Showing papers by "University of Georgia published in 2002"

Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: writing a literature review

Abstract: A review of prior, relevant literature is an essential feature of any academic project. An effective review creates a firm foundation for advancing knowledge. It facilitates theory development, closes areas where a plethora of research exists, and uncovers areas where research is needed.

What do returns to acquiring firms tell us? Evidence from firms that make many acquisitions

Abstract: We study shareholder returns for firms that acquired five or more public, private, and0or subsidiary targets within a short time period. Since the same bidder chooses different types of targets and methods of payment, any variation in returns must be due to the characteristics of the target and the bid. Results indicate bidder shareholders gain when buying a private firm or subsidiary but lose when purchasing a public firm. Further, the return is greater the larger the target and if the bidder offers stock. These results are consistent with a liquidity discount, and tax and control effects in this market. Takeovers are one of the most important events in corporate finance, both for a firm and the economy. Extensive research has shown that shareholders in target firms gain significantly and that wealth is created at the announcement of takeovers ~i.e., combined bidder and target returns are positive!. However, we know much less about the effects of takeovers on the shareholders of acquiring firms. Evidence suggests that these shareholders earn, on average, a zero abnormal return at the acquisition’s announcement, though there is tremendous variation in these returns. Researchers have been unable to successfully explain much of this variation, partially because the announcement of a takeover reveals information about numerous things. For example, Grinblatt and Titman ~2002, p. 708! state that the stock return at the time of the bid cannot be completely attributed to the expected effect of the acquisition on profitability, arguing that, “the stock returns of the bidder at the time of the announcement of the bid may tell us more about how the market is reassessing the bidder’s business than it does about the

Beta-Diversity in Tropical Forest Trees

Abstract: The high alpha-diversity of tropical forests has been amply documented, but beta-diversity-how species composition changes with distance-has seldom been studied. We present quantitative estimates of beta-diversity for tropical trees by comparing species composition of plots in lowland terra firme forest in Panama, Ecuador, and Peru. We compare observations with predictions derived from a neutral model in which habitat is uniform and only dispersal and speciation influence species turnover. We find that beta-diversity is higher in Panama than in western Amazonia and that patterns in both areas are inconsistent with the neutral model. In Panama, habitat variation appears to increase species turnover relative to Amazonia, where unexpectedly low turnover over great distances suggests that population densities of some species are bounded by as yet unidentified processes. At intermediate scales in both regions, observations can be matched by theory, suggesting that dispersal limitation, with speciation, influences species turnover.

Atomic and molecular electron affinities: photoelectron experiments and theoretical computations.

Abstract: I. Introduction and Scope 231A. Definitions of Atomic Electron Affinities 233B. Definitions of Molecular Electron Affinities 233II. Experimental Photoelectron Electron Affinities 235A. Historical Background 235B. The Photoeffect 236C. Experimental Methods 237D. Time-of-Flight Negative Ion PhotoelectronSpectroscopy239E. Some Thermochemical Uses of ElectronAffinities241F. Layout of Table 10: ExperimentalPhotoelectron Electron Affinities242III. Theoretical Determination of Electron Affinities 242A. Historical Background 2421. Theoretical Predictions of Atomic ElectronAffinities2422. Theoretical Predictions of MolecularElectron Affinities243B. Present Status of Theoretical Electron AffinityPredictions243C. Basis Sets and Theoretical Electron Affinities 244D. Density Functional Theory (DFT) andElectron Affinities245E. Layout of Tables 8 and 9: Theoretical DFTElectron Affinities247F. Details of Density Functional MethodsEmployed in Tables 8 and 9247IV. Discussion and Observations 248A. Statistical Analysis of DFT Results ThroughComparisons to Experiment and OtherTheoretical Methods248B. Theoretical EAs for Species with UnknownExperimental EAs251C. On the Applicability of DFT to Anions and theFuture of DFT EA Predictions251D. Specific Theoretical Successes 251E. Interesting Problems 2521. C

Shaping up for e-commerce: institutional enablers of the organizational assimilation of web technologies

Abstract: The global reach of the Web technological platform, along with the range of services that it supports, makes it a powerful business resource. However, realization of operational and strategic benefits is contingent on effective assimilation of this type III IS innovation. This paper draws upon institutional theory and the conceptual lens of structuring and metastructuring actions to explain the importance of three factors-top management championship, strategic investment rationale, and extent of coordination-in achieving higher levels of Web assimilation within an organization. Survey data are utilized to test a nomological network of relationships among these factors and the extent of organizational assimilation of Web technologies.

