CCCP : forever või ei iialgi? / Andrus Ansip
Ansip, Andrus, 1956-
2007-01-01
Ilmunud ka: Postimees : na russkom jazõke, 16. mai 2007, lk. 9. Peaminister Andrus Ansip analüüsib pronkssõduri teisaldamisega seotud sündmusi, kinnitades, et valitsuse eesmärk oli peatada Eesti järkjärguline langemine Venemaa kontrolli alla
Andrus Ansip seadis Tallinna-Tartu maantee riigi prioriteetide hulka / Tuuli Koch
Koch, Tuuli, 1978-
2006-01-01
Peaminister Andrus Ansip sõnas Riigikogu infotunnis, et Tallinn-Tartu maantee on olnud riigi jaoks prioriteet ning aastani 2013 Euroopa Liidu struktuurifondidest Eestile laekuvast 52 miljardist kroonist on riigil kavas Tartu maanteesse investeerida 4,5 miljardit krooni
Ansip : uus valitsus tuleb sel nädalal / Anneli Ammas, Jaanus Piirsalu
Ammas, Anneli, 1962-
2005-01-01
Reformierakonna esimees Andrus Ansip on seisukohal, et kokkulepped valitsuse moodustamiseks sõlmitakse sel nädalal, Riigikogu juhatuse valimised näitasid, et ratsionaalseteks kokkulepeteks ollakse valmis. Peale A. Ansipi on teine võimalik peaministrikandidaat Villu Reiljan. Lisa: Erakondade positsioonid kõnelustel
Ansip lays flowers at Bronze Soldier, while government seeks to bridge gap in society
2007-01-01
Peaminister Andrus Ansip asetas pärja Pronkssõdurile ja kohtus rahvusvähemuste esindajatega. Eesti meediaruumis oleks vaja enam tähelepanu venekeelsele infole. Linnapea Edgar Savisaare käitumisest rahutuste ajal
Ansip rõhutas range eelarvepoliitika tähtsust / Silver Pukk
Pukk, Silver
2008-01-01
Peaminister Andrus Ansip esines Tartus Reformierakonna volikogul, kus ütles, et tahab jätkata range eelarve poliitikaga. Ajalehes Tallinnskii Vestnik autoriks Toomas Viks. Ilmunud ka: Tallinna Teataja : Haabersti, Kristiine ja Põhja-Tallinn sept. lk. 5; Tallinna Teataja : Nõmme ja Mustamäe sept. lk. 5; Tallinnskii Vestnik sept. lk. 4; Eesti Teataja: Harju- ja Raplamaa sept. lk. 5; Eesti Teataja : Virumaa sept. lk. 5
Ansip : tööturu paindumatus on Eestis suurim probleem / Kaisa Tahlfeld
Tahlfeld, Kaisa
2008-01-01
Ilmunud ka: Delovõje Vedomosti 1. okt. lk. 11. Äripäeva konverentsil "Äriplaan 2009" rääkis peaminister Andrus Ansip tööturu paindumatusest ja ekspordi olulisusest Eesti majandusele, ettevõtja Jüri Käo hinnangul päästavad majanduse Eesti ettevõtjad. Diagramm: Maksutulude laekumine
Roonemaa, Holger
2009-01-01
Tingimustest turvaalale, kus töödeldakse riigisaladusi ja Harju maakohtu istungisaali vastavusest nendele Herman Simmi kohtuasja arutamiseks. Vt. samas lühiinterv.: Ansip: Simm pole meie James Bond
Laari tõrjuv Ansip püüab võimuliitu päästa / Kai Kalamees, Tuuli Koch
Kalamees, Kai
2007-01-01
Reformierakond saatis võimaliku valitsuskoalitsiooni partneritele uued pakkumised, kuid Andrus Ansip pole nõus välisministri kohta loovutama. Lisa: Variandid. Vt. samas Tuuli Kochi intervjuud Mart Laariga: Laar: reeglites tuleb kokku leppida
2014-01-01
Eestit 3. septembril 2014 külastanud USA president Barack Obama visiidi kommunikatsioonist ja planeerimisest räägivad välisministeeriumi pressiosakonna nimel pressispetsialist Mariann Sudakov, valitsuse kommunikatsioonibüroo esindaja, valitsuse meedianõunik valitsuskommunikatsiooni direktori ülesannetes Tiina Ansip, ERR-i juhatuse liige ja ajakirjanik Ainar Ruussaar, Vabariigi Presidendi avalike suhete nõunik Toomas Sildam ning USA saatkonna pressi- ja kultuuriatašee Bradley Hurst
Explaining How to Play Real-Time Strategy Games
Metoyer, Ronald; Stumpf, Simone; Neumann, Christoph; Dodge, Jonathan; Cao, Jill; Schnabel, Aaron
Real-time strategy games share many aspects with real situations in domains such as battle planning, air traffic control, and emergency response team management which makes them appealing test-beds for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. End user annotations could help to provide supplemental information for learning algorithms, especially when training data is sparse. This paper presents a formative study to uncover how experienced users explain game play in real-time strategy games. We report the results of our analysis of explanations and discuss their characteristics that could support the design of systems for use by experienced real-time strategy game users in specifying or annotating strategy-oriented behavior.
Understanding Electrochemistry Concepts Using the Predict-Observe-Explain Strategy
Karamustafaoglu, Sevilay; Mamlok-Naaman, Rachel
2015-01-01
The current study deals with freshman students who study at the Department of Science at the Faculty of Education. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of teaching electrochemistry concepts using Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) strategy. The study was quasi-experimental design using 20 students each in the experimental group (EG) and…
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Seyed Farhad Hosseini
2016-09-01
Full Text Available There is not a dominant model that could explain key factors of sensemaking of strategy implementation and interactions between them. The purpose of this study is designing and explaining the role of sensemaking in successful strategy implementation along with a combination of factors which influence implementation sensemaking. This study surveyed the factors influencing sensemaking of successful strategy implementation in top Iran’s automotive companies. This is a qualitative research that uses grounded theory to obtain insight about the role of sensemaking in successful implementation through in-depth interviews with 22 individuals (Managers, Assistant Directors and Academic Professors and used gathered data to design a model of sensemaking in successful strategy implementation. Based on open and axial coding, 21 effective variables were conceptualized and classified in seven major categories then final model was designed. This theory explains factors that affect the sensemaking of successful strategy implementation and how these factors interact with each other. Sensemaking in Successful implementation of strategies depends on Sensemaking Context, Key Executers, Discourse Context, Intervening Conditions and Collective Sensemaking. Sensemaking Context cause sensemaking and sensegiving of key executers and key executers itself along with Discourse Context and Intervening Conditions lead to collective sensemaking. The consequence of model is sensemaking of successful strategy implementation that consists of maintaining and recording the meaning and its strengthening, collective effort, continuous strategy implementation and operational excellence of the organization.
Karreman, A.; Laceulle, O.M.; Hanser, Waldie; Vingerhoets, Ad
This experimental study examined if emotional experience can be manipulated by applying an emotion regulation strategy during music listening and if individual differences in effects of strategies can be explained by person characteristics. Adults (N = 466) completed questionnaires and rated
Karreman, A.; Laceulle, O.M.; Hanser, W.E.; Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M.
2017-01-01
This experimental study examined if emotional experience can be manipulated by applying an emotion regulation strategy during music listening and if individual differences in effects of strategies can be explained by person characteristics. Adults (N = 466) completed questionnaires and rated
Peaminister ja Tallinna meer pöörasid tülli / Triin Olvet, Küllike Rooväli
Olvet, Triin
2005-01-01
Peaminister Andrus Ansip ja Tallinna linnapea Tõnis Palts pöörasid lõplikult tülli, kui selgus, et A. Ansip ei kavatse minna Tallinna päeval linnapeaga kohtuma. Vt. samas intervjuusid: "Ansip: ma ei pea vajalikuks Paltsi vastu austust teeselda" ja "Palts: ma ei kahtlusta Ansipil nii madalaid motiive"
Herman Simmi sõbrad ründavad peaministrit / Risto Berendson
Berendson, Risto, 1975-
2008-01-01
Šveitsi-Balti Kaubanduskoja president Jürg Würtenberg ja rahvusvaheliste suhete õppejõud Juhan Värk ei pea õigeks, et peaminister Andrus Ansip on Hermann Simmi juba enne kohtuotsust süüdi mõistnud. Vt. samas: Ansip: see võis olla vääratus
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Susanne Unverzagt
Full Text Available This study is an in-depth-analysis to explain statistical heterogeneity in a systematic review of implementation strategies to improve guideline adherence of primary care physicians in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular diseases. The systematic review included randomized controlled trials from a systematic search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, conference proceedings and registers of ongoing studies. Implementation strategies were shown to be effective with substantial heterogeneity of treatment effects across all investigated strategies. Primary aim of this study was to explain different effects of eligible trials and to identify methodological and clinical effect modifiers. Random effects meta-regression models were used to simultaneously assess the influence of multimodal implementation strategies and effect modifiers on physician adherence. Effect modifiers included the staff responsible for implementation, level of prevention and definition pf the primary outcome, unit of randomization, duration of follow-up and risk of bias. Six clinical and methodological factors were investigated as potential effect modifiers of the efficacy of different implementation strategies on guideline adherence in primary care practices on the basis of information from 75 eligible trials. Five effect modifiers were able to explain a substantial amount of statistical heterogeneity. Physician adherence was improved by 62% (95% confidence interval (95% CI 29 to 104% or 29% (95% CI 5 to 60% in trials where other non-medical professionals or nurses were included in the implementation process. Improvement of physician adherence was more successful in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases by around 30% (30%; 95% CI -2 to 71% and 31%; 95% CI 9 to 57%, respectively compared to tertiary prevention. This study aimed to identify effect modifiers of implementation strategies on physician adherence. Especially the cooperation of different health
Lin, Ming-Chia; Cheng, Yuh-Show; Lin, Sieh-Hwa; Hsieh, Pei-Jung
2015-04-01
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of research-article writing motivation and use of self-regulatory writing strategies in explaining second language (L2) research-article abstract writing ability, alongside the L2 literacy effect. Four measures were administered: a L2 literacy test, a research abstract performance assessment, and inventories of writing motivation and strategy. Participants were L2 graduate students in Taiwan (N=185; M age=25.8 yr., SD=4.5, range=22-53). Results of structural equation modeling showed a direct effect of motivation on research-article writing ability, but no direct effect of strategy or indirect effect of motivation via strategy on research-article writing ability, with L2 literacy controlled. The findings suggest research-article writing instruction should address writing motivation, besides L2 literacy.
Meditsiinitöötajad ootavad endiselt riigilt lahendusi / Sigrid Laev
Laev, Sigrid
2007-01-01
Meditsiinitöötajad lükkasid tagasi 20-protsendilise palgatõusu pakkumise, nad peavad hädavajalikuks tuua lisaraha tervishoiusüsteemi. Peaminister Andrus Ansip ei pea kohaseks sekkuda meditsiinitöötajate ja nende tööandjate läbirääkimistesse, mida vahendab praegu riiklik lepitaja. Arstide liidu presidendi Andes Korgi seisukohti. Lisa: Ansip: perearstidele visiiditasu
Närska, Robert, 1948-
2007-01-01
Ilmunud ka: Vesti Dnja 26. okt. lk. 7. Endine Tartu linna täitevkomitee aseesimees 1988. aasta 2. veebruari sündmustest Tartus ja samal ajal toimunud kohtumisest Andrus Ansipiga, A. Ansipi seisukohtadest miilitsa tegevuse kohta; R. Närska sõnavõtust Andrus Ansipi kandideerimisel EKP Tartu rajoonikomitee II sekretäriks. Kommenteerib Andrus Ansip. Vt. samas: Anneli Ammas. Kalm: Ansip valetab, kui eitab oma kohalolu
Koch, Tuuli
2006-01-01
Ilmunud ka: Postimees : na russkom jazõke 9. veebr. lk. 4. Opositsioon nõudis Riigikogu infotunnis keskkonnaminister Villu Reiljanilt ja siseminister Kalle Laanetilt reostusega seotud küsimustele vastuseid. Valitsuse vastasleeri poliitikud oletavad, et kui peaminister Andrus Ansip jätab Reiljani ametisse, on poliitilise vastutuse kord peaministri enda käes. Kommenteerib peaminister Andrus Ansip. Vt. samas: Tuuli Koch. Laanet ja Reiljan ei taha vastutust enesele võtta; Ansipi soolo
Nurhuda; Lukito, A.; Masriyah
2018-01-01
This study aims to develop instructional tools and implement it to see the effectiveness. The method used in this research referred to Designing Effective Instruction. Experimental research with two-group pretest-posttest design method was conducted. The instructional tools have been developed is cooperative learning model with predict-observe-explain strategy on the topic of cuboid and cube volume which consist of lesson plans, POE tasks, and Tests. Instructional tools were of good quality by criteria of validity, practicality, and effectiveness. These instructional tools was very effective for teaching the volume of cuboid and cube. Cooperative instructional tool with predict-observe-explain (POE) strategy was good of quality because the teacher was easy to implement the steps of learning, students easy to understand the material and students’ learning outcomes completed classically. Learning by using this instructional tool was effective because learning activities were appropriate and students were very active. Students’ learning outcomes were completed classically and better than conventional learning. This study produced a good instructional tool and effectively used in learning. Therefore, these instructional tools can be used as an alternative to teach volume of cuboid and cube topics.
Usmeldi
2018-05-01
The preliminary study shows that many students are difficult to master the concept of physics. There are still many students who have not mastery learning physics. Teachers and students still use textbooks. Students rarely do experiments in the laboratory. One model of learning that can improve students’ competence is a research-based learning with Predict- Observe-Explain (POE) strategies. To implement this learning, research-based physics learning modules with POE strategy are used. The research aims to find out the effectiveness of implementation of research-based physics learning modules with POE strategy to improving the students’ competence. The research used a quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest group control design. Data were collected using observation sheets, achievement test, skill assessment sheets, questionnaire of attitude and student responses to learning implementation. The results of research showed that research-based physics learning modules with POE strategy was effective to improve the students’ competence, in the case of (1) mastery learning of physics has been achieved by majority of students, (2) improving the students competency of experimental class including high category, (3) there is a significant difference between the average score of students’ competence of experimental class and the control class, (4) the average score of the students competency of experimental class is higher than the control class, (5) the average score of the students’ responses to the learning implementation is very good category, this means that most students can implement research-based learning with POE strategies.
Mathes, Eugene W
2003-12-01
In a classic 1992 study, Buss, Larson, Westen, and Semmelroth reported that men were more distressed by the sexual infidelity of a partner and women were more distressed by a partner's emotional infidelity. Buss, et al. suggested that men are concerned about uncertainty of paternity, that is, the possibility of raising another man's child while believing that the child is his own. However, data can be explained in terms of men's greater preference for short-term sexual strategies. This research yielded support for the latter explanation for the samples in this present research.
