Uniqueness, Stability, and Comparative Statics in Rationalizable Walrasian Markets

This paper studies the extent to which qualitative features of Walrasian equilibria are refutable given a finite data set. In particular, we consider the hypothesis that the observed data are Walrasian equilibria in which each price vector is locally stable under tatonnement. Our main result shows that a finite set of observations of prices, individual incomes and aggregate consumption vectors is rationalizable in an economy with smooth characteristics if and only if it is rationalizable in an economy in which each observed price vector is locally unique and stable under tatonnement. Moreover, the equilibrium correspondence is locally monotone in a neighborhood of each observed equilibrium in these economies. Thus the hypotheses that equilibria are locally stable under tatonnement, equilibrium prices are locally unique and equilibrium comparative statics are locally monotone are not refutable with a finite data set.

Assessment of Potential Measures at Admit of Harbor Seal Pup Rehabilitation Success

Harbor seals frequently strand along the northeast coast of the United States due to injury, illness, disease, and human interaction. In Maine, a non-profit organization, Marine Mammals of Maine (MMoME), is federally authorized to respond to these stranded animals and provide short-and long-term rehabilitation, with the ultimate aim to release the seals back into the wild. I investigated the role of multiple potential measures of marine mammal health that are evaluated at admit in determining rehabilitation success of dependent and weaned harbor seal pups from 2016 to 2019. The variables assessed were the day of the year the patients were first observed in the field, the amount of time they were observed in the field before collection, findings of human interaction, age class, weight:length ratio, and 43 blood parameters. This analysis found that pups have a greater likelihood of being released if they strand later in the year (p\u3c0.05). The longer an individual is in rehabilitation, the less likely they are to be released (p\u3c0.0001). Pups that were transferred from MMoME to another rehabilitation facility had a greater likelihood of being released (p\u3c0.05). Harbor seals that stranded when they were dependent pups were more likely to be released than weaned pups (p\u3c0.05). Pups with a lower lymphocyte concentration at admit (p\u3c0.001) and a higher total protein concentration (p\u3c0.05) were more likely to be released. These findings may help rehabilitation organizations determine which harbor seal pups will be good candidates for a successful rehabilitation early on in the process

Salinity Tolerance of the Oyster Mudworm Polydora websteri

The marine worm Polydora websteri is one of many polychaete species that burrow into the shells of commercially important shellfish. In Maine, local eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) farmers are struggling with an infestation of this pest. The worm egests muddy wastes in its burrow causing irritation to the oyster. In response, the oyster secretes new shell material over the burrow forming mud blisters. These blisters are unsightly and decrease the market value of infested oysters, especially for oysters sold in the half-shell trade. In addition to the reduction in market value, the worm may cause physiological stress on the oyster. There have been many studies and anecdotal reports published on possible treatments to eradicate the mudworm. The methods used can be expensive, in some cases toxic, and most are unreliable. I investigated the salinity tolerance of P. websteri using in-situ and in-vitro experiments. The results from both types of experiments can be used to construct improved treatments for infested oysters. I found that P. websteri is not tolerant of extremely low salinities and that a combination of a low salinity exposure followed by a period of dry, cold storage results in 100% worm mortality in as few as 10 days, with minimal host mortality. Future work will focus on scaling up and refining these treatments, as well as looking into possible site-specific management plans for control of P. websteri

Effects of family violence and parental psychopathology on the psychological outcome of urban adolescents exposed to community violence

Previous research has documented an association between adolescents’ exposure to community violence and a range of mental health problems. However, some violence-exposed youth maintain high levels of adaptive behavior and exhibit good psychological functioning. Thus, it appears that protective and/or risk factors are involved in the community violence-psychological outcome relation, which mitigate the conditions under which community violence exposure leads to adverse adolescent outcome. According to the ecological transactional model, protective and/or risk factors may exist within the family that influence adolescent outcome in response to community violence exposure. The purpose of this study was to delineate the relations among community violence exposure and family factors, including family violence and parental psychopathology, on adolescent psychological symptomatology and personal adjustment. Participants consisted of 121 pairs of junior high or high school students and their parent/guardian. Adolescents completed the Screen for Adolescent Violence Exposure, the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children, and the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Self Report of Personality. The parents/guardians competed a Demographic Questionnaire, the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Parent Report, the Symptom Checklist-90-R, and the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted and results indicated that family violence exposure did not serve as a moderator variable in the association between adolescent community violence exposure and positive or negative adolescent outcome. In contrast, parental psychopathology was found to be a moderator variable in the relationship between community violence exposure and adolescent-rated PTSD and psychological distress, but not in the relationship between community violence exposure and parent-rated adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems or adolescent-rated personal adjustment. Clinical implications and limitations of this study are discussed

Teacher Questions in the Classroom: The Effects of Using a Low- to High-Level Questioning Sequence on the Text-Based Reading Comprehension Outcomes of Low-Performing Students

Teacher questioning may be an effective instructional procedure for building students’ reading comprehension. Strategically asking questions at two different levels, low-level (text explicit) and high-level (text implicit), may be needed to assist students to engage in higher order thinking skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a low- to high-level questioning sequence without or with linking prompts on the text-based reading comprehension outcomes of fifth-grade students who evidenced poor reading comprehension. A secondary analysis was used to determine whether the questioning sequence was effective regardless of students’ interest in the narrative stories used in the reading lessons. Eleven fifth-grade students across three groups participated in this repeated measures study that consisted of two reading comprehension measures: response quantity and comprehension accuracy. In addition, a multiple baseline design was applied across the lowest-performing students (n= 5). Groups of students engaged in reading lessons where one condition consisted of the low- to high-level questioning sequence and the other condition consisted of high-level questions only. Student outcomes for both reading comprehension measures were assessed immediately following each reading lesson. All students completed a student interest survey to identify their preference for the narrative stories. Students increased the quantity and accuracy of their responses when the questioning sequence with linking prompts was implemented. This result was also found for four of the five lowest-performing students. Further, the questioning intervention was effective for increasing students’ performance on both reading comprehension measures regardless of student interest in the narrative stories. Students preferred the high-level questions only condition but indicated that the low- to high-level questioning sequences helped them remember the stories better. Students also reported that they were better readers and liked reading the stories out loud in small groups, but had mixed ratings about leaving their classrooms to participate in the study. Potential confounds and limitations of the study are discussed, specifically regarding the elements of the low- to high-level questioning sequences and study procedures as well as the need to further develop reading comprehension measures and student interest measures. Considerations for future investigations are also discussed

We are no preacher [electronic resource] : Margaret Oliphant\u27s textual authority

In this dissertation, I examine four of Margaret Oliphant\u27s novels, her supernatural fiction, and her literary reviews, revealing how she relies on her knowledge of the cultural sign system, domesticity, and women\u27s value to show how women may successfully navigate middle-class Victorian society. She accomplishes this by identifying the places where women\u27s strengths lie: the boundaries between work and family, between the spiritual and material, amid the everyday details that she herself realizes reveal the workings of society. She sets herself up as a voice of authority within the system itself, not as a distant, all-knowing sage but as someone who shares the tensions that women in the Victorian period experienced while searching for meaningful occupation and serving as the heart of a household, and ultimately reveals that women are able to exert control over themselves in previously unacknowledged ways