Plant transposable elements: where genetics meets genomics

Abstract: Transposable elements are the single largest component of the genetic material of most eukaryotes. The recent availability of large quantities of genomic sequence has led to a shift from the genetic characterization of single elements to genome-wide analysis of enormous transposable-element populations. Nowhere is this shift more evident than in plants, in which transposable elements were first discovered and where they are still actively reshaping genomes.

Fine root architecture of nine north american trees

Abstract: The fine roots of trees are concentrated on lateral branches that arise from perennial roots. They are important in the acquisition of water and essential nutrients, and at the ecosystem level, they make a significant contribution to biogeochemical cycling. Fine roots have often been studied according to arbitrary size classes, e.g., all roots less than 1 or 2 mm in diameter. Because of the size class approach, the position of an individual root on the complex lateral branching system has often been ignored, and relationships between the form of the branching root system and its function are poorly understood. The fine roots of both gymnosperms and angiosperms, which formed ectomycorrhizae (EM) and arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) fungal associations, were sampled in 1998 and 1999. Study sites were chosen to encompass a wide variety of environments in four regions of North America. Intact lateral branches were collected from each species and 18 561 individual roots were dissected by order, with distal roots numbered as first-order roots. This scheme is similar to the one commonly used to number the order of streams. Fine root diameter, length, specific root length (SRL; m/g), and nitrogen (N) concentration of nine North American tree species (Acer saccharunz, Juniperus monosperma, Liriodendron tulipifera, Picea glauca, Pinus edulis, Pinus elliottii, Pinus resinosa, Populus balsamifera, and Quercus alba) were then compared and contrasted. Lateral roots 75% of the total number and length of individual roots sampled in all species except Liriodendron tulipifera. Both SRL and N concentration decreased with increasing root order in all nine species, and this pattern appears to be universal in all temperate and boreal trees. Nitrogen concentrations ranged from 8.5 to 30.9 g/kg and were highest in the first-order "root tips." On a mass basis, first- order roots are expensive to maintain per unit time (high tissue N concentration). Tissue N appears to be a key factor in understanding the C cost of maintaining first- and second- order roots, which dominate the display of absorbing root length. There were many sig- nificant differences among species in diameter, length, SRL, and N concentration. For example, two different species can have similar SRL but very different tissue N concen- trations. Our findings run contrary to the common idea that all roots of a given size class function the same way and that a common size class for fine roots works well for all species. Interestingly, fine root lateral branches are apparently deciduous, with a distinct lateral branch scar. The position of an individual root on the branching root system appears to be important in understanding the function of fine roots.

Genetic Data Analysis II. Methods for Discrete Population Genentic Data

Abstract: ‘‘Gentlemen don’t need mistletoe’’ said the Christmas whiskey billboard I saw recently in Florida, a garish reminder of how much mistletoe lore is embedded in western society. Mistletoe The Genus Viscum, one in the series of medicinal and aromatic plants for industry and academic researchers, centers on the mistletoe in this advertisement, the common European mistletoe,Viscum album. There are helpful discussions on African, Asian, and Argentine mistletoes and their uses but the corpus of the book deals with V. album. Viscum album, considered sacred by the Druids, is no doubt the most widely used parasitic angiosperm for various health concoctions. As a result, much has been learned about its biochemistry and pharmaceutical potential. A great deal of the work on the culture and utilization ofV. album has been done by investigators at Institute Hiscia Center for Cancer Research in Switzerland where votaries of Rudolf Steiner’s distinct form of homeopathy have used mistletoe extracts (‘‘Iscador’’) for many years in cancer treatment. Mistletoe collected from less common hosts are considered to have greater efficacy in preparation of Iscador. As a result, there is a helpful chapter on culturing V. album which is not as difficult as might be imagined for an obligate parasite. Most of the chapters deal with the medicinal aspects of mistletoe including toxicology, clinical aspects, chemistry, and biochemistry emphasizing the lectins which are one of the more desirable compounds produced by the parasite. I found the treatment by Bu ̈ssing (Biological and pharmacological properties of Viscum album L.) helpful because it reviews the link between folk and modern medicine. However, several relevant papers were omitted which are included in a recent excellent review of mistletoes (Watson 2001). Like many books with a diversity of authors, the quality of chapters varies. Obviously produced as a reference volume, Mistletoe lacks an extensive index. Especially aggravating is the lack of an author’s index, limiting the value of the book for anyone looking for specific papers. These days, $70 for a hardbound monograph is reasonable. Color images are well-produced but some of the black and white figures are blurry in my copy. This volume will be of value to ethnobotanists, anyone interested in alternative medicines, and students of mistletoes and parasitic plants. LITERATURE CITED

