The Purposes and Accountability of the Corporation in Contemporary Society: Corporate Governance at a Crossroads

Little attention has been paid to how the governance structures of public corporations adapt to structural changes in the social, political, economic and legal environments in which they operate. Bradley et al chronicle the recent changes in the conduct of business enterprise and establish the necessary conditions for a system of corporate governance capable of accommodating these changes

History of the Strike-Lockout Distinction of Pennsylvania\u27s Unemployment Compensation Law

This article provides an analysis of the legislative changes to the labor dispute disqualification of the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law since its enactment in 1936, culminating in the lockout exception in 1949. This article attempts to provide a historical analysis while at the same time focusing on areas of controversy and litigation pertaining to labor dispute disqualification, particularly the judicially created concepts of status quo and reasonable time. Each area is discussed and specific changes in the interpretation of the law are suggested where warranted in the hope of fostering uniformity and consistency, thereby reducing the number of labor disputes in Pennsylvania while at the same time forming a body of law upon which interested parties may rely

Changing Face of the Extrasolar Giant Planet, HD 209458b

High-resolution atmospheric flow simulations of the tidally-locked extrasolar giant planet, HD 209458b, show large-scale spatio-temporal variability. This is in contrast to the simple, permanent day/night (i.e., hot/cold) picture. The planet's global circulation is characterized by a polar vortex in motion around each pole and a banded structure corresponding to ~3 broad zonal (east-west) jets. For very strong jets, the circulation-induced temperature difference between moving hot and cold regions can reach up to ~1000 K, suggesting that atmospheric variability could be observed in the planet's spectral and photometric signatures.Comment: 6 pages, 1 ps figure, 2 low-res color figures (JPEG). Figure 3 updated. Contact authors for hi-res versions of color figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Optical/UV-to-X-Ray Echoes from the Tidal Disruption Flare ASASSN-14li

We carried out the first multi-wavelength (optical/UV and X-ray) photometric reverberation mapping of a tidal disruption flare (TDF) ASASSN-14li. We find that its X-ray variations are correlated with and lag the optical/UV fluctuations by 32$\pm$4 days. Based on the direction and the magnitude of the X-ray time lag, we rule out X-ray reprocessing and direct emission from a standard circular thin disk as the dominant source of its optical/UV emission. The lag magnitude also rules out an AGN disk-driven instability as the origin of ASASSN-14li and thus strongly supports the tidal disruption picture for this event and similar objects. We suggest that the majority of the optical/UV emission likely originates from debris stream self-interactions. Perturbations at the self-interaction sites produce optical/UV variability and travel down to the black hole where they modulate the X-rays. The time lag between the optical/UV and the X-rays variations thus correspond to the time taken by these fluctuations to travel from the self-interaction site to close to the black hole. We further discuss these time lags within the context of the three variants of the self-interaction model. High-cadence monitoring observations of future TDFs will be sensitive enough to detect these echoes and would allow us to establish the origin of optical/UV emission in TDFs in general.Comment: Publish in ApJ Letter

On Signatures of Atmospheric Features in Thermal Phase Curves of Hot Jupiters

Turbulence is ubiquitous in Solar System planetary atmospheres. In hot Jupiter atmospheres, the combination of moderately slow rotation and thick pressure scale height may result in dynamical weather structures with unusually large, planetary-size scales. Using equivalent-barotropic, turbulent circulation models, we illustrate how such structures can generate a variety of features in the thermal phase curves of hot Jupiters, including phase shifts and deviations from periodicity. Such features may have been spotted in the recent infrared phase curve of HD 189733b. Despite inherent difficulties with the interpretation of disk-integrated quantities, phase curves promise to offer unique constraints on the nature of the circulation regime present on hot Jupiters.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Ap

Seasonal variation and impact of waste-water lagoons as larval habitat on the population dynamics of Culicoides sonorensis (Diptera:Ceratpogonidae) at two dairy farms in northern California.

The Sacramento (northern Central) Valley of California (CA) has a hot Mediterranean climate and a diverse ecological landscape that is impacted extensively by human activities, which include the intensive farming of crops and livestock. Waste-water ponds, marshes, and irrigated fields associated with these agricultural activities provide abundant larval habitats for C. sonorensis midges, in addition to those sites that exist in the natural environment. Within this region, C. sonorensis is an important vector of bluetongue (BTV) and related viruses that adversely affect the international trade and movement of livestock, the economics of livestock production, and animal welfare. To characterize the seasonal dynamics of immature and adult C. sonorensis populations, abundance was monitored intensively on two dairy farms in the Sacramento Valley from August 2012- to July 2013. Adults were sampled every two weeks for 52 weeks by trapping (CDC style traps without light and baited with dry-ice) along N-S and E-W transects on each farm. One farm had large operational waste-water lagoons, whereas the lagoon on the other farm was drained and remained dry during the study. Spring emergence and seasonal abundance of adult C. sonorensis on both farms coincided with rising vernal temperature. Paradoxically, the abundance of midges on the farm without a functioning waste-water lagoon was increased as compared to abundance on the farm with a waste-water lagoon system, indicating that this infrastructure may not serve as the sole, or even the primary larval habitat. Adult midges disappeared from both farms from late November until May; however, low numbers of parous female midges were detected in traps set during daylight in the inter-seasonal winter period. This latter finding is especially critical as it provides a potential mechanism for the "overwintering" of BTV in temperate regions such as northern CA. Precise documentation of temporal changes in the annual abundance and dispersal of Culicoides midges is essential for the creation of models to predict BTV infection of livestock and to develop sound abatement strategies

Effects of Urea and Distillers Inclusion in Finishing Diets on Steer Performance and Carcass Characteristics

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplemental urea in dry rolled corn based finishing diets containing low inclusions of distillers grains. Treatments were set up in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement. The first factor was wet distillers inclusion at either 10, 15, or 20% of diet DM. The second factor was urea inclusion at either 0, 0.5, or 1.0% of diet dry matter. Increasing inclusion of distillers linearly improved feed conversion and linearly reduced dry matter intake. An interaction for feed efficiency was observed where there was no effect of added urea when 10% or 20% distillers was fed and a quadratic effect was observed when 15% distillers grains was fed where 0.5% urea appeared to be optimum. Added urea in a finishing diet with 20 or 10% distillers has minimal impact on finishing performance; however, feeding 0.5% urea in a 15% distillers diet may be beneficial

Effect of Adding Urea to Finishing Diets Containing Two Different Inclusions of Distillers Grains on Steer Performance and Carcass Characteristics

The effects of adding urea to a dry rolled corn based finishing diet containing low inclusions of distillers grains was evaluated. Treatments were designed as a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement with factors consisting of wet distillers inclusion (either 12 or 20% of diet DM) and urea inclusion (0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2% of diet DM). There were no significant interactions observed between distillers inclusion and urea inclusion in the diet. Increasing inclusion of distillers grains improved carcass adjusted average daily gain and feed conversion and reduced dry matter intake. Increasing distillers inclusion also increased 12th rib fat and had a tendency to increase hot carcass weight. There were no significant linear or quadratic responses for increasing urea inclusion in the diet. These data suggest that when feeding at least 12% distillers in the diet, supplemental urea has minimal impact on animal performance