11,941 research outputs found
Seasonal Occurrence of the Sod Webworm Moths (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) of Ohio
While nearly 100 species of sod webworms are known to occur in North America, the species complex and seasonal occurrence of these moths has been documented in relatively few states. For Ohio, there is little published record of the sod webworm species complex, and the seasonal occurrence of only a few economically important species has been documented. Using black light traps, sod web worm adult flight activity was monitored over the course of three to five years at four different locations throughout Ohio. In this paper we report the seasonal occurrence of sod web worms species captured at these locations. These data provide a historical benchmark of sod webÂworm species diversity, local abundance, and seasonal occurrence in Ohio
We haven't got a seat on the bus for you or All the seats are mine: Narratives and career transitions in professional golf
In this article we explore how the stories an athlete tells throughout life in sport affect her career transition experiences. We base our enquiry on a social constructionist conception of narrative theory which holds that storytelling is integral to the creation and maintenance of identity and sense of self. Life stories were gathered through interviews with two professional women golfers (Christiana and Kandy) over a sixâyear period. Through a narrative analysis of structure and form we explored each participantâs stories of living in and withdrawing from professional golf. We suggest Christiana told monological performanceâoriented stories which, while aligning with the culture of elite sport, resulted in an exclusive athletic identity and foreclosure of alternative selves and roles. On withdrawal, Christiana experienced narrative wreckage, identity collapse, mental health difficulties and considerable psychological trauma. In contrast, Kandy told dialogical discoveryâoriented stories which, while being in tension with the dominant performance narrative, created and sustained a multidimensional identity and self. Her stories and identity remained intact, authentic and continuous on withdrawal from tournament golf and she experienced few psychological problems
Reverse geometric engineering of singularities
One can geometrically engineer supersymmetric field theories theories by
placing D-branes at or near singularities. The opposite process is described,
where one can reconstruct the singularities from quiver theories. The
description is in terms of a noncommutative quiver algebra which is constructed
from the quiver diagram and the superpotential. The center of this
noncommutative algebra is a commutative algebra, which is the ring of
holomorphic functions on a variety V. If certain algebraic conditions are met,
then the reverse geometric engineering produces V as the geometry that D-branes
probe. It is also argued that the identification of V is invariant under
Seiberg dualities.Comment: 17 pages, Latex. v2: updates reference
An Integrated Model of Household Flow-of-Funds Allocations
This paper extends the multivariate stock-adjustment model commonly used in empirical studies of portfolio behavior in order to analyze the complete set of flow allocation decisions made by households (including consumption, expenditures on durables and houses, and various ïŹnancial aggregates). The model is then confronted with quarterly household sector data from the United States Flow of Funds Accounts for the period 1954 to 1975. Besides presenting OLS estimates, we test parameter restrictions suggested by our theoretical structure; the data supports the view that the explanatory power of the model is enhanced by allowing non-zero cross-eïŹects on interest rates and lagged stocks, and by the integration of real and ïŹnancial decisions. While these results are encouraging, the speciïŹcation requires a large number of independent variables. This leads, in many cases, to rather poor determination of a number of coeïŹicients. We therefore combine with the data some inexact subjective information about the coeïŹicients, using the Theil-Goldberger mixed estimation technique. The OLS estimates and the mixed estimates are then compared by examining the forecasting accuracy of the model in- and out-of-sample. Overall the model performs very well, and the simulation results conïŹrm that inclusion of prior information is of considerable value for forecasting purposes. Since the publication of William Brainard and James Tobinâs pioneering paper, âPitfalls in Financial Model Building,â the multivariate stock-adjustment model has been widely used to study dynamic portfolio adjustment. The framework which they developed is especially useful for analyzing a given sectorâs allocation of a predetermined aggregate among competing alternatives; when dealing with the household sector most applications (including their own) have speciïŹed wealth as a predetermined aggregate which, in turn, was allocated to various assets and liabilities. The purpose of the present paper is to use an extended version of the Pitfalls model to examine in an integrated manner the household sectorâs allocation of income to ïŹnancial and real expenditures for the United States from 1954 to the present. The plan of the paper is as follows. In Section I we outline our basic theoretical framework, explain its motivation, and relate our approach to other recent flow-of-funds models. Then in Section II we describe the data and present ordinary least squares estimates of the model; in addition, we test for the âasset composition eïŹectâ which is central to our particular extension of the Pitfalls model. In Section III we use Brainard and Gary Smithâs adaptation of the Theil-Goldberger mixed estimation technique to combine subjective prior information about the coeïŹicients with that embodied in the data. We further examine in Section IV both the model and the value of our a priori beliefs by performing in-sample and out-of-sample dynamic simulations. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Section V
Stories of success: Cultural narratives and personal stories of elite and professional athletes
Using a narrative methodology to explore the stories Olympic and elite athletes tell about success, we identified three alternatives to the dominant conception of success as the achievement of performance outcomes. In these alternatives, success is storied as: (1) âI did the best that I couldâ â a controllable and sustainable story of effort and application; (2) âItâs the closest thing you can get to flyingâ â a story where success relates to embodied experience and discovery; (3) âPeople I made the journey withâ â which prioritises relationships and connection between people. We reflect on three key insights: (1) success is a multidimensional concept, broader than the singular conception encapsulated within the dominant performance narrative; (2) through various narrative strategies, experienced athletes resist cultural pressures towards a singular conception of success; (3) for long-term performance and well-being, it is necessary to work towards multiple forms of success over time and across contexts
