196,450 research outputs found
Essays in Empirical Corporate Finance
No full textThis dissertation consists of two chapters related to mergers and acquisitions and one chapter studying the composition of the board of directors.For the first chapter, entitled "Acquisitions by CEOs with supply-chain expertise", I study how the experience of the bidding CEO in the targets supply chain related to the acquirers gain from the deal. I find that acquisitions by CEOs with this supply-chain experience exhibit higher acquirer abnormal returns at deal announcement. Supply-chain expertise is also associated with improved long-term operating performance at the merged firm. In general, my findings indicate that acquisitions by CEOs with expertise in the targets supply chain generate substantial gains for the acquiring shareholders.The second chapter (co-authored with Eliezer Fich and Micah Officer), entitled "Large wealth creation in mergers and acquisitions", examines completed M&A deals with large bidder shareholder dollar wealth gains at announcement. Our results show that large-gain acquisitions are (i) typically "bolt-on" deals that are small relative to the acquirers size; (2) transaction-specific events (not firm- or CEO-specific events); (3) enhanced by synergies from a strategic fit in the supply chain; and; (iv) executed by bidders with high valuation multiples. Many of these findings, which differ from those in the existing literature, provide important insight into the factors associated with considerable wealth creation for acquirer shareholders in M&A deals.The last chapter (co-authored with Jie Cai), entitled "Efficacy of board monitoring: evidence from the appointments of outside directors who have fired CEOs", examines new board appointments of outside directors who have fired a CEO at a different firm (henceforth CEO ousters). We document that poorly performing firms are more likely to appoint CEO ousters and experience more positive market reaction to these appointments. These firms also exhibit a significant increase in stock and operating performance, as well as in CEO turnover-performance sensitivity after a CEO ouster joins the boards. Overpaid CEOs experience significant decrease in their pay after a CEO ouster joins the compensation committee of a board. Our evidence sheds new light on the efficacy of board monitoring.Ph.D., Finance -- Drexel University, 201
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
A precessing jet in the NGC2264G outflow
No full textWe present new infrared imaging of the NGC 2264 G protostellar outflow region, obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. A jet in the red (eastern) outflow lobe is clearly detected in all four IRAC bands and, for the first time, is shown to continuously extend over the entire length of the red outflow lobe, as traced by CO observations. The jet also extends to a deeply embedded Class 0 source, VLA2, confirming previous suggestions that it is the driving source of the outflow. The images show that the easternmost part of the jet exhibits what appears to be multiple changes of direction. We consider two possible explanations for the jet morphology: (i) deflection of the jet off the walls of the outflow lobes as proposed by Fich & Lada (1997) and (ii) precession. The jet structure shown in the IRAC images can be largely, although not entirely, explained by a slowly precessing jet (period 8000 yr) that lies mostly on the plane of the sky. In either case it appears that the observed and inferred changes in the jet direction are sufficient to broaden the NGC 2264 G outflow to an extent comparable to that observed in the CO emission. P. S. T. acknowledges support from the scholarship SFRH/BD/13984/2003 awarded by the Fundaçao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (Portugal). Both M. F. and C. M. are supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant
A precessing jet in the NGC2264G outflow
No full textWe present new infrared imaging of the NGC 2264 G protostellar outflow region, obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. A jet in the red (eastern) outflow lobe is clearly detected in all four IRAC bands and, for the first time, is shown to continuously extend over the entire length of the red outflow lobe, as traced by CO observations. The jet also extends to a deeply embedded Class 0 source, VLA2, confirming previous suggestions that it is the driving source of the outflow. The images show that the easternmost part of the jet exhibits what appears to be multiple changes of direction. We consider two possible explanations for the jet morphology: (i) deflection of the jet off the walls of the outflow lobes as proposed by Fich & Lada (1997) and (ii) precession. The jet structure shown in the IRAC images can be largely, although not entirely, explained by a slowly precessing jet (period 8000 yr) that lies mostly on the plane of the sky. In either case it appears that the observed and inferred changes in the jet direction are sufficient to broaden the NGC 2264 G outflow to an extent comparable to that observed in the CO emission. P. S. T. acknowledges support from the scholarship SFRH/BD/13984/2003 awarded by the Fundaçao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (Portugal). Both M. F. and C. M. are supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
No full textFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
Galactic Molecular Dust Clumps using SCUBA-2 - Effects of HII Regions on Star Formation
No full textI present findings from a broad array of SCUBA-2 observations. The sample consists of 38 SCUBA-2 images targeted near mature, galactic, HII regions of the Sharpless "Sh-2" or Blitz-Stark-Fich "BFS" catalogue. In 31 of those images, dusty molecular clumps are identified by-hand using SCUBA-2 450μm and 850μm data and HII regions are identified using VLA 1.46/4.89 GHz data. Photometry and derivative properties are obtained using scripted routines.
