Unemployment Insurance, Duration of Unemployment, and Subsequent Wage Gain

[Excerpt] In order to evaluate what the optimal level of UI benefits is, one must therefore first estimate the magnitude of the relationships between UI benefits levels and unemployed workers\u27 durations of unemployment and post-unemployment wages. There have been several previous studies of the impact of UI benefits on duration of spells of unemployment, however none have been completely satisfactory methodologically. To our knowledge, there have been no previous studies of the system\u27s impact on subsequent wage rates. We attempt to fill these gaps, utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey (NLS) to estimate both relationships. The plan of our paper is as follows. First, we sketch the implications of theories of job search for our estimating equations. Next, we briefly discuss the NLS data. The following four sections summarize the empirical results we have obtained for four cohorts of data: older males, ages 45-59; women, ages 30-44; and younger males and females, ages 14-24. Finally, we consider the implications of our results for public policy. Due to space limitations our discussion here is necessarily brief and details of our research are found elsewhere

Historical Development of the Linear Nonthreshold Dose-Response Model as Applied to Radiation

[Excerpt] Despite the nearly universal adoption of the linear nonthreshold dose response model (LNT) as the primary basis for radiation protection standards for the past half century, the LNT remains highly controversial and a contentious topic of discussion among health physicists, radiation biologists, and other radiological scientists. Indeed, it has been pointed out that the LNT has assumed the status of a paradigm, synonymous with an ideal, standard, or paragon or perhaps to some, a sacred cow. Reduced to its very basics, the LNT postulates that every increment of ionizing radiation dose, however small, carries with it a commensurate increase in the chance or risk that the exposed individual will suffer some undesirable radiation effect, and that the risk thus incurred is directly proportional or linearly related to the dose. The specific effects are termed “stochastic,” which has been defined as “of a random or statistical nature.” Stochastic or probabilistic effects of radiation may occur as a result of low doses and are generally taken to be cancers (including leukemias) and genetic defects in the progeny. The severity of these radiation-induced stochastic effects, should they occur, are independent of the dose that produced them; thus, even though the likelihood or probability of an occurrence may be small to negligible, any and all manifestations of a radiation induced stochastic effect will have equal severity. By contrast, higher doses of radiation are known to produce characteristic somatic or deterministic effects including erythema, epilation, sterility, diminution of blood cell counts, cataracts and, in very high exposures, acute and chronic radiation syndromes. Such frank biological effects are nonstochastic in nature (in fact, they were at one time termed “nonstochastic effects”) and will always be manifested once a particular minimum dose – i.e., a “threshold” – has been received. The severity of the effect is related to the dose. Below the threshold dose there will be no demonstrable effect; as the dose increases beyond the threshold, so does the severity of the effect, or the degree of harm. … The purpose of the above discussion is to illustrate the underlying controversy and confusion that surrounds the LNT today, as well to underscore the lack of precision that sometimes accompanies the arguments of both the proponents and opponents of the LNT. Given that the LNT is a low dose phenomenon, there needs to at least be consensus on what is low dose, and such a consensus needs also to include consideration of other relevant and important factors such as the dose rate and specific stochastic end point (i.e., type of cancer or mutation). With this as a backdrop, the historical development and gyrations that led to the LNT as it is currently applied (or, some would say, misapplied) in radiological protection can be examined in the context of current scientific thinking with respect to radiation effects. It is not the purpose of this paper to endorse any particular position or to take sides but rather to present the story in a factual and fair minded manner. Hopefully, what follows will successfully achieve this goal. Thus, this paper will briefly review the scientific bases and supporting studies that led to the development and acceptance of the LNT in health physics. It will briefly touch on such topics as hormesis and other studies, such as the classic work of the late Robley Evans, that clearly demonstrate a threshold and nonlinear response for certain stochastic effects such as osteogenic sarcoma, along with the plethora of studies that suggest or have been interpreted to indicate that for at least some end points (i.e., cancers), response to ionizing radiation is consistent with the LNT model

Evaporation and Discharge Dynamics of Highly Charged Multicomponent Droplets Generated by Electrospray Ionization

We investigate the Rayleigh discharge and evaporation dynamics of highly charged two-component droplets consisting principally of methanol with 2-methoxyethanol, tert-butanol, or m-nitrobenzyl alcohol. A phase Doppler anemometer (PDA) characterizes droplets generated by electrospray ionization (ESI) according to size, velocity, and charge as they move through a uniform electric field within an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS). Repeated field reversals result in droplet “ping-pong” through the PDA. This generates individual droplet histories of solvent evaporation behavior and the dynamics of charge loss to progeny droplets during Rayleigh discharge events. On average, methanol droplets discharge at 127% their Rayleigh limit of charge, q_R, and release 25% of the net charge. Charge loss from methanol/2-methoxyethanol droplets behaves similarly to pure 2-methoxyethanol droplets which release ~28% of their net charge. Binary methanol droplets containing up to 50% tert-butanol discharge at a lower percent q_R than pure methanol and release a greater fraction of their net charge. Mixed 99% methanol/1% m-nitrobenzyl alcohol droplets possess discharge characteristics similar to those of methanol. However, droplets of methanol containing 2% m-nitrobenzyl evaporate down to a fixed size and charge that remains constant with no observable discharges. Quasi-steady-state evaporation models accurately describe observed evaporation phenomena in which methanol/tert-butanol droplets evaporate at a rate similar to that of pure methanol and methanol/2-methoxyethanol droplets evaporate at a rate similar to that of 2-methoxyethanol. We compare these results to previous Rayleigh discharge experiments and discuss the implications for binary solvents in electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and field-induced droplet ionization mass spectrometry (FIDI-MS)

The US space station and its electric power system

The United States has embarked on a major development program to have a space station operating in low earth orbit by the mid-1990s. This endeavor draws on the talents of NASA and most of the aerospace firms in the U.S. Plans are being pursued to include the participation of Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency in the space station. From the start of the program these was a focus on the utilization of the space station for science, technology, and commercial endeavors. These requirements were utilized in the design of the station and manifest themselves in: pressurized volume; crew time; power availability and level of power; external payload accommodations; microgravity levels; servicing facilities; and the ability to grow and evolve the space station to meet future needs. President Reagan directed NASA to develop a permanently manned space station in his 1984 State of the Union message. Since then the definition phase was completed and the development phase initiated. A major subsystem of the space station is its 75 kW electric power system. The electric power system has characteristics similar to those of terrestrial power systems. Routine maintenance and replacement of failed equipment must be accomplished safely and easily and in a minimum time while providing reliable power to users. Because of the very high value placed on crew time it is essential that the power system operate in an autonomous mode to minimize crew time required. The power system design must also easily accommodate growth as the power demands by users are expected to grow. An overview of the U.S. space station is provided with special emphasis on its electrical power system

IMPACT OF A FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTER ON PRODUCE HANDLING AND DISTRIBUTION

The Maryland Wholesale Food Center is an integral part of the food distribution system in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The Food Center encompasses many segments of the food industry, including the Maryland Wholesale Produce Market, the Maryland Wholesale Seafood Market, a distribution center for a regional supermarket chain, and other independent wholesalers. This paper focuses on a comparison of characteristics and operating costs of wholesale firms located on the Food Center, firms located in other sections of the metropolitan area, and firms operating in 1964. The paper illustrates differences in product movement, distribution, and facilities among the types of firms. A major finding is that firms located on the Maryland Wholesale Produce Market are more cost efficient in several areas of operation relative to other firms. As a result, locating a food distribution center may improve the competitive position of wholesalers.Agribusiness,

Institutional Logics: On the Constitutive Dimensions of the Modern Nation-State Polities

Nation-state; institutionalisation; institutions; state building; identity

Microsatellite Analysis of Trophy Largemouth Bass from Arkansas Reservoirs

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) has introduced Florida largemouth bass (FLMB; Micropterus salmoides floridanus) to water bodies historically containing the northern largemouth bass (NLMB; Micropterus salmoides salmoides) subspecies since the late 1970s in an attempt to produce a trophy LMB fishery. Since 2006, the AGFC has been biannually sampling reservoirs stocked with FLMB to determine levels of admixture. Here, total sampling efforts between 2006 and 2011 have been combined, and LMB heavier than 2,268 g (5 lb) were analyzed in an effort to investigate distribution of bass by their genetic composition designated as trophy LMB by the AGFC. Of the 148 trophy LMB sampled, 123 possessed FLMB alleles (83.1%). Thirty-two of the heaviest 50 (64.0%) LMB sampled, including a potential state record that was nullified, were genetically confirmed to be FLMB. Distributions of trophy bass within reservoirs were preferentially represented by Fx-FLMB and FLMB