Texas A&M International University: Research Information Online (RIO)
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Trayectos de la publicidad popular: Semiótica de la gráfica publicitaria en espacios visualmente contaminados en el centro de Lima, Perú
No full textEl objetivo del presente artículo es analizar el rol de los componentes plásticos de la publicidad popular en las interacciones comerciales en espacios de saturación y contaminación visual en el centro de Lima, Perú. Para ello, a través de técnicas cualitativas, se desarrolla un análisis semiótico sobre material gráfico recogido en el centro comercial Lima (Avenida Wilson, Cercado de Lima, Perú) con el propósito de identificar su papel en las interacciones de sentido comerciales que se asientan en los espacios de contaminación visual. Los resultados logran identificar una funcionalidad cooperativa de la publicidad popular con el trayecto de las interacciones comerciales a través de un uso gráfico excesivo de la dimensión plástica (cromática, eidética y topológica) y figurativa que, más que representar una realidad u ocultar significados abstractos, busca ser objetal, es decir, concretar la atracción, retención y anclaje de la caminata económica (acelerada y fugaz) hacia el consumo en el espacio público saturado
Equity premium prediction and optimal portfolio decision with Bagging
No full textWe propose using the statistical method of Bagging to forecast the equity premium out-of-sample for multivariate regression models. Bagging allows for the flexible and efficient extraction of valuable informational content from a large set of predictors, leading to statistically and economically significant gains relative to not only the historical mean, but also other soft-threshold methods such as forecast combinations and shrinkage estimators in our empirical results. Furthermore, we find that the source of economic gains for Bagging primarily comes from the fact that it encourages the investor to actively manage portfolio by flexibly utilizing short selling or leveraging to better time the market following correctly prognosticated trends. However, other strategies such as forecast combinations keep the equity shares nearly fixed regardless of the predicted market prospect
Criminal Threat, Immigrant/Minority Threat, and Political Ideology: An Examination of Handgun Permits Across Texas Counties
No full textObjectives: To assess the extent to which crime, Hispanic-to-white population changes, black-to-white population changes, and conservative political appeals affect gun permit application rates across Texas counties. Methods: This article uses spatial lag regression and robust regression with county-level data to assess structural sources of variation in handgun permitting across Texas counties in 2016. Conclusions: Spatial and robust regression model results confirm that median incomes, Republican votes, and rising rates of Hispanic-to-white populations are significant predictors of handgun permit application rates. The results call attention to the centrality of Hispanic threat and the prevalence of partisan politics in aggregate permit-seeking processes
A Batch Variable Learning Rate Gradient Descent Algorithm with the Smoothing L1/2 Regularization for Takagi-Sugeno Models
No full textA batch variable learning rate gradient descent algorithm is proposed to efficiently train a neuro-fuzzy network of zero-order Takagi-Sugeno inference systems. By using the advantages of regularization, the smoothing L_{1/2} regularization is utilized to find more appropriate sparse network. Combining the second-order information of the smoothing error function, a variable learning rate is chosen along the steep descent direction, which avoids line search procedure and may reduce the cost of computation. In order to appropriately adjust the Lipschitz constant of the smoothing error function in the learning rate, a new scheme is proposed by introducing a hyper-parameter. Also the article applies the modified secant equation for estimating the Lipschitz constant, which makes the algorithm greatly reduce the oscillating phenomenon and improve the robustness. Under appropriate assumptions, a convergent result of the proposed algorithm is also given. Simulation results for two identification and classification problems show that the proposed algorithm has better numerical performance and promotes the sparsity capability of the network, compared with the common batch gradient descent algorithm and a variable learning rate gradient-based algorithm
“His Soul in the Land of the Greaser Band:” John L. Haynes and the Tejano Antebellum Era, 1846-1861
Get PDFThis first scholarly study of mid-nineteenth-century U.S. military and political leader, John L. Haynes, takes us beyond a land in conflict, three bloody wars, one man’s steady evolution from slaveholder to abolitionist, and reveals a public service record that challenged Texas’s systematic exclusion of Spanish-surnamed persons. A Freemason, Cotton-Whig editor, Mexican War veteran, merchant-filibuster-insurgent, land agent, state legislator, brigadier-general, Southern dissenter, Civil War commander of the First Texas Volunteer Cavalry (Union) who led a 600-man Latino guerilla regiment across the Texas-Mexico borderlands and thru the Louisiana swamps, a key founder and the first state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, and lawyer, Haynes’s public service record awakens a dormant portal in the contemporary study of Texas history. In