3,422 research outputs found

    An Annotated Checklist of Wisconsin Handsome Fungus Beetles (Coleoptera: Endomychidae)

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    The first comprehensive survey of Wisconsin Endomychidae was initiated in 1998. Throughout Wisconsin sampling sites were selected based on habitat type and sampling history. Wisconsin endomychids were hand collected from fungi and under tree bark; successful trapping methods included cantharidinbaited pitfall traps, flight intercept traps, and Lindgren funnel traps. Examination of literature records, museum and private collections, and field research yielded 10 species, three of which are new state records. Two dubious records, Epipocus unicolor Horn and Stenotarsus hispidus (Herbst), could not be confirmed. Wisconsin distribution, along with relevant collecting techniques and natural history information, are summarized

    Structure and Kinematics of Molecular Disks in Fast-Rotator Early-Type Galaxies

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    We present interferometric observations resolving the CO emission in the four gas-rich lenticular galaxies NGC 3032, NGC 4150, NGC 4459, and NGC 4526, and we compare the CO distribution and kinematics to those of the stars and ionized gas. Counterrotation documents an external origin for the gas in at least one case (NGC 3032), and the comparisons to stellar and ionized gas substructures in all four galaxies offer insights into their formation histories. The molecular gas is found in kpc-scale disks with mostly regular kinematics and average surface densities of 100 to 200 \msunsqpc. The disks are well aligned with the stellar photometric and kinematic axes. In the two more luminous Virgo Cluster members NGC 4459 and NGC 4526 the molecular gas shows excellent agreement with circular velocities derived independently from detailed modeling of stellar kinematic data. There are also two puzzling instances of disagreements between stellar kinematics and gas kinematics on sub-kpc scales. In the inner arcseconds of NGC 3032 the CO velocities are significantly lower than the inferred circular velocities, and the reasons may possibly be related to the external origin of the gas but are not well understood. In addition, the very young population of stars in the core of NGC 4150 appears to have the opposite sense of rotation from the molecular gas.Comment: ApJ, accepte

    Negotiating truth, freedom and self : the prison narratives of some South African women

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    The autobiographical prison writings of four South African women - Ruth First, Caesarina Kana Makhoere, Emma Mashinini and Maggie Resha - form the focus of this study. South African autobiography is burdened with the task of producing history in the light of the silences enforced by apartheid security legislation and the dominance of representations of white histories. Autobiography with its promise of 'truth' provides the structure within which to establish a credible subject position. In chapter one I discuss the use of authenticating devices, such as documentary-like prose, and the inclusion in numerous texts of the stories of others. Asserting oneself as a (publicly acknowledged) subject in writing is particularly difficult for women who historically have been denied access to authority: while Maggie Resha's explicit task is to highlight the role women have played in the struggle, her narrative must also be broadly representative, her authority communal. As I discuss in chapter two, prison writing breaks the legal and psychological silences imposed by a hostile penal system. In a context of political repression the notion of the truth becomes complicated, because while it is important to be believed, it is also important, as with Ruth First, not to betray her comrades and values. The writer must therefore negotiate with the (imagined) audience if her signature is to be accepted and her subjectivity affirmed. The struggle to represent oneself in the inimical environment of prison and the redemptive value in doing so are considered in chapter three. The institution of imprisonment as a means of silencing political dissidence targets the body, according to Michel Foucault's theories of discipline and control explored in chapter four. Using the work of Lois McNay and Elizabeth Grosz I argue in chapter five that it is necessary also to pay attention to the specificities of female bodies which are positioned and controlled in particular ways. I argue, too, using N. Chabani Manganyi, that while anatomical differences provide the rationale for racism and sexism, the body is also an instrument for resisting negative cultural significations. For instance, Caesarina Kana Makhoere represents her body as a weapon in her political battle, inside and outside prison. The prison cell itself is formative of subjectivity as it returns an image of criminality and powerlessness to the prisoner. Following the work of human geographers in chapter six I argue that space and subjectivity are mutually constitutive, as shown by the way spatial metaphors operate in prison texts. The subject can redesign hostile space in order to represent herself. As these texts show, relations of viewing are crucial to self-identification: surveillance disempowers the prisoner and produces her as a victim, but prisoners have recourse to alternative ways of (visually) interacting in order to position the dominators as objects of their gaze, through speaking and then also through writing. Elaine Scarry's insights into torture are extended in chapter seven to encompass psychological torture and sexual harassment: inflicting bodily humiliation, as well as pain, on the body, brings it sharply into focus, making speech impossible. By writing testimony and by generating other scenes of dialogue through which subjectivity can be constructed (through being looked at and looking, through having the message of self affirmed in the other's hearing) it is possible to contain, in some way, the horror of detention and to assert a measure of control in authoring oneself. For Mashinini this healing dialogue must take place within an emotionally and ideologically sympathetic context. v For those historical subjects who have found themselves without a legally valued identity and a platform from which to articulate the challenge of their experience, writing a personal narrative may offer an invaluable chance to assert a truth, to reclaim a self and a credibility and in that way to create a kind of freedom. Bibliography: pages 173-182