McCabe, M P; Ricciardelli, L A; Holt, K
2005-12-01
Previous research has indicated that both boys and girls strive for a slim body, with boys having an additional focus on a muscular body build. The current study was designed to evaluate the utility of a biopsychosocial model to explain body image and body change strategies among children. The study evaluated changes over time in body image and strategies to lose weight and increase muscles among 132 normal weight and 67 overweight boys (mean age = 9.23 years) and 158 normal weight and 55 overweight girls (mean age = 9.33 years). The predictive role of BMI, positive and negative affect, self-esteem and perceived sociocultural pressures to lose weight or increase muscle on body image and body change strategies over a 16 month period was evaluated. All participants completed the questionnaire on both occasions. The results demonstrated that both overweight boys and girls were more likely to be dissatisfied with their weight, place more importance on their weight, engage in more strategies to lose weight as well as perceive more pressure to lose weight. Overweight boys and girls were also more likely to report lower levels of self-esteem and positive affect, and higher levels of negative affect, and reported a reduction in their self-esteem over time. Regression analyses demonstrated that among overweight boys, low self-esteem and high levels of perceived pressure to lose weight predicted weight dissatisfaction; for overweight girls, weight dissatisfaction was also predicted by low levels of self-esteem. The implication of these findings in terms of factors contributing to the adoption of health risk behaviors among children is discussed.
Discovering and explaining work-family strategies of parents in Luxembourg
Zhelyazkova, Nevena
2014-01-01
The presented analysis discovers and explains typical patterns of work-family reconciliation for parents who had a child in the same period (2003) and in the same country (Luxembourg), thus facing the same macroeconomic and institutional conditions. Work-family trajectories are reconstructed as
Explaining the Gender Wealth Gap
Ruel, Erin; Hauser, Robert M.
2013-01-01
To assess and explain the United States’ gender wealth gap, we use the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to examine wealth accumulated by a single cohort over 50 years by gender, by marital status, and limited to the respondents who are their family’s best financial reporters. We find large gender wealth gaps between currently married men and women, and never-married men and women. The never-married accumulate less wealth than the currently married, and there is a marital disruption cost to wealth accumulation. The status-attainment model shows the most power in explaining gender wealth gaps between these groups explaining about one-third to one-half of the gap, followed by the human-capital explanation. In other words, a lifetime of lower earnings for women translates into greatly reduced wealth accumulation. A gender wealth gap remains between married men and women after controlling for the full model that we speculate may be related to gender differences in investment strategies and selection effects. PMID:23264038
Succeeding in process standardization: Explaining the fit with international management strategy
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Rahimi, Fatemeh; Møller, Charles; Hvam, Lars
2016-01-01
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the fit between process standardization and international management strategy of multinational corporations (MNCs) by assessing the compatibility between process standardization and corporate structural characteristics in terms of asset configuration...... and headquarters-subsidiary relationships. Design/methodology/approach: First, after a literature review on MNCs’ strategy and process standardization, the study suggests two propositions on the fit between corporate international management strategy and process standardization. Second, to empirically examine....../value: The study provides in-depth understanding of how the international management strategy and consequent structural characteristics of MNCs affects process standardization in the course of a global enterprise resource planning implementation. The study proposes conditions of fit for aligning process...
MPs reminded of responsibilities
2011-01-01
Riigikogult valitsuse moodustamiseks volituse saanud peaminister Andrus Ansip tutvustas ministrikandidaate president Toomas Hendrik Ilvesele. Presidendi kõnest Riigikogu XII koosseisu avaistungil 4. apr. 2011
Discovering and explaining work-family strategies of parents in Luxembourg
Zhelyazkova, Nevena
2014-01-01
The presented analysis discovers and explains typical patterns of work-family reconciliation for parents who had a child in the same period (2003) and in the same country (Luxembourg), thus facing the same macroeconomic and institutional conditions. Work-family trajectories are reconstructed as sequences of states using administrative records, so that working hours and use of leave provisions or other social security benefits are taken into account. Next, a clustering algorithm is applied to ...
Explaining focal points: Cognitive hierarchy theory versus team reasoning
Bardsley, Nicholas; Mehta, Judith; Starmer, Chris; Sugden, Robert
2008-01-01
This paper reports experimental tests of two alternative explanations of how players use focal points to select equilibria in one-shot coordination games. Cognitive hierarchy theory explains coordination as the result of common beliefs about players’ pre-reflective inclinations towards the relevant strategies; the theory of team reasoning explains it as the result of the players’ using a non-standard form of reasoning. We report two experiments. One finds strong support for team reasoning; th...
The Effect of Self-Explaining on Robust Learning
Hausmann, Robert G. M.; VanLehn, Kurt
2010-01-01
Self-explaining is a domain-independent learning strategy that generally leads to a robust understanding of the domain material. However, there are two potential explanations for its effectiveness. First, self-explanation generates additional "content" that does not exist in the instructional materials. Second, when compared to…
Valimised 2002 : Tartu linnapeakandidaadid prioriteetidest linna arengus : kolm esimest ülesannet
2002-01-01
Artiklite autorid: Andrus Ansip Reformierakonnast, Tõnu Kauba Keskerakonnast, Jüri Kumar ERL-ist, Ivar Tallo Mõõdukatest, Tõnis Lukas Isamaaliidust, Teet Jagomägi Res Publicast. Parlamendisaadik
Estonia mulls own nuclear power plant
2008-01-01
Andrus Ansip ja Matti Vanhanen kirjutasid alla strateegilise koostöö leppele. Võimalik ka ühise tuumaelektrijaama ehitus. Prantsuse energia- ja arenguminister Jean-Louis Borloo kohtus majandusminister Juhan Partsiga
2011-01-01
31. oktoobril Kopenhaagenis toimunud Balti- ja Põhjamaade peaministrite kohtumisel räägiti Euroopa majandusolukorrast. Peaminister Andrus Ansip rääkis ka Eesti hiljutistest kogemustest majanduskriisist väljatulemisel
Regional chiefs meet to discuss key issues / Ella Karapetyan
Karapetyan, Ella
2009-01-01
Stockholmis toimunud Põhja- ja Baltimaade peaministrite kohtumisel räägiti energiajulgeolekust, praegusest majandusolukorrast ja detsembris toimuva ÜRO kliimakonverentsi ettevalmistustest. Andrus Ansip rõhutas uue rahvusvahelise kliimalepingu tähtsust
Eesti allkirjastas liitumislepingu OECD-ga
2010-01-01
Peaminister Andrus Ansip ja OECD peasekretär Angel Gurria allkirjastasid 3. juunil 2010. a. Stenbocki majas Eesti liitumislepingu. Samal päeval kohtus president Toomas Hendrik Ilves Angel Gurriaga Kadriorus
Sohranitsja li Baltiiskii tranzitnõi koridor? / Eteri Kekelidze
Kekelidze, Eteri, 1944-
2004-01-01
Tallinna sadamamaksude tõstmisesse suhtuvad rahandus- ja majandusminister erinevalt, Taavi Veskimägi seisab riigieelarve eest ja Andrus Ansip muretseb riigi tuleviku pärast. Akadeemik Bronshteini prognoosidest, Balti transpordikoridori tulevikust
Postimehe žürii hindab võistlusfilme
2007-01-01
Toimetuse žürii koosseisus Peeter Simm, Karol Ansip, Sakarias Lepik, Jevgenia Tirdatova ja Kris Taska hindab PÖFFil näidatavaid filme. Seekord kommenteerivad oma hinnanguid Peeter Simm ja Jevgenia Tirdatova
The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus Practice
Kalsnes, Bente
2016-01-01
Political parties’ interaction strategy and practice on Facebook is the topic of this article. Political parties and individual politicians can use social media to bypass media and communicate directly with voters through websites and particularly social media platforms such as Facebook. But previous research has demonstrated that interaction on social media is challenging for political parties. This study examines the disparity between interaction strategy and online responsiveness and finds...
Majanduskriis, vabadussammas, Barack Obama...
2008-01-01
Ettevõtja Indrek Neivelt, TLÜ rektor Rein Raud, filmitegija Andres Maimik, peaminister Andrus Ansip, ajakirja Vikerkaar peatoimetaja Märt Väljataga, filmitegija Ilmar Raag avaldavad arvamust, millega läheb 2008. aasta ajalukku
2010-01-01
Eesti peaminister Andrus Ansip leiab, et Läänemere regioonis on olnud liiga palju tuumajaama projekte ja Euroopa Liit peaks kaitsma energiaturgu ebaausa konkurentsi eest. Leedu ei ole Valgevene plaanitava tuumajaama asukohaga rahul
Meie mees Silicon Valleys / Kertu Ruus
Ruus, Kertu, 1977-
2007-01-01
Ilmunud ka: Delovõje Vedomosti 5. dets. lk. 4. Peaminister Andrus Ansip avas Eesti Ettevõtluse Sihtasutuse esinduse Silicon Valley pealinnas San Joses. Vt. samas: Ränioru kliima on tehnoloogiasõbralik; Andrus Viirg
2011-01-01
16. detsembril Tartus toimunud Eesti-Läti koostöökonverentsist võtsid osa ka mõlema riigi peaministrid Andrus Ansip ja Valdis Dombrovskis. Kohal olid ka haridusministrid Jaak Aaviksoo ja Roberts Kilis
Ehho kompjuternoi voinõ / Josef Kats
Kats, Josef, 1977-
2007-01-01
Justiitsminister Rein Lang ja peaminister Andrus Ansip on veendunud, et küberrünnakud Eesti riigi vastu aprilli lõpus ja mai alguses tulid muu hulgas ka Vene presidendi administratsiooni IP-aadressidelt
Lennart Meri poliitiline testament
2007-01-01
Viimsi poolsaare tipus esitleti 20. augustil 2007 Lennart Meri kõnede kogumikku "Poliitiline testament". Raamatu esitlusel osalesid president Toomas Hendrik Ilves ja peaminister Andrus Ansip. Ilmunud ka: Eesti Elu 24. august 2007, lk. 3
Next year's budget is a growth budget / Ella Karapetyan
Karapetyan, Ella
2010-01-01
2011. aasta riigielarve eelnõu on Riigikokku jõudnud. Peaminister Andrus Ansip märkis, et Eestist pole veel majanduskriis kadunud, kuigi Euroopa Komisjoni prognoosi kohaselt peaks 2011. aastal Eestit Euroopa Liidu suurim majanduskasv ootama
Economic impact of Russian ire unclear, though several companies to take a hit
2007-01-01
Venemaa vähendab naftatransiiti läbi Eesti. Peaminister Andrus Ansip ja majandusminister Juhan Parts ei näe Venemaa-poolses Eesti kaupade boikotis ohtu majandusele. Venemaa boikoti mõju mõnedele ettevõtetele
President Ilves ja Simon Peres avasid Tallinna uue sünagoogi / Evely Baum, Riina Leminsky
Baum, Evely
2007-01-01
16. mail 2007 avati pidulikult Tallinna uus juudi sünagoog. Avamistseremoonial osalesid ka Eesti president Toomas Hendrik Ilves ja peaminister Andrus Ansip, Iisraeli asepeaminister Simon Peres, Iisraeli pearabi Yona Metzger, Venemaa pearabi Berl Lazar
Nord-Stream-Antrag stösst auf Ablehnung
2012-01-01
Nord Stream küsib Eestilt taas uuringuluba. 2007 ei rahuldanud vabariigi valitsus Nord Stream AG uurimisloa taotlust. Andrus Ansip ja Mart Laar on seisukohal, et tuleks jääda kord tehtud otsuse juurde
Eesti ei toeta kõneteabe säilitamise kohustust / Mirko Ojakivi
Ojakivi, Mirko
2005-01-01
Iirimaa, Prantsusmaa, Rootsi ja Suurbritannia sooviksid, et kõigi EL-i riikide sideoperaatorid hakkaksid telefonikõnede, SMS-ide ning internetiprotokollide registreerimisel saadavat infot säilitama. Eesti peab selleks tehtavat investeeringut liiga kulukaks. Kommenteerib Andrus Ansip
Saddam ootab hukkamist / Aadu Hiietamm
Hiietamm, Aadu, 1954-
2006-01-01
Apellatsioonikohus kinnitas endisele Iraagi diktaatorile Saddam Husseinile määratud surmaotsuse, andes selle täideviimiseks aega 30 päeva. Vt. samas: Eve Heinla, Urmo Soonvald. Ansip ja Paet: Eesti austab Iraagi kohtu otsust
Uus Ansip on Pentus, uus Savisaar Ratas või Simson / Argo Ideon ; kommenteerinud Andrus Ansip
Ideon, Argo, 1966-
2011-01-01
USA Tallinna saatkonna Wikileaksi kaudu avalikuks saanud dokumentides analüüsitakse Eesti sisepoliitikat ja riigijuhtide tausta. Peaminister Andrus Ansipist. President Toomas Hendrik Ilvese hinnanguid peaministri kohta üheski Postimehe käsutuses olevas USA Tallinna saatkonna ettekandes ei esitata
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jonathan Ichikawa
2009-12-01
Full Text Available What is it to explain away an intuition? Philosophers regularly attempt to explain intuitions away, but it is often unclear what the success conditions for their project consist in. I attempt to articulate some of these conditions, taking philosophical case studies as guides, and arguing that many attempts to explain away intuitions underestimate the challenge the project of explaining away involves. I will conclude, therefore, that explaining away intuitions is a more difficult task than has sometimes been appreciated; I also suggest, however, that the importance of explaining away intuitions has often been exaggerated.
Ettevõtja riskijulgust tuleb väärtustada / Margit Aedla
Aedla, Margit, 1970-
2005-01-01
Endine majandus- ja kommunikatsiooniminister Andrus Ansip Eesti ettevõtluse madalast tasemest, selle põhjustest, Euroopa ja USA pankrotiseaduse põhimõttelistest erinevustest, ettevõtlustahtest, ettevõtjate populaarsusest, Eesti infrastruktuuri tugevatest ja nõrkadest külgedest. Tabel. Diagrammid
Skazka o serom volke / Aleksandr Shegedin
Shegedin, Aleksandr
2006-01-01
Riigikogu infotunnis vastasid Riigikogu liikmete küsimustele kodakondsuse andmise kohta Andrei Filatovile ning minister Edgar Savisaare Moskva visiidi ja Keskerakonna koostööleppe kohta Ühtse Venemaaga peaminister Andrus Ansip ja välisminister Urmas Paet
A strategy model for management
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Friis, Ole Uhrskov; Holmgren, Jens; Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær
2016-01-01
Purpose: Developing a strategy model which explains what organisations should focus on in their strategy work, both in terms of the environment as well as how the strategy is implemented. In addition, the purpose is to demonstrate how this can influence and improve the organisations’ performance....
Ping-pong tsherez granitsu, kotoroi net / Aleksandr Shegedin
Shegedin, Aleksandr
2006-01-01
Võrus toimus Saksamaa poolel sõdinud veteranide traditsiooniline kokkutulek, kus esines ka peaminister Andrus Ansip. Venemaa reageeris tavapäraste süüdistustega: katse rehabiliteerida natsismi, Teise maailmasõja tulemuste ümberhindamine, venelaste olukord Baltimaades. Venemaa - Soome suhted
Estonia ready to contribute to OECD / Ella Karapetyan
Karapetyan, Ella
2010-01-01
Eestis visiidil viibinud OECD peasekretär Angel Gurria kohtus president Toomas Hendrik Ilvese ja peaminister Andrus Ansipiga. Kohtumistel räägiti Eesti liitumisest OECD-ga. Andrus Ansip ja Angel Gurria kirjutasid alla Eesti ühinemislepingule OECD-ga
Poolsajandi õnnesoovid Jaak Aaviksoole / Ain Heinaru, Jaak Kangilaski, Tõnu Lehtsaar...[jt.
