When Do Firms Hire Lobbyists? The Organization of Lobbying at the Federal Communications Commission

This paper examines the explanatory power of transaction cost economics to explain vertical integration decisions for lobbying by firms. We examine 150 lobbying contacts at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the issue of payphone compensation for dial-around calls. When firms lobby on topics that are highly firm-specific and prone to sensitive-information leakage, they are more likely to use employees to lobby the FCC. However, when topics arise that are more general to the industry and do not include sensitive information, firms are more likely to use outside counsel to lobby the FCC.

The shadow in the balance sheet: The spectre of Enron and how accountants use the past as a psychological defence against the future

Accounting frameworks play a crucial role in enabling us to make sense of business. These frameworks provide a common language for individuals, organizations and broader economic groupings to understand and make decisions about the commercial realm in which they operate. From a psychodynamic perspective, the language of accounting also plays an important role. On the one hand it offers a way to tame the uncertainty and unknowability of the future by representing it in the same comforting terms as it does the past, thus reducing anxiety. Accounting provides a ‘shorthand’, which achieves a balance between positive and negative, debit and credit, asset and liability. On the other hand, accounting can also provide an arena in which fantasies about the future can be staged. However, the use of accounting language is problematic, particularly when it comes to dealing with the future. First, accounting frameworks are inherently backward looking and second, the reassuring sense of clarity and predictability they give are bought at the price of unrealistic simplification. The shadow is never far away and is a constant source of surprises in the unfolding future of a business. Rationalizing and sanitizing the shadow through accounting language may alleviate anxiety but fails to provide an escape from its effects, and echoes from the shadow side of business are capable of shaking the world in the form of accounting scandals. Governments and businesses have reacted to scandals such as Enron and Worldcom by tightening legislation and refining accounting standards but little, if anything, has been done to bring us any closer to confronting the shadow of business where these scandals have their r

The Effects of Language Brokering Among the Korean Population

Children of immigrant families frequently are immersed in a process called language brokering (LB) in which they interpret and translate between various linguistic and cultural parties for their families. Previous studies that investigated correlations among LB, mental health and behavioral outcomes revealed both positive and negative effects of well-being and development. The current study expanded this research by examining the relationship of LB, acculturation, hope, and resilience among 53 Korean adults. This study revealed a significant negative relationship between the frequency of LB and levels of hope. Additionally, the results did not demonstrate any significant relationships between the frequency of LB and acculturation or frequency of LB and levels of resilience. This study aids in further understanding and considering the complexity of how various cultural factors may influence one’s experience. Implications and future research are discussed

Physics of non-Gaussian fields and the cosmological genus statistic

We report a technique to calculate the impact of distinct physical processes inducing non-Gaussianity on the cosmological density field. A natural decomposition of the cosmic genus statistic into an orthogonal polynomial sequence allows complete expression of the scale-dependent evolution of the morphology of large-scale structure, in which effects including galaxy bias, nonlinear gravitational evolution and primordial non-Gaussianity may be delineated. The relationship of this decomposition to previous methods for analysing the genus statistic is briefly considered and the following applications are made: i) the expression of certain systematics affecting topological measurements; ii) the quantification of broad deformations from Gaussianity that appear in the genus statistic as measured in the Horizon Run simulation; iii) the study of the evolution of the genus curve for simulations with primordial non-Gaussianity. These advances improve the treatment of flux-limited galaxy catalogues for use with this measurement and further the use of the genus statistic as a tool for exploring non-Gaussianity.Comment: AASTeX preprint, 24 pages, 8 figures, includes several improvements suggested by anonymous reviewe

