An Evaluation of Item Preference for Increasing Self-Control in Typically Developing Preschool Children

Children sometimes have a difficult time waiting for preferred items and make impulsive choices (i.e., choosing a smaller but immediate reinforcer over a larger but delayed reinforcer). Previous research has shown that in the absence of delay fading, providing access to leisure items and activities during the delay period is effective for increasing self-control (i.e., choosing a larger but delayed reinforcer over a smaller but immediate reinforcer) in young children (e.g., Newquist, Dozier, Neidert, 2012). The purpose of the current study was to compare the effectiveness of delivering low-, moderate-, and high-preferred toys during the delay period on self-control. Results were idiosyncratic across participants in that (a) for two participants, all items (regardless of preference level) were effective for increasing self-control, even when the toys were also provided when the participant made the smaller, immediate reinforcer choice and (b) for three participants, only high-preferred items were effective for increasing self-control and only when the items were not also delivered for making the smaller, immediate reinforcer choice

Campbell vs. Heller: A New Analysis of the 1978 Election for South Carolina\u27s Fourth District

2020 Meta E. Gilpatrick Prize Essa

“I Held on at Any Price”: Victim Self-Preservation in the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz and Treblinka

Many Holocaust victims have expressed uneasiness or even shame regarding the actions they took to stay alive in the death camps. These acts of self-preservation were usually humiliating and often came at the expense of their fellow victims. This comes out most clearly in the testimonies of the members of the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz and Treblinka. Writers such as Filip Müller, Zalmen Gradowski, and Richard Glazar recount how they survived the lethal environment of the camp by appropriating the food, clothing, and valuables of the people murdered in the gas chambers. Although most scholars have interpreted these testimonies, and the acts of self-preservation they describe, as a form of resistance, I argue that the writings reflect an awareness of enslavement to the body and the imperative of self-preservation, which Arthur Schopenhauer calls the “will-to-live.” For the victims are not only lamenting the degrading things they had to do to preserve their lives; they are also questioning self-preservation itself. By reducing the victim to little more than a body, which never ceases in its physical demands until death, the death camp cruelly exploited the human enslavement to the will-to-live. The writers of these testimonies are critical of their own servitude to the imperative to survive at all costs and tend to admire, perhaps even envy, their fellow inmates who have the courage to resist the Nazis or commit suicide, which they view as the only true liberation from their bondage to the will-to-live

Dimensionality Reduction via Matrix Factorization for Predictive Modeling from Large, Sparse Behavioral Data

Matrix factorization is a popular technique for engineering features for use in predictive models; it is viewed as a key part of the predictive analytics process and is used in many different domain areas. The purpose of this paper is to investigate matrix-factorization-based dimensionality reduction as a design artifact in predictive analytics. With the rise in availability of large amounts of sparse behavioral data, this investigation comes at a time when traditional techniques must be reevaluated. Our contribution is based on two lines of inquiry: we survey the literature on dimensionality reduction in predictive analytics, and we undertake an experimental evaluation comparing using dimensionality reduction versus not using dimensionality reduction for predictive modeling from large, sparse behavioral data. Our survey of the dimensionality reduction literature reveals that, despite mixed empirical evidence as to the benefit of computing dimensionality reduction, it is frequently applied in predictive modeling research and application without either comparing to a model built using the full feature set or utilizing state-of-the-art predictive modeling techniques for complexity control. This presents a concern, as the survey reveals complexity control as one of the main reasons for employing dimensionality reduction. This lack of comparison is troubling in light of our empirical results. We experimentally evaluate the e cacy of dimensionality reduction in the context of a collection of predictive modeling problems from a large-scale published study. We find that utilizing dimensionality reduction improves predictive performance only under certain, rather narrow, conditions. Specifically, under default regularization (complexity control)settings dimensionality reduction helps for the more di cult predictive problems (where the predictive performance of a model built using the original feature set is relatively lower), but it actually decreases the performance on the easier problems. More surprisingly, employing state-of-the-art methods for selecting regularization parameters actually eliminates any advantage that dimensionality reduction has! Since the value of building accurate predictive models for business analytics applications has been well-established, the resulting guidelines for the application of dimensionality reduction should lead to better research and managerial decisions.NYU Stern School of Busines

Framework of Surface and Ground Water in Oklahoma and Texas: Perspectives for Oil and Gas Development

