Predicting the duration of leveraged buyouts.

We employ newly developed split hazard modeling to estimate the conditional probability that a firm eventually return to public status following a leveraged buyout (LBO), and the conditional probability of reversion to public status in a given year for a firm that eventually may reverse. Our results, based on 343 LBO transactions, imply that not all LBO firms expect eventual reversion to public status. In addition, we find that those LBO decisions that are expected to enhance value the most are less likely to reverse eventually. We also find that eventual reversal probabilities and the timing of reversals for divisional LBOs are not significantly different from full-firm LBOs.Leveraged buyouts;

A biomimetic vocalisation system for MiRo

There is increasing interest in the use of animal-like robots in applications such as companionship and pet therapy. However, in the majority of cases it is only the robot's physical appearance that mimics a given animal. In contrast, MiRo is the first commercial biomimetic robot to be based on a hardware and software architecture that is modelled on the biological brain. This paper describes how MiRo's vocalisation system was designed, not using pre-recorded animal sounds, but based on the implementation of a real-time parametric general-purpose mammalian vocal synthesiser tailored to the specific physical characteristics of the robot. The novel outcome has been the creation of an 'appropriate' voice for MiRo that is perfectly aligned to the physical and behavioural affordances of the robot, thereby avoiding the 'uncanny valley' effect and contributing strongly to the effectiveness of MiRo as an interactive device

Negative Priming Under Rapid Serial Visual Presentation

Negative priming (NP) was examined under a new paradigm wherein a target and distractors were temporally separated using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). The results from the two experiments revealed that (a) NP was robust under RSVP, such that the responses to a target were slower when the target served as a distractor in a previous trial than when it did not; (b) NP was found regardless of whether the distractors appeared before or after the targets; and (c) NP was stronger when the distractor was more distinctive. These findings are generally similar to those on NP in the spatial search task. The implications for the processes causing NP under RSVP are discussed in the current paper

Serotonin and corticosterone rhythms in mice exposed to cigarette smoke and in patients with COPD:implication for COPD-associated neuropathogenesis

The circadian timing system controls daily rhythms of physiology and behavior, and disruption of clock function can trigger stressful life events. Daily exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) can lead to alteration in diverse biological and physiological processes. Smoking is associated with mood disorders, including depression and anxiety. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have abnormal circadian rhythms, reflected by daily changes in respiratory symptoms and lung function. Corticosterone (CORT) is an adrenal steroid that plays a considerable role in stress and anti-inflammatory responses. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5HT) is a neurohormone, which plays a role in sleep/wake regulation and affective disorders. Secretion of stress hormones (CORT and 5HT) is under the control of the circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Since smoking is a contributing factor in the development of COPD, we hypothesize that CS can affect circadian rhythms of CORT and 5HT secretion leading to sleep and mood disorders in smokers and patients with COPD. We measured the daily rhythms of plasma CORT and 5HT in mice following acute (3 d), sub-chronic (10 d) or chronic (6 mo) CS exposure and in plasma from non-smokers, smokers and patients with COPD. Acute and chronic CS exposure affected both the timing (peak phase) and amplitude of the daily rhythm of plasma CORT and 5HT in mice. Acute CS appeared to have subtle time-dependent effects on CORT levels but more pronounced effects on 5HT. As compared with CORT, plasma 5HT was slightly elevated in smokers but was reduced in patients with COPD. Thus, the effects of CS on plasma 5HT were consistent between mice and patients with COPD. Together, these data reveal a significant impact of CS exposure on rhythms of stress hormone secretion and subsequent detrimental effects on cognitive function, depression-like behavior, mood/anxiety and sleep quality in smokers and patients with COPD

Exogenous spatial precuing reliably modulates object processing but not object substitution masking

Object substitution masking (OSM) is used in behavioral and imaging studies to investigate processes associated with the formation of a conscious percept. Reportedly, OSM occurs only when visual attention is diffusely spread over a search display or focused away from the target location. Indeed, the presumed role of spatial attention is central to theoretical accounts of OSM and of visual processing more generally (Di Lollo, Enns, & Rensink, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 129:481–507, 2000). We report a series of five experiments in which valid spatial precuing is shown to enhance the ability of participants to accurately report a target but, in most cases, without affecting OSM. In only one experiment (Experiment 5) was a significant effect of precuing observed on masking. This is in contrast to the reliable effect shown across all five experiments in which precuing improved overall performance. The results are convergent with recent findings from Argyropoulos, Gellatly, and Pilling (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 39:646–661, 2013), which show that OSM is independent of the number of distractor items in a display. Our results demonstrate that OSM can operate independently of focal attention. Previous claims of the strong interrelationship between OSM and spatial attention are likely to have arisen from ceiling or floor artifacts that restricted measurable performance

Mycobacterial infections in a large Virginia hospital, 2001-2009

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In areas where both tuberculosis (TB) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are prevalent, descriptive studies of the clinical features of individual mycobacteria are needed to inform clinical triage.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We queried the University of Virginia Clinical Data Repository for all mycobacterial infections from 2001-2009.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 494 mycobacterial infections in 467 patients there were 22 species. Patients with pulmonary Tb were more likely to be reported as immigrants (p < 0.001) and less likely to have a predisposing risk factor for NTM (pre-existing lung disease or host predisposition; p = 0.002). Review of chest CT scans revealed that TB infection was more likely to exhibit cavities and pleural effusion than NTM infection (p < 0.05). Among NTM infections <it>M. kansasii</it>, <it>M. xenopi</it>, and <it>M. fortuitum </it>were more likely than MAC to have cavities. There were at least 83 patients that met criteria for NTM lung disease and these were caused by 9 species. <it>M. abscessus </it>infection was associated with cystic fibrosis and <it>M. xenopi </it>infection was associated with male gender.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In our center mycobacterial infections were common and of diverse species. Immigrant status, cavities, and effusion were associated with TB vs. NTM.</p

Is Privacy Controllable?

