TLC determination of functionality in prepolymers

Application of thin-layer chromatographics provides rapid qualitative determination of functional distribution in experimental prepolymer. Functionality distribution is of fundamental importance for it determines; (1) manner in which given carboxyl-terminated prepolymer will cure and (2) physical properties of resulting product

Glass transition temperatures of liquid prepolymers obtained by thermal penetrometry

Thermal penetrometry is experimental technique for detecting temperature at which frozen prepolymer becomes soft enough to be pierced by weighted penetrometer needle; temperature at which this occurs is called penetration temperature. Apparatus used to obtain penetration temperatures can be set up largely from standard parts

The Introduction of the Reserve Clause in Major League Baseball: Evidence of its Impact on Select Player Salaries During the 1880s

This paper investigates the introduction of the reserve clause in Major League Baseball during the 1880s. Taking advantage of a unique data set describing the salaries for twenty nine high-quality players throughout the decade of the 1880s, we investigate the impact of the reserve clause as it evolved from a "gentleman's agreement" to a formal contract stipulation. We test three specific hypotheses concerning the reserve clause: its effect on average salaries, on the remuneration to marginal product, and the premium paid to a player for changing teams. The evidence suggests that introducing the reserve clause reduced average salaries and the premium for changing teams; detectable monopsony power was transferred to team owners almost immediately. However, there was no statistically significant impact of the reserve clause on how much players were paid for their marginal product. The empirical results indicate that reserve clause shifted considerable monopsony power to team owners immediately after it was instituted.Sports economics, monopsony, free agency, negotiation

The Structure Of The Accretion Disk In The ADC Source 4U 1822-371

The low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) 4U 1822-371 has an accretion disk corona (ADC) that scatters X-ray photons from the inner disk and neutron star out of the line of sight. It has a high orbital inclination and the secondary star eclipses the disk and ADC. We have obtained new time-resolved UV spectrograms and V- and I-band photometry of 4U 1822-371. The large quadratic term in our new optical eclipse ephemeris confirms that the system has an extremely high rate of mass transfer and mass accretion. The C IV lambda lambda = 1548 - 1550 angstrom emission line has a half width of similar to 4400 km/s, indicating a strong, high velocity wind is being driven off the accretion disk. Near the disk the wind is optically thick in UV, V, and J and the eclipse analysis shows that in V and J the optically thick wind extends nearly to the outer edge of the disk. The ADC must also extend vertically to a height equal to approximately half the disk radius.Astronom

New England Food Policy Council Survey Instrument

This document is a survey instrument implemented with food policy councils (FPCs) in New England in October – December 2017. The survey’s purpose is to understand New England FPCs’ policy priorities, identify recent policy and planning processes, and learn about how FPC’s incorporate public participation

New England Food Policy Council Survey Results

This document provides the results of a survey of 12 food policy councils (FPCs) in New England conducted during October – December 2017. The survey’s purpose is to understand New England FPCs’ policy priorities, identify recent policy and planning processes, and learn about how FPC’s incorporate public participation. This survey also incorporates results from another survey, the annual survey conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF), which surveys all FPCs in North America

New England food policy councils: An assessment of organizational structure, policy priorities and public participation

Food policy councils (FPCs) are an increasingly common mechanism to improve participation in food system decision-making. Including individuals from under-represented groups can foster greater understanding of their needs and experiences with food system barriers and is an important part of food justice. However, engaging under-represented groups in food systems decision-making remains challenging for FPCs. This paper presents the results from a survey of FPCs and networks in New England to: (1) identify FPC policy priorities, (2) characterize FPCs engaged in policy initiatives based on attributes which, based on the literature, may impact effective public participation: geographic scale, organization type, capacity, policy priorities, and membership, and (3) analyze methods for engaging the public in FPC policy initiatives and demographic groups and sectors engaged. Findings indicate only half of New England FPCs work on policy efforts. Many surveyed FPCs engage multiple food system sectors and under-represented groups through a combination of different public participation opportunities. However, results indicate that New England FPCs could benefit from a greater focus on engaging under-represented audiences. FPCs interested in engaging more diverse participants should commit to a focus on food justice, strive for representative membership through intentional recruitment, and offer multiple methods to engage the public throughout policy initiatives

Saturated hydrocarbon polymeric binder for advanced solid propellant and hybrid solid grains Quarterly report no. 2, 1 Feb. - 30 Apr. 1966

Synthesis and analysis of ethylene-neohexene copolymers with other non ketene-imine group free radicals for solid and hybrid grain propellant saturated hydrocarbon binder progra

Saturated hydrocarbon polymeric binder for advanced solid propellant and hybrid solid grains Quarterly report no. 3, 1 May - 31 Jul. 1966

Saturated hydrocarbon polymeric binder for advanced solid propellant and hybrid solid grain

Has the credit default swap market lowered the cost of corporate debt?

There have been widespread claims that credit derivatives such as the credit default swap (CDS) have lowered the cost of firms’ debt financing by creating for investors new hedging opportunities and information. However, these instruments also give banks an opaque means to sever links to their borrowers, thus reducing lender incentives to screen and monitor. In this paper, we evaluate the effect that the onset of CDS trading has on the spreads that underlying firms pay at issue when they seek funding in the corporate bond and syndicated loan markets. Employing matched-sample methods, we find no evidence that the onset of CDS trading affects the cost of debt financing for the average borrower. However, we do find economically significant adverse effects to risky and informationally-opaque firms. It appears that the onset of CDS trading reduces the effectiveness of the lead bank’s retained share in resolving any asymmetric information problems that exist between a lead bank and non-lead participants in a loan syndicate. On the plus side, we do find that CDS trading has a small positive effect on spreads at issue for transparent and safe firms, in which the lead bank’s share is much less important. Moreover, we document that the benefit of CDS trading on spreads increases once the market becomes sufficiently liquid. In sum, while CDS trading has contributed to the completeness of markets, it has also created new problems by reducing the effectiveness of lead banks’ loan shares as a monitoring device—thus creating a need for regulatory intervention