Determinants of Railroad Capital Structure, 1830-1885

U.S. Railroads suffered repeated financial crises in the 19th and 20th Centuries. These crises were caused by a combination of high debt levels and strongly procyclical revenues and profits. Given the inherent instability of profits, why did railroads depend primarily on debt to finance their initial growth? I find that, over 1830-1885, railroads faced significant agency and control problems, which were partially mitigated by the use of debt. Around 1885, new developments reinforced the initial tendency towards debt-heavy capital structures.

A Novel 2D Folding Technique for Enhancing Fermi Surface Signatures in the Momentum Density: Application to Compton Scattering Data from an Al-3at%Li Disordered Alloy

We present a novel technique for enhancing Fermi surface (FS) signatures in the 2D distribution obtained after the 3D momentum density in a crystal is projected along a specific direction in momentum space. These results are useful for investigating fermiology via high resolution Compton scattering and positron annihilation spectroscopies. We focus on the particular case of the (110) projection in an fcc crystal where the standard approach based on the use of the Lock-Crisp-West (LCW) folding theorem fails to give a clear FS image due to the strong overlap with FS images obtained through projection from higher Brillouin zones. We show how these superposed FS images can be disentangled by using a selected set of reciprocal lattice vectors in the folding process. The applicability of our partial folding scheme is illustrated by considering Compton spectra from an Al-3at%Li disordered alloy single crystal. For this purpose, high resolution Compton profiles along nine directions in the (110) plane were measured. Corresponding highly accurate theoretical profiles in Al-3at%Li were computed within the local density approximation (LDA)-based Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker coherent potential approximation (KKR-CPA) first-principles framework. A good level of overall accord between theory and experiment is obtained, some expected discrepancies reflecting electron correlation effects notwithstanding, and the partial folding scheme is shown to yield a clear FS image in the (110) plane in Al-3%Li.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

NOTES ON PARASITIC WASP GENUS PEDIOBIUS WALKER (HYMENOPTERA: EULOPHIDAE) OF JAVA-INDONESIA, WITH FIVE NEW RECORDS

Fourteen species of parasitic wasps in the genus Pediobius Walker(Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) are reported from Java, Indonesia, based on existingliteratures and an examination of about 130 specimens of the genus newlycollected from many localities in Java. The following five species are recordedfrom Java for the first time: Pediobius agaristae (Cameron), P. aspidomorphae(Girault), P. foveolatus (Crawford), P. inexpectatus Kerrich, and P. viridifrons(Motschulsky). Detailed citation, hosts, locality records, material examined aregiven for all species and arranged in alphabetical order

Introduction to high-energy gamma-ray astronomy

The present issue is the first of of a two-volume review devoted to gamma-ray astronomy above 100 MeV which has witnessed considerable progress over the last 20 years. The motivations for research in this area are explained, the follow-on articles of these two thematic issues are introduced and a brief history of the field is given.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Introduction to a two-volume topical issue on Gamma-ray Astronomy above 100 MeV coordinated by the author

Spartan Daily, February 15, 2000

Volume 114, Issue 13https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/9510/thumbnail.jp

Annotated catalogue of primate type specimens in the mammal collection of the Museum of Natural History Vienna

Die vorliegende Arbeit ist der erste kommentierter Katalog der Primatentypen des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien. Von allen aufgefunden Typen wurde der taxonomische und nomenklatorische Status erhoben. Insgesamt konnten 110 Typusexemplare (15 Holotypen, 71 Syntypen, 8 Lectotypen, 1 Paratypus und 15 Paralectotypen) aus 46 nominalen Taxa gefunden werden. Ein geeigneter Typus von Lepilemur mustelinus rufescens wird für eine künftige Designation als Lectotypus vorgeschlagen. Die nominalen Taxa Cercopithecus toldti und Lasyopyga tantalus graueri werden mit Chlorocebus tantalus bzw. Chlorocebus cynosuros neu synonymisiert. Von den Namen Simia leukeurin, Macaco barriga und Simia polycomos wird gezeigt, dass sie keinen nomenklatorisch relevanten Status besitzen.For the first time an annotated catalogue of the primate type specimens in the mammal collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien is presented. The nomenclatorial and taxonomic status of all traceable type specimens was evaluated. Altogether 110 type specimens (15 holotypes, 71 syntypes, 8 lectotypes, 1 paratype and 15 paralectotypes), representing 46 nominal taxa, could be encountered. A proposal for the designation of a lectotype for Lepilemur mustelinus rufescens is made. The nominal taxa Cercopithecus toldti and Lasyopyga tantalus graueri were found to be synonyms of Chlorocebus tantalus and Chlorocebus cynosuros respectively, contrary to previous presumptions. It is additionally shown that the names Simia leukeurin, Macaco barriga and Simia polycomos possess no nomenclatorial relevant status

Lessons from the Transition Economies: Putting the Success Stories of the Postcommunist World into a Broader Perspective

Why many transition economies succeeded by pursuing policies that are so different from the radical economic liberalization (shock therapy) that is normally credited for the economic success of central European countries? First, optimal policies are context dependent, they are specific for each stage of development and what worked in Slovenia cannot be expected to work in Mongolia. Second, even for countries at the same level of development, reforms needed to stimulate growth are different; they depend on the previous history and on the path chosen. The reduction of government expenditure as a share of GDP did not undermine significantly the institutional capacity of the state in China, but in Russia and other CIS states it turned out to be ruinous. It is the growth diagnostics that should reveal the missing ingredient for economic growth. Finally, and most important, introducing this .missing ingredient. should not result in the destruction of other preconditions for growth. The art of the policymaker is to create markets without causing the government failure, as happened in many CIS countries.transition, growth diagnostics, path dependence

Stellar evolution through the ages: period variations in galactic RRab stars as derived from the GEOS database and TAROT telescopes

The theory of stellar evolution can be more closely tested if we have the opportunity to measure new quantities. Nowadays, observations of galactic RR Lyr stars are available on a time baseline exceeding 100 years. Therefore, we can exploit the possibility of investigating period changes, continuing the pioneering work started by V. P. Tsesevich in 1969. We collected the available times of maximum brightness of the galactic RR Lyr stars in the GEOS RR Lyr database. Moreover, we also started new observational projects, including surveys with automated telescopes, to characterise the O-C diagrams better. The database we built has proved to be a very powerful tool for tracing the period variations through the ages. We analyzed 123 stars showing a clear O-C pattern (constant, parabolic or erratic) by means of different least-squares methods. Clear evidence of period increases or decreases at constant rates has been found, suggesting evolutionary effects. The median values are beta=+0.14 day/Myr for the 27 stars showing a period increase and beta=-0.20 day/Myr for the 21 stars showing a period decrease. The large number of RR Lyr stars showing a period decrease (i.e., blueward evolution) is a new and intriguing result. There is an excess of RR Lyr stars showing large, positive $\beta$ values. Moreover, the observed beta values are slightly larger than those predicted by theoretical models.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures; to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics; full resolution version available at http://dbrr.ast.obs-mip.fr/tarot/publis/publis.htm