Southeast U.S. Severe Thunderstorm Climatology and 1932 Tornado Outbreak

Southeast U.S. Severe Thunderstorm Climatology and 1932 Tornado Outbrea

Impact Analysis of a Virtual Stadium: Measuring Sport in the Metaverse

As sports teams enter the metaverse through launching virtual versions of their home stadiums, there is a pressing need to reimagine the stadium experience and how virtual stadiums differ from their physical counterparts. This review establishes a foundation for crucial conversations that can shape future research and managerial practice amidst an emerging trend in the sport industry

A Behavioral Finance Explanation for the Success of Low Volatility Portfolios

Arguably the most remarkable anomaly in finance is the violation of the risk‐return tradeoff within the stock market: Over the past 40 years, high volatility and high beta stocks in U.S. markets have substantially underperformed low volatility and low beta stocks. We propose an explanation that combines the average investor's preference for risk and the typical institutional investor's mandate to maximize the ratio of excess returns to tracking error relative to a fixed benchmark (the information ratio) rather than the Sharpe ratio. Models of delegated asset management show that such mandates discourage arbitrage activity in both high alpha, low beta stocks and low alpha, high beta stocks. This explanation is consistent with several aspects of the low volatility anomaly including why it has only strengthened even as institutional investors have become more numerous

Benchmarks as Limits to Arbitrage: Understanding the Low Volatility Anomaly

Over the past 41 years, high volatility and high beta stocks have substantially underperformed low volatility and low beta stocks in U.S. markets. We propose an explanation that combines the average investor's preference for risk and the typical institutional investor’s mandate to maximize the ratio of excess returns and tracking error relative to a fixed benchmark (the information ratio) without resorting to leverage. Models of delegated asset management show that such mandates discourage arbitrage activity in both high alpha, low beta stocks and low alpha, high beta stocks. This explanation is consistent with several aspects of the low volatility anomaly including why it has strengthened in recent years even as institutional investors have become more dominant

Citizen robots : biopolitics, the computer, and the Vietnam period

The Vietnam War coincided with an intense period of technological change in the US that marked a significant turning point in the relationship between the citizen and the state. While computer technology found new and deadly uses on the field of battle, it also found its way into people’s homes, giving the state the means through which to monitor and control subjects like never before. While Michel Foucault describes Vietnam as ‘the gates of our world’, this thesis argues that Vietnam stands rather as the gates of our biopolitical world – a period in which Foucault’s original concept of biopolitics is reborn in the computer age. To this end, this thesis examines some of the early impacts and implications of the computerized biopolitical state, and the robotized human subject. It offers an exploration of the ways in which biopolitical ideas can be used alongside science fiction texts to interrogate the cultural tendencies of the USA during the Vietnam War period, stretching from the start of the war in 1955 through to the war’s end in 1975 and the shadow cast in the years that follow. In doing so, it charts how human subjects are complicit in the means of their own oppression, and the ethical implications of the blurred distinction between the human and the machine. Thus, it calls for a new cybernetic form of biopolitical insight – a techno-biopolitics – that integrates the robotic with current understandings of the human, the non-human and the animal, and how they are used as a means of discursive control

Optimization of photomixers and antennas for continuous-wave terahertz emission

We have studied terahertz emission from interdigitated finger photomixers coupled to planar antenna structures. Using both pulsed and continuous-wave excitation, polarization measurements reveal that the antenna design dominates the properties of the radiated output at frequencies below 0.6 THz, while the efficiency at higher frequencies is additionally dependent on the design of the photomixer fingers. We have produced terahertz maps of the device, characterizing the photomixer by measuring the generated power as a function of the excitation position. Together, these measurements have allowed us to understand better the distinct roles of the photomixer and antenna in emission at different fre

The Low Beta Anomaly: A Decomposition into Micro and Macro Effects

Low beta stocks have offered a combination of low risk and high returns. We decompose the anomaly into micro and macro components. The micro component comes from the selection of low beta stocks. The macro component comes from the selection of low beta countries or industries. The two parts both contribute to the low beta anomaly, with important implications for the construction of managed volatility portfolios

Nurse Educator Certification: Overview and Evaluation of the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Program