Exploring taboo issues in professional sport through a fictional approach
While the need to consider life course issues in elite sport research and practice is increasingly recognised, some experiences still seem to be considered too dangerous to explore. Consequently, stories of these experiences are silenced and the ethical and moral questions they pose fail to be acknowledged, understood or debated. This paper presents an ethnographic fiction through which we explore a sensitive set of experiences that were uncovered during our research with professional sportspeople. Through a multiâlayered reconstruction, the story reveals the complex, but significant, relationships that exist between identity, cultural narratives and embodied experiences. After the telling we consider how the story has stimulated reflective practice among students, researchers and practitioners. While there are risks involved in writing and sharing taboo stories, the feedback we have received suggests that storytelling can be an effective pedagogical tool in education and professional development
A High Stability Optical Shadow Sensor with Applications for Precision Accelerometers
Gravimeters are devices which measure changes in the value of the
gravitational acceleration, \textit{g}. This information is used to infer
changes in density under the ground allowing the detection of subsurface voids;
mineral, oil and gas reserves; and even the detection of the precursors of
volcanic eruptions. A micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) gravimeter has
been fabricated completely in silicon allowing the possibility of cost
e-effective, lightweight and small gravimeters. To obtain a measurement of
gravity, a highly stable displacement measurement of the MEMS is required. This
requires the development of a portable electronics system that has a
displacement sensitivity of nm over a period of a day or more. The
portable electronics system presented here has a displacement sensitivity nm ( nm at s). The battery power
system used a modulated LED for measurements and required temperature control
of the system to 2 mK, monitoring of the tilt to 2 radians,
the storage of measured data and the transmission of the data to an external
server.Comment: 8 Pages, 12 figures, 5 equations, currently submitted and under
review at IEEE Sensors SIE
The role of securitization in mortgage renegotiation
We study the effects of securitization on renegotiation of distressed residential mortgages over the current financial crisis. Unlike prior studies, we employ unique data that directly observe lender renegotiation actions and cover more than 60% of the U.S. mortgage market. Exploiting within-servicer variation in these data, we find that bank-held loans are 26% to 36% more likely to be renegotiated than comparable securitized mortgages (4.2 to 5.7% in absolute terms). Also, modifications of bank-held loans are more efficient: conditional on a modification, bank-held loans have lower post-modification default rates by 9% (3.5% in absolute terms). Our findings support the view that frictions introduced by securitization create a significant challenge to effective renegotiation of residential loans.Mortgage loans ; Asset-backed financing ; Securities ; Mortgages
Market-based loss mitigation practices for troubled mortgages following the financial crisis
The meltdown in residential real-estate prices that commenced in 2006 resulted in unprecedented mortgage delinquency rates. Until mid-2009, lenders and servicers pursued their own individual loss mitigation practices without being significantly influenced by government intervention. Using a unique dataset that precisely identifies loss mitigation actions, we study these methodsâliquidation, repayment plans, loan modification, and refinancingâand analyze their effectiveness. We show that the majority of delinquent mortgages do not enter any loss mitigation program or become a part of foreclosure proceedings within 6 months of becoming distressed. We also find that it takes longer to complete foreclosures over time, potentially due to congestion. We further document large heterogeneity in practices across servicers, which is not accounted for by differences in borrower population. ; Consistent with the idea that securitization induces agency conflicts, we confirm that the likelihood of modification of securitized loans is up to 70% lower relative to portfolio loans. Finally, we find evidence that affordability (as opposed to strategic default due to negative equity) is the prime reason for redefault following modifications. While modification terms are more favorable for weaker borrowers, greater reductions in mortgage payments and/or interest rates are associated with lower redefault rates. Our regression estimates suggest that a 1 percentage point decline in mortgage interest rate is associated with a nearly 4 percentage point decline in default probability. This finding is consistent with the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) focus on improving mortgage affordability.Asset-backed financing ; Financial crises ; Securities ; Mortgages
Do financial counseling mandates improve mortgage choice and performance? Evidence from a legislative experiment
We explore the effects of mandatory third-party review of mortgage contracts on the terms, availability, and performance of mortgage credit. Our study is based on a legislative experiment in which the State of Illinois required âhigh-riskâ mortgage applicants acquiring or refinancing properties in 10 specific zip codes to submit loan offers from state-licensed lenders to review by HUD-certified financial counselors. We document that the legislation led to declines in both the supply of and demand for credit in the treated areas. Controlling for the salient characteristics of the remaining borrowers and lenders, we find that the ex post default rates among counseled low-FICO-score borrowers were about 4.5 percentage points lower than those among similar borrowers in the control group. We attribute this result to actions of lenders responding to the presence of external review and, to a lesser extent, to counseled borrowers renegotiating their loan terms. We also find that the legislation pushed some borrowers to choose less risky loan products in order to avoid counseling.Financial literacy ; Mortgage loans ; Households - Finance
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