The production of PhDs in the United States and Canada

This paper is concerned with the production of PhDs in the United States and Canada in the post-WW II period, overall and by gender and major discipline. The effects of the explanatory variables lagged six years are consistent with the model. Military conscription with educational exemptions and the Vietnam War increased male PhD production in the U.S., but have no effect for U.S. females or in Canada. Government expenditures on research and development enhanced PhD production, especially for males and in the physical sciences in the U.S. A higher rate of growth of non-farm productivity encouraged PhD production in the U.S., but not in Canada. The cyclical indicator, the adult male unemployment rate, has a weak positive effect for males in both the U.S. and Canada, suggesting that the negative effect of the opportunity cost of time was stronger than the positive wealth effect. Other variables the same, there has been an increase over time in PhD production for females, but there is no such trend for males. The result has been an increase over time in PhD production for both males and females, but the faster increase for females has narrowed the gender gap

Would Reducing Tenure Probabilities Increase Faculty Salaries?

The simplest competitive labor market model asserts that if tenure is a desirable job characteristic for professors, they should be willing to pay for it by accepting lower salaries. Conversely, if an institution unilaterally reduces the probability that its assistant professors receive tenure, it will have to pay higher salaries to attract new faculty. Our paper tests this theory using data on salary offers accepted by new assistant professors at economics departments in the United States during the 1974-75 to 1980-81 period, along with data on the proportion of new Ph.Ds hired by each department between 1970 and 1980 that ultimately received tenure in the department or at a comparable or higher quality department. We find evidence that a tradeoff did exist. Equally important, departments that offer low tenure probabilities to assistant professors also paid higher salaries to their tenured faculty. We attribute this to their need to pay higher salaries to attract tenured faculty from the external market.

Long-term moderate calorie restriction inhibits inflammation without impairing cell-mediated immunity: A randomized controlled trial in non-obese humans

Calorie restriction (CR) inhibits inflammation and slows aging in many animal species, but in rodents housed in pathogen-free facilities, CR impairs immunity against certain pathogens. However, little is known about the effects of long-term moderate CR on immune function in humans. In this multi-center, randomized clinical trial to determine CR's effect on inflammation and cell-mediated immunity, 218 healthy non-obese adults (20-50 y), were assigned 25% CR (n=143) or an ad-libitum (AL) diet (n=75), and outcomes tested at baseline, 12, and 24 months of CR. CR induced a 10.4% weight loss over the 2-y period. Relative to AL group, CR reduced circulating inflammatory markers, including total WBC and lymphocyte counts, ICAM-1 and leptin. Serum CRP and TNF-α concentrations were about 40% and 50% lower in CR group, respectively. CR had no effect on the delayed-type hypersensitivity skin response or antibody response to vaccines, nor did it cause difference in clinically significant infections. In conclusion, long-term moderate CR without malnutrition induces a significant and persistent inhibition of inflammation without impairing key in vivo indicators of cell-mediated immunity. Given the established role of these pro-inflammatory molecules in the pathogenesis of multiple chronic diseases, these CR-induced adaptations suggest a shift toward a healthy phenotype

Structure and Phase transitions of Yukawa balls

In this review, an overview of structural properties and phase transitions in finite spherical dusty (complex) plasma crystals -- so-called Yukawa balls -- is given. These novel kinds of Wigner crystals can be directly analyzed experimentally with video cameras. The experiments clearly reveal a shell structure and allow to determine the shell populations, to observe metastable states and transitions between configurations as well as phase transitions. The experimental observations of the static properties are well explained by a rather simple theoretical model which treats the dust particles as being confined by a parabolic potential and interacting via an isotropic Yukawa pair potential. The excitation properties of the Yukawa balls such as normal modes and the dynamic behavior, including the time-dependent formation of the crystal requires, in addition, to include the effect of friction between the dust particles and the neutral gas. Aside from first-principle molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations several analytical approaches are reviewed which include shell models and a continuum theory. A summary of recent results and theory-experiment comparisons is given and questions for future research activities are outlined.Comment: Invited review, submitted to Contrib. Plasmas Physic

Do Economics Departments with lower Tenure Probabilities pay Higher Faculty Salaries?

The simplest competitive labor market model asserts that if tenure is a desirable job characteristic for professors, they should be willing to pay for it by accepting lower salaries. Conversely, if an institution unilaterally reduces the probability that its assistant professors receive tenure, it will have to pay higher salaries to attract new faculty. Our paper tests this theory using data on salary offers accepted by new assistant professors at economics departments in the United States during the 1974-75 to 1980-81 period, along with data on the proportion of new Ph.D.s hired by each department between 1970 and 1980 that received tenure in the department or at a comparable or higher quality department within the first eight years of receipt of their Ph.D.s. We find evidence that supports the hypothesis that a tradeoff existed. Equally importantly, departments that offered low tenure probabilities to assistant professors also paid higher salaries to their tenured faculty. We attribute this to low tenure probabilities inducing higher effort from assistant professors and thus leading to higher productivity of faculty ultimately promoted to tenure. © 1998 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technolo

Direct stenting with the Bx VELOCITY balloon-expandable stent mounted on the Raptor rapid exchange delivery system versus predilatation in a European randomized Trial: the VELVET trial.