Accounting for Environmental Effects and Statistical Noise in Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract: In this paper we propose a new technique for incorporating environmental effects and statistical noise into a producer performance evaluation based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). The technique involves a three-stage analysis. In the first stage, DEA is applied to outputs and inputs only, to obtain initial measures of producer performance. In the second stage, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) is used to regress first stage performance measures against a set of environmental variables. This provides, for each input or output (depending on the orientation of the first stage DEA model), a three-way decomposition of the variation in performance into a part attributable to environmental effects, a part attributable to managerial inefficiency, and a part attributable to statistical noise. In the third stage, either inputs or outputs (again depending on the orientation of the first stage DEA model) are adjusted to account for the impact of the environmental effects and the statistical noise uncovered in the second stage, and DEA is used to re-evaluate producer performance. Throughout the analysis emphasis is placed on slacks, rather than on radial efficiency scores, as appropriate measures of producer performance. An application to nursing homes is provided to illustrate the power of the three-stage methodology.

Evolutionary models for low-mass stars and brown dwarfs: uncertainties and limits at very young ages

Abstract: We analyse pre-Main Sequence evolutionary tracks for low mass stars with masses $m \\le 1.4 \\msol$ based on the Baraffe et al. (1998) input physics. We also extend the recent Chabrier et al. (2000) evolutionary models based on dusty atmosphere to young brown dwarfs down to one mass of Jupiter. We analyse current theoretical uncertainties due to molecular line lists, convection and initial conditions. Simple tests on initial conditions show the high uncertainties of models at ages $\\simle$ 1 Myr. We find a significant sensitivity of atmosphere profiles to the treatment of convection at low gravity and $\\te < 4000$ K, whereas it vanishes as gravity increases. This effect adds another source of uncertainty on evolutionary tracks at very early phases. We show that at low surface gravity ($\\log g \\simle 3.5$,) the common picture of vertical Hayashi lines with constant $\\te$ is oversimplified. The effect of a variation of initial deuterium abundance is studied. We compare our models with evolutionary tracks available in the literature and discuss the main differences. We finally analyse to which extent current observations of young systems provide a good test for pre-Main Sequence tracks.

An Investigation of Personal Learning in Mentoring Relationships: Content, Antecedents, and Consequences

Abstract: To examine antecedents and consequences of learning in the context of mentoring relationships, we developed a new measure of personal learning, relational job learning and personal skill development. The presence of a mentor and mentoring functions were found to be antecedents of personal learning. Job satisfaction, role ambiguity, intentions to leave a job (turnover intentions), and actual leaving (turnover) were found to be consequences of personal learning. This study also explored personal learning as a mediator between mentoring functions and organizational consequences. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity of Georgia-grown Blueberries and Blackberries

Abstract: Blueberries and blackberries grown at various locations in Georgia were collected and analyzed for flavonoids, total anthocyanins, total polyphenols, and Trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC). Each sample was analyzed for phenolic acids (gallic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and ellagic acid) and flavonoids (catechin, epicatechin, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol). A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with photodiode array detection was used for analysis. Compounds were analyzed as aglycons after acid hydrolysis with 1.2 M HCl. Identification of each compound was based on retention time and UV spectra by comparison with pure commercial standards. Phenolic acids ranged from 0.19 to 258.90 mg/100 g fresh weight (FW), and flavonoids ranged from 2.50 to 387.48 mg/100 g FW. Total polyphenols ranged from 261.95 to 929.62 mg/100 g FW, and total anthocyanins ranged from 12.70 to 197.34 mg/100 g FW. TEAC values varied from 8.11 to a maximum of 38.29 μM/g FW....

