Agenda Control in the Bundestag, 1980-2002

We find strong evidence of monopoly legislative agenda control by government parties in the Bundestag. First, the government parties have near-zero roll rates, while the opposition parties are often rolled over half the time. Second, only opposition parties’ (and not government parties’) roll rates increase with the distances of each party from the floor median. Third, almost all policy moves are towards the government coalition (the only exceptions occur during periods of divided government). Fourth, roll rates for government parties sky- rocket when they fall into the opposition and roll rates for opposition parties plummet when they enter government, while policy movements go from being nearly 100 per cent rightward when there is a rightist government to 100 per cent leftward under a leftist government

Genetic and environmental effects on natto quality characteristics of soybean

The development of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivars for natto production relies on the selection of seed traits that influence natto quality. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the relationship of 11 seed traits to six natto quality traits and to determine the effects of genotype and environment on the traits. Sixteen small-seeded lines and cultivars were grown in replicated tests at three Iowa locations during two years. The natto quality traits evaluated for each plot were water absorption, water loss after steaming, hardness of steamed seed and natto, and darkness of steamed seeds and natto. The seed traits evaluated were total sugar, free sugar, sucrose, raffinose, stachyose, protein, oil, fiber, protein + oil, protein + oil + fiber, and seed size. To efficiently evaluate total sugar content in this study, a rapid method for total sugar determination by acid hydrolysis was developed. Significant differences among genotypes were observed for all traits, except fiber content. There were significant differences between years or among locations for all traits, except water loss and stachyose. All seed traits, except stachyose, oil, and seed size had significant associations with natto quality traits. Protein + oil content was significantly correlated with natto quality traits and would be considered a useful selection criterion in a breeding program. There was a significant phenotypic correlation of --0.90 between total sugar and protein + oil. To further assess the relationship of total sugar content to other seed traits, 23 diverse soybean cultivars grown at eight Iowa locations in 1998 were evaluated for total sugar, protein, oil, fiber, protein + oil, and protein + oil + fiber. Total sugar content was highly correlated with protein + oil (--0.81). The analysis of protein + oil by near-infrared reflectance should be a useful predictor of total sugar content

Digital Aperture Photometry Utilizing Growth Curves

Point source extraction is critical to proper analysis of images containing point sources obtained by focal plane array cameras. Two popular methods of extracting the intensity of a point source are aperture photometry and point spread function fitting. Digital aperture photometry encompasses procedures utilized to extract the intensity of an imaged point source. It has been used by astronomers in various forms for calculating stellar brightness. It is also useful for doing analysis of data associated with other unresolved radiating objects. The various aperture photometry methods include the two-aperture method, aperture correction, and growth curve method. The growth curve method utilizes integrated irradiance within an aperture versus growing aperture size. Signal to noise ratio, imperfect backgrounds, moving and off centered targets, and noise structure are just a few of the items that can cause problems with point source extraction. This thesis presents a study of how best to apply the growth curve method. Multiple synthetic image sets were produced to replicate real world data. The synthetic images contain a Gaussian target of known intensity. Noise was added to the images, and various image related parameters were altered. The growth curve method is then applied to each data set using every reasonable aperture size combination to calculate the target intensity. It will be shown that for different types of data, the most optimal application of the growth curve method can be determined. An algorithm is presented that can be applied to all data sets that fall within the scope of this study will be presented

Simulations for Resource-Allocation Protocol Optimization for MIL-STD-188-186 over a UHF SATCOM Network

A simple simulation tool was previously developed to simulate the operation and performance of demand-assigned communication networks having time-varying data traffic patterns. Such networks use protocols to increase or decrease the resources allocated to a network node as the resource needs at that node change. These resource-allocation protocols have parameters such as numerical thresholds for requesting or releasing resources. The additional simulator development and execution described herein allows a comparison of performance metrics that result when using the existing MIL-STD-188-186 protocol versus using a proposed alternative protocol. The network behavior revealed by the simulation results also allows examining network performance trade-offs as values for the protocol parameters are adjusted. Although commercially available simulation tools could be used for these simulations, such tools are often expensive and sometimes complicated to adapt to new and not yet standardized protocols. The simple simulation tool that was previously developed is described in an earlier paper and is programmed as an Excel spreadsheet. It has now been adapted to allow comparing an existing resource-allocation protocol versus a proposed protocol for MIL-STD-188-186. The simulator allows examination of performance metrics such as the average number of assigned time slots per frame assigned to a transmitting node that has a specified message generation rate, the percentage of generated messages that are discarded prior to transmission due to being queued for an excessive time, and a histogram showing the percentage of messages transmitted with each possible message delivery time

Rebecca Chandler and Bill Borland in a Junior Recital

This is the program for the junior recital of Rebecca Chandler and Bill Borland. The recital was held on November 11, 1966, in Mitchell Hall Auditorium