Estimating the Indirect Gaming Contribution of Bingo Rooms

Using data from two repeater market hotel casinos, the relationship between bingo and slot business volumes is explored. Contrary to conjecture supplied by industry executives, the results fail to demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between daily bingo headcount and coin-in. This result was found in three different analyses, including one· attempt to estimate the impact of bingo headcount on low-denomination coin-in. This study advances the literature by challenging the assumption that bingo rooms produce substantial indirect slot profits. Given the minimal direct contribution to property cash flows, if any, the results suggest that bingo rooms are not always the highest and best use of valuable casino floor space

HB 69 Grocery Investment Program and Fund

In the 2018 session of the Virginia General Assembly, multiple pieces of legislation were brought to committee, proposing the creation of a fund to catalyze public-private partnerships to expand access to Virginians residing in food deserts. Through the creation of the fund, underserved communities would see the construction, rehabilitation and expansion of food retailers in their communities ameliorate food desserts

Speed and symmetry: Developing effective organisational responses to social media criticism of CSR

This study examines how organisations can respond effectively to negative user-generated content (NUGC) about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) on social media. Specifically, it investigates the role of speed and symmetry of response in mitigating the impact of NUGC on perceptions of the company’s CSR and legitimacy. It was motivated by the fact that, despite the increasing importance of social media as a CSR communication channel, most companies appear unwilling or unable to respond effectively to NUGC, compromising the efficacy of their CSR communication on social media. Using a between-groups experimental design (n=660), the study finds that: i) NUGC about a company’s CSR post negatively impacts stakeholder perceptions of organisations’ CSR and legitimacy; ii) NUGC’s impact can be partially mitigated by company responses that are either fast or highly symmetrical; iii) NUGC’s impact is only fully mitigated when company responses are fast and highly symmetrical. The findings establish speed and symmetry, in combination, as necessary conditions for effectively responding to NUGC about company CSR posts on social media. The authors recommend, to maximise the effectiveness of social media communication of CSR, managers should establish processes to identify, read, and respond to NUGC rapidly and with a high degree of symmetry

Assessing the Racial Equity Impact of Legislation to Establish a Virginia Grocery Investment Program and Fund

Abstract In 2018 the Commonwealth of Virginia’s General Assembly considered, but did not pass, legislation to combat food deserts via the creation of the Virginia Grocery Investment Program and Fund. The Fund introduced a $3.75 million per year appropriation intended to leverage public-private partnerships to support construction, rehabilitation, upgrading or expansion of grocery stores or other food retailers in underserved communities. African Americans disproportionately face low access to healthy food. This research utilizes data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Access Research Atlas and demographic data on race/ethnicity from the U.S. Census Bureau to examine the racial/ethnic make-up of low healthy food access populations in Virginia and the potential racial equity impact of the Fund. The findings show that using a low access/low income definition of underserved, compared to the proposed low access-only definition in the legislation, would target the Fund’s impact more in urban areas that are more diverse in general and more heavily African American

Starvation-Associated Genome Restructuring Can Lead to Reproductive Isolation in Yeast

Knowledge of the mechanisms that lead to reproductive isolation is essential for understanding population structure and speciation. While several models have been advanced to explain post-mating reproductive isolation, experimental data supporting most are indirect. Laboratory investigations of this phenomenon are typically carried out under benign conditions, which result in low rates of genetic change unlikely to initiate reproductive isolation. Previously, we described an experimental system using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae where starvation served as a proxy to any stress that decreases reproduction and/or survivorship. We showed that novel lineages with restructured genomes quickly emerged in starved populations, and that these survivors were more fit than their ancestors when re-starved. Here we show that certain yeast lineages that survive starvation have become reproductively isolated from their ancestor. We further demonstrate that reproductive isolation arises from genomic rearrangements, whose frequency in starving yeast is several orders of magnitude greater than an unstarved control. By contrast, the frequency of point mutations is less than 2-fold greater. In a particular case, we observe that a starved lineage becomes reproductively isolated as a direct result of the stress-related accumulation of a single chromosome. We recapitulate this result by demonstrating that introducing an extra copy of one or several chromosomes into naïve, i.e. unstarved, yeast significantly diminishes their fertility. This type of reproductive barrier, whether arising spontaneously or via genetic manipulation, can be removed by making a lineage euploid for the altered chromosomes. Our model provides direct genetic evidence that reproductive isolation can arise frequently in stressed populations via genome restructuring without the precondition of geographic isolation

Assignments of the n[pi]* singlet states of p-benzoquinone

The vapor phase fluorescence spectra of p-benzoquinone-h4 and d4 are reported and discussed in relation to the assignment of the low lying singlet states. The low temperature, polarized single crystal electronic absorption spectra of p-benzoquinone and several of its isotopic derivatives are reported. From the isotope shifts and band polarizations of the various vibronic origins, a detailed vibronic analysis is offered of the electronic absorption spectrum of p-benzoquinone which indicates a near degeneracy of the 1Au and 1B1g electronic states.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22434/1/0000885.pd