2004-01-01
Mõtteid Tartu Ülikooli rektorist tema 50. sünnipäeva puhul : Ain Heinaru, Jaak Kangilaski, Tõnu Lehtsaar, Indrek Reimand, Toomas Kiho, Leelo Kriisa, Peeter Olesk, Risto Tammelo, Birute Klaas, Peeter Saari, Andrus Ansip, Mait Klaassen, Marika Kullamaa, Kaupo Bend
2002-01-01
Tartu linnapeakandidaadid Ivar Tallo, Teet Jagomägi, Jüri Kumar, Malle Salupere, Tõni Kauba, Tõnis Lukas ja Andrus Ansip vastavad küsimustele : Tartu Ülikooli arenguvõimalustest ja -vajadustest, konkurentsivõime suurendamisest / vahendasid Sander Silm, Priit Rajalo, Ivi Drikkit
Estonia resist proposed energy restructuring plan
2007-01-01
Peaminister Andrus Ansip välistab selle, et Euroopa Liit saaks Eestile dikteerida, kas Eesti peab müüma energiaturu korrastamiseks osa Eesti Energiast. Samas on Eesti nõus kavaga, mis näeb ette tulevikus energiatootjate ja tarnijate lahutamise
SOME THEORETICAL MODELS EXPLAINING ADVERTISING EFFECTS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Vasilica Magdalena SOMEŞFĂLEAN
2014-06-01
Full Text Available Persuade clients is still the main focus of the companies, using a set of methods and techniques designed to influence their behavior, in order to obtain better results (profits over a longer period of time. Since the late nineteenth - early twentieth century, the american E.St.Elmo Lewis, considered a pioneer in advertising and sales, developed the first theory, AIDA model, later used by marketers and advertisers to develop a marketing communications strategy. Later studies have developed other models that are the main subject of this research, which explains how and why persuasive communication works, to understand why some approaches are effective and others are not.
Patterns of strategy development
Bailey, Andy; Johnson, Gerry
1996-01-01
This paper builds on a multidimensional framework of strategy development to more clearly understand the processes by which strategy develops within organisations. It reports on a survey based research project which employs senior executives’ perceptions of the strategy development process in their organisations to examine how context specific configurations of dimensions explaining such processes can advance our understanding of strategic management. Six configurations are ide...
Explaining Physics – What Skills does a good Explainer Need?
CERN. Geneva; Bartels, Hauke
2018-01-01
Explaining physics in a way that it is both scientifically correct and comprehensible is a highly demanding practice. But are explanations an effective way to teach physics? Under which circumstances should a physics teacher explain – and is there such a thing as a guideline for effective instructional explanations? Of course, explaining is more than just presenting content knowledge in clear language – but what more? In our talk, we want to discuss empirical studies on instructional explanations from science education and psychology to address these questions. Among other things, we will refer to results from a large study aiming to research whether teacher education contributes to the development of explaining skills. Besides, we will give insights into a project that seeks to measure explaining skills with an interactive online test instrument.
Explaining judicial corruption in the courts of Chile, Peru and Ecuador
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Santiago Basabe-Serrano
2013-07-01
Full Text Available This article identifies the main variables that explain judicial corruption in Chile, Peru, and Ecuador. Improving the current methodological strategies used to measure judicial corruption and incorporating endogenous and exogenous variables in the model, this article argues that legal training of the judges, respect for the judicial career, and the fragmentation of political power explain different degrees of judicial corruption. Through a comparative diachronic and synchronic research design of Chile, Peru and Ecuador, the article shows institutional designs with more legal steps will be more inclined to illegal payments or other types of judicial corruption.
Baltic leaders celebrate the Baltic Way anniversary / Rokas M. Tracevskis
Tracevskis, Rokas M.
2009-01-01
Eesti peaminister Andrus Ansip, Läti peaminister Valdis Dombrovskis ja Leedu peaminister Andrius Kubilius tähistasid 23. augustil Vilniuses Balti keti kahekümnendat aastapäeva. Üritustest võtsid osa ka Leedu president Dalia Grybauskaite ja Baltimaade parlamentide esimehed
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Schultheiss, G.F.
1980-01-01
The basis for safety strategy in nuclear industry and especially nuclear power plants is the prevention of radioactivity release inside or outside of the technical installation. Therefore either technical or administrative measures are combined to a general strategy concept. This introduction will explain in more detail the following topics: - basic principles of safety - lines of assurance (LOA) - defense in depth - deterministic and probabilistic methods. This presentation is seen as an introduction to the more detailed discussion following in this course, nevertheless some selected examples will be used to illustrate the aspects of safety strategy development although they might be repeated later on. (orig.)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wirl, Franz [Vienna Univ. (Austria). Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics
2012-09-15
This paper investigates rationale explanations of OPEC's strategies. Accounting for market characteristics in particular the sluggishness of demand and supply allows to explain price jumps as rational OPEC strategies from a narrow economic perspective (up and down) as well as from political objectives (at least up) due to the political payoff from standing up against the 'West'. Although the temptation to accrue this political payoff was and remains high, the narrow economic profit motive coupled with an imperfect cooperation among OPEC members explains past price volatility and high prices much better than the usual reference to political events. A more specific prediction is that OPEC will switch back to setting prices since the current quantity strategy encourages oil importing countries to appropriate rents in particular in connection with the need to mitigate global warming. (orig.)
Liposek, Silvester; Zenic, Natasa; Saavedra, Jose M; Sekulic, Damir; Rodek, Jelena; Marinsek, Miha; Sajber, Dorica
2018-01-01
Although coaching is considered an important determinant of athletes’ potential doping behavior (PDB), there is an evident lack of studies that have examined coaching-strategy-and-training-methodology (CS&TM) in relation to PDB. This study was aimed to identify the specific associations that may exist between CS&TM -factors and other factors, and PDB in high-level swimming. The sample comprised 94 swimmers (35 females; 19.7 ± 2.3 years of age) and consisted of swimmers older than 18 years who participated in the 2017 National Championship. Variables were collected by previously validated questionnaires, with the addition of questions where athletes were asked about CS&TM to which they had been exposed. Multinomial logistic regression was applied for the criterion PDB (Negative PDB – Neutral PDB – Positive PDB). The higher risk for positive-PDB was found in males (OR: 6.58; 95%CI: 1.01-9.12); therefore, all regressions were adjusted for gender. Those swimmers who achieved better competitive result were less prone to neutral-PDB (0.41; 0.17-0.98). The positive-PDB was evidenced in those swimmers who perceived that their training was monotonous and lacked diversity (1.82; 1.41-5.11), and who were involved in training which was mostly oriented toward volume (1.76; 1.11-7.12). The lower likelihood of positive-PDB is found in those who replied that technique is practiced frequently (0.12; 0.01-0.81), those who replied that coach regularly provided the attention to explain the training aims (0.21; 0.04-0.81), and that coach frequently reviewed and discussed the quality of execution of specific tasks (0.41; 0.02-0.81). The findings on the relationships between the studied variables and PDB should be incorporated into targeted anti-doping efforts in swimming. Further studies examining sport-specific variables of CS&TM in younger swimmers and other sports are warranted. Key points The opinions about doping presence in swimming were not associated with athletes
Translucent Players: Explaining Cooperative Behavior in Social Dilemmas
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Valerio Capraro
2016-06-01
Full Text Available In the last few decades, numerous experiments have shown that humans do not always behave so as to maximize their material payoff. Cooperative behavior when non-cooperation is a dominant strategy (with respect to the material payoffs is particularly puzzling. Here we propose a novel approach to explain cooperation, assuming what Halpern and Pass call translucent players. Typically, players are assumed to be opaque, in the sense that a deviation by one player in a normal-form game does not affect the strategies used by other players. But a player may believe that if he switches from one strategy to another, the fact that he chooses to switch may be visible to the other players. For example, if he chooses to defect in Prisoner's Dilemma, the other player may sense his guilt. We show that by assuming translucent players, we can recover many of the regularities observed in human behavior in well-studied games such as Prisoner's Dilemma, Traveler's Dilemma, Bertrand Competition, and the Public Goods game.
Näiliselt leppinud partnerid ootavad kiiresti uut ministrit / Tuuli Koch, Mirko Ojakivi
Koch, Tuuli
2005-01-01
Järgmiseks määravaks sammuks valitsuskoalitsiooni püsimise suhtes võib kujuneda uue välisministri kandidaadi nimetamine. Lisa: Ansip jäi oma seisukoha juurde. Vt. samas: Võitlus Meelis Atoneni ja Andrus Ansipi vahel; lühiintervjuud peaminister Juhan Partsiga
Strategies for Competitive Volleyball.
Fraser, Stephen D.
This book deals with strategies and team tactics involved in the game of volleyball. It is not intended to be an instructional book on how to execute the various skills required to play volleyball but instead endeavors to detail and explain basic tactics and strategies involved in volleyball team play. Each chapter deals with major areas of team…
Teaching Strategies for Specialized Ensembles.
Teaching Music, 1999
1999-01-01
Provides a strategy, from the book "Strategies for Teaching Specialized Ensembles," that addresses Standard 9A of the National Standards for Music Education. Explains that students will identify and describe the musical and historical characteristics of the classical era in music they perform and in audio examples. (CMK)
Eesti aukonsulid tegid puudega laste toetusfondile annetuse
2008-01-01
Ingl. k. lk. 13, pealk.: Consuls support special needs kids. Peaminister Andrus Ansip andis lastekaitsepäeval, 1. juunil 2008 puudega lapsi toetavale Agrenska Fondile üle Eesti aukonsulite 30 000 krooni suuruse annetuse. Agrenska Fondi patroon Rootsis on kuninganna Silvia ja Eestis proua Evelin Ilves
Ansipi optimism on haihtumas / Vahur Koorits
Koorits, Vahur, 1981-
2008-01-01
Ilmunud ka: Postimees : na russkom jazõke 31 märts lk. 6. Suurepärast maksulaekumist toonitanud peaminister Andrus Ansip tunnistas siiski, et sügisel võib tulla negatiivne lisaeelarve ning rahandusminister Ivari Padari sõnul tuleb riigil hakata kulusid kokku hoidma. Lisa: Käibemaks
Tartu ihkab Rail Baltica kiirraudteed endale / Madis Aesma
Aesma, Madis
2005-01-01
2005. aasta sügisel alustatakse uuringuid, et välja selgitada, millisest Eesti linnast - Tartust, Pärnust või Viljandist - peaks tulevikus läbi minema kiirraudtee Rail Baltica, mis viib kuue tunniga Tallinnast Varssavisse. Kaart: Kiirraudtee Rail Baltica kolm võimalikku suunda. Kommenteerib Andrus Ansip
Briti peaminister Tony Blair tuleb hiiobisõnumiga / Andris Feldmanis, Märt Kivine
Feldmanis, Andris, 1982-
2005-01-01
Eestisse visiidile saabuv Suurbritannia peaminister Tony Blair soovib toetust EL-i eelarveprojektile, mis säilitaks Suurbritannia tagasimakse EL-i eelarvest ning vähendaks uute liikmesriikide toetusi. Kommenteerib Andrus Ansip. Vt. samas intervjuud Toomas Hendrik Ilvesega; Märt Kivine. Vajalik täpsustus: saagem mandri-eurooplasteks!
Leclerc, Martin; Dussault, Christian; St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues
2014-09-01
Behavioural strategies may have important fitness, ecological and evolutionary consequences. In woodland caribou, human disturbances are associated with higher predation risk. Between 2004 and 2011, we investigated if habitat selection strategies of female caribou towards disturbances influenced their calf's survival in managed boreal forest with varying intensities of human disturbances. Calf survival was 53% and 43% after 30 and 90 days following birth, respectively, and 52% of calves that died were killed by black bear. The probability that a female lose its calf to predation was not influenced by habitat composition of her annual home range, but decreased with an increase in proportion of open lichen woodland within her calving home range. At the local scale, females that did not lose their calf displayed stronger avoidance of high road density areas than females that lost their calf to predation. Further, females that lost their calf to predation and that had a low proportion of ≤5-year-old cutovers within their calving home range were mostly observed in areas where these young cutovers were locally absent. Also, females that lost their calf to predation and that had a high proportion of ≤5-year-old cutovers within their calving home range were mostly observed in areas with a high local density of ≤5-year-old cutovers. Our study demonstrates that we have to account for human-induced disturbances at both local and regional scales in order to further enhance effective caribou management plans. We demonstrate that disturbances not only impact spatial distribution of individuals, but also their reproductive success.
Steve Forbes näeb Eestit rikkaimate riikide hulgas / Steve Forbes ; interv. Kertu Ruus
Forbes, Steve, 1947-
2008-01-01
Meediamagnaat Steve Forbes ütleb intervjuus Äripäevale, et Eesti jõuab rikkaimate riikide hulka, kuid peab edu jätkumiseks äärmiselt oluliseks haridust ning Eesti vajab tema hinnangul selles osas pikaajalist plaani. Vt. samas: Steve Forbes; Ansip: Forbes tõstab Eesti tuntust maailmas
Indian Academy of Sciences (India)
IAS Admin
Biologists refer to this as a 'limited war' or conventional (ritualistic) strategy (not ... Now allow us to explain a few things about cat behaviour, which will help .... getting injured, but it also helped save both energy and time, vital .... intelligent and.
Eesti Raudtee juht : valitsus tahab meie äri hävitada / Edward A. Burkhardt ; interv. Priit Rajalo
Burkhardt, Edward A.
2005-01-01
Ilmunud ka: Postimees : na russkom jazõke 22. dets., lk 2. Eesti Raudtee omanikud (Baltic Rail Service) kaaluvad ettevõtte mahamüümist valitsusepoolse käitumise tõttu. Tallinna Sadama võimalik osalus. Kommenteerivad Villu Reiljan, Taavi Veskimägi, Ivari Padar, Tõnis Lukas, Andrus Ansip ja Edgar Savisaar
Chorafas, Dimitris N
2011-01-01
A guide to managing cloud projects, Cloud Computing Strategies provides the understanding required to evaluate the technology and determine how it can be best applied to improve business and enhance your overall corporate strategy. Based on extensive research, it examines the opportunities and challenges that loom in the cloud. It explains exactly what cloud computing is, what it has to offer, and calls attention to the important issues management needs to consider before passing the point of no return regarding financial commitments.
Using a TV Game Show to Explain the Concept of a Dominant Strategy.
Trandel, Gregory A.
