22,182 research outputs found

    Principal agent problems under loss aversion: an application to executive stock options

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    Executive stock options reward success but do not penalise failure. In contrast, the standard principalagent model implies that pay is normally monotonically increasing in performance. This paper shows that, under loss aversion, the use of carrots but not sticks is a feature of an optimal compensation contract. Low risk aversion and high loss aversion is particularly propitious to the use of options. Moreover, loss aversion on the part of executives explains the award of at the money options rather than discounted stock or bonus related pay. Other features of stock option grants are also explained, such as resetting or reloading with an exercise price equal to the current stock price

    Conformational photoswitching of a synthetic peptide foldamer bound within a phospholipid bilayer

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    The dynamic properties of foldamers, synthetic molecules that mimic folded biomolecules, have mainly been explored in free solution.We report on the design, synthesis, and conformational behavior of photoresponsive foldamers bound in a phospholipid bilayer akin to a biological membrane phase. These molecules contain a chromophore, which can be switched between two configurations by different wavelengths of light, attached to a helical synthetic peptide that both promotes membrane insertion and communicates conformational change along its length. Light-induced structural changes in the chromophore are translated into global conformational changes, which are detected by monitoring the solid-state 19 F nuclear magnetic resonance signals of a remote fluorine-containing residue located 1 to 2 nanometers away. The behavior of the foldamers in the membrane phase is similar to that of analogous compounds in organic solvents

    Amounts of Tennessee Extension staff time planned and expended and clientele contacts with selected audiences and teaching methods, fiscal years 1972 and 1975, and possible implications for 1970 statewide extention swine production practice checklist survey and educational program

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    Information from the 1970 and 1975 Tennessee Swine Production Practice Checklist Surveys was studied together with data from the Tennessee Extension Management Information System, TEMIS, (i.e., agent days planned and expended and clientele contacts made) for Fiscal Years 1972 and 1975 to determine whether there were possible implications for the survey and Extension\u27s educational program. The classification of swine survey practices and TEMIS primary subjects was assumed to be acceptable for this study. Data were con sidered for Extension districts and teaching methods. From the 1975 Tennessee Swine Production Survey, it was found that the producer reported state average weaning (8 weeks) weight, for 527 producers randomly interviewed regarding Tennessee swine, was 40 pounds per pig. Recommended practices under Primary TEMIS Subject One, Swine Records ; Subject Two, Swine Pests ; Subject Three, Swine Housing and Structures ; and Subject Four, Swine Management ; were all used by less than 60 percent of the producers interviewed, based on 1970 data. This suggested the need to emphasize them more in Extension\u27s swine educational program as priority or weaker areas. Recommended practices under Primary TEMIS Subject Five, Swine Feeding and Nutrition ; and Subject Six, Swine Breeding and Production , were used by more than 60 percent of the producers interviewed based on 1970 data. There were decreases in total agent days planned, total agent days expended and total clientele contacts made on swine subjects between FY 1972 and FY 1975. Of Extension methods studied, increases in numbers and percents of agent days expended for swine Extension work varied from district to district but were greatest for Individual Teaching Methods; while the largest decrease occurred for Mass Media. Trends in numbers and percents of clientele contacts made also varied from district to district, but the greatest increase occurred in Group Teaching Methods, with the greatest decrease occurring in All Other Teaching Methods. Indications were that the findings of the 1970 TSPCS were not reflected in the planning of future swine educational programs. Further study would be necessary, however, to determine if other factors, not identified in this study, influenced the manner in which agent time was planned and expended. Recommendations were included

    Locomotion in the Biology of Large Aquatic Vertebrates

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    As aquatic vertebrates increase in size, hydrofoils, which use lift to generate thrust, are increasingly used as propulsors. One factor affecting the magnitude of the lift force is the area of the propulsor. Resistance to cruising and sprints is mainly due to drag, but inertia is important during maneuvers when animals accelerate or turn. The inertia of the body and entrained water, which is proportional to body volume, resists acceleration. Because a thrust that is proportional to surface area is used to maneuver a resistance that is proportional to volume, acceleration performance and maneuverability are expected to decline with increasing size, This trend is ameliorated to some extent by the high swimming speeds attainable by warm‐bodied vertebrates and the reduced resistance to acceleration characteristic of the skeletons of dolphins and ichthyosaurs. Maneuvers are essential for capture of elusive prey and avoidance of predators. As they increase in size, aquatic vertebrates use various means to ensure that their prey are less maneuverable than they. These include consumption of increasingly smaller prey relative to predator body size (culminating in filter feeding by the largest aquatic vertebrates); behaviors to concentrate, disturb, and disorient prey; and ambushing or suction feeding that avoid whole‐body acceleration. Advantages of warm muscles are seen in the ability of endotherms to take more maneuverable prey than can ectotherms of the same size. Young stages of large aquatic vertebrates could be especially vulnerable to predators; viviparity or spawning in productive patches provides for rapid growth through vulnerable stages.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141968/1/tafs0629.pd

    Knowledge convergence in collaborative learning

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    In collaborative learning the question has been raised as to how learners in small groups influence one another and converge or diverge with respect to knowledge. Knowledge convergence can be conceptualised as knowledge equivalence and as shared knowledge prior to, during, and subsequent to collaborative learning. Knowledge equivalence refers to learners becoming more similar to their learning partners with regard to the extent of their individual knowledge. Shared knowledge means that learners have knowledge on the very same concepts as their learning partners. In this article, we provide measures for assessing both, knowledge equivalence and shared knowledge

    A catalogue of damped Lyman alpha absorption systems and radio flux densities of the background quasars

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    We present a catalogue of the 322 damped Lyman alpha absorbers taken from the literature. All damped Lyman alpha absorbers are included, with no selection on redshift or quasar magnitude. Of these, 123 are candidates and await confirmation using high resolution spectroscopy. For all 322 objects we catalogue the radio properties of the background quasars, where known. Around 60 quasars have radio flux densities above 0.1 Jy and approximately half of these have optical magnitudes brighter than V = 18. This compilation should prove useful in several areas of extragalactic/cosmological research.Comment: 26 Pages, 12 PS tables, 1 embedded table. Accepted by PASA. Continuously updated online catalogue available at http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~sjc/dl

    Module networks revisited: computational assessment and prioritization of model predictions

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    The solution of high-dimensional inference and prediction problems in computational biology is almost always a compromise between mathematical theory and practical constraints such as limited computational resources. As time progresses, computational power increases but well-established inference methods often remain locked in their initial suboptimal solution. We revisit the approach of Segal et al. (2003) to infer regulatory modules and their condition-specific regulators from gene expression data. In contrast to their direct optimization-based solution we use a more representative centroid-like solution extracted from an ensemble of possible statistical models to explain the data. The ensemble method automatically selects a subset of most informative genes and builds a quantitatively better model for them. Genes which cluster together in the majority of models produce functionally more coherent modules. Regulators which are consistently assigned to a module are more often supported by literature, but a single model always contains many regulator assignments not supported by the ensemble. Reliably detecting condition-specific or combinatorial regulation is particularly hard in a single optimum but can be achieved using ensemble averaging.Comment: 8 pages REVTeX, 6 figure

    Compositions and Methods for Detecting and Treating Atherosclerosis

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    Methods for detecting atherosclerotic plaque and quantifying the amount of Group V sPLA2 in plasma are disclosed. These methods can be used to assess the risk of cardiovascular pathology in a patient
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