Categorical or Continuous Interaction?

McClelland and Judd (199 3) concluded that many interactions have been found with categorical variables, but few with continuous variables. Using a mathematical point of view, they concluded that investigating interactions with continuous variables was less powerful than with categorical variables. This article analyses the issue from three other points of view: design of the study, measurement of the independent variable, and nature of the question asked Our present conclusion is that the choice of either categorical or continuous interaction depends upon the research hypothesis being posed and the desired conclusions

The Elephant in the Room: Helping Delaware Courts Develop Law to End Systemic Short-Term Bias in Corporate Decision-Making

Short-termism in corporate decision-making is as problematic for long-term investors as relying on a three-mile radar on a supertanker. It is totally inadequate for handling the long-term risks and opportunities faced by the modern corporation. Yet recent empirical research shows that up to 85% of the S&P 1500 have no long-term planning. This is costing pension funds and other long-term investors dearly. For instance, the small minority of companies that do long-term planning and risk management had a long-term profitability that was 81% higher than their peers during the 2001–2014 period—with less stock volatility that costs investors dearly as well. This corporate short-termism mindset is even more troubling given that at least half of the value of the companies in the S&P 1500 is generated by expectations for realization of future value. Long-term investors therefore face a long-term expectations pipeline of hoped-for returns without a plan by corporations to back it up. The tragic result: this short-termism mindset appears to have a substantial depressing impact on long-term market returns while increasing long-term risk exposure. Both have contributed to the significantly underfunded status of many pension funds today. Delaware courts, the primary referees of corporate director fiduciary duties in the United States, are so frustrated with the persistent effects of short-term pressures—including corporate fraud and compliance breaches—that they are actively encouraging investors to bring the right cases to help change the rules. This Article examines the effects of short-termism and the Delaware judiciary’s responses to it. It then shows how existing Delaware law could be extended to address the underlying causes of corporate short-term bias, rather than merely imposing punishment on the symptoms

Community Transportation Academy: Course Curriculum and Implementation Handbook

A Community Transportation Academy (CTA) is a course that harnesses the knowledge, technical expertise and passions of practicing transportation professionals in a city to immerse a cohort of interested and dedicated community members in transportation issues over a two to three month curriculum. The CTA curriculum was developed by drawing from the Portland Traffic and Transportation (PTT or Portland CTA) course, along with the Wasatch Transportation Academy (WTA or Wasatch CTA, which was inspired by the Portland course). Planning academy courses in cities around the country are also good models to look to for how to structure and operate such a course. However, the nature of the transportation course is that it goes into much greater depth on a specific topic, allowing the participant to go deeper into transportation history and technical discussions and develop a greater understanding of the agencies and policies involved

Launching the Wasatch Transportation Academy

The “Community Transportation Academy” model seeks to break down the barriers for community members to participate in transportation decision-making processes. Since 1991, the Portland Traffic and Transportation Course has held at least one course each year, connecting Portland residents with top planners, engineers, and decision-makers from agencies working on transportation in the region, with the goal of conveying the factors professionals consider, ranging from technical considerations, legal and policy mandates, other tradeoffs, and how the community can engage with and influence decisions. This project sought to implement a transportation academy in the Salt Lake City region inspired by the Portland course, using a handbook and report developed as part of a prior NITC-funded study. This report details the implementation of the Wasatch Transportation Academy. Using a curriculum handbook developed in 2015 based on the Portland course, this project sought to adapt the curriculum for the Salt Lake City region. The project brought in partners from the region’s municipalities and regional and state transportation agencies to create the first of what is hoped to be a continuing community-based course in transportation planning and decision-making. The course ran for eight weeks during January-March 2022, reaching a total of 49 students and concluding with a suite of 18 student-led project presentations and a field trip of a local transportation project in the process of being implemented. Student feedback from a post-course survey showed a high degree of satisfaction across a number of pedagogic factors, with a strongly positive net promoter score, indicating a likelihood of continued success for the course in future years. Experiences from the first run of the course suggest improvements to course structure and curriculum that would extend the course to a 10-week format (like Portland’s), and a shifting geographic focus to capture differing substantive foci and engage a broader set of students and stakeholders

