Letter sent from Jerry D. Sullivan to Charles D. Niemeier, William H. Donaldson, David M. Walker, and W.J. Billy Tauzin

Original copied from TOS Web sitehttps://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_assoc/1230/thumbnail.jp

Liquid crystal necklaces: cholesteric drops threaded by thin cellulose fibres

Liquid crystals in confined geometries exhibit numerous complex structures often including topological defects that are controlled by the nematic elasticity, chirality and surface anchoring. In this work, we study the structures of cholesteric droplets pierced by cellulose fibres with planar anchoring at droplet and fibre surfaces. By varying the temperature we demonstrate the role of twisting power and droplet diameter on the equilibrium structures. The observed structures are complemented by detailed numerical simulations of possible director fields decorated by defects. Three distinct structures, a bipolar and two ring configurations, are identified experimentally and numerically. Designing cholesteric liquid crystal microdroplets on thin long threads opens new routes to produce fibre waveguides decorated with complex microresonators

’Pentagon Ju-Jitsu' - reshaping the field of propaganda

This article presents qualitative research examining adaptation to global asymmetric threats and a modern media environment of US Government propaganda systems by planners following 9-11, which proceeded largely unhindered by public debate. It draws on interviews with US elite sources including foreign policy, defense and intelligence personnel and documentary sources to explore how dissent was contained. A ‘merging’ of Psychological Operations and Public Affairs has been identified as a point of concern elsewhere and is argued to have facilitated the extension of US hegemony. It will present an account of the struggles between 2005 and 2009 when planners sought to alter ‘foreign’ and ‘domestic’ audience targeting norms that emerged in an old-media system of sovereign states with more stable populations. It focuses on a key example of transformation: the pressing through of internet policy changes for military Psychological Operations and Public Affairs, against resistance. Policies were brought in to coordinate and overcome discordance in foreign-domestic messaging by Psychological Operations and Information Operations personnel. Viewed as operational necessity for Psychological Operations, these resulted in a ‘terf war’ with Public Affairs who constructed a defense using discourses of legitimacy and credibility with domestic audiences. This article will show how concerns raised by Public Affairs were met by the reduction of their planning role, until a culture change and new orthodoxy emerged. Challenges raised by evolving media demand a reappraisal of propaganda governance and governments must allow greater transparency for public debate, legal judgement and independent academic enquiry to occur

Auditor Change Disclosures as Signals of Earnings Management and Risk

Auditor resignations are considered more negative signals than auditor dismissals, but firms’ self-reported distinction between the two may not offer a complete or reliable representation of the nature of the auditor change. 8-K regulations require the disclosure of the adjournment of an audit engagement even if a successor auditor has not yet been named. In compliance with this requirement, some firms file two 8-k’s related to the same auditor change. Exploiting these dual 8-K filings, we create a new measure of the nature of auditor changes and show that 1) both self-reported auditor resignations and dual 8-K filings are related to measures of earnings management and risk; and 2) auditor changes identified as both self-reported resignations and dual 8-K filings are associated with the most negative economic implications (as reflected by the likelihood of financial statement manipulation and bankruptcy risk). We suggest that dual 8-K filings and self-reported resignations are complementary negative signals each capturing unique dimensions of the underlying economic factors

Development of a petrographic technique to assess the spontaneous combustion susceptibility of Indian coals

Petrographic studies are commonly used categorise the potential utilisation of coals. Eleven coal samples from the jharia coalfield (JCF), india, were studied using petrographic techniques to investigate maceral content, reflectance, and textural characteristics. Multiple test samples of each coal were slowly oxidised under controlled laboratory conditions from an ambient temperature of 30°c to 300°c to investigate the morphology of oxidised coals. The petrographic characterisation of the coals before and after oxidation showed important changes in both morphology and vitrinite reflectance. The oxidation of the coal particles produced three predominant textural changes: particles with homogeneous change of reflectance (HCv), particles with oxidation rims (ORv), and particles with no changes were observed (Uv) respectively. These textural characteristics were used to indicate how particles had interacted with oxygen at low temperatures during the early stages of oxidation. The morphological classification developed provides an alternative method to confirm the susceptibility of a coal to spontaneous combustion. Conventional thermal parameters such as crossing point temperature (CPT) were unable to identify the coals prone to spontaneous combustion. However, certain petrographic parameters could be combined with CPT values to provide a much more accurate measure for susceptibility to spontaneous combustion

Insurgent capitalism: Island, bricolage and the re-making of finance

Drawing on recent discussions of the material cultures of markets and of financial innovation as bricolage, this paper explores the development of Island, a new share-trading venue set up in 1995. We examine Island's roots in a very specific conflict in the US financial markets and in the information libertarianism of 'hacker culture', and examine the material bricolage involved in Island's construction. The paper also outlines the processes that led to a dramatic 'Latourian' change of scale: Island was originally a 'micro' development on the fringes of US markets, but within little more than a decade key features of Island became close to compulsory, as the nature of North American and Western European share trading changed utterly