Institutional Investors, Corporate Ownership, and Corporate Governance: Global Perspectives

Institutional investors, Corporate ownership, Corporate governance

Is It Error to Discuss Conspiracy of Silence in a Malpractice Trial

There is a need in most malpractice suits to impress the jury with the operation and effect of the conspiracy of silence,and in most jurisdictions, to do so would apparently not, and certainly should not, result in reversible error if done in a reasonable and temperate manner

Is It Error to Discuss Conspiracy of Silence in a Malpractice Trial

There is a need in most malpractice suits to impress the jury with the operation and effect of the conspiracy of silence,and in most jurisdictions, to do so would apparently not, and certainly should not, result in reversible error if done in a reasonable and temperate manner

Evaluation of AIS Data for Agronomic and Rangeland Vegetation: Preliminary Results for August 1984 Flight over Nebraska Sandhills Agricultural Laboratory

Since 1978 scientists from the Center for Agricultural Meteorology and Climatology at the University of Nebraska have been conducting research at the Sandhills Agricultural Laboratory on the effects of water stress on crop growth, development and yield using remote sensing techniques. We have been working to develop techniques, both remote and ground-based, to monitor water stress, phenological development, leaf area, phytomass production and grain yields of corn, soybeans and sorghum. Because of the sandy soils and relatively low rainfall at the site it is an excellent location to study water stress without the necessity of installing expensive rainout shelters. The primary objectives of research with the airborne imaging spectrometer (AIS) data collected during an August 1984 flight over the Sandhills Agricultural Laboratory are to evaluate the potential of using AIS to: (1) discriminate crop type; (2) to detect subtle architectural differences that exist among different cultivars or hybrids of agronomic crops; (3) to detect and quantify, if possible, the level of water stress imposed on the crops; and (4) to evaluate leaf area and biomass differences for different crops

Classification improvement by optimal dimensionality reduction when training sets are of small size

A computer simulation was performed to test the conjecture that, when the sizes of the training sets are small, classification in a subspace of the original data space may give rise to a smaller probability of error than the classification in the data space itself; this is because the gain in the accuracy of estimation of the likelihood functions used in classification in the lower dimensional space (subspace) offsets the loss of information associated with dimensionality reduction (feature extraction). A number of pseudo-random training and data vectors were generated from two four-dimensional Gaussian classes. A special algorithm was used to create an optimal one-dimensional feature space on which to project the data. When the sizes of the training sets are small, classification of the data in the optimal one-dimensional space is found to yield lower error rates than the one in the original four-dimensional space

An algorithm for optimal single linear feature extraction from several Gaussian pattern classes

A computational algorithm is presented for the extraction of an optimal single linear feature from several Gaussian pattern classes. The algorithm minimizes the increase in the probability of misclassification in the transformed (feature) space. Numerical results on the application of this procedure to the remotely sensed data from the Purdue Cl flight line as well as LANDSAT data are presented. It was found that classification using the optimal single linear feature yielded a value for the probability of misclassification on the order of 30% less than that obtained by using the best single untransformed feature. Also, the optimal single linear feature gave performance results comparable to those obtained by using the two features which maximized the average divergence

The effects of phosphatidylserine on endocrine response to moderate intensity exercise

Previous research has indicated that phosphatidylserine (PS) supplementation has the potential to attenuate the serum cortisol response to acute exercise stress. Equivocal findings suggest that this effect might be dose dependent. This study aimed to examine the influence of short-term supplementation with a moderate dose of PS (600 mg per day) on plasma concentrations of cortisol, lactate, growth hormone and testosterone before, during, and following moderate intensity exercise in healthy males. 10 healthy male subjects participated in the study. Each subject was assigned to ingest 600 mg PS or placebo per day for 10 days using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Serial venous blood samples were taken at rest, after a 15 minute moderate intensity exercise protocol on a cycle ergometer that consisted of five 3-minute incremental stages beginning at 65% and ending at 85% VO2 max, and during a 65 minute passive recovery. Plasma samples were assessed for cortisol, growth hormone, testosterone, lactate and testosterone to cortisol ratio for treatment (PS or placebo). Mean peak cortisol concentrations and area under the curve (AUC) were lower following PS (39 ± 1% and 35 ± 0%, respectively) when compared to placebo (p < 0.05). PS increased AUC for testosterone to cortisol ratio (184 ± 5%) when compared to placebo (p < 0.05). PS and placebo supplementation had no effect on lactate or growth hormone levels. The findings suggest that PS is an effective supplement for combating exercise-induced stress and preventing the physiological deterioration that can accompany too much exercise. PS supplementation promotes a desired hormonal status for athletes by blunting increases in cortisol levels

Designing Technology to Support Safety for Transgender Women & Non-Binary People of Color

This work provides a preliminary understanding of how transgender women and non-binary people of color experience violence and manage safety, and what opportunities exist for HCI to support the safety needs of this community. We conducted nine interviews to understand how participants practice safety and what role technology played, if any, in these experiences. Interviewees expressed physical and psychological safety concerns, and managed safety by informing friends of their location using digital technologies, making compromises, and avoiding law enforcement. We designed U-Signal, a wearable technology and accompanying smartphone application prototype to increase physical safety and decrease safety concerns, reduce violence, and help build community.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154051/1/StarksDesigningTechnology.pdfDescription of StarksDesigningTechnology.pdf : Main articl

Measuring and modeling near surface reflected and emitted radiation fluxes at the FIFE site

Research was conducted during the four Intensive Field Campaigns (IFC) of the FIFE project in 1987. The research was done on a tall grass prairie with specific measurement sites on and near the Konza Prairie in Kansas. Measurements were made to help meet the following objectives: determination of the variability in reflected and emitted radiation fluxes in selected spectral wavebands as a function of topography and vegetative community; development of techniques to account for slope and sun angle effects on the radiation fluxes; estimation of shortwave albedo and net radiation fluxes using the reflected and emitted spectral measurements described; estimation of leaf and canopy spectral properties from calculated normalized differences coupled with off-nadir measurements using inversion techniques; estimation of plant water status at several locations with indices utilizing plant temperature and other environmental parameters; and determination of relationships between estimated plant water status and measured soil water content. Results are discussed

Designing Trans Technology: Defining Challenges and Envisioning Community-Centered Solutions

Transgender and non-binary people face substantial challenges in the world, ranging from social inequities and discrimination to lack of access to resources. Though technology cannot fully solve these problems, technological solutions may help to address some of the challenges trans people and communities face. We conducted a series of participatory design sessions (total N = 21 participants) to understand trans people’s most pressing challenges and to involve this population in the design process. We detail four types of technologies trans people envision: technologies for changing bodies, technologies for changing appearances / gender expressions, technologies for safety, and technologies for finding resources. We found that centering trans people in the design process enabled inclusive technology design that primarily focused on sharing community resources and prioritized connection between community members.Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG)Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153781/1/designing_trans_technologies_paper___camera_ready v2.pdfDescription of designing_trans_technologies_paper___camera_ready v2.pdf : Main articl