Digital Commons Network^™

Information Technology Certification Value: An Initial Response From Employers, David Wiershem, Guoying Zhang, Charles R. Johnston

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This article looks at the value of certification from the employer's perspective. It is perhaps the first study in this area that gathers data directly from employers. A survey of directors of university information technology departments is analyzed, and the results indicate limited support for certifications being valued assets of their employees. While not sufficiently strong enough to warrant generalization of the results to business in general, with this information, students and professionals should be able to better prepare themselves for finding employment and academic programs can better evaluate the appropriateness of the inclusion of certification training in their curricula.

Vowel Recognition From Continuous Articulatory Movements For Speaker-Dependent Applications, Jun Wang, Jordan R. Green, Ashok Samal, Tom D. Carrell

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

A novel approach was developed to recognize vowels from continuous tongue and lip movements. Vowels were classified based on movement patterns (rather than on derived articulatory features, e.g., lip opening) using a machine learning approach. Recognition accuracy on a single-speaker dataset was 94.02% with a very short latency. Recognition accuracy was better for high vowels than for low vowels. This finding parallels previous empirical findings on tongue movements during vowels. The recognition algorithm was then used to drive an articulation-to-acoustics synthesizer. The synthesizer recognizes vowels from continuous input stream of tongue and lip movements and plays the corresponding sound samples …

Improved Arene Fluorination Methodology For I(Iii) Salts, Bijia Wang, Linlin Qin, Kiel D. Neumann, Shriharsha Uppaluri, Ronald Cerny, Stephen G. Dimagno

Ronald Cerny Publications

The use of low polarity aromatic solvents (benzene or toluene) and/or the removal of inorganic salts results in dramatically improved yields of fluorinated arenes from diaryliodonium salts. This methodology is shown to “scale down” to the conditions used typically for radiotracer synthesis.

Concave Cubic Gold Nanocrystals With High-Index Facets, Jian Zhang, Mark R. Langille, Michelle L. Personick, Ke Zhang, Shuyou Li, Chad A. Mirkin

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

A new class of gold nanostructures, concave nanocubes, enclosed by 24 high-index {720} facets, have been prepared in a monodisperse fashion by a modified seed-mediated synthetic method. The Cl− counterion in the surfactant plays an essential role in controlling the concave morphology of the final product. The concave nanocubes exhibit higher chemical activities compared with low-index {111}-faceted octahedra.

Includes Supporting Information.

Corrosion Of Steel Shipwrecks In The Marine Environment: Uss Arizona—Part 2, Donald L. Johnson, Brent M. Wilson, James D. Carr, Matthew A. Russell, Larry E. Murphy, David L. Conlin

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

This article is a continuation of Part 1 (October 2006 MP) on the USS Arizona hull. It discusses additional methods being investigated for use in determining corrosion rates with a minimal impact on the existing structure. Marine biofouling (concretion) has accumulated on the hull. Concretion samples have been studied using x-ray diffraction, environmental electron microscopy, and corrosion potential (E_corr) to characterize the relationship between concretion and the steel substrate. The data presented in this study confirm the viability of concretion analysis as a minimum-impact procedure to estimate the corrosion rate of mild steel in seawater.

Corrosion Of Civil War Era Sub Marine Explorer—Part 2, Donald L. Johnson, James D. Carr, Brent M. Wilson, Larry E. Murphy, James P. Delgado

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

The Sub Marine Explorer was designed and built by Julius H. Kroehl, who was born in Prussia in 1820. After migrating to the United States in 1838 and becoming a citizen, he served in the Union Navy (United States Navy during the Civil War) as an underwater demolitions expert. He left the Navy in 1863 and began designing a “sub-marine” that would facilitate Union forces’ mine removal and obstruction clearance. At the end of the Civil War, he became an engineer for the Pacific Pearl Co., an organization interested in using the craft to recover pearls from deep sea oyster …

Corrosion Of Civil War Era Sub Marine Explorer—Part 1, Donald L. Johnson, James D. Carr, Brent M. Wilson, Larry E. Murphy, James P. Delgado