The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) has spearheaded an education institute and fostered the growth of an accessible cadre of innovative educational programming that were built on identified national nursing educator competencies. The purpose of this article is to outline the development and structure of the CASN Canadian Nurse Educator Certification Program, share an analysis of one aspect of program evaluation data and summarize the program’s current value to nurse educators. The program offers flexible professional development for Canadian nurse educators through three online modules that prepare participants to sit the national certification exam and attain the designation of Canadian Certified Nurse Educator (CCNE). Part of an ongoing program evaluation conducted by CASN in 2021 sought to provide information on the perception of certification of nurse educators in Canada. A review of the process of module delivery that prepares educators to sit the certification exam and how certification is perceived as valuable or not by nurse educators was the focus. The CCNE program participants’ perspectives on the value of module learnings in terms of academic practice were evaluated using the Perceived Value of Certification Tool for the Nurse Educator. Of the 108 respondents to the survey questions, the findings indicate that most CCNE nurse educators perceived that there is value in nurse educator certification. A key survey finding was that educators perceived intrinsic value more so than extrinsic value in obtaining certification. Overall, the respondents believed that certification was not fully recognized by employers, colleagues, or students and that enhancing others’ perceptions of certification was needed. Despite consistent enrolments in the CASN program modules, the program and CCNE designation appear to require further formal recognition from teaching and academic institutions across the country. With the shortage of qualified nursing faculty, the need to strengthen current academic faculty members’ competencies is imperative. The certification and credentialing of academic nurse educators needs to be recognized. Educators should be provided merit for the acquisition of the specialized knowledge, expertise, and competencies required for the role. Résumé L’Association canadienne des écoles de sciences infirmières (ACESI) a dirigé un institut de formation et favorisé la croissance d’un cadre accessible de programmes éducatifs novateurs fondés sur les compétences nationales identifiées des enseignant(e)s en sciences infirmières. Le but de cet article est de décrire le développement et la structure du Programme canadien de certification pour infirmières et infirmiers enseignant(e)s de l’ACESI, de partager une analyse d’un aspect des données d’évaluation du programme et de résumer la valeur actuelle de ce dernier pour les infirmières et infirmiers enseignant(e)s. Le programme offre un perfectionnement professionnel flexible aux infirmières et infirmiers enseignant(e)s canadien(ne)s grâce à trois modules en ligne qui préparent les participant(e)s à passer l’examen national de certification et à obtenir le titre de Canadian Certified Nurse Educator (infirmière enseignante canadienne certifiée; CCNE). Une partie d’une évaluation de programme en cours, menée par l’ACESI en 2021, visait à fournir des renseignements sur la perception de la certification des infirmières et infirmiers enseignant(e)s au Canada. L’accent a été mis sur l’examen du processus de prestation du module qui prépare les enseignant(e)s à passer l’examen de certification et sur la perception des infirmières et infirmiers enseignant(e)s sur la valeur de la certification. Les points de vue des participant(e)s au programme CCNE sur l’importance des apprentissages au cours du module en matière de pratiques de formation universitaire ont été examinés à l’aide du Perceived Value of Certification Tool for the Nurse Educator (outil de valeur perçue de la certification pour l’infirmière enseignante). Parmi les 108 répondant(e)s aux questions du sondage, les résultats indiquent que la plupart des infirmières et infirmiers enseignant(e)s détenant le titre CCNE perçoivent la valeur de la certification des infirmières enseignantes. L’une des principales conclusions de l’étude était que les enseignant(e)s percevaient davantage la valeur intrinsèque que la valeur extrinsèque dans l’obtention de la certification. Dans l’ensemble, les répondant(e)s estimaient que la certification n’était pas pleinement reconnue par les employeurs, les collègues ou les étudiant(e)s, et qu’il était nécessaire d’améliorer la perception que les autres avaient de la certification. Malgré des inscriptions constantes aux modules du programme de l’ACESI, le programme et la désignation CCNE semblent nécessiter une reconnaissance officielle supplémentaire de la part des établissements d’enseignement universitaire à travers le pays. Avec la pénurie de membres du corps professoral qualifié(e)s en sciences infirmières, la nécessité de renforcer les compétences des membres actuel(le)s du corps professoral universitaire est impérative. La certification et la délivrance de titres et certificats pour les infirmières et infirmiers enseignant(e)s universitaires doivent être reconnues. Les enseignant(e)s devraient recevoir un mérite pour l’acquisition des connaissances spécialisées, de l’expertise et des compétences requises pour le rôle

Ground motion selection for simulation-based seismic hazard and structural reliability assessment

This paper examines four methods by which ground motions can be selected for dynamic seismic response analyses of engineered systems when the underlying seismic hazard is quantified via ground motion simulation rather than empirical ground motion prediction equations. Even with simulation-based seismic hazard, a ground motion selection process is still required in order to extract a small number of time series from the much larger set developed as part of the hazard calculation. Four specific methods are presented for ground motion selection from simulation-based seismic hazard analyses, and pros and cons of each are discussed via a simple and reproducible illustrative example. One of the four methods (method 1 ‘direct analysis’) provides a ‘benchmark’ result (i.e. using all simulated ground motions), enabling the consistency of the other three more efficient selection methods to be addressed. Method 2 (‘stratified sampling’) is a relatively simple way to achieve a significant reduction in the number of ground motions required through selecting subsets of ground motions binned based on an intensity measure, IM. Method 3 (‘simple multiple stripes’) has the benefit of being consistent with conventional seismic assessment practice using as-recorded ground motions, but both methods 2 and 3 are strongly dependent on the efficiency of the conditioning IM to predict the seismic responses of interest. Method 4 (‘GCIM-based selection’) is consistent with ‘advanced’ selection methods used for as-recorded ground motions, and selects subsets of ground motions based on multiple IMs, thus overcoming this limitation in methods 2 and 3