that, his pro-Latino land-adjudication agency and political activism provided a platform for Hispanics to challenge an elitist “egalitarian ideal” and antebellum-era new order that denied them equal protection; by encouraging Latino activism in American institutions— a century before the U.S. Supreme Court case of Hernandez v. Texas (1954). In analyzing Haynes’s life and “Scrapbook,” letters and documents on microfilm, period newspapers, and his public service record at the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas, this thesis argues that Haynes’s doctrine of individual liberty, the making of his conversion to abolitionism, and Unionist sentiments developed from five major factors: his merchant border gamble, war-time combat, marriage into a Quaker family, economic prudence, and his internalization of and respect for Spanish-Mexican Fronterizeros culture and history. Haynes’s land agency in South Texas offers us a rare glimpse into a sociological consciousness raising campaigning that identifies Hispanics as full-fledged citizens and places the concept of class distinction at the center of land-grant adjudication; four generations before Gus Garcia and his colleagues argued that Americans of Latino origin were treated as “a class apart.” In the 21st Century, the now known story of Haynes’s strong political will to shield Tejano land claims and human liberties through his weaponization of a turbulent Tejano historical struggle, shatters the nuanced Anglo-centric historical narrative that systematically excludes the first settlers of Texas
Three Essays on Syndicated Loan Partnerships
Get PDFThe purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the syndicated loan literature. More specifically, this dissertation is composed of three chapters and each chapter explores different aspects. First, we examine syndicated loan’s structure in the presence of regulatory bail-outs. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was implemented during the 2009 economic downturn to stimulate the credit flow. However, the low cost of capital could have imprudently increased lenders’ credit risk-appetite. In three different measures, we find that TARP effectively prevented moral hazard by its participants as evidenced by the syndicated loans’ more diversified structures. Further study at lender level suggests that TARP’s impact was heterogeneous. In the case of TARP participants that are lead arrangers in the syndicate, average bank share has increased. This result is robust to propensity score matching and instrument variable approaches. Next, we explore syndicated loan’s terms. We look at how the reputation of lead arrangers or the auditors might signal the borrower’s credit quality, thus determine loan terms. We find that when the borrower has either reputable lead arrangers or Big 4 auditors, it benefits by receiving more favorable terms. Loan amount increases, maturity extends while interest spread narrows and the number of financial covenants decreases. If the borrower has both, it is even better. An average borrower who has a Top 10 lead arranger and a Big 4 auditor at the same time could reduce its loan price by about 37bps, the number of financial covenants by about 0.2 units and increase loan amount and maturity materially by about 121.3 million USD and a year respectively. Finally, we focus on lender’s role in the syndicate. The research question here is which banks have a higher chance of receiving lead mandates? The results based on logistic regression show that the past relationship with the borrower increases that bank\u27s odds of winning the lead mandate by 34%. Moreover, while being a top 10 lender increases the odds of winning the lead mandate by 21%, specialization in the borrower’s industry increases it by even more, at 47%. When we handle the identification problem, results improved significantly
Effect of Triclosan-Tolerant Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria on Triclosan Degradation in Soils
Get PDFTriclosan (TCS), an antimicrobial found in commercial products, can also be found in freshwater systems used for crop irrigation. Thus, TCS may accumulate over time in soils, potentially affecting plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs). Bacterial isolates from a previous study which demonstrated PGPR activity and TCS tolerance (TPGPRs) were chosen to evaluate the use of triclosan as a sole carbon source on a minimal salts medium (MSMT). TPGPRs, which demonstrated TCS utilization, were chosen for inoculation into soil microcosm for triclosan degradation (TD-PGPRs). Soil microcosms were arranged in a 2 x 5 factorial randomized block design and irrigated with triclosan treatments (0 µg or 1.5 µg of total TCS) and five inoculation treatments (no inoculation [CTRL], individual rhizobacteria isolates [OT1-11C2, OT2-03A, OT2-17], and a microbial consortium of all selected isolates [OT-MIX]). Soils were subsampled every three days during a 30-day period for triclosan and methyl TCS extraction, followed by GCMS analysis. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA determined that inoculum and inoculum x concentration was significant across all treatments and time points for mean heterotrophic bacterial counts (p \u3c 0.0200), with the exception of day 0 R2AT 15 ng g-1. There was an observed increase in mean heterotrophic bacterial counts for total (R2A) and triclosan tolerant populations (R2AT 1.50 µg L-1 TCS and R2AT 15 µg L-1 TCS) in OTMIX and OT1-11C2 for days 15 and 30. The data suggests that triclosan is still accumulating even with the presence of TD-PGPRs. However, by day 30 samples inoculated with OTMIX (14.22 ng g-1) demonstrated a higher triclosan reduction when compared to the CTRL (26.03 ng g-1). Methyl triclosan (initial biodegradation by product of bacteria) was observed to increase overtime for all treatments, indicating that TCS degradation is still occurring even in uninoculated soils (CTRL). However, TCS breakdown was less efficient in the CTRL treatment with 21.89 ng g-1 of MeTCS to 28.19 ng g-1 in the OTMIX soils. This study was the first to confirm the TCS degradative capabilities of the isolated TD-PGPRs. The use of these TD-PGPRs assisted in the elucidation of the fate of triclosan and by-product formation in irrigated soils
