A Comparison of 25 Years of Consumer Expenditures by Homeowners and Renters

Between 1986 and 2010, homeowners and renters dramatically changed their spending habits in response to changes in the economy, although the amount they spent on overall expenditures remained roughly the same. A comparison of spending by homeowners and renters in the major expenditure categories shows many differences, but one thing remains constant: housing is the largest expenditure for U.S. consumers. This issue of BEYOND THE NUMBERS uses data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) to compare expenditures of homeowners with those of renters, from 1986 through 2010. The analysis of CE data helps to shed light on the effects that recent housing crises had on consumer spending, revealing many interesting shifts in spending on housing and other expenses, changes in household size and demographics, and movement among geographic areas

The Clock Paradox: Luise Lange's Discussion

In her articles on the clock paradox and the relativity of time Luise Lange (1891–1978) defends the theory of relativity against philosophical refutations, by showing that the apparent clock paradox is not a paradox, but merely conflicts with common sense and is based on a misunderstanding of the theory. The following study explores, contextualizes and analyzes Lange’s clear and sophisticated contribution to the debate on the clock paradox for the first time

Competition and Risk Aversion

Citation: Reichenberger, A. (2017). Competition and Risk Aversion. Unpublished manuscript, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award - Individual Non-Freshman category, honorable mentionDr. Tim SteffensmeierDr. Greg PaulThis study tested the influence of competition and risk aversion on risk-involved investment decisions. The primary base for research lay within message framing and prospect theory. Participants took 1 of 4 different versions of a survey with only the message frame of the manipulated paragraph varying by risk (high or low) and outcome (high competition or low competition. Participants were Kansas State University affiliated students gathered by convenience sampling. Contrary with predictions, testing of the participants’ surveys revealed no significant difference in investment amounts based on the interaction of risk-framing and outcome-framing However, a significant difference in investment amounts was apparent based on risk-framing

Impact of Root Competition on Survival and Growth of Seedlings of Important Great Basin Species

Belowground competition is pronounced in the arid Great Basin sagebrush ecosystem. Plant demographic and root exclusion approaches were used to examine the influence of roots of adult Artemisia tridentata, Agropyron desertorum, and Agropyron spicatum individuals on seedling survival of Ar. tridentata, Ag. desertorum, Ag. spicatum, and Bromus tectorum. Furthermore, growth rates of Ar. tridentata seedlings and seed production of B. tectorum were assessed. The probability of a seedling being alive versus dead significantly depended on the seedling species, the neighboring adult species, and on the depth to which root competition was excluded. As seedlings, Agropyron species did not differ in their competitive abilities, whereas Ar. tridentata seedlings showed higher survival rates than either perennial grass. Bromus tectorum, on the other hand, maintained much higher survival rates than any perennial seedlings. Established Ar. tridentata was more competitive in reducing seedling survivorship than either Agropyron species. Seedling survival significantly increased with greater depth of root exclusion for the perennials but had no significant effect on seedling survival of B. tectorum. Height and growth rates of Ar. tridentata seedlings and seed production of B. tectorum significantly increased with depth of root exclusion. Seed production of B. tectorum was highest when competing with Ag. desertorum and lowest with Ar. tridentata. Life cycle tables for B. tectorum showed that even though root exclusion had no impact on survivorship it did increase seed production and thereby increase the seed population of B. tectorum in the next generation

From Solvability to Formal Decidability: Revisiting Hilbert’s “Non-Ignorabimus”

The topic of this article is Hilbert’s axiom of solvability, that is, his conviction of the solvability of every mathematical problem by means of a finite number of operations. The question of solvability is commonly identified with the decision problem. Given this identification, there is not the slightest doubt that Hilbert’s conviction was falsified by Gödel’s proof and by the negative results for the decision problem. On the other hand, Gödel’s theorems do offer a solution, albeit a negative one, in the form of an impossibility proof. In this sense, Hilbert’s optimism may still be justified. Here I argue that Gödel’s theorems opened the door to proof theory and to the remarkably successful development of generalized as well as relativized realizations of Hilbert’s program. Thus, the fall of absolute certainty came hand in hand with the rise of partially secure and reliable foundations of mathematical knowledge. Not all was lost and much was gained

Neurotransmitter profile of saccadic omnipause neurons in nucleus raphe interpositus

Saccadic omnipause neurons (OPNs) are essential for the generation of saccadic eye movements. In primates OPNs are located near the midline within the nucleus raphe interpositus (rip). In the present study we used several different neuroanatomical methods to investigate the transmitters associated with OPNs in the monkey. Immunolabeling for the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin was employed to mark OPNs in the monkey and define the homologous cell group in cat and human. The use of antibodies against GABA, glycine (GLY), glutamate (GLU), serotonin (5-HT), and tyrosine hydroxylase revealed that the somata of OPNs are GLY immunoreactive, but they are devoid of GABA and 5-HT immunostaining. In situ hybridization with the GAD67 mRNA probe confirmed the negative GABA immunostaining of OPNs. 3H-GLY was injected into a projection field of OPNs, the rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fascicle (riMLF)--the vertical saccadic burst neuron area. This resulted in selective retrograde labeling of the OPNs in rip, while no labeling was found in the superior colliculus, which sends an excitatory projection to the riMLF. The somata and dendrites of putative burst neurons in the riMLF were contacted by numerous GLY- immunoreactive terminals. The quantitative analysis of immunoreactive terminal-like structures contacting OPNs revealed a strong input from GLY- and GABA-positive terminals on somata and dendrites, whereas GLU- positive puncta were mainly confined to the dendrites. Very few 5-HT and catecholaminergic terminals contacted OPN somata. Our findings suggest that OPNs use GLY as a neurotransmitter, and they receive numerous contacts from GABAergic, glycinergic, and glutaminergic afferents, and significantly fewer from monoaminergic inputs.</jats:p

Conceptualising Adventure Tourism from a Consumer Perspective

Adventure tourism as a sub-sector of the tourism industry has been growing substantially in scope and significance throughout past decades and is forecasted to continue to expand. Despite its increasing importance, an understanding of what constitutes adventure tourism is lacking. As it ultimately comes down to the individual consumer’s perspective what adventure tourism is, this paper proposes a new consumer-based conceptualisation that highlights dimensions (intrinsic components) of an adventure tourism experience, such as physical activity, risk or exposure to nature. These dimensions are in turn based on indicators (personal attributes) that influence adventure tourism perception, such as previous experience, sensation seeking or risk perception. The proposed model serves as a blueprint for future research on the consumer perception of adventure tourism and represents a basic framework of how the complex sphere of adventure tourism can be conceptualised

Gaze Behavior in Social Fear Conditioning: An Eye-Tracking Study in Virtual Reality

The vigilance-avoidance hypothesis of selective attention assumes that socially anxious persons initially direct their attention toward fear-related stimuli and subsequently avoid these social stimuli to reduce emotional distress. New technical developments provide tools to implicit measure overt attention on fear-related stimuli via eye-tracking in ecological valid virtual environments presented via a head-mounted display. We examined in 27 low (LSA) and 26 high socially anxious (HSA) individuals fear ratings, physical behavior (duration of approach), hypervigilance (time to first fixation), and attentional avoidance (count of fixations) toward virtual female and male agents (CS) during social fear conditioning (SFC) and extinction in virtual reality (VR). As hypothesized, generally SFC was successfully induced and extinguished concerning the fear ratings. Our findings partly support the vigilance-avoidance hypothesis as HSA directed especially at the first half of the fear acquisition their initial attention more at CS+ than CS- agents, and avoided subsequently the CS+ more than the CS- agents during the fear acquisition. In contrast, in LSA participants initial and sustained attention did not differ between CS+ and CS- agents during fear acquisition. We conclude that HSA individuals guide their initial attention to emotionally threatening stimuli and subsequently avoid the threatening stimuli to possibly reduce their emotional distress, whereas LSA individuals regulate themselves less in their (fear) responses during SFC. Measuring implicit gaze behavior within a well-controlled virtual environment is an interesting innovative tool to in deeply investigate the impact of attention on emotional learning processes