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1. The Allen Telescope Array Pi GHz Sky Survey I. Survey Description and Static Catalog Results for the Bootes Field

Author

Bower, Geoffrey C., Croft, Steve, Keating, Garrett, Whysong, David, Ackermann, Rob, Atkinson, Shannon, Backer, Don, Backus, Peter, Barott, Billy, Bauermeister, Amber, Blitz, Leo, Bock, Douglas, Bradford, Tucker, Cheng, Calvin, Cork, Chris, Davis, Mike, DeBoer, Dave, Dexter, Matt, Dreher, John, Engargiola, Greg, Fields, Ed, Fleming, Matt, Forster, R. James, Gutierrez-Kraybill, Colby, Harp, G. R., Heiles, Carl, Helfer, Tamara, Hull, Chat, Jordan, Jane, Jorgensen, Susanne, Kilsdonk, Tom, Law, Casey, van Leeuwen, Joeri, Lugten, John, MacMahon, Dave, McMahon, Peter, Milgrome, Oren, Pierson, Tom, Randall, Karen, Ross, John, Shostak, Seth, Siemion, Andrew, Smolek, Ken, Tarter, Jill, Thornton, Douglas, Urry, Lynn, Vitouchkine, Artyom, Wadefalk, Niklas, Weinreb, Sandy, Welch, Jack, Werthimer, Dan, Williams, Peter K. G., and Wright, Melvyn

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

The Pi GHz Sky Survey (PiGSS) is a key project of the Allen Telescope Array. PiGSS is a 3.1 GHz survey of radio continuum emission in the extragalactic sky with an emphasis on synoptic observations that measure the static and time-variable properties of the sky. During the 2.5-year campaign, PiGSS will twice observe ~250,000 radio sources in the 10,000 deg^2 region of the sky with b > 30 deg to an rms sensitivity of ~1 mJy. Additionally, sub-regions of the sky will be observed multiple times to characterize variability on time scales of days to years. We present here observations of a 10 deg^2 region in the Bootes constellation overlapping the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey field. The PiGSS image was constructed from 75 daily observations distributed over a 4-month period and has an rms flux density between 200 and 250 microJy. This represents a deeper image by a factor of 4 to 8 than we will achieve over the entire 10,000 deg^2. We provide flux densities, source sizes, and spectral indices for the 425 sources detected in the image. We identify ~100$ new flat spectrum radio sources; we project that when completed PiGSS will identify 10^4 flat spectrum sources. We identify one source that is a possible transient radio source. This survey provides new limits on faint radio transients and variables with characteristic durations of months., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; revision submitted with extraneous figure removed

Published
2010
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2. The Allen Telescope Array Twenty-centimeter Survey - A 690-Square-Degree, 12-Epoch Radio Dataset - I: Catalog and Long-Duration Transient Statistics

Author

Croft, Steve, Bower, Geoffrey C., Ackermann, Rob, Atkinson, Shannon, Backer, Don, Backus, Peter, Barott, William C., Bauermeister, Amber, Blitz, Leo, Bock, Douglas, Bradford, Tucker, Cheng, Calvin, Cork, Chris, Davis, Mike, DeBoer, Dave, Dexter, Matt, Dreher, John, Engargiola, Greg, Fields, Ed, Fleming, Matt, Forster, James R., Gutierrez-Kraybill, Colby, Harp, Gerry, Helfer, Tamara, Hull, Chat, Jordan, Jane, Jorgensen, Susanne, Keating, Garrett, Kilsdonk, Tom, Law, Casey, van Leeuwen, Joeri, Lugten, John, MacMahon, Dave, McMahon, Peter, Milgrome, Oren, Pierson, Tom, Randall, Karen, Ross, John, Shostak, Seth, Siemion, Andrew, Smolek, Ken, Tarter, Jill, Thornton, Douglas, Urry, Lynn, Vitouchkine, Artyom, Wadefalk, Niklas, Welch, Jack, Werthimer, Dan, Whysong, David, Williams, Peter K. G., and Wright, Melvyn

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Abstract

We present the Allen Telescope Array Twenty-centimeter Survey (ATATS), a multi-epoch (12 visits), 690 square degree radio image and catalog at 1.4GHz. The survey is designed to detect rare, very bright transients as well as to verify the capabilities of the ATA to form large mosaics. The combined image using data from all 12 ATATS epochs has RMS noise sigma = 3.94mJy / beam and dynamic range 180, with a circular beam of 150 arcsec FWHM. It contains 4408 sources to a limiting sensitivity of S = 20 mJy / beam. We compare the catalog generated from this 12-epoch combined image to the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS), a legacy survey at the same frequency, and find that we can measure source positions to better than ~20 arcsec. For sources above the ATATS completeness limit, the median flux density is 97% of the median value for matched NVSS sources, indicative of an accurate overall flux calibration. We examine the effects of source confusion due to the effects of differing resolution between ATATS and NVSS on our ability to compare flux densities. We detect no transients at flux densities greater than 40 mJy in comparison with NVSS, and place a 2-sigma upper limit on the transient rate for such sources of 0.004 per square degree. These results suggest that the > 1 Jy transients reported by Matsumura et al. (2009) may not be true transients, but rather variable sources at their flux density threshold., Comment: 41 pages, 19 figures, ApJ accepted; corrected minor typo in Table 1