Crime Rates and Local Labor Market Opportunities in the United States: 1979–1997

Abstract: The labor market prospects of young, unskilled men fell dramatically in the 1980s and improved in the 1990s. Crime rates show a reverse pattern: increasing during the 1980s and falling in the 1990s. Because young, unskilled men commit most crime, this paper seeks to establish a causal relationship between the two trends. Previous work on the relationship between labor markets and crime focused mainly on the relationship between the unemployment rate and crime, and found inconclusive results. In contrast, this paper examines the impact of both wages and unemployment on crime, and uses instrumental variables to establish causality. We conclude that both wages and unemployment are significantly related to crime, but that wages played a larger role in the crime trends over the last few decades. These results are robust to the inclusion of deterrence variables, controls for simultaneity, and controlling for individual and family characteristics.

Mutation of a Chitinase-Like Gene Causes Ectopic Deposition of Lignin, Aberrant Cell Shapes, and Overproduction of Ethylene

Abstract: Chitinase-like proteins have long been proposed to play roles in normal plant growth and development, but no mutations in chitinase-like genes have been obtained previously to support this hypothesis. In this study, we have shown that the gene responsible for the elp1 mutation in Arabidopsis encodes a chitinase-like protein (AtCTL1). Mutation of this chitinase-like gene caused ectopic deposition of lignin and aberrant shapes of cells with incomplete cell walls in the pith of inflorescence stems. The AtCTL1 gene was expressed in all organs during normal plant growth and development, but it was not induced by wounding, salicylic acid, pectin fragments, or ethylene. Consistent with its ubiquitous expression pattern, mutation of the AtCTL1 gene affected many aspects of plant growth and development, including exaggerated hook curvature, reduced length and increased diameter of hypocotyls in dark-grown seedlings, and reduced root length and increased number of root hairs in light-grown seedlings. The mutant phenotypes could be rescued partially by ethylene inhibitors, and ethylene production in the mutant was significantly greater than in the wild type. Together, these results suggest that AtCTL1, a chitinase-like gene, is essential for normal plant growth and development in Arabidopsis.

Patterns of engagement in authentic online learning environments

Abstract: The use of authentic activities within online learning environments has been shown to have many benefits for learners in online units and courses. There has been renewed interest in the role of student activities within course units, as constructivist philosophy and advances in technology impact on educational design and practice. Courses based on these principles have been used successfully across a wide variety of discipline areas. In spite of the growing evidence of the success of authentic learning environments, they are not without their problems. In this paper we discuss patterns of engagement that have emerged from our own research on authentic learning tasks, in particular, the initial reluctance to willingly immerse in learning scenarios that some students experience, and the need for the suspension of disbelief before engaging in the task. The paper proposes ten characteristics of authentic activities, based on educational theory and research, which has been used as criteria for the selection of existing online units or courses for in-depth investigation. The paper includes a short review of the literature, a description of the research and some preliminary findings and identification of issues related to the necessity for students to willingly suspend disbelief in order to fully engage in learning scenarios based on authentic tasks.

Fluvial landscape ecology: addressing uniqueness within the river discontinuum

Abstract: SUMMARY 1. As rivers and streams are patchy and strongly hierarchical systems, a hierarchical patch dynamics perspective can be used as a framework for visualising interactions between structure and function in fluvial landscapes. The perspective is useful for addressing fundamental attributes of lotic ecosystems, such as heterogeneity, hierarchy, directionality and process feedback occurring across spatial scales and for illustrating spatio-temporal linkages between disparate concepts in lotic system ecology such as the River Continuum Concept, the Serial Discontinuity Concept, the Flood Pulse Concept and the Hyporheic Corridor Concept. 2. At coarse spatial scales, the hierarchical patch dynamics perspective describes each river network as a unique, patchy discontinuum from headwaters to mouth. The discontinuum is comprised of a longitudinal series of alternating stream segments with different geomorphological structures. Each confluence in the steam network further punctuates the discontinuum because the sudden change in stream characteristics can create a ‘gap’ in the expected pattern of downstream transitions. The discontinuum view recognises general trends in habitat characteristics along the longitudinal profile, but creates a framework for studying and understanding the ecological importance of each stream’s individual pattern of habitat transitions along longitudinal, lateral or vertical vectors at any scale. 3. Object-oriented modelling and programming techniques provide a means for developing robust, quantitative simulation models that describe the dynamic structure of patch hierarchies. Such models can simulate how the structure and function of lotic ecosystems are influenced by the landscape context of the system (the ecological conditions within which the system is set) and the metastructure (structural characteristics and juxtaposition) of finer-scale patches comprising the system. 4. A simple object-oriented, multiscale, discontinuum model of solute transformation and biological response along a stream channel illustrates how changing the branching pattern of a stream and the arrangement of its component patches along the downstream profile will result in substantial changes in predicted patterns of solute concentration and biotic community structure. 5. The importance of context, structure, and metastructure in determining lotic ecosystem function serves to underscore Hynes’ (1975) concept that ‘every stream is likely to be individual.’ Advancing the discipline of fluvial landscape ecology provides an excellent opportunity to develop general concepts and tools that address the individual character of each stream network and integrate the concept of ‘uniqueness within the river discontinuum’ into our ecological understanding of rivers and streams.

