The Impact of Pension Freezes on Firm Value

This paper addresses the issue of value creation in the context of defined benefit pension freezes. In addition, we study the market response to freeze announcements. We find evidence that freezes do in fact enhance underlying firm value but that market valuation lags in responding to this increase. Economic logic supports the notion that pension freezes are value creating, as managers cite lower expense volatility and improved cost structure as top reasons for implementing a plan freeze. The lagged market response presents the possibility that markets are not semi-strong efficient with respect to pension freezes. In this regard, our results corroborate recent work from other researchers who have found various market inefficiencies related to defined benefit pensions

Tinnitus as a Measure of Salicylate Toxicity in the Overdose Setting

Introduction: The development of tinnitus and/or hearing loss (THL) in patients receiving chronic salicylate therapy has been demonstrated. However, to date, little scientific data validates this relationship in the large single overdose setting.Objective: To correlate salicylate levels in patients with the subjective complaint of THL, following an acute salicylate overdose.Methods: A retrospective chart review of cases of acute salicylate toxicity and THL reported to the Illinois Poison Control Center (IPC) from 2001-2002 was performed. Data abstracted included age, gender, ingestion time, salicylate levels, and arterial blood gases.Results: Ninety-nine cases of THL were reviewed and analyzed with mean age of 23.7 years (SD: 10.9), 30.3% male, and 82.2% intentional overdoses. The average dose ingested was 20.0 grams (SD:20.2) and the mean time from ingestion to medical care was 12.4 hours (SD: 11.1). The mean initial ASA level was 48.3 mg/dl (SD: 16.4) with 86.9% having initial level ≥ 30mg/dl and 40.4% ≥ 50 mg/dl. 85.9% of cases presented to the hospital with their ASA level at or past peak. The mean pH was 7.45, pO2 = 108, pCO2 = 28.0, and HCO3 = 19.9.Conclusion: In this limited study, 85.9% of patients presenting with tinnitus and/or hearing loss following a single salicylate ingestion had initial salicylate levels at or past their peak and 86.9% were in the toxic range

Follicle-stimulating Hormone is Independently Associated with Lean Mass but not BMD in Younger Postmenopausal Women

PURPOSE: Increased follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) has been associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD) in animal models and longitudinal studies of women, but a direct effect has not been demonstrated.METHODS: We tested associations between FSH, non-bone body composition measures and BMD in 94 younger (aged 50 to 64 years) postmenopausal women without current use of hormone therapy, adjusting for sex hormone concentrations and clinical risk factors for osteoporosis. Lean mass, fat mass and areal BMD (aBMD) at the spine, femoral neck and total hip were measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Volumetric BMD (vBMD) was measured at the distal radius using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT).RESULTS: FSH was inversely correlated with lean and fat mass, bioavailable estradiol, spine and hip aBMD, and vBMD at the ultradistal radius. In the multivariable analysis, FSH was independently associated with lean mass (β=-0.099, p=0.005) after adjustment for age, race, years since menopause, bioavailable estradiol, bioavailable testosterone, LH, PTH, SHBG and urine N-telopeptide. FSH showed no statistically significant association with aBMD at any site or pQCT measures at the distal radius in adjusted models. Race was independently associated with aBMD, and race and urine N-telopeptide were independently associated with bone area and vBMD.CONCLUSIONS: After adjustment for hormonal measures and osteoporosis risk factors, higher concentrations of FSH were independently associated with lower lean mass, but not with BMD. Previously reported correlations between FSH and BMD might have been due to indirect associations via lean mass or weight

The Asymptotic Number of Attractors in the Random Map Model

The random map model is a deterministic dynamical system in a finite phase space with n points. The map that establishes the dynamics of the system is constructed by randomly choosing, for every point, another one as being its image. We derive here explicit formulas for the statistical distribution of the number of attractors in the system. As in related results, the number of operations involved by our formulas increases exponentially with n; therefore, they are not directly applicable to study the behavior of systems where n is large. However, our formulas lend themselves to derive useful asymptotic expressions, as we show.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure. Minor changes. To be published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Genera

