Mechanism design - A test laboratory viewpoint

Test laboratory methods for determining environmental requirements, cost estimates, and failure possibilities of aerospace system desig

Uninsured Veterans and Family Members: State and National Estimates of Expanded Medicaid Eligibility Under the ACA

Analysis of the 2008-2010 American Community Survey indicates that 535,000 uninsured veterans and 174,000 uninsured spouses of veterans -- or 4 in 10 uninsured veterans and 1 in 4 uninsured spouses -- have incomes below 138 percent of poverty and could qualify for Medicaid or new subsidies for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Most have incomes below 100 percent of poverty and will only have new coverage options if their state expands Medicaid. Since uninsurance is related to greater problems accessing care, increased Medicaid enrollment could improve the likelihood that their health care needs are being met

Uninsured Veterans and Family Members: Who Are They and Where Do They Live?

Examines uninsurance rates and access to health care among veterans and family members by state, time of service, age, education, and marital and employment status. Points to high uninsurance in states that have been slow to implement federal reform

An Analysis Framework for Mobility Metrics in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) have inherently dynamic topologies. Under these difficult circumstances, it is essential to have some dependable way of determining the reliability of communication paths. Mobility metrics are well suited to this purpose. Several mobility metrics have been proposed in the literature, including link persistence, link duration, link availability, link residual time, and their path equivalents. However, no method has been provided for their exact calculation. Instead, only statistical approximations have been given. In this paper, exact expressions are derived for each of the aforementioned metrics, applicable to both links and paths. We further show relationships between the different metrics, where they exist. Such exact expressions constitute precise mathematical relationships between network connectivity and node mobility. These expressions can, therefore, be employed in a number of ways to improve performance of MANETs such as in the development of efficient algorithms for routing, in route caching, proactive routing, and clustering schemes

Effect of previous handling experiences on responses of dairy calves to routine husbandry procedures

The nature of human–animal interactions is an important factor contributing to animal welfare and productivity. Reducing stress during routine husbandry procedures is likely to improve animal welfare. We examined how the type of early handling of calves affected responses to two common husbandry procedures, ear-tagging and disbudding. Forty Holstein–Friesian calves (n = 20/treatment) were exposed to one of two handling treatments daily from 1 to 5 weeks of age: (1) positive (n = 20), involving gentle handling (soft voices, slow movements, patting), and (2) negative (n = 20), involving rough handling (rough voices, rapid movements, pushing). Heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR) and behaviour (activity, tail flicking) were measured before and after ear-tagging and disbudding (2 days apart). Cortisol was measured at −20 (baseline), 20 and 40 min relative to disbudding time. There were no significant treatment differences in HR, RR or behaviour in response to either procedure. However, the following changes occurred across both treatment groups. HR increased after disbudding (by 14.7 ± 4.0 and 18.6 ± 3.8 bpm, positive and negative, respectively; mean ± s.e.m.) and ear-tagging (by 8.7 ± 3.1 and 10.3 ± 3.0 bpm, positive and negative, respectively). After disbudding, there was an increase in RR (by 8.2 ± 3.4 and 9.3 ± 3.4 breaths/min, positive and negative, respectively), overall activity (by 9.4 ± 1.2 and 9.9 ± 1.3 frequency/min, positive and negative, respectively) and tail flicking (by 13.2 ± 2.8 and 11.2 ± 3.0 frequency/min, positive and negative, respectively), and cortisol increased from baseline at 20 min post procedure (by 10.3 ± 1.1 and 12.3 ± 1.1 nmol/l positive and negative, respectively). Although we recorded significant changes in calf responses during ear-tagging and disbudding, the type of prior handling had no effect on responses. The effects of handling may have been overridden by the degree of pain and/or stress associated with the procedures. Further research is warranted to understand the welfare impact and interaction between previous handling and responses to husbandry procedures

A note on bilateral trade agreements in the presence of irreversible investment and deferred negotiations

A common result in the trade literature is that a small country will realize gains from a bilateral free trade agreement with a large country. McLaren (1997) casts aspersions on this traditional belief by demonstrating that irreversible investment in the small country, with the possibility of re-negotiation by the large country, can actually make the small country prefer autarky to free trade. In this note, we identify a middle ground where the small country can realize above-autarky utility by only partially specializing (relative to the free-trade level of specialization) in export production this improvement occurs even in the presence of irreversible investment and deferred negotiations.irreversible investment