Interchange of electronic design through VHDL and EIS

The need for both robust and unambiguous electronic designs is a direct requirement of the astonishing growth in design and manufacturing capability during recent years. In order to manage the plethora of designs, and have the design data both interchangeable and interoperable, the Very High Speed Integrated Circuits (VHSIC) program is developing two major standards for the electronic design community. The VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) is designed to be the lingua franca for transmission of design data between designers and their environments. The Engineering Information System (EIS) is designed to ease the integration of data betweeen diverse design automation systems. This paper describes the rationale for the necessity for these two standards and how they provide a synergistic expressive capability across the macrocosm of design environments

An Empirical Test of a Contingent Claims Lease Valuation Model

Despite the importance of leases in the US economy, and the existence of several theoretical lease pricing models, there has been little systematic attempt to estimate these models. This paper proposes a simple no-arbitrage based lease pricing model, and estimates it using a large proprietary data set of leases on several property types. We also define a new measure, the Option-Adjusted Lease Spread, or OALS (analogous to an option’s implied volatility, or a mortgage-backed security’s Option-Adjusted Spread), that allows us to compare leases with different maturities and contract terms on a consistent basis. We find sizeable pricing errors that cannot be explained using interest rates, lease maturity, or information on the options embedded in the contracts. This suggests either that there are significant mispricings in the market for real estate leases, or that lease terms depend heavily on unobservable, property-specific characteristics.

SPDAs and GICs: like money in the bank?

We argue that changes in the life insurance industry have created a nontrivial moral hazard. We document the industry's shift from sales of life insurance to sales of mainly rate-of-return oriented investments like single premium deferred annuities (SPDAs) and guaranteed investment contracts (GICs). We describe the system of explicit and implicit guarantees that state governments and the industry provide to SPDA and GIC investors. We argue that these guarantees create moral hazards that have contributed to insurance company failures and misallocation of resources. We summarize reformers' proposals to enhance both the explicit guarantees and the regulation of insurance companies and argue that maintaining the degree of regulatory tightness required for such proposals to succeed will be difficult. We suggest an alternative: eliminate guarantees of SPDAs, GICs, and similar products (and possibly promote full disclosure practices and earmarked investments like variable annuities).Insurance industry

TRANSACTION COSTS, FADS, AND POLITICALLY MOTIVATED MISDIRECTION IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

This paper examines efficiency implications of national and local policies for fund allocation and management of agricultural research, which produce pure and impure public goods. The possibility is examined that competitive grants programs increase rent seeking activities by scientists relative to specific block grants or formula allocations and thereby reduce both the real resources available to produce traditional research outputs and the productivity with which research resources are used. Management of local research units, including advantages of incentive compatible contracts, is also considered. Additional conceptual and empirical work are needed before the issues are resolved.

Setting Incentives for Scientists Who Engage in Research and Other Activities: An Application of Principal-Agent Theory

 The objective of this paper is to develop an optimal incentive system for multitaskingscientists in universities or professors under repeat contracting. With the aid of a principalagentmodel under repeat contracting, we show that (i) when a second task is assigned to aprofessor and the two tasks are related, the size of the optimal incentive rate for the first task isreduced in some situations but not others relative to that of a single task, (ii) with an increasein the noise in the technical relationship of the second task or imprecision in outputmeasurement, the optimal incentive rate for that task is reduced and for the first task may bereduced or increased , (iii) with greater efficiency of the professor in producing the secondoutput, as reflected in ability relative to cost of effort, the optimal incentive rate for the firsttask generally decreases, (iv) if the output of the professor’s two tasks are negativelycorrelated then the optimal incentive rate on the first task declines as the size of thiscorrelation increases. The size of the guarantee is always reduced as the professor’s ability fora task increases, but is increased as his cost of effort, noisiness of the technology ormeasurement of output, or correlation between the two outputs increases. It is also possiblethat, as a professor undertakes several difficult-to-measure tasks, the incentive rate will bereduced to the point that an optimal compensation system will involve only a guaranteedsalary, which is a very weak incentive for effort. Selective audits may be useful in thesesituations.incentives; Principal-agent model; Multitask; scientists; professors; respeat contracting; linear contracts

Coherent communication link using diode-pumped lasers

Work toward developing a diffraction limited, single frequency, modulated transmitter suitable for coherent optical communication or direct detection communication is discussed. Diode pumped, monolithic Nd:YAG nonplanar ring oscillators were used as the carrier beam. An external modulation technique which can handle high optical powers, has moderate modulation voltage, and which can reach modulation rates of 1 GHz was invented. Semiconductor laser pumped solid-state lasers which have high output power (0.5 Watt) and which oscillate at a single frequency, in a diffraction limited beam, at the wavelength of 1.06 microns were built. A technique for phase modulating the laser output by 180 degrees with a 40-volt peak to peak driving voltage is demonstrated. This technique can be adapted for amplitude modulation of 100 percent with the same voltage. This technique makes use of a resonant bulk modulator, so it does not have the power handling limitations of guided wave modulators

ETSU Medical Residents\u27 Clinical Information Behaviors, Skills, Training, and Resource Use.

Information is a powerful tool for enabling physicians to provide quality healthcare for their patients. Information use in the clinic is a skill that must be learned. If medical residency programs fail to impart this skill, then patients will suffer. The residents of the ETSU Quillen College of Medicine were surveyed as to their use of clinical information. Of the 217 residents of the 2005-2006 class who were surveyed, 105 returned the survey for a return rate of 48%. The clinical faculty was also surveyed in order to measure the responses of the residents against that of their instructors. ETSU residents frequently had a new information need in the clinic. The majority of the time they did not seek an answer, but when they did they were often successful in finding an answer. Therapy information was the most frequently sought after type of information. Most residents used the Quillen College of Medicine Library, but not at a desirable rate. Residents stated that information obtained from the library was helpful in caring for their patients. The most frequent source of information used by residents was electronic resources and the greatest barrier to the use of information was time. The majority of residents were PDA users, with Palm devices being the primary platform. The residents rated their PDA skills and evidence-based medicine skills as above average. Few were LoansomeDoc users. The majority of residents received information training from clinical faculty and from librarians and rated it highly. Residents indicated a desire for more training and the majority indicated that they would like a clinical medical librarian for their program. They rated the library service of the Quillen College of Medicine and the area teaching hospitals highly. Residents used Google and the Web frequently. PubMed was rated as a valuable resource. Online journals and the UpToDate database were important electronic resources for the residents. ETSU residents have many excellent resources and training opportunities in place. However, for ETSU residents to go out into community practice as true Infomasters an upgrading of their information training should be undertaken

Why Are There Seeds In My Banana? A Look at Ornamental Bananas

In many parts of the world bananas are a staple food, while in other regions they are a highly valued ornamental plant. Bananas are the fourth most important food crop in the world, and they are also used in many other ways—every part of the plant has value. In addition to the standard dessert bananas, there is another group of species in the banana genus that are much less known in the United States but offer some wonderful options as landscape plants. This group of banana species is known as ornamental bananas. This paper sheds some light on ornamental banana cultivars that provide a tropical atmosphere to gardens in the Southeast region of the United States.Crop Production/Industries,

Going digital : the experience of the transition to digital projection in UK cinemas

This article addresses the digital transformation in UK cinemas between 2000 and 2014, as viewed by cinema projectionists. During this period digital projectors replaced mechanical 35mm film projectors throughout UK cinemas. This resulted in many redundancies and a fundamental change in the way films are shown. This article draws on interview material with a number of current and former cinema projectionists (including a number who were made redundant and some members of the trade union BECTU) to provide an account of this period of change as it was experienced by those most affected by it. The ways in which the speed of the change was perceived are examined in detail. The article also considers how narratives of personal and professional change and redundancy are mediated through the attachment to technology and the experience of technological change. The respondents' descriptions of the arrival of the digital projectors and the focus on ‘the final show’ are common themes around which such narratives are constructed