Parent\u27s Perspective

Nancy (Hruska) \u2782 and Peter Shore \u2782 give their perspective as SNC parents in 2014

On the Preparation of Pure States in Resonant Microcavities

We consider the time evolution of the radiation field (R) and a two-level atom (A) in a resonant microcavity in terms of the Jaynes-Cummings model with an initial general pure quantum state for the radiation field. It is then shown, using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and also a Poisson resummation technique, that {\it perfect} coherence of the atom can in general never be achieved. The atom and the radiation field are, however, to a good approximation in a pure state $|\psi >_A\otimes|\psi >_R$ in the middle of what has been traditionally called the ``collapse region'', independent of the initial state of the atoms, provided that the initial pure state of the radiation field has a photon number probability distribution which is sufficiently peaked and phase differences that do not vary significantly around this peak. An approximative analytic expression for the quantity \Tr[\rho^2_{A}(t)], where $\rho_{A}(t)$ is the reduced density matrix for the atom, is derived. We also show that under quite general circumstances an initial entangled pure state will be disentangled to the pure state $|\psi >_{A\otimes R}$.Comment: 14 pages and 3 figure

Essays in Finance

In the first chapter, I investigate how external analyst forecasts influence managerial earnings decisions. Using shifts in analyst composition effected by brokerage mergers as a source of exogenous variation, I establish a one-to-one response of firm earnings to analyst forecasts. This response is driven by accounting accruals, consistent with short-termist earnings management. I find that the market perceives these accruals as costly to the firm. I present a model where this behavior emerges as a rational equilibrium, confirmed by a calibration that mirrors a one-to-one forecast-earnings relationship. Calibration outcomes align with real-world earnings and forecast patterns. In the second chapter (co-authored with Harrison Hong and Jeffrey Kubik), we estimate the cost to capital of climate policy. Many US states have set ambitious renewable portfolio standards (RPS) that require utilities to switch from fossil fuels toward renewables. RPS increases the renewables capacity, bond issuance, maturity, and yield spreads of investor-owned utilities compared to municipal producers that are exempted from this climate policy. Contrary to stranded-asset concerns, the hit to overall firm financial health is moderate. Falling cost of renewables and pass through of these costs to consumers mitigate the burden of RPS on firms. Using a Tobin’s model, we show that, absent these mitigating factors, the impact of RPS on firm valuations would have been severe. In the third chapter (co-authored with Lukas Fischer), we identify a source of peer group influence that is plausibly orthogonal to information provision, yet nonetheless affects economic decision-making: the shock to an equity analyst of their undergraduate college football team winning the NCAA Championship Game. We find that analysts’ forecasts respond positively to their undergraduate school’s football team winning the NCAA final. We then show that the shock of ‘winning’ spreads within an analyst’s brokerage, positively influencing the forecasts of their colleagues. Brokerages where the degree of this diffusion is greater have lower female representation in their analyst teams, as well as lower ESG scores

Across the Great Divide: Findings and Possibilities for Action from the 2016 Summit Meeting of Academic Libraries and University Presses with Administrative Relationships (P2L)

The library-press relationship explored in P2L allows for transformative approaches in support and dissemination of scholarship. Effective exploitation of these partnerships is in the early stages and there is an opportunity to influence the outcomes to ensure they are as broadly applicable and scalable as possible. As Cliff Lynch (CNI) noted in his summary of the day’s conversation, we must do more exploration of both intra-institutional (library and press) and cross-institutional collaborations. He provided several compelling suggestions for partnerships, including new ways to promote and leverage library special collections as well as ideas for increasing discoverability of press content. (See Appendix 5 for the full text of his remarks.) Addressing the challenges around implementing the ideas and recommendations resulting from P2L and moving toward the library and press futures that participants and speakers envision requires broader and deeper investigation. Building on the success of P2L, a subsequent summit (P2L2) will continue the collaborative conversation, tackle the issues raised as well as others facing library-press partnerships, and delve deeply into the recommendations from this meeting as well as those proposed in other contexts. Open to a wider audience, P2L2 will be structured to allow more time for moderated discussion. Sessions focused on collaboration, both intra- and inter-institutional, would be paramount. Examples could include creating and leveraging shared skills, sharing support for data within the university and in the press author pool, and partnering on scalable scholarly communication and library publishing programs. P2L2 would focus on strategies to reinforce the library and press joint mission and advance the shared goal of promulgating scholarship

Across the Great Divide: Findings and Possibilities for Action from the 2016 Summit Meeting of Academic Libraries and University Presses with Administrative Relationships (P2L)