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

The Sub Marine Explorer is one of five submersibles (submarines) constructed prior to 1870 that have survived either in museums or as in situ archaeological sites around the world. Since 1869, the wreck of Explorer has emerged at low tide on the beach of Isla San Telmo, Archipiélago de las Perlas, Panama, located ~75 km southwest of Panama City in the Bay of Panama. In 2001, James Delgado visited the site. Locals described the wreck as a World War II-era Japanese midget submarine. Delgado consulted with Richard Wills, an expert on American Civil War submarines, and confirmed that the well-preserved …

Method For Monitoring The Stereoselectivity And Relative Rate Of Organic Chemical Reactions, David R. Berkowitz, Sangeeta Dey, Kannan R. Karukurichi, Weijun Shen

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

A method for monitoring the stereoselectivity of at least one organic chemical reaction and the relative rate of at least one organic chemical reaction, wherein the reaction produces a product that can exist as at least two stereoisomers, is provided herein. Also disclosed are methods for identifying and preparing catalysts for the above reactions.

Regiospecific Reductive Elimination From Diaryliodonium Salts, Bijia Wang, Joseph W. Graskemper, Linlin Qin, Stephen G. Dimagno

Stephen DiMagno Papers

StereoElectronic Control of Unidirectional Reductive Elimination (SECURE) is provided by the cyclophane substituent on iodine(III). Computational and experimental studies demonstrate that out of plane steric bulk strongly destabilizes the reductive elimination transition state, and leads to regiochemical control. This approach should be general for high valent main group and transition metal ions.

Ni Doping Of Semiconducting Boron Carbide, Nina Hong, Marjorie Langell, Jing Liu, Orhan Kizilkaya, Shireen Adenwalla

Marjorie A. Langell Publications

The wide band gap, temperature stability, high resistivity, and robustness of semiconducting boron carbide make it an attractive material for device applications. Undoped boron carbide is p type; Ni acts as a n-type dopant. Here we present the results of controlled doping of boron carbide with Ni on thin film samples grown using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The change in the dopant concentration within the thin film as a function of the dopant flow rate in the precursor gas mixture was confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements; with increasing dopant concentration, current-voltage (I-V) curves clearly establish the trend from …

The Philosophical Foundations Of A Radical Austrian Approach To Entrepreneurship, Todd H. Chiles, Denise M. Vultee, Vishal K. Gupta, Daniel W. Greening, Chris S. Tuggle

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The equilibrium-based approaches that dominate entrepreneurship research offer useful insights into some aspects of entrepreneurship, but they ignore or downplay many fundamental entrepreneurial phenomena such as individuals’ creative imaginations, firms’ resource (re)combinations, and markets’ disequilibrating tendencies—and the genuine uncertainty and widespread heterogeneity these imply. To overcome these limitations, scholars have recently introduced a nonequilibrium approach to entrepreneurship based on Ludwig Lachmann’s “radical subjectivist” brand of Austrian economics. Here, this radical Austrian approach is extended beyond Lachmann to include the work of radical subjectivism’s other noted theorist: George Shackle. More important, the article extends entrepreneurship research by systematically comparing and contrasting …

Semiclassical Complex-Time Method For Tunneling Ionization: Molecular Suppression And Orientational Dependence, Gordon A. Gallup, Ilya I. Fabrikant

Gordon Gallup Publications

We apply a previously developed semiclassical complex time method to the calculation of tunneling ionization of several diatomic molecules and CO₂.We investigate the presence or absence of the molecular suppression effect by calculating ionization rates of N₂ versus Ar, O₂ versus Xe, F₂ versus Ar, and CO versus Kr. Comparisons with other theories, including the molecular-orbital-Ammosov-Delone-Krainov (MO-ADK) model and the strong-field approximation, are given. We also analyze the dependence of the ionization rate on the angle θ_F between the molecular axis and the field direction. The theoretical results agree quite well with experiment for …

