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For many applications, including space applications, the usability and performance of a component is dependent on the surface topology of the additively manufactured part. The purpose of this paper is to present an investigation into minimizing the residual surface roughness of direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) samples by manipulating the input process parameters.

First, the ability to manipulate surface roughness by modifying processing parameters was explored. Next, the surface topography was characterized to quantify roughness. Finally, microthruster nozzles were created both additively and conventionally for flow testing and comparison.

Surface roughness of DMLS samples was found to be highly dependent on the laser power and scan speed. Because of unintended partially sintered particles adhering to the surface, a localized laser fluence mechanism was explored. Experimental results show that surface roughness is influenced by the varied parameters but is not a completely fluence driven process; therefore, a relationship between laser fluence and surface roughness can be incorporated but not completely assumed.

This paper serves as an aid in understanding the importance of surface roughness and the mechanisms associated with DMLS. Rather than exploring a more common global energy density, a localized laser fluence was initiated. Moreover, the methodology and conclusions can be used when optimizing parts via metal additive manufacturing.

The purpose of this study is to examine the bi-directional causality between political uncertainty and the market risk premium in the US.

I use a theoretical model to motivate signs and then check signs based on a vector autoregression.

I find that political uncertainty has a small positive, delayed effect on the market risk premium. The market risk premium, on the other hand, has a large permanent, negative effect on political uncertainty.

This is the first research paper to consider the bi-directional effects of political uncertainty on the market risk premium and vice versa. It also finds interesting empirical results.

The widely accepted view that global warming is man‐made and largely due to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been disputed in a powerful and closely argued “critique” reviewed here, including some retraction by James Lovelock. Attention is drawn to a new online video on the life and contributions of the economist Adam Smith, and to development of the smallest‐ever diamond transistor. The death of the experimental psychologist Richard Gregory is reported.

The aim is to review developments on the internet, especially those of general cybernetic interest.

The main finding is that currently accepted views of anthropomorphic global warming are subject to serious doubt.

It seems likely that the “greenhouse” effect of carbon dioxide can be discounted, allowing major revisions of energy policy and increased exploitation of fossil fuel resources, though with attention also to renewable sources that will be needed when the fossil fuels run out. The diamond transistor will eventually allow increase in speed in digital devices.

It is hoped this is a valuable periodic review.

This article presents a generalized approach to pricing risk in markets that are subject to information asymmetries. Asymmetric information can result in prohibitive trading costs and prevent the otherwise mutually beneficial exchange of risk. When dealing with risks typically transferred outside the capital markets, the problem of asymmetric information is even more pronounced than with financial risks, even risks priced in less liquid financial markets. A product that immunizes a client against a certain business or insurance event represents a challenge for pricing, as the client has superior information about the risks faced. The authors propose that in an incomplete market, the efficient solution is a dual‐triggered, contingent contract based on “indifference pricing” (i.e. reservation price) of residual variance.

The examination of the differential effects of bailout legislation on well‐capitalized versus under‐capitalized thrifts is the focus of this study. The study examines return responses for portfolios of thrift stocks, formed on the basis of capitalization, to news events concerning bailout funding leading up to and concluding with the President's signing of the Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987 (CEBA). The results indicate thrifts react differently to legislative news events based on their capitalization levels. This is evidenced by 1) the presence of abnormal returns for portfolios of relatively well‐capitalized and relatively under‐capitalized thrifts, 2) the trends in the size of abnormal returns across well‐capitalized (under‐capitalized) portfolios as the average level of capitalization decreases (increases), and 3) the opposite signs of abnormal returns for relatively well‐capitalized versus relatively under‐capitalized portfolios.

Findings and good practice are reported from a project promoting engagement of PCTs with the health experiences of people with learning disabilities. Project work was most successful where it linked into mainstream NHS priorities, using good information and specialists' expertise to support mainstream practitioners.

The pride of bibliography is its service to research. It is itself laborious, often pedestrian, a mechanical recording of details or a summarizing of the works of others; but it is an essential tool in the advancement of knowledge, becoming even more necessary as knowledge is multiplied and increasingly specialized.

Research in the area of competence suggests that familiarity with a domain affects decision making. We extend Heath and Tversky's (1991) competence hypothesis research by examining the following propositions: (1) competence increases the propensity to take credit for success and place blame for failure, and (2) professional accountants' feelings of competence can be altered, as measured by the propensity to take credit for success and place blame for failure, by calling attention to what others know relative to what they know. Participants in the experimental study were accountants with varying levels of tax experience. Results indicated that more competent participants took more credit for being right, and placed more blame externally for being wrong, than did less competent participants. Also, participants who were told about an applicable tax regulation that was not available during the experiment took more blame for being wrong, suggesting that competence is affected by features of the context in which professional tasks are performed.