Gallery Characteristics and Life History of the Ambrosia Beetle Trypodendron betulae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in Birch

Trypodendron betulae Swaine distributed attack entrance holes uniformly over the surface of standing stressed sub-canopy birch trees. Male and female pairs constructed galleries consisting of an entrance tunnel about 20 mm in length and then primary and secondary lateral tunnels averaging between 16 and 23 mm in length into the sapwood. Egg niches were constructed in the lateral tunnels after the symbiotic fungus was established in the galleries. Larvae enlarged the niches into cradles. Pupae and eventually teneral adults developed in the cradles. The sex ratio of resulting progeny adults was approximately one to one, and they emerged from galleries in September to overwinter in the litter

Pairs trading in the UK equity market: risk and return

In this paper, we provide the first comprehensive UK evidence on the profitability of the pairs trading strategy. Evidence suggests that the strategy performs well in crisis periods, so we control for both risk and liquidity to assess performance. To evaluate the effect of market frictions on the strategy, we use several estimates of transaction costs. We also present evidence on the performance of the strategy in different economic and market states. Our results show that pairs trading portfolios typically have little exposure to known equity risk factors such as market, size, value, momentum and reversal. However, a model controlling for risk and liquidity explains a far larger proportion of returns. Incorporating different assumptions about bid-ask spreads leads to reductions in performance estimates. When we allow for time-varying risk exposures, conditioned on the contemporaneous equity market return, risk-adjusted returns are generally not significantly different from zero

Predictability revisited: UK equity returns, 1965-2007

This study tests a large sample of UK equity returns from 1965 to 2007 for predictability. Returns are tested using the Lo and MacKinlay (1988) variance ratio test and the Chow and Denning (1993) multiple variance ratio tests. Overall, the results show strong signs of predictability. There is a size effect, in which small equities appear more predictable in the first half of the sample (1965–1985), and mid- to large-size equities appear more predictable in the second half of the sample (1986–2007)

The Question of Obedience and the Formation of Confessional Identity in the Irish Reformation

This article explains religious change in Ireland in terms of the crown’s call for obedience in a well-order commonwealth. It takes the position that religious Reformation was not initially presented as a choice between distinct confessions. Instead, it consisted of a call to obey the ordained head of the commonwealth and a call to return to an original truth. This meant the space for dissent or opposition was extremely small. On this basis, the article argues that dissent from the crown’s position was only able to emerge in Ireland because two competing definitions of obedience emerged. The Old English stuck fast to an original call for commonwealth reform, which was about understanding how God had structured society by following the rules set out in English law and by the Church. In contrast, New English reformed protestants emphasized the need for God’s saving grace and conscience-based reform as the basis of obedience. Here the Old English became aware that they held to a different idea of obedience and reform, which allowed them to articulate a separate religious identity using their own language of obedience

The Emergence of the State in Elizabethan Ireland and England, c. 1575-99

This article examines the emergence of the concept of the state in Elizabethan Ireland and England. It argues that in Ireland early shape was given to both principal assumptions associated with a modern abstract notion of the state, in that government in Ireland came to conceive of its authority as distinct from both the person of the prince and the wider Irish polity. This came about because Irish government had to function at a distance from Elizabeth, who remained resident in England, whilst on the other hand government sought to act independently of a wider Irish polity, which it deemed to be corrupt. This article will argue that such a development preempted a wider shift in English and European political philosophy, and what followed was a use of the term state in Irish government correspondence which reflected the notion that the authority government possessed was distinct from both ruler and ruled

Reason of State, Stände, and Estates in German and English Exchanges over the Crisis in the Palatinate, 1618–24

When, in 1619, Frederick V of the Palatinate accepted the crown of Bohemia, he justified his action, which challenged the authority of Emperor Ferdinand II and precipitated the Thirty Years’ War, by the need to uphold the public order, rights, and responsibilities connected to the estates of the empire. English engagements with the German vocabulary of estates drew upon the concept of reason of state—those amoral political calculations needed to maintain a group’s estate, or standing. The article examines the significance of these differences in a vocabulary of estates and state

On Liberalism, Liberty of Conscience, and Toleration: some historical and theoretical reflections

This chapter offers some historical and theoretical reflections on the relationship between liberalism and toleration. It is shown that the terms of that relationship as assumed in the minds of liberal commentators were established quite early, in the eighteenth century, and reproduced down to the present day in multiple versions of a grand narrative in which the liberal tradition originates in conscientious Protestant resistance to Catholic and Catholic-style persecution which, in 1688, would deliver limited government and religious liberty to all. A habitual equation between toleration and liberty of conscience is shown to be operative, legitimated by a reading of Locke which presents him as the intellectual mastermind of 1688, a founder of the liberal tradition, and an exponent of liberty of conscience. It is suggested that hidden within the folds of this reading is an old idea, that progressive thinkers like Locke educate elites who in their turn restrain and re-educate the popular instinct to persecute. History is used to problematize the equation of toleration and liberty of conscience and to give grounds for thinking that the old idea is alive and well in Rawlsian writing about liberalism, its history, and its relation to toleration

A new lizard species (Scincidae: Ctenotus) highlights persistent knowledge gaps on the biodiversity of Australia’s central deserts

Australia harbors the most diverse lizard assemblages on Earth, yet the biodiversity of its vast arid zone remains incompletely characterized. Recent sampling of remote regions has revealed new species with unique phenotypes and unclear evolutionary affinities. Here, we describe a new species of scincid lizard that appears to be widely distributed across the Great Victoria Desert and adjacent regions. The new species was previously overlooked among specimens of the wide-ranging desert taxon Ctenotus schomburgkii but is distinguished from it by coloration and scalation characters. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial and genome-wide nuclear loci confirmed that the new species is highly divergent from C. schomburgkii, with which it appears to be sympatric across much of its range. In addition to the new species, our survey of genetic variation within C. schomburgkii as currently recognized revealed three additional lineages that approach one another in southern and northwestern Australia, and which may also represent distinct species. These results suggest that our knowledge of the extraordinary biodiversity of arid Australia remains incomplete, with implications for the conservation and management of this unique fauna. The targeted collection of voucher specimens in undersampled regions, coupled with population genetic screening of lineage diversity, will be crucial for characterizing species boundaries and understanding the composition of Australia’s vertebrate communities

FDA approval announcements: Attention-grabbing or event-day misspecification?

The attention-grabbing hypothesis has been offered as a behavioural explanation for post-event abnormal returns for FDA drug approval announcements for NYSE listed firms. We show that when event-day mis-specification is accounted for, the market reaction is centred on the event-day and that the increase in firm value is driven by after-market-close approval announcements

A protocol for advanced psychometric assessment of surveys

Background and Purpose. In this paper, we present a protocol for advanced psychometric assessments of surveys based on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. We use the Alberta Context Tool (ACT) as an exemplar survey to which this protocol can be applied. Methods. Data mapping, acceptability, reliability, and validity are addressed. Acceptability is assessed with missing data frequencies and the time required to complete the survey. Reliability is assessed with internal consistency coefficients and information functions. A unitary approach to validity consisting of accumulating evidence based on instrument content, response processes, internal structure, and relations to other variables is taken. We also address assessing performance of survey data when aggregated to higher levels (e.g., nursing unit). Discussion. In this paper we present a protocol for advanced psychometric assessment of survey data using the Alberta Context Tool (ACT) as an exemplar survey; application of the protocol to the ACT survey is underway. Psychometric assessment of any survey is essential to obtaining reliable and valid research findings. This protocol can be adapted for use with any nursing survey.<br /