Type Ia supernova diversity: Standardizing the candles

Future use of type Ia supernovae for cosmology aims not only to determine the equation of state of dark energy, but also to constrain possible variations in its value. To achieve this goal, supernovae need to become better calibrated standard candles - not only to improve the precision of the measurement, but more importantly to gain better control over systematic uncertainties in order to ensure the accuracy of the result. Here we report on a project to quantify the diversity in type Ia supernovae, and to look for trends and/or sub-types that can be used to improve their calibration as standard candles. We implement a version of principal component analysis on type Ia supernova spectra. Although the quantity of data is not sufficient to draw any firm conclusions we show that this method holds promise for, at the very least, effectively separating peculiar supernovae. Whether it can be further used to improve the calibration of normal type Ia's remains a project for future study.Comment: Conference Proceedings. Cefalu 2006, The multicoloured landscape of compact objects and their explosive origins. Six pages, three figure

Removal of Confined Ionic Liquid from a Metal Organic Framework by Extraction with Molecular Solvents

This work was supported in part by NSF Grant No. CHE-1223988 and by EPSRC Grant No. EP/K00090X/1.Peer reviewedPostprin

MicroRNA-762 is upregulated in human corneal epithelial cells in response to tear fluid and Pseudomonas aeruginosa antigens and negatively regulates the expression of host defense genes encoding RNase7 and ST2.

Mucosal surfaces regulate defenses against infection and excessive inflammation. We previously showed that human tears upregulated epithelial expression of genes encoding RNase7 and ST2, which inhibited Pseudomonas aeruginosa invasion of human corneal epithelial cells. Here, microRNA microarrays were used to show that a combination of tear fluid exposure (16 h) then P. aeruginosa antigens (3 h) upregulated miR-762 and miR-1207, and down-regulated miR-92 and let-7b (all > 2-fold) in human corneal epithelial cells compared to P. aeruginosa antigens alone. RT-PCR confirmed miR-762 upregulation ∼ 3-fold in tear-antigen exposed cells. Without tears or antigens, an antagomir reduced miR-762 expression relative to scrambled controls by ∼50%, increased expression of genes encoding RNase7 (∼80 %), ST2 (∼58%) and Rab5a (∼75%), without affecting P. aeruginosa internalization. However, P. aeruginosa invasion was increased > 3-fold by a miR-762 mimic which reduced RNase7 and ST2 gene expression. Tear fluid alone also induced miR-762 expression ∼ 4-fold, which was reduced by the miR-762 antagomir. Combination of tear fluid and miR-762 antagomir increased RNase7 and ST2 gene expression. These data show that mucosal fluids, such as tears, can modulate epithelial microRNA expression to regulate innate defense genes, and that miR-762 negatively regulates RNase7, ST2 and Rab5a genes. Since RNase7 and ST2 inhibit P. aeruginosa internalization, and are upregulated by tear fluid, other tear-induced mechanisms must counteract inhibitory effects of miR-762 to regulate resistance to bacteria. These data also suggest a complex relationship between tear induction of miR-762, its modulation of innate defense genes, and P. aeruginosa internalization

A 10 GHz Quasi-Optical Grid Amplifier Using Integrated HBT Differential Pairs

We report the fabrication and testing of a 10 GHz grid amplifier utilizing sixteen GaAs chips each containing an HBT differential pair plus integral bias/feedback resistors. The overall amplifier consists of a 4x4 array of unit cells on an RT Duroid™ board having a relative permittivity of 2.2. Each unit cell consists of an emitter-coupled differential pair at the center, an input antenna which extends horizontally in both directions from the two base leads, an output antenna which extends vertically in both directions from the two collector leads, and high inductance bias lines. In operation, the active grid array is placed between a pair of crossed polarizers. The horizontally polarized input wave passes through the input polarizer and couples to the input leads. An amplified current then flows on the vertical leads, which radiate a vertically polarized amplified signal through the output polarizer. The polarizers serve dual functions, providing both input-output isolation as well as independent impedance matching for the input and output ports. The grid thus functions essentially as a free-space beam amplifier. Calculations indicate that output powers of several watts per square centimeter of grid area should be attainable with optimized structures