The Relationship Between Work-life Balance Programs and Employee Success
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of work-life balance (WLB) programs to employees. Despite several attempts to understand the relationship between WLB programs and employee outcomes, it has been suggested that there should be a more complex understanding of how WLB programs enhance employee outcomes. This study aims to provide empirical evidence of the relationship between the availability of WLB programs and six workplace outcomes: job performance, turnover intention, deviant workplace behavior, affective commitment, fatigue level, and perceived organizational support. Secondly, the study examines whether perceived organizational support mediates the relationship between WLB programs availability and the employee outcomes. Thirdly, the study investigates how employees’ perception of the programs’ value influences these relationships. Finally, the study explores if the results of the study differ between samples taken from the United States (U.S.) and India. A total of 378 employees from the U.S. and India were surveyed for this study. Results from the PLS analysis showed that the availability of WLB programs has a positive relationship with affective commitment and deviant workplace behavior in the U.S. sample. The relation between the programs and deviant workplace behavior was the opposite of what was hypothesized; however, a possible explanation was provided. Since most of the respondents are between the ages of 18 to 35 years old, they are more prone to engage in counterproductive behavior (Lau, Au, and Ho, 2003). WLB programs have a positive relationship with deviant workplace behavior, turnover intention, and fatigue level in the India sample. Such relationships were the opposite of what was hypothesized; however, possible explanations were provided. The results of the study showed that perceived organizational support serves either as a partial or full mediator for all relationships, except for the relation between availability of WLB programs and fatigue level in the India model. The moderating effect of the perception of WLB programs value showed to be non-significant, except for the relationship between the availability of the programs and deviant workplace behavior. By conducting a country comparison, the results showed that there are some significant differences between the U.S. and India
El Partido de la Garra: Opposition to the Independent Club in Laredo, Texas, During the Great Depression
Get PDFThis thesis focuses on the opposition to the Independent Club in Laredo, Texas, during the Great Depression. The Independent Club, one of the most influential political machines in South Texas, originated in the 1890s as a result of a rivalry between two political groups in Laredo, Texas—the Botas (Boots) and the Guaraches (Sandals). After the two parties consolidated their efforts and formed the Independent Club in 1894, the party came to dominate Laredo politics for eight decades, until its collapse in 1978. The Independent Club ran unopposed for several decades until the citizens of Laredo and Webb County, displeased with the way the city and county government were dealing with the effects of the Great Depression, formed the Progressives Citizens Party and attempted to remove Independent Club members from office. Focused primarily on issues of taxation and education, El Partido de la Garra, as the party was known, campaigned vigorously, and gained a large following. While in the end, the party was not successful in undoing the patron system and removing the followers of Albert Martin from office, the Progressive Citizens Party planted the seeds of opposition in the minds of the people. In fact, the party was largely responsible for Mayor Albert Martin’s decision to step down from office in 1939. El Partido de la Garra’s resilience inspired the reformers of the late-1950s to challenge the Independent Club, as well as those reformers in 1978 who helped to overthrow the “Old Party.
Articulaciones entre la comunicación y la museología. Pensar los museos desde la emisión, circulación y recepción
No full textEste artículo reflexiona en torno a ciertas trasformaciones en el plano comunicativo de los museos a partir de los cambios suscitados en el actual entramado sociocultural mediatizado. Se analizan, en particular, tres propiedades del proceso comunicativo: la emisión/mensaje, la circulación y la recepción. La articulación propuesta busca unir teoría y praxis. Desde la teoría, se apela a un análisis de la comunicación llevada adelante en la gestión de los museos; desde la praxis, se consideran acciones implementadas en distintas sedes museales argentinas