A Low-Voltage Retarding-Field Mott Polarimeter For Photocathode Characterization, J.L. Mccarter, M.L. Stutzman, K.W. Trantham, Timothy G. Anderson, A.M. Cook, Timothy J. Gay

Timothy J. Gay Publications

Nuclear physics experiments at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility’s CEBAF rely on high polarization electron beams. We describe a recently commissioned system for prequalifying and studying photocathodes for CEBAF with a load-locked, low-voltage polarized electron source coupled to a compact retarding-field Mott polarimeter. The polarimeter uses simplified electrode structures and operates from 5 to 30 kV. The effective Sherman function for this device has been calibrated by comparison with the CEBAF 5 MeV Mott polarimeter. For elastic scattering from a thick gold target at 20 keV, the effective Sherman function is 0.201(5). Its maximum efficiency at 20 keV, defined as …

Electron-Spin-Reversal Phenomenon In Optically Pumped Rubidium, E. B. Norrgard, D. Tupa, J. M. Dreiling, Timothy J. Gay

Timothy J. Gay Publications

We have studied the optical pumping of mixtures of Rb vapor and N2 buffer gas by laser light tuned to the D₁ transition having a spectral width of ∼500 MHz. The Rb densities are of the order of 10¹³ cm⁻³, while the buffer-gas pressures range from 0.1 to 10 torr. As the frequency of the right-hand circularly polarized laser is varied across the D₁ absorption profile, the electron spin polarization of the Rb is found to take on negative values for small negative values of pump detuning from the absorption profile center. This occurs for …

Submillimeter-Resolution Radiography Of Shielded Structures With Laser-Accelerated Electron Beams, Viswanathan Ramanathan, Sudeep Banerjee, Nathan D. Powers, Nathaniel Cunningham, Nathan A. Chandler-Smith, Kun Zhao, Kevin J. Brown, Donald Umstadter, Shaun Clarke, Sara Pozzi, James Beene, Randy Vane, David Schultz

Donald Umstadter Publications

We investigate the use of energetic electron beams for high-resolution radiography of flaws embedded in thick solid objects. A bright, monoenergetic electron beam (with energy >100 MeV) was generated by the process of laser-wakefield acceleration through the interaction of 50-TW, 30-fs laser pulses with a supersonic helium jet. The high energy, low divergence, and small source size of these beams make them ideal for high-resolution radiographic studies of cracks or voids embedded in dense materials that are placed at a large distance from the source. We report radiographic imaging of steel with submillimeter resolution.

Seroprevalence Of Equine Influenza Virus In Northeast And Southern Mexico, B. J. Blitvich, L. A. Ibarra-Juarez, A. J. Cortes-Guzman, J. J. Root, A. B. Franklin, H. J. Sullivan, I. Fernandez-Salas

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

EQUINE influenza A virus (EIV) is a highly infectious respiratory pathogen of horses (Hannant and Mumford 1996, Palese and Shaw 2007). The illness is characterized by an abrupt onset of fever, depression, coughing and nasal discharge, and is often complicated by secondary bacterial infections that can lead to pneumonia and death. Two subtypes of EIV, H3N8 and H7N7, have been isolated. The H7N7 subtype was first isolated from a horse in Czechoslovakia in 1956 (Prague/56), and the H3N8 subtype was first isolated from a horse in Miami in 1963 (Sovinova and others 1958, Waddell and others 1963). The last confirmed …

Temporal Variation In Terrestrial Invertebrate Consumption By Laughing Gulls In New York, Glen E. Bernhardt, Lisa Kutschbach-Brohl, Brian E. Washburn, Richard Chipman, Laura Francoeur

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Laughing gulls (Larus atricilla) are commonly found in many areas of North America and little is known about their diet, particularly in coastal-urban interfaces where gull-aircraft collisions can be a serious concern. The objective of this study was to describe and quantify the consumption of terrestrial invertebrates by laughing gulls at a coastal-urban interface in the northeastern United States. We examined the stomach contents of laughing gulls (n = 1053) collected during wildlife damage management operations at John F. Kennedy International Airport during the summers of 2003 and 2004. Terrestrial invertebrates consumed by laughing gulls represented 2 taxonomic …

