The change in systematic risk after the 9/11 events: An analysis of restaurant industry

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 (the 9/11 events) have had a dramatic impact on all aspects of American society. Although all facets of U.S. society have been affected by the September 11 attacks, it is hard to identify an industry that felt those effects more immediately than the hospitality industry. The aftermath of the events of 9/11 has forced the hospitality industry to face a disastrous fact in terms of decreased customer demand. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the average systematic risk, or beta, of the restaurant industry changed significantly after 9/11. More specifically, this study examined the difference in systematic risk of different types of restaurants, such as fine/casual dining restaurants, family restaurants, and fast food restaurants in the pre-9/11 and post-9/11 period. The findings indicate that the systematic risk has not changed significantly both for the restaurant industry and for each restaurant segment that was examined

Development of Nickel Hydroxide/Oxide Composite for Application in Next Generation Electrochemical Capacitors

With the world’s increasing energy demand and the depletion of fossil fuels, there is a growing demand for the development of alternative and clean energy sources. Batteries and fuel cell technologies have been cited as next generation technologies to provide sustainable energy; however, these technologies are insufficient in supplying high power in short time periods that can be produced by oil as an energy source. In contrast, electrochemical capacitors possess fast charging/discharging capabilities with high power output. As a result, the use of electrochemical capacitors in commercial applications has generated strong interest. Examples of commercial applications include emergency back-up power, consumer electronics, and hybrid vehicles. Commercially available electrochemical capacitors are based on carbonaceous materials with high surface area, excellent electrical conductivity, and wettability which statically store the charges in pores. In contrast, pseudocapacitive materials, namely transition metals, utilize fast reversible faradaic reactions on the surface of the materials which allow for greater energy storage than carbonaceous materials. Currently, many research activities are being focused on pseudocapacitive materials in an effort to enhance their energy storage capabilities. This thesis presents research on a pseudocapacitive material: nickel hydroxide/oxide hybrid. Also, it identifies the hybrid material’s lack of conductivity which can negatively impact its capacitive performance. An addition of carbon supports is recommended to enhance the conductivity. There are two parts to this study. The first study addresses the synthesis of the nickel hybrid structures through solvothermal process and calcination. The materials are thoroughly analyzed through physical and electrochemical characterizations. The issue of using the hybrid material as pseudocapacitor electrodes are identified at this stage. The second part of the study addresses the effect of different carbon additives in the nickel hybrid material. Commonly known carbon additives are incorporated into the nickel hybrid material and analyzed through electrochemical characterization to distinguish the best carbon support for the nickel hydroxide/oxide

Integrated In-vehicle Monitoring System Using 3D Human Pose Estimation and Seat Belt Segmentation

Recently, along with interest in autonomous vehicles, the importance of monitoring systems for both drivers and passengers inside vehicles has been increasing. This paper proposes a novel in-vehicle monitoring system the combines 3D pose estimation, seat-belt segmentation, and seat-belt status classification networks. Our system outputs various information necessary for monitoring by accurately considering the data characteristics of the in-vehicle environment. Specifically, the proposed 3D pose estimation directly estimates the absolute coordinates of keypoints for a driver and passengers, and the proposed seat-belt segmentation is implemented by applying a structure based on the feature pyramid. In addition, we propose a classification task to distinguish between normal and abnormal states of wearing a seat belt using results that combine 3D pose estimation with seat-belt segmentation. These tasks can be learned simultaneously and operate in real-time. Our method was evaluated on a private dataset we newly created and annotated. The experimental results show that our method has significantly high performance that can be applied directly to real in-vehicle monitoring systems.Comment: AAAI 2022 workshop AI for Transportation accepte

