Does Intellectual Capital Affect the Volatility of Returns? An Empirical Investigation on Italian Listed Companies

In modern information economies, economic success increasingly depends on the ability to apply knowledge and to transform it into firm value. While intellectual capital plays a critical role in firm success, it is an intangible asset that is difficult to measure and that is unrecorded by the firm. Difficulties in measuring intellectual capital, as well as the dynamic nature of the firms that rely on it, may lead to greater stock market volatility/risk. Consistent with this expectation, in statistical tests we find that intellectual capital, measured by VAIC, positively relates to the volatility of stock returns section among Italian listed companies. We find this positive relation for two components of a firm’s risk: systematic risk and specific risk. The finding is relevant to both investors concerned with understanding the risk/reward balance of particular investments and regulators concerned with market stability

HABITAT SELECTION AND CON- AND HETEROSPECIFIC ASSOCIATIONS OF WINTERING WHOOPING CRANES AT WHEELER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, ALABAMA

Winter ecology of the Eastern Migratory Population of whooping cranes (Grus americana) has received less detailed study than that of other life stages or the Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population. Increased winter use of novel sites by these cranes makes understanding the mechanisms contributing to habitat selection and use important for efficient conservation. As a subset of a larger and ongoing project, this study examined the individual and temporal variations of occupancy times, habitat types used, and co-occurrence with con- and heterospecifics during winters 2014-15 and 2015-16 at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama, while considering the effect of individual life histories (e.g., breeding status, release method). In total, 27 and 21 whooping cranes were observed during the 2 winters, respectively. Individuals varied in their habitat preference and in cooccurrence with con- and heterospecifics. Mated pairs showed a higher use of wetlands than unmated individuals, which were found more in crops left for wildlife use. Unmated individuals were more often found associating with other whooping and sandhill cranes (G. canadensis) than mated pairs. Compared to the first winter in 2014-15, the warmer temperature in 2015-16 likely influenced delayed arrival times while reduced wetland availability may be linked to shorter duration of stay and other temporal variation in habitat selection and co-occurrence. Our findings suggest that multiple management strategies would be needed for effective conservation because of varied habitat preference among individuals. Additionally, understanding environmental influence on occupancy times could offer managers management tools by being able to better predict crane arrival and duration of stay

TRADITIONAL MASCULINITY & ADVERTISING IMAGE APPROVAL

This project investigates the relationship between adherence to traditional masculinity and approval of selected advertising images. Because traditional masculinity includes characteristics supportive of aggression and dominance; I hypothesize that an increase in adherence to traditional masculinity will correlate with approval of the violence found in some print advertisements. Participants include 259 men who completed an anonymous, online, survey. Adherence to masculinity is measured using the Male Role Norm Inventory-Revised (MRNI-R) (Levant, et. al, 2007). Each picture is scored on a 5-point Likert Scale. As hypothesized, an increase in total MRNI-R score, is significantly correlated with an increase in the approval of the depiction of women, men and male/female interactions, with (r=.340, a=0.01) (r=.244, a=0.01) (r=.360, a=0.01), respectively. The results indicate that men reporting adherence to traditional masculinity also see violence in advertising positively. Future research should further examine marketing and its relationship with gender role acquisition, and violence in intimate partners

Liquid-immersible electrostatic ultrasonic transducer

A broadband megahertz range electrostatic acoustic transducer for use in a liquid environment is described. A liquid tight enclosure includes a metallic conducting membrane as part of its outside surface and has a means inside the liquid tight enclosure for applying a tension to the membrane and for mounting an electrode such that the flat end of the electrode is aproximately parallel to the membrane. The invention includes structure and a method for ensuring that the membrane and the flat end of the electrode are exactly parallel and a fixed predetermined distance from each other