Published
2010
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3. The Allen Telescope Array: The First Widefield, Panchromatic, Snapshot Radio Camera for Radio Astronomy and SETI

Author

Welch, Jack, Backer, Don, Blitz, Leo, Bock, Douglas, Bower, Geoffrey C., Cheng, Calvin, Croft, Steve, Dexter, Matt, Engargiola, Greg, Fields, Ed, Forster, James, Gutierrez-Kraybill, Colby, Heiles, Carl, Helfer, Tamara, Jorgensen, Susanne, Keating, Garrett, Lugten, John, MacMahon, Dave, Milgrome, Oren, Thornton, Douglas, Urry, Lynn, van Leeuwen, Joeri, Werthimer, Dan, Williams, Peter H., Tarter, Melvin Wright Jill, Ackermann, Robert, Atkinson, Shannon, Backus, Peter, Barott, William, Bradford, Tucker, Davis, Michael, DeBoer, Dave, Dreher, John, Harp, Gerry, Jordan, Jane, Kilsdonk, Tom, Pierson, Tom, Randall, Karen, Ross, John, Fleming, Seth Shostak Matt, Cork, Chris, Wadefalk, Artyom Vitouchkine Niklas, and Weinreb, Sander

Subjects
Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract

The first 42 elements of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA-42) are beginning to deliver data at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California. Scientists and engineers are actively exploiting all of the flexibility designed into this innovative instrument for simultaneously conducting surveys of the astrophysical sky and conducting searches for distant technological civilizations. This paper summarizes the design elements of the ATA, the cost savings made possible by the use of COTS components, and the cost/performance trades that eventually enabled this first snapshot radio camera. The fundamental scientific program of this new telescope is varied and exciting; some of the first astronomical results will be discussed., Comment: Special Issue of Proceedings of the IEEE: "Advances in Radio Telescopes", Baars,J. Thompson,R., D'Addario, L., eds, 2009, in press

Published
2009
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4. A Re-appraisal of the Habitability of Planets Around M Dwarf Stars

Author

Tarter, Jill C., Backus, Peter R., Mancinelli, Rocco L., Aurnou, Jonathan M., Backman, Dana E., Basri, Gibor S., Boss, Alan P., Clarke, Andrew, Deming, Drake, Doyle, Laurance R., Feigelson, Eric D., Freund, Friedmann, Grinspoon, David H., Haberle, Robert M., Hauck II, Steven A., Heath, Martin J., Henry, Todd J., Hollingsworth, Jeffery L., Joshi, Manoj M., Kilston, Steven, Liu, Michael C., Meikle, Eric, Reid, I. Neill, Rothschild, Lynn J., Scalo, John M., Segura, Antigona, Tang, Carol M., Tiedje, James M., Turnbull, Margaret C., Walkowicz, Lucianne M., Weber, Arthur L., and Young, Richard E.

Subjects
Astrophysics
Abstract

Stable, hydrogen-burning, M dwarf stars comprise about 75% of all stars in the Galaxy. They are extremely long-lived and because they are much smaller in mass than the Sun (between 0.5 and 0.08 MSun), their temperature and stellar luminosity are low and peaked in the red. We have re-examined what is known at present about the potential for a terrestrial planet forming within, or migrating into, the classic liquid-surface-water habitable zone close to an M dwarf star. Observations of protoplanetary disks suggest that planet-building materials are common around M dwarfs, but N-body simulations differ in their estimations of the likelihood of potentially-habitable, wet planets residing within their habitable zones, which are only ~ 1/5 to 1/50 of the width of that for a G star. Particularly in light of the claimed detection of the planets with masses as small as 5.5 and 7.5 MEarth orbiting M stars, there seems no reason to exclude the possibility of terrestrial planets. Tidally locked synchronous rotation within the narrow habitable zone doesn't necessarily lead to atmospheric collapse, and active stellar flaring may not be as much of an evolutionarily disadvantageous factor as has previously been supposed. We conclude that M dwarf stars may indeed be viable hosts for planets on which the origin and evolution of life can occur. A number of planetary processes such as cessation of geothermal activity, or thermal and non-thermal atmospheric loss processes may limit the duration of planetary habitability to periods far shorter than the extreme lifetime of the M dwarf star. Nevertheless, it makes sense to include M dwarf stars in programs that seek to find habitable worlds and evidence of life., Comment: To be published in Astrobiology. approx. 34 pages

Published
2006
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6. Megachannel Extraterrestrial Assay Candidates: No Transmissions from Intrinsically Steady Sources

Author

Lazio, T. Joseph W., Tarter, Jill, and Backus, Peter R.

