Implementing a Reconciliation and Balancing Model in the U.s. Industry Accounts

As part of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ integration initiative (Yuskavage, 2000; Moyer et al., 2004a, 2004b; Lawson et al., 2006), the Industry Accounts Directorate is drawing upon the Stone method (Stone et al., 1942) and Chen (2006) to reconcile the gross operating surplus component of value-added from the 2002 expenditure-based benchmark input-output accounts and the 2002 income-based gross domestic product-by-industry accounts. The objective of the reconciliation is to use information regarding the relative reliabilities of underlying data in both the benchmark input-output use table and the gross domestic product-by-industry accounts in a balanced input-output framework in order to improve intermediate input estimates and gross operating surplus estimates in both accounts. Given a balanced input-output framework, the Stone method also provides a tool for balancing the benchmark use table. This paper presents work by the Industry Accounts Directorate to develop and implement the reconciliation and balancing model. The paper provides overviews of the benchmark use table and gross domestic product-by-industry accounts, including features of external source data and adjustment methodologies that are relevant for the reconciliation. In addition, the paper presents the empirical model that the Industry Accounts Directorate is building and briefly describes the technology used to solve the model. Preliminary work during development of the model shows that reconciling and balancing a large system with disaggregated data is computationally feasible and efficient in pursuit of an economically accurate and reliable benchmark use table and gross domestic product-by-industry accounts.

Stimulation of immature lung macrophages with intranasal interferon gamma in a novel neonatal mouse model of respiratory syncytial virus infection

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of bronchiolitis and viral death in infants. Reduced CD8 T-cells and negligible interferon gamma (IFNγ) in the airway are associated with severe infant RSV disease, yet there is an abundance of alveolar macrophages (AM) and neutrophils. However, it is unclear, based on our current understanding of macrophage functional heterogeneity, if immature AM improve viral clearance or contribute to inflammation and airway obstruction in the IFNγ-deficient neonatal lung environment. The aim of the current study was to define the age-dependent AM phenotype during neonatal RSV infection and investigate their differentiation to classically activated macrophages (CAM) using i.n. IFNγ in the context of improving viral clearance. Neonatal and adult BALB/cJ mice were infected with 1×106 plaque forming units (PFU)/gram (g) RSV line 19 and their AM responses compared. Adult mice showed a rapid and robust CAM response, indicated by increases in major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II), CD86, CCR7, and a reduction in mannose receptor (MR). Neonatal mice showed a delayed and reduced CAM response, likely due to undetectable IFNγ production. Intranasal (i.n.) treatment with recombinant mouse IFNγ (rIFNγ) increased the expression of CAM markers on neonatal AM, reduced viral lung titers, and improved weight gain compared to untreated controls with no detectable increase in CD4 or CD8 T-cell infiltration. In vitro infection of J774A.1 macrophages with RSV induced an alternatively activated macrophage (AAM) phenotype however, when macrophages were first primed with IFNγ, a CAM phenotype was induced and RSV spread to adjacent Hep-2 cells was reduced. These studies demonstrate that the neonatal AM response to RSV infection is abundant and immature, but can be exogenously stimulated to express the antimicrobial phenotype, CAM, with i.n. rIFNγ. © 2012 Empey et al

Development of an Integrated Data Acquisition System for a Small Flight Probe

In support of the SPRITE concept, an integrated data acquisition system has been developed and fabricated for preliminary testing. The data acquisition system has been designed to condition traditional thermal protection system sensors, store their data to an on-board memory card, and in parallel, telemeter to an external system. In the fall of 2010, this system was integrated into a 14 in. diameter, 45 degree sphere cone probe instrumented with thermal protection system sensors. This system was then tested at the NASA Ames Research Center Aerodynamic Heating Facility's arc jet at approximately 170 W/sq. cm. The first test in December 2010 highlighted hardware design issues that were redesigned and implemented leading to a successful test in February 2011

Time-varying Entry Heating Profile Replication with a Rotating Arc Jet Test Article

A new approach for arc jet testing of thermal protection materials at conditions approximating the time-varying conditions of atmospheric entry was developed and demonstrated. The approach relies upon the spatial variation of heat flux and pressure over a cylindrical test model. By slowly rotating a cylindrical arc jet test model during exposure to an arc jet stream, each point on the test model will experience constantly changing applied heat flux. The predicted temporal profile of heat flux at a point on a vehicle can be replicated by rotating the cylinder at a prescribed speed and direction. An electromechanical test model mechanism was designed, built, and operated during an arc jet test to demonstrate the technique

Facilitating Acceptance of Alternative Communication Devices in Classrooms by Teachers

There exists a number of persons who lack adequate speech for communicative purposes. Many of the non-vocal children and adults from these populations have benefitted from the development of various alternative communication devices. The non-vocal individual is one whose speech does not provide a functional means of meeting communication needs. However, this does not necessarily mean that the non-vocal individual has no speech or vocalization at all, nor does it mean that the individual may not develop fully functional speech in the future. (Vanderheiden, 1975). The devices used with these people allow an increase in the abilities to meet various communication needs. Such devices make it possible for the user to transmit desired messages

Protestants and Gaelic culture in 17th-century Ireland

The complex political and religious developments in the seventeenth century continue to be a subject of considerable debate among historians of Ireland. Central to these discussions is the problem of how a Protestant administration with an English monarch as head of state governed a kingdom that was predominantly Catholic and apparently loyal only to the pope. In this scenario Ireland is seen as a country riven by sectarian hatred, where the Protestant "New English" community was continually at loggerheads with its ethnic and religious adversaries: the Old English and native Gaelic Irish. There is little indication that this trend is losing momentum. These acute confessional divisions, manifested in the violence of the 1641 rebellion, still hold centre stage in the study of the seventeenth century. Therefore, the indications are that the current orthodoxy seems set to prevail

Irish warrants— hidden treasures from the East (Riding)

Abstract included in text

‘Value-free’ history? The scholarly network of Sir James Ware

There is a perception of early modern Ireland, particularly during the early Stuart period, as riven with sectarian hatred. Certainly a strong case can be made, given the emphasis on the 1641 rebellion and the stark divisions that subsequently engulfed the kingdom. Thus the conclusion that it was a highly polarised society seems virtually inescapable. But is that the full picture? An examination of the scholarly network created by Sir James Ware (1594–1666), arguably the leading Irish historian and antiquarian of his day, suggests a more polychrome picture