Friendship Jealousy in Young Adolescents: Individual Differences and Links to Sex, Self-Esteem, Aggression, and Social Adjustment.

Children's vulnerability to jealousy surrounding their best friends was explored in 2 studies. Study 1 involved 94 adolescents who reported on their friendship jealousy on a newly created measure. Results indicated that the jealousy measure had sound psychometric properties and produced individual differences that were robust over time and free from socially desirable responding. As expected, girls and adolescents with low self-worth reported the greatest friendship jealousy. Study 2 involved 399 young adolescents and extended the measurement of self-report jealousy to a broader age range. In addition, Study 2 included assessments of jealousy provided by friends and other peers. Self- and peer-reported jealousy were only modestly associated and had somewhat distinct correlates. Structural modeling revealed that young adolescents' reputation for friendship jealousy was linked to behaving aggressively and to broader peer adjustment difficulties. Both self- and peer-reported jealousy contributed to loneliness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interference-based micromechanical spectral equalizers

Dynamic gain equalization filters (DGEFs) are important for high-performance wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) communications. One of the first demonstrated DGEF used a micromechanical etalon filter array illuminated with free-space spectral demultiplexing optics. Here, we present subsequent research on etalon-based dynamic spectral filters, including vertical device structures which linearize and reduce the drive voltage from 70 to 40 V, and spatially-segmented etalons which allow channelized spectral equalization and further reduce drive voltage. We describe a prototype using a simplified cylindrical optomechanical package with a 104-nm broadband spectral response, 7.5-dB insertion loss and less than 16-V operation voltage. Finally, we show the use of a 42-nm bandwidth DGEF prototype with feedback stabilization to more than double the number of channels and operating bandwidth of a conventional Erbium-doped fiber amplifier while maintaining < 1-dB power uniformity.     

Differing Conceptions of Moral Exemplarity: Just, Brave, and Caring.

People's conceptions of different types of moral exemplarity were examined in an attempt to augment the current emphasis on moral rationality with a fuller understanding of moral personality. In Study 1 (with 805 adults), a free-listing procedure was used to generate the attributes of 3 types of moral exemplars (just, brave, and caring). In Study 2 (with 401 undergraduates), prototypicality- and personality-rating procedures were used to generate a personality profile for each type of moral exemplar and to examine the relations among them. In Study 3 (with 240 undergraduates), a similarity-sorting procedure was used to identify the typologies implicit in people's understanding of these different types of moral exemplarity. The findings indicate that moral excellence can be exemplified in rather divergent ways and that understanding of moral functioning would be enhanced by attention to this wider range of moral virtues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Remote sensing of vegetation and land-cover change in Arctic Tundra Ecosystems

The objective of this paper is to review research conducted over the past decade on the application of multi-temporal remote sensing for monitoring changes of Arctic tundra lands. Emphasis is placed on results from the National Science Foundation Land-Air-Ice Interactions (LAII) program and on optical remote sensing techniques. Case studies demonstrate that ground-level sensors on stationary or moving track platforms and wide-swath imaging sensors on polar orbiting satellites are particularly useful for capturing optical remote sensing data at sufficient frequency to study tundra vegetation dynamics and changes for the cloud prone Arctic. Less frequent imaging with high spatial resolution instruments on aircraft and lower orbiting satellites enable more detailed analyses of land cover change and calibration/validation of coarser resolution observations.The strongest signals of ecosystem change detected thus far appear to correspond to expansion of tundra shrubs and changes in the amount and extent of thaw lakes and ponds. Changes in shrub cover and extent have been documented by modern repeat imaging that matches archived historical aerial photography. NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) time series provide a 20-year record for determining changes in greenness that relates to photosynthetic activity, net primary production, and growing season length. The strong contrast between land materials and surface waters enables changes in lake and pond extent to be readily measured and monitored.     

