Efficient markets: land and slave prices in Henrico County, Virginia, 1782-1863

Asset market efficiency fosters rational decisions on allocating resources, both individually and socially, and thus helps determine individuals' wealth accumulation and nations' economic growth. To date, however, there are little systematic data available for, and even less analysis of, US capital markets during the late eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, a period of great transformation and growth. This paper is a preliminary exploration of market efficiency in two early US asset markets, looking at prices of land and slaves in Henrico County, Virginia, from the 1780s to the 1860s. Our hypothesis tests on both the price of and returns to Henrico County land and slaves provide evidence that land and slave markets in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century US were weak-form efficient, suggesting that available information was quickly and fully incorporated into prices in these early North American asset markets.efficient markets, random walk, Dickey-Fuller, KPSS test, slave prices, land prices

Fun Assessment: How to Embed Evaluation with Educational Games

Most librarians, and indeed students, tremble at the very mention of the dreaded word “assessment.” This does not have to be the case. When assessment is non-threatening and strategically placed to provide needed feedback, it can be pleasant, rewarding and improve learning outcomes. Many educational games have built-in assessment that turns evaluation into fun. This session will look at specific examples used at two Pennsylvania academic libraries where games help instructional librarians ensure that students are accomplishing what the activity requires and assess student learning. Come to this session prepared to play

Experimental evaluation of CTD package hydrodynamic behavior and recommendations for improved lowering techniques

This report is the last of a series of three reports on a comprehensive study of CTD instrument lowering mechanics. The first report, WHOI 79-81, "A Study of CTD Cables and Lowering Systems", examines the causes and modes of lowering cable failures, both mechanical and electrical, and makes recommendations to improve existing instrument packages and lowering procedures. The second report, WHOI 81-76, "Hydrodynamics of CTD Instrument Packages", is a theoretical study of instrument package stability when cable lowered or free falling. The model is used to predict the hydrodynamic response of CTD packages in their present or improved configuration. This report, WHOI 83-21, is more factual. It describes the tests performed on scale models and actual CTD packages to actually observe and/or measure their hydrodynamic behavior. Analytical results and experimental data obtained in this study are used to draw recommendations for CTD package improvement and future lowering procedures.Prepared for the Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-72-C-0019

Dynamic Population Models with Temporal Preferential Sampling to Infer Phenology

To study population dynamics, ecologists and wildlife biologists use relative abundance data, which are often subject to temporal preferential sampling. Temporal preferential sampling occurs when sampling effort varies across time. To account for preferential sampling, we specify a Bayesian hierarchical abundance model that considers the dependence between observation times and the ecological process of interest. The proposed model improves abundance estimates during periods of infrequent observation and accounts for temporal preferential sampling in discrete time. Additionally, our model facilitates posterior inference for population growth rates and mechanistic phenometrics. We apply our model to analyze both simulated data and mosquito count data collected by the National Ecological Observatory Network. In the second case study, we characterize the population growth rate and abundance of several mosquito species in the Aedes genus.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Heterogeneous nucleation is required for crystallization of the ZnuA domain of pneumococcal AdcA

Zn2+ is an essential nutrient for all known forms of life. In the major human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae, the acquisition of Zn2+ is facilitated by two Zn2+-specific solute-binding proteins: AdcA and AdcAII. To date, there has been a paucity of structural information on AdcA, which has hindered a deeper understanding of the mechanism underlying pneumococcal Zn2+ acquisition. Native AdcA consists of two domains: an N-terminal ZnuA domain and a C-terminal ZinT domain. In this study, the ZnuA domain of AdcA was crystallized. The initial crystals of the ZnuA-domain protein were obtained using dried seaweed as a heterogeneous nucleating agent. No crystals were obtained in the absence of the heterogeneous nucleating agent. These initial crystals were subsequently used as seeds to produce diffraction-quality crystals. The crystals diffracted to 2.03 angstrom resolution and had the symmetry of space group P1. This study demonstrates the utility of heterogeneous nucleation. The solution of the crystal structures will lead to further understanding of Zn2+ acquisition by S. pneumoniae

