Trumpet Slices in Kerr Spacetimes

We introduce a new time-independent family of analytical coordinate systems for the Kerr spacetime representing rotating black holes. We also propose a (2+1)+1 formalism for the characterization of trumpet geometries. Applying this formalism to our new family of coordinate systems we identify, for the first time, analytical and stationary trumpet slices for general rotating black holes, even for charged black holes in the presence of a cosmological constant. We present results for metric functions in this slicing and analyze the geometry of the rotating trumpet surface.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; version published in PR

Finite-State Channel Models for Signal Transduction in Neural Systems

Information theory provides powerful tools for understanding communication systems. This analysis can be applied to intercellular signal transduction, which is a means of chemical communication among cells and microbes. We discuss how to apply information-theoretic analysis to ligand-receptor systems, which form the signal carrier and receiver in intercellular signal transduction channels. We also discuss the applications of these results to neuroscience.Comment: Accepted for publication in 2016 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Shanghai, Chin

Trumpet slices of the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini spacetime

We study families of time-independent maximal and 1+log foliations of the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini spacetime, the spherically-symmetric vacuum black hole solution in D spacetime dimensions, for D >= 4. We identify special members of these families for which the spatial slices display a trumpet geometry. Using a generalization of the 1+log slicing condition that is parametrized by a constant n we recover the results of Nakao, Abe, Yoshino and Shibata in the limit of maximal slicing. We also construct a numerical code that evolves the BSSN equations for D=5 in spherical symmetry using moving-puncture coordinates, and demonstrate that these simulations settle down to the trumpet solutions.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR

The Effect of Shareholder Proposals on Executive Compensation

During the last decade, the stratospheric increases in Chief Executive Officer (CEO) pay levels have made executive compensation a popular target for shareholder activism, particularly when high pay is accompanied by poor corporate performance. Outraged investors have made their views know to corporate boards of directors using shareholder proposals, binding bylaw amendments, Just Vote No campaigns, and other activist efforts. As institutional and other shareholders have attempted to monitor board decisions, the question remains: Have their efforts been successful in influencing executive compensation

Customizing Employment Arbitration

According to the dispute resolution literature, one advantage of arbitration over litigation is that arbitration enables the parties to customize their dispute resolution procedures. For example, parties can choose the qualifications of the arbitrator(s), the governing procedural rules, the limitation period, recoverable damages, rules for discovery and the presentation of evidence and witnesses, and the specificity of required arbitrator findings. While other scholars have questioned whether parties to arbitration agreements frequently take advantage of this customization, there is little solid empirical information about the topic. In this article, we study the arbitration clauses found in a random sample of 910 CEO employment contracts entered into during the time period 1995 to 2005 to determine how much customization actually takes place. We find only a small number of instances where fine-grained customization has occurred. Parties pay very little attention to customizing arbitral proceedings in these employment contracts, although there is a significant increase in the practice over time. We find this result surprising given that CEO contracts are heavily negotiated documents. Unexpectedly, we find that about half of the arbitration clauses in our contracts carve out a subset of potential claims or types of relief by reserving a right for the parties to seek such relief or file such claims in court. This phenomenon of customizing the circumstances under which parties will use arbitration has received almost no attention in the academic literature to date. In particular, we find that the types of claims carved out for court resolution are those involving firm efforts to protect the value of its information, reputation, and innovation. CEOs and companies in the information technology business are not significantly more likely to carve out such claims, and the use of these carveouts is increasing over time, suggesting that such carveouts are increasingly valuable to all firms. Unfortunately, California court regulation of arbitration clauses in employment contracts has significantly dampened the use of carveouts in contracts between CEO’s and their firms located in California. Our data suggests that court efforts to protect employees by scrutinizing the specific carveouts we observe is both unnecessary and destructive

Coastal Planning: The Designation and Management of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern

This Article will first briefly examine legislation in several states concerning the designation and management of areas of particular concern. Attention will be focused on the North Carolina statute, which lodges much of the responsibility for critical area planning and management in a state-level administrative body. Secondly, two broad areas of legal problems-the limitations of administrative law and the constitutional restrictions of due process and equal protection as they apply to these administrative processes-will be discussed in light of the North Carolina planning scheme. A third section will discuss the troublesome taking problem and how agencies can minimize the risk that their actions will be found to be unconstitutional takings for public purposes without just compensation

Should Labor Be Allowed to Make Shareholder Proposals?

In this Article, we investigate whether labor unions and related entities should be permitted to continue to make shareholder proposals using Rule 14a-8 of the federal securities laws. We focus on the claim that labor is using the shareholder proposal mechanism to further the interests of workers at the expense of other shareholders. In particular, corporate management groups have suggested that when labor is involved in collective bargaining negotiations with management, it should be barred from submitting shareholder proposals because labor proposals seek to further interests not shared by other security holders of the company. Using data on shareholder proposals from the 1994 proxy season, we find that labor union proposals as a whole get as much or more support than do similar proposals made by other shareholder groups. Furthermore, when we examine a subset of labor union proposals that have been identified by management groups as instances where labor was acting in its own self-interest, we find no significant differences between shareholder support for these proposals and for other shareholders\u27 proposals of a similar nature. We conclude that regulatory reform is unnecessary

An Improved Holding Chamber for the Measurement of Oxygen Consumption in Mice

An apparatus is described which has been useful in classroom demonstrations and for research in metabolic studies of mice. The unique feature of this modification of basic metabolators is a standard taper ground glass joint