Optoacoustic spectrometry for small solid and liquid samples

Imperial Users onl

Paying More for the American Dream IV: The Decline of Prime Mortgage Lending in Communities of Color

The financial crisis has led to significantly reduced access to mortgage credit for all borrowers and communities. In neighborhoods of color, however, where the foreclosure crisis has taken an especially severe toll, access to prime, conventional mortgage loans has declined precipitously -- to a much greater degree than in predominantly white neighborhoods. Families living in neighborhoods of color disproportionately lack access to affordable loans needed to purchase or improve their homes or to refinance their mortgage to secure a lower monthly payment. As this lack of access and the ongoing foreclosure crisis wreak havoc on communities of color, neighborhood rehabilitation efforts, includingsustainable loan modifications, are desperately needed to help families avert foreclosure and stay in their homes, and to prevent further destabilization of neighborhoods.This report focuses on changes in lending patterns in seven key metropolitan areas: Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; and Rochester, NY. It examines changes in the levels of prime, conventional home purchase and refinance mortgage lending in predominantly white communities and communities of color between 2006, the beginning of the foreclosure crisis, and 2008, the most recent year for which national mortgage lending data are available.The report also examines lending patterns for the four largest bank holding companies: Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. Finally, the report includes recommendations for federal policy reforms that would require financial institutions to issue credit responsibly and protect all communities, particularly communities of color, from abusive lending practices

Paying More for the American Dream - The Subprime Shakeout and Its Impact on Lower-Income and Minority Communities

A joint report by: California Reinvestment Coalition, Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, Empire Justice Center, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, Ohio Fair Lending Coalition, and Woodstock Institut

Paying More for the American Dream III: Promoting Responsible Lending to Lower-Income Communities and Communities of Color

This report analyzes 2007 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data and finds that, in low- and moderate-income communities, depositories with CRA obligations originate a far smaller share of higher-cost loans than lenders not subject to CRA. It also finds that lenders covered by CRA are much less likely to make higher-cost loans in communities of color than lenders not covered by CRA

Kinematics of the swimming of Spiroplasma

\emph{Spiroplasma} swimming is studied with a simple model based on resistive-force theory. Specifically, we consider a bacterium shaped in the form of a helix that propagates traveling-wave distortions which flip the handedness of the helical cell body. We treat cell length, pitch angle, kink velocity, and distance between kinks as parameters and calculate the swimming velocity that arises due to the distortions. We find that, for a fixed pitch angle, scaling collapses the swimming velocity (and the swimming efficiency) to a universal curve that depends only on the ratio of the distance between kinks to the cell length. Simultaneously optimizing the swimming efficiency with respect to inter-kink length and pitch angle, we find that the optimal pitch angle is 35.5$^\circ$ and the optimal inter-kink length ratio is 0.338, values in good agreement with experimental observations.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Reading handwritten digits: a ZIP code recognition system

A neural network algorithm-based system that reads handwritten ZIP codes appearing on real US mail is described. The system uses a recognition-based segmenter, that is a hybrid of connected-components analysis (CCA), vertical cuts, and a neural network recognizer. Connected components that are single digits are handled by CCA. CCs that are combined or dissected digits are handled by the vertical-cut segmenter. The four main stages of processing are preprocessing, in which noise is removed and the digits are deslanted, CCA segmentation and recognition, vertical-cut-point estimation and segmentation, and directly lookup. The system was trained and tested on approximately 10000 images, five- and nine-digit ZIP code fields taken from real mail

Investigating the uses of corporate reputation and its effects on brand segmentation, brand differentiation and brand positioning: evidence from the Taiwanese pharmaceutical industry

This study advances current knowledge on building a brand strategy that includes corporate reputation. It employs three theories – value creation, strategic resources and corporate communication – to study the uses of corporate reputation and its effect on brand segmentation, brand differentiation and brand positioning. In the context of the Taiwanese pharmaceutical industry, a sequential mixed method approach is applied and data are analyzed using PLS SEM. Findings demonstrate the relative impacts of three uses of corporate reputation (value creation, strategic resources and corporate communication) on brand image strategy (brand segmentation, brand differentiation and brand positioning) and the implications are evaluated. This study discovers that the inclusion of medicine prices is necessary and that it negatively moderates the impact of the overall uses of corporate reputation on overall brand image strategy. This research contributes empirically as one of the few that tests reputation-and-branding-building models outside the USA and Europe

OpenET : filling a critical data gap in water management for the western United States.