Subjects
Astrophysics
Abstract

This paper reports new, more sensitive observations of nine of the eleven extrastatistical signals in the Megachannel Extraterrestrial Assay (META). These extrastatistical signals had all of the expected characteristics of a transmission from an extraterrestrial transmitter, except that they did not repeat. Cordes, Lazio, & Sagan showed that this lack of repeatability could be explained by the high detection thresholds used in the reobservations of these candidates combined with interstellar scintillation of intrinsically steady sources. We use the Cordes, Lazio, & Sagan methodology, correcting an error in the original presentation, and our new observations to rule out this scintillation hypothesis at a confidence level of at least 97.8% (for the case of an intrinsically weak source) to a level in excess of 99% (if the source strengths are comparable to that favored by Cordes, Lazio, & Sagan. We also demonstrate that gravitational microlensing cannot account for the initial detection of these candidate signals nor is gravitational lensing likely to play a role in future SETI programs. We conclude that the META candidates do not reflect a large population of powerful, strong beacons., Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX2e with AASTeX 5.2, 1 PostScript figure; accepted for publication in the Astron. J. (2002 July)

Published
2002
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8. A Reappraisal of The Habitability of Planets around M Dwarf Stars

Author

Tarter, Jill C, Backus, Peter R, Mancinelli, Rocco L, Aurnou, Jonathan M, Backman, Dana E, Basri, Gibor S, Boss, Alan P, Clarke, Andrew, Deming, Drake, Doyle, Laurance R, Feigelson, Eric D, Freund, Friedmann, Grinspoon, David H, Haberle, Robert M, Hauck, Steven A, Heath, Martin J, Henry, Todd J, Hollingsworth, Jeffery L, Joshi, Manoj M, Kilston, Steven, Liu, Michael C, Meikle, Eric, Reid, I Neill, Rothschild, Lynn J, Scalo, John, Segura, Antigona, Tang, Carol M, Tiedje, James M, Turnbull, Margaret C, Walkowicz, Lucianne M, Weber, Arthur L, and Young, Richard E

Subjects
Climate Action, Astronomical Phenomena, Astronomy, Ecosystem, Exobiology, Extraterrestrial Environment, Origin of Life, Planets, planets, habitability, M dwarfs, stars, astro-ph, Astronomical and Space Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Astronomy & Astrophysics
Abstract

Stable, hydrogen-burning, M dwarf stars make up about 75% of all stars in the Galaxy. They are extremely long-lived, and because they are much smaller in mass than the Sun (between 0.5 and 0.08 M(Sun)), their temperature and stellar luminosity are low and peaked in the red. We have re-examined what is known at present about the potential for a terrestrial planet forming within, or migrating into, the classic liquid-surface-water habitable zone close to an M dwarf star. Observations of protoplanetary disks suggest that planet-building materials are common around M dwarfs, but N-body simulations differ in their estimations of the likelihood of potentially habitable, wet planets that reside within their habitable zones, which are only about one-fifth to 1/50th of the width of that for a G star. Particularly in light of the claimed detection of the planets with masses as small as 5.5 and 7.5 M(Earth) orbiting M stars, there seems no reason to exclude the possibility of terrestrial planets. Tidally locked synchronous rotation within the narrow habitable zone does not necessarily lead to atmospheric collapse, and active stellar flaring may not be as much of an evolutionarily disadvantageous factor as has previously been supposed. We conclude that M dwarf stars may indeed be viable hosts for planets on which the origin and evolution of life can occur. A number of planetary processes such as cessation of geothermal activity or thermal and nonthermal atmospheric loss processes may limit the duration of planetary habitability to periods far shorter than the extreme lifetime of the M dwarf star. Nevertheless, it makes sense to include M dwarf stars in programs that seek to find habitable worlds and evidence of life. This paper presents the summary conclusions of an interdisciplinary workshop (http://mstars.seti.org) sponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and convened at the SETI Institute.

Published
2007

15. LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Observation Campaign: Strategies, Implementation, and Lessons Learned

Author

Heldmann, Jennifer L., Colaprete, Anthony, Wooden, Diane H., Ackermann, Robert F., Acton, David D., Backus, Peter R., Bailey, Vanessa, Ball, Jesse G., Barott, William C., Blair, Samantha K., Buie, Marc W., Callahan, Shawn, Chanover, Nancy J., Choi, Young-Jun, Conrad, Al, Coulson, Dolores M., Crawford, Kirk B., DeHart, Russell, de Pater, Imke, Disanti, Michael, Forster, James R., Furusho, Reiko, Fuse, Tetsuharu, Geballe, Tom, Gibson, J. Duane, Goldstein, David, Gregory, Stephen A., Gutierrez, David J., Hamilton, Ryan T., Hamura, Taiga, Harker, David E., Harp, Gerry R., Haruyama, Junichi, Hastie, Morag, Hayano, Yutaka, Hinz, Phillip, Hong, Peng K., James, Steven P., Kadono, Toshihiko, Kawakita, Hideyo, Kelley, Michael S., Kim, Daryl L., Kurosawa, Kosuke, Lee, Duk-Hang, Long, Michael, Lucey, Paul G., Marach, Keith, Matulonis, Anthony C., McDermid, Richard M., McMillan, Russet, Miller, Charles, Moon, Hong-Kyu, Nakamura, Ryosuke, Noda, Hirotomo, Okamura, Natsuko, Ong, Lawrence, Porter, Dallan, Puschell, Jeffery J., Rayner, John T., Rembold, J. Jedadiah, Roth, Katherine C., Rudy, Richard J., Russell, Ray W., Ryan, Eileen V., Ryan, William H., Sekiguchi, Tomohiko, Sekine, Yasuhito, Skinner, Mark A., Sôma, Mitsuru, Stephens, Andrew W., Storrs, Alex, Suggs, Robert M., Sugita, Seiji, Sung, Eon-Chang, Takatoh, Naruhisa, Tarter, Jill C., Taylor, Scott M., Terada, Hiroshi, Trujillo, Chadwick J., Vaitheeswaran, Vidhya, Vilas, Faith, Walls, Brian D., Watanabe, Jun-ihi, Welch, William J., Woodward, Charles E., Yim, Hong-Suh, and Young, Eliot F.