Cold Weather And The Potential Range Of Invasive Burmese Pythons, Michael L. Avery, Richard M. Engeman, Kandy L. Keacher, John S. Humphrey, William E. Bruce, Tom C. Mathies, Richard E. Mauldin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) is established in Everglades National Park and neighboring areas in south Florida. Beyond its substantial ecological impacts to native fauna in south Florida, concerns have been raised as to its potential to occupy other parts of the USA, even as far north as Washington, DC. During a recent period of cold weather, seven of nine captive Burmese pythons held in outdoor pens at our facility in north-central Florida died, or would have died absent our intervention. This cold-induced mortality occurred despite the presence of refugia with heat sources. Our findings cast doubt …

Importance Of Resource Selection And Social Behavior To Partitioning Of Hostile Space By Sympatric Canids, Todd Atwood, Eric Gese

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Investigations into mechanisms of resource partitioning are particularly suited to systems where nascent interactive behaviors are observable. Wolf (Canis lupus) recolonization of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem provided such a system, and we were able to identify behaviors influencing the partitioning of resources by coyotes (Canis latrans) and wolves. We observed coyote–wolf interactions immediately after wolf recolonization, when reemergent behaviors mediating the outcome of competitive interactions were detectable and mechanisms of spatial avoidance were identifiable. Although coyotes used the same space as wolves, they likely minimized risk of encounter by making adaptive changes in resource selection based …

Using A Cost-Effectiveness Model To Determine The Applicability Of Ovocontrol G To Manage Nuisance Canada Geese, Joe Caudell, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Michael Slater

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

OvoControl G is a relatively new product that reduces hatchability of Canada goose (Branta canadensis) eggs, and few data are available on its cost effectiveness. Variables such as presence of nontargets, alternative foods, and public support can affect cost efficacy. We present a model that uses these and other factors to estimate the cost of application of OvoControl G for managing nuisance Canada geese. We found that at low goose densities (<35 pairs of geese), fixed labor was a significant portion of costs. As goose densities increase, OvoControl G becomes more cost effective than other methods, such as egg oiling or addling. Managers can use this model to determine whether OvoControl G will provide a successful and cost-effective treatment for population control of Canada geese in specific management areas.

Review Of Issues Concerning The Use Of Reproductive Inhibitors, With Particular Emphasis On Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflicts In North America, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Lowell A. Miller, Gary Killian, Christi A. Yoder

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

This manuscript provides an overview of past wildlife contraception efforts and discusses the current state of research. Two fertility control agents, an avian reproductive inhibitor containing the active ingredient nicarbazin and an immunocontraceptive vaccine, have received regulatory approval with the Environmental Protection Agency and are commercially available in the USA. OvoControl G Contraceptive Bait for Canada Geese and Ovo Control for pigeons are delivered as oral baits. An injectable immunocontraceptive vaccine (GonaCon Immunocontraceptive Vaccine) was registered with the Environmental Protection Agency for use in female white-tailed deer in September 2009. An injectable product (GonaCon Immunocontraceptive Vaccine) is registered for use …

Evaluation Of Harassment Of Migrating Double-Crested Cormorants To Limit Depredation On Selected Sport Fisheries In Michigan, Brian S. Dorr, Ashley Moerke, Michael Bur, Chuck Bassett, Tony Aderman, Dan Traynor, Russell D. Singleton, Peter H. Butchko, Jimmy D. Taylor Ii