Toward a Theory-Based Measurement of Culture

Abstract: In reviewing the history of the conceptualization and measurement of “culture,” one quickly realizes that there is wide-ranging and contradictory scholarly opinion about which values, norms, and beliefs should be measured to represent the concept of “culture.” We explore an alternate theory-based view of culture via social identity theory (SIT), which suggests that each individual is influenced by plethora of cultures and sub-cultures–some ethnic, some national, and some organizational. In IS research, the culture of subjects and respondents is problematic because it is typically an overly simplistic categorization. IS research nearly always assumes that an individual living in a particular place and time belongs to a single “culture,” e.g., someone living in Egypt is automatically classified as being a member of the Egyptian culture, or, more broadly, the Arab culture. This dearth of clear concepts and measures for “culture” may explain why cross-cultural research has been so exceedingly difficult to conduct. It may also explain why it has been hard to develop and refine theories. Moreover, it may give insight into why reasonable explained variance in predictive models has not been higher. Finally, it is very possible that much cross-cultural business research could be rightly accused of advancing an “ecological fallacy” by not recognizing the individual makeup of persons with respect to culture. Using SIT (or other theory bases) as grounding for cultural research programs implies the use of certain methodological approaches. Each study would have to establish the salient “cultures” in each individual’s background and include these different “cultures” as independent variables in positivist research. In qualitative research, there would need to be an equally rigorous assessment of the cultural identifiers of each individual.

Engineering tolerance and hyperaccumulation of arsenic in plants by combining arsenate reductase and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase expression.

Abstract: We have developed a genetics-based phytoremediation strategy for arsenic in which the oxyanion arsenate is transported aboveground, reduced to arsenite, and sequestered in thiol-peptide complexes. The Escherichia coli arsC gene encodes arsenate reductase (ArsC), which catalyzes the glutathione (GSH)-coupled electrochemical reduction of arsenate to the more toxic arsenite. Arabidopsis thaliana plants transformed with the arsC gene expressed from a light-induced soybean rubisco promoter (SRS1p) strongly express ArsC protein in leaves, but not roots, and were consequently hypersensitive to arsenate. Arabidopsis plants expressing the E. coli gene encoding gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-ECS) from a strong constitutive actin promoter (ACT2p) were moderately tolerant to arsenic compared with wild type. However, plants expressing SRS1p/ArsC and ACT2p/gamma-ECS together showed substantially greater arsenic tolerance than gamma-ECS or wild-type plants. When grown on arsenic, these plants accumulated 4- to 17-fold greater fresh shoot weight and accumulated 2- to 3-fold more arsenic per gram of tissue than wild type or plants expressing gamma-ECS or ArsC alone. This arsenic remediation strategy should be applicable to a wide variety of plant species.

Effective Literacy Instruction for Adolescents

Abstract: This article, written for a general audience, focuses on the importance of keeping adolescents' interests and needs foremost in mind when designing literacy instruction at the middle and high schoo...

The etiology of white pox, a lethal disease of the Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata.

Abstract: Populations of the shallow-water Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, are being decimated by white pox disease, with losses of living cover in the Florida Keys typically in excess of 70%. The rate of tissue loss is rapid, averaging 2.5 cm2⋅day−1, and is greatest during periods of seasonally elevated temperature. In Florida, the spread of white pox fits the contagion model, with nearest neighbors most susceptible to infection. In this report, we identify a common fecal enterobacterium, Serratia marcescens, as the causal agent of white pox. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a bacterial species associated with the human gut has been shown to be a marine invertebrate pathogen.

