Everything’s Bigger in Texas: Examining the Mandatory (and Additional) Financial Burden of Postsecondary Education

Student fees remain an under-researched aspect of postsecondary education and finance (Kelchen, 2016). This study examines the mandatory and additional fees charged to full-time, in-state undergraduate students by public and private not-for-profit four-year institutions in Texas (n=96). Findings demonstrate the average four-year institution in Texas charges over $1,500 per academic year in mandatory fees,$500 higher than the national average. Moreover, private institutions charge an average of $1,100 less than publics, while fees comprise 6.8% of the total cost of attendance at private and 29.1% at publics. Institutions of higher education compose fee explanations above the 12th-grade reading level and only 5.2% of the sample provided fee explanations in a language other than English, thus further marginalizing non-English speaking language populations in Texas. Implications for policy makers, practitioners, and future research are addressed.Educatio

Structure elucidation of low-reacting substance of anaphylaxis

Imperial Users onl

Spectral properties of the tandem Jackson network, seen as a quasi-birth-and-death process

Quasi-birth-and-death (QBD) processes with infinite ``phase spaces'' can exhibit unusual and interesting behavior. One of the simplest examples of such a process is the two-node tandem Jackson network, with the ``phase'' giving the state of the first queue and the ``level'' giving the state of the second queue. In this paper, we undertake an extensive analysis of the properties of this QBD. In particular, we investigate the spectral properties of Neuts's R-matrix and show that the decay rate of the stationary distribution of the ``level'' process is not always equal to the convergence norm of R. In fact, we show that we can obtain any decay rate from a certain range by controlling only the transition structure at level zero, which is independent of R. We also consider the sequence of tandem queues that is constructed by restricting the waiting room of the first queue to some finite capacity, and then allowing this capacity to increase to infinity. We show that the decay rates for the finite truncations converge to a value, which is not necessarily the decay rate in the infinite waiting room case. Finally, we show that the probability that the process hits level n before level 0 given that it starts in level 1 decays at a rate which is not necessarily the same as the decay rate for the stationary distribution.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/105051604000000477 in the Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Telecommunications system design for the Mariner Mars 1971 spacecraft

The configuration of the Mariner Mars 1971 spacecraft telecommunications system is detailed, with particular attention to modifications performed to accommodate the orbital mission. The analysis and planning for launching are also discussed

Teleprinter uses thermal printing technique

Alphameric/facsimile printer receives serial digital data in the form of a specified number of bits per group and prints it on thermally sensitive paper. A solid state shift-register memorizes the incoming serial digital data

Viscous Withdrawal of Miscible Liquid Layers

In viscous withdrawal, a converging flow imposed in an upper layer of viscous liquid entrains liquid from a lower, stably stratified layer. Using the idea that a thin tendril is entrained by a local straining flow, we propose a scaling law for the volume flux of liquid entrained from miscible liquid layers. A long-wavelength model including only local information about the withdrawal flow is degenerate, with multiple tendril solutions for one withdrawal condition. Including information about the global geometry of the withdrawal flow removes the degeneracy while introducing only a logarithmic dependence on the global flow parameters into the scaling law.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Environmental effects on lunar astronomical observatories

The Moon offers a stable platform with excellent seeing conditions for astronomical observations. Some troublesome aspects of the lunar environment will need to be overcome to realize the full potential of the Moon as an observatory site. Mitigation of negative effects of vacuum, thermal radiation, dust, and micrometeorite impact is feasible with careful engineering and operational planning. Shields against impact, dust, and solar radiation need to be developed. Means of restoring degraded surfaces are probably essential for optical and thermal control surfaces deployed in long-lifetime lunar facilities. Precursor missions should be planned to validate and enhance the understanding of the lunar environment (e.g., dust behavior without and with human presence) and to determine environmental effects on surfaces and components. Precursor missions should generate data useful in establishing keepout zones around observatory facilities where rocket launches and landings, mining, and vehicular traffic could be detrimental to observatory operation

Environmental effects on an optical-UV-IR synthesis array

The Moon offers a stable platform with excellent seeing conditions for the Lunar Optical-UV-IR Synthesis Array (LOUISA). Some troublesome aspects of the lunar environment will need to be overcome to realize the full potential of the Moon as an observatory site. Mitigation of negative effects of vacuum, thermal radiation, dust, and micrometeorite impact is feasible with careful engineering and operational planning. Shields against impact, dust, and solar radiation need to be developed. Means of restoring degraded surfaces are probably essential for optical and thermal control surfaces deployed in long-lifetime lunar facilities. Precursor missions should be planned to validate and enhance the understanding of the lunar environment (e.g., dust behavior without and with human presence and to determine environmental effects on surfaces and components. Precursor missions should generate data useful in establishing keepout zones around observatory facilities while rocket launches and landings, mining, and vehicular traffic could be detrimental to observatory operation