How high is too high? Soaring Interest Rates and the Elasticity of Demand for Microcredit

How high is too high? Soaring Interest Rates and the Elasticity of Demand for MicrocreditFinancial Economics,

Description of a new aspidorhynchid fish, <i>Belonostomus lamarquensis</i> sp. nov. (Halecostomi, Aspidorhynchiformes), from the continental Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina

Some braincases, a predentary, a few vertebrae and scales of a new aspidorhynchid species, Belonostomus lamarquensis sp. nov., are described from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) Allen Formation of Patagonia, Argentina. The new species differs from the other Belonostomus species by its flank scales having an anterior smooth region separated by a vertical groove from a posterior region bearing a series of numerous and closely spaced subparallel ridges that end in a deeply crenulated posterior margin. The dermal bones are ornamented with ridges and tubercles, a rare character in Belonostomus. The endocranial bones are completely fused together, except the basisphenoid. Within the Belonostomus species, B. lamarquensis seems closely related to B. hooleyi from the English Lower Cretaceous, which also exhibits dermal bones with ridges and tubercles, and scales morphologically somewhat similar to those of B. lamarquensis

English Language Learners: Problems and Solutions Found in the Research of General Practitioners of Early Childhood

Increasing numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in early childhood classrooms have created challenges for in-service teachers in the general education setting. Traditional teacher preparation programs tend to lack a curriculum that focuses on second language teaching and learning. This paper reviews the problems facing teachers with regard to teaching at the level of research based best practices for ELLs. In addition, a critical examination of the literature has yielded basic solutions for practitioners. These solutions encompass programmatic (classroom) aspects, teacher training, and classroom pedagogy. The authors have concluded that based on the present literature, more research is needed to identify specific strategies and practices for educating non-native language learners in today’s classrooms

Development of a Mammal Hair Identification Guide for Common Species in New York

Identifying mammals by hair characteristics is valuable for wildlife management applications, law enforcement, and regulation of international treaties. Researchers use hair identification in scat-and gastrointestinal-based diet studies, genetic-based hair-snare collections, and monitoring trade of rare and protected species. No accessible mammalian hair identification key exists for New York or other northeastern states. Identification keys are beneficial for researchers, wildlife managers and interested members of the general public that attempt to identify specific taxa. We created a guard-hair identification key for common mammalian species in New York State. This key was needed to identify diet components during a suburban coyote study. We collected hair samples of common mammal species in New York from private fur collections, road-killed specimens, and museum archives. Hair samples were characterized using 10 categorical variables. We then used single-fusion, hierarchical cluster analysis (Program JMP 7.0) to rapidly facilitate the identification of unique patterns, similarities, and dissimilarities of the hair characteristics. This statistical-based analysis produced a dendrogram that was used as a road map for the structural organization of the hair key. JMP\u27s dynamical interface allowed us to select specific branches of the dendrogram, thus highlighting the observations in the data table, and quickly identifying the important characteristics that differentiated mammal groupings and subsets. This is a new application of a multivariate technique, hierarchical cluster analysis, to rapidly develop a mammalian guard-hair identification key. This method could be used to develop locally-customized identification keys for wildlife damage research and management

Team Gender Diversity and Investment Decision Making Behavior

We investigate whether the gender composition of a fund management team influences investment decision making behavior. Using an experimental economics approach, we examine the relationship between gender diversity and investment decisions. We find evidence that a male presence increases the probability of selecting a higher risk investment. However, the all male teams are not the most risk seeking. Moreover, having a male presence can increase loss aversion. In the context of workforce composition, these results could have important implications for team investment decisions driven by the assessment of risk and return trade-offs. (JEL: G11

Generation of high-purity higher-order Laguerre-Gauss beams at high laser power

We have investigated the generation of highly pure higher-order Laguerre-Gauss (LG) beams at high laser power of order 100W, the same regime that will be used by 2nd generation gravitational wave interferometers such as Advanced LIGO. We report on the generation of a helical type LG33 mode with a purity of order 97% at a power of 83W, the highest power ever reported in literature for a higher-order LG mode.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Taxonomic status of Myotis occultus

The taxonomic status of the Arizona myotis (Myotis occultus) is uncertain. Although the taxon was described as a distinct species and currently is regarded as such by some authors, others have noted what they interpreted as intergradation with the little brown bat (M. lucifugus carissima) near the Colorado-New Mexico state line. In this study, we used protein electrophoresis to compare bats of these nominal taxa. We examined 20 loci from 142 specimens referable to M. occultus and M. lucifugus from New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. Nine of the 20 loci were polymorphic. Results show that there were high similarities among samples, no fixed alleles, and minor divergence from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Our results suggest that the two nominal taxa represent only one species and that M. occultus should be regarded as a subspecies of M. lucifugus