Following the Money 2012: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data

Assesses states' progress in offering comprehensive, one-stop access to searchable and downloadable databases of government spending via transparency 2.0 Web sites, including searchability, user-friendliness, breadth of data, and features such as mapping

Root Weevils

Root weevils are a group of small, black-to-brown weevils that commonly damage ornamental and small fruit plants in Utah. This fact sheet tells how to identify them, their life history and habits, their management including chemical control for larvae, cultural control for adults, and chemical control for adults

Prices, Trading Activity, And Market Quality In The Modern Otc Marketplace

In Part 1, I study over 10,000 OTC securities that are organized into one of three tiered marketplaces (OTCQX, OTCQB, and OTC Pink) based on the quality and quantity of information a firm makes available. My analysis adds to the literature by providing a more complete picture of trading in this market. I examine determinants of trading within the tiers and compare trading metrics of the biggest return winners and losers during the sample period. I also examine if day-of-the week effects previously documented for listed securities exist in the OTC market. A large portion of these securities are penny stocks trading under five dollars per share. In Part 2, I compare penny stock behavior across price partitions and OTC marketplace tiers. I also compare market quality metrics of penny stocks trading OTC to those of listed securities priced five dollars and under. I document positive externalities resulting from the lottery-like features of penny stocks. In particular, I find that OTC penny stocks trade more often than their non-penny counterparts. However, on average, increased investor interest does not lead to an improvement in bid-ask spreads for these securities relative to non-penny OTC securities. I also find that penny stocks designated to higher information tiers are more liquid than penny stocks designated to lower information tiers. Lastly, in Part 3, I examine short interest in OTC stocks by price, tier, and stock and firm characteristics to determine the effects of transparency on short selling in the OTC market. I also study the daily return performances of securities with differing levels of short interest to determine if OTC securities behave as predicted by a theoretical model provided by Ang, Shtauber, and Tetlock (2013). I find that larger, more liquid stocks, and stocks in lower information tiers, are easier to short. Additionally, although American Depository Receipts (ADRs) tend to display higher levels of institutional participation, these securities are more difficult to short than comstocks and ordinary shares. Overall, my results provide support for studies suggesting that the difficulty shorting OTC stocks adds to the lottery-like features of OTC securities

Cooperative catalysis by silica-supported organic functional groups

Hybrid inorganic–organic materials comprising organic functional groups tethered from silica surfaces are versatile, heterogeneous catalysts. Recent advances have led to the preparation of silica materials containing multiple, different functional groups that can show cooperative catalysis; that is, these functional groups can act together to provide catalytic activity and selectivity superior to what can be obtained from either monofunctional materials or homogeneous catalysts. This tutorial review discusses cooperative catalysis of silica-based catalytic materials, focusing on the cooperative action of acid–base, acid–thiol, amine–urea, and imidazole–alcohol–carboxylate groups. Particular attention is given to the effect of the spatial arrangement of these organic groups and recent developments in the spatial organization of multiple groups on the silica surface

Talking about Bordering

In the summer of 2019 as the UK was in the midst of heated Brexit debates and Theresa May’s minority government clung on to power, Professor Louise Ryan interviewed Professor Nira Yuval-Davis about her recent book Bordering (Yuval-Davis, Wemyss and Cassidy 2019). Although things have changed in some significant ways since that interview, for example Boris Johnson has now replaced Theresa May as Prime Minister, and won a landslide election victory in December, 2019, and the controversial Brexit Bill was passed by the British Parliament, many of the issues about borders and bordering remain extremely relevant today. The current pandemic has not only revealed Britain’s dependence on migrant workers, especially in health and social care, but also exposed health inequalities among migrants and ethnic minorities. As the post-Brexit immigration landscape begins to emerge, the analysis of Nira Yuval Davis remains as pertinent as ever

Trimming the Judicial Oak : Rule 10b5-2(b)(1), Confidentiality Agreements, and the Proper Scope of Insider Trading Liability

In recent years the Securities and Exchange Commission, commonly known as the SEC, has been involved in a number of high- profile suits that have attracted a good deal of media attention. Among those prosecuted by the Commission are hedge fund billionaire and Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, investment/Ponzi- scheme guru Bernie Madoff, television host and magazine publisher Martha Stewart, and colorful Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Although such notable suits may simply be the SEC\u27s attempt to justify its own existence and role in the market it polices in light of the financial disasters of the past decade, these cases do raise some significant questions regarding the amount of power delegated to the Commission by Congress. Specifically, what exactly is the scope of the SEC\u27s authority, and is there any limit on its ability to prosecute some of the most powerful and prominent people in the country? While the SEC seems to be engaged in some muscle-flexing with regard to whom it chooses to prosecute, the Commission has also attempted to broaden the scope of its statutory power, especially with regard to the doctrine of insider trading.6 Rule 10b-5-the provision utilized to prosecute inside traders-has experienced expansive growth since its creation, developing from a mere statutory catchall provision in the securities laws to one of the SEC\u27s chief weapons in combating insider trading and other fraudulent actions in the securities markets. In fact, the liberal expansion of Rule 10b-5 from its humble beginnings has been so vast that it led Chief Justice Rehnquist to remark that the Rule is a judicial oak which has grown from little more than a legislative acorn. Despite the significant growth that Rule 10b-5 has undergone since its enactment, the Supreme Court has always carefully limited the Rule to its statutory roots of prohibiting deceptive and manipulative conduct in the securities markets. Traditionally, to be liable for insider trading, the trader had to owe a fiduciary duty to the counterparty to the trade, or have a similar relationship of trust and confidence with him. In the late 1990s, the Court adopted an exception to this general rule known as the misappropriation theory. Under this theory, the scope of liability extends beyond those who owe a duty to the other transacting party to those who owe a duty only to the source of the information. Although the misappropriation theory recognizes liability where it did not previously exist, the theory is consistent with the statutory roots of Rule 10b-5 because self-dealing in confidential information, in breach of a duty owed to the source of the information, is clearly deceptive conduct