Texture control in a pseudospin Bose-Einstein condensate

We describe a wavefunction engineering approach to the formation of textures in a two-component nonrotated Bose-Einstein condensate. By controlling the phases of wavepackets that combine in a three-wave interference process, a ballistically-expanding regular lattice-texture is generated, in which the phases determine the component textures. A particular example is presented of a lattice-texture composed of half-quantum vortices and spin-2 textures. We demonstrate the lattice formation with numerical simulations of a viable experiment, identifying the textures and relating their locations to a linear theory of wavepacket interference.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, REVTeX4-

Economic Applications of an Electronic Clinical Database for Nurse Practitioner Students

To describe the development of a Web-based clinical database that incorporates the standardized nursing languages (SNLs) used by nurse practitioner students, describe outcomes relative to the SNLs, and discuss economic aspects of outcome data. METHODS . A mix of retrospective and prospective data of all outcomes for several cohorts (95 students, 17,193 records) comprised the data set. FINDINGS . There is wide variation in use of SNLs as well as terminologies from other disciplines. The economic impact of patient encounters could be substantial. CONCLUSIONS . A Web-based clinical log provides an opportunity for NP students to collect and analyze data on clinical encounters. Considerable resources must be invested in order to expand the use and sophistication of eClinicaLog.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73941/1/j.1744-618X.2004.tb00003.x.pd

Bridging the Gap: Assessing the State of Federal Corruption Law After \u3ci\u3eKelly v. United States\u3c/i\u3e

Political corruption in the United States has become more and more prevalent in recent years. These days it seems difficult to turn on the news without hearing accusations of a public official caught in a scandal. Despite the frequency of the corrupt acts, however, the federal government remains largely unable to hold state actors accountable. The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently overturned federal convictions of state officials charged with committing corrupt acts. The issue in these cases is not the lack of corruption or proof of the acts but rather, the lack of laws that adequately criminalize the corrupt conduct. As a result, the same corrupt actions being publicly denounced in the news are being excused in the justice system. This Note examines the Court’s recent corruption cases and analyzes the rationales behind them. This Note then applies this analysis to Kelly v. United States, the most recent case in the federal corruption saga, to evaluate where the Court stands on federal corruption. Ultimately, this Note concludes that, in Kelly, the Court is sending a clear message to Congress: amend the corruption laws to properly cover the conduct. It then proposes an amended version of the current law that takes into account the analysis of Kelly and other federal corruption cases

Estimating Firm-Level Demand at a Price Comparison Site: Accounting for Shoppers and the Number of Competitors

Clearinghouse models of online pricing---such as Varian (1980), Rosenthal (1980), Narasimhan (1988), and Baye-Morgan (2001)---view a price comparison site as an 'information clearinghouse' where shoppers and loyals obtain price and product information to make online purchases. These models predict that the responsiveness of a firm's demand to a change in its price depends on the number of sellers and whether the price change results in the firm charging the lowest price in the market. Using a unique firm-level dataset from Kelkoo.com (Yahoo!'s European price comparison site), we examine these predictions by providing estimates of the demand for PDAs. Our results indicate that the number of competing sellers and both the firm's location on the screen and relative ranking in the list of prices are important determinants of an online retailer's demand. We find that an online monopolist faces an elasticity of demand of about -2, while sellers competing against 10 other sellers face an elasticity of about -6. We also find empirical evidence of a discontinuous jump in a firm's demand as its price declines from the second-lowest to the lowest price. Our estimates suggest that about 13% of the consumers at Kelkoo are 'shoppers' who purchase from the seller offering the lowest price.Internet, Price Dispersion, Advertising

Clicks, Discontinuities, and Firm Demand Online

The market values of online platforms, such as Yahoo, stem from their ability to monetize the clicks they generate for firms advertising on their sites. We exploit a unique dataset on clicks from one of Yahoo's price comparison sites to estimate the determinants of clicks received by online retailers. We find that a firm enjoys a 60% jump in its clicks when it offers the lowest price at the site. This discontinuity is consistent with a variety of models that have been used to rationalize the price dispersion observed in online markets. We also show that one may use estimates of the determinants of a firm's clicks to obtain bounds on its underlying demand parameters, including own- and cross-price elasticities. Our results have potentially significant ramifications for online retailers, platforms, and policymakers: Failure to account for discontinuities distorts parameter estimates by 50 to 100 percent.

Did the Euro Foster Online Price Competition? Evidence from an International Price Comparison Site

We study the impact of the Euro on prices charged by online retailers within the EU. Our data spans the period before and after the Euro was introduced, covers a variety of products, and includes countries inside and outside of the Eurozone. After controlling for cost, demand, and market structure effects, we show that the pure Euro changeover effect is to raise average prices in the Eurozone by 3% and average minimum prices by 7%. Finally, we develop a model of online pricing in the context of currency unions, and show that these price patterns are broadly consistent with clearinghouse models.Price competition, internet

Rivals’ Reactions to Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions research has principally focused on attributes of the acquiring firm and post-acquisition outcomes. To extend our knowledge, we focus on external factors, in particular rival responses, and explore when and how rivals respond to their competitor’s acquisitions. Leveraging the awareness–motivation–capability framework, we predict and find evidence that a rival’s dependence on markets in common with the acquirer, resource similarity between rival and acquirer, and a rival’s organizational slack increase the volume and, in some cases, also the complexity of a rival’s competitive actions following an acquisition. Furthermore, the type of acquisition positively moderates some of these relationships. The results extend our understanding of the influence of mergers and acquisitions on competitive dynamics in the marketplace