Team Structures and Academic Values: Gender Differences among Division I Basketball Players

This study utilizes a quantitativeresearch design to assess differences that exist between men and women basketball players with regard to the perceived academic subcultures within their teams. A sample of 656 Division I basketball players completed a Team Socialization Scale, which assessed the socializing influences, that college athletes receive from their coaches and teammates. Results indicated that, despite the increased commercialization and professionalization of women's college basketball, members of women's basketball teams remain significantly more oriented toward academic pursuits than members of men's basketball teams. The two primary variables that differentiated between men and women basketball players were the emphasis placed on the possibility of careers as professional athletes by coaches and teammates. The findings from this study have several practical applications for student athlete support personnel and counselors who interact with student athletes on a regular basis

Measuring Investment Distortions when Risk-Averse Managers Decide Whether to Undertake Risky Projects

This paper examines distortions in corporate investment decisions when a new project changes firm risk. It presents a dynamic model in which a self-interested, risk-averse manager makes investment decisions at a levered firm. The model, calibrated using data from public firms, is used to estimate the magnitude of distortions in investment decisions. Despite potential wealth transfers from debtholders, managers compensated with equity prefer safe projects to risky ones. Important factors in this decision are the expected changes in the values of future tax shields and bankruptcy costs when firm risk changes. We also evaluate the extent to which this effect varies with firm leverage, managerial risk aversion, managerial non-firm wealth, project size, debt duration, and the structure of management compensation packages.

Application of physical parameter identification to finite-element models

The time domain parameter identification method described previously is applied to TRW's Large Space Structure Truss Experiment. Only control sensors and actuators are employed in the test procedure. The fit of the linear structural model to the test data is improved by more than an order of magnitude using a physically reasonable parameter set. The electro-magnetic control actuators are found to contribute significant damping due to a combination of eddy current and back electro-motive force (EMF) effects. Uncertainties in both estimated physical parameters and modal behavior variables are given

Application of physical parameter identification to finite element models

A time domain technique for matching response predictions of a structural dynamic model to test measurements is developed. Significance is attached to prior estimates of physical model parameters and to experimental data. The Bayesian estimation procedure allows confidence levels in predicted physical and modal parameters to be obtained. Structural optimization procedures are employed to minimize an error functional with physical model parameters describing the finite element model as design variables. The number of complete FEM analyses are reduced using approximation concepts, including the recently developed convoluted Taylor series approach. The error function is represented in closed form by converting free decay test data to a time series model using Prony' method. The technique is demonstrated on simulated response of a simple truss structure

Explanations and the Preponderance Standard: Still Kicking Rocks with Dr. Johnson

This paper responds to a previously unpublished article by the late evidence scholar and our friend Craig Callen Craig\u27s article and our response will be published in the Seton Hall Law Review in a symposium issue dedicated to the work of Michael Risinger We thank Michael for unearthing Craig\u27s manuscript ”which discusses our theory of juridical proof in terms of the relative plausibility of competing explanations ”and for inviting us to respond In this response we discuss developments in the literature since the manuscript was written and we explain how our theory accommodates the concerns Craig raises regarding sufficiency of the evidence Our discussion focuses as does Craig\u27s article on motions for summary judgment and judgment as a matter of law using employmentdiscrimination cases as illustrativ

Challenges in Upgrading Emergency Power in Florida Nursing Homes Following Hurricane Irma

Maintaining and restoring electricity after a disaster helps to preserve the health and well-being of the elderly who are at increased risk of heat stress and may be dependent upon life-sustaining medical equipment. Mitigation policies altered in reaction to increased public interest without thorough consideration of industry-specific resources may contribute to delays in implementation and unrealized potential for emergency power coverage within individual facilities. The objectives of this research are twofold: (i) to examine the relationship between preexisting conditions of life-safety systems at facilities and date of implementation of emergency power regulation improvements and (ii) to assess the role of interagency connections—such as emergency management, fire safety, health care administration, and electricity providers—in facilitating compliance with safety regulations. A case study regarding the capacity to implement new emergency power regulations was conducted in Florida with 12 nursing homes affected by Hurricane Irma. The proposals to maintain temperatures and life-sustaining equipment under the updated regulations were not consistent among nursing homes within each county or between counties. Facilities with no preexisting life-safety violations were among the first to comply with new emergency power regulations. Those with prior violations often utilized procedural updates and external resources to comply. Nursing facilities that required additional support for remediation prior to the storm had plans approved earlier or without a second review as compared with those relying on internal resources. These results establish a baseline for the conditions associated with timely compliance including the importance of collective agency to mitigate risk

Proposal for a lunar tunnel-boring machine

A need exists for obtaining a safe and habitable lunar base that is free from the hazards of radiation, temperature gradient, and micrometeorites. A device for excavating lunar material and simultaneously generating living space in the subselenian environment was studied at the conceptual level. Preliminary examinations indicate that a device using a mechanical head to shear its way through the lunar material while creating a rigid ceramic-like lining meets design constraints using existing technology. The Lunar Tunneler is totally automated and guided by a laser communication system. There exists the potential for the excavated lunar material to be used in conjunction with a surface mining process for the purpose of the extraction of oxygen and other elements. Experiments into lunar material excavation and further research into the concept of a mechanical Lunar Tunneler are suggested

Reversible plasticity in amorphous materials

A fundamental assumption in our understanding of material rheology is that when microscopic deformations are reversible, the material responds elastically to external loads. Plasticity, i.e. dissipative and irreversible macroscopic changes in a material, is assumed to be the consequence of irreversible microscopic events. Here we show direct evidence for reversible plastic events at the microscopic scale in both experiments and simulations of two-dimensional foam. In the simulations, we demonstrate a link between reversible plastic rearrangement events and pathways in the potential energy landscape of the system. These findings represent a fundamental change in our understanding of materials--microscopic reversibility does not necessarily imply elasticity.Comment: Revised pape

Wave spectra of 2D dusty plasma solids and liquids

Brownian dynamics simulations were carried out to study wave spectra of two-dimensional dusty plasma liquids and solids for a wide range of wavelengths. The existence of a longitudinal dust thermal mode was confirmed in simulations, and a cutoff wavenumber in the transverse mode was measured. Dispersion relations, resulting from simulations, were compared with those from analytical theories, such as the random-phase approximation (RPA), quasi-localized charged approximation (QLCA), and harmonic approximation (HA). An overall good agreement between the QLCA and simulations was found for wide ranges of states and wavelengths after taking into account the direct thermal effect in the QLCA, while for the RPA and HA good agreement with simulations were found in the high and low temperature limits, respectively.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure