News, Noise, and Estimates of the "True" Unobserved State of the Economy

Which provides a better estimates of the growth rate of “true” U.S. output, gross domestic product (GDP) or gross domestic income (GDI)? Past work has assumed the idiosyncratic variation in each estimate is pure noise, taking greater variability to imply lower reliability. We develop models that relax this assumption, allowing the idiosyncratic variation in the estimates to be partly or pure news; then greater variability may imply higher information content and greater reliability. Based on evidence from revisions, we reject the pure noise assumption for GDI growth, and our results favor placing sizable weight on GDI growth because of its relatively large idiosyncratic variability. This calls into question the suitability of the pure noise assumption in other contexts, including dynamic factor models.

An efficient Monte Carlo method for calculating ab initio transition state theory reaction rates in solution

In this article, we propose an efficient method for sampling the relevant state space in condensed phase reactions. In the present method, the reaction is described by solving the electronic Schr\"{o}dinger equation for the solute atoms in the presence of explicit solvent molecules. The sampling algorithm uses a molecular mechanics guiding potential in combination with simulated tempering ideas and allows thorough exploration of the solvent state space in the context of an ab initio calculation even when the dielectric relaxation time of the solvent is long. The method is applied to the study of the double proton transfer reaction that takes place between a molecule of acetic acid and a molecule of methanol in tetrahydrofuran. It is demonstrated that calculations of rates of chemical transformations occurring in solvents of medium polarity can be performed with an increase in the cpu time of factors ranging from 4 to 15 with respect to gas-phase calculations.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. To appear in J. Chem. Phy

Water Rights and Water Allocation: Issues and Challenges for Asia

The primary audience for this report is management and staff working in water resources agencies in Asia, particularly those in river basin organizations (RBOs) in their various forms. The roles and responsibilities of RBOs vary considerably and are evolving as pressureson water resources are becoming more severe. Although this report seeks to share knowledge about the fundamentals and application of waterrights and allocation, it attempts to do so with a practical focus

Language in Leadership: A Dialogic (Re)assessment of the Four Frames Approach for Educational Administrators

Educators have found the theories of Paulo Freire attractive for a variety of reasons. As more scholars in critical pedagogy highlight the interdisciplinary appeal and applicability of Freirean thought, they have attracted the attention of faculty in a wide range of disciplines and interdisciplines, including leadership studies. However, the integration of Freirean concepts with those in leadership theory can be productive and problematic for teacher-leaders. Integration has led to the emergence of transformative practices. It also resulted in the proliferation of conceptual innovations and proposals that, upon closer inspection, reveal how ideas and concepts often compete when they are (mis)appropriated. This article will examine what happens when the Four Frames Approach, developed by Lee G. Bolman and Terry E. Deal, is used as a leadership model for Freire’s conceptualization of critical consciousness or conscientization. However, the role of dialogue has been excluded in the model rather than recognized as a key method for managing and democratizing academic organizations. This study will evaluate the role that dialogue plays in conscientization and its increasing importance in leadership theory. Also, it will reveal how dialogic metaphors can serve as conceptual tools that faculty can use to become more successful and conscientious teachers and leaders in higher education

(Post)Modern Asymmetry: Calibrating the Adult Education Philosophy and Practices of Faculty Teaching Interdisciplinary Studies in the Community College