Published
2012
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18. Supporting Research and Technology Activities for a Microwave Observing Program to Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Author

Tarter, Jill and Backus, Peter

Subjects
Space Biology
Abstract

Curriculum materials based on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) were developed for grades 3 through 9 science classes. The project was supported in part by NASA. Six teacher's guides, plus ancillary visuals, addressing topics in astronomy, biology, chemistry, geosciences, and physics as well as mathematics, social sciences, and language arts, were designed by a team of teachers, scientists. curriculum developers, and artists. First drafts were piloted by 10 design team teachers; revised drafts were field tested by 109 teachers in 30 states. Extensive feedback from these teachers and their students and reviews by scientists were used to revise materials prior to submission to the publisher. The field test teachers overall ranking of all guides (data from individual lesson feedback forms) was 431 on a one low to five high scale; 85% found the content appropriate to course and grade level and 75% indicated they had no reservations about using the materials again or recommending them to colleagues. The ratio of liked to disliked student responses (from 1305 student letters) was 70:30. Most recommendations from the teachers, students, and science reviewers were incorporated in the final versions for the guides, published by Libraries Unlimited/Teacher Ideas Press, 1995.

Published
1995

22. Gender, competition and performance: Evidence from real tournaments

Author

Backus, Peter G., Cubel, Maria, Sánchez-Pagés, Santiago, and López Manas, Enrique

Subjects
Competition (Psychology), Sex differences (Psychology), Diferències entre sexes (Psicologia), Gender, Chess, Gènere, human activities, Competència (Psicologia), Escacs
Abstract

There is a growing literature looking at how men and women respond differently to competition. We contribute to this literature by studying gender differences in performance in a high-stakes and male dominated competitive environment, expert chess tournaments. Our findings show that women underperform compared to men of the same ability and that the gender composition of games drives this effect. Using within player variation in the conditionally random gender of their opponent, we find that women earn significantly worse outcomes against male opponents. We examine the mechanisms through which this effect operates by using a unique measure of within game quality of play. We find that the gender composition effect is driven by women playing worse against men, rather than by men playing better against women. The gender of the opponent does not affect a male player’s quality of play. We also find that men persist longer against women before resigning. These results suggest that the gender composition of competitions affects the behavior of both men and women in ways that are detrimental to the performance of women. Lastly, we study the effect of competitive pressure and find that players’ quality of play deteriorates when stakes increase, though we find no differential effect over the gender composition of games.

Published
2016

24. Is income redistribution a form of insurance, a public good or both?

Author

Backus, Peter G. and Esteller Moré, Alejandro

Subjects
Bé comú, Assegurances, Common good, Insurance, Distribució (Teoria econòmica), Distribution (Economic theory)
Abstract

This paper is an empirical study of redistributive preferences. Our interest is what motivates net contributors to support redistributive policies. Using instrumental variable estimation and exploiting a particularity of the Spanish labour market we estimate how workers’ declared preferences for unemployment benefits spending respond to changes in the local unemployment rate. We then decompose this response into the part explained by risk aversion, and thus demand for insurance, and the part explained by the public goods nature of redistribution. Our results suggest that the declared preferences of workers for unemployment benefits spending are driven by demand for insurance rather than any public goods component. We show how these results suggest that preferences for redistribution in the form of unemployment benefits are driven by Insurance considerations rather than by any public goods consideration.

Published
2014

28. Charitable bequests and wealth at death

Author

Atkinson, Anthony B., Backus, Peter G., and Micklewright, John

Subjects
bequests, NGOs, charitable donations, wealth, L31, death, ddc:330, D12, estate tax, D31, D64
Abstract

Charitable bequests are a major source of income for charities but surprisingly little is known about them. The aim of this paper is to propose a multi-stage framework for analysing the bequest decision and to examine the evidence for Great Britain provided by new data on estates. The novelty of the framework is that it distinguishes between the different steps that lead to a charitable bequest. Our new data for Britain have the advantage of covering the whole population, in contrast to much of the US literature based on the small fraction of the population covered by estate tax returns. We focus on the relationship with wealth at death, on the form of the bequest, and on the different causes to which people bequeath.

Published
2012

29. Gibrat’s law and legacy for non-profit organisations: a non-parametric analysis

Author

Backus, Peter G.

Subjects
Entitats sense ànim de lucre, Nonparametric statistics, Estadística no paramètrica, Models economètrics, Econometric models, Nonprofit organizations
Abstract

Gibrat’s Law of proportional effect (i.e. growth is independent of initial size) has been tested for firms for several decades. In this paper I test Gibrat’s Law for charities in England and Wales through time. Using a data set based on the population of registered charities from 1998 to 2009, I am able to test the ‘ex ante’ hypothesis that Gibrat’s Law holds over the long run for a sample of charities as well as testing Gibrat’s Legacy (that Gibrat’s Law holds for large and mature organisations), the ‘ex post’ hypothesis. I use nonparametric local polynomial smoothing techniques which are more robust to the issues of autocorrelation, sample selection and truncation that make the conventional parametric approaches to testing Gibrat’s Law difficult in practice. Results suggest that the dynamic processes driving growth in the charitable sectors may differ from those driving the growth of firms. Unlike for-profit firms Gibrat’s Law is found to generally hold when controlling for selection both ‘ex ante’ and ‘ex post’. Results may be driven by the absence of a minimum efficient scale which charities must achieve to survive and the different funding profiles of charities.

