Line-of-Business Reporting: A Legal Basis

The action of the SEC has mooted, for regulated firms, the question of whether or not an obligation existed to report a segmented earnings statement even without administrative regulation. Some had suggested that such an obligation did exist. No matter; the question is now answered affirmatively, such reports must be prepared. We are none-the-less left with the thorny question of how best to provide segmented financial reports. The next section of this paper will identify the major problems of implementation. Then attention will be focused upon one of these problems and an examination will be made of its possible resolution on a theory drawn from case law developed in the corporate field

Habitat Assessment of a Newly Established Breeding Pond for the Population of Western Toads, Anaxyrus boreas, at the Bernard Field Station

This study was the first research endeavor ever conducted concerning the population of Western toads, Anaxyrus boreas, at the Bernard Field Station. Despite the current lack of information regarding this population, they will become a concern in future years because they are threatened by habitat destruction. Preceding this study, a single breeding pond has been available to this population, which has been in use for the past 20 to 30 years. However, it is likely that the current breeding pond will be destroyed and the will be land developed for human use. In order to provide these toads with another breeding site, a new pond was constructed. Its suitability as an aquatic habitat was assessed on the basis of temperature, light intensity, algal growth and sediment levels in comparison to conditions at the old breeding pond. When tadpoles were raised in the laboratory in various water treatments, those reared in water from the new pond showed no decrease in survivorship or growth rate. The only significant difference in growth was between laboratory-raised and field animals. Tadpoles living in the field were both smaller in length during the larval period as well as smaller in mass at metamorphosis. Additionally, 75% of the tadpoles translocated to the new site completed full metamorphosis. Therefore, the new pond is both hospitable and conducive to tadpole development, a positive sign for future conservation efforts

Line-of-Business Reporting: A Legal Basis

The action of the SEC has mooted, for regulated firms, the question of whether or not an obligation existed to report a segmented earnings statement even without administrative regulation. Some had suggested that such an obligation did exist. No matter; the question is now answered affirmatively, such reports must be prepared. We are none-the-less left with the thorny question of how best to provide segmented financial reports. The next section of this paper will identify the major problems of implementation. Then attention will be focused upon one of these problems and an examination will be made of its possible resolution on a theory drawn from case law developed in the corporate field

Comparison of safflower oil extraction kinetics at two characteristic moisture conditions: Statistical analysis of non-linear model parameters

In this study the kinetics of oil extraction from partially dehulled safflower seeds at two moisture conditions (7 and 9% dry basis) was investigated. The extraction essays were performed using a stirred batch system, thermostated at 50 ºC, using n-hexane as solvent. The data obtained were fitted to a modified diffusion model in order to represent the extraction kinetics. The model took into account a washing and a diffusive step. Fitting parameters were compared statistically at both moisture conditions. The oil yield was increased in the extraction time in both cases, although the oil was released at different rates. A comparison of the parameters showed that both the extracted portion in the washing phase and the effective diffusion coefficient were moisture-dependent. The effective diffusivity was 2.81 10-12 and 8.06 10-13 m2 s-1 for a moisture content of 7% and 9%, respectively.Fil: Baumler, Erica Raquel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria Olavarria. Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, María Belén. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria Olavarria. Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica; ArgentinaFil: Nolasco, Susana Maria. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria Olavarria. Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Ethel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria Olavarria. Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica; Argentin

Sexting and Mental Health: A School-based Longitudinal Study Among Youth in Texas

Background: Sexting has emerged as a common socio-cultural problem in our society today. Few studies have estimated the prevalence of sexting among younger middle school youth and even fewer have assessed the relationship between sexting and mental health outcomes like anxiety and depression symptoms among middle school youth. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of sexting among sixth and seventh-grade middle school students in a large urban school district in Southeast Texas and to assess its relationship with mental health outcomes (both anxiety and depression) among these youth. Methods: A retrospective analysis of an existing three-year randomized, two-arm, nested longitudinal study was conducted. Associations between sexting and depression symptoms; and sexting and anxiety symptoms were assessed via univariate and multivariate logistic analysis. Results: The prevalence of sexting among sixth graders was found to be 12%. Compared to youth who were not engaged in sexting, engagement in sexting was associated with significantly increased odds of depression and anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: Sexting is common among youth and is associated with poorer mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression among these youth, but further validation of these findings is needed

Sexual health education for behavior change: How much is enough?