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Diverse management techniques have been used to mitigate conflicts between humans and double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) including harassment methods supplemented by lethal take. In this study we evaluated impacts or programs to harass spring migrating cormorants on the walleye (Sander vitreus) fishery in Brevoort Lake and the yellow perch (Perca flavescens ) and walleye fisheries at Drummond Island. Cormorant foraging declined significantly (p < 0.05) at both locations subsequent to initiation of harassment programs. Overall harassment deteired 90% of cormorant foraging attempts while taking less than 6% lethally on average at each site. Yellow perch were a predominate prey item in number and biomass at both locations. Walleye made up a small proportion of the diet at both locations. However, both walleye and yellow perch abundance increased significantly (p<0.05) at Drummond Island. Walleye abundance at age 3 increased to record levels in 2008 following 3 years of cormorant management at Brevoort Lake. The estimated cormorant consumption of age 1 walleye in the absence of management at Brevoort Lake during 2005 would account for 55% of the record 2006 age 1 walleye population. These results support the hypothesis, that cormorant predation on spawning aggregations of sportfish was a significant mortality factor and cormorant management reduced sportfish mortality and increased abundance at both locations. Continuation of harassment programs and .fishery assessments will determine whether improvement of targeted sport fisheries through control of spring migrating cormorants is sustainable.

Management Effects On Breeding And Foraging Numbers And Movements Of Double-Crested Cormorants In The Les Cheneaux Islands, Lake Huron, Michigan, Brian S. Dorr, Tony Aderrnan, Peter H. Butchko, Scott C. Barras

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The yellow perch fishery of the Les Cheneaux Islands (LCl) region of Lake Huron, MI suffered a collapse in 2000, attributed in part to the increase of double-crested cormorants (Phalocrocorax auritus) in the region. A management program involving egg-oiling and lethal culling was initiated in 2004 to reduce cormorant foraging on yellow perch in the LC1. Counts of cormorant nests, nests oiled, cormorants culled, and aerial counts and telemetry surveys were used to evaluate management. Management contributed to a 74% reduction of cormorants on breeding colonies from 2004 to 2007. Cormorants used the LC1 area significantly more (P<0.05) than surrounding areas. Aerial counts of foraging cormorants declined significantly (P<0.05) over the entire survey area but not within the LCl proper. However, aerial counts of cormorants in the LCI were five-fold less than cormorant counts in the same area in 1995. Reduced cormorant numbers were attributed in part to the elimination of cormorant nesting on a large colony due to the introduction of raccoons. Although the numbers of cormorants using the LC1 did not decline, flocks were significantly smaller and more dispersed after management began. The reduced number of cormorants from 1995 levels and more dispersed foraging likely reduced predation on fish stocks including yellow perch in the LC1. Our findings indicate that the relationship between reduction in cormorant breeding numbers and reduced cormorant foraging in a given area is complex and may be influenced by density dependent factors such as intraspecific competition and quality of the forage base.

Jaguars, Livestock, And People In Brazil: Realities And Perceptions Behind The Conflict, Sandra C. Cavalcanti, Silvio Marchini, Alexandra Zimmermann, Eric M. Gese, David W. Macdonald

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest predator in the Neotropics and is arguably the most charismatic species for .conservation in Central and South America. Regrettably, the jaguar is also the carnivore that is least compatible with humans in twenty-first century Brazil. This fundamental incompatibility is due to the jaguar's need for abundant, large prey, as well as extensive, undisturbed habitat. Humans (also large, top predators) have competed directly with jaguars for food (i.e. native and domestic ungulates) for as long as they have coexisted (Jorgenson and Redford 1993), and lately threaten them directly and indirectly through deforestation …

Reproductive Biology Of Male Brown Treesnakes (Boiga Irregularis) On Guam, Tom Mathies, John A. Cruz, Valentine A. Lance, Julie A. Savidge

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Reproductive biology of males in the Guam population of the Brown Treesnake, Boiga irregularis, was investigated through monthly examinations of the urogenital system organs and plasma testosterone levels. All males examined during the 12 consecutive months of the study were spermatogenic and had sperm in the ductus epididymis and ductus deferens. No evidence of testicular recrudescence or regression was observed. Testis mass did not vary among months. Epithelial height of the kidney sexual segment was the only feature examined that varied significantly among months, with lowest heights observed in May through July. Despite this variation, the sexual segment in all …

Contraceptive Efficacy Of A Novel Intrauterine Device (Iud) In White-Tailed Deer, Karl D. Malcolm, Timothy R. Van Deelen, David Drake, Darrel J. Kesler, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Overabundant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) pose risks to property, health, and safety of human beings. Public concerns about lethal management can impair efforts to address these issues, particularly in urban settings. Several techniques developed for reducing reproductive output of deer have limited utility because they require repeated dosing to achieve permanent effect and face uncertain regulatory approval for use beyond experimentation. From 10 August 2006 through 30 December 2007, we evaluated the contraceptive efficacy of copper-containing intrauterine devices (IUDs) implanted trans-cervically in white-tailed deer at the E.S. George Reserve in Pinckney, Michigan. Intrauterine devices were implanted before (n …

Acetaminophen As An Oral Toxicant For Nile Monitor Lizards (Varanus Niloticus) And Burmese Pythons (Python Molurus Bivittatus), Richard E. Mauldin, Peter J. Savarie

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context. Invasive species are a growing global problem. Biological invasions can result in numerous harmful impacts on local ecologies, and non-native herpetofauna are frequently ignored. Nile monitor lizards (Varanus niloticus) and Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus, recently reassessed as Python bivittatus bivittatus), have become established in southern Florida. Both are large, semi-aquatic predators that pose serious threats to a variety of threatened and endangered species, as well as to the unique ecology of the area.

Aims. Acetaminophen (CAS#103-90-2), a lethal oral toxicant for the invasive brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) on Guam, was investigated …

Seeking A Second Opinion: Uncertainty In Disease Ecology, Brett T. Mcclintock, James D. Nichols, Larissa L. Bailey, Darryl I. Mackenzie, William. L. Kendall, Alan B. Franklin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Analytical methods accounting for imperfect detection are often used to facilitate reliable inference in population and community ecology. We contend that similar approaches are needed in disease ecology because these complicated systems are inherently difficult to observe without error. For example, wildlife disease studies often designate individuals, populations, or spatial units to states (e.g., susceptible, infected, post-infected), but the uncertainty associated with these state assignments remains largely ignored or unaccounted for. We demonstrate how recent developments incorporating observation error through repeated sampling extend quite naturally to hierarchical spatial models of disease effects, prevalence, and dynamics in natural systems. A highly …

A Silent Enzootic Of An Orthopoxvirus In Ghana, West Africa: Evidence For Multi-Species Involvement In The Absence Of Widespread Human Disease, Mary G. Reynolds, Darin S. Carroll, Victoria A. Olson, Christine Hughes, Jack Galley, Anna Likos, Joel M. Montgomery, Richard Suu-Ire, Mubarak O. Kwasi, J. Jeffrey Root, Zach Braden, Jason Abel, Cody Clemmons, Russell Regnery, Kevin Karem, Inger K. Damon

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Human monkeypox has never been reported in Ghana, but rodents captured in forested areas of southern Ghana were the source of the monkeypox virus introduced into the United States in 2003. Subsequent to the outbreak in the United States, 204 animals were collected from two commercial trapping sites in Ghana. Animal tissues were examined for the presence of orthopoxvirus (OPXV) DNA using a real-time polymerase chain reaction, and sera were assayed for antibodies against OPXV. Animals from five genera (Cricetomys , Graphiurus , Funiscirus, and Heliosciurus ) had antibodies against OPXV, and three genera (Cricetomys , Graphiurus …

All Anchors Are Not Created Equal: The Effects Of Per Diem Versus Lump Sum Requests On Pain And Suffering Awards, Bradley D. Mcauliff, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This experiment examined whether different quantifications of the same damage award request ($175,000 lump sum, $10/ hour, $240/day, $7300/month for 2 years) influenced pain and suffering awards compared to no damage award request. Jury-eligible community members (N = 180) read a simulated personal injury case in which defendant liability already had been determined. Awards were: (1) larger for the $10/hour and $175,000 conditions than the $7300/month and control conditions and (2) more variable for the $10/hour condition than the $7300/month and control conditions. No differences emerged on ratings of the parties, their attorneys, or the difficulty of picking a compensation …