This paper examines the factors underlying task discretion from an economist’s perspective. It argues that the key axis for understanding discretion is the trade-off between the positive effects of discretion on potential output per employee and the negative effects of greater leeway on work effort. In empirical analysis using matched employer-employee data it is shown that discretion is strong...

The SOHO Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS/SOHO) has observed the extended solar corona between 1 and 10 R for more than two years. We review spectroscopic and polarimetric measurements made in coronal holes, equatorial streamers, and coronal mass ejections, as well as selected non-solar targets. UVCS/SOHO has provided a great amount of empirical information about the physical processe...

This paper presents a look at the concept of Lean Manufacturing as applied to the office environment. Lean Manufacturing, which is often referred to as Lean, is a philosophy of manufacturing process improvement through the elimination of waste. As Lean developed since its origins in the automobile industry, it has been extended to apply to various enterprises and organizations, and has achieved...

The hydrogen Lyman-alpha (Ly−α) plays a dominant role in the radiative energy transport in the lower transition region, and is important for the studies of transition-region structure as well as solar wind origin. We investigate the Ly−α profiles obtained by the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation spectrograph (SUMER) on the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft i...

We examine the energetics of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) with data from the LASCO coronagraphs on SOHO. The LASCO observations provide fairly direct measurements of the mass, velocity and dimensions of CMEs. Using these basic measurements, we determine the potential and kinetic energies and their evolution for several CMEs that exhibit a flux-rope morphology. Assuming flux conservation, we us...

There is a growing interest in how the digital divide affects the operations of SMEs. The digital divide among businesses is defined as the disparity between the effective use of ICT for gains in productivity (Wielicki, 2008). Often, SMEs are found to be on the wrong side of this divide, with insufficient funds and/or access to ICT as the most cited reasons for falling behind big corporations. ...

Polar coronal plumes seen during solar eclipses can now be studied with space-borne telescopes and spectrometers. We briefly discuss such observations from space with a view to understanding their plasma characteristics. Using these observations, especially from SUMER/SOHO, but also from EUVI/STEREO, we deduce densities, temperatures, and abundance anomalies in plumes and inter-plume regions, a...

We present a comparative seismic study of conditions around and beneath isolated sunspots. Using the European Grid of Solar Observations’ Solar Feature Catalogue of sunspots derived from SOHO/MDI continuum and magnetogram data, 1996-2005, we identify a set of isolated sunspots by checking that within a Carrington Rotation there were no other spots detected in the vicinity. We then use level-2 t...

White-light measurements made by the SOHO LASCO C2 and C3 coronagraphs and the Mk III Mauna Loa K-coronameter, ranging from 1.15 to 30 have been combined with Kitt Peak daily He I R _ , 1083 nm coronal hole maps, and full Sun Y ohkoh soft X-ray images, to show that the boundaries of polar coronal holes, as determined by measurements of path-integrated density, extend approximately radially into...

Gregory Johnson is a Senior Program Manager at Alion Science & Technology, JJMA Maritime Sector. He heads up the New London, CT office which provides research and engineering support to the Coast Guard Academy and Coast Guard R&D Center. He has a BSEE from the USCG Academy (1987) a MSEE from Northeastern University (1993) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island (...