Parallel Importation and Service Quality: An Empirical Investigation of Competition between DVDs and Cinemas in New Zealand

Investigations into the causes and effects of parallel importing have concentrated on price discrimination but arbitrage can also occur on non-price dimensions. Using a natural experiment in the New Zealand film distribution industry between May 1998 and November 2001 we examine the effect of parallel importing on quality as it relates to the timing of the availability of film media. We demonstrate that a) cinema revenues were undermined as consumers substituted viewing films on parallel imported DVDs for thecinema format and b) that studios responded to the threat of parallel imported DVDs by bringing forward the release of films into New Zealand cinemas. The reduced delay between US and New Zealand cinematic release dates is shown to be consistent with the introduction of competition when timing is a dimension of quality and choice. We conclude that parallel importation of DVDs almost certainly resulted in a net increase in welfare in New Zealand

Indoor Location Technology

ME450 Capstone Design and Manufacturing Experience: Fall 2015People rely on GPS to reach destinations, but once the destination is reached, there is no system for navigation to a desired location inside a building. With an indoor positioning system (IPS), users could view their location in a building and determine indoor routes. Additionally, the FCC has set an objective to implement IPS to improve E911 accuracy. Currently, there are over 200 start-ups and large firms in competition to develop IPS, with most utilizing signals such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or WiFi. A better IPS product can be developed using magnetic positioning to generate a magnetic field using an extremely low frequency (ELF) signal. ELF consumes little energy and can travel through walls and objects; therefore avoiding troublesome issues encountered with BLE and WiFi. The main challenge with magnetic positioning is the size of the copper coil used to generate the magnetic field: it must be large enough to create a strong field, yet small enough for integration as a beacon into building infrastructure. The ELF beacon is rectangular-shaped for placement above doorways to tag users upon entering a room. Tagging occurs when the user’s smartphone magnetometer detects the dipole magnetic field of the beacon. The field is generated using a set-up that mimics a signal generator: Arduino Uno connected to Arduino Motor Shield, running C-code to create an ELF square wave, powered by batteries. By setting each beacon frequency to a distinctive value, user location can be determined based on unique identification. The prototype beacon’s coil was wound by hand; therefore the largest gauge wire could not be used due breakage risk and the prototype is not fully optimized in terms of size. Future plans include winding a 40 gauge copper wire by machine with multiple layers for further size optimization.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117339/1/ME450-F15-Project20-FinalReport.pd

Drilled by the jet? XMM-Newton discovers a Compton-thick AGN in the GPS galaxy Mkn668

We report the XMM-Newton discovery of the first Compton-thick obscured AGN in a Broad Line Radio Galaxy, the Gigahertz Peaked-Spectrum source Mkn668 (OQ+208). The remarkably flat 2-10 keV X-ray spectrum (observed photon index, \Gamma ~ 0.7), alongside with a prominent iron K-alpha fluorescent emission line, is a clear signature of a Compton-reflection dominated spectrum. Mkn688 represents a remarkable example of discrepancy between X-ray spectral properties and optical classification, as its optical spectrum is characterized by broad and asymmetric Balmer lines. The obscuring matter is constrained to be located within the radio hotspots, in turn separated by about 10 pc. If the jets are piercing their way through a Compton-thick medium pervading the nuclear environment, one could be largely underestimating the radio activity dynamical age determined from the observed hotspot recession velocity. The soft X-ray spectrum is dominated by a much steeper component, which may be due to nuclear continuum electron scattering, or inverse Compton of the - remarkably large - far infrared emission. Soft X-rays are suppressed by a further Compton-thin (N_H ~ 10^21/cm/cm) absorbing system, that we identify with matter responsible for free-free absorption of the radio lobes.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysic

High resolution X-ray spectroscopy and imaging of Mrk573

We present a detailed analysis of the XMM-Newton RGS high resolution X-ray spectra of the Seyfert 2 galaxy, Mrk573. This analysis is complemented by the study of the Chandra image, and its comparison to optical (HST) and radio (VLA) data. The soft X-ray emission is mainly due to gas photoionised by the central AGN, as indicated by the detection of radiative recombination continua from OVII and OVIII, as well as by the prominence of the OVII forbidden line. This result is confirmed by the best fit obtained with a self-consistent CLOUDY photoionisation model. However, a collisionally excited component is also required, in order to reproduce the FeXVII lines, accounting for about 1/3 of the total luminosity in the 15-26 A band. Once adopted the same model in the Chandra ACIS data, another photoionised component, with higher ionisation parameter, is needed to take into account emission from higher Z metals. The broadband ACIS spectrum also confirms the Compton-thick nature of the source. The imaging analysis shows the close morphological correspondence between the soft X-ray and the [OIII] emission. The radio emission appears much more compact, although clearly aligned with the narrow line region. The collisional phase of the soft X-ray emission may be due to starburst, requiring a star formation rate of $\simeq5-9$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, but there is no clear evidence of this kind of activity from other wavelengths. On the other hand, it may be related to the radio ejecta, responsible for the heating of the plasma interacting with the outflow, but the estimated pressure of the hot gas is much larger than the pressure of the radio jets, assuming equipartition and under reasonable physical parameters.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Main Journa

Order effects in high stakes undergraduate examinations: an analysis of 5 years of administrative data in one UK medical school.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between student performance in undergraduate objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) and the examination schedule to which they were assigned to undertake these examinations. DESIGN: Analysis of routinely collected data. SETTING: One UK medical school. PARTICIPANTS: 2331 OSCEs of 3 different types (obstetrics OSCE, paediatrics OSCE and simulated clinical encounter examination OSCE) between 2009 and 2013. Students were not quarantined between examinations. OUTCOMES: (1) Pass rates by day examination started, (2) pass rates by day station undertaken and (3) mean scores by day examination started. RESULTS: We found no evidence that pass rates differed according to the day on which the examination was started by a candidate in any of the examinations considered (p>0.1 for all). There was evidence (p=0.013) that students were more likely to pass individual stations on the second day of the paediatrics OSCE (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.54). In the cases of the simulated clinical encounter examination and the obstetrics and gynaecology OSCEs, there was no (p=0.42) or very weak evidence (p=0.099), respectively, of any such variation in the probability of passing individual stations according to the day they were attempted. There was no evidence that mean scores varied by day apart from the paediatric OSCE, where slightly higher scores were achieved on the second day of the examination. CONCLUSIONS: There is little evidence that different examination schedules have a consistent effect on pass rates or mean scores: students starting the examinations later were not consistently more or less likely to pass or score more highly than those starting earlier. The practice of quarantining students to prevent communication with (and subsequent unfair advantage for) subsequent examination cohorts is unlikely to be required.University of Cambridge School of Clinical MedicineThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BMJ Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-01254

The Influence of Alcohol Consumption on Fighting, Shoplifting and Vandalism in Young Adults

Experimental studies support the conventional belief that people behave more aggressively whilst under the influence of alcohol. To examine how these experimental findings manifest in real life situations, this study uses a method for estimating evidence for causality with observational data—‘situational decomposition’ to examine the association between alcohol consumption and crime in young adults from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Self-report questionnaires were completed at age 24 years to assess typical alcohol consumption and frequency, participation in fighting, shoplifting and vandalism in the previous year, and whether these crimes were committed under the influence of alcohol. Situational decomposition compares the strength of two associations, (1) the total association between alcohol consumption and crime (sober or intoxicated) versus (2) the association between alcohol consumption and crime committed while sober. There was an association between typical alcohol consumption and total crime for fighting [OR (95% CI): 1.47 (1.29, 1.67)], shoplifting [OR (95% CI): 1.25 (1.12, 1.40)], and vandalism [OR (95% CI): 1.33 (1.12, 1.57)]. The associations for both fighting and shoplifting had a small causal component (with the association for sober crime slightly smaller than the association for total crime). However, the association for vandalism had a larger causal component