Liquid Phase Electrochemistry at Ultralow Temperatures

Fluid electrolyte solutions based on mixtures of butyronitrile (PrCN) and ethyl chloride (EtCl) with or as electrolyte freeze below −180°C and provide excellent media for cryogenic electrochemical experiments. A 1:2 mixture of PrCN and EtCl exhibits the best combination of freezing point and ionic conductivity for ultralow temperature electrochemistry. Diffusion coefficients for bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) iron are measurable by potential step chronoamperometry down to −160°C using a conventionally sized electrode, but the resistivity of the solvent mixture is such that potential sweep voltammetry benefits from the use of microdisk (10 and 25 μm diam Pt) or microband (0.2 μm wide Au) electrodes. Voltammetry at a chemically modified electrode down to −170°C is presented for the case of thin films

Involvement of Mhc Loci in immune responses that are not Ir-gene-controlled

Twenty-nine randomly chosen, soluble antigens, many of them highly complex, were used to immunize mice of two strains, C3H and B10.RIII. Lymphnode cells from the immunized mice were restimulated in vitro with the priming antigens and the proliferative response of the cells was determined. Both strains were responders to 28 of 29 antigens. Eight antigens were then used to immunize 11 congenic strains carrying different H-2 haplotypes, and the T-cell proliferative responses of these strains were determined. Again, all the strains responded to seven of the eight antigens. These experiments were then repeated, but this time -antibodies specific for the A (AA) or E (EE) molecules were added to the culture to block the in vitro responsiveness. In all but one of the responses, inhibition with both A-specific and E-specific antibodies was observed. The response to one antigen (Blastoinyces) was exceptional in that some strains were nonresponders to this antigen. Furthermore, the response in the responder strains was blocked with A-specific, but not with E-specific, antibodies. The study demonstrates that responses to antigens not controlled by Irr genes nevertheless require participation of class II Mhc molecules. In contrast to Ir gene-controlled responses involving either the A- or the E-molecule controlling loci (but never both), the responses not Ir-controlled involve participation of both A- and E-controlling loci. The lack of Ir-gene control is probably the result of complexity of the responses to multiple determinants. There is thus no principal difference between responses controlled and those not controlled by Ir genes: both types involve the recognition of the antigen, in the context of Mhc molecules

Low frequency geomagnetic fluctuations (.04 to 25 Hz) on land and on the floor of Monterey Bay

A coil antenna consisting of approximately 6000 turns of copper wire was utilized to measure the horizontal component of fluctuations of the earth's magnetic field on the floor of Monterey Bay in water depth of approximately 50 meters. The results indicate that the power spectral density of the fluctuations varies from 10nT²/Hz at 0.04 Hz to 10ˉ⁶nT²/Hz at 25 Hz, a monotonic decrease of about 6 dB/ octave, except in the 8-20 Hz region where the Schumann resonances occur. While the sensitivity of the equipment was insufficient to measure the vertical component of the fluctuation we can put an upper limit of 10ˉ³nT²/Hz at 1 Hz and 10ˉ⁶(nT)²/Hz at 10 Hz on the magnitude of this component. The same sensor was also used to measure various components of the field fluctuations at a remote land' site (Chew's Ridge). In the frequency range observed the general shape of the spectra was similar to those obtained at sea. However, a strong azimuthal variation at certain frequencies was noted in the land data. The possibility that these directional signals are of man made origin cannot be excluded at this time.http://archive.org/details/lowfrequencygeom00mcdeLieutenant Commander, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Phylogeographic structure of the pygmy shrew: revisiting the roles of southern and northern refugia in Europe

Southern and northern glacial refugia are considered paradigms that explain the complex phylogeographic patterns and processes of European biota. Here, we provide a revisited statistical phylogeographic analysis of the pygmy shrew Sorex minutus Linnaeus, 1766 (Eulipotyphla, Soricidae) examining the genetic diversity, genetic differentiation and demographic history in the Mediterranean peninsulas and in Western and Central Europe. The results showed support for genetically distinct and diverse phylogeographic groups consistent with southern and northern glacial refugia, as expected from previous studies, but also identified geographical barriers concordant with glaciated mountain ranges during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), early diversification events dated between the Upper Pleistocene and Lower Holocene for the main phylogeographic groups, and recent (post-LGM) patterns of demographic expansions. This study is the most comprehensive investigation of this species to date, and the results have implications for the conservation of intraspecific diversity and the preservation of the evolutionary potential of S. minutus