In total, 185 molecular clump composites hosting 333 cores are identified in the SCUBA-2 images. After segregation takes place for their association with nearby HII regions, a total of 176 clumps and 315 cores continue into analysis. A full property dataset is obtained for these clumps and their components as well as their associated HII regions.
The SCUBA-2 clump identification process leads to strong evidence in support of increased clump condensation occurring near HII region boundaries. In addition, the HII regions are found to have a compressing effect on the outer layers of their associated clumps due to the pressure differential between the two.
Average temperature analysis reveals that the portion of cores that are hotter than their surrounding cloud medium (i.e potentially collapsing and star forming) is comparable to the portion of cores colder than their surrounding cloud medium (i.e stable).
Cloud segments are found to become cooler with increasing column and number density, suggesting they are not significantly heated by external mechanisms and are able to cool more efficiently at denser states. Cores are also found to be cooler with increasing column density and depict no significant temperature change with increasing number density, suggesting that most of their heating is coming from internal processes such as gravitational contraction and that the heating from this process is on the same order as the convective cooling taking place. No correlation is found between the average temperature of a cloud segment and the accumulated mass of its embedded cores.
HII regions as well as OB stars are observed to have a mild heating effect on the cores and cloud segments of this molecular clump sample. The mildness of the OB star heating effect is expected to occur due to the very low incident fluxes encountered in this sample of clumps (≤ 1 W/m²).
HII regions themselves show a rapid decrease in electron number density with increasing radial size. The opposite trend is observed for their total mass.
The few HII region systems for which a complete description was obtained suggested a mean Star Formation Efficiency (SFE) of 4.82%, with a max of 38.72% and a min of 0.216%. However, most of the analyzed systems have an SFE value ≤ 1%.
Finally, significant effort was made in identifying the greatest uncertainty contributors to SCUBA-2 data. Out of all, atmospheric emission and absorption were found to be by far the most dominant. Furthermore, a stochastic Monte-Carlo technique was developed for tending to the asymmetric nature of uncertainty in all SCUBA-2 temperature-dependent properties. This helped better understand the uncertainty introduced from a prescribed opacity model as well as the use of a non-linear temperature model
Intern experience at CH���M Hill, Inc.: an internship report
No full textIncludes author's vita"Submitted to the College of Engineering of Texas A&M University in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Engineering."Includes bibliographical referencesA review of the author's internship experience with CH���M HILL, Inc.
during the period September 1975 through May 1976 is presented. During this nine month
internship the author worked as an Engineer II in the Industrial Processes discipline of this
large consulting engineering firm... The author's prime responsibility was as one of three
lead design engineers on the design of a large wastewater treatment facility for a pulp mill
in Hoquiam, Washington owned by ITT Rayonier Inc. The work generally consisted of the design
of individual treatment units and associated piping and pumping. The purpose of the project
was to provide wastewater treatment capabilities that would satisfy the effluent limitations
(standards) imposed upon the mill by the State of Washington Department of Ecology and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The author's assignment also entailed necessary
interaction with the project manager and other CH���M HILL design engineers and support staff
members, the client's representatives, and representatives of two other consulting engineering
firms working on the project. Thus, the internship position at CH���M HILL provided considerable
experience coordinating the author's work with the work of other engineers, guiding the design
and administrative efforts of a support staff, and interacting regularly with the client and
other consulting firms. This broad exposure to a variety of engineering and organizational
problems provided a valuable educational experience
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