Entanglement of spin chains with general boundaries and of dissipative systems

We analyze the entanglement properties of spins (qubits) close to the boundary of spin chains in the vicinity of a quantum critical point and show that the concurrence at the boundary is significantly different from the one of bulk spins. We also discuss the von Neumann entropy of dissipative environments in the vicinity of a (boundary) critical point, such as two Ising-coupled Kondo-impurities or the dissipative two-level system. Our results indicate that the entanglement (concurrence and/or von Neumann entropy) changes abruptly at the point where coherent quantum oscillations cease to exist. The phase transition modifies significantly less the entanglement if no symmetry breaking field is applied and we argue that this might be a general property of the entanglement of dissipative systems. We finally analyze the entanglement of an harmonic chain between the two ends as function of the system size.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure

Healing Spaces: Feasibility of a Multisensory Experience for Older Adults with Advanced Dementia and their Caregivers

Healing Spaces proposes a new approach to multisensory interventions that show potential in ameliorating the behavioral and psychological symptoms of advanced dementia in older adults. Using smart technology, the project combines both digital and physical components to transform spaces and create unified, curated sensory experiences that provide meaningful context for interaction, and are easy for caregivers to deliver. A usability study was conducted for the Healing Spaces app followed by a feasibility evaluation of the full experience in a memory care facility recruiting caregivers, and residents in advanced stages of dementia. The feasibility evaluation successfully illuminated strengths as well as areas for improvement for the Healing Spaces experience in a memory care setting with older adults with advanced dementia. Caregivers and facility managers expressed interest in continuing to use Healing Spaces with the residents of the facility. Lessons learned about the technical and logistical implementation of Healing Spaces are discussed, as well as future directions for study design and potential therapeutic value of the experience.Comment: PETRA 20: Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments. June 2020. Article No 24. Pages 1 to

Chern-Simons Modified General Relativity

Chern-Simons modified gravity is an effective extension of general relativity that captures leading-order, gravitational parity violation. Such an effective theory is motivated by anomaly cancelation in particle physics and string theory. In this review, we begin by providing a pedagogical derivation of the three distinct ways such an extension arises: (1) in particle physics, (2) from string theory and (3) geometrically. We then review many exact and approximate, vacuum solutions of the modified theory, and discuss possible matter couplings. Following this, we review the myriad astrophysical, solar system, gravitational wave and cosmological probes that bound Chern-Simons modified gravity, including discussions of cosmic baryon asymmetry and inflation. The review closes with a discussion of possible future directions in which to test and study gravitational parity violation.Comment: 104 pages, 2 figures, 186 references, Invited Review accepted for publication in Phys. Repts. This version corrects a minor typo in Eq. (174) of the published versio

Shedding light on the elusive role of endothelial cells in cytomegalovirus dissemination.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is frequently transmitted by solid organ transplantation and is associated with graft failure. By forming the boundary between circulation and organ parenchyma, endothelial cells (EC) are suited for bidirectional virus spread from and to the transplant. We applied Cre/loxP-mediated green-fluorescence-tagging of EC-derived murine CMV (MCMV) to quantify the role of infected EC in transplantation-associated CMV dissemination in the mouse model. Both EC- and non-EC-derived virus originating from infected Tie2-cre(+) heart and kidney transplants were readily transmitted to MCMV-naïve recipients by primary viremia. In contrast, when a Tie2-cre(+) transplant was infected by primary viremia in an infected recipient, the recombined EC-derived virus poorly spread to recipient tissues. Similarly, in reverse direction, EC-derived virus from infected Tie2-cre(+) recipient tissues poorly spread to the transplant. These data contradict any privileged role of EC in CMV dissemination and challenge an indiscriminate applicability of the primary and secondary viremia concept of virus dissemination

The case for the ability-based model of emotional intelligence in organizational behavior

In this second counterpoint article, we refute the claims of Landy, Locke, and Conte, and make the more specific case for our perspective, which is that ability-based models of emotional intelligence have value to add in the domain of organizational psychology. In this article, we address remaining issues, such as general concerns about the tenor and tone of the debates on this topic, a tendency for detractors to collapse across emotional intelligence models when reviewing the evidence and making judgments, and subsequent penchant to thereby discount all models, including the ability-based one, as lacking validity. We specifically refute the following three claims from our critics with the most recent empirically based evidence: (1) emotional intelligence is dominated by opportunistic academics-turned-consultants who have amassed much fame and fortune based on a concept that is shabby science at best; (2) the measurement of emotional intelligence is grounded in unstable, psychometrically flawed instruments, which have not demonstrated appropriate discriminant and predictive validity to warrant/justify their use; and (3) there is weak empirical evidence that emotional intelligence is related to anything of importance in organizations. We thus end with an overview of the empirical evidence supporting the role of emotional intelligence in organizational and social behavior