Speech of Hon. Elisha R. Potter Upon the Resolution in Support of the Union

Resolved, That in the present crisis of our public; affairs, there ought to be a full and sincere union of all political parties in support of the constitutionally elected government of the United States, and that this General Assembly pledges to the President of the United States the best exertions of the government and people of Rhode Island, and its entire resources, for the preservation of the Union

The relationship between second-generation antipsychotic medication adherence and negative symptoms in first-episode schizophrenia

Adherence to psychotropic medication is a critical aspect of treatment for the management of psychotic disorders. While the literature on the need for medication adherence is extensive, little research has explored the relationship between the negative symptoms of psychosis and medication adherence. Since negative symptoms are enduring, stable, and strongly correlated with poor outcome, it is vitally important for research to explore the role of negative symptoms in regards to adherence to psychotropic medication. Given its potentially significant consequences for treatment interventions, the purpose of this study was to contribute to the exceedingly limited body of research exploring the relationship between the negative symptoms seen in psychosis and medication adherence. This study examined if there is a relationship between the two and whether causality could be determined should a significant relationship exist between medication adherence and negative symptoms. This study utilized data previously collected at the UCLA Aftercare Research Program for studies examining aspects of outpatient psychiatric treatment. The 148 participants had a mean age of 22.5 years and were in the midst of their first psychotic episode upon study entry. Data from the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, and medication adherence ratings were collected over the course of 12 months. Analyses revealed a significant relationship between the presence of negative symptoms and medication nonadherence. Analyses examining the temporal relationship between the two variables revealed that initial medication nonadherence was significantly associated with subsequent negative symptoms. However, once the impact of positive symptoms was controlled for as a potential mediating variable, the strength of the relationship between medication adherence and negative symptoms dissipated. After controlling for the role of reality distortion, the only negative symptoms significantly associated with medication nonadherence were the BPRS Negative Symptom Factor, BPRS Emotional Withdrawal, and BPRS Self-Neglect. Consequently, it appears that negative symptoms are more strongly associated with positive symptoms than with medication adherence. Replication of these findings and further research exploring the relationship between positive and negative symptoms as they relate to medication adherence is needed in order to improve treatment interventions focused on medication adherence

The influence of conference championship games on competitive balance in college football

Master of ArtsDepartment of EconomicsYang M. ChangCollege football thrives on the ideas that each school has what it takes to be the best, rivalries are of major importance, and either team can win the game. Competitive balance is what keeps these thoughts alive, offering the last team in the conference the chance to beat their top-ranked opponent, or the mediocre middle-rank team the chance to win a post-season bowl game. Competitive balance provides the level of uncertainty of game outcome that keeps fans coming back every season. Previous research has examined many variables that have an effect on competitive balance. The purpose of this report is to step forward from where previous studies left off and examine the effect of the conference championship game on competitive balance. Five of the eleven NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences currently determine their conference champion by holding a championship game at the end of the season. Recent conference realignments bring about the possibility for two more conferences to establish championship games. Does hosting a conference championship game improve competitive balance within the league? This study examined several measures of competitive balance, including standard deviation measures, the competitive balance ratio, and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. Results suggest a slightly higher level of competitive balance for conferences hosting championship games versus those that do not. However, these results are not statistically significant, and this higher level of competitive balance could be explained by the larger membership of conferences hosting championship games

The geometry of the Eisenstein-Picard modular group

The Eisenstein-Picard modular group ${\rm PU}(2,1;\mathbb {Z}[\omega])$ is defined to be the subgroup of ${\rm PU}(2,1)$ whose entries lie in the ring $\mathbb {Z}[\omega]$, where $\omega$ is a cube root of unity. This group acts isometrically and properly discontinuously on ${\bf H}^2_\mathbb{C}$, that is, on the unit ball in $\mathbb {C}^2$ with the Bergman metric. We construct a fundamental domain for the action of ${\rm PU}(2,1;\mathbb {Z}[\omega])$ on ${\bf H}^2_\mathbb {C}$, which is a 4-simplex with one ideal vertex. As a consequence, we elicit a presentation of the group (see Theorem 5.9). This seems to be the simplest fundamental domain for a finite covolume subgroup of ${\rm PU}(2,1)

Aquaponics : community and economic development

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-100).This thesis provides a cash flow analysis of an aquaponics system growing tilapia, perch, and lettuce in a temperate climate utilizing data collected via a case study of an aquaponics operation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Literature regarding the financial feasibility of aquaponics as a business is scant. This thesis determines that in temperate climates, tilapia and vegetable sales or, alternatively, yellow perch and vegetable sales are insufficient sources of revenue for this aquaponics system to offset regular costs when grown in small quantities and when operated as a stand-alone for-profit business. However, it is possible to reach economies of scale and to attain profitability with a yellow perch and lettuce system. Moreover, there may be ways to increase the margin of profitability or to close the gap between income and expense through such things as alternative business models, value adding, procuring things for free, and diversifying revenue streams. Any organization or individual considering an aquaponics operation should conduct careful analysis and planning to determine if profitability is possible and to understand, in the instance that an aquaponics operation is not profitable, if the community and economic development benefits of the system outweigh the costs. Keywords: aquaponics, fish, tilapia, perch, lettuce, farming, closed-loop systems, community development, economic development, cash flow analysis, sustainability, economic viability, hydroponics, recirculating aquaculture systems, integrated aquaculture, integrated agriculture, worker-owned cooperatives, agroecology.by Elisha R. Goodman.M.C.P