Chapter Extract: Advancements in drilling techniques have broadened possibilities for producing hydrocarbons; but the innovations of unconventional drilling have exacerbated existing threats that the oil and gas industry have posed to water resources while creating new challenges. In today\u27s industry, conventional methods of drilling for free-flowing crude oil are playing a secondary role to unconventional oil and gas production capable of bringing hydrocarbons trapped in tight or previously inaccessible geologic formations. Compared to conventional production, unconventional methods use much greater amounts of water in chemical-laden processes that can impact the availability and purity of freshwater resources in concentrated localities where those mineral reserves are clustered

Credit Constraints and the Productivity of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Evidence from Canada

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are regulators of the business environment. In Canada, SMEs represent about 50 percent of businesses and are responsible for over 60 percent of the country’s employment. The role of SMEs in the development of a country can’t be ignored, as they are vital indicators of economic development. The size and cash flow of a company's assets are reliable indicators of credit constraints (CC), which results in a CC agent for models that use an asset-to-liability ratio. We focus on the actual impact of a previously estimated score in cases where corporate credit is limited. Investment and employment decisions are based on productivity shocks (PS) and the possibility of CC. Using variables, our model indicates the importance of measured credit restrictions being distinguished, such as cash flows that indicate productivity levels and the probability of CC. The data samples are from 2009 to 2014, although the measurement of CC is only available from 2011. Therefore, we use the model of credit constraint estimation to anticipate the likelihood of CC in the months before and after 2011. The findings reflect that the firm’s size, debt to assets ratio, and cash flow are significant factors in the evaluation of the CC, whereas long-term debt (LTD) to asset ratio wasn’t found to be significant. The study also evaluates and estimates firm-level productivity

Student Counselors \u27 Moral, Intellectual, and Professional Ethical Identity Development

Professional identity is characterized by the integration of individuals\u27 professional and personal selves. The authors used a multiple regression design to examine counselor professional ethical identity development, with specific attention to moral and intellectual development. Student counselors (N = 59) completed the Modified Subject-Object Interview (Monson & Hamilton, 2010), Defining Issues Test-2 (Rest, Narvaez, Bebeau, & Thoma, ), and Learning Environment Preferences scale (Moore, 1987). Moral development was the most significant predictor of professional ethical identity development. Preparatory and research strategies to enhance professional ethical identity formation are discussed

Acoustic and Thermal Testing of an Integrated Multilayer Insulation and Broad Area Cooling Shield System

A Multilayer Insulation (MLI) and Broad Area Cooling (BAC) shield thermal control system shows promise for long-duration storage of cryogenic propellant. The NASA Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer (CPST) project is investigating the thermal and structural performance of this tank-applied integrated system. The MLI/BAC Shield Acoustic and Thermal Test was performed to evaluate the MLI/BAC shield's structural performance by subjecting it to worst-case launch acoustic loads. Identical thermal tests using Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) were performed before and after the acoustic test. The data from these tests was compared to determine if any degradation occurred in the thermal performance of the system as a result of exposure to the acoustic loads. The thermal test series consisted of two primary components: a passive boil-off test to evaluate the MLI performance and an active cooling test to evaluate the integrated MLI/BAC shield system with chilled vapor circulating through the BAC shield tubes. The acoustic test used loads closely matching the worst-case envelope of all launch vehicles currently under consideration for CPST. Acoustic test results yielded reasonable responses for the given load. The thermal test matrix was completed prior to the acoustic test and successfully repeated after the acoustic test. Data was compared and yielded near identical results, indicating that the MLI/BAC shield configuration tested in this series is an option for structurally implementing this thermal control system concept

Survey of Legal Mechanisms Relating to Groundwater Along the Texas-Mexico Border

This report details the complexity of the governance structure that oversees the up to 15 transboundary aquifers along the Texas-Mexico border. There is a complex network of local, state, federal, and international entities and the treaties, laws, and regulations that govern the transboundary aquifers. The report delineates overlaps and gaps in the governance structures and the ways these create opportunities for both cooperation and conflict between and among groundwater regulators from both Texas and Mexico. Finding ways to encourage and leverage multi-level government cooperation between Texas and Mexico is becoming increasingly critical for protecting aquifer sustainability while efficiently allocating use of the waters to the growing populations along the border. A basic and profound difference in water governance in Texas and Mexico is the ownership status of the water resource. Mexican law declares all ground and surface water within its jurisdiction as public property. Texas’ laws, however, establish groundwater as private property, and the State owns the surface water. The executive branch of Mexico has immense authority in regulating how water is extracted and allocated from transboundary aquifers, but private citizens in Texas have the ability to extract groundwater on their property with little regulation. The disparity in regulatory practices between Texas and Mexico leads to many of the extraction practices involving these transboundary aquifers being difficult to catalogue.Texas A&M University School of Law; Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy; Texas Water Resources Institut