Consulting an Expert with Potentially Conflicting Preferences.

In this paper, two modes of non-binding communication between an expert and a decision- maker are compared. They are distinguished mainly by the nature of the information transmitted by the expert. In the first one, the expert reports only his opinion (soft information) concerning the desirability of a certain action, whereas in the second one, he is consulted to provide evidence (hard information) to convince the decision-maker. The expert's ability to provide evidence increases with the precision of his information. The paper shows that requiring evidence is always beneficial to the decision-maker whereas it is bene�cial to the expert if and only if the preferences of both agents are different enough.

A Study Of Irregular Attendance In Negro Schools Of Trinity County, Texas

In making this study of Some Causes of Irregular Attendance in the Negro Schools of Trinity County, Texas, three fundamental basic questions were attempted to be answered: 1. If irregular attendance is prevalent, what are the main and contributing causes? 2. To what extent is irregular attendance prevalent in the four Negro schools of Trinity County, Texas? 3. Since responsibility is embodied in a circumstance or in somebody, what is the circumstance, or who is that somebody? The study reveals that nearly one-fourth of the teachers and patrons express an opinion that negligence toward educational training on the part of parents is responsible for most irregularities in school attendance. It is, also, shown that irregular attendance is prevalent in all of the schools investigated and that the average number of days absent per pupil (of the 100 investigated) was lj.6 days absent from school over a nine-month period. It is further revealed that lack of sufficient finances to send children to school as desired, and too, there is shown a decided laxity on part of patrons to give way to children who do not like to attend school. This third phase may be summed up in the lack of proper interest and determination on part of parents to give their children an education

Consulting an Expert with Potentially Conflicting Preferences

In this paper, two modes of non-binding communication between an expert and a decision- maker are compared. They are distinguished mainly by the nature of the information transmitted by the expert. In the first one, the expert reports only his opinion (soft information) concerning the desirability of a certain action, whereas in the second one, he is consulted to provide evidence (hard information) to convince the decision-maker. The expert's ability to provide evidence increases with the precision of his information. The paper shows that requiring evidence is always beneficial to the decision-maker whereas it is bene�cial to the expert if and only if the preferences of both agents are different enough

How to consult an expert? Opinion vs Evidence

International audienc

Organic small molecule field-effect transistors with Cytop(TM) gate dielectric: eliminating gate bias stress effects

We report on organic field-effect transistors with unprecedented resistance against gate bias stress. The single crystal and thin-film transistors employ the organic gate dielectric Cytop(TM). This fluoropolymer is highly water repellent and shows a remarkable electrical breakdown strength. The single crystal transistors are consistently of very high electrical quality: near zero onset, very steep subthreshold swing (average: 1.3 nF V/(dec cm2)) and negligible current hysteresis. Furthermore, extended gate bias stress only leads to marginal changes in the transfer characteristics. It appears that there is no conceptual limitation for the stability of organic semiconductors in contrast to hydrogenated amorphous silicon.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Appl. Phys. Let

Sediment oxygen demand and its effect on dissolved oxygen in a cutoff meander of the Kaskaskia River

This study was designed to assess the relationship of sediment oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen in a cutoff meander of the Kaskaskia River. The results of the study should be useful to agencies such as Departments of Conservation, Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency when assessing the impact of stream channelization on cutoff meanders of channelized streams. Cross-sectional profiles were used to determine area and total water volume in the meander. When stagnant or no-flow conditions prevailed, anoxic conditions created by sediment oxygen demand were observed in a significant part of the water in the meander. When no-flow conditions prevailed during summer months, as much as 25% of the water in the meander became anoxic while 65% fell below 5.0 mg/l. Sediment oxygen demand rates were more closely related to temperature than to sediment consistency or benthic macroinvertebrate numbers. Ambient sediment oxygen demand measured during the summer was almost three times greater than demand measured during the fall. While sediment oxygen demand in the channelized portion of the river was higher than in some stations in the meander, reaeration resulting from flowing water in the channel was sufficient to prevent anoxic conditions from developing.U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological SurveyOpe

When the going gets rough – studying the effect of surface roughness on the adhesive abilities of tree frogs

Tree frogs need to adhere to surfaces of various roughnesses in their natural habitats; these include bark, leaves and rocks. Rough surfaces can alter the effectiveness of their toe pads, due to factors such as a change of real contact area and abrasion of the pad epithelium. Here, we tested the effect of surface roughness on the attachment abilities of the tree frog Litoria caerulea. This was done by testing shear and adhesive forces on artificial surfaces with controlled roughness, both on single toe pads and whole animal scales. It was shown that frogs can stick 2–3 times better on small scale roughnesses (3–6 µm asperities), producing higher adhesive and frictional forces, but relatively poorly on the larger scale roughnesses tested (58.5–562.5 µm asperities). Our experiments suggested that, on such surfaces, the pads secrete insufficient fluid to fill the space under the pad, leaving air pockets that would significantly reduce the Laplace pressure component of capillarity. Therefore, we measured how well the adhesive toe pad would conform to spherical asperities of known sizes using interference reflection microscopy. Based on experiments where the conformation of the pad to individual asperities was examined microscopically, our calculations indicate that the pad epithelium has a low elastic modulus, making it highly deformable