1999-01-01
Illustrates the game-theory concept of a dominant strategy using the MTV-network game show "Singled Out." Describes how the game show works and why this makes it attractive as an example of strategic behavior. Presents examples of how the show is used in class. (DSK)
Reiman, Yuliya
2013-01-01
The subject of my bachelor's thesis is "Blue Ocean Strategy". The main goal of this work is to explain the problems of Blue Ocean Strategy, which is the actual trend in the market. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part describes what it is competitiveness, competitive advantage, Porter's five forces model and its competitive strategies further build on the Blue Ocean Strategy, value innovation, analytical tools and system framework of strategy and attributes that well-developed...
Estonian living in safest of times / Ella Karapetyan
Karapetyan, Ella
2010-01-01
Peaminister Andrus Ansip ütles kevadisi riigikaitsekursuseid avades, et tema hinnangul elab Eesti julgeoleku seisukohalt oma ajaloo ilmselt kõige turvalisemat etappi, olles NATO ja Euroopa Liidu liige. Kursuste avamistseremooniast võtsid osa ka kaitseminister Jaak Aaviksoo, välisminister Urmas Paet, siseminister Marko Pomerants ja kaitseväe juhataja kindralleitnant Ants Laaneots
Planning bridges the intention-behaviour gap: age makes a difference and strategy use explains why.
Reuter, Tabea; Ziegelmann, Jochen P; Wiedemann, Amelie U; Lippke, Sonia; Schuz, Benjamin; Aiken, Leona S
2010-09-01
This study examines age-differential association patterns between intentions, planning and physical activity in young and middle-aged individuals. The effectiveness of planning to bridge the intention-behaviour gap is assumed to increase with advancing age. We explore the use of behaviour change strategies that include selection, optimisation and compensation (SOC) as underlying mechanisms for age differences. In N = 265 employees of a national railway company (aged 19-64 years), intentions, planning, SOC strategy use and physical activity were assessed at baseline (Time 1) and again 1 month later (Time 2). Hypotheses were tested in two different path models. Age moderates the extent to which planning mediates the intention-behaviour relation due to an increasing strength of the planning-behaviour link. As a possible psychological mechanism for these age differences, we identified SOC strategy use as a mediator of the age by planning interaction effect on physical activity. These findings suggest differential mechanisms in behaviour regulation in young and middle-aged individuals.
Reinforcement Learning Explains Conditional Cooperation and Its Moody Cousin.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Takahiro Ezaki
2016-07-01
Full Text Available Direct reciprocity, or repeated interaction, is a main mechanism to sustain cooperation under social dilemmas involving two individuals. For larger groups and networks, which are probably more relevant to understanding and engineering our society, experiments employing repeated multiplayer social dilemma games have suggested that humans often show conditional cooperation behavior and its moody variant. Mechanisms underlying these behaviors largely remain unclear. Here we provide a proximate account for this behavior by showing that individuals adopting a type of reinforcement learning, called aspiration learning, phenomenologically behave as conditional cooperator. By definition, individuals are satisfied if and only if the obtained payoff is larger than a fixed aspiration level. They reinforce actions that have resulted in satisfactory outcomes and anti-reinforce those yielding unsatisfactory outcomes. The results obtained in the present study are general in that they explain extant experimental results obtained for both so-called moody and non-moody conditional cooperation, prisoner's dilemma and public goods games, and well-mixed groups and networks. Different from the previous theory, individuals are assumed to have no access to information about what other individuals are doing such that they cannot explicitly use conditional cooperation rules. In this sense, myopic aspiration learning in which the unconditional propensity of cooperation is modulated in every discrete time step explains conditional behavior of humans. Aspiration learners showing (moody conditional cooperation obeyed a noisy GRIM-like strategy. This is different from the Pavlov, a reinforcement learning strategy promoting mutual cooperation in two-player situations.
Marketing strategy determinants in rural hospitals.
Smith, H L; Haley, D; Piland, N F
1993-01-01
Rural hospitals confront an inauspicious environment due to changes in patient reimbursement and medical practice. Facing a situation of declining revenues, marketing presents an option for rural hospitals to adapt to the growing constraints. This paper analyzes the determinants of marketing strategy emphasis in rural hospitals. The conceptual model adopted in this study predicts that prior performance and contextual variables explain marketing strategy emphasis. The relationships are examined in a case study of rural New Mexico hospitals. Results suggest that prior performance and several contextual variables explain variations in marketing strategy emphasis. In particular, higher gross patient revenues are associated with more emphasis on television and radio advertising. Furthermore, rural New Mexico hospitals with high numbers of licensed beds and medical staff members, or that are affiliated with a chain organization, place greater emphasis on market research and market planning. The implications for marketing practice in rural hospitals are discussed.
Terror põrkub EL-i ja Vahemere ühisrindega / Priit Kivi
Kivi, Priit
2005-01-01
Hispaanias Barcelona tippkohtumisel jõudsid Euroopa Liit ja Vahemeremaad kompromissini terrorismivastases võitluses, lisaks arutati ebaseadusliku sisserände ohjeldamist, Euro-Vahemere vabakaubandustsooni loomist aastaks 2010, võimalusi majanduskoostöö suurendamiseks, kaubanduse liberaliseerimiseks ning kodanikuühiskonna rolli tugevdamist hariduse ja kultuurivahetuse kaudu. Kohtumisest võttis osa ka Eesti peaminister Andrus Ansip. Lisa: Euromed
Stimmen zu Estlands Eurobeitritt
2011-01-01
Arvamusi Eesti liitumisest eurotsooniga: Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Andrus Ansip, Juhan Parts, Angela Merkel, Jose Manuel Barroso, Olli Rehn, Paul Krugman Anti Poolamets, Nicolaus Heinen, Edgar Savisaar. Lisatud väljavõtted saksakeelsetest ajakirjadest ja ajalehtedest. Euro kasutuselevõttu seostatakse heaolu ja stabiilsusega, samas peetakse üleminekut uuele vääringule liiga kulukaks ja rutakaks
Strategies for risk management using the paper markets
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Annesley, M.
1992-01-01
This paper briefly describes the significant milestones in the evolution of the oil markets, with emphasis on the reasons for the changing structures of the markets, and the roles of different types of participant. After explaining the current structure of the oil markets - futures - forwards - options and derivatives the paper then explains some basic strategies. Finally some of the favourite strategies of refiners, producers and end users will be explored. Some cautionary comments on deal tracking, control systems and other associated risk management requirements will round off this paper. (author)
Explaining the Pattern of CSDP-Operations: Towards a Theoretical Synthesis
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tim Haesebrouck
2015-06-01
Full Text Available The EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP has mainly been used to deploy small-scale operations, which generally did not provide the member states with clear security benefits. This article combines insights from different theories of international relations to explain this disappointing track record. It argues that liberal theories adequately identify the domestic pressures the member states’ governments need to accommodate in the area of crisis management. Constructivism, on its part, properly emphasises the diverging strategic cultures of the member states. Both theories however fail to explain why domestic pressures and diverging strategic cultures lead to small-scale operations. Rational-choice institutionalism does provide a convincing explanation for the latter by drawing attention to the CSDP’s ineffective institutional design. Realism, in turn, is best positioned to explain why the CSDP was not designed more effectively, by emphasising the reluctance of states to transfer sovereignty to international organisations. The article concludes by discussing two measures that could alleviate the impact of the identified impediments on the CSDP’s track record: devising a CSDP-strategy and adapting the consensus rule. However, since the latter is very unlikely in the near future, the CSDP is not expected to develop into a more effective framework for crisis management.
В Таллинне открылась новая синагога / Ксения Репсон
Репсон, Ксения
2007-01-01
Tallinnas Karu tänaval avati 16. mail 2007 uus juudi sünagoog, avamistseremoonial viibisid Iisraeli asepeaminister Shimon Peres, Eesti president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, peaminister Andrus Ansip, Venemaa pearabi Berl Lazar, Iisraeli pearabi Yona Metzger ja sünagoogi suurrahastaja Aleksander Bronštein. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves viitas oma kõnes paralleelidele eestlaste ja juutide ajaloos
The new synagogue has given the Jewish community something to sing and dance about / Rein Sikk
Sikk, Rein, 1961-
2007-01-01
Tallinnas Karu tänaval avati 16. mail 2007 uus juudi sünagoog, avamistseremoonial viibisid Iisraeli asepeaminister Shimon Peres, Eesti president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, peaminister Andrus Ansip, Venemaa pearabi Berl Lazar, Iisraeli pearabi Yona Metzger ja sünagoogi suurrahastaja Aleksander Bronštein. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves viitas oma kõnes paralleelidele eestlaste ja juutide ajaloos
Jaanus Tamkivi: Sillamäe kirjutas projekti ja sai raha / Tanel Mazur
Mazur, Tanel, 1971-
2007-01-01
Ilmunud ka: Narvskaja Gazeta, 8. okt. 2007, lk. 2. Eesti riigiametnike foorumi raames Narvas andsid pressikonverentsi peaminister Andrus Ansip, siseminister Jüri Pihl, välisminister Rein Lang ja keskkonnaminister Jaanus Tamkivi. Vt. ka: lk. 3: Tanel Mazur. Valitsus otsustas Pärnu-Mõisaküla raudtee üles võtta. Lisa: Raudtee, mis vanima kitsarööpmelise kohal
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zaououi,Merbouh
2010-03-01
Full Text Available Developing learners’ writing skills has been of concern for a long time in education. Students studying English in our educational institutions have been found to face problems mainly in writing, making them unable to cope with the institution’s literacy expectations. However, these students may be able to develop writing skills significantly with positive instructional attitudes towards the errors they make and awareness on the teachers’ part of learner problems. That is why they should improve classroom writing instruction to address the serious problem of students writing difficult. Teaching strategies has shown a dramatic effect on the quality of students’ writing. Strategy instruction involves explicitly and systematically teaching steps necessary to use strategies independently. The following table will explain the above ideas.
Nico van der Heiden; Pieter Terhorst
2007-01-01
Our aim in this paper is to explain the international strategies of cities by focusing on market conditions. Drawing on a critique of the glocalisation thesis we show that the design of these strategies can plausibly be explained by the specific characteristics of urban capitalism found in the different cities. Whereas the international strategy of Manchester must be seen as a response to problems of postindustrial restrictions, the importance of the logistic sector in Dutch capitalism strong...
Plagiarism explainer for students
Barba, Lorena A.
2016-01-01
A slide deck to serve as an explainer of plagiarism in academic settings, with a personal viewpoint. For my students.Also on SpeakerDeck:https://speakerdeck.com/labarba/plagiarism-explainer-for-students(The slide viewer on SpeakerDeck is much nicer.)
"Ansip tshmo" kak objekt iskusstva / Nikolai Karajev
Karajev, Nikolai, 1978-
2007-01-01
Briti kunstniku Clare Charnley multimeediainstallatsioon أGift of tongues / keelte andؤ Hobusepea galeriis Tallinnas. Eestipoolseks kaaskunstnikuks projektis on Katrin Kivimaa. Performance'ist أKõneؤ ja alumises galeriis näidatavast videoinstallatsioonist. Clare Charnley ja Katrin Kivimaa koostatud raamatust "So Communication : Translating Each Other's Words"
IT in construction. Aligning IT and business strategies
Laan, A.; Laan, Albertus; Leuven, A.; Kolkman, S.; Voordijk, Johannes T.; Greenwood, D
2002-01-01
The extent to which information technology (IT) infrastructures and strategies are aligned with business processes and strategies varies widely along firms. The objective of this paper is to explain the success or failure of IT in construction firms by focusing on the alignment (or lack of it)
Service Quality Strategy: Implementation in Algarve Hotels
Carlos J. F. Cândido
2010-01-01
This chapter addresses the problem of service quality strategy implementation and undertakes a tentative validation of three models. The first focuses on service quality, as a function of quality gaps, while the second and third ones examine strategy implementation. The models aim to help to explain how to implement a service quality strategy that simultaneously avoids quality gaps and resistance to change. Sample data has been collected through questionnaires distributed within the p...
Obchodní strategie malého podniku
Hourová, Tereza
2013-01-01
The thesis deals with the business strategy of a middle-sized entrepreneur in the food manufacturing industry. The theoretical part explains basic terms, introduces methods of a strategic analysis and describes basic approaches to formulating the strategy. The practical part contains the strategic analysis of a specific entrepreneur created using the PEST analysis, the Porter five forces analysis, and the Value Chain Analysis. The practical part also includes suggested business strategies det...
Explaining the present GM business strategy on the EU food market: the gatekeepers' perspective.
Inghelbrecht, Linde; Dessein, Joost; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido
2015-01-25
The use of genetically modified (GM) crops and their applications is partially suppressed in European Union (EU) agriculture, even if one would expect otherwise given their complementarity with the neoliberal and industrialised EU agricultural regime in place. By applying a qualitative content analysis, this paper analyses how food manufacturers and retailers (referred to as gatekeepers in the food industry) explain and defend the exclusion of GM-labelled food products on the EU market. The study design places emphasis on the role of perceptions in the strategic behaviour of gatekeepers and on the role of interaction in this regard, as we assume that the way in which gatekeepers perceive the 'rules of the game' for commercialising GM crop applications on the EU food market will be influenced by their interaction with other agribusiness actors. In a first stage, the analysis determines thematic congruence in the (types of) perceptions that explain an agribusiness actor's overall interpretation of the EU business environment for GM crop applications. This perceived 'structuring arena' (SA) for GM crop applications - as conceptualised within our framework - contains areas of either internal and external tensions, that have a compelling or non-committal influence on the agribusiness actor's interpretation. In a second stage, the analysis particularly defines how gatekeepers in the food industry perceive and experience the SA for GM crop applications on the EU market, and how these perceptual tensions subsequently influence their strategic behaviour for GM-labelled products on the EU market. Finally, we highlight how these perceptions and actions (or inaction) suppress the main changes in practice that are necessary to manage this wicked problem. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Red ocean vs blue ocean strategies
Λαΐνος, Ιάσονας
2011-01-01
This paper is about the strategies that a company can adopt in order to get a competitive advantage over its rivals, and thus be successful (Red Ocean Strategies). We also tried to explain what actually entrepreneurship is, to be able to understand why the corporate strategies are formed as they do, and why companies are choosing to follow them. The following project is a part of our master thesis that we will present for the University of Piraeus for the MBA-TQM master department. The thesis...
Neural underpinnings of decision strategy selection: a review and a theoretical model
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Szymon Wichary
2016-11-01
Full Text Available In multi-attribute choice, decision makers use various decision strategies to arrive at the final choice. What are the neural mechanisms underlying decision strategy selection? The first goal of this paper is to provide a literature review on the neural underpinnings and cognitive models of decision strategy selection and thus set the stage for a unifying neurocognitive model of this process. The second goal is to outline such a unifying, mechanistic model that can explain the impact of noncognitive factors (e.g. affect, stress on strategy selection. To this end, we review the evidence for the factors influencing strategy selection, the neural basis of strategy use and the cognitive models explaining this process. We also present the neurocognitive Bottom-Up Model of Strategy Selection (BUMSS. The model assumes that the use of the rational, normative Weighted Additive strategy and the boundedly rational heuristic Take The Best can be explained by one unifying, neurophysiologically plausible mechanism, based on the interaction of the frontoparietal network, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and the brainstem nucleus locus coeruleus. According to BUMSS, there are three processes that form the bottom-up mechanism of decision strategy selection and lead to the final choice: 1 cue weight computation, 2 gain modulation, and 3 weighted additive evaluation of alternatives. We discuss how these processes might be implemented in the brain, and how this knowledge allows us to formulate novel predictions linking strategy use and neurophysiological indices.
