"Government Intervention to Prevent Bankruptcy: The Effect of Blind-Bidding Laws on Movie Theaters"

In the 1970s motion picture studios used blind bidding and non-refundable guarantees to reduce the risks of producing large budget films. However, theater owners claimed that blind bidding and guarantees shifted the risk to them and increased the likelihood of bankruptcy. In response to lobbying by theater owners, twenty-four states passed laws banning blind bidding between 1978 and 1984, while seven states also banned non-refundable guarantees. We find that the laws were not only ineffective in keeping theater owners from exiting the market; they may have been detrimental to theater owners converting to multiplexes at that time.bankruptcy, blind bidding, vertical contractual relationships, government intervention.

"Government Intervention to Prevent Bankruptcy: the Effect of Blind-Bidding Laws on Movie Theaters"

In the 1970s motion picture studios increased their use of blind bidding and non-refundable guarantees in an attempt to reduce the risks associated with producing a small number of large budget films. However, theater owners claimed that blind bidding and guarantees shifted risk to them and increased the likelihood of bankruptcy, since they were required to bid for the right to exhibit a movie without seeing it first. In response to the lobbying of theater owners, twenty-four states passed laws between 1978 and 1984 that banned blind bidding, while seven states also banned non-refundable guarantees. This paper provides the first empirical analysis of the conflicting claims made by theater owners and movie studios about the impact of these laws on the survival rates of independent theaters, admission prices, and delays in the release of movies. We find that the laws were not only ineffective in keeping theater owners at risk of bankruptcy from exiting the market; they may have been even detrimental to those theater owners converting theaters to multiplexes at that time.blind-bidding, motion picture industry, vertical restriction, state intervention

Frontal alpha asymmetry in response to stressor moderates the relation between parenting hassles and child externalizing problems

Inequitable urban environments are associated with toxic stress and altered neural social stress processing that threatens the development of self-regulation. Some children in these environments struggle with early onset externalizing problems that are associated with a variety of negative long-term outcomes. While previous research has linked parenting daily hassles to child externalizing problems, the role of frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) as a potential modifier of this relationship has scarcely been explored. The present study examined mother-child dyads, most of whom were living in low socioeconomic status households in an urban environment and self-identified as members of racial minority groups. Analyses focused on frustration task electroencephalography (EEG) data from 67 children (mean age = 59.0 months, SD = 2.6). Mothers reported the frequency of their daily parenting hassles and their child’s externalizing problems. Frustration task FAA moderated the relationship between parenting daily hassles and child externalizing problems, but resting FAA did not. More specifically, children with left frontal asymmetry had more externalizing problems as their mothers perceived more hassles in their parenting role, but parenting hassles and externalizing problems were not associated among children with right frontal asymmetry. These findings lend support to the motivational direction hypothesis and capability model of FAA. More generally, this study reveals how individual differences in lateralization of cortical activity in response to a stressor may confer differential susceptibility to child behavioral problems with approach motivation (i.e., left frontal asymmetry) predicting externalizing problems under conditions of parental stress

Evaluation of vascular aging on measures of cardiac function and mechanical efficiency: insights from

INTRODUCTION: This study evaluated the hypothesis that vascular aging (VA) reduces ventricular contractile function and mechanical efficiency (ME) using the left ventricular pressure-volume (PV) construct. METHODS: A previously published in-silico computational model (CM) was modified to evaluate the hypothesis in two phases. In phase I, the CM included five settings of aortic compliance (CA) from normal to stiff, studied at a heart rate of 80 bpm, and phase II included the normal to stiff CA settings evaluated at 60, 100, and 140 bpm. The PV construct provided steady-state and transient data through a simulated vena caval occlusion (VCO). The steady-state data included left ventricular volumes (EDV and ESV), stroke work (SW), and VCO provided the PV area (PVA) data in addition to the three measures of contractile state (CS): end-systolic pressure-volume relationship (ESPVR), dP/dtmax-EDV and preload recruitable stroke work (PRSW). Finally, ME was calculated with the SW/PVA parameter. RESULTS: In phase I, EDV and ESV increased, as did SW and PVA. The impact on the CS parameters demonstrated a small decrease in ESPVR, no change in dP/dtmax-EDV, and a large increase in PRSW. ME decreased from 71.5 to 60.8%, respectively. In phase II, at the normal and stiff CA settings, across the heart rates studied, EDV and ESV decreased, ESPVR and dP/dtmax-EDV increased and PRSW decreased. ME decreased from 76.4 to 62.6% at the normal CA and 65.8 to 53.2% at the stiff CA. DISCUSSION: The CM generated new insights regarding how the VA process impacts the contractile state of the myocardium and ME

Evaluation of vascular aging on measures of cardiac function and mechanical efficiency: insights from in-silico modeling

IntroductionThis study evaluated the hypothesis that vascular aging (VA) reduces ventricular contractile function and mechanical efficiency (ME) using the left ventricular pressure-volume (PV) construct.MethodsA previously published in-silico computational model (CM) was modified to evaluate the hypothesis in two phases. In phase I, the CM included five settings of aortic compliance (CA) from normal to stiff, studied at a heart rate of 80 bpm, and phase II included the normal to stiff CA settings evaluated at 60, 100, and 140 bpm. The PV construct provided steady-state and transient data through a simulated vena caval occlusion (VCO). The steady-state data included left ventricular volumes (EDV and ESV), stroke work (SW), and VCO provided the PV area (PVA) data in addition to the three measures of contractile state (CS): end-systolic pressure-volume relationship (ESPVR), dP/dtmax-EDV and preload recruitable stroke work (PRSW). Finally, ME was calculated with the SW/PVA parameter.ResultsIn phase I, EDV and ESV increased, as did SW and PVA. The impact on the CS parameters demonstrated a small decrease in ESPVR, no change in dP/dtmax-EDV, and a large increase in PRSW. ME decreased from 71.5 to 60.8%, respectively. In phase II, at the normal and stiff CA settings, across the heart rates studied, EDV and ESV decreased, ESPVR and dP/dtmax-EDV increased and PRSW decreased. ME decreased from 76.4 to 62.6% at the normal CA and 65.8 to 53.2% at the stiff CA.DiscussionThe CM generated new insights regarding how the VA process impacts the contractile state of the myocardium and ME

Detecting T-cell Reactivity to Whole Cell Vaccines

BCR-ABL$^+$ K562 cells hold clinical promise as a component of cancer vaccines, either as bystander cells genetically modified to express immunostimulatory molecules, or as a source of leukemia antigens. To develop a method for detecting T-cell reactivity against K562 cell-derived antigens in patients, we exploited the dendritic cell (DC)-mediated cross-presentation of proteins generated from apoptotic cells. We used UVB irradiation to consistently induce apoptosis of K562 cells, which were then fed to autologous DCs. These DCs were used to both stimulate and detect antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell reactivity. As proof-of-concept, we used cross-presented apoptotic influenza matrix protein-expressing K562 cells to elicit reactivity from matrix protein-reactive T cells. Likewise, we used this assay to detect increased anti-CML antigen T-cell reactivity in CML patients that attained long-lasting clinical remissions following immunotherapy (donor lymphocyte infusion), as well as in 2 of 3 CML patients vaccinated with lethally irradiated K562 cells that were modified to secrete high levels of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). This methodology can be readily adapted to examine the effects of other whole tumor cell-based vaccines, a scenario in which the precise tumor antigens that stimulate immune responses are unknown

Associations of common breast cancer susceptibility alleles with risk of breast cancer subtypes in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Clinical Best Practice Advice for Hepatology and Liver Transplant Providers During the COVID‐19 Pandemic: AASLD Expert Panel Consensus Statement

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156235/2/hep31281.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156235/1/hep31281_am.pd

Secure referee selection for fair and responsive peer-to-peer gaming

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) architectures for Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) provide better scalability than Client/Server (C/S); however, they increase the possibility of cheating. Recently proposed P2P protocols use trusted referees that simulate/validate the game to provide security equivalent to C/S. When selecting referees from untrusted peers, selecting non-colluding referees becomes critical. Further, referees should be selected such that the range and length of delays to players is minimised (maximising game fairness and responsiveness). In this paper we formally define the referee selection problem and propose two secure referee selection algorithms, SRS-1 and SRS-2, to solve it. Both algorithms ensure the probability of corrupt referees controlling a zone/region is below a predefined limit, while attempting to maximise responsiveness and fairness. The trade-off between responsiveness and fairness is adjustable for both algorithms. Simulations of three different scenarios show the effectiveness of our algorithms