An Analysis of Pari-mutuel Racing\u27s Contributions to the South Dakota Tourist Industry and to Public Finance in the State

The pari-mutuel racing industry in South Dakota adds employment, income, and tax revenue to the state’s general economy. The tax is paid largely by non-residents, and the tax revenue depends almost entirely on the amount of wagering. The pari-mutuel tax thus agrees with Adam Smith’s third canon of taxation which deals with convenience of payment. The first objective of this study is to show the number of dollars added to the South Dakota economy from wagering and non-wagering expenditures of non-residents in connection with their trips to South Dakota pari-mutuel race tracks, and to compare these expenditures with other types of tourist expenditures. The second objective is to show the impact, the incidence, and the amount of the pari-mutuel tax; the amount of tax paid by non-residents; and to estimate the potential tax revenue from present and alternative pari-mutuel tax rates. This study found that the number of residents attending pari-mutuel racing in South Dakota was much less than the number of non-residents attending such races. It was also found that the pari-mutuel tax was a regressive type of tax, and it therefore violates the ability to pay the principle of taxation. Information was presented showing that in 1962, South Dakota received more revenue form the pari-mutuel tax than it did from either liquor and wine stamp taxes, or for butter substitute stamp taxes

Top Management Team Heterogeneity and SME Export Performance: Investigating the Role of Environmental Uncertainty

Research has generally found that firms competing in high uncertainty environments gain advantages from having diverse (heterogeneous) management teams (TMTs). Employing a national survey of 70 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the present study examined whether TM T heterogeneity in functional background, international work experience, and foreign language proficiency had a stronger relationship with export performance for firms competing in high than those competing in low uncertainty environments. Results were generally weak when market and industry factors contributing to uncertainty were examined separately; however, additional analysis showed that the hypothesized relationship did exist when uncertainty was measured employing both factors simultaneously

Top Management International Orientation and Small Business Exporting Performance: The Moderating Roles of Export Market & Industry Factors

This study examined the relationship between top management team international orientation and small business export performance. Results generally supported the hypotheses that market and industry factors moderate this relationship. Employing a sample of U.S. small business exporters, the study found that top management team international orientation had a greater positive relationship with export performance for firms exporting to countries culturally different and geographically distant from their home country than those exporting to countries culturally similar and geographically proximate to their home countries. In addition, international orientation had a greater positive relationship with export performance for firms competing in multidomestic industries than those competing in global industries

Top Management Team Heterogeneity and SME Export Performance: Investigating the Role of Environmental Uncertainty

Research has generally found that firm competing in high uncertainty environments gain advantages from having diverse (heterogeneous) management teams (TMTs). Employing a national survey of 70 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the present study examined whether TM T heterogeneity in functional background, international work experience, and foreign language proficiency had a stronger relationship with  export performance for firms competing in high than those competing in low uncertainty environments. Results were generally weak when market and industry factors contributing to uncertainty were examined  separately;  however,  additional  analysis  showed  that  the hypothesized relationship did exist when uncertainty was measured employing both factors simultaneously

The Performance Effects of Strategy, Top-Management Characteristics, and Environment: An Integrative Study of Firm Decline and Turnaround.

Despite accumulating evidence, unresolved issues remain as to how the components of strategy, top-management characteristics, and environment, as independent variables, combine to affect a firm\u27s success or failure in turning around declining performance. To address such issues, this dissertation developed and tested a series of hypotheses that investigates the effects of strategy, top-management characteristics, and environment on performance. Findings show that turnaround strategy alone is insufficient to explain differences in performance among firms. They also provide some support for the importance of TMG-strategy interaction and show a limited role for the environment in a firm\u27s turnaround. Additionally, the findings show some limited support for the importance of all three factors taken in tandem. Methodological issues related to classifying turnaround strategies and measuring performance are also addressed

Contactless visible light probing for nanoscale ICs through 10 μm bulk silicon

This paper explains why only optical techniques will be able to provide debug and diagnosis of bulk silicon FinFET technologies. In order to apply optical techniques through a convenient thickness of silicon on the one hand, light is limited to NIR to minimize absorption. To match resolution requirements on the other hand, it becomes mandatory to use shorter wavelengths. Two key issues have to be addressed: First, the penetration depth of visible light is only a few μm. This challenges device preparation and integrity. Our approach makes use of confocal microscopy suppressing back surface reflection and thus relaxing the preparation requirements to around 10 μm. Second, only solid immersion lenses (SIL) enable nanoscale resolution. But instead of silicon, materials transparent to visible light and providing a high refractive index are necessary. Our concept is based on 658 nm/633 nm laser and supports GaP as SIL material. We demonstrate the power of confocal imaging and prove contactless probing through a device thickness of 10 μm. We discuss how confocal optics relax the thickness requirements for visible light imaging and probing and we layout the concept for a GaP SIL. This concept opens the path to the design of nanoscale visible light debug and diagnosis

