B2B emarketplace announcements and shareholder wealth

In the business-to-business (B2B) sector, new supply-chain models within electronic marketplaces (eMarketplaces) offer firms significantly lower procurement costs, increased operating efficiencies, and expanded market opportunities. Using event-study methodology to look at the period July 1999-March 2000, Andrew Chen and Thomas Siems find that investors reacted favorably to B2B eMarketplace announcements, with slightly higher abnormal returns associated with vertical than with horizontal eMarketplaces. They also find significant positive abnormal returns for e-commerce technology providers that partnered with computer industry giants or with competitors in B2B e-commerce initiatives. The abnormal returns are more than three times greater than returns from creating a B2B eMarketplace alone or with Old Economy leaders. These results suggest that, at least for the period studied, shareholders valued alliances between B2B eMarketplace developers more than firms developing e-commerce strategies on their own or with an Old Economy partner.Electronic commerce

The Market Value and Dynamic Interest Rate Risk of Swaps

At the time of initiation, interest rate swaps are of zero market value to the counterparties involved. However, as time passes, the market value of the swap position of each counterpart may become positive or negative. These value changes are stochastic in nature and are primarily driven by stochastic variations of the term structure of interest rates. In this paper, we develop models for determining the market values and dynamic interest rate risks of existing swap positions using the one-factor general equilibrium term structure model of Cox, Ingersoll, and Ross (1985). The valuation and risk measurement framework of this paper should be useful in developing a value turn risk accounting method advocated by Merton and Bodie (1995) for better internal management and reporting purposes and for more effective regulation. This paper was presented at the Financial Institutions Center's October 1996 conference on "

A Component Analysis of the Effects of Response Interruption and Redirection on Vocal Stereotypy in an Adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder

There has been much research into evaluating the effectiveness of response interruption and redirection (RIRD) in the reduction of vocal stereotypy in children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research has indicated that RIRD often results in the reduction in level of vocal stereotypy in this population. However, only one previous study has evaluated the efficacy of RIRD on vocal stereotypy for participants older than 18 years old. Furthermore, though some studies point to punishment as the mechanism by which RIRD produces its effects (Ahearn et al., 2007; Aherns et al., 2011), it is still described as a redirection procedure with unclear contingencies (Cassella et al., 2011). This study used the uninterrupted data collection procedures described by Carroll and Kodak (2014) and Wunderlich and Vollmer (2015) which have been shown to provide a more accurate analysis compared to the interrupted technique. Additionally, this study replicated and expanded upon Wunderlich and Vollmer (2015) by introducing a component analysis of the effects of RIRD on an adult participant. The results showed that motor RIRD was effective in reducing the vocal stereotypy, that random talking may be an establishing operation for vocal stereotypy, and that levels of appropriate vocalizations, while initially suppressed for 12 sessions, did not change meaningfully throughout the study

TGF-β-responsive CAR-T cells promote anti-tumor immune function.

A chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that responds to transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) enables the engineering of T cells that convert this immunosuppressive cytokine into a potent T-cell stimulant. However, clinical translation of TGF-β CAR-T cells for cancer therapy requires the ability to productively combine TGF-β responsiveness with tumor-targeting specificity. Furthermore, the potential concern that contaminating, TGF-β?producing regulatory T (Treg) cells may preferentially expand during TGF-β CAR-T cell manufacturing and suppress effector T (Teff) cells demands careful evaluation. Here, we demonstrate that TGF-β CAR-T cells significantly improve the anti-tumor efficacy of neighboring cytotoxic T cells. Furthermore, the introduction of TGF-β CARs into mixed T-cell populations does not result in the preferential expansion of Treg cells, nor do TGF-β CAR-Treg cells cause CAR-mediated suppression of Teff cells. These results support the utility of incorporating TGF-β CARs in the development of adoptive T-cell therapy for cancer

Mixed Statistics on 01-Fillings of Moon Polyominoes

We establish a stronger symmetry between the numbers of northeast and southeast chains in the context of 01-fillings of moon polyominoes. Let \M be a moon polyomino with $n$ rows and $m$ columns. Consider all the 01-fillings of \M in which every row has at most one 1. We introduce four mixed statistics with respect to a bipartition of rows or columns of \M. More precisely, let $S \subseteq \{1,2,..., n\}$ and $\mathcal{R}(S)$ be the union of rows whose indices are in $S$. For any filling $M$, the top-mixed (resp. bottom-mixed) statistic $\alpha(S; M)$ (resp. $\beta(S; M)$) is the sum of the number of northeast chains whose top (resp. bottom) cell is in $\mathcal{R}(S)$, together with the number of southeast chains whose top (resp. bottom) cell is in the complement of $\mathcal{R}(S)$. Similarly, we define the left-mixed and right-mixed statistics $\gamma(T; M)$ and $\delta(T; M)$, where $T$ is a subset of the column index set $\{1,2,..., m\}$. Let $\lambda(A; M)$ be any of these four statistics $\alpha(S; M)$, $\beta(S; M)$, $\gamma(T; M)$ and $\delta(T; M)$, we show that the joint distribution of the pair $(\lambda(A; M), \lambda(\bar A; M))$ is symmetric and independent of the subsets $S, T$. In particular, the pair of statistics $(\lambda(A;M), \lambda(\bar A; M))$ is equidistributed with (\se(M),\ne(M)), where \se(M) and $\ne(M)$ are the numbers of southeast chains and northeast chains of $M$, respectively.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Determination of Swap Spreads: An Empirical Analysis

Data about swap rates and impinging variables were taken from multiple sources and examined using regression analysis. Results show that the identified variables, including corporate default spreads, Treasury rates, Treasury yield curve, interest rate volatility, and eurodollar rates explain changes in interest rate swap spreads

Propulsion simulation for magnetically suspended wind tunnel models

The feasibility of simulating propulsion-induced aerodynamic effects on scaled aircraft models in wind tunnels employing Magnetic Suspension and Balance Systems. The investigation concerned itself with techniques of generating exhaust jets of appropriate characteristics. The objectives were to: (1) define thrust and mass flow requirements of jets; (2) evaluate techniques for generating propulsive gas within volume limitations imposed by magnetically-suspended models; (3) conduct simple diagnostic experiments for techniques involving new concepts; and (4) recommend experiments for demonstration of propulsion simulation techniques. Various techniques of generating exhaust jets of appropriate characteristics were evaluated on scaled aircraft models in wind tunnels with MSBS. Four concepts of remotely-operated propulsion simulators were examined. Three conceptual designs involving innovative adaptation of convenient technologies (compressed gas cylinders, liquid, and solid propellants) were developed. The fourth innovative concept, namely, the laser-assisted thruster, which can potentially simulate both inlet and exhaust flows, was found to require very high power levels for small thrust levels

Regulation of NF-κB by PML and PML-RARα

Promyelocytic Leukemia (PML) is a nuclear protein that forms sub-nuclear structures termed nuclear bodies associated with transcriptionally active genomic regions. PML is a tumour suppressor and regulator of cell differentiation. We demonstrate that PML promotes TNFα-induced transcriptional responses by promoting NF-κB activity. TNFα-treated PML−/− cells show normal IκBα degradation and NF-κB nuclear translocation but significantly reduced NF-κB DNA binding and phosphorylation of NF-κB p65. We also demonstrate that the PML retinoic acid receptor-α (PML-RARα) oncofusion protein, which causes acute promyelocytic leukemia, inhibits TNFα induced gene expression and phosphorylation of NF-κB. This study establishes PML as an important regulator of NF-κB and demonstrates that PML-RARα dysregulates NF-κB