Published
2012

30. Unofficial Development Assistance: A Dynamic Model of Charities' Donation Income

Author

Arulampalam, Wiji, Backus, Peter G., and Micklewright, John

Subjects
jel:L3, overseas development, charitable giving, jel:D1, jel:F3, jel:D6
Abstract

The empirical literature on the determinants of charities donation income, distinguishing the charitable cause, is small. We extend the literature in several ways. First, we focus on overseas development charities allowing us to give more consideration to the particular characteristics of this cause. Second, we look at the impact of macroeconomic change over a quarter century including changes in household income and in government spending on ODA, as well as 'charity level' variables that earlier authors have considered. Third, we use a general dynamic model and rigorous testing procedures to arrive at our specification. Using a newly assembled long panel of data, we find evidence of a strong, but diminishing fundraising effect. We find no evidence of crowding out by either grants made directly to charities or by changes in the public provision of development funding.

Published
2011

31. Is charity a homogeneous good?

Author

Backus, Peter

Subjects
HB
Abstract

In this paper I estimate income and price elasticities of donations to six different charitable causes to test the assumption that charity is a homogeneous good. In the US, charitable donations can be deducted from taxable income. This has long been recognized as producing a price, or taxprice, of giving equal to one minus the marginal tax rate faced by the donor. A substantial portion of the economic literature on giving has focused on estimating price and income elasticities of giving as the received wisdom suggests that a price elasticity greater than unity is indicative of the ‘treasury efficiency’ of the tax deductibility of charitable contributions, as the loss to tax revenue is less than the increase in giving. However, a major limitation of nearly all the previous attempts\ud to identify such effects has been the implicit assumption that charity is a homogeneous good, meaning giving to one type of charity is a perfect substitute for any other and that the causespecific responsiveness of giving to changes in price and income is equal across those causes.\ud If this assumption is violated, then estimates may be biased and policies designed to increase charitable contributions may be sub-optimal. Results suggest that the tax-price of giving only affects giving to religious organisations and that the income effect is invariant over charitable\ud causes.

Published
2010

32. Charitable giving for overseas development: UK trends over a quarter century

Author

Atkinson, Tony, Backus, Peter G., Micklewright, John, Pharoah, Cathy, and Schnepf, Sylke Viola

Abstract

Charitable giving for overseas development and emergency relief is important in the UK, being about a quarter of the size of government development aid. There has been a strong growth over time, reflecting the activities of development charities and the public response to a series of humanitarian emergencies. This paper examines how individual overseas giving has changed over the quarter century since 1978, using a newly constructed panel data set on donations to individual UK charities. When did the increase take place? Did the public respond to events such as Live Aid? Or has there been a steady upward trend as our society became more globalised? What form did the increase in giving take? Which charities have grown fastest? Have new charities displaced old? How do changes in giving for overseas compare with changes in giving for other causes such as cancer relief or animal welfare? What, if any, is the relation with Official Development Assistance?

Published
2008

33. Charitable giving for overseas development: UK trends over a quarter century

Author

Atkinson, Anthony B., Backus, Peter G., Micklewright, John, Pharoah, Cathy, and Schnepf, Sylke Viola

Subjects
overseas development, Charitable giving, ddc:330, Katastrophenhilfe, D12, Entwicklungsorganisation, philanthropy, Großbritannien, UK, Entwicklungshilfe, Wohltätigkeit
Abstract

Charitable giving for overseas development and emergency relief is important in the UK, being about a quarter of the size of government development aid. There has been a strong growth over time, reflecting the activities of development charities and the public response to a series of humanitarian emergencies. This paper examines how individual overseas giving has changed over the quarter century since 1978, using a newly constructed panel data set on donations to individual UK charities. When did the increase take place? Did the public respond to events such as Live Aid? Or has there been a steady upward trend as our society became more globalised? What form did the increase in giving take? Which charities have grown fastest? Have new charities displaced old? How do changes in giving for overseas compare with changes in giving for other causes such as cancer relief or animal welfare? What, if any, is the relation with Official Development Assistance?

Published
2008

37. Real-Time Beamforming Using High-Speed FPGAs at the Allen Telescope Array

Author

barottw, Barott, William C., Milgrome, Oren, Wright, Melvyn, MacMahon, David, Kilsdonk, Tom, Backus, Peter, Dexter, Matt, barottw, Barott, William C., Milgrome, Oren, Wright, Melvyn, MacMahon, David, Kilsdonk, Tom, Backus, Peter, and Dexter, Matt

Abstract

The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO) is a wide‐field panchromatic radio telescope currently consisting of 42 offset‐Gregorian antennas each with a 6 m aperture, with plans to expand the array to 350 antennas. Through unique back‐end hardware, the ATA performs real‐time wideband beamforming with independent subarray capabilities and customizable beam shaping. The beamformers enable science observations requiring the full gain of the array, time domain (nonintegrated) output, and interference excision or orthogonal beamsets. In this paper we report on the design of this beamformer, including architecture and experimental results. Furthermore, we address some practical considerations in large‐N wideband beamformers implemented on field programmable gate array platforms, including device utilization, methods of calibration and control, and interchip synchronization.