On the Power of Optical Contactless Probing: Attacking Bitstream Encryption of FPGAs

Modern Integrated Circuits (ICs) employ several classes of countermeasures to mitigate physical attacks. Recently, a powerful semi-invasive attack relying on optical contactless probing has been introduced, which can assist the attacker in circumventing the integrated countermeasures and probe the secret data on a chip. This attack can be mounted using IC debug tools from the backside of the chip. The first published attack based on this technique was conducted against a proof-of-concept hardware implementation on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Therefore, the success of optical probing techniques against a real commercial device without any knowledge of the hardware implementation is still questionable. The aim of this work is to assess the threat of optical contactless probing in a real attack scenario. To this end, we conduct an optical probing attack against the bitstream encryption feature of a common FPGA. We demonstrate that the adversary is able to extract the plaintext data containing sensitive design information and intellectual property (IP). In contrast to previous optical attacks from the IC backside, our attack does not require any device preparation or silicon polishing, which makes it a non-invasive attack. Additionally, we debunk the myth that small technology sizes are unsusceptible to optical attacks, as we use an optical resolution of about 1 um to successfully attack a 28 nm device. Based on our time measurements, an attacker needs less than 10 working days to conduct the optical analysis and reverse-engineer the security-related parts of the hardware. Finally, we propose and discuss potential countermeasures, which could make the attack more challenging

Organizational Configurations and Performance: A Meta-Analysis

The link between organizational configurations and performance has become a central and somewhat controversial focus of research in the strategic management literature, We statistically aggregated results from 40 original tests of the configurations-performance relationship. In contrast to previous qualitative reviews, this meta-analysis demonstrated that an organization\u27s performance is partially explained by its configuration. Tests of four potential moderators showed that organizations\u27 configurations contributed more to performance explanation to the extent that studies used (1) broad definitions of configurations, (2) single-industry samples, and (3) longitudinal designs, Results highlight the need for programmatic research

Decreased Immunoreactivities and Functions of the Chloride Transporters, KCC2 and NKCC1, in the Lateral Superior Olive Neurons of Circling Mice

Objectives. We tested the possibility of differential expression and function of the potassium-chloride (KCC2) and sodium-potassium-2 chloride (NKCC1) co-transporters in the lateral superior olive (LSO) of heterozygous (+/cir) or homozygous (cir/cir) mice.Methods. Mice pups aged from postnatal (P) day 9 to 16 were used. Tails from mice were cut for DNA typing. For Immunohistochemical analysis, rabbit polyclonal anti-KCC2 or rabbit polyclonal anti-NKCC1 was used and the density of immunolabelings was evaluated using the NTH image program. For functional analysis, whole cell voltage clamp technique was used in brain stem slices and the changes of reversal potentials were evaluated at various membrane potentials.Results. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed both KCC2 and NKCC1 immunoreactivities were more prominent in heterozygous (+/cir) than homozygous (cir/cir) mice on P day 16. In P9-P12 heterozygous (+/cir) mice, the reversal potential (E(gly)) of glycine-induced currents was shifted to a more negative potential by 50 mu M bumetanide, a known NKCC1 blocker, and the negatively shifted EA, was restored by additional application of 1 mM furosemide, a KCC2 blocker (-58.9 +/- 2.6 mV to -66.0 +/- 1.5 mV [bumetanide], -66.0 1.5 mV to -59.8 +/- 2.8 mV [furosemide+bumetanide], n=11). However, only bumetanide was weakly, but significantly effective (-60.1 +/- 2.9 mV to -62.7 +/- 2.6 mV [bumetanide], -62.7 +/- 2.6 mV to -62.1 +/- 2.5 mV [furosernide+bumetanide], n=7) in P9-P12 homozygous (cir/cir) mice.Conclusion. The less prominent immunoreactivities and weak or absent responses to bumetanide or furosemide suggest impaired function or delayed development of both transporters in homozygous (cir/cir) mice