Erdi, Peter
2008-01-01
This book explains why complex systems research is important in understanding the structure, function and dynamics of complex natural and social phenomena. Readers will learn the basic concepts and methods of complex system research.
Marketingová strategie spol. Lidl v ČR
Seidlová, Barbara
2017-01-01
The objective of the thesis is evalution marketing and communication strategy of Lidl in the Czech republic, identify key factors of success of this company and propose improvement of marketing strategy. In the first part, I explain the theory of marketing, marketing strategy and communication strategy. In the second part, I focused on current situation in the retail market and especifically on the marketing strategy of Lidl company. Based on facts, I propose the possibilities of improving th...
The wireless internet explained
Rhoton, John
2001-01-01
The Wireless Internet Explained covers the full spectrum of wireless technologies from a wide range of vendors, including initiatives by Microsoft and Compaq. The Wireless Internet Explained takes a practical look at wireless technology. Rhoton explains the concepts behind the physics, and provides an overview that clarifies the convoluted set of standards heaped together under the umbrella of wireless. It then expands on these technical foundations to give a panorama of the increasingly crowded landscape of wireless product offerings. When it comes to actual implementation the book gives abundant down-to-earth advice on topics ranging from the selection and deployment of mobile devices to the extremely sensitive subject of security.Written by an expert on Internet messaging, the author of Digital Press''s successful Programmer''s Guide to Internet Mail and X.400 and SMTP: Battle of the E-mail Protocols, The Wireless Internet Explained describes and evaluates the current state of the fast-growing and crucial...
SCORE A: A Student Research Paper Writing Strategy.
Korinek, Lori; Bulls, Jill A.
1996-01-01
A mnemonic strategy for writing a research paper is explained. "SCORE A" reminds the student to select a subject, create categories, obtain sources, read and take notes, evenly organize the information, and apply process writing steps. Implementation of the strategy with five eighth graders with learning disabilities is reported. (DB)
Eesti ja USA juhtide kohtumiste peateema on NATO ja demokraatia / Vahur Koorits
Koorits, Vahur, 1981-
2006-01-01
USA presidendi George W. Bushi visiidi ajal toimuvatel USA ja Eesti riigijuhtide kohtumistel räägitakse NATO ja demokraatia tulevikust, samuti tulevad kõne alla missioonid Afganistanis ja Iraagis ning eestlaste viisavabadus USA-sse reisimisel. Lisa: Millest kavatsevad riigijuhid kohtumistel rääkida: Ansip, Ilves, Bush. Vt. samas: Bushi visiidi ajal vilksatab Eesti üheks õhtuks ameeriklaste teleekraanidel
Enticknap, Nicholas
2014-01-01
Computer Jargon Explained is a feature in Computer Weekly publications that discusses 68 of the most commonly used technical computing terms. The book explains what the terms mean and why the terms are important to computer professionals. The text also discusses how the terms relate to the trends and developments that are driving the information technology industry. Computer jargon irritates non-computer people and in turn causes problems for computer people. The technology and the industry are changing so rapidly; it is very hard even for professionals to keep updated. Computer people do not
Influence of the large-small split effect on strategy choice in complex subtraction.
Xiang, Yan Hui; Wu, Hao; Shang, Rui Hong; Chao, Xiaomei; Ren, Ting Ting; Zheng, Li Ling; Mo, Lei
2018-04-01
Two main theories have been used to explain the arithmetic split effect: decision-making process theory and strategy choice theory. Using the inequality paradigm, previous studies have confirmed that individuals tend to adopt a plausibility-checking strategy and a whole-calculation strategy to solve large and small split problems in complex addition arithmetic, respectively. This supports strategy choice theory, but it is unknown whether this theory also explains performance in solving different split problems in complex subtraction arithmetic. This study used small, intermediate and large split sizes, with each split condition being further divided into problems requiring and not requiring borrowing. The reaction times (RTs) for large and intermediate splits were significantly shorter than those for small splits, while accuracy was significantly higher for large and middle splits than for small splits, reflecting no speed-accuracy trade-off. Further, RTs and accuracy differed significantly between the borrow and no-borrow conditions only for small splits. This study indicates that strategy choice theory is suitable to explain the split effect in complex subtraction arithmetic. That is, individuals tend to choose the plausibility-checking strategy or the whole-calculation strategy according to the split size. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.
Web related companies' strategies for attracting new customers
Bruno Marsigalia; Federica Evangelista; Domenico Celenza; Emanuela Palumbo
2014-01-01
This paper provides a study on web related B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Customer) evaluation of strategy and methods for maximizing (expanding) the number of customer among the people (i.e. internet population), using cycling process externally for internal process of strategy which explains business exploration and agility, and online consumers their compulsive buying behaviour with a new strategy to capture them in large number. The web based industri...
Shuen, Amy
2008-01-01
Web 2.0 makes headlines, but how does it make money? This concise guide explains what's different about Web 2.0 and how those differences can improve the bottom line. Whether you're an executive, a small business owner, or an entrepreneur, Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide illustrates through real life examples how various businesses are creating new opportunities on today's Web. This book is about strategy rather than the technology itself.
Research on Energy Management Strategy of Hybrid Electric Vehicle
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Deng Tao
2015-01-01
Full Text Available To improve the fuel economy and reduce emissions of hybrid electric vehicles, energy management strategy has received high attention. In this paper, by analyzing the deficiency of existing energy management strategy for hybrid cars, it not only puts forward the minimal equivalent fuel consumption adaptive strategy, but also is the first time to consider the driving dynamics target simultaneously, and to explain the future development direction of China’s hybrid energy management strategy.
Commercial Crew Program Crew Safety Strategy
Vassberg, Nathan; Stover, Billy
2015-01-01
The purpose of this presentation is to explain to our international partners (ESA and JAXA) how NASA is implementing crew safety onto our commercial partners under the Commercial Crew Program. It will show them the overall strategy of 1) how crew safety boundaries have been established; 2) how Human Rating requirements have been flown down into programmatic requirements and over into contracts and partner requirements; 3) how CCP SMA has assessed CCP Certification and CoFR strategies against Shuttle baselines; 4) Discuss how Risk Based Assessment (RBA) and Shared Assurance is used to accomplish these strategies.
Developing Business School Strategies: A Practitioner-Oriented Conceptualization
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daniel Seelhofer
2016-03-01
Full Text Available This conceptual paper examines the rationale for strategic planning in business schools and outlines an applied strategy development and controlling process that has been in use at a major Swiss business school for several years, contributing to a significant strengthening of the school's strategic position. It explains the strategy hierarchy and the strategy planning cycle, describes how to conduct a consistent strategic situation analysis, and details how to develop and manage a coherent strategy at all levels (normative, strategic, tactical, and operational, including type, nature, and structure of the corresponding documents.
Geometric leaf placement strategies
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fenwick, J D; Temple, S W P; Clements, R W; Lawrence, G P; Mayles, H M O; Mayles, W P M
2004-01-01
Geometric leaf placement strategies for multileaf collimators (MLCs) typically involve the expansion of the beam's-eye-view contour of a target by a uniform MLC margin, followed by movement of the leaves until some point on each leaf end touches the expanded contour. Film-based dose-distribution measurements have been made to determine appropriate MLC margins-characterized through an index d 90 -for multileaves set using one particular strategy to straight lines lying at various angles to the direction of leaf travel. Simple trigonometric relationships exist between different geometric leaf placement strategies and are used to generalize the results of the film work into d 90 values for several different strategies. Measured d 90 values vary both with angle and leaf placement strategy. A model has been derived that explains and describes quite well the observed variations of d 90 with angle. The d 90 angular variations of the strategies studied differ substantially, and geometric and dosimetric reasoning suggests that the best strategy is the one with the least angular variation. Using this criterion, the best straightforwardly implementable strategy studied is a 'touch circle' approach for which semicircles are imagined to be inscribed within leaf ends, the leaves being moved until the semicircles just touch the expanded target outline
Tallo, Ivar, 1964-
2006-01-01
Avaliku halduse spetsialist vastab küsimustele, kuidas jaguneb Kadrioru lossis era- ja avalik ruum, kas on õigustatud presidendi kantselei taotlus registreerida kõik, ka erakülalised ning kas juhtunu võib kahjustada presidendi mainet. Kaart, skeem: Sissepääsud. Kommenteerivad Andrus Ansip, Villu Reiljan, Andrus Saar. Vt. samas: Presidendipaar palus vabandust; Garel Püüa. Kärmas: tegu ei ole vandenõuga
Energy 'islands' attacked / Ella Karapetyan
Karapetyan, Ella
2011-01-01
4. veebruaril Brüsselis toimunud Euroopa Ülemkogu kohtumisel lepiti kokku majanduskasvu edendamiseks, töökohtade loomiseks ning Euroopa konkurentsivõime parandamiseks vajalikes meetmetes. Kohtumisest osa võtnud peaminister Andrus Ansip oli märkinud, et Eesti toetab EL-i eelarve kasutamist eelkõige energia siseturgu tugevdavate piiriüleste ühenduste tarbeks ja et isoleeritud energiasaared tuleb kaotada võimalikult kiiresti
Frescura, Marina
1997-01-01
After reviewing previous research on speech acts, this article describes a study that analyzed the behavior of speakers of standard Italian in refusing an offer of food. The importance of "face" is explained, and the refusal strategies are classified into four categories: explicit, tactical, decisive, and conclusive. (CFM)
Deciding on Family Holidays - Role Distribution and Strategies in Use
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Therkelsen, Anette
2010-01-01
this complexity in role distribution. Likewise in relation to decision-making strategies, contextual factors are helpful in explaining the strategies used, in particular the convention that holidays are an extraordinary “free space” which allows for more negotiation power being bestowed on children than...
Why Keep Changing Explaining the Evolution of Singapore’s Military Strategy Since Independence
2017-03-01
have agreed that the Dolphin strategy, with the 3G SAF as its core, is characterized by the use of “ intelligence , speed, and maneuverability in a...secure investor confidence. Any “loss of confidence in the republic’s stability or security would seriously damage its economic health.”55 The...the Singaporean leadership’s acknowledgement of the need to secure investor confidence and also of the increasing importance of the maritime domain
THE BANDWAGON EFFECT OF LEADERS' ENTRY STRATEGIES ON FOLLOWERS' ENTRY STRATEGIES
Kaplan, Tugba
2017-01-01
Firms, whichhave to compete with global firms in domestic market, try to internationalizefor gaining competitive advantage. The aim of this study is to recommend a conceptual framework to explain thedynamics of internationalization process of leader and follower firms thatinternationalize from an emerging country. In this study, author tries tofigure out the determinants of entrymode decisions of follower firms. In addition, bandwagon effect of leaders'entry mode strategies on followers&...
Can motor imagery and hypnotic susceptibility explain Conversion Disorder with motor symptoms?
Srzich, Alexander J; Byblow, Winston D; Stinear, James W; Cirillo, John; Anson, J Greg
2016-08-01
Marked distortions in sense of agency can be induced by hypnosis in susceptible individuals, including alterations in subjective awareness of movement initiation and control. These distortions, with associated disability, are similar to those experienced with Conversion Disorder (CD), an observation that has led to the hypothesis that hypnosis and CD share causal mechanisms. The purpose of this review is to explore the relationships among motor imagery (MI), hypnotic susceptibility, and CD, then to propose how MI ability may contribute to hypnotic responding and CD. Studies employing subjective assessments of mental imagery have found little association between imagery abilities and hypnotic susceptibility. A positive association between imagery abilities and hypnotic susceptibility becomes apparent when objective measures of imagery ability are employed. A candidate mechanism to explain motor responses during hypnosis is kinaesthetic MI, which engages a strategy that involves proprioception or the "feel" of movement when no movement occurs. Motor suppression imagery (MSI), a strategy involving inhibition of movement, may provide an alternate objective measurable phenomenon that underlies both hypnotic susceptibility and CD. Evidence to date supports the idea that there may be a positive association between kinaesthetic MI ability and hypnotic susceptibility. Additional evidence supports a positive association between hypnotic susceptibility and CD. Disturbances in kinaesthetic MI performance in CD patients indicate that MI mechanisms may also underlie CD symptoms. Further investigation of the above relationships is warranted to explain these phenomena, and establish theoretical explanations underlying sense of agency. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ooi, Can-Seng
however overshadows another important complementary – but under-theorized and tacit – strategy: the accreditation approach. This paper gives attention to the accreditation strategy while presenting the branding of Singapore as a tourist destination. By looking at the Formula One car races in Singapore......It is widely assumed that the practice of city branding attempts to frame the place in a unique manner, so that it will stand out globally. The assertion of uniqueness has become an institutionalized global practice for celebrating city identity. The emphasis on uniqueness in the place brand...... and the newly built casinos/integrated resorts, this paper argues that the Singaporean authorities are actually making Singapore less unique and more similar to other cities. This strategy is advantageous because these new but familiar attractions draw the attention of the global masses and accredit Singapore...
Factors that Explain the Principal-Agent Relationship in Six Companies of the City of Manizales
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tania Mackenzie Torres
2016-04-01
Full Text Available This study aims to determine the factors that explain the relationship between principal and agent in six institutions from different economic sectors (education, services, metallurgy, solidarity and financial economy in the city of Manizales. The study is based on the conceptual foundations of the neo-institutional current, which are framed in neoliberal and microeconomic models interpreted in the light of agency theory. As research strategy, the methodology consists of a multiple case study, which focuses its interest on a number of cases where each case has its own identity. The factors that determine the principal-agent relationship in these six institutions are explained by contract, incentives and controls; motivational factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, are also identified.
Proven Strategies for Teaching and Learning
D.G. Brown (David)
2004-01-01
textabstract50 technology-using professors at 50 of America's most-wired campuses were asked to explain how their teaching strategies have been augmented by the use of computers. From their responses emerges a pattern. Most professors are using computers in teaching in order to enable more
Life History Strategy and Young Adult Substance Use
George B. Richardson; Ching-Chen Chen; Chia-Liang Dai; Patrick H. Hardesty; Christopher M. Swoboda
2014-01-01
This study tested whether life history strategy (LHS) and its intergenerational transmission could explain young adult use of common psychoactive substances. We tested a sequential structural equation model using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. During young adulthood, fast LHS explained 61% of the variance in overall liability for substance use. Faster parent LHS predicted poorer health and lesser alcohol use, greater neuroticism and cigarette smoking, but did not predict...
Noise-dependent optimal strategies for quantum metrology
Huang, Zixin; Macchiavello, Chiara; Maccone, Lorenzo
2018-03-01
For phase estimation using qubits, we show that for some noise channels, the optimal entanglement-assisted strategy depends on the noise level. We note that there is a nontrivial crossover between the parallel-entangled strategy and the ancilla-assisted strategy: in the former the probes are all entangled; in the latter the probes are entangled with a noiseless ancilla but not among themselves. The transition can be explained by the fact that separable states are more robust against noise and therefore are optimal in the high-noise limit, but they are in turn outperformed by ancilla-assisted ones.
