The Professor’s Dilemma: Teaching Game Theory in Principles of Agricultural Economics

Teaching, Game Theory, Agricultural Economics, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, A22, C70, Q19,

The Killer Course Hypothesis

Due to recent legislative changes, universities in Tennessee will receive funding based on student retention and graduation rates rather than enrollment. In light of these changes it is important that academics in all disciplines study retention rates in order to identify areas for improvement. I investigate the impact of “killer courses” on student retention both in the school of agriculture and in the general student population. In addition I explore alternative frameworks for addressing retention issues.Analysis of Education, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, I21,

Chiral dynamics and B to 3 pi decay

I discuss our knowledge of the scalar sector of QCD and how it impacts the determination of the CKM angle \alpha from the isospin analysis of B\to \rho\pi decay.Comment: invited talk at International Workshop on Heavy Quarks and Leptons, Vietri sul Mare, Salerno, Italy, 27 May - 1 Jun 200

Lake Tahoe bottom characteristics extracted from SHOALS lidar waveform data and compared to backscatter data from a Multibeam echo sounder

The waveforms recorded by airborne lidar bathymetry (ALB) systems are currently processed only for depth information. In addition to bathymetry, multibeam echo sounder (MBES) systems provide backscatter data in which regions of different acoustic properties are distinguishable. These regions can often be correlated to different bottom types. Initial attempts to extract equivalent data from the ALB waveforms have confirmed the expectation that such information is encoded in those waveforms. Water clarity, bathymetry, and bottom type control the detailed shapes of ALB waveforms in different ways. Specific features of a bottom-reflected signal can be identified, for example its rise-time and amplitude, and used for clustering and classifying the individual data points. Two data sets from Lake Tahoe are available for comparison: ALB data from the SHOALS (scanning hydrographic operational airborne lidar survey) system of the US Army Corps of Engineers, and Simrad EM1000 MBES data from the USGS. Feature extraction, clustering, and classification of the SHOALS data reveals changes in the optical bottom reflectance characteristics that are echoed in the acoustic bottom backscatter properties

Doxorubicin Selectively Inhibits Brain versus Atrial Natriuretic Peptide Gene Expression in Cultured Neonatal Rat Myocytes

Doxorubicin is an antineoplastic agent with significant cardiotoxicity. We examined the effects of this agent on the expression of the natriuretic peptide (NP) genes in cultured neonatal rat atrial myocytes. Doxorubicin suppressed NP secretion, steady-state NP mRNA levels, and NP gene promoter activity. In each instance, brain NP (BNP) proved to be more sensitive than atrial NP (ANP) to the inhibitory effects of the drug. ICRF-187 and probucol reversed the inhibition by doxorubicin of ANP mRNA accumulation and ANP gene promoter activity while exerting no effect on BNP mRNA levels or promoter activity. This represents the first identification of the NP genes as targets of doxorubicin toxicity in the myocardial cell. This inhibition operates predominantly at a transcriptional locus and has more potent effects on BNP versus ANP secretion/gene expression. Measurement of BNP secretion/gene expression may provide a sensitive marker of early doxorubicin cardiotoxicity

Watson's theorem and electromagnetism in K -> pi pi decay

We consider what constraints unitarity and CPT invariance yield on the strong and electromagnetic phases entering K -> pi pi decay. In particular, we show that the relative size of the electromagnetically-induced changes in the I=0 and I=2 phase shifts in the two--pion final state do not depend on the explicit coupling to the pi^+ pi^- gamma channel. This demonstrates that Watson's theorem can be extended to include the presence of electromagnetism. We point out the consequences for the general structure of the K -> pi pi decay amplitudes in the presence of isospin violation.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX, axodraw.st

The mathematical basis for deterministic quantum mechanics

If there exists a classical, i.e. deterministic theory underlying quantum mechanics, an explanation must be found of the fact that the Hamiltonian, which is defined to be the operator that generates evolution in time, is bounded from below. The mechanism that can produce exactly such a constraint is identified in this paper. It is the fact that not all classical data are registered in the quantum description. Large sets of values of these data are assumed to be indistinguishable, forming equivalence classes. It is argued that this should be attributed to information loss, such as what one might suspect to happen during the formation and annihilation of virtual black holes. The nature of the equivalence classes is further elucidated, as it follows from the positivity of the Hamiltonian. Our world is assumed to consist of a very large number of subsystems that may be regarded as approximately independent, or weakly interacting with one another. As long as two (or more) sectors of our world are treated as being independent, they all must be demanded to be restricted to positive energy states only. What follows from these considerations is a unique definition of energy in the quantum system in terms of the periodicity of the limit cycles of the deterministic model.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures. Minor corrections, comments and explanations adde

Genetically Modified Crops and Labor Savings in US Crop Production

In spite of widespread adoption there is mixed evidence as to whether or not adopting Genetically Modified (GM) crops increase farm welfare. One possible reason for widespread adoption is labor savings. Using a treatment effect model we estimate the labor savings associated with adopting a GM crop.genetically modified crops, agricultural biotechnology, endogeneity, treatment effects, survey weights, Crop Production/Industries,

Speckle noise in direct-detection lidar systems

The speckle noise is evaluated from some typical lidar systems. The governing equations are summarized. The mutual intensity function of the speckle pattern is calculated in terms of the laser radiation modes. Typical laser pulses are modeled and simplified expressions for the speckle noise power are derived. The signal-to-speckle-noise ratios for some proposed lidar systems are evaluated