The library-press relationship explored in P2L allows for transformative approaches in support and dissemination of scholarship. Effective exploitation of these partnerships is in the early stages and there is an opportunity to influence the outcomes to ensure they are as broadly applicable and scalable as possible. As Cliff Lynch (CNI) noted in his summary of the day’s conversation, we must do more exploration of both intra-institutional (library and press) and cross-institutional collaborations. He provided several compelling suggestions for partnerships, including new ways to promote and leverage library special collections as well as ideas for increasing discoverability of press content. (See Appendix 5 for the full text of his remarks.) Addressing the challenges around implementing the ideas and recommendations resulting from P2L and moving toward the library and press futures that participants and speakers envision requires broader and deeper investigation. Building on the success of P2L, a subsequent summit (P2L2) will continue the collaborative conversation, tackle the issues raised as well as others facing library-press partnerships, and delve deeply into the recommendations from this meeting as well as those proposed in other contexts. Open to a wider audience, P2L2 will be structured to allow more time for moderated discussion. Sessions focused on collaboration, both intra- and inter-institutional, would be paramount. Examples could include creating and leveraging shared skills, sharing support for data within the university and in the press author pool, and partnering on scalable scholarly communication and library publishing programs. P2L2 would focus on strategies to reinforce the library and press joint mission and advance the shared goal of promulgating scholarship

Abundance analysis of the slow nova PW Vulpeculae 1984

We determine the elemental abundances for the ejecta of the slow nova PW Vul 1984. Our technique uses a minimization of the emission line fits of a photoionization model to available ultraviolet, optical and infrared spectra. We find the following abundances (by number) with respect to solar: He/H = 1.0 $\pm$ 0.4, C/H = 7.0 $^{+7}_{-4}$, N/H = 85 $^{+59}_{-41}$ and O/H = 6 $^{+7}_{-2}$. In addition, there is weak evidence for solar Ne and Mg and twice solar Fe. Previous studies (Saizar et al. 1991 and Andre\"{a} et al. 1991, 1994) of PW Vul have yielded considerable differences in their derived elemental abundances for the ejecta. Our abundances fall in between the previous studies. To explain the discrepant abundances, we analyze in detail the data and methods used to obtain the previous results. The abundances of Saizar et al. (1991) are significantly smaller then our values because of the lower electron temperature used by Saizar et al. in deriving elemental abundances from ion abundances. Andre\"{a} et al. (1991) used an ionization correction method to obtain their abundances and verified their results with a photoionization model (Andre\"{a} et al. 1994). Our analysis of their data shows that the absolute fluxes of the optical emission lines used by Andre\"{a} are underestimated by 15% leading to a factor of 2 increase in their derived abundances. We also find the photoionization model used by Andre\"{a} et al. (1994) predicts 2 times more carbon than the photoionization code we used even when fitting the same data with similar model parameters.Comment: 9 pages, figures not included, full text with figures available at ftp://calvin.physast.uga.edu/pub/preprints/PW-Vul.ps.gz, MNRAS, in pres

A prospective adaptive utility trial to validate performance of a novel urine exosome gene expression assay to predict high-grade prostate cancer in patients with prostate-specific antigen 2-10ng/ml at initial biopsy

BACKGROUND: Discriminating indolent from clinically significant prostate cancer (PCa) in the initial biopsy setting remains an important issue. Prospectively evaluated diagnostic assays are necessary to ensure efficacy and clinical adoption. OBJECTIVE: Performance and utility assessment of ExoDx Prostate (IntelliScore) (EPI) urine exosome gene expression assay versus standard clinical parameters for discriminating Grade Group (GG) ≥2 PCa from GG1 PCa and benign disease on initial biopsy. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A two-phase adaptive clinical utility study (NCT03031418) comparing EPI results with biopsy outcomes in men, with age ≥50 yr and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) 2-10ng/ml, scheduled for initial prostate biopsy. After EPI performance assessment during phase I, a clinical implementation document (ie, CarePath) was developed for utilizing the EPI test in phase II, where the biopsy decision is uncertain. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Performance evaluation of the EPI test in patients enrolled in phase I and publication of a consensus CarePath for phase II. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: In a total of 503 patients, with median age of 64 yr, median PSA 5.4ng/ml, 14% African American, 70% Caucasian, 53% positive biopsy rate (22% GG1, 17% GG2, and 15% ≥ GG3), EPI was superior to an optimized model of standard clinical parameters with an area under the curve (AUC) 0.70 versus 0.62, respectively, comparable with previously published results (n=519 patients, EPI AUC 0.71). Validated cut-point 15.6 would avoid 26% of unnecessary prostate biopsies and 20% of total biopsies, with negative predictive value (NPV) 89% and missing 7% of ≥GG2 PCa. Alternative cut-point 20 would avoid 40% of unnecessary biopsies and 31% of total biopsies, with NPV 89% and missing 11% of ≥GG2 PCa. The clinical investigators reached consensus recommending use of the 15.6 cut-point for phase II. Outcome of the decision impact cohort in phase II will be reported separately. CONCLUSIONS: EPI is a noninvasive, easy-to-use, gene expression urine assay, which has now been successfully validated in over 1000 patients across two prospective validation trials to stratify risk of ≥GG2 from GG1 cancer and benign disease. The test improves identification of patients with higher grade disease and would reduce the total number of unnecessary biopsies. PATIENT SUMMARY: It is challenging to predict which men are likely to have high-grade prostate cancer (PCa) at initial biopsy with prostate-specific antigen 2-10ng/ml. This study further demonstrates that the ExoDx Prostate (IntelliScore) test can predict ≥GG2 PCa at initial biopsy and defer unnecessary biopsies better than existing risk calculator\u27s and standard clinical data