Crucial role of strategy updating for coexistence of strategies in interaction networks
Zhang, Jianlei; Zhang, Chunyan; Cao, Ming; Weissing, Franz J.
2015-04-01
Network models are useful tools for studying the dynamics of social interactions in a structured population. After a round of interactions with the players in their local neighborhood, players update their strategy based on the comparison of their own payoff with the payoff of one of their neighbors. Here we show that the assumptions made on strategy updating are of crucial importance for the strategy dynamics. In the first step, we demonstrate that seemingly small deviations from the standard assumptions on updating have major implications for the evolutionary outcome of two cooperation games: cooperation can more easily persist in a Prisoner's Dilemma game, while it can go more easily extinct in a Snowdrift game. To explain these outcomes, we develop a general model for the updating of states in a network that allows us to derive conditions for the steady-state coexistence of states (or strategies). The analysis reveals that coexistence crucially depends on the number of agents consulted for updating. We conclude that updating rules are as important for evolution on a network as network structure and the nature of the interaction.
Using Case Studies to Teach Courtesy Strategies.
Moore, Patrick
1990-01-01
Explains some courtesy techniques that technical professionals can use to deal with interpersonal problems that arise in writing situations. Presents three case studies with sample responses to show how case studies can teach these courtesy strategies to technical writing students. (MM)
President : olen sügavas mures / Arnold Rüütel ; interv. Toomas Sildam
Rüütel, Arnold, 1928-
2006-01-01
President Arnold Rüütel nendib, et oma uusaastaläkituses noorte probleemidest Eesti ühiskonnas kõneldes ei teadnud ta, et samad probleemid puudutavad teravalt ka ta oma tütretütreid. Lisa: Lossiskandaal. Vt. samas: Ihukaitsjad vaikivad Rüütli eraelust; Ingvar Bärenklau. Rüütli lapselapsed elavad Kadriorus juba aastaid; Arvamust avaldavad Andrus Ansip, Urmas Reinsalu, Andres Herkel, Ain Seppik, Jaanus Männik ja Ivari Padar
Riskikapital vajab riigi kehtestatud mängureegleid / Peeter Saks
Saks, Peeter
2004-01-01
AS-i Suprema Securities juhatuse esimehe sõnul on Euroopa riskikapitali turul selge nõudlus sobiva seadusliku raamistiku ja hea mainega riigi või piirkonna järele, Eestil on praegu võimalus kujuneda Euroopa üheks riskikapitali keskuseks. Autori arvates peaks esimeseks sammuks olema eraldi riskikapitali seaduse loomine. Vt. samas: Andrus Ansip, Taavi Veskimägi ja Linnar Viik vastavad küsimusele, kas Eesti vajab riiklikku riskikapitali fondi
1951-04-19
ansip& 2 fAnc grow of laborztory room (figure 4 ) t o the Joint C o j W s a i a , Therevas rm-ming inter, ovens, balances, sow cheidca3.s and...t he c e l l i?s a whole. respect t o chronosomes and genes , ionizing pa r t i c l e of suf f ic ien t energy will produce changes which may
NATO "röövib" Eestilt kogu jõueliidi / Tuuli Koch
Koch, Tuuli
2008-01-01
Bukarestis toimuvatel NATO tippkohtumisega seotud üritustel esindavad Eestit president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, peaminister Andrus Ansip, välisminister Urmas Paet, kaitseminister Jaak Aaviksoo ja kaitseväe juhataja kindralmajor Ants Laaneots. Poliitikute päevakavast. President T. H. Ilves esineb NATO temaatikaga tegelevate noorteorganisatsioonide esindajate konverentsil ning mõttekoja German Marshall Fund korraldataval konverentsil "The Bucharest Conference". Vabariigi President töövisiidil Bukarestis 1.-3.04.2008
A typology and analysis of drug resistance strategies of rural Native Hawaiian youth.
Okamoto, Scott K; Helm, Susana; Giroux, Danielle; Kaliades, Alexis; Kawano, Kaycee Nahe; Kulis, Stephen
2010-12-01
This study examines the drug resistance strategies described by Native Hawaiian youth residing in rural communities. Sixty-four youth from 7 middle and intermediate schools on the Island of Hawai'i participated in a series of gender-specific focus groups. Youth responded to 15 drug-related problem situations developed and validated from prior research. A total of 509 responses reflecting primary or secondary drug resistance strategies were identified by the youth, which were qualitatively collapsed into 16 different categories. Primary drug resistance strategies were those that participants listed as a single response, or the first part of a two-part response, while secondary drug resistance strategies were those that were used in tandem with primary drug resistance strategies. Over half of the responses reflecting primary drug resistance strategies fell into three different categories ("refuse," "explain," or "angry refusal"), whereas over half of the responses reflecting secondary drug resistance strategies represented one category ("explain"). Significant gender differences were found in the frequency of using different strategies as well as variations in the frequency of using different strategies based on the type of drug offerer (family versus friends/peers). Implications for prevention practice are discussed.
Coping strategies as mediator variables between explanatory styles and depressive symptoms
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pilar Sanjuan
2015-05-01
Full Text Available The main goal of this study was to analyze the relationships among explanatory styles, coping strategies and depressive symptoms. Path analyses conducted with data of 234 individuals showed that Negative Explanatory Style (tendency to explain negative outcomes through internal, stable, and global causes had both a positive direct effect on depressive symptoms, and an indirect effect on them through the use of avoidant strategies. On the contrary, Enhancing Explanatory Style (tendency to explain positive outcomes through internal, stable, and global causes had negative direct and indirect effects on these symptoms, but in this case, the indirect effect occurs through the use of problem solving and positive cognitive restructuring coping and the non-use of avoidant strategies. As a whole, the results suggest that to prevent the onset of depressive symptoms or to reduce them once they appear, enhancing explanatory style and problem solving and positive cognitive restructuring strategies should be promoted.
A Model of Dynamic Strategy-Making
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersen, Torben Juul; Hallin, Carina Antonia; Li, Xin
The organizational capacity to cope with unexpected changes remains a fundamental challenge in strategy as global competition and technological innovation increase environmental uncertainty. Conventional strategy-making is often conceived as a sequential linear process where we see it as a non......-linear interaction between top-down and bottom-up mechanisms dealing with multiple actions taken throughout the organization over time. It is driven by intension but with a flexible balance between centralized (planned) and decentralized (spontaneous) activities. We adopt the principles of complementary Yin......-Yang elements and Zhong Yong balance to explain the time bound interaction between these opposing yet complementary strategy-making mechanisms where tradeoffs and synergies are balanced across hierarchical levels....
Parents' Discourses about Language Strategies for Their Children's Preschool Bilingual Development
Schwartz, Mila; Moin, Victor; Leikin, Mark
2011-01-01
The study focused on immigrant parents' discourses about strategies for their children's preschool bilingual development and education. The article investigated how immigrant parents described and explained these strategies. The study was based on semi-structured interviews with 4 families. The 8 parents were Russian-speaking immigrants to Israel…
An Integrative Model of Dynamic Strategy-Making
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersen, Torben Juul; Hallin, Carina Antonia; Li, Xin
. We adopt the frame of complementary Yin-Yang elements and Zhong Yong balance to explain the time bound interaction between these opposing yet complementary strategy-making mechanisms where tradeoffs and synergies are balanced across hierarchical levels. The model outlines how the interaction between......The organizational capacity to cope with unexpected changes remains a fundamental challenge in strategy as global competition and technological innovation increase environmental uncertainty. Whereas conventional strategy-making often is conceived as a sequential linear process, we see it as a non......-linear interaction between top-down and bottom-up mechanisms dealing with multiple actions taken throughout the organization over time. It is driven by intension but with a flexible balance between centralized (planned) and decentralized (spontaneous) activities where strategy formulation and implementation interact...
Interpersonal success factors for strategy implementation: a case study using group model building
Rodney J Scott; Robert Y Cavana; Donald Cameron
2015-01-01
Strategy implementation has been identified as an area of system dynamics literature requiring greater attention. Most strategies fail to be implemented successfully, and processes for effectively implementing strategy are yet to be fully explained and explored. The reported interpersonal success factors for strategy implementation are reported outcomes for group model building, suggesting potential applicability. A case study using validated survey methods yielded promising results, and sugg...
ANALISIS PENCAPAIAN STRATEGI MENGGUNAKAN BALANCED SCORECARD
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Arasy Aalimudin
2017-10-01
Full Text Available The purpose of this research is measurement strategy achievement of public education office of surabaya city using Balanced Scorecard as a measurement tool based on financial perspective, internal business process perspective, customer perspective, and learning and growth perspective. The research approach used is descriptive qualitative by using the method of observation and interview and then analyzed by giving an overview of the performance of the strategy undertaken and explain systematically. The stages of the analysis include weighting performance to measure the number of indexes, which consists of Major Performance Indicator Achievement Index (IKU, Strategic Target Value (NSS, Performance Perspective Value (NKP, Unit Performance Value (NKU. Based on the achievement of strategy using balanced scorecard on the strategy used by Surabaya Education Department in improving the quality of education in Surabaya has been achieved well this is indicated by the achievement of Unit Performance Value of 102.31% which means it has met the target set 100%. Keyword :Strategy Achievement, Balanced Scorecard, Performance
Quality strategies implemented within the tourism agency Perfect Tour
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Madar, A.
2012-01-01
Full Text Available The paper presents the quality strategies adopted by the tourism agency Perfect Tour. The most important advantages of the Romanian agency in comparison with its competitors are: the focus on high quality services, cooperation with other international agencies, entering new fields like medical tourism and sole representative of Disneyland Paris. The strategies adopted explain the good financial results even in the period of crisis.
A simple threshold rule is sufficient to explain sophisticated collective decision-making.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elva J H Robinson
Full Text Available Decision-making animals can use slow-but-accurate strategies, such as making multiple comparisons, or opt for simpler, faster strategies to find a 'good enough' option. Social animals make collective decisions about many group behaviours including foraging and migration. The key to the collective choice lies with individual behaviour. We present a case study of a collective decision-making process (house-hunting ants, Temnothorax albipennis, in which a previously proposed decision strategy involved both quality-dependent hesitancy and direct comparisons of nests by scouts. An alternative possible decision strategy is that scouting ants use a very simple quality-dependent threshold rule to decide whether to recruit nest-mates to a new site or search for alternatives. We use analytical and simulation modelling to demonstrate that this simple rule is sufficient to explain empirical patterns from three studies of collective decision-making in ants, and can account parsimoniously for apparent comparison by individuals and apparent hesitancy (recruitment latency effects, when available nests differ strongly in quality. This highlights the need to carefully design experiments to detect individual comparison. We present empirical data strongly suggesting that best-of-n comparison is not used by individual ants, although individual sequential comparisons are not ruled out. However, by using a simple threshold rule, decision-making groups are able to effectively compare options, without relying on any form of direct comparison of alternatives by individuals. This parsimonious mechanism could promote collective rationality in group decision-making.
A simple threshold rule is sufficient to explain sophisticated collective decision-making.
Robinson, Elva J H; Franks, Nigel R; Ellis, Samuel; Okuda, Saki; Marshall, James A R
2011-01-01
Decision-making animals can use slow-but-accurate strategies, such as making multiple comparisons, or opt for simpler, faster strategies to find a 'good enough' option. Social animals make collective decisions about many group behaviours including foraging and migration. The key to the collective choice lies with individual behaviour. We present a case study of a collective decision-making process (house-hunting ants, Temnothorax albipennis), in which a previously proposed decision strategy involved both quality-dependent hesitancy and direct comparisons of nests by scouts. An alternative possible decision strategy is that scouting ants use a very simple quality-dependent threshold rule to decide whether to recruit nest-mates to a new site or search for alternatives. We use analytical and simulation modelling to demonstrate that this simple rule is sufficient to explain empirical patterns from three studies of collective decision-making in ants, and can account parsimoniously for apparent comparison by individuals and apparent hesitancy (recruitment latency) effects, when available nests differ strongly in quality. This highlights the need to carefully design experiments to detect individual comparison. We present empirical data strongly suggesting that best-of-n comparison is not used by individual ants, although individual sequential comparisons are not ruled out. However, by using a simple threshold rule, decision-making groups are able to effectively compare options, without relying on any form of direct comparison of alternatives by individuals. This parsimonious mechanism could promote collective rationality in group decision-making.
Eestlased rabelevad 52 miljardi krooni jagamise pärast / Erik Aru
Aru, Erik
2006-01-01
Eesti saab aastatel 2007-2013 EL-i struktuurifondidelt 52 miljardit krooni, rahandusministeerium koostab riiklikku struktuurivahendite kasutamise strateegiat. Res Publica esimees Taavi Veskimägi kavatseb esitada seaduseparanduse, mille kohaselt peaks struktuurivahendite strateegia kinnitama Riigikogu. Struktuurivahendite jagamine loob EAS-i juhataja Alar Kolgi sõnul Eestis seniolematu majandusharu: projektijuhtimissektori. Lisa: EL-i raha loob uue majandussektori. Vt. samas: Andrus Ansip, Valdo Kalm, Heido Vitsur, Leev Kuum ja Linnar Viik vastavad küsimusele, mis on innovatsioon
Flenady, Tracy; Dwyer, Trudy; Applegarth, Judith
2017-09-01
Abnormal respiratory rates are one of the first indicators of clinical deterioration in emergency department(ED) patients. Despite the importance of respiratory rate observations, this vital sign is often inaccurately recorded on ED observation charts, compromising patient safety. Concurrently, there is a paucity of research reporting why this phenomenon occurs. To develop a substantive theory explaining ED registered nurses' reasoning when they miss or misreport respiratory rate observations. This research project employed a classic grounded theory analysis of qualitative data. Seventy-nine registered nurses currently working in EDs within Australia. Data collected included detailed responses from individual interviews and open-ended responses from an online questionnaire. Classic grounded theory (CGT) research methods were utilised, therefore coding was central to the abstraction of data and its reintegration as theory. Constant comparison synonymous with CGT methods were employed to code data. This approach facilitated the identification of the main concern of the participants and aided in the generation of theory explaining how the participants processed this issue. The main concern identified is that ED registered nurses do not believe that collecting an accurate respiratory rate for ALL patients at EVERY round of observations is a requirement, and yet organizational requirements often dictate that a value for the respiratory rate be included each time vital signs are collected. The theory 'Rationalising Transgression', explains how participants continually resolve this problem. The study found that despite feeling professionally conflicted, nurses often erroneously record respiratory rate observations, and then rationalise this behaviour by employing strategies that adjust the significance of the organisational requirement. These strategies include; Compensating, when nurses believe they are compensating for errant behaviour by enhancing the patient's outcome
The Source for Learning & Memory Strategies.
Richards, Regina G.
This book is a comprehensive guide to learning and memory strategies for all students and especially those with learning problems. Chapter 1, on memory and the brain, explains brain cells, the cortex, function of the cerebral lobes, and other brain structures. Chapter 2 examines the memory process and discusses sensory memory, short-term memory,…
Horst, A.R.A. van der; Kaptein, N.