A Study on Improving the Operation of Naeil Irum School for Out-of-School Youth

In this study, a comprehensive re-evaluation of the existing Naeil Lee Room School operating system was conducted to diagnose problems, and based on this, specific improvement plans were presented to seek to expand participation of out-of-school youth and increase the completion rate and employment rate. To this end, first, previous studies related to the operation status of Naeil Lee Room School and development plans were collected and analyzed, and implications were drawn. Second, in-depth interviews were conducted with 85 trainees, 12 graduates, 8 dropouts, and 16 workers from 9 Naeil Lee Room Schools nationwide to identify current operating conditions and problems, and to collect and analyze improvement ideas. Third, the study conducted on-site visits to Job Corps centers in Washington and Philadelphia, USA, and collected related data to benchmark them. Fourth, a survey was conducted on 709 out-of-school youths using out-of-school youth support centers, youth shelters, unlicensed alternative schools, protective disposal facilities, etc., including Naeil Lee Room School, to draw implications. Fifth, academy, field, and government experts and youth advisory groups were formed, and the final plan to improve the operation of Naeil Lee Room School was proposed by reflecting the review opinions

Analysis and Tests of the Behavior of an Underwater Acoustic Horizontal Array Platform

Most underwater acoustic arrays for low frequency operation are deployed vertically, but a mid-range frequency horizontal array system is being developed by the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO). The horizontal array platform is deployed underwater and kept in place by weather vaning mooring. This is essential because it is nearly impossible to keep a submerged body at a given position in the water without any external force. Hence, the horizontal array platform can maintain the desired position in the presence of a weak tidal current. The objective of this study is to design an underwater platform that can maintain its horizontal position in a weak current. First, the authors investigated various virtual models, selected one of the models, and performed a small model test of the selected model at a basin. We calculated the external forces associated with the 2D motion, and then we conducted a large basin test followed by a circulation water channel test for the manufactured array platform. The results of the simplified 2D motion calculation essentially matched the results of the underwater test

Application of Multistage Concentration (MSC) Electrodialysis to Concentrate Lithium from Lithium-Containing Waste Solution

In order to manufacture lithium carbonate to be used as a raw material for a secondary lithium battery, lithium sulfate solution is used as a precursor, and the concentration of lithium is required to be 10 g/L or more. Electrodialysis (ED) was used as a method of concentrating lithium in a low-concentration lithium sulfate solution, and multistage concentration (MSC) electrodialysis was used to increase the concentration ratio (%). When MSC was performed using a raw material solution containing a large amount of sodium sulfate, the process lead time was increased by 60 min. And the concentration ratio (%) of lithium decreased as the number of concentration stages increased. In order to remove sodium sulfate, methanol was added to the raw material solution to precipitate sodium sulfate, and when it was added in a volume ratio of 0.4, lithium was not lost. Using a solution in which sodium sulfate was partially removed, fourth-stage concentration ED was performed to obtain a lithium sulfate solution with a lithium concentration of 10 g/L.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Prognostic Significance of COVID-19 Receptor ACE2 and Recommendation for Antihypertensive Drug in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Purpose. Owing to its worldwide spread, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the outer surface protein of the cell membrane that is abundantly distributed in the heart, lungs, and kidneys and plays an important role in molecular docking of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. In this study, we aimed to analyze the difference in the survival rate according to ACE2 expressions in pan-cancer. Materials and Methods. We downloaded clinical and genomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. We used Kaplan-Meier with a log-rank test, and the Cox proportional hazards regression to analyze prognostic significance. Results. In the Kaplan-Meier curve, clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), uveal melanoma, and prostate adenocarcinoma showed statistical significance. In the Cox regression, thyroid carcinoma and glioblastoma multiforme and ccRCC showed significant results. Only ccRCC had statistical significance, and high ACE2 expression is related to good prognosis. It is known that the ACE inhibitor, a primary antihypertensive agent, increases ACE2 expression. Conclusion. Based on these results, we believe that the ACE inhibitor will be important to increase the lifespan of ccRCC patients. This study is the first research to offer a recommendation on the use of anti-hypertensive drugs to ccRCC patients