Chaos and Beyond in a Water Filled Ultrasonic Resonance System

Finite amplitude ultrasonic wave resonances in a one-dimensional liquid-filled cavity, formed by a narrow band transducer and a plane reflector, are reported. The resonances are observed to include not only the expected harmonic and subharmonic signals (1,2) but chaotic signals as well. The generation mechanism requires attaining a threshold value of the driving amplitude that the liquid-filled cavity system becomes sufficiently nonlinear in response. The nonlinear features of the system were recently investigated via the construction of an ultrasonic interferometer having optical precision. The transducers were compressional, undamped quartz and lithium niobate crystals having the frequency range 1-10 MHz, driven by a high power amplifier. Both an optical diffraction system to characterize the diffraction pattern of laser light normally incident to the cavity and a receiving transducer attached to an aligned reflector with lapped flat and parallel surfaces were used to assess the generated resonance response in the cavity. At least 5 regions of excitation are identified

Measurements of ice nucleation by mineral dusts in the contact mode

Formation of ice in Earth\u27s atmosphere at temperatures above approximately −20 °C is one of the outstanding problems in cloud physics. Contact nucleation has been suggested as a possible mechanism for freezing at relatively high temperatures; some laboratory experiments have shown contact freezing activity at temperatures as high as −4 °C. We have investigated Arizona Test Dust and kaolinite as contact nuclei as a function of size and temperature and find that the fraction of submicron particles that are active as contact ice nuclei is less than 10−3 for −18 °C and greater. We also find that the different dusts are quite distinct in their effectiveness as contact nuclei; Arizona Test Dust catalyzed freezing in the contact mode at all mobility diameters we tested at −18 °C whereas kaolinite triggered freezing only for mobility diameters of 1000 and 500 nm at that temperature

Phonon-drag effects on thermoelectric power

We carry out a calculation of the phonon-drag contribution $S_g$ to the thermoelectric power of bulk semiconductors and quantum well structures for the first time using the balance equation transport theory extended to the weakly nonuniform systems. Introducing wavevector and phonon-mode dependent relaxation times due to phonon-phonon interactions, the formula obtained can be used not only at low temperatures where the phonon mean free path is determined by boundary scattering, but also at high temperatures. In the linear transport limit, $S_g$ is equivalent to the result obtained from the Boltzmann equation with a relaxation time approximation. The theory is applied to experiments and agreement is found between the theoretical predictions and experimental results. The role of hot-electron effects in $S_g$ is discussed. The importance of the contribution of $S_g$ to thermoelectric power in the hot-electron transport condition is emphasized.Comment: 8 pages, REVTEX 3.0, 7 figures avilable upon reques

A technique to measure ice nuclei in the contact mode

This study presents a new technique to study ice nucleation by aerosols in the contact mode. Contact freezing depends upon the interaction of a supercooled droplet of water and an aerosol particle, with the caveat that the particle must be at the air–water interface. To measure nucleation catalyzed in this mode, the technique employs water droplets that are supercooled via a temperature-controlled copper stage, then pulls aerosol-laden air past them. Particles deposit out of the airstream and come into contact with the surface of the droplet. The probability that a particle–droplet collision initiates a freezing event, necessitating knowledge of the total number of particles that collide with the droplet, is reported. In tests of the technique, ice nucleation by the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae is found to be more efficient in the contact mode than in the immersion mode by two orders of magnitude at −3°C with the difference diminishing by −8°C

Midlatitude Cirrus Clouds and Multiple Tropopauses from a 2002-2006 Climatology over the SIRTA Observatory

This study present a comparison of lidar observations of midlatitude cirrus clouds over the SIRTA observatory between 2002 and 2006 with multiple tropopauses (MT) retrieved from radiosounding temperature profiles. The temporal variability of MT properties (frequency, thickness) are discussed. Results show a marked annual cycle, with MT frequency reaching its lowest point in May (~18% occurrence of MT) and slowly rising to more than 40% in DJF. The average thickness of the MT also follows an annual cycle, going from less than 1 km in spring to 1.5 km in late autumn. Comparison with lidar observations show that cirrus clouds show a preference for being located close below the 1st tropopause. When the cloud top is above the 1st tropopause (7% of observations), in 20% of cases the cloud base is above it as well, resulting in a cirrus cloud "sandwiched" between the two tropopauses. Compared to the general distribution of cirrus, cross-tropopause cirrus show a higher frequency of large optical depths, while inter-tropopause cirrus show almost exclusively low optical depths (Tau < 0.03 in 90% of cases) typical of subvisible clouds. Results suggest the occurrence of inter-tropopause cirrus clouds is correlated with the frequency of multiple tropopauses