Comply-and-Explain: Should Directors Have a Duty to Inform?

Wilcox discusses the compliance of the duty to inform of directors of publicly held companies. The expected long-term impact of a duty to inform would be to operationalize corporate governance policies and accustom boards to provide greater transparency about their deliberations and decisions on matters relating to governance, business oversight, and strategy. Regardless of whether a directors\u27 duty to inform can be inferred from the Model Business Corporation Act or other provisions of state law, it could be implemented through the adoption of a charter or bylaw amendment initiated by the board or by shareholders

Fluctuating fortunes and Hawaiian house prices

Real estate prices in a local market can be driven by an identifiable group of purchasers. In Hawaii, residents of both the U.S. mainland and Japan have been significant purchasers of homes. An analysis suggests that house prices in Hawaii were driven primarily by purchasers from the U.S. mainland for most of the 1975–2008 period. But, during Japan’s “bubble economy” in the late 1980s and immediately thereafter, house prices in Hawaii were driven primarily by demand from Japan.Housing - Prices - Hawaii

Regime shifts in real estate markets: Time-varying effects of the U.S. and Japanese economies on house prices in Hawaii

We show that house prices may be driven entirely by the demands of one identifiable group for several years and then by demands of another group at other times. We present evidence that house prices in Hawaii were subject to such regime shifts. Prices responded to demands associated with American income and wealth for most years from 1975 through 2008. From the middle of the 1980s through the early 1990s, however, house prices responded to Japanese income and wealth. Statistical tests indicate that the regime-shifting model outperformed the constant-coefficient model. The regime shifting model helps explain why and by how much elasticities with respect to income and wealth and volatilities of house prices in Hawaii varied over time.Housing - Prices - Hawaii

A Reconsideration of Two Spanish Women Poets: Angela Figuera and Francisca Aguirre

In the last decade, poetry written by women in Spain experienced a boom, as one close observer of the scene has noted, with the result that young women poets on the Peninsula have begun to receive the attention they merit. It is therefore an opportune moment to turn our critical attention toward the poetry written by women earlier in the twentieth century. Angela Figuera (1902-1984) and Francisca Aguirre (b. 1930), two uncanonized mid-twentieth century Spanish poets, are presented here as challenging the androcentric culture of their time. Figuera critiques the male-dominated poetic canon as she develops a gynocentric poetics; poems for which she is recognized as criticizing Spanish politics and society are read as also manifesting the vision of a marginalized woman poet who for lack of full recognition loses confidence in herself; and the positive image previous critics have found in her vision of motherhood is demystified. Aguirre—avant Gilbert & Gubar—presents the female persona in her work as reduced to near madness by the barren space in which she is forced to live; her minimalist philosophy deflates the grand (patriarchal) illusions of her Occident; her work demystifies androcentric Western esthetics as it inscribes within Spanish poetry a gynocentric vision (with metaphors found in other recent women poets). It is hoped that in future reassessments of the canon, the work of these poets will be given more careful perusal

Cutting tool condition monitoring using multiple sensors and artificialintelligence techniques on a computer numerical controlled milling machine

This work documents an investigation of the degradation of a variety of different tools whilst conducting milling operations on a computer numerical controlled (CNC) milling machine. The potential of a range of sensors to detect tool degradation has been investigated and the outputs have been incorporated into a monitoring system. Progressive degradation under nominal rough and finish face milling and rough groove milling has been investigated using a two point grooving tool and four and eight point face milling tools on En8, En24 and En24T workpiece materials. Rapid degradation of the cutting tool has also been observed under rough milling conditions using four and eight point face milling tools, whilst machining n8 and En24T materials in a variety of simulated and actual tool breakage situations. A limited investigation of the effect of the individual wear geometries associated with both progressive and instantaneous tool degradation has been conducted by simulating these geometries and carrying out rough miffing tests using a four point face milling tool on a workpiece of En8 material. Similarly, a limited investigation of the effect of machining on different machines has also been undertaken. A number of different sensing technologies have been used, including conventional sensors such as spindle current and cutting force but also novel sensing techniques such as Acoustic Emission. These have been combined using artificial intelligence techniques to provide automatic recognition of the tool wear state. Similarly, the feasibility of breakage detection/prediction has also been demonstrated.CEC - BRITE EURAM Programm

Solar Cell Temperature Dependent Efficiency and Very High Temperature Efficiency Limits

Clean renewable solar energy is and will continue to be a critically important source of electrical energy. Solar energy has the potential of meeting all of the world\u27s energy needs, and has seen substantial growth in recent years. Solar cells can convert sun light directly into electrical energy, and much progress has been made in making them less expensive and more efficient. Solar cells are often characterized and modeled at 25 °C, which is significantly lower than their peak operating temperature. In some thermal concentrating systems, solar cells operate above 300 °C. Since increasing the temperature drastically affects the terminal characteristics, it is important to quantify the losses caused by raising the temperature. Methodologies for including the temperature dependent material parameters in analytical and detailed numerical models have been examined. The analytical model has been developed to analyze Shockley-Queisser detailed balance limit, as well as the Auger, Radiative and SHR recombination limiting cases from 25 °C to 800 °C, at 1x, 500x and 2000x suns concentrations. The results of this analysis show that the efficiency of a direct bandgap material with an optimal bandgap could reach 19 % at 400 °C and 2000x suns, if the SHR recombination is reduced to an acceptable level. An analytical solar cell model was also used in a quasi-3D numerical model to simulate the temperature dependent resistivity losses. It was found that the resistive losses can double when the temperature of a solar cell increases from 25 °C to 100 °C. This will cause the conversion efficiency temperature coefficient to deteriorate by 10%. By using the temperature dependent material parameters for Si in a detailed numerical model, it was found that some of the adjustable parameters, such as the base thickness, increase the conversion efficiency temperature coefficient and the Voc, while other parameters would only increase the Voc. This conclusion can be used by solar cell manufactures to improve the solar cell parameters with the biggest possible gain in device performance

An Inquiry into Juan Ramon\u27s Interest in Walter Pater

The evidence for Juan Ramon\u27s interest in Pater, which began around 1920 and was still active twenty years later, is discussed in this paper. Pater\u27s view of death and dying and his attitude toward the decadent persona are described in so far as they indicate the spiritual affinity that exists between him and Juan Ramón. Pater\u27s aesthetic idealism, and the presence of similar ideals in Juan Ramon\u27s own work are then examined. The second part of the paper concentrates on the great interest Juan Ramón took in Pater\u27s evocation of the Mona Lisa. The potential impact of the aesthetic idealism inherent in this passage, its Platonism in particular, receives special analysis in the light of Espacio, and in consideration of Juan Ramon\u27s 1943 remark: I am, have been, and always will be a Platonist