Review of bosentan in the management of pulmonary arterial hypertension

The dual endothelin receptor antagonist, bosentan, is an orally active therapy, which is effective in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This review critically appraises the evidence for the efficacy of bosentan in idiopathic and familial PAH, in PAH associated with connective tissue disease and in PAH which may develop in association with other conditions. Data from the pivotal placebo controlled studies and their open labeled extensions as well as long term survival and quality of life data is presented. Data is also presented on the potential benefit of bosentan in patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. The safety and tolerability of bosentan as well as drug interactions are discussed. Dosage recommendations in adults and pediatrics are presented. An algorithm is provided to guide the reader in monitoring potential increases in alanine and aspartate transaminase levels that may occur with bosentan use and the dose adjustments that are recommended as a result of any increase in the levels of these enzymes are shown. Finally, the role of bosentan as part of combination therapy in PAH is examined

Theses and Dissertations: A Guide to Writing in Social and Physical Sciences

This practical volume is designed to assist graduate students in planning, conducting, and writing theses or dissertations in the social and physical sciences. Numerous examples are provided and many tips are included to facilitate completion of the thesis or dissertation. This record contains Chapter 1, which discusses the components of what is usually found in chapter 1 of a dissertation or master\u27s thesis

Brief Note Multiple Linear Regression Models Which More Closely Reflect Bayesian Concerns

Author Institution: Educational Foundations, The University of Akron; Guidance and Educational Psychology, Southern Illinois University; National Testing Service; Department of Psychology, University of Akro

Impacts of Subway System Modifications on Air Quality in Subway Platforms and Trains.

Subway PM₂.₅ can be substantially sourced from the operation of the system itself. Improvements in subway air quality may be possible by examining the potential to reduce these emissions. To this end, PM₂.₅ was measured on the trains and station platforms of the Toronto subway system. A comparison with previously published data for this system reveals significant changes in below ground platform PM₂.₅. A reduction of nearly one-third (ratio (95% CI): 0.69 (0.63, 0.75)) in PM₂.₅ from 2011 to 2018 appears to have resulted from a complete modernization of the rolling stock on one subway line. In contrast, below ground platform PM₂.₅ for another line increased by a factor of 1.48 (95% CI; 1.42, 1.56). This increase may be related to an increase in emergency brake applications, the resolution of which coincided with a large decrease in PM₂.₅ concentrations on that line. Finally, platform PM₂.₅ in two newly opened stations attained, within one year of operation, typical concentrations of the neighboring platforms installed in 1963. Combined, these findings suggest that the production of platform PM₂.₅ is localized and hence largely freshly emitted. Further, PM₂.₅ changed across this subway system due to changes in its operation and rolling stock. Thus, similar interventions applied intentionally may prove to be equally effective in reducing PM₂.₅. Moreover, establishing a network of platform PM₂.₅ monitors is recommended to monitor ongoing improvements and identify impacts of future system changes on subway air quality. This would result in a better understanding of the relationship between the operations and air quality of subways

Continuous transport of Pacific-derived anthropogenic radionuclides towards the Indian Ocean

Unusually high concentrations of americium and plutonium have been observed in a sediment core collected from the eastern Lombok Basin between Sumba and Sumbawa Islands in the Indonesian Archipelago. Gamma spectrometry and accelerator mass spectrometry data together with radiometric dating of the core provide a high-resolution record of ongoing deposition of anthropogenic radionuclides. A plutonium signature characteristic of the Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) dominates in the first two decades after the start of the high yield atmospheric tests in 1950’s. Approximately 40–70% of plutonium at this site in the post 1970 period originates from the PPG. This sediment record of transuranic isotopes deposition over the last 55 years provides evidence for the continuous long-distance transport of particle-reactive radionuclides from the Pacific Ocean towards the Indian Ocean