Hidden Subsidies and the Public Ownership of Sports Facilities: The Case of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara

Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California is an example of a private financing / public ownership arrangement. While the stadium’s construction resulted in no direct tax increases, this ownership arrangement allows the San Francisco 49ers to avoid many types of taxes on the income generated from Levi’s Stadium. We estimate the total tax savings to the 49ers at between $106 and$213 million over the first 20 years of Levi’s Stadium compared with a privately financed and owned option. We argue that tax savings inherent in private financing / public ownership arrangements represent indirect and hidden subsidies

Moral Rights Protection for the Visual Arts

Beginning in 1979, certain states extended extra copyright protection, known as moral rights protection, to visual artists. Moral rights protection, which was incorporated into U.S. copyright law in 1990, ensures that works cannot be altered in a manner that would negatively impact the reputation of the artist. Using difference-in-differences regression strategies, we compare artists and non-artists in states with moral rights laws to those in states without these laws, before and after the laws are enacted. This enables us to test the impact of the laws on the behavior of artists, consumers, and policy makers. Our analysis reveals that artists’ incomes fall by over $4000 per year as a result of moral rights legislation, but we find no impact of the laws on artists’ choices of residence or on state-level public spending on the arts

The Bottom Line: Accounting for Revenues and Expenditures in Intercollegiate Athletics

This paper examines the profitability of Division I athletic programs at colleges and universities in the United States under a variety of accounting definitions of profit. The data identify several broad themes. First, a majority of athletic departments rely heavily on direct and indirect subsidization of their programs by the student body, the institution itself, and state governments in order to balance their books. Without such funding, less than a third of BCS athletic departments and no non-BCS departments are in the black. Second, athletic programs rely heavily on contributions to balance their books. Donations to athletic departments may serve as a substitute for donations to the rest of the university, lowering giving to other programs. Third, football and men’s basketball programs are generally highly profitable at BCS schools, but below this top tier, fewer than 10% of football programs and 15% of men’s basketball programs show a profit by any reasonable accounting measures

Valid inequalities for multi-period, multi-modal supply chain models

In general, mixed integer linear programming models are known to be computationally intractable. Algorithmic procedures that provide optimal or near optimal solutions are usually specific to a particular model or class of models. In recent decades, the focus has shifted to developing, what are termed, tight formulations through the use of valid inequalities. Valid inequalities are typically specific to a class of optimization models and have been shown to be crucial to obtaining optimal solutions. Modeling the supply chain to determine efficient and effective policies across and within the echelons of a supply chain can be a formidable task. Supply chains are not only defined by their physical infrastructure of plants, warehouses, distribution centers, and transportation alternatives, but also by defining characteristics such as the number of products, product volumes, and their demand patterns over time. A model for a supply chain can defy solution for specific instances of both the product characteristics and the spatial characteristics of the infrastructure. The difference in two supply chain instances that render the model for one to be intractable, and the model for the other to yield instantaneously obtained optimal solutions, can be due to a combination of factors, such as cost structures, demand patterns, or spatial configurations. This dissertation examines various model instances of each of a suite of single and multi-period supply chain models to reveal the manner in which specific supply chain characteristics can lead to computational intractability. Valid inequalities, which are developed for each model studied, are shown to not only alleviate the model\u27s computational intractability by orders of magnitude, but also afford identification of optimal solutions to a spectrum of model instances. This study of various problem instances reveals that particular patterns of transportation, inventory, and distribution are determined by the particular cost structures and cost tradeoffs. The studies reveal that computational intractability is, in fact, due to factors that include specific types of spatial configuration, cost structures of multiple modes of transportation, and temporal relationships between inventory and transportation

Measuring shared understanding of task -specific knowledge in slower -paced, non -emergency decision -making teams: A case study of shared mental models in United States Navy personnel qualification standards (PQS) teams

Teams are a distinguishable group of two or more individuals who work together on a common objective for a limited period of time. Successful completion of complex tasks often requires teams. For teams to work well, individual team members need a similar understanding about the task process they are to perform. Although research on shared understanding in teams has surfaced in the literature over the past 10 years, little is known about the development of shared understanding in slower-paced and non-emergency decision-making teams as they work in an applied setting. This study introduces and implements a new methodology for investigating the development of shared understanding about task-specific knowledge and measuring shared mental models in U.S. Navy Performance Qualification Standards (PQS) Teams. Findings indicate what knowledge PQS Teams share pre-task, mid-task, and post-task performance. Conclusions based on a cross case analysis of four PQS Teams provide insight into the development of teams\u27 shared knowledge, the change in teams\u27 shared knowledge overtime, and the effect of task performance on shared understanding in PQS Teams. This study concludes with suggestions for future research in team shared mental models

The Impact of Distribution System Characteristics on Computational Tractability

Mathematical programming models that seek optimal design and operational plans for distribution systems can be computationally intractable. This paper examines the extent to which distribution configuration and demand characteristics affect the ease of obtaining an optimal solution. Problem characteristics, which are reflected in a model by the parameter values, can render the model for one distribution scenario to be computationally intractable and that for another to yield an optimal solution easily. We introduce echelon-flow-based valid inequalities and use them to explicate the extent to which problem characteristics impact computational tractability

VARIBAR THIN BARIUM® VS. “ULTRATHIN”: OCCURRENCE OF PENETRATION/ASPIRATION IN PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH DYSPHAGIA AS MEASURED THROUGH MBSS

Objective. The purpose of this study is to determine if diluting Varibar Thin Barium® with water by 50% (referred to as “Ultrathin”) will capture more instances of penetration and/or aspiration during a Modified Barium Swallow Study (MBSS), than the currently available product consistency, labeled Varibar Thin Barium®. Background. Previous research has shown that the commercially available Varibar Thin Barium® may not be thin enough in viscosity to identify patients who are at risk for penetrating and/or aspirating a “true” thin liquid (e.g., water). In the Fink and Ross (2009) study, if the “Ultrathin” had not been used to identify patients at risk for penetration and/or aspiration, the patients would have tested safe for thin liquids and the recommendation of thin liquid consumption (e.g., water) following discharge from the MBSS would have been based on only assessing the use of Varibar Thin Barium®, which has a thicker viscosity and does not represent a “true” thin liquid placing the patients at risk for penetration and/or aspiration on thin liquid. Methods. A quasi-experimental research design will be used for this study to determine if the intake of “Ultrathin” versus the intake of Varibar Thin Barium® increases the occurrence of penetration and/or aspiration in patients with neurological dysphagia resulting from stroke. Patients suspected of presenting with penetration and/or aspiration as a result of neurological dysphagia will be physician referred for an MBSS as part of a diagnostic protocol at Swallowing Diagnostics, Inc. to rule out or confirm penetration and/or aspiration. Results. There will be an increase in penetration and/or aspiration events on the MBSS using diluted Varibar Thin Barium® (“Ultrathin”) versus Varibar Thin Barium® in patients with neurogenic dysphagia. Conclusion. Our findings will support those of Fink and Ross (2009) in showing that the currently available Varibar Thin Barium® is not thin enough in viscosity to match a “true” thin liquid (e.g., water), and that an “Ultrathin” consistency needs to become the commercially available standard for thin liquid assessment during an MBSS. Grants. This study may be partially funded by the NSU CHCS Faculty Research and Development Grant and a grant offered by Bracco, who is the production company for Varibar Thin Barium®

Comparative study of mental model research methods : relationships among ACSMM, SMD, MITOCAR & deep methodologies

Measuring and assessing mental models of individuals and teams requires the capturing and analysis of key latent variables. This paper presents and compares four different research methods (ACSMM, SMD, MITOCAR and DEEP) that capture and create a conceptual representation of individual and team mental models. These methods use qualitative and quantitative techniques to investigate a single comparison of different groups or individuals\u27 mental models with another group\u27s mental model or to investigate the comparison of a group or individuals\u27 mental model with themselves at a later tim

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Consensus Diagnostic Criteria for Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To develop evidence-informed, expert consensus research diagnostic criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES), the clinical disorder associated with neuropathologically diagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). METHODS: A panel of 20 expert clinician-scientists in neurology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, neurosurgery, and physical medicine and rehabilitation, from 11 academic institutions, participated in a modified Delphi procedure to achieve consensus, initiated at the First National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Consensus Workshop to Define the Diagnostic Criteria for TES April, 2019. Before consensus, panelists reviewed evidence from all published cases of CTE with neuropathologic confirmation, and they examined the predictive validity data on clinical features in relation to CTE pathology from a large clinicopathologic study (n = 298). RESULTS: Consensus was achieved in 4 rounds of the Delphi procedure. Diagnosis of TES requires (1) substantial exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHIs) from contact sports, military service, or other causes; (2) core clinical features of cognitive impairment (in episodic memory and/or executive functioning) and/or neurobehavioral dysregulation; (3) a progressive course; and (4) that the clinical features are not fully accounted for by any other neurologic, psychiatric, or medical conditions. For those meeting criteria for TES, functional dependence is graded on 5 levels, ranging from independent to severe dementia. A provisional level of certainty for CTE pathology is determined based on specific RHI exposure thresholds, core clinical features, functional status, and additional supportive features, including delayed onset, motor signs, and psychiatric features. CONCLUSIONS: New consensus diagnostic criteria for TES were developed with a primary goal of facilitating future CTE research. These criteria will be revised as updated clinical and pathologic information and in vivo biomarkers become available

Associations between area-level arsenic exposure and adverse birth outcomes: An Echo-wide cohort analysis

BACKGROUND: Drinking water is a common source of exposure to inorganic arsenic. In the US, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was enacted to protect consumers from exposure to contaminants, including arsenic, in public water systems (PWS). The reproductive effects of preconception and prenatal arsenic exposure in regions with low to moderate arsenic concentrations are not well understood. OBJECTIVES: This study examined associations between preconception and prenatal exposure to arsenic violations in water, measured via residence in a county with an arsenic violation in a regulated PWS during pregnancy, and five birth outcomes: birth weight, gestational age at birth, preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA), and large for gestational age (LGA). METHODS: Data for arsenic violations in PWS, defined as concentrations exceeding 10 parts per billion, were obtained from the Safe Drinking Water Information System. Participants of the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort Study were matched to arsenic violations by time and location based on residential history data. Multivariable, mixed effects regression models were used to assess the relationship between preconception and prenatal exposure to arsenic violations in drinking water and birth outcomes. RESULTS: Compared to unexposed infants, continuous exposure to arsenic from three months prior to conception through birth was associated with 88.8 g higher mean birth weight (95% CI: 8.2, 169.5), after adjusting for individual-level confounders. No statistically significant associations were observed between any preconception or prenatal violations exposure and gestational age at birth, preterm birth, SGA, or LGA. CONCLUSIONS: Our study did not identify associations between preconception and prenatal arsenic exposure, defined by drinking water exceedances, and adverse birth outcomes. Exposure to arsenic violations in drinking water was associated with higher birth weight. Future studies would benefit from more precise geodata of water system service areas, direct household drinking water measurements, and exposure biomarkers