The lack of consistent, accurate information on evapotranspiration (ET) and consumptive use of water by irrigated agriculture is one of the most important data gaps for water managers in the western United States (U.S.) and other arid agricultural regions globally. The ability to easily access information on ET is central to improving water budgets across the West, advancing the use of data-driven irrigation management strategies, and expanding incentive-driven conservation programs. Recent advances in remote sensing of ET have led to the development of multiple approaches for field-scale ET mapping that have been used for local and regional water resource management applications by U.S. state and federal agencies. The OpenET project is a community-driven effort that is building upon these advances to develop an operational system for generating and distributing ET data at a field scale using an ensemble of six well-established satellite-based approaches for mapping ET. Key objectives of OpenET include: Increasing access to remotely sensed ET data through a web-based data explorer and data services; supporting the use of ET data for a range of water resource management applications; and development of use cases and training resources for agricultural producers and water resource managers. Here we describe the OpenET framework, including the models used in the ensemble, the satellite, meteorological, and ancillary data inputs to the system, and the OpenET data visualization and access tools. We also summarize an extensive intercomparison and accuracy assessment conducted using ground measurements of ET from 139 flux tower sites instrumented with open path eddy covariance systems. Results calculated for 24 cropland sites from Phase I of the intercomparison and accuracy assessment demonstrate strong agreement between the satellite-driven ET models and the flux tower ET data. For the six models that have been evaluated to date (ALEXI/DisALEXI, eeMETRIC, geeSEBAL, PT-JPL, SIMS, and SSEBop) and the ensemble mean, the weighted average mean absolute error (MAE) values across all sites range from 13.6 to 21.6 mm/month at a monthly timestep, and 0.74 to 1.07 mm/day at a daily timestep. At seasonal time scales, for all but one of the models the weighted mean total ET is within ±8% of both the ensemble mean and the weighted mean total ET calculated from the flux tower data. Overall, the ensemble mean performs as well as any individual model across nearly all accuracy statistics for croplands, though some individual models may perform better for specific sites and regions. We conclude with three brief use cases to illustrate current applications and benefits of increased access to ET data, and discuss key lessons learned from the development of OpenET

The added value of participatory modelling in fisheries management – what has been learnt?

How can uncertain fisheries science be linked with good governance processes, thereby increasing fisheries management legitimacy and effectiveness? Reducing the uncertainties around scientific models has long been perceived as the cure of the fisheries management problem. There is however increasing recognition that uncertainty in the numbers will remain. A lack of transparency with respect to these uncertainties can damage the credibility of science. The EU Commission's proposal for a reformed Common Fisheries Policy calls for more self-management for the fishing industry by increasing fishers' involvement in the planning and execution of policies and boosting the role of fishers' organisations. One way of higher transparency and improved participation is to include stakeholders in the modelling process itself. The JAKFISH project (Judgment And Knowledge in Fisheries Involving StakeHolders) invited fisheries stakeholders to participate in the process of framing the management problem, and to give input and evaluate the scientific models that are used to provide fisheries management advice. JAKFISH investigated various tools to assess and communicate uncertainty around fish stock assessments and fisheries management. Here, a synthesis is presented of the participatory work carried out in four European fishery case studies (Western Baltic herring, North Sea Nephrops, Central Baltic Herring and Mediterranean swordfish), focussing on the uncertainty tools used, the stakeholders' responses to these, and the lessons learnt. It is concluded that participatory modelling has the potential to facilitate and structure discussions between scientists and stakeholders about uncertainties and the quality of the knowledge base. It can also contribute to collective learning, increase legitimacy, and advance scientific understanding. However, when approaching real-life situations, modelling should not be seen as the priority objective. Rather, the crucial step in a science–stakeholder collaboration is the joint problem framing in an open, transparent way