1999-01-01
As a means to a sustainable safe traffic environment the concept of Self-Explaining Roads (SER) has been developed. The SER concept advocates a traffic environment that elicits safe driving behaviour simply by its design. In order to support safe driving behaviour and appropriate speed choice,
Eisenhardt, K M; Sull, D N
2001-01-01
The success of Yahoo!, eBay, Enron, and other companies that have become adept at morphing to meet the demands of changing markets can't be explained using traditional thinking about competitive strategy. These companies have succeeded by pursuing constantly evolving strategies in market spaces that were considered unattractive according to traditional measures. In this article--the third in an HBR series by Kathleen Eisenhardt and Donald Sull on strategy in the new economy--the authors ask, what are the sources of competitive advantage in high-velocity markets? The secret, they say, is strategy as simple rules. The companies know that the greatest opportunities for competitive advantage lie in market confusion, but they recognize the need for a few crucial strategic processes and a few simple rules. In traditional strategy, advantage comes from exploiting resources or stable market positions. In strategy as simple rules, advantage comes from successfully seizing fleeting opportunities. Key strategic processes, such as product innovation, partnering, or spinout creation, place the company where the flow of opportunities is greatest. Simple rules then provide the guidelines within which managers can pursue such opportunities. Simple rules, which grow out of experience, fall into five broad categories: how- to rules, boundary conditions, priority rules, timing rules, and exit rules. Companies with simple-rules strategies must follow the rules religiously and avoid the temptation to change them too frequently. A consistent strategy helps managers sort through opportunities and gain short-term advantage by exploiting the attractive ones. In stable markets, managers rely on complicated strategies built on detailed predictions of the future. But when business is complicated, strategy should be simple.
Environmental restraints and life strategies: a habitat templet matrix.
Holm, E
1988-02-01
Four basic environmental restraints on life are deduced from the requirements of life's inherent order laws. Possible life strategies to contend with these restraints are listed. The various combinations of the restraints are subsequently investigated, and appropriate combinations of life strategies are fitted. This model is finally tested against insect case histories in various environments, and is demonstrated to explain some combinations of characteristics of insects in ecosystems not covered by the r-K or r-K-A continua. The role of heterochrony in achieving appropriate life strategies is briefly discussed.
A general framework of persistence strategies for biological systems helps explain domains of life
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Liudmila S Yafremava
2013-02-01
Full Text Available The nature and cause of the division of organisms in superkingdoms is not fully understood. Assuming that environment shapes physiology, here we construct a novel theoretical framework that helps identify general patterns of organism persistence. This framework is based on Jacob von Uexküll’s organism-centric view of the environment and James G. Miller’s view of organisms as matter-energy-information processing molecular machines. Three concepts describe an organism's environmental niche: scope, umwelt and gap. Scope denotes the entirety of environmental events and conditions to which the organism is exposed during its lifetime. Umwelt encompasses an organism's perception of these events. The gap is the organism's blind spot, the scope that is not covered by umwelt. These concepts bring organisms of different complexity to a common ecological denominator. Ecological and physiological data suggest organisms persist using three strategies: flexibility, robustness and economy. All organisms use umwelt information to flexibly adapt to environmental change. They implement robustness against environmental perturbations within the gap generally through redundancy and reliability of internal constituents. Both flexibility and robustness improve survival. However, they also incur metabolic matter-energy processing costs, which otherwise could have been used for growth and reproduction. Lineages evolve unique tradeoff solutions among strategies in the space of what we call a persistence triangle. Protein domain architecture and other evidence support the preferential use of flexibility and robustness properties. Archaea and Bacteria gravitate toward the triangle’s economy vertex, with Archaea biased toward robustness. Eukarya trade economy for survivability. Protista occupy a saddle manifold separating akaryotes from multicellular organisms. Plants and the more flexible Fungi share an economic stratum, and Metazoa are locked in a positive feedback
Teaching Strategies for the Multicultural Journalism Classroom.
Arnold, Mary
1992-01-01
Points out that journalism teachers must address issues of diversity in the multicultural classroom. Considers strategies for the multicultural classroom, including (1) using cross-cultural materials and explaining why such materials are being used; (2) making assignments that allow students to pursue culture-specific knowledge; and (3) permitting…
Successful user experience strategy and roadmaps
Rosenzweig, Elizabeth
2015-01-01
Successful User Experience: Strategy and Roadmaps provides you with a hands-on guide for pulling all of the User Experience (UX) pieces together to create a strategy that includes tactics, tools, and methodologies. Leveraging material honed in user experience courses and over 25 years in the field, the author explains the value of strategic models to refine goals against available data and resources. You will learn how to think about UX from a high level, design the UX while setting goals for a product or project, and how to turn that into concrete actionable steps. After reading this book, y
Neural Underpinnings of Decision Strategy Selection: A Review and a Theoretical Model.
Wichary, Szymon; Smolen, Tomasz
2016-01-01
In multi-attribute choice, decision makers use decision strategies to arrive at the final choice. What are the neural mechanisms underlying decision strategy selection? The first goal of this paper is to provide a literature review on the neural underpinnings and cognitive models of decision strategy selection and thus set the stage for a neurocognitive model of this process. The second goal is to outline such a unifying, mechanistic model that can explain the impact of noncognitive factors (e.g., affect, stress) on strategy selection. To this end, we review the evidence for the factors influencing strategy selection, the neural basis of strategy use and the cognitive models of this process. We also present the Bottom-Up Model of Strategy Selection (BUMSS). The model assumes that the use of the rational Weighted Additive strategy and the boundedly rational heuristic Take The Best can be explained by one unifying, neurophysiologically plausible mechanism, based on the interaction of the frontoparietal network, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and the brainstem nucleus locus coeruleus. According to BUMSS, there are three processes that form the bottom-up mechanism of decision strategy selection and lead to the final choice: (1) cue weight computation, (2) gain modulation, and (3) weighted additive evaluation of alternatives. We discuss how these processes might be implemented in the brain, and how this knowledge allows us to formulate novel predictions linking strategy use and neural signals.
Neural Underpinnings of Decision Strategy Selection: A Review and a Theoretical Model
Wichary, Szymon; Smolen, Tomasz
2016-01-01
In multi-attribute choice, decision makers use decision strategies to arrive at the final choice. What are the neural mechanisms underlying decision strategy selection? The first goal of this paper is to provide a literature review on the neural underpinnings and cognitive models of decision strategy selection and thus set the stage for a neurocognitive model of this process. The second goal is to outline such a unifying, mechanistic model that can explain the impact of noncognitive factors (e.g., affect, stress) on strategy selection. To this end, we review the evidence for the factors influencing strategy selection, the neural basis of strategy use and the cognitive models of this process. We also present the Bottom-Up Model of Strategy Selection (BUMSS). The model assumes that the use of the rational Weighted Additive strategy and the boundedly rational heuristic Take The Best can be explained by one unifying, neurophysiologically plausible mechanism, based on the interaction of the frontoparietal network, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and the brainstem nucleus locus coeruleus. According to BUMSS, there are three processes that form the bottom-up mechanism of decision strategy selection and lead to the final choice: (1) cue weight computation, (2) gain modulation, and (3) weighted additive evaluation of alternatives. We discuss how these processes might be implemented in the brain, and how this knowledge allows us to formulate novel predictions linking strategy use and neural signals. PMID:27877103
Courtney, H; Kirkland, J; Viguerie, P
1997-01-01
At the heart of the traditional approach to strategy lies the assumption that by applying a set of powerful analytic tools, executives can predict the future of any business accurately enough to allow them to choose a clear strategic direction. But what happens when the environment is so uncertain that no amount of analysis will allow us to predict the future? What makes for a good strategy in highly uncertain business environments? The authors, consultants at McKinsey & Company, argue that uncertainty requires a new way of thinking about strategy. All too often, they say, executives take a binary view: either they underestimate uncertainty to come up with the forecasts required by their companies' planning or capital-budging processes, or they overestimate it, abandon all analysis, and go with their gut instinct. The authors outline a new approach that begins by making a crucial distinction among four discrete levels of uncertainty that any company might face. They then explain how a set of generic strategies--shaping the market, adapting to it, or reserving the right to play at a later time--can be used in each of the four levels. And they illustrate how these strategies can be implemented through a combination of three basic types of actions: big bets, options, and no-regrets moves. The framework can help managers determine which analytic tools can inform decision making under uncertainty--and which cannot. At a broader level, it offers executives a discipline for thinking rigorously and systematically about uncertainty and its implications for strategy.
Balsiger, Philip
2018-01-01
This article analyzes and compares the dynamically changing outcomes of anti-sweatshop campaigns in France and Switzerland through a qualitative comparative case study using interviews and analysis of firsthand and secondary data. In both countries, some targeted firms made early concessions and later withdrew from those concessions. To explain these changing outcomes over time, the article develops a perspective that puts emphasis on interaction phases and highlights corporate strategic resp...
City Placement: A New Element in the Strategy of Integrated Marketing Communication of Cities
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andrzej Szromnik
2016-03-01
Full Text Available Purpose: Explanation of the essence and features of the “city placement” strategy, while observing the changes in “classic” forms of marketing communications used by cities and regions, including main pros and implementation procedures.Methodology: This paper is conceptual and relies on diagnosis and analysis of “city placement” strategy implementation in a chosen Polish city as well as on the author’s professional experiences. Analysis of scarce existing marketing literature, including the notion of “product placement,” allowed us to present model structures, variations, and rules that explain the role and pros of the “city placement” strategy in the promotion mix of places.Conclusions: This paper comprises not only a set of notions and models structuring the “city placement” phenomenon but also many operational concepts related to the implementation of this strategy, which makes this paper a valuable point in the discussion on innovative changes in the “promotion mix” of cities and regions.Originality: “city placement” is a novelty in promotion strategies of cities and regions. In the existing literaturę on place marketing, there are no in-depth conceptual works explaining the role, features, and forms of “city placement.” This paper is a new approach suggested by the author and is an attempt to explain the process.
Hoogerheide, Vincent; Deijkers, Lian; Loyens, Sofie M M; Heijltjes, Anita; van Gog, Tamara
2016-01-01
Two experiments investigated whether studying a text with an "explanation intention" and then actually explaining it to (fictitious) other students in writing, would yield the same benefits as previously found for explaining on video. Experiment 1 had participants first studying a text either with
Reed, Louren; Leuty, Melanie E
2016-07-01
Examination of individual difference variables have been largely ignored within research on the use of workplace sexual identity management strategies. The current study examined personality traits (extraversion, openness, and neuroticism), facets of sexual identity development (identity confusion, internalized heterosexism), and situational variables (e.g., perceptions of workplace climate and heterosexism) in explaining the use of management strategies, as well as possible interactions between individual and situational factors. Perceptions of the workplace climate toward lesbian and gay individuals significantly related to the use each of the management strategies, and Internalized Heterosexism was found to significantly predict the use of the Explicitly Out strategy. Most interactions between individual difference and situational variables were not supported, with the exception of an interaction between workplace heterosexism and internalized homophobia in explaining the use of the Explicitly Out strategy.
Alitalia Response Strategies to its Organizational Crisis - A situational analysis
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Romenti, Stefania; Valentini, Chiara
2009-01-01
This study intends to explore Alitalia's crisis response strategies implemented in 2008 to understand Alitalia's approach in communicating with stakeholders as a way to preserve the company's image and reputation. Our intent is to explain Alitalia's crisis response strategies by using an integrated...... model of crisis response strategies based on categories as identified by Benoit's, Sturges's, Coombs's, Bradford and Garret's and Huang's studies. This integrated model was used to perform qualitative content analyses of 77 press releases published by Alitalia's Media Department and by the Italian...... government. The findings show that Alitalia and the Italian government adopted a crisis communication strategy not completely suitable for Alitalia's crisis scenario. They, in fact, focused more on providing information and corrective action strategies rather than applying an authentic adaptive strategy...
MARKETING STRATEGIES OF SMARTPHONES PRODUCERS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Markova V.
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Smartphones global market is one of the most dynamically developing markets that can be characterized by high level of competition. The growth of smartphones homogeneity, which is a reduction in difference between technical and functional parameters of smartphones produced by various manufacturers, can be considered the market’s specific feature. The unique situation of high-tech product homogeneity in a fast-growing market is scantily described in specialized literature. The article shows changeability of smartphones global market leaders and explains that the key success factor in such a mature market is marketing. Based on secondary information, marketing strategies of long standing market leader in sales Samsung and overtaking Apple companies are determined as well as strategies of contenders for leadership - Chinese companies Huawei and Lenovo. It is shown on Lenovo case that inexplicit positioning leads to a loss of the growing market share due to offensive marketing strategies of other Chinese companies. The research results broaden the knowledge of methodical potential of marketing strategies in companies’ activities in competitive markets of homogeneous high-tech products.
Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts.
Wilson, Michael L; Boesch, Christophe; Fruth, Barbara; Furuichi, Takeshi; Gilby, Ian C; Hashimoto, Chie; Hobaiter, Catherine L; Hohmann, Gottfried; Itoh, Noriko; Koops, Kathelijne; Lloyd, Julia N; Matsuzawa, Tetsuro; Mitani, John C; Mjungu, Deus C; Morgan, David; Muller, Martin N; Mundry, Roger; Nakamura, Michio; Pruetz, Jill; Pusey, Anne E; Riedel, Julia; Sanz, Crickette; Schel, Anne M; Simmons, Nicole; Waller, Michel; Watts, David P; White, Frances; Wittig, Roman M; Zuberbühler, Klaus; Wrangham, Richard W
2014-09-18
Observations of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) provide valuable comparative data for understanding the significance of conspecific killing. Two kinds of hypothesis have been proposed. Lethal violence is sometimes concluded to be the result of adaptive strategies, such that killers ultimately gain fitness benefits by increasing their access to resources such as food or mates. Alternatively, it could be a non-adaptive result of human impacts, such as habitat change or food provisioning. To discriminate between these hypotheses we compiled information from 18 chimpanzee communities and 4 bonobo communities studied over five decades. Our data include 152 killings (n = 58 observed, 41 inferred, and 53 suspected killings) by chimpanzees in 15 communities and one suspected killing by bonobos. We found that males were the most frequent attackers (92% of participants) and victims (73%); most killings (66%) involved intercommunity attacks; and attackers greatly outnumbered their victims (median 8:1 ratio). Variation in killing rates was unrelated to measures of human impacts. Our results are compatible with previously proposed adaptive explanations for killing by chimpanzees, whereas the human impact hypothesis is not supported.
Marketing Strategy and Financial Performance: The Case of Chocolate Industry in Macedonia
Marjanova Jovanov, Tamara; Davcev, Ljupco; Boeva, Bogdanka
2016-01-01
Different business performance of the companies for many researchers is understood through the influence of marketing. This can be explained through the theory of strategy, since this theory is answering why different companies have different financial performances. The basic purpose of market research is that it allows the determination of a strategy for operation of the enterprise on the market, and establishes the needed specific actions which are to be taken for the strategy implementatio...
