FOLLOWING THE MONEY: THE INFLUENCE OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM IN THE 2011 CHICAGO MAYORAL ELECTION

In this research we study the effect of recently enacted campaign contribution limits in Illinois via an examination of the 2011 Chicago mayoral election. Because contribution limits for state and local campaigns were implemented in the middle of the race for mayor we are uniquely positioned to test the efficacy of the new law. In theory we expect contribution limits to cause candidates to rely on more contributors making smaller donations. Our results indicate that the reform measure did not prompt candidates to broaden their fundraising base, and only when Rahm Emanuel's campaign is considered alongside his opponents’ did the fundraising law reduce average contributions. In a concluding section we address the issue of whether the contribution limits established under the law are too high to produce meaningful reform.     

Algorithm for atmospheric corrections of aircraft and satellite imagery

Abstract

An algorithm is described for making fast atmospheric corrections. The required radiation parameters are stored in a lookup table. The procedure is to enter the lookup table with the measured radiance, wavelength, view and illumination directions, heights of observation and surface, and the aerosol and gaseous absorption optical thicknesses. The surface radiance, the irradiance incident on a surface, and surface reflectance are computed then. Alternately, the program will compute the upward radiances at specific altitudes for a given surface reflctance, view and illumination directions, and aerosol and gaseous absorption optical thicknesses.     

THERMAL RESISTANCE OF BACILLUS CEREUS SPORES AS AFFECTED BY ADDITIVES IN THE RECOVERY MEDIUM

The effects of the addition of starch, glucose, sodium chloride, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate and disodium phosphate to the recovery medium on apparent heat resistance of Bacillus cereus spores (ATCC 4342, 7004 and 9818) were investigated. Sodium citrate, monopotassium and disodium phosphate at concentrations of 0.1% were effective inhibitory agents for heat injured B. cereus spores especially for strain 9818, although only monopotassium and disodium phosphate caused a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in D-values obtained for strain 9818. Sodium chloride also had a marked effect on the recovery of heat injured spores. Concentration as low as 0.5% caused a significant reduction in the recovery rates for strains 9818 and 7004. In all cases, increasing the salt levels from 0.5 to 4% resulted in a progressive decrease in spore recovery. D-values gradually decreased as the salt content increased, although the concentrations which produced statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) varied among strains. The addition of starch at 0.1% resulted in a significant increase in the counts for strains 9818 and 7004. In contrast, glucose (0.1%), did not significantly modify the counts obtained Neither of these compounds affected decimal reduction times. No statistical significance (p>0.05) differences were detected among z-values for the spores of the three strains recovered in the presence of different additives assayed. z-Values ranged from 6.67 to 8.32, with a mean value of 7.56 ± 0.46C .     

Biochemical changes during the ripening of homemade 'San Simón da Costa' raw milk cheese

'San Simón da Costa' cheese is a traditional smoked variety produced in the northwest of Spain from cow's milk. Biochemical changes were determined during its ripening. Its high calcium and phosphorus content and its low NaCl and sodium content stand out. This cheese undergoes moderate proteolysis. The most abundant free amino acid at the end of the ripening was glutamic acid, followed by tryptophan, leucine, arginine and phenylalanine. The lipolysis throughout ripening is slight; the most abundant free fatty acid being oleic, followed by palmitic and butyric acid.     

The cost advantage of hysteretic controls for bi-level production systems

Frequently, production systems can be designed to be flexible in that the output rate of the system can be changed depending upon the demand requirements that the system faces. In such systems, the problem is considered to be the determination of the optimal point at which the system switches between its output levels. Simple control has one switching point between adjacent output levels. In this paper, it is shown that hysteretic control, the determination of two switching points, always provides for a lower operating cost than simple control. Based upon the characteristics of the performance measures, a procedure is developed that easily finds the optimal switching points. The procedure, when applied to a small midwest job shop, resulted in a cost savings of 9-97%.     

NEW PROCEDURE FOR ESTIMATING THE MODULUS OF DEFORMABILITY OF CHEESE FROM UNIAXIAL COMPRESSION TESTS

The gradient of the inflection at the lowest strain in a stress versus strain curve was used to estimate the modulus of deformability (E_d) of cheese from the commonly used uniaxial compression test. The procedure required a sufficiently high sampling rate (e. g. 50 Hz at an initial strain rate of 0.0332 s⁻¹) to give data that provided fine structure to the measurements which is not usually reported. This procedure was based on the empirical observation that there was an initial concave up region prior to the usually reported concave down region of the curve for all samples studied. Numerical estimation of the gradient was used to locate the inflection point, and to estimate the gradient at that point. The procedure gave a well-defined measurement in the region of interest at small strain. It did not assume that all samples had the same strain region for compaction-dominating and fracture-dominating processes. Thus, in effect, it took account of the different strains at which E_d should be measured and eliminated differences in E_d between samples induced by differences in these processes. This procedure was compared with three existing procedures, for three cheeses. The procedure used responded differently to each cheese at the 1 % level. Values of E_d from the inflection point were similar to those from the gradient over 0.5 to 1.5 times the inflection strain, and higher than those from the gradient over 0 to 0.04 strain or from the linear term in a fiph order polynomial fit to the data up to fracture. The ranking of Ed for each cheese was the same for each procedure and the relative magnitude of Ed for each cheese was similar for each procedure.     

The spectral responses of algal chlorophyll in water with varying levels of suspended sediment

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the spectral responses of algal chlorophyll and water, under natural sunlight with varying suspended sediment concentrations (SSC). Twenty levels of SSC with each of two sediment types were generated, ranging from 50 to 1000 mgl^?1, in 75101 of water containing chlorophyll-a concentrations of 718 μgl^?1 and 295 μgl^?1. Results indicate that suspended sediments do not eliminate the prominent spectral patterns of algal chlorophyll, even as SSC reached 1000 mgl^?1. Between 400 and 900 nm, the relation between reflectance and SSC satisfies the expression: d²R(λ)/dS²<0. The effects of varying SSC on the positions and magnitudes of pronounced chlorophyll features were investigated. The ratio between the NIR and red wavelengths was totally independent of SSC. Thus, our finding supports using it as an index for measuring chlorophyll in natural surface water containing suspended sediments.