Published
2011

38. A reappraisal of the habitability of planets around M dwarf stars

Author

Tarter, Jill C., Backus, Peter R., Mancinelli, Rocco L., Aurnou, Jonathan M., Backman, Dana E., Basri, Gibor S., Boss, Alan P., Clarke, Andrew, Deming, Drake, Doyle, Laurance R., Feigelson, Eric D., Freund, Friedmann, Grinspoon, David H., Haberle, Robert M., Hauck, Steven A., Heath, Martin J., Henry, Todd J., Hollingsworth, Jeffery L., Joshi, Manoj M., Kilston, Steven, Liu, Michael C., Meikle, Eric, Reid, I. Neill, Rothschild, Lynn J., Scalo, John, Segura, Antigona, Tang, Carol M., Tiedje, James M., Turnbull, Margaret C., Walkowicz, Lucianne M., Weber, Arthur L., Young, Richard E., Tarter, Jill C., Backus, Peter R., Mancinelli, Rocco L., Aurnou, Jonathan M., Backman, Dana E., Basri, Gibor S., Boss, Alan P., Clarke, Andrew, Deming, Drake, Doyle, Laurance R., Feigelson, Eric D., Freund, Friedmann, Grinspoon, David H., Haberle, Robert M., Hauck, Steven A., Heath, Martin J., Henry, Todd J., Hollingsworth, Jeffery L., Joshi, Manoj M., Kilston, Steven, Liu, Michael C., Meikle, Eric, Reid, I. Neill, Rothschild, Lynn J., Scalo, John, Segura, Antigona, Tang, Carol M., Tiedje, James M., Turnbull, Margaret C., Walkowicz, Lucianne M., Weber, Arthur L., and Young, Richard E.

Abstract

Stable, hydrogen-burning, M dwarf stars make up about 75% of all stars in the Galaxy. They are extremely long-lived, and because they are much smaller in mass than the Sun (between 0.5 and 0.08 M-sun), their temperature and stellar luminosity are low and peaked in the red. We have re-examined what is known at present about the potential for a terrestrial planet forming within, or migrating into, the classic liquid-surface-water habitable zone close to an M dwarf star. Observations of protoplanetary disks suggest that planet-building materials are common around M dwarfs, but N-body simulations differ in their estimations of the likelihood of potentially habitable, wet planets that reside within their habitable zones, which are only about one-fifth to 1/50(th) of the width of that for a G star. Particularly in light of the claimed detection of the planets with masses as small as 5.5 and 7.5 M-Earth orbiting M stars, there seems no reason to exclude the possibility of terrestrial planets. Tidally locked synchronous rotation within the narrow habitable zone does not necessarily lead to atmospheric collapse, and active stellar flaring may not be as much of an evolutionarily disadvantageous factor as has previously been supposed. We conclude that M dwarf stars may indeed be viable hosts for planets on which the origin and evolution of life can occur. A number of planetary processes such as cessation of geother mal activity or thermal and nonthermal atmospheric loss processes may limit the duration of planetary habitability to periods far shorter than the extreme lifetime of the M dwarf star. Nevertheless, it makes sense to include M dwarf stars in programs that seek to find habitable worlds and evidence of life. This paper presents the summary conclusions of an interdisciplinary workshop (http://mstars.seti.org) sponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and convened at the SETI Institute.

Published
2007

42. LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Observation Campaign: Strategies, Implementation, and Lessons Learned

Author

Heldmann, Jennifer L., primary, Colaprete, Anthony, additional, Wooden, Diane H., additional, Ackermann, Robert F., additional, Acton, David D., additional, Backus, Peter R., additional, Bailey, Vanessa, additional, Ball, Jesse G., additional, Barott, William C., additional, Blair, Samantha K., additional, Buie, Marc W., additional, Callahan, Shawn, additional, Chanover, Nancy J., additional, Choi, Young-Jun, additional, Conrad, Al, additional, Coulson, Dolores M., additional, Crawford, Kirk B., additional, DeHart, Russell, additional, de Pater, Imke, additional, Disanti, Michael, additional, Forster, James R., additional, Furusho, Reiko, additional, Fuse, Tetsuharu, additional, Geballe, Tom, additional, Gibson, J. Duane, additional, Goldstein, David, additional, Gregory, Stephen A., additional, Gutierrez, David J., additional, Hamilton, Ryan T., additional, Hamura, Taiga, additional, Harker, David E., additional, Harp, Gerry R., additional, Haruyama, Junichi, additional, Hastie, Morag, additional, Hayano, Yutaka, additional, Hinz, Phillip, additional, Hong, Peng K., additional, James, Steven P., additional, Kadono, Toshihiko, additional, Kawakita, Hideyo, additional, Kelley, Michael S., additional, Kim, Daryl L., additional, Kurosawa, Kosuke, additional, Lee, Duk-Hang, additional, Long, Michael, additional, Lucey, Paul G., additional, Marach, Keith, additional, Matulonis, Anthony C., additional, McDermid, Richard M., additional, McMillan, Russet, additional, Miller, Charles, additional, Moon, Hong-Kyu, additional, Nakamura, Ryosuke, additional, Noda, Hirotomo, additional, Okamura, Natsuko, additional, Ong, Lawrence, additional, Porter, Dallan, additional, Puschell, Jeffery J., additional, Rayner, John T., additional, Rembold, J. Jedadiah, additional, Roth, Katherine C., additional, Rudy, Richard J., additional, Russell, Ray W., additional, Ryan, Eileen V., additional, Ryan, William H., additional, Sekiguchi, Tomohiko, additional, Sekine, Yasuhito, additional, Skinner, Mark A., additional, Sôma, Mitsuru, additional, Stephens, Andrew W., additional, Storrs, Alex, additional, Suggs, Robert M., additional, Sugita, Seiji, additional, Sung, Eon-Chang, additional, Takatoh, Naruhisa, additional, Tarter, Jill C., additional, Taylor, Scott M., additional, Terada, Hiroshi, additional, Trujillo, Chadwick J., additional, Vaitheeswaran, Vidhya, additional, Vilas, Faith, additional, Walls, Brian D., additional, Watanabe, Jun-ihi, additional, Welch, William J., additional, Woodward, Charles E., additional, Yim, Hong-Suh, additional, and Young, Eliot F., additional