Research Methodology in Global Strategy Research
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro; Mudambi, Ram; Pedersen, Torben
2017-01-01
We review advances in research methodology used in global strategy research and provide suggestions on how researchers can improve their analyses and arguments. Methodological advances in the extraction of information, such as computer-aided text analysis, and in the analysis of datasets......, such as differences-in-differences and propensity score matching, have helped deal with challenges (e.g., endogeneity and causality) that bedeviled earlier studies and resulted in conflicting findings. These methodological advances need to be considered as tools that complement theoretical arguments and well......-explained logics and mechanisms so that researchers can provide better and more relevant recommendations to managers designing the global strategies of their organizations....
Cognitive Strategy Use as an Index of Developmental Differences in Neural Responses to Feedback
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersen, Lau M.; Visser, Ingmar; Crone, Eveline A.
2014-01-01
strategy groups except for the best performing one. Strategy use was a mediator and largely explained the relation between age and variance in activation patterns in the DLPFC and the SPC, but not in the ACC. These findings are interpreted vis-à-vis age versus performance predictors of brain development....... Keywords: feedback learning, functional brain activation, development, latent mixture models, strategy use...
Huis, Anita; Holleman, Gerda; van Achterberg, Theo; Grol, Richard; Schoonhoven, Lisette; Hulscher, Marlies
2013-04-08
There is only limited understanding of why hand hygiene improvement strategies are successful or fail. It is therefore important to look inside the 'black box' of such strategies, to ascertain which components of a strategy work well or less well. This study examined which components of two hand hygiene improvement strategies were associated with increased nurses' hand hygiene compliance. A process evaluation of a cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in which part of the nursing wards of three hospitals in the Netherlands received a state-of-the-art strategy, including education, reminders, feedback, and optimising materials and facilities; another part received a team and leaders-directed strategy that included all elements of the state-of-the-art strategy, supplemented with activities aimed at the social and enhancing leadership. This process evaluation used four sets of measures: effects on nurses' hand hygiene compliance, adherence to the improvement strategies, contextual factors, and nurses' experiences with strategy components. Analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses were used to explore changes in nurses' hand hygiene compliance and thereby better understand trial effects. Both strategies were performed with good adherence to protocol. Two contextual factors were associated with changes in hand hygiene compliance: a hospital effect in long term (p feedback about their hand hygiene performance (p manager holds team members accountable for hand hygiene performance p < 0.01) correlated positively with changes in nurses' hand hygiene compliance. This study illustrates the use of a process evaluation to uncover mechanisms underlying change in hand hygiene improvement strategies. Our study results demonstrate the added value of specific aspects of social influence and leadership in hand hygiene improvement strategies, thus offering an interpretation of the trial effects. The study is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, dossier number: NCT
Wheelock, Ana; Miraldo, Marisa; Thomson, Angus; Vincent, Charles; Sevdalis, Nick
2017-01-01
Objectives Despite continuous efforts to improve influenza vaccination coverage, uptake among high-risk groups remains suboptimal. We aimed to identify policy amenable factors associated with vaccination and to measure their importance in order to assist in the monitoring of vaccination sentiment and the design of communication strategies and interventions to improve vaccination rates. Setting The USA, the UK and France. Participants A total of 2412 participants were surveyed across the three countries. Outcome measures Self-reported influenza vaccination. Methods Between March and April 2014, a stratified random sampling strategy was employed with the aim of obtaining nationally representative samples in the USA, the UK and France through online databases and random-digit dialling. Participants were asked about vaccination practices, perceptions and feelings. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with past influenza vaccination. Results The models were able to explain 64%–80% of the variance in vaccination behaviour. Overall, sociopsychological variables, which are inherently amenable to policy, were better at explaining past vaccination behaviour than demographic, socioeconomic and health variables. Explanatory variables included social influence (physician), influenza and vaccine risk perceptions and traumatic childhood experiences. Conclusions Our results indicate that evidence-based sociopsychological items should be considered for inclusion into national immunisation surveys to gauge the public’s views, identify emerging concerns and thus proactively and opportunely address potential barriers and harness vaccination drivers. PMID:28706088
Hinton, Perry R; Brownlow, Charlotte
2014-01-01
SPSS Explained provides the student with all that they need to undertake statistical analysis using SPSS. It combines a step-by-step approach to each procedure with easy to follow screenshots at each stage of the process. A number of other helpful features are provided: regular advice boxes with tips specific to each test explanations divided into 'essential' and 'advanced' sections to suit readers at different levels frequently asked questions at the end of each chapter. The first edition of this popular book has been fully updated for IBM SPSS version 21 and also includes: chapters that expl
Risk communication strategy development using the aerospace systems engineering process
Dawson, S.; Sklar, M.
2004-01-01
This paper explains the goals and challenges of NASA's risk communication efforts and how the Aerospace Systems Engineering Process (ASEP) was used to map the risk communication strategy used at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to achieve these goals.
Bushi visiidi kasu Eestile : viisavabadus ja õhuruumi turve / Holger Roonemaa
Roonemaa, Holger
2006-01-01
Peaminister Andrus Ansip tõstatas kohtumisel USA presidendi George W. Bushiga viisavabaduse ja õhuturbe teema. G. W. Bushi ja Mart Laari kohtumisest. Vt. samas: Bush mõtleb oma poliitilisele pärandile; Bush kohtus Iraagis vigastada saanuga; Politseinik Purik: Bush oli fantastiliselt kihvt; Mati Raidma: Bush oli Eesti asjadega hästi kursis; Lisad: Bush oli hea suhtluspartner; Mis president Bushile Eestis meeldis? Vt. samas lk. 6-7 Anneli Ammas. Kohtumine maailma tähtsaima mehega ehk reportaaž turvamulli seest
Kotey, Bernice; Saini, Bandana; While, Lesley
2011-01-01
The study investigated employee learning strategies in community pharmacies in Australia and the factors that explain differences among pharmacies in the strategies employed. A qualitative methodology was applied, involving semi-structured interviews with owners, managers, or senior employees of 12 pharmacies. The findings revealed learning…
Ansip confident on euro adoption next year / Ella Karapetyan
Karapetyan, Ella
2010-01-01
9. aprillil toimunud peaminister Andrus Ansipi, Soome peaministri Matti Vanhaneni ja rahandusministri Jyrki Kataineni kohtumisel räägiti Eesti võimalikust liitumisest euroga. Matti Vanhanen ja Jyrki Katainen avaldasid tunnustust Eesti valitsuse tööle
Mida tegi peaminister Ansip 20 aastat tagasi? / Tarmo Vahter
Vahter, Tarmo, 1970-
2007-01-01
Endine Tartu KEK-i juhataja Jaak Kalm ja Tartu linna täitevkomitee aseesimees Robert Närska 1988. a. 2. veebruari meeleavaldusest ja selle laialiajamisest Tartus. Andrus Ansipi väidetavast kommentaarist meeleavalduse laialiajamisel. Peaminister Andrus Ansipi vastuseid küsimustele, miks EKP Tartu rajoonikomitee ei valinud teda 1988. a. rajoonikomitee II sekretäriks; kus ta viibis 2. veebruaril 1988. Lisa: Mida näitavad dokumendid
Coping strategies, alexithymia and anxiety in young patients with food allergy.
Polloni, L; DunnGalvin, A; Ferruzza, E; Bonaguro, R; Lazzarotto, F; Toniolo, A; Celegato, N; Muraro, A
2017-07-01
Food allergy is major public health concern affecting nearly 15 million Americans and 80 million Europeans. Risk of anaphylaxis and implications for social activities affect patients' quality of life and psychological well-being. We previously found that young patients reported higher levels of alexithymia (difficulty in recognizing and expressing emotions) compared with healthy peers and may influence affect, management style and clinical outcomes. This study aimed to explore links between coping strategies, alexithymia and anxiety among food-allergic adolescents and young adults. Ninety-two patients with IgE-mediated food allergy (mean age 18.6 years) completed Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory, Toronto Alexithymia Scale and Trait Anxiety subscale of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Multivariate analyses of variance assessed differences and associations between subgroups on the scales. Significant differences found between alexithymia levels in coping style were explained by Avoidance strategies. 'Avoidance' had the highest contribution in explaining alexithymia, followed by trait anxiety, age, anaphylaxis and social support. Respondents with higher alexithymia use avoidance as coping strategy over and above other coping strategies such as problem-solving and positive thinking, are younger, will have experienced anaphylaxis and will have lower social support. Recognizing the specific role of affect regulation in health behaviours may constitute an important step in supporting patients to explore more adaptive strategies. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Explaining Consumer Safe Food Handling Through Behavior-Change Theories: A Systematic Review.
Young, Ian; Reimer, Danielle; Greig, Judy; Meldrum, Richard; Turgeon, Patricia; Waddell, Lisa
2017-11-01
Consumers often engage in unsafe food handling behaviors at home. Previous studies have investigated the ability of behavior-change theories to explain and predict these behaviors. The purpose of this review was to determine which theories are most consistently associated with consumers' safe food handling behaviors across the published literature. A standardized systematic review methodology was used, consisting of the following steps: comprehensive search strategy; relevance screening of identified references; confirmation of relevance and characterization of relevant articles; risk-of-bias assessment; data extraction; and descriptive analysis of study results. A total of 20 relevant studies were identified; they were mostly conducted in Australia (40%) and the United States (35%) and used a cross-sectional design (65%). Most studies targeted young adults (65%), and none focused on high-risk consumer groups. The outcomes of 70% of studies received high overall risk-of-bias ratings, largely due to a lack of control for confounding variables. The most commonly applied theory was the Theory of Planned Behavior (45% of studies), which, along with other investigated theories of behavior change, was frequently associated with consumer safe food handling behavioral intentions and behaviors. However, overall, there was wide variation in the specific constructs found to be significantly associated and in the percentage of variance explained in each outcome across studies. The results suggest that multiple theories of behavior change can help to explain consumer safe food handling behaviors and could be adopted to guide the development of future behavior-change interventions. In these contexts, theories should be appropriately selected and adapted to meet the needs of the specific target population and context of interest.
Huis, A.M.P.; Holleman, G.J.M.; Achterberg, T. van; Grol, R.P.T.M.; Schoonhoven, L.; Hulscher, M.
2013-01-01
BACKGROUND: There is only limited understanding of why hand hygiene improvement strategies are successful or fail. It is therefore important to look inside the 'black box' of such strategies, to ascertain which components of a strategy work well or less well. This study examined which components of
The uneven impact of the European Employment Strategy on member states' employment policies
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Simonsen, Mikkel Mailand
2008-01-01
policies to varying degrees, but that the impact, generally speaking, has been limited. In the article, the author examines the impact of the strategy as a result of peer pressure and key actors' strategic use of the strategy and shows how these mechanisms work. Factors that can explain why greater impact......In the mid-1990s, EU member states decided to coordinate their national employment policies through a common European Employment Strategy (EES). Building on a systematic comparative study of four member states, the author argues that the strategy has influenced the member states' employment...
Chandler, Jacqueline; Rycroft-Malone, Jo; Hawkes, Claire; Noyes, Jane
2016-02-01
To examine the application of core concepts from Complexity Theory to explain the findings from a process evaluation undertaken in a trial evaluating implementation strategies for recommendations about reducing surgical fasting times. The proliferation of evidence-based guidance requires a greater focus on its implementation. Theory is required to explain the complex processes across the multiple healthcare organizational levels. This social healthcare context involves the interaction between professionals, patients and the organizational systems in care delivery. Complexity Theory may provide an explanatory framework to explain the complexities inherent in implementation in social healthcare contexts. A secondary thematic analysis of qualitative process evaluation data informed by Complexity Theory. Seminal texts applying Complexity Theory to the social context were annotated, key concepts extracted and core Complexity Theory concepts identified. These core concepts were applied as a theoretical lens to provide an explanation of themes from a process evaluation of a trial evaluating the implementation of strategies to reduce surgical fasting times. Sampled substantive texts provided a representative spread of theoretical development and application of Complexity Theory from late 1990's-2013 in social science, healthcare, management and philosophy. Five Complexity Theory core concepts extracted were 'self-organization', 'interaction', 'emergence', 'system history' and 'temporality'. Application of these concepts suggests routine surgical fasting practice is habituated in the social healthcare system and therefore it cannot easily be reversed. A reduction to fasting times requires an incentivised new approach to emerge in the surgical system's priority of completing the operating list. The application of Complexity Theory provides a useful explanation for resistance to change fasting practice. Its utility in implementation research warrants further attention and
Exemplars and Nudges: Combining Two Strategies for Moral Education
Engelen, Bart; Thomas, Alan; Archer, Alfred; van de Ven, Niels
This article defends the use of narratives about morally exemplary individuals in moral education and appraises the role that ‘nudge’ strategies can play in combination with such an appeal to exemplars. It presents a general conception of the aims of moral education and explains how the proposed
MAGMADIM: Young Explainers Program
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Paltiel, Z.
2005-01-01
Full Text:Physics teachers and educators constantly face the problem of inspiring their students to major in physics. On the other hand, science museums are designed to provide a pleasant environment which will stimulate and encourage a science associated experience to the general public. Typically, there is no intention to teach science as such in science museums. One may, however, use the science museum to teach and inspire certain groups of students in a much deeper sense. In fact they may actually enthusiastically learn much of the school physics curriculum at the museum. This report discusses the Magmadim program through which 10th graders are trained to be young explainers at the Weizmann Institutes Clore Garden of Science. To this end they study the physics underlying its exhibits in an after-school course. The ultimate goal is for the 'magmadim' to become the best possible explainers and be able to face all sorts of museum visitors. Along with learning how to instruct visitors, they must learn the physics behind the exhibits to give a full explanation of the exhibit and be able to answer any question that may arise. Our 5 year experience with the program shows that its self-selected participants not only study a lot of science, but also like it and learn how to explain the content to other people. This program, along with similar programs at the Bloomfield Science Museum and the Madatzim (young physics tutors) program of Ort, help in promoting the interest in science in general and physics in particular among school students. Various ways to expand the programs will also be discussed
Young, Ian; Thaivalappil, Abhinand; Greig, Judy; Meldrum, Richard; Waddell, Lisa
2018-06-01
Theories of behaviour change can explain the factors affecting food handlers' use of food safety practices. A systematic review was conducted on this topic to identify which theories have been applied in this area and to determine which theories are the most consistent predictors of food handlers' behaviours. Standard systematic review procedures were followed: comprehensive search strategy; relevance screening of abstracts; article characterization; data extraction; risk-of-bias assessment; and descriptive analysis. Among 19 relevant studies, the most commonly investigated theories were the Theory of Planned Behaviour (n = 9 studies) and Health Belief Model (n = 5). All investigated theories were useful to explain food handlers' behavioural intentions and behaviours related to food safety across different settings, and could serve as useful frameworks for future research and practice. However, there was wide variability in the predictive ability of the theories and their specific constructs, indicating theories should be adapted to the local context of application.
The Evolution of Exploitation Strategies by Myrmecophiles
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Schär, Sämi
than outside ant nests (M. rubra) as well. This fungus can kill ant associated lycaenid larvae, justifying the assumption that these benefