Power Spectrum Constraints from Spectral Distortions in the Cosmic Microwave Background

%The content of this replacement paper is identical to the original. %We have attempted to fix the postscript so that it will print out on %a larger number of printers. Using recent experimental limits on $\mu$ distortions from COBE FIRAS, and the large lever-arm spanning the damping of sub-Jeans scale fluctuations to the scale of the COBE DMR fluctuations, we set a constraint on the slope of the primordial power spectrum $n$. It is possible to analytically calculate the contribution over the full range of scales and redshifts, correctly taking into account fluctuation growth and damping as well as thermalization processes. We find that the 95\% upper limit is weakly dependent on cosmological parameters, e.g. $n<1.54 (h=0.5)$ and $n<1.56 (h=1.0)$ for $\Omega_0=1$ with marginally weaker constraints for $\Omega_0<1$ in a flat $\Omega_0 +\Omega_\Lambda=1$ universe.Comment: 8pg, uuencoded-tarred (& hopefully more compatible!) postscript, CfPA-TH-94-1

The Physics of Microwave Background Anisotropies

Cosmic microwave background anisotropies provide a vast amount of information on both structure formation in the universe and the background dynamics and geometry. The full physical content and detailed structure of anisotropies can be understood in a simple and intuitive fashion through a systematic investigation of the individual mechanisms for anisotropy formation, based on elementary gravitational and fluid dynamics.Comment: 12pgs, uuencoded postscript, 5 figures included, full page color figures and stripped version available at ftp://pac2.berkeley.edu/pub/hu/physic

Testing Local Municipality Hiring Procedures and Local Forms of Government: Are Search Engines and Social Media Sites Used to Collect Supplemental Information about Applicants?

The relationship between the government and the governed is transforming into a digital collaboration of operations. The level of intensity for this collaboration between government and citizens have fallen behind that of the private sector. Web 2.0 tools, otherwise known as social media, internet search engines, and e-Government are now a stimulant for citizens to become informed about their government actions and to also interact with government in order to provide input to elected officials and appointed officials from citizens to the government concerning public policy making and other public concerns. This research seeks to examine the question of whether forms of local government and their hiring practices have any effect on the way local municipalities conduct their background checks using social media and search engines as supplemental information to traditional background checks. The author examines a representative sample of 871 municipalities within the U.S. having a population of 2,500 or greater. The local form of government hiring procedures characteristics of these 871 municipalities are measured using two separate independent variables. The effects of the forms of local government hiring procedures are measured using independent T-tests and Z-tests for regions selected by the U.S. Census Bureau and population size of these municipalities, municipalities that offer e-Government, and the total forms of e-Government offered. The first four hypotheses, which are especially central to this dissertation, were all rejected. Local government form, population, and region are not correlated with use of social media and search engines to obtain supplemental information about applicants. There were 448 out of 871 hiring managers in municipalities responding to this survey, 51 percent, that confirm searching social media to find supplemental information about applicants. Characteristics of the hiring managers for this study show a correlation between social media and search engines being used to obtain supplemental information about applicants, however, statistical significance was not obtained for these core hypotheses. Minor hypotheses in this study did prove to show significance between hiring managers and the use of social media and search engines to obtain supplemental information about applicants

Discretion and the building of institutions: a critical examination of the administration of Indonesia’s overseas labour migration programme

This thesis examines the role of discretion in determining the evolving structures of Indonesia’s overseas labour migration programme. Focusing on the turbulent period following the establishment of the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Overseas Indonesian Workers in 2007, the study examines the impact of intra-state conflict on the workings of the bureaucracy centrally, in five other locations in Indonesia and in three Asian host countries. Each of these case studies engages with the everyday strategies of bureaucrats as they seek to navigate the place-specific ways in which the legal framework of the programme collide with the objectives of the formal institutions competing for control over its implementation. In all of these cases, discretion emerges as a key resource for policymakers and administrators. At the highest level, it serves as a conduit for the ambitions of senior officials competing for influence in the brave new world of democratic Indonesia. For grassroots bureaucrats, it is a useful tool in the management of the complex – and sometimes conflicting – demands of managing the overseas labour migration programme during a period of prolonged inter-agency conflict. In effect, then, discretion serves as a kind of ‘institutional fix’ in situations where institutions begin to break down. In empirical terms, the thesis reveals the extent to which local context influences the level of discretion available to individual bureaucrats and the decisions they ultimately make. At a theoretical level, the study explains how that discretion draws on – and reinforces – misalignments between state institutions and the formal legal structures that govern them, while at the same time making it possible for those institutions to continue operating under difficult circumstances. In doing so, it confirms – in contradiction to the literature – that while discretion can indeed contribute to corruption and other forms of illegality, it can also play a positive role in the maintenance of state function

Height in Politics: The Role of Height in Electoral Success in the State of Washington

Throughout the history of American presidential elections, the height of candidates has proven to be a statistically significant factor relative to success. This analysis examines whether the same trend applied to Washington State elections over the period 1994-2014. Ultimately, the data shows that Washington electoral results are not subject to change on the basis of candidate height – Washington elections do not reflect the presidential election trend

The guidance of college students

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Comparison of broiler breeder production and fertility in a colony cage system with two different floors versus a slat-floor system

Two separate trials were conducted to compare egg production, egg weight, shell thickness, albumin height, fertility, and mortality of naturally mated broiler breeders maintained on either a slat and litter floor or in two tiered colony cages. In the first trial there was no difference (P \u3e 0.05) in egg production between the two treatments. There was also no significant difference in hen mortality. Higher (P \u3c 0.05) egg shell quality, albumin height, and shell thickness were observed in the cage maintained hens. Lower fertility (P \u3c 0.05) was observed in the cage maintained hens. In the second trial production parameters were compared in naturally mated broiler breeders maintained on slat and litter floor, in colony cages on the original slats, and in colony cages on a modified slats. The modified slats were constructed from plastic and had a two piece design which produced a slight cushioning on the top of the slats. Egg production and mortality were not different (P \u3e 0.05) among the three treatments. Eggshell thickness, albumin height, and shell thickness were lower (P \u3e 0.05) in the litter and slat floor but not between the two cage treatments (P \u3e 0.05). Fertility was higher (P 0.05) between the two cage treatments. Future studies to improve fertility in colony cage maintained broiler breeders could allow increased stocking rates in existing broiler breeder houses

Incineration of solid/liquid human waste

This thesis encompasses the design criteria required to produce an effective incineration system for the disposal of solid/liquid human waste. Coupled with the overall design parameters is an investigation of the chemical decomposition of the waste during the incineration process, odor treatment and control, and the physiological effects on the human body due to the inhalation of the toxic gases given off during the combustion of human waste. The variables involved in the combustion process are studied and equations presented that relate the combustion variables of flame temperature, residence time and air requirements. These equations are tested based upon published data concerning present incinerating systems in use. A study of the established reaction kinetics shows that the relationship between combustion temperature and reaction time as a function of incinerator loading can be predicted quite readily. A design procedure is outlined supplying equations for the major design parameters to be used in order to minimize reaction time and gaseous effluents at optimal loading conditions