Abstract AIMS: This study examined the six-month angiographic results of direct coronary stenting, and compared the nine-month safety, efficacy and cost of this strategy versus stenting after balloon predilatation. METHODS: In phase I of VELVET, 122 patients (mean age = 62.3 +/- 10.1 years, 77% male, 11% with diabetes) with angina pectoris or myocardial ischemia resulting from a single de novo 51% to 95% coronary stenosis underwent direct stenting. The endpoints of phase I included angiographic findings and rates of major adverse cardiac events up to six months of follow-up. In phase II, 401 patients (mean age = 61.3 +/- 10.8 years, 79% male, 16% with diabetes) with angina pectoris or documented myocardial ischemia resulting from single or multiple, de novo or restenotic, coronary lesions were randomized between direc

The Democratic Biopolitics of PrEP

PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a relatively new drug-based HIV prevention technique and an important means to lower the HIV risk of gay men who are especially vulnerable to HIV. From the perspective of biopolitics, PrEP inscribes itself in a larger trend of medicalization and the rise of pharmapower. This article reconstructs and evaluates contemporary literature on biopolitical theory as it applies to PrEP, by bringing it in a dialogue with a mapping of the political debate on PrEP. As PrEP changes sexual norms and subjectification, for example condom use and its meaning for gay subjectivity, it is highly contested. The article shows that the debate on PrEP can be best described with the concepts ‘sexual-somatic ethics’ and ‘democratic biopolitics’, which I develop based on the biopolitical approach of Nikolas Rose and Paul Rabinow. In contrast, interpretations of PrEP which are following governmentality studies or Italian Theory amount to either farfetched or trivial positions on PrEP, when seen in light of the political debate. Furthermore, the article is a contribution to the scholarship on gay subjectivity, highlighting how homophobia and homonormativity haunts gay sex even in liberal environments, and how PrEP can serve as an entry point for the destigmatization of gay sexuality and transformation of gay subjectivity. ‘Biopolitical democratization’ entails making explicit how medical technology and health care relates to sexual subjectification and ethics, to strengthen the voice of (potential) PrEP users in health politics, and to renegotiate the profit and power of Big Pharma

THE UNIVERSITY CAN\u27T TRAIN TEACHERS: A Symposium of School Administrators Discuss School-Based Undergraduate Education for Teachers

CONTENTS Introductory Letter Discussion Summary Acknowledgments List of Participants Educational Reform and Informational Needs Manpower: Supply and Demand for Teaching Personnel -- Leo Shapiro The Idea of Community and the Education of Teachers The Transmission of American Culture -- George D. Spindler In the United States District Court for the Eastern Division of Texas, Tyler Division, Memorandum Opinion Regarding the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District The Use of Higher Education Personnel in School-Based Undergraduate Teacher-Training Programs Appendix- Research Sharing School-Based Teacher-Training Centers . The Portland Urban Teacher Education Project: New Context for Teacher Preparation -- John L. Parker Certification; Tenure The Credentials Monopoly -- Newman Commission Accreditation and Credentialling in the Education of Teachers -- James Bowman In the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska Funding Problems and Recommendations United States District Court, Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division (Edgewood Decision) Developmental Funding -- Lewis N. Pino Strategies and Proposals for Change New Rochelle\u27s Redesign Efforts -- Paul Abramso

THE UNIVERSITY CAN\u27T TRAIN TEACHERS: A Symposium of School Administrators Discuss School-Based Undergraduate Education for Teachers

CONTENTS Introductory Letter Discussion Summary Acknowledgments List of Participants Educational Reform and Informational Needs Manpower: Supply and Demand for Teaching Personnel -- Leo Shapiro The Idea of Community and the Education of Teachers The Transmission of American Culture -- George D. Spindler In the United States District Court for the Eastern Division of Texas, Tyler Division, Memorandum Opinion Regarding the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District The Use of Higher Education Personnel in School-Based Undergraduate Teacher-Training Programs Appendix- Research Sharing School-Based Teacher-Training Centers . The Portland Urban Teacher Education Project: New Context for Teacher Preparation -- John L. Parker Certification; Tenure The Credentials Monopoly -- Newman Commission Accreditation and Credentialling in the Education of Teachers -- James Bowman In the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska Funding Problems and Recommendations United States District Court, Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division (Edgewood Decision) Developmental Funding -- Lewis N. Pino Strategies and Proposals for Change New Rochelle\u27s Redesign Efforts -- Paul Abramso