    Aligning San Jose\u27s community gardens with city plans and policies

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    Community Strength and Economic Challenge: Civic Attitudes and Community Involvement in Rural America

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    In any given year, close to one in three Americans volunteer with a local organization and get involved in various activities that benefit their community. Community leaders and policy makers are interested in levels of community engagement because there is a presumption that a community's civic health can translate into community wealth as a result of local residents working together to improve their community's economic sustainability and quality of life. Although rural Americans are slightly more likely than urban and suburban residents to participate in community activities, not all rural communities demonstrate a similarly high level of community trust and engagement

    Tempered stable and tempered infinitely divisible GARCH models

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    In this paper, we introduce a new GARCH model with an infinitely divisible distributed innovation, referred to as the rapidly decreasing tempered stable (RDTS) GARCH model. This model allows the description of some stylized empirical facts observed for stock and index returns, such as volatility clustering, the non-zero skewness and excess kurtosis for the residual distribution. Furthermore, we review the classical tempered stable (CTS) GARCH model, which has similar statistical properties. By considering a proper density transformation between infinitely divisible random variables, these GARCH models allow to find the risk-neutral price process, and hence they can be applied to option pricing. We propose algorithms to generate scenario based on GARCH models with CTS and RDTS innovation. To investigate the performance of these GARCH models, we report a parameters estimation for Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index and stocks included in this index, and furthermore to demonstrate their advantages, we calculate option prices based on these models. It should be noted that only historical data on the underlying asset and on the riskfree rate are taken into account to evaluate option prices. --tempered infinitely divisible distribution,tempered stable distribution,rapidly decreasing tempered stable distribution,GARCH model option pricing

    Tempered infinitely divisible distributions and processes

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    In this paper, we construct the new class of tempered infinitely divisible (TID) distributions. Taking into account the tempered stable distribution class, as introduced by in the seminal work of Rosinsky , a modification of the tempering function allows one to obtain suitable properties. In particular, TID distributions may have exponential moments of any order and conserve all proper properties of the Rosinski setting. Furthermore, we prove that the modified tempered stable distribution is TID and give some further parametric example. --stable distributions,tempered stable distributions,tempered infinitely divisible distributions,modified tempered stable distributions

    An Annotated Checklist of Wisconsin Handsome Fungus Beetles (Coleoptera: Endomychidae)

    Get PDF
    The first comprehensive survey of Wisconsin Endomychidae was initiated in 1998. Throughout Wisconsin sampling sites were selected based on habitat type and sampling history. Wisconsin endomychids were hand collected from fungi and under tree bark; successful trapping methods included cantharidinbaited pitfall traps, flight intercept traps, and Lindgren funnel traps. Examination of literature records, museum and private collections, and field research yielded 10 species, three of which are new state records. Two dubious records, Epipocus unicolor Horn and Stenotarsus hispidus (Herbst), could not be confirmed. Wisconsin distribution, along with relevant collecting techniques and natural history information, are summarized

    Journal of African Christian Biography: v. 3, no. 3

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    A publication of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography with U.S. offices located at the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at Boston University. This issue focuses on: 1. Aberi K. Balya, Stefano Reuben Moshi, and John Mary Waliggo: Faithful African Christian Ancestors by Edison M. Kalengyo. Biographies by John Kateeba Tumwine and Louise Pirouet. 2. Wellington Mulwa and Harambee: Leading the Church in Partnership with Western Missionaries, a Biography by F. Lionel Young. 3. African Retrospect and Prospect: A Christian view from Kenya - Interview with Jesse Mugambi, with Jonathan Bonk, interviewer. 4. Recent Print and Digital Resources Related to Christianity in Africa

    Time series analysis for financial market meltdowns

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    There appears to be a consensus that the recent instability in global financial markets may be attributable in part to the failure of financial modeling. More specifically, current risk models have failed to properly assess the risks associated with large adverse stock price behavior. In this paper, we first discuss the limitations of classical time series models for forecasting financial market meltdowns. Then we set forth a framework capable of forecasting both extreme events and highly volatile markets. Based on the empirical evidence presented in this paper, our framework offers an improvement over prevailing models for evaluating stock market risk exposure during distressed market periods. --ARMA-GARCH model,»-stable distribution,tempered stable distribution,value-at-risk (VaR),average value-at-risk (AVaR)
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