One of the major views of privacy associates privacy with the control over information. This gives rise to the question how controllable privacy actually is. In this paper, we adapt certain formal methods of control theory and investigate the implications of a control theoretic analysis of privacy. We look at how control and feedback mechanisms have been studied in the privacy literature. Relying on the control theoretic framework, we develop a simplistic conceptual control model of privacy, formulate privacy controllability issues and suggest directions for possible research.Comment: The final publication will be available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ [in press

Integration of Sensory and Reward Information during Perceptual Decision-Making in Lateral Intraparietal Cortex (LIP) of the Macaque Monkey

Single neurons in cortical area LIP are known to carry information relevant to both sensory and value-based decisions that are reported by eye movements. It is not known, however, how sensory and value information are combined in LIP when individual decisions must be based on a combination of these variables. To investigate this issue, we conducted behavioral and electrophysiological experiments in rhesus monkeys during performance of a two-alternative, forced-choice discrimination of motion direction (sensory component). Monkeys reported each decision by making an eye movement to one of two visual targets associated with the two possible directions of motion. We introduced choice biases to the monkeys' decision process (value component) by randomly interleaving balanced reward conditions (equal reward value for the two choices) with unbalanced conditions (one alternative worth twice as much as the other). The monkeys' behavior, as well as that of most LIP neurons, reflected the influence of all relevant variables: the strength of the sensory information, the value of the target in the neuron's response field, and the value of the target outside the response field. Overall, detailed analysis and computer simulation reveal that our data are consistent with a two-stage drift diffusion model proposed by Diederich and Bussmeyer [1] for the effect of payoffs in the context of sensory discrimination tasks. Initial processing of payoff information strongly influences the starting point for the accumulation of sensory evidence, while exerting little if any effect on the rate of accumulation of sensory evidence

A role for CETP TaqIB polymorphism in determining susceptibility to atrial fibrillation: a nested case control study

BACKGROUND: Studies investigating the genetic and environmental characteristics of atrial fibrillation (AF) may provide new insights in the complex development of AF. We aimed to investigate the association between several environmental factors and loci of candidate genes, which might be related to the presence of AF. METHODS: A nested case-control study within the PREVEND cohort was conducted. Standard 12 lead electrocardiograms were recorded and AF was defined according to Minnesota codes. For every case, an age and gender matched control was selected from the same population (n = 194). In addition to logistic regression analyses, the multifactor-dimensionality reduction (MDR) method and interaction entropy graphs were used for the evaluation of gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. Polymorphisms in genes from the Renin-angiotensin, Bradykinin and CETP systems were included. RESULTS: Subjects with AF had a higher prevalence of electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, renal dysfunction, elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and increased urinary albumin excretion as compared to controls. The polymorphisms of the Renin-angiotensin system and Bradykinin gene did not show a significant association with AF (p > 0.05). The TaqIB polymorphism of the CETP gene was significantly associated with the presence of AF (p < 0.05). Using the MDR method, the best genotype-phenotype models included the combination of micro- or macroalbuminuria and CETP TaqIB polymorphism, CRP >3 mg/L and CETP TaqIB polymorphism, renal dysfunction and the CETP TaqIB polymorphism, and ischemic heart disease and CETP TaqIB polymorphism (1000 fold permutation testing, P < 0.05). Interaction entropy graph showed that the combination of albuminuria and CETP TaqIB polymorphism removed the most entropy. CONCLUSION: CETP TaqIB polymorphism is significantly associated with the presence of AF in the context of micro- or macroalbuminuria, elevated C-reactive protein, renal dysfunction, and ischemic heart disease

Measurement of the branching fraction and CP content for the decay B(0) -> D(*+)D(*-)

This is the pre-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the links below. Copyright @ 2002 APS.We report a measurement of the branching fraction of the decay B0→D*+D*- and of the CP-odd component of its final state using the BABAR detector. With data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.4  fb-1 collected at the Υ(4S) resonance during 1999–2000, we have reconstructed 38 candidate signal events in the mode B0→D*+D*- with an estimated background of 6.2±0.5 events. From these events, we determine the branching fraction to be B(B0→D*+D*-)=[8.3±1.6(stat)±1.2(syst)]×10-4. The measured CP-odd fraction of the final state is 0.22±0.18(stat)±0.03(syst).This work is supported by DOE and NSF (USA), NSERC (Canada), IHEP (China), CEA and CNRS-IN2P3 (France), BMBF (Germany), INFN (Italy), NFR (Norway), MIST (Russia), and PPARC (United Kingdom). Individuals have received support from the A.P. Sloan Foundation, Research Corporation, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation