Initial Coin Offerings: Innovation, Democratization and the SEC

Initial coin offerings are a source of controversy in the world of startup fundraising, and their legality is, at best, an open question. Amid soaring valuations and rumors of looming SEC action, investors and issuers alike are scrambling to forge a path forward for the token-based startups of tomorrow. While issuers may soon be forced to comply with United States securities laws, the existing regime is inadequate because it does not allow startups to capture the unique benefits of coin sales and, more importantly, it does not allow eager American investors to take part in funding the world’s next generation of technology companies

The Effectiveness of Categorical Variables in Discriminant Function Analysis

A preliminary study of the feasibility of using categorical variables in discriminant function analysis was performed. Data including both continuous and categorical variables were used and predictive results examined. The discriminant function techniques were found to be robust enough to include the use of categorical variables. Some problems were encountered with using the trace criterion for selecting the most discriminating variables when these variables are categorical. No monotonic relationship was found to exist between the trace and the number of correct predictions. This study did show that the use of categorical variables does have much potential as a statistical tool in classification procedures. (50 pages

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationSmall molecule partitioning between aqueous and lipid-like phases is of importance in pharmaceutics, biology, and environmental chemistry. Measuring small-molecule partitioning has remained a challenge, however, due to the scale of current measurement techniques such as chromatographic columns and shake flasks, which require large sample volumes, long equilibration times, and ex-situ quantification steps. In the work presented in this dissertation, confocal Raman microscopy is applied to analyze, in-situ, the structure of lipid-like phases within single chromatographic support particles and their application to measuring small-molecule partitioning. The 2μm â€" 10μm diameter size of a single support particle is well-matched to the size of the confocal probe (~0.6μm diameter, 1 fL) of a 100X confocal microscope. The large (~300m2/g) surface area within the porous particle concentrates surface-associated molecular populations, providing a large enough ‘concentration’ within the particle to measure partitioning despite the small cross-sections for Raman scattering. This dissertation covers the evolution of confocal Raman microscopy measurements within individual porous particles from measuring partitioning of pyrene into surface bound C18 alkyl chains, detecting octanol-water partitioning of naphthoic acid in reverse-phase chromatographic particles, and characterizing the structure of withinparticle hybrid-phospholipid bilayers. This evolution represents a progression toward more biologically-relevant substrates for measuring small-molecule lipophilicity

Fee Hunting in North and South Dakota

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Assessment of efforts to reduce nonresponse bias: 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

Im Vorfeld der neuen Welle des SIPP 1996 tauchten Bedenken in Hinblick auf eine zunehmende Tendenz zur Antwortverweigerung in den Panelwellen der Jahre 1991 bis 1993 auf. Gleichzeitig wurde die Existenz eines Bias in den SIPP-Zeitreihenschätzungen zu Armut bekannt. Das US Census Bureau hat viel Zeit und Geld darauf verwandt, den Anteil der Antwortverweigerung zu reduzieren und die hierauf beruhende Fehlgewichtung zu korrigieren. Die Verfasser geben einen Überblick über diese Maßnahmen und diskutieren deren Wirksamkeit mit Blick auf das erste Jahr der Panelwelle 1996. Sie setzen sich mit dem Einsatz finanzieller Anreize, der Durchführung von Untersuchungen zur Antwortverweigerung sowie Veränderungen in der Durchführung der Feldforschung auseinander. (ICEÜbers)"Concern over increasing levels of nonresponse in the 1991-1993 SIPP Panels and new information about the existence of bias in time series estimates of poverty front the SIPP surfaced prior to fielding the newly redesigned SIPP 1996 sample. A tremendous amount of effort and expense has been dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau to reducing nonresponse and adjusting for its bias. This paper will summarize these efforts and provide a preliminary assessment of the success of the efforts for the first year of the 1996 panel. The authors will discuss the use of monetary incentives, fielding nonresponse surveys, and changes in field staffing and procedures." (author's abstract

AFFDEX 2.0: A Real-Time Facial Expression Analysis Toolkit

In this paper we introduce AFFDEX 2.0 - a toolkit for analyzing facial expressions in the wild, that is, it is intended for users aiming to; a) estimate the 3D head pose, b) detect facial Action Units (AUs), c) recognize basic emotions and 2 new emotional states (sentimentality and confusion), and d) detect high-level expressive metrics like blink and attention. AFFDEX 2.0 models are mainly based on Deep Learning, and are trained using a large-scale naturalistic dataset consisting of thousands of participants from different demographic groups. AFFDEX 2.0 is an enhanced version of our previous toolkit [1], that is capable of tracking efficiently faces at more challenging conditions, detecting more accurately facial expressions, and recognizing new emotional states (sentimentality and confusion). AFFDEX 2.0 can process multiple faces in real time, and is working across the Windows and Linux platforms.Comment: Accepted at the FG2023 conferenc

Back in the Saddle: A Systematic Review of Occupational Therapy Interventions that Facilitate Return-to-Work

Objectives of Presentation: 1. Recognize the opportunity for injured workers, organizations, and society to benefit from occupational therapy interventions that improve return to work (RTW) outcomes. 2. Classify RTW occupational therapy interventions based on effectiveness. 3. Describe strategies to apply evidence-based interventions in current clinical practice. PICO: What interventions within the scope of occupational therapy best facilitate return-to-work for adults with musculoskeletal disorders on workers compensation? Presentation: 50 minute