In adult education, the term interdisciplinarity is often treated as an agent for transforming teaching, learning, and research. This appreciation of the concept proliferates despite the fact that its actualization often supports competing interpretations and practices. Many adult educators are unaware of the distinctions made among instrumental, conceptual, and critical interdisciplinarity and the philosophical traditions employed to legitimate their different trajectories. To address these concerns and others, scholars such as Lattuca (2001) have advanced a postmodern conceptualization of interdisciplinarity and introduced a supporting theoretical framework to clarify its character and modes of operation. However, she omitted community college faculty from her study. She also undervalued the asymmetry of power in the postmodern logic used to substantiate the study’s theoretical underpinnings. To address these concerns in Lattuca\u27s innovation, this case study used a mixed methods approach to reveal the ways that faculty members at a large community college in the Midwest contribute to interdisciplinary education and enrich postmodern interdisciplinarity. The findings revealed the following themes and subthemes: philosophy as framework and continuum, alignment of philosophy and practices, purposes of interdisciplinary education, postmodern epistemological sentiments, modern epistemological sentiments, teacher-centered approaches, and student-centered approaches. They also revealed how the participants’ philosophy of adult education and practices interrelated and how they supported instrumental, conceptual, or critical interdisciplinarity and their interstices. Furthermore, the significant ways in which the participants’ praxis signaled the asymmetry of power and value in higher education and beyond were examined. For future consideration, the author introduced Foucauldian architectonics, a postulation on the simultaneity of differences and power, as the kind of postmodern interdisciplinary additive that novice and seasoned adult educators can use to (re)develop their philosophies of education and (re)calibrate their practices as subjects and agents of disciplinarity

Chocolate spot of faba beans in South Australia

Entry of inoculum into a crop and disease development in the crop cannot be prevented because spores are airborne and there is a lack of highly resistant varieties. This makes complete control of chocolate spot unlikely. It should however, be possible to improve current levels of disease control through the integration of the factors identified in the studyThesis (M.Ag.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, Departments of Plant Science and Crop Protection, 199

Solar Cell Light Trapping beyond the Ray Optic Limit

In 1982, Yablonovitch proposed a thermodynamic limit on light trapping within homogeneous semiconductor slabs, which implied a minimum thickness needed to fully absorb the solar spectrum. However, this limit is valid for geometrical optics but not for a new generation of subwavelength solar absorbers such as ultrathin or inhomogeneously structured cells, wire-based cells, photonic crystal-based cells, and plasmonic cells. Here we show that the key to exceeding the conventional ray optic or so-called ergodic light trapping limit is in designing an elevated local density of optical states (LDOS) for the absorber. Moreover, for any semiconductor we show that it is always possible to exceed the ray optic light trapping limit and use these principles to design a number of new solar absorbers with the key feature of having an elevated LDOS within the absorbing region of the device, opening new avenues for solar cell design and cost reduction

Light trapping beyond the 4n^2 limit in thin waveguides

We describe a method for determining the maximum absorption enhancement in thin film waveguides based on optical dispersion relations. For thin film structures that support one, well-confined guided mode, we find that the absorption enhancement can surpass the traditional limit of 4n^2 when the propagation constant is large and/or the modal group velocity is small compared to the bulk value. We use this relationship as a guide to predicting structures that can exceed the 4n^2 light trapping limit, such as plasmonic and slot waveguides. Finally, we calculate the overall absorption for both single and multimode waveguides, and show examples of absorption enhancements in excess of 4n^2 for both cases

Tip of the Red Giant Branch Bounds on the Neutrino Magnetic Dipole Moment Revisited

We use a novel method to constrain the neutrino magnetic dipole moment ($\mu_{\nu}$) using the empirically-calibrated tip of the red giant branch I-band magnitude that fully accounts for uncertainties in stellar physics. Our method uses machine learning to emulate the results of stellar evolution codes. This reduces the I-Band magnitude computation time to milliseconds, which enables a Bayesian statistical analysis where $\mu_{\nu}$ is varied simultaneously with the stellar physics, allowing for a complete exploration of parameter space. We find the region $\mu_{\nu} \leq 6\times10^{-12}\mu_{\textrm{B}}$ (with $\mu_{\textrm{B}}$ the Bohr magneton), previously believed to be excluded, is unconstrained after accounting for degeneracies with stellar physics. It is likely that larger values are similarly unconstrained. We discuss the implications of our results for future neutrino magnetic dipole moment searches and for other astrophysical probes.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Dataset and code available at https://zenodo.org/record/817332