Leisure as a Resource in Transcending Negative Life Events: Self-Protection, Self-Restoration, and Personal Transformation

Abstract: Negative life events, such as the unexpected loss of a loved one, a disabling accident or a natural disaster, are inevitably distressing and disruptive Coping with and recovering from such events generally requires a variety of personal and social resources Previous research on leisure and coping has suggested that leisure orientations and relationships can be important in reducing the likelihood that stress becomes debilitating in some way But the results of that work are equivocal and generally do not distinguish leisure resources that make events less stressful from those that are employed in coping with stressful events after they occur This analysis examines the leisure-coping literature as well as recent work on the dynamics of coping and the impact of pleasant events and concludes in identifying four distinguishable functions of leisure that relate to self-protection, self-restoration, and personal transformation

Discrimination, crime, ethnic identity, and parenting as correlates of depressive symptoms among African American children: a multilevel analysis.

Abstract: This study investigated the correlates of childhood depressive symptoms in an African American sample. We included processes that are likely to operate for all children, regardless of race or ethnicity, as well as events and circumstances that are largely unique to children of color. These various constructs were assessed at both the individual and community level. The analyses consisted of hierarchical linear modeling with a sample of 810 African American families living in Iowa and Georgia. Three individual-level variables were associated with childhood depressive symptoms: uninvolved parenting, racial discrimination. and criminal victimization. At the community level, prevalence of both discrimination and criminal victimization were positively related and community ethnic identification was negatively related to depressive symptoms. Further, there was evidence that community ethnic identification and neighborhood poverty serve to moderate the relationship between criminal victimization and depressive symptoms. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of considering factors unique to the everyday lives of the cultural group that is the focus of study, while demonstrating the dangers of a 'one model fits all" approach to studying children of color.

Self-Esteem and Socioeconomic Status: A Meta-Analytic Review

Abstract: Socioeconomic status (SES) has a small but significantrelationship with self-esteem (d = .15, r = .08) in a meta-analysis of 446 samples (total participant N = 312,940). Higher SES individuals report higher self-esteem. The effect size is very small in young children, increases substantially during young adulthood, continues higher until middle age, and is then smaller for adults over the age of 60. Gender interacts with birth cohort: The effect size increased over time for women but decreased over time for men. Asians and Asian Americans show a higher effect size, and occupation and education produce higher correlations with self-esteem than income does. The results are most consistent with a social indicator or salience model.

U-Commerce: Expanding the Universe of Marketing

Abstract: This article introduces several new concepts that lay the conceptual foundation for thinking about next-generation marketing based on ubiquitous networks. U-commerce, orUber-commerce, is predicated on the characteristics of network ubiquity, universality, uniqueness, and unison. It is proposed that the keys to managing network-driven firms are the concepts of u-space and attention analysis. The implications for next-generation marketing in the u-space are explored, with a research agenda identified for scholars and managerial implications recognized for practitioners.

Risk-Neutral Skewness: Evidence from Stock Options

Abstract: We investigate the relative importance of various factors in explaining the volatility skew observed in the prices of stock options traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The skewness of the risk-neutral density implied by individual stock option prices tends to be more negative for stocks that have larger betas, suggesting that market risk is important in pricing individual stock options. Also, implied skewness tends to be more negative in periods of high market volatility, and when the risk-neutral density for index options is more negatively skewed. Other firm-specific factors, including firm size and trading volume a so help explain cross-sectional variation in skewness. However, we find no robust relationship between skewness and the firm's leverage. Nor do we find evidence that skewness is related to the put/call ratio, which may be viewed as a proxy for trading pressure or market sentiment. Overall, firm-specific factors seem to be more important than systematic factors in explaining the variation in the skew for individual firms.

Poultry meat quality

Abstract: The two most important quality attributes for poultry meat are appearance and texture. Appearance is critical for both the consumers' initial selection of the product as well as for final product s...

From public sphere to public screen: democracy, activism, and the "violence" of Seattle

Abstract: The WTO protests in Seattle witnessed the emergence of an international citizens' movement for democratic globalization. With the tactical exploitation of television, the internet, and other technologies, Seattle also witnessed the enactment of forms of activism adapted to a wired society. In the wake of Seattle, this essay introduces the “public screen” as a necessary supplement to the metaphor of the public sphere for understanding today's political scene. While a public sphere orientation inevitably finds contemporary discourse wanting, viewing such discourse through the prism of the public screen provokes a consideration of new forms of participatory democracy. In comparison to the public sphere's privileging of rationality, embodied conversations, consensus, and civility, the public screen highlights dissemination, images, hypermediacy, publicity, distraction, and dissent. Using the Seattle WTO protests as a case study and focusing on the dynamic of violence and the media, we argue that the public sc...