Published
2011
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44. THE ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY Pi GHz SKY SURVEY. I. SURVEY DESCRIPTION AND STATIC CATALOG RESULTS FOR THE BOÖTES FIELD

Author

Bower, Geoffrey C., primary, Croft, Steve, additional, Keating, Garrett, additional, Whysong, David, additional, Ackermann, Rob, additional, Atkinson, Shannon, additional, Backer, Don, additional, Backus, Peter, additional, Barott, Billy, additional, Bauermeister, Amber, additional, Blitz, Leo, additional, Bock, Douglas, additional, Bradford, Tucker, additional, Cheng, Calvin, additional, Cork, Chris, additional, Davis, Mike, additional, DeBoer, Dave, additional, Dexter, Matt, additional, Dreher, John, additional, Engargiola, Greg, additional, Fields, Ed, additional, Fleming, Matt, additional, James Forster, R., additional, Gutierrez-Kraybill, Colby, additional, Harp, G. R., additional, Heiles, Carl, additional, Helfer, Tamara, additional, Hull, Chat, additional, Jordan, Jane, additional, Jorgensen, Susanne, additional, Kilsdonk, Tom, additional, Law, Casey, additional, van Leeuwen, Joeri, additional, Lugten, John, additional, MacMahon, Dave, additional, McMahon, Peter, additional, Milgrome, Oren, additional, Pierson, Tom, additional, Randall, Karen, additional, Ross, John, additional, Shostak, Seth, additional, Siemion, Andrew, additional, Smolek, Ken, additional, Tarter, Jill, additional, Thornton, Douglas, additional, Urry, Lynn, additional, Vitouchkine, Artyom, additional, Wadefalk, Niklas, additional, Weinreb, Sandy, additional, Welch, Jack, additional, Werthimer, Dan, additional, Williams, Peter K. G., additional, and Wright, Melvyn, additional

Published
2010
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45. ERRATUM: “THE ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY TWENTY-CENTIMETER SURVEY—A 690 DEG2, 12 EPOCH RADIO DATA SET. I. CATALOG AND LONG-DURATION TRANSIENT STATISTICS” (2010, ApJ, 719, 45)

Author

Croft, Steve, primary, Bower, Geoffrey C., additional, Ackermann, Rob, additional, Atkinson, Shannon, additional, Backer, Don, additional, Backus, Peter, additional, Barott, William C., additional, Bauermeister, Amber, additional, Blitz, Leo, additional, Bock, Douglas, additional, Bradford, Tucker, additional, Cheng, Calvin, additional, Cork, Chris, additional, Davis, Mike, additional, DeBoer, Dave, additional, Dexter, Matt, additional, Dreher, John, additional, Engargiola, Greg, additional, Fields, Ed, additional, Fleming, Matt, additional, Forster, James R., additional, Gutierrez-Kraybill, Colby, additional, Harp, Gerry, additional, Helfer, Tamara, additional, Hull, Chat, additional, Jordan, Jane, additional, Jorgensen, Susanne, additional, Keating, Garrett, additional, Kilsdonk, Tom, additional, Law, Casey, additional, van Leeuwen, Joeri, additional, Lugten, John, additional, MacMahon, Dave, additional, McMahon, Peter, additional, Milgrome, Oren, additional, Pierson, Tom, additional, Randall, Karen, additional, Ross, John, additional, Shostak, Seth, additional, Siemion, Andrew, additional, Smolek, Ken, additional, Tarter, Jill, additional, Thornton, Douglas, additional, Urry, Lynn, additional, Vitouchkine, Artyom, additional, Wadefalk, Niklas, additional, Welch, Jack, additional, Werthimer, Dan, additional, Whysong, David, additional, Williams, Peter K. G., additional, and Wright, Melvyn, additional

Published
2010
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46. THE ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY TWENTY-CENTIMETER SURVEY—A 690 DEG2, 12 EPOCH RADIO DATA SET. I. CATALOG AND LONG-DURATION TRANSIENT STATISTICS