Stellar Masses, Kinematics, and White Dwarf Composition for Three Close DA+dMe Binaries

We determine the mass functions and mass ratios for three close white dwarf plus red dwarf binaries (EUVE J0720-317, 1016-053, and 2013+400). Hubble Space Telescope Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph spectra of the He II λ1640 and C IV λ1550 spectral lines trace the white dwarf orbital motion, and Hamilton Spectrograph echelle spectra (Lick Observatory) and lower dispersion spectra trace the red dwarf orbital motion. The data sets allow us to measure orbital periods and velocities, as well as the white dwarf gravitational redshifts. The red dwarf and white dwarf mass estimates obtained from a combination of independent mass measurements for the white dwarf stars and our new orbital elements help constrain probable evolutionary outcomes. We find that EUVE J0720-317 will probably come into contact within a Hubble time and that the mass transfer will be unstable on a dynamical time. We also conclude that the much lower secondary masses in EUVE J1016-053 and EUVE J2013+400 exclude the possibility of significant interaction in these systems. We also present new helium and carbon photospheric abundance measurements in the three white dwarfs. The white dwarf atmospheric composition may show the effects of accretion of red dwarf mass-loss material onto its surface. Finally, we study the kinematics of the systems, and we also show that the white dwarf in EUVE J1016-053 is part of a quadruple system

Household energy use: Applying behavioural economics to understand consumer decision-making and behaviour

AbstractHousehold energy conservation has emerged as a major challenge and opportunity for researchers, practitioners and policymakers. Consumers also seem to be gaining greater awareness of the value and need for sustainable energy practices, particularly amid growing public concerns over greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Yet even with adequate knowledge of how to save energy and a professed desire to do so, many consumers still fail to take noticeable steps towards energy efficiency and conservation. There is often a sizeable discrepancy between peoples’ self-reported knowledge, values, attitudes and intentions, and their observable behaviour—examples include the well-known ‘knowledge-action gap’ and ‘value-action gap’. But neither is household energy consumption driven primarily by financial incentives and the rational pursuit of material interests. In fact, people sometimes respond in unexpected and undesirable ways to rewards and sanctions intended to shift consumers’ cost–benefit calculus in favour of sustainable behaviours. Why is this so? Why is household energy consumption and conservation difficult to predict from either core values or material interests? By drawing on critical insights from behavioural economics and psychology, we illuminate the key cognitive biases and motivational factors that may explain why energy-related behaviour so often fails to align with either the personal values or material interests of consumers. Understanding these psychological phenomena can make household and community responses to public policy interventions less surprising, and in parallel, can help us design more cost-effective and mass-scalable behavioural solutions to encourage renewable and sustainable energy use among consumers

Faktor-Faktor Dalam Diri Auditor Dan Kualitas Audit: Studi Pada Kap ‘Big Four' Di Indonesia

Penelitian ini merupakan pengembangan dari dua penelitian sebelumnya (Aji, 2009 dan Rahman, 2009), mengenai bagaimana independensi, pengalaman, due professional care dan akuntabilitas mempengaruhi kualitas audit. Penelitian ini dilakukan menggunakan metode survei dengan kuesioner. Populasi penelitian ini adalah semua auditor yang bekerja pada Kantor Akuntan Publik (KAP) “Big Four” Indonesia. Penelitian ini menggunakan random sampling sederhana yang dilakukan dengan penentuan jumlah sampel yang dihitung dengan menggunakan rumus Slovin formula sehingga hanya 125 kuesioner yang dapat diproses. Analisis data dilakukan dengan menggunakan model regresi ganda. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa independensi, pengalaman, due professional care dan akuntabilitas mempengaruhi kualitas audit secara berkelanjutan. Selain itu, penelitian ini membuktikan bahwa independensi, due professional care dan akuntabilitas secara parsial mempengaruhi kualitas audit akan tetapi pengalaman tidak berpengaruh pada kualitas audit. Penelitian ini juga membuktikan bahwa independensi merupakan faktor dominan yang berpengaruh pada kualitas audit. Untuk penelitian di masa yang akan datang, penelitian ini menyarankan pengembangan cakupan wilayah survei dan penambahan lebih banyak variabel yang dapat mempengaruhi kualitas audit

Quantum mechanics of the interaction of gravity with electrons: theory of a spin-two field coupled to energy

Two methods of finding the energy tensor from the Lagrangian of a system are those of Belinfante, and Landau and Lifschitz. Neither of these methods are unique; two energy tensors for the same system differ by a term that is symmetric, has zero divergence, and is itself a second derivative. It is shown that such a term in the energy tensor produces physical effects that in one case can be measured experimentally. It is because of this lack of uniqueness of energy tensors that it is not sufficient to consider gravity merely as a spin-two field coupled to energy. To set up the quantum mechanics of gravity interacting with electrons, the curved space Lagrangian for the Dirac field is expanded in terms of the gravitational fields h_(µν) is checked that the expanded Lagrangian has the same transformation properties as the original curved space Lagrangian. The calculations presented are the gravitational Rutherford scattering of electrons, emission of low energy gravitons by electrons, the scattering of gravitons by electrons, the gravitational self-energy of the electron, and the most divergent part of the vacuum polarization calculation. There is also an investigation of the effects of the spin of the electron by comparison with a spin-zero particle interacting with gravity