting reemployment bonus offers to unemployment insurance (UI) claimants identified as most likely to exhaust benefits is estimated to reduce benefit payments. While earlier research indicated that non-targeted reemployment bonus offers would not be good public policy, in this paper we show that targeting bonus offers with profiling models similar to those in state Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) systems can improve their cost effectiveness. Since estimated average benefit payments do not steadily decline as the eligibility screen is gradually tightened, we find that narrow targeting is not optimal. The best candidate to emerge for a targeted reemployment bonus is a low bonus amount with a long qualification period, targeted to the half of profiled claimants most likely to exhaust their UI benefit entitlement.reemployment, bonus, UI, personal, accounts, PRA, unemployment, insurance, Upjohn, Institute, O'Leary, Decker, Wandner

Analysis of ultrasonic transducers with fractal architecture

Ultrasonic transducers composed of a periodic piezoelectric composite are generally accepted as the design of choice in many applications. Their architecture is normally very regular and this is due to manufacturing constraints rather than performance optimisation. Many of these manufacturing restrictions no longer hold due to new production methods such as computer controlled, laser cutting, and so there is now freedom to investigate new types of geometry. In this paper, the plane wave expansion model is utilised to investigate the behaviour of a transducer with a self-similar architecture. The Cantor set is utilised to design a 2-2 conguration, and a 1-3 conguration is investigated with a Sierpinski Carpet geometry

Neuronal behaviors: A control perspective

The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce and analyze models of neurons from a control perspective and to show how recently developed analytical tools help to address important biological questions. A first objective is to review the basic modeling principles of neurophysiology in which neurons are modeled as equivalent nonlinear electrical circuits that capture their excitable properties. The specific architecture of the models is key to the tractability of their analysis: in spite of their high-dimensional and nonlinear nature, the model properties can be understood in terms of few canonical positive and negative feedback motifs localized in distinct timescales. We use this insight to shed light on a key problem in experimental neurophysiology, the challenge of understanding the sensitivity of neuronal behaviors to underlying parameters in empirically-derived models. Finally, we show how sensitivity analysis of neuronal excitability relates to robustness and regulation of neuronal behaviors.This paper presents research results of the Belgian Network DYSCO (Dynamical Systems, Control, and Optimization), funded by the Interuniversity Attraction Poles Programme, initiated by the Belgian State, Science Policy Office. G.D. is a Marie-Curie COFUND postdoctoral fellow at the University of Liege. Co-funded by the European Union. J.D. is supported by the F.R.S.-FNRS (Belgian Fund for Scientific Research. The scientific responsibility rests with its authors.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE via http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/CDC.2015.740249

Hypervelocity Stars from the Andromeda Galaxy

Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) discovered in the Milky Way (MW) halo are thought to be ejected from near the massive black hole (MBH) at the galactic centre. In this paper we investigate the spatial and velocity distributions of the HVSs which are expected to be similarly produced in the Andromeda galaxy (M31). We consider three different HVS production mechanisms: (i) the disruption of stellar binaries by the galactocentric MBH; (ii) the ejection of stars by an in-spiraling intermediate mass black hole; and (iii) the scattering of stars off a cluster of stellar-mass black holes orbiting around the MBH. While the first two mechanisms would produce large numbers of HVSs in M31, we show that the third mechanism would not be effective in M31. We numerically calculate 1.2*10^6 trajectories of HVSs from M31 within a simple model of the Local Group and hence infer the current distribution of these stars. Gravitational focusing of the HVSs by the MW and the diffuse Local Group medium leads to high densities of low mass (~ solar mass) M31 HVSs near the MW. Within the virialized MW halo, we expect there to be of order 1000 HVSs for the first mechanism and a few hundred HVSs for the second mechanism; many of these stars should have distinctively large approach velocities (< -500 km/s). In addition, we predict ~5 hypervelocity RGB stars within the M31 halo which could be identified observationally. Future MW astrometric surveys or searches for distant giants could thus find HVSs from M31.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, changed to match version accepted by MNRA

Global sea-level fluctuations during the Last Interglaciation (MIS 5e)

The geomorphology and morphostratigraphy of numerous worldwide sites reveal the relative movements of sea level during the peak of the Last Interglaciation (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, assumed average duration between 130±2 and 119±2 ka). Because se

Skeletal responses to an all-female unassisted Antarctic traverse

Purpose: To investigate the skeletal effects of the first all-female trans-Antarctic traverse. Methods: Six women (mean ± SD, age 32 ±3 years, height 1.72 ± 0.07m, body mass 72.8 ± 4.0kg) hauled 80kg sledges over 1700km in 61days from coast-to-coast across the Antarctic. Whole-body areal bone mineral density (aBMD) (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and tibial volumetric BMD (vBMD), geometry, microarchitecture and estimated mechanical properties (high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography) were assessed 39 days before (pre-expedition) and 15 days after the expedition (post-expedition). Serum and plasma markers of bone turnover were assessed pre-expedition, and 4 and 15 days after the expedition. Results: There were reductions in trunk (−2.6%), ribs (−5.0%) and spine (−3.4%) a BMD from pre-to post-expedition (all P≤0.046); arms, legs, pelvis and total body a BMD were not different (all P≥0.075). Tibial v BMD, geometry, microarchitecture and estimated mechanical properties at the metaphysis (4% site) and diaphysis (30% site) were not different between pre-and post-expedition (all P≥0.082). Bone-specific alkaline phosphatase was higher 15days post-than 4 days post-expedition (1.7 μg∙l⁠−1, P=0.028). Total 25(OH) D decreased from pre-to 4 dayspost expedition (−36nmol∙l⁠−1,P=0.008).Sclerostin,procollagen1N-terminal propeptide, C-telopeptide cross-links of type 1 collagen and adjusted calcium were unchanged (allP≥0.154). Conclusion: Adecline in a BMD of the axial skeleton maybe due to indirect and direct effects of prolonged energy deficit. We propose that weight-bearing exercise was protective against the effects of energy deficit on tibial v BMD, geometry, microarchitecture and strength

Investigation of the substrate specificity of K5 lyase A from K5A bacteriophage

K5 lyase A (KflA) is a tailspike protein from the K5A phage that catalyzes the degradation of the capsule polysaccharide of K5 strains of Escherichia coli. The K5 E. coli capsule polysaccharide, also known as heparosan, is composed of the disaccharide repeating unit of [-4)-GlcA-β(1,4)-GlcNAc-α(1-] and therefore identical to the biological precursor of heparin and heparan sulfate (HS). KflA could supplement the heparin lyases for heparin and HS analysis. The first part of this study aimed to clarify ambiguity resulting from the revision of the KflA amino acid sequence in 2010 from that published in 2000. We found that only the expression of the updated sequence gave a soluble active enzyme, which produced heparosan degradation products similar to those of previous studies. Next, we examined the specificity of KflA toward heparosan oligosaccharides of varying sizes, all containing a single N-sulfated glucosamine (GlcNS) residue. The presence of GlcNS in an octasaccharide and a nonasaccharide chain directed cleavage by KflA to a single position at the reducing end of the substrate. However, an N-sulfated decasaccharide exhibited extensive cleavage at the nonreducing end of the chain, illustrating a distinct change in the cleavage pattern of KflA toward substrates of differing sizes. Because KflA is able to cleave a substrate containing isolated GlcNS residues, this enzyme could be used for the analysis of low-sulfate content HS domains