Author

Croft, Steve, primary, Bower, Geoffrey C., additional, Ackermann, Rob, additional, Atkinson, Shannon, additional, Backer, Don, additional, Backus, Peter, additional, Barott, William C., additional, Bauermeister, Amber, additional, Blitz, Leo, additional, Bock, Douglas, additional, Bradford, Tucker, additional, Cheng, Calvin, additional, Cork, Chris, additional, Davis, Mike, additional, DeBoer, Dave, additional, Dexter, Matt, additional, Dreher, John, additional, Engargiola, Greg, additional, Fields, Ed, additional, Fleming, Matt, additional, Forster, James R., additional, Gutierrez-Kraybill, Colby, additional, Harp, Gerry, additional, Helfer, Tamara, additional, Hull, Chat, additional, Jordan, Jane, additional, Jorgensen, Susanne, additional, Keating, Garrett, additional, Kilsdonk, Tom, additional, Law, Casey, additional, van Leeuwen, Joeri, additional, Lugten, John, additional, MacMahon, Dave, additional, McMahon, Peter, additional, Milgrome, Oren, additional, Pierson, Tom, additional, Randall, Karen, additional, Ross, John, additional, Shostak, Seth, additional, Siemion, Andrew, additional, Smolek, Ken, additional, Tarter, Jill, additional, Thornton, Douglas, additional, Urry, Lynn, additional, Vitouchkine, Artyom, additional, Wadefalk, Niklas, additional, Welch, Jack, additional, Werthimer, Dan, additional, Whysong, David, additional, Williams, Peter K. G., additional, and Wright, Melvyn, additional

Published
2010
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47. The Allen Telescope Array: The First Widefield, Panchromatic, Snapshot Radio Camera

Author

van Leeuwen, Joeri, primary, Blitz, Leo, additional, Bock, Douglas, additional, Backer, Don, additional, Bauermeister, Amber, additional, Bower, Geoffrey C., additional, Cheng, Calvin, additional, Croft, Steve D., additional, Dexter, Matt, additional, Engargiola, Greg, additional, Fields, Ed, additional, Forster, Rick, additional, Gutierrez-Kraybill, Colby, additional, Heiles, Carl, additional, Helfer, Tamara, additional, Jorgensen, Susan, additional, Keating, Garrett, additional, Law, Casey, additional, Lugten, John, additional, MacMahon, Dave, additional, Milgrome, Oren, additional, Thornton, Douglas, additional, Urry, Lynn, additional, Welch, Jack, additional, Werthimer, Dan, additional, Williams, Peter, additional, Wright, Melvin, additional, Ackermann, Robert, additional, Atkinson, Shannon, additional, Backus, Peter, additional, Barott, William, additional, Bradford, Tucker, additional, Davis, Michael, additional, DeBoer, Dave, additional, Dreher, John, additional, Harp, Gerry, additional, Jordan, Jane, additional, Kilsdonk, Tom, additional, Pierson, Tom, additional, Randall, Karen, additional, Ross, John, additional, Shostak, Seth, additional, and Tarter, Jill, additional

Published
2010
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48. The Allen Telescope Array: The First Widefield, Panchromatic, Snapshot Radio Camera for Radio Astronomy and SETI

Author

Welch, Jack, primary, Backer, Don, additional, Blitz, Leo, additional, Bock, Douglas C.-J., additional, Bower, Geoffrey C., additional, Cheng, Calvin, additional, Croft, Steve, additional, Dexter, Matt, additional, Engargiola, Greg, additional, Fields, Ed, additional, Forster, James, additional, Gutierrez-Kraybill, Colby, additional, Heiles, Carl, additional, Helfer, Tamara, additional, Jorgensen, Susanne, additional, Keating, Garrett, additional, Lugten, John, additional, MacMahon, Dave, additional, Milgrome, Oren, additional, Thornton, Douglas, additional, Urry, Lynn, additional, van Leeuwen, Joeri, additional, Werthimer, Dan, additional, Williams, Peter H., additional, Wright, Melvin, additional, Tarter, Jill, additional, Ackermann, Robert, additional, Atkinson, Shannon, additional, Backus, Peter, additional, Barott, William, additional, Bradford, Tucker, additional, Davis, Michael, additional, DeBoer, Dave, additional, Dreher, John, additional, Harp, Gerry, additional, Jordan, Jane, additional, Kilsdonk, Tom, additional, Pierson, Tom, additional, Randall, Karen, additional, Ross, John, additional, Shostak, Seth, additional, Fleming, Matt, additional, Cork, Chris, additional, Vitouchkine, Artyom, additional, Wadefalk, Niklas, additional, and Weinreb, Sander, additional

Published
2009
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50. Unofficial Development Assistance: A Model of Development Charities' Donation Income.

Author

Arulampalam, Wiji, Backus, Peter G., and Micklewright, John

Subjects
CHARITIES, INCOME, ELASTICITY (Economics), PUBLIC spending, ECONOMIC development, FUNDRAISING
Abstract

The empirical literature on the determinants of charities' donation income, distinguishing the charitable cause, is small. We consider the case of development charities specifically. Using a panel covering a quarter of a century, we observe a strong fundraising effect and a unitary household income elasticity. We find evidence that the conventionally identified 'price' effect may simply be the product of omitted variable bias. Our results further suggest that public spending on development crowds in private donations for development. We find a positive spillover effect of fundraising, suggesting the efforts of one development charity may increase contributions to other development charities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2015
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