Yield Premia on Debt in Leveraged Buyouts

obert F. Bruner is an Associate Professor in the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia

Dynamic evolution of the source volumes of gradual and impulsive solar flare emissions

This study compares flare source volumes inferred from impulsive hard X-rays and microwaves with those derived from density sensitive soft X-ray line ratios in the O VII spectrum. The data for this study were obtained with the SMM Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer, Earth-based radio observatories, and the SOLEX-B spectrometer on the P78-1 satellite. Data were available for the flares of 1980 April 8, 1980 May 9, and 1981 February 26. The hard X-ray/microwave source volume is determined under the assumption that the same electron temperature or power law index characterizes both the source of hard X-rays and the source of microwaves. The O VII line ratios yield the density and volume of the 2 X 10 to the 6th K plasma. For all three flares, the O VII source volume is found to be smallest at the beginning of the flare, near the time when the impulsive hard X-ray/microwave volume reaches its first maximum. At this time, the O VII volume is three to four orders of magnitude smaller than that inferred from the hard X-ray/microwave analysis. Subsequently, the O VII source volume increases by one or two orders of magnitude then remains almost constant until the end of the flare when it apparently increases again

The circle of Gánovce. Natural history of an endocast

The natural endocranial cast of Gánovce was found in Slovakia in 1926, and then stored in the National Museum (Národní Muzeum) of Prague. The endocast was extensively studied by Emanuel Vlček (1925-2006), mostly during the 50s and 60s of the past century (e.g., Vlček, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1969), with a large set of analytical tools including radiographic and biochemical sur- veys, and outline shape analysis. He recognized the Neanderthal morphology of the cast, which was dated to 105 ka and which has an estimated volume of 1320cc. In particular, Vlček noticed a similarity with specimens such as Krapina 3, Gibraltar 1 and Saccopastore 1. In fact, these three specimens all display a similar overall cra- nial anatomy, being possibly representatives of an “early and small-brained” Neanderthal morpho- type (Bruner & Manzi, 2006, 2008)

Assessing Progress In Advertising-Related Scale Development & Usage

An awareness in the advertising industry of the inadequacy of current practices in copy testing led to the development of  PACT (Positioning Advertising Copy Testing), a statement of fundamental copy testing principles developed by  twenty-one of the world's leading advertising agencies.  A primary concern of this coalition was that too much reliance had been placed on single-item measures to assess the performance of ads, with a concurrent lack of validation of the measures being used.  Subsequently, few studies have followed up on the PACT recommendations, resulting in little in the way of objective data to assess the progress made in the development and use of multi-item scales.  This study offers an initial examination of the progress made in response to the PACT recommendations by developing an inventory and evaluation of advertising-related scales.  Insights from this analysis lead to specific observations regarding the state of the art in advertising research as well as recommendations for future scale research

Army Transformation and Modernization: Overview and Issues for Congress

The U.S. Army has begun an ambitious program intended to transform itself into a strategically responsive force dominant in all types of ground operations. As planned, its Objective Force will eventually meld all ongoing initiatives into a force based on a high-tech Future Combat System. This short report briefly describes the program and discusses issues of feasibility, viability, and affordability of potential interest to Congress