Profiting from Protecting Small Business Borrowers: Take That to the Bank!

While small businesses represent a significant portion of the economy, there is mounting evidence that the playing field is not level for these firms in access to capital. Based on 10 years of matched-paired mystery shopping tests in banks to investigate bank lending practices and customer experience, the results demonstrate that in almost every instance, minorities were treated more poorly than their White counterparts. However, the authors acknowledge the controversy surrounding this issue, as some question the need for government action to push banks in this direction. Before offering evidence of the impact race can have on the treatment of small business owners who apply for loans, they present two frameworks which support the adoption of race-based criteria in evaluating bank performance, namely, Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Innovation. They then provide a summary of the results of mystery shopping studies they have conducted, concluding that banks are leaving profits on the table through their discriminatory practices

Detecting Discrimination in Small Business Lending

With limited financial sophistication, entrepreneurial consumers approach the financial marketplace more like retail financial consumers than business customers. However, the assumption of both legislators and regulators is that business-borrowers are more financially savvy than consumer-borrowers, and thus do not require as broad-reaching protections. This gap between marketplace policy protections and the lived reality of the vast majority of small business entrepreneurs sets the stage for entrepreneurial consumers to fall through the regulatory cracks and sets the stage for possible exploitation and abuse. This situation is potentially exacerbated for minority entrepreneurs who belong to protected classes that are generally more vulnerable to exploitation in the marketplace including the small business lending marketplace. In this paper, we highlight the current state of this policy gap in the marketplace relative to minority entrepreneurial consumers and present a matched-paired mystery shopping study that demonstrates the critical need for reliable, primary data to inform regulatory agencies as they work to implement available protections to ensure equal access to credit within the small business lending marketplace

Mere Measurement “Plus”: How Solicitation of Open-Ended Positive Feedback Influences Customer Purchase Behavior

In two studies (a longitudinal field experiment with an established B2C national chain, and a field experiment with a B2B software manufacturer), we demonstrate that starting a survey with an open-ended positive solicitation increases customer purchase behavior. Study 1, a longitudinal field experiment, showed that one-year following the completion of a survey that began by asking customers what went well during their purchase experience, customers spent 8.25% more than customers who completed a survey that did not include the positive solicitation. In Study 2, we utilized multiple treatment groups to assess the step-wise gains of solicitation, measurement, and solicitation frame. The results demonstrated (a) a mere solicitation effect, (b) a traditional mere measurement effect, and (c) an additional “mere measurement plus” effect of an open-ended positive solicitation; all effects increased customer spending. Specifically, starting a survey with an open-ended positive solicitation resulted in a 32.88% increase in customer spending relative to a survey with no open-ended positive solicitation. The findings suggest that firms can proactively influence the feedback process. Soliciting open-ended positive feedback can create positively biased memories of an experience; the subsequent expression of those memories in an open-ended feedback format further reinforces them, making them more salient and accessible in guiding future purchase behavior

Natural images from the birthplace of the human eye

Here we introduce a database of calibrated natural images publicly available through an easy-to-use web interface. Using a Nikon D70 digital SLR camera, we acquired about 5000 six-megapixel images of Okavango Delta of Botswana, a tropical savanna habitat similar to where the human eye is thought to have evolved. Some sequences of images were captured unsystematically while following a baboon troop, while others were designed to vary a single parameter such as aperture, object distance, time of day or position on the horizon. Images are available in the raw RGB format and in grayscale. Images are also available in units relevant to the physiology of human cone photoreceptors, where pixel values represent the expected number of photoisomerizations per second for cones sensitive to long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelengths. This database is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial Unported license to facilitate research in computer vision, psychophysics of perception, and visual neuroscience.Comment: Submitted to PLoS ON

Stereoscopic Analysis of the 19 May 2007 Erupting Filament

A filament eruption, accompanied by a B9.5 flare, coronal dimming and an EUV wave, was observed by the Solar TERrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) on 19 May 2007, beginning at about 13:00 UT. Here, we use observations from the SECCHI/EUVI telescopes and other solar observations to analyze the behavior and geometry of the filament before and during the eruption. At this time, STEREO A and B were separated by about 8.5 degrees, sufficient to determine the three-dimensional structure of the filament using stereoscopy. The filament could be followed in SECCHI/EUVI 304 A stereoscopic data from about 12 hours before to about 2 hours after the eruption, allowing us to determine the 3D trajectory of the erupting filament. From the 3D reconstructions of the filament and the chromospheric ribbons in the early stage of the eruption, simultaneous heating of both the rising filamentary material and the chromosphere directly below is observed, consistent with an eruption resulting from magnetic reconnection below the filament. Comparisons of the filament during eruption in 304 A and Halpha show that when it becomes emissive in He II, it tends to disappear in Halpha, indicating that the disappearance probably results from heating or motion, not loss, of filamentary material.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic

The clinical utility of pain classification in non-specific arm pain

Mechanisms-based pain classification has received considerable attention recently for its potential use in clinical decision making. A number of algorithms for pain classification have been proposed. Non-specific arm pain (NSAP) is a poorly defined condition, which could benefit from classification according to pain mechanisms to improve treatment selection. This study used three published classification algorithms (hereafter called NeuPSIG, Smart, Schafer) to investigate the frequency of different pain classifications in NSAP and the clinical utility of these systems in assessing NSAP. Forty people with NSAP underwent a clinical examination and quantitative sensory testing. Findings were used to classify participants according to three classification algorithms. Frequency of pain classification including number unclassified was analysed using descriptive statistics. Inter-rater agreement was analysed using kappa coefficients. NSAP was primarily classified as ‘unlikely neuropathic pain’ using NeuPSIG criteria, ‘peripheral neuropathic pain’ using the Smart classification and ‘peripheral nerve sensitisation’ using the Schafer algorithm. Two of the three algorithms allowed classification of all but one participant; up to 45% of participants (n = 18) were categorised as mixed by the Smart classification. Inter-rater agreement was good for the Schafer algorithm (к = 0.78) and moderate for the Smart classification (к = 0.40). A kappa value was unattainable for the NeuPSIG algorithm but agreement was high. Pain classification was achievable with high inter-rater agreement for two of the three algorithms assessed. The Smart classification may be useful but requires further direction regarding the use of clinical criteria included. The impact of adding a pain classification to clinical assessment on patient outcomes needs to be evaluated

The experience of foot problems and decisions to access foot care in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A qualitative study

© 2017 The Author(s). Background: Although foot problems are common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the consequences of foot problems from the patient perspective have not been fully explored. The aims of this study were to explore the experience of foot problems and decisions to access foot care services or not in patients with RA. Methods: Semi structured, one-to-one interviews with patients recruited from 2 UK rheumatology units, purposively sampled for self-reported foot problems and a range of personal/disease characteristics. Inductive thematic analysis was used, with rigour provided by multiple independent analysers. Emerging themes were discussed and agreed by all authors. Results: Twelve patients participated: 7 female mean age 56 years (29-72); mean disease duration 12 years (2-27), 5 had accessed foot care services. The 'Impact' of foot problems was substantial and formed the underpinning theme, comprising three organising themes: 'Foot symptoms'; 'Consequences'; and 'Cost'. Foot symptoms such as pain and numbness required self-management, and affected daily life (walking, working) leading to social and emotional costs. The global theme, 'Decision to access foot care or not', also comprised three organising themes: 'Access perceived unnecessary' (no problem, can cope); 'Access hindered by patients' perception'; and 'Access supported by patient and clinician'. Decisions to access foot care or not were complex and influenced by patient beliefs regarding possible treatments and how to access these, and hindered by patient perceptions that their feet were ignored by rheumatology clinicians. Positive experience of foot care encouraged continued utilisation but negative experiences contributed to patients' decisions to discontinue foot care services. Conclusions: Foot problems are important issues for patients and impact on many aspects of their physical, social and emotional lives. Patients who had accessed foot care services prioritised their foot problems as an important health care need. However, for others who would like foot care services, personal knowledge and values, and perceived barriers in clinical practice, appear to interact to inhibit foot care access. The extent which these interactions affect overall access to foot care in RA patients in general now needs to be quantified to help to inform and improve the effectiveness of the organisation and delivery of foot care

An Observational Overview of Solar Flares

We present an overview of solar flares and associated phenomena, drawing upon a wide range of observational data primarily from the RHESSI era. Following an introductory discussion and overview of the status of observational capabilities, the article is split into topical sections which deal with different areas of flare phenomena (footpoints and ribbons, coronal sources, relationship to coronal mass ejections) and their interconnections. We also discuss flare soft X-ray spectroscopy and the energetics of the process. The emphasis is to describe the observations from multiple points of view, while bearing in mind the models that link them to each other and to theory. The present theoretical and observational understanding of solar flares is far from complete, so we conclude with a brief discussion of models, and a list of missing but important observations.Comment: This is an article for a monograph on the physics of solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in Space Science Reviews (2011