Purpose: Successful implementation of sexual health curricula in school settings is often compromised by competing academic priorities. This study explores the association between exposure to sexual health lessons (time-on-task in hours and lesson content topics) and delayed sexual initiation of middle school students at long term follow-up. Methods: Post hoc data analysis was conducted from a RCT (n=15 middle schools) in the south-central U.S. in which grade 7 students demonstrated delayed sexual initiation (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.20 to 1.99) by grade 9 follow-up after using It’s Your Game (IYG), a 24 lesson sexual health curriculum. Logistic regression was conducted on a sub-sample of 314 grade 7 and 8 students who received IYG and who were sexually inexperienced at baseline, adjusting for covariates of age, gender, and race/ethnicity to address the impact of lesson exposure variables (time-on-task in hours and type of sexual health content) on initiation of any sex by grade 9. Results: The greatest impact of exposure on delayed sexual initiation was a duration of 13 or more lesson hours (OR = 8.40; p\u3c0.05) and exposure to lesson content on HIV/STI and pregnancy consequences (OR = 4.93; p\u3c0.05). Conclusions: Results support previous exposure studies and provide guidance on how effective sexual health curricula can meet the challenges of delivery in a reduced and competitive academic environment

Who are “the people” in the German Constitution? A critique of , and contribution to , the debate about the right of foreigners to vote in multilevel democracies

Democracy means power to the people, but it is not always clear who belongs to "the people". The question has become pertinent in the age of migration where large groups of foreigners permanently reside outside their countries of nationality. The economic, cultural, and political integration of these foreigners is one of the pressing problems faced by democratic States in both the developed and developing worlds. One question is : whether resident non-citizens should be granted the right to vote. The answer to this question depends on who belongs to "the people". In federal and quasi-federal States with multiple levels of government the further question arises : whether "the people" is a homogenous concept that applies uniformly across all levels of government. This article contributes to the debate about the right of foreigners to vote in democratic States with multiple levels of government, such as, South Africa and Kenya. It does so by discussing the German response to the problems mentioned above. The dominant view of the German Federal Constitutional Court since the 1990s has been that "the people" only includes "German citizens" , and that attempts by lower levels of government to extend the right to vote to foreigners from Africa and elsewhere are unconstitutional. In this article I explore and critique this conventional view. I then present a positive case for the extension of voting rights to resident non-citizens under the German Constitution. Many of the arguments would apply with equal force to the debate about the right to vote of foreigners in African multi-level democracies, such as, South Africa and Kenya

The Impact of Explanations on Fairness in Human-AI Decision-Making: Protected vs Proxy Features

AI systems have been known to amplify biases in real world data. Explanations may help human-AI teams address these biases for fairer decision-making. Typically, explanations focus on salient input features. If a model is biased against some protected group, explanations may include features that demonstrate this bias, but when biases are realized through proxy features, the relationship between this proxy feature and the protected one may be less clear to a human. In this work, we study the effect of the presence of protected and proxy features on participants' perception of model fairness and their ability to improve demographic parity over an AI alone. Further, we examine how different treatments -- explanations, model bias disclosure and proxy correlation disclosure -- affect fairness perception and parity. We find that explanations help people detect direct biases but not indirect biases. Additionally, regardless of bias type, explanations tend to increase agreement with model biases. Disclosures can help mitigate this effect for indirect biases, improving both unfairness recognition and the decision-making fairness. We hope that our findings can help guide further research into advancing explanations in support of fair human-AI decision-making

Emulsions of sunflower wax in pectin aqueous solutions: Physical characterization and stability

The knowledge of the stability and physical properties of film-forming solutions is necessary for optimizing the process design of films. In order to evaluate their applicability for the production of edible films, the rheological and microstructural properties, particle size and physicochemical stability of aqueous emulsions of low methoxyl pectin and sunflower waxes from normal and high-oleic hybrids were assessed. Emulsions were prepared with different pectin concentrations (1, 2 and 3% w/w) and wax proportions (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 g/g pectin). The rheological behavior was best described by the power law model. The values of the behavior index (n) were close to 1, exhibiting a behavior close to Newtonian fluids. The addition of waxes caused an increase in viscosity and shear stress. The particle size of the emulsions made with waxes from high-oleic sunflower was smaller than those from the normal hybrid. In most cases, size distributions with greater height and less amplitude were obtained, mainly when the pectin content was higher. Confocal images allowed to observe the presence of waxes and their dispersion in the pectin matrix. Destabilization phenomena such as sedimentation, coalescence and creaming were observed at long test times independent of the wax origin. These results evidence the potential use of these emulsions for the manufacture of edible films.Fil: Chalapud Narvaez, Mayra Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Baumler, Erica Raquel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Carelli Albarracin, Amalia Antonia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentin

Indicadores de negocios para soporte de decisiones en Retail Business

Se desarrollará un modelo de datos n-dimensional destinado a la implementación del modelo de recursos estratégico (SRM), para controlar la performance de una empresa de retail. También se implementará la carga de datos a partir de un modelo de datos ejemplo, que se destina a la administración operativa de una cadena de venta de productos para la construcción y artículos para el hogar. Se implementará el motor de análisis que permita extraer los datos del modelo n-dimensional y mostrar los indicadores de performance definidos por el SRM, aplicándolo a un negocio ejemplo consistente en una cadena de venta de productos para la construcción y productos para el hogar.Tesis digitalizada en SEDICI gracias a la colaboración de la Biblioteca de la Facultad de Informática.Facultad de Informátic