Wage Differentials for Immigrant Women in the United States: The Heightened Effect of Gender and Ethnic Interaction

The United States is one of only a handful of nations in which immigrant women outnumber immigrant men. These women come from increasingly diverse regions, thereby bringing considerably different skills to the U.S. workforce. However, the question of how gender and ethnicity interact with each other to affect the economic performance of female immigrants remains especially understudied. Thus, this paper aims at providing some insight into this formerly neglected dimension of female immigrant performance. It examines the sources of wage differentials between immigrant females, and other groups in the U.S. labor force, paying particular attention to earnings inequalities created by the interaction of gender and ethnicity. OLS regressions are used to carry out the analysis. A random sample of 100,000 immigrants and 50,000 natives is drawn from the 5% 2000 IPUMS data set. Their salary and wage income is regressed on several variables accounting for differences in human capital, gender and nationality, including interactions between gender and ethnicity. The results show that females and immigrants have relatively low wages because of their sex and country of birth. In addition, interactions between gender and ethnicity are found to be significant determinants of wages

SLOTTING ALLOWANCES: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON THEIR ROLE IN NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES

The retail practice of charging a fee to stock new products is a relatively new but growing phenomenon. Termed a "slotting allowance", it has attracted considerable scrutiny because of uncertainty about its purposes and consequences. We propose and statistically test several hypotheses to assess the degree of empirical support for each of several extant explanations. Slotting allowances, we find, are charged by relatively large retailers who have an informational advantage over the manufacturer about the likely success of the new product. This result apparently contradicts theorizing about the "informational" content of slotting fees, as well as other pro- and anti-competitive explanations. We also find support for the claim that when retailers fear that manufacturers will not provide post-launch support, they pay relatively high wholesale prices.Industrial Organization, Marketing,

Control of fluorescence in quantum emitter and metallic nanoshell hybrids for medical applications

We study the light emission from quantum emitter and double metallic nanoshell hybrid systems. Quantum emitters act as local sources which transmit their light efficiently due to a double nanoshell near field. The double nanoshell consists a dielectric core and two outer nanoshells

Two step integrated approach to detect differentially expressed genes in RNA-Seq data

Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only.Motivation: RNA-Sequence or RNA-Seq experiments produce millions of discrete DNA sequence reads, as a measure of gene expression levels. It enable researchers to investigate complex aspects of the genomic studies. These include but not limited to identi cation of di erentially expressed (DE) genes in two or more treatment conditions and detection of novel transcripts. One of the common assumptions of RNA-Seq data is that, all gene counts follow an overdispersed Poisson or negative binomial (NB) distribution which is sometimes misleading because some genes may have stable transcription levels with no overdispersion. Thus, a more realistic assumption in RNA-Seq data is to consider two sets of genes: overdispersed and non-overdispersed. Method: We propose a new two step integrated approach to detect di erentially expressed (DE) genes in RNA-Seq data using standard Poisson model for non-overdispersed genes and NB model for overdispersed genes. This is an integrated approach because this method can be combined with any other NB based methods for detecting DE genes. Results: We evaluate the proposed approach using two simulated and two real RNA-Seq data sets. We compare the performance of our proposed method combined with the four popular R-software packages edgeR, DESeq, sSeq, and NBPSeq with their default settings. For both the simulated and real data sets, integrated approaches perform better or at least equally well compared to the regular methods embedded in these R-packages.Thesis (M.S.

Dipole-dipole interaction between a quantum dot and graphene nanodisk

We study theoretically the dipole-dipole interaction and energy transfer in a hybrid system consisting of a quantum dot and graphene nanodisk embedded in a nonlinear photonic crystal. In our model a probe laser field is applied to measure the energy transfer between the quantum dot and graphene nanodisk while a control field manipulates the energy transfer process. These fields create excitons in the quantum dot and surface plasmon polaritons in the graphene nanodisk which interact via the dipole-dipole interaction. Here the nonlinear photonic crystal acts as a tunable photonic reservoir for the quantum dot, and is used to control the energy transfer. We have found that the spectrum of power absorption in the quantum dot has two peaks due to the creation of two dressed excitons in the presence of the dipole-dipole interaction. The energy transfer rate spectrum of the graphene nanodisk also has two peaks due to the absorption of these two dressed excitons. Additionally, energy transfer between the quantum dot and the graphene nanodisk can be switched on and off by applying a pump laser to the photonic crystal or by adjusting the strength of the dipole-dipole interaction. We show that the intensity and frequencies of the peaks in the energy transfer rate spectra can be modified by changing the number of graphene monolayers in the nanodisk or the separation between the quantum dot and graphene. Our results agree with existing experiments on a qualitative basis. The principle of our system can be employed to fabricate nano-biosensors, optical nano-switches, and energy transfer devices

A MEMS-based solid propellant microthruster array for space and military applications

Since combustion is an easy way to achieve large quantities of energy from a small volume, we developed a MEMS based solid propellant microthruster array for small spacecraft and micro-air-vehicle applications. A thruster is composed of a fuel chamber layer, a top-side igniter with a micromachined nozzle in the same silicon layer. Layers are assembled by adhesive bonding to give final MEMS array. The thrust force is generated by the combustion of propellant stored in a few millimeter cube chamber. The micro-igniter is a polysilicon resistor deposited on a low stress SiO2/SiNx thin membrane to ensure a good heat transfer to the propellant and thus a low electric power consumption. A large range of thrust force is obtained simply by varying chamber and nozzle geometry parameters in one step of Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE). Experimental tests of ignition and combustion employing home made (DB+x% BP) propellant composed of a Double-Base and Black-Powder. A temperature of 250 therefore degrees C, enough to propellant initiation, is reached for 40 mW of electric power. A combustion rate of about 3.4 mm/s is measured for DB+20% BP propellant and thrust ranges between 0.1 and 3,5 mN are obtained for BP ratio between 10% and 30% using a microthruster of 100 mu m of throat wide

Giving in Transition and Transitions in Giving: Philanthropy in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia 2011-2013

This publication explores how shifts in the sociopolitical environment in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia manifested themselves in the philanthropic realm during an uncertain mid-point in the transitions. To what extent have both institutional and informal philanthropy evolved to keep up with the pace of escalating needs and expectations of the people? As those shifts continue in all three countries, with variations to be explored in each country chapter, the report encourages actors in the sector to take bolder steps from diagnostics to action

Tumbuhan Sumber Pangan yang Dimanfaatkan oleh Masyarakat Sekitar Hutan Tembawang Desa Nanga Kompi Kecamatan Nanga Sayan Kabupaten Melawi

The research aims to determine the types of plants food sources available and used by communities in Tembawang forest Nanga Sayan subdistrict Melawi District. The benefits of this research can provide information about food sources and utilization of plant communities that exist around the village of Nanga Kompi, as well as the basis for management and development of the region by the agencies involved in the protection, conservation and utilization of plant food resources in the future. This study uses snowball sampling technique or performed in sequence by asking for information on people who have been interviewed or contacted prior to interview, observation, and literature study. Based on the results of the study found as many as 92 plants classified to 45 famili. Most is family Arecaceae and Anacardiaceae 6 species (6.52%). Parts used are part of the fruit that is as much as 67 species (72.83%). How to use it by way of direct consumption 41 species (45%), processing methods with cooked 35 species (38%), the most widely used is derived from the group of fruits that 52 species (56.52%), vegetables 38 species (41.30%), as much as 55 species (59.78%) is a wild plant. Keywords : food plants, Nanga Kompi village, tembawang fores