Theory experiment comparison of the electron backscattering factor from solids at low electron energy (250-5,000 eV)

The electron backscattering factor was measured from 24 different elements at low primary beam energy (250-5,000 eV). The results were compared with Monte Carlo simulations from a variety of freely available programs and an in-house developed program. The results suggest that a thin film of oxide can modify the backscattering factor at low primary energy. In addition, a number of problems have been identified with the freely available programs.     

Timely vs. delayed CEO turnover

This paper investigates changes in company performance following timely versus delayed CEO resignations due to financial wrongdoings. A timely resignation is proactively pushed by the company, and a delayed resignation is driven by investigations initiated by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Our results show significant negative abnormal returns following the announcement of CEO resignations. In addition, compared with timely resignations, delayed resignations experience a larger and longer lasting negative stock market reaction. This suggests that CEO resignations due to financial wrongdoings are not perceived as good news by investors, and the delayed resignations could make investors lose more confidence, possibly because of worries about the ineffective corporate governance and supervision mechanism. We have found a significant negative relationship between CEO-chairman duality and the timeliness of CEO resignations. Our results have important implications for investors and policy makers.     

Treatment with a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug after calving did not improve milk production,health, or reproduction parameters in pasture-grazed dairy cows

Previous research results have indicated an increase in pregnancy rate in pasture-grazed cows treated with a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) 3 to 4 wk postcalving, when a high proportion of nucleated cells from within the uterus were polymorphonucleated; however, no effect on milk production was detected. It was hypothesized that this lack of effect on milk production was because the administration of the NSAID was too late after calving. The aims of the current study were to evaluate the timing of administering a propionic acid-derived NSAID (i.e., carprofen) on milk production, metabolic status, uterine health, and reproductive performance. Six-hundred and thirty-nine cows (134 primiparous and 505 multiparous) calving between July 4 and September 5, 2012, in 2 herds (herd 1: n = 228; herd 2: n = 411) were enrolled. Using a randomized block design, cows were allocated to 1 of 3 treatment groups as they calved: (1) no treatment (control; n = 221), (2) NSAID administered on d 1, 3, and 5 postcalving (early; n = 214), and (3) NSAID administered on d 19, 21, and 23 postcalving (late; n = 204). Milk production and composition, and body condition were determined weekly. Blood was sampled at 4 time points (1 precalving and 3 postcalving) to determine the effects of treatment on indicators of metabolic health and energy status. Uterine health was determined by measuring the proportion of nucleated cells that were polymorphonucleated following cytobrush sampling of the uterus between d 13 to 24 and d 30 to 49 postcalving. Irrespective of timing of application, NSAID did not affect milk production, body weight, or body condition during early lactation. Treatment with an NSAID 19 to 23 d postcalving increased the proportion of cows submitted for breeding during the first 3 wk of the seasonal breeding program (control: 85%, early: 83%, and late: 92%), but did not affect conception or pregnancy rates. No detectable effect of treatment on uterine health or circulating metabolites and minerals existed, although cows in the early NSAID treatment group had marginally lower serum β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations (0.1 mmol/L) than the other groups between 2 and 26 d in milk. In conclusion, administration of this particular NSAID at either 1 or 3 wk after calving did not improve milk production, indicators of health, or reproductive performance.     

Accuracy,Speed and Robustness of Policy Function Iteration

Policy function iteration methods for solving and analyzing dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models are powerful from a theoretical and computational perspective. Despite obvious theoretical appeal, significant startup costs and a reliance on grid-based methods have limited the use of policy function iteration as a solution algorithm. We reduce these costs by providing a user-friendly suite of MATLAB functions that introduce multi-core processing and Fortran via MATLAB’s executable function. Within the class of policy function iteration methods, we advocate using time iteration with linear interpolation. We examine a canonical real business cycle model and a new Keynesian model that features regime switching in policy parameters, Epstein–Zin preferences, and monetary policy that occasionally hits the zero-lower bound on the nominal interest rate to highlight the attractiveness of our methodology. We compare our advocated approach to other familiar iteration and approximation methods, highlighting the tradeoffs between accuracy, speed and robustness.