Are Bond Covenants Priced?

In this paper we ask the empirical question are bond covenants priced? Consistent with the Costly Contracting Hypothesis (CCH) developed by Smith and Warner (1979), we find that they are. We document a negative relation between the promised yield on corporate debt issues and the presence of covenants. We also find that loans made to high-growth firms are more likely to include restrictive covenants than loans made to low-growth firms. We show that the inclusion of a covenant varies systematically with macroeconomic factors as well as with supply-side factors, especially the identity of the lending institution. Finally, we show that consistent with the CCH, firms that elect to issue private rather than public debt are smaller, have greater growth opportunities, less long term debt, fewer tangible assets, and include more covenants in their debt agreements. An important byproduct of our analysis is to demonstrate empirically that the decision to include a covenant and the corresponding promised yield are determined simultaneously. Consequently, statistical models that ignore this simultaneity in analyzing the effects of covenants, like single-equation probit models, are misspecified and generate unreliable statisticsAgency Costs, Costly Contracting, Debt Covenants

Back on Track: Guidance for schools and families on supporting pupils with SEND in response to Covid-19

This guidance document was compiled in response to the Covid-19 measures taken in 2020 and 2021, including school partial closures. This document was written to mitigate the impact on the schooling of young people with special educational needs. It was written to support schools, families and practitioners responsible for the education and wellbeing of children and young people with special educational needs. The guidance includes a brief review of the literature, coupled with a collated and curated selection of helpful online resources, loosely organised across the four broad categories of need and areas of learning

GINA, Big Data, and the Future of Employee Privacy

Threats to privacy abound in modern society, but individuals currently enjoy little meaningful legal protection for their privacy interests. We argue that the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) offers a blueprint for preventing employers from breaching employee privacy. GINA has faced significant criticism since its enactment in 2008: commentators have dismissed the law as ill-conceived, unnecessary, and ineffective. While we concede that GINA may have failed to alleviate anxieties about medical genetic testing, we assert that it has unappreciated value as an employee-privacy statute. In the era of big data, protections for employee privacy are more pressing than protections against genetic discrimination. Instead of failed legislation, GINA could represent the future of employment law

Astrometric and Photometric Measurements of Binary Stars with Adaptive Optics: Observations from 2002

The adaptive optics system at the 3.6 m AEOS telescope was used to measure the astrometry and differential magnitude in I-band of 56 binary stars in 2002. The astrometric measurements will be of use for future orbital determination, and the photometric measurements will be of use in estimating the spectral types of the component stars. Two candidate companions were detected, but neither is likely to be gravitationally bound. Nine systems had not been observed in over 40 years. Eight of these are shown to share common proper motion, while HD 182352 is shown to be a background star. One of the two components of the HD 114378 (Alpha Com) is shown to be a variable star of unknown type. In addition, 86 stars were unresolved and the full-width half maxima of the images are presented.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, 3 Table

Effects of Contaminants on Estuarine Zooplankton

The objectives of the chapter are (1) to evaluate laboratory studies concerning effects of heavy metals, pesticides and oxidants on copepods, mysids, bivalve and decapod larvae (2) access field studies (mainly with copepods) on these and other contaminants which when coupled with laboratory data provide information on known and potential hazards of contaminants to zooplankton and (3) briefly review some bioassay methods used in these studies. Mercury is the most toxic heavy metal by weight, followed by copper, silver and cadmium. Pesticides have been tested much less extensively than heavy metals. In general, bivalve larvae seem less sensitive than the crustacean taxa. Mysids, decapods and copepods seem comparable in sensitivity. Of the pesticides, tributyltin, an antifoulant, presents the greatest present or potential hazard. Chlorine, the most widely used oxidant in Chesapeake Bay, is highly toxic to all taxa reviewed, making zooplankton highly vulnerable. Lethal effects can be reduced or eliminated by dechlorination, but sublethal effects may persist.https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsbooks/1055/thumbnail.jp

Dynamics of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensate

Recently, Donley et al. performed an experiment on the dynamics of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates by suddenly changing the scattering length of atomic interaction to a large negative value on a preformed repulsive condensate of $^{85}$Rb atoms in an axially symmetric trap. Consequently, the condensate collapses and ejects atoms via explosions. We show that the accurate numerical solution of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation with axial symmetry can explain some aspects of the dynamics of the collapsing condensate.Comment: 4 latex pages, 3 postscript figure

Design and fabrication of highly efficient non-linear optical devices for implementing high-speed optical processing

We present the design and fabrication of micro-cavity semiconductor devices for enhanced Two-Photon-Absorption response, and demonstrate the use of these devices for implementing sensitive autocorrelation measurements on pico-second optical pulses

High-sensitivity two-photon absorption microcavity autocorrelator

A GaAs-AlAs microcavity device has been used as a photodetector in an autocorrelator for measuring the temporal pulsewidth of 1.5-/spl mu/m optical pulses. Enhancement of the two-photon absorption photocurrent due to the microcavity structure results in an autocorrelation (average power times peak power) sensitivity of 9.3/spl times/10/sup -4/ (mW)/sup 2/, which represents two orders of magnitude improvement when compared with conventional autocorrelators

Two-photon absorption in microcavities for optical autocorrelation and sampling

We have designed novel semiconductor microcavity structures for the enhancement of the two-photon absorption (TPA) photocurrent. We report a TPA autocorrelation technique for short optical pulses that uses the microcavity structure instead of a second harmonic generation crystal. Knowledge of these characteristics is important for implementation in applications such as optical switching and sampling in optical time division multiplexed (OTDM) communications systems

A computer-based intervention may be effective for treating bereavement as measured by scores of prolonged grief, anxiety, depression, and cognitive distortions.

Many people suffer from complications due to grieving the death of a loved one, an experience known as bereavement. In addition to the emotional suffering, complications can lead to functional impairment, negatively impacting relationships, work, and health of those who grieve. Although there are evidence-based interventions for bereavements, there are barriers to treatment, including costs and accessibility. Computer-based interventions are empirically demonstrated to overcome these barriers. The present study aims to test the effectiveness of a computer-based single-session treatment for bereavement. It is hypothesized that individuals who complete a computer-based CBT intervention for bereavement will experience a significant decrease in distress surrounding their loss compared to their pre-intervention scores and that this positive outcome will be maintained at three-month follow-up. Researchers will recruit adult participants (ages 18-85) who self-report suffering from bereavement. Recruitment via various social media and email announcements will offer the opportunity to win a gift card for their participation in the study. Potential participants reporting active substance use, psychotic symptoms, and/or severe mental health problems will be excluded. Participants meeting inclusion criteria will participate in the study via REDCap, by completing a demographic questionnaire as well as the pre-intervention measures of the Prolonged Grief Scale (PG-13), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the General Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (ICD). Participants will then have the opportunity to participate in a computer-based treatment, a pilot CBT/ACT intervention, validating the significance of their loss and reframing the aggrieved individual’s life as an opportunity to honor the departed loved one. After completing treatment, participants will complete all four measures again and at a three-month follow-up interval. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) will be computed to check for significance in differences between pre- and post-intervention scores on the aforementioned measures. It is hoped that the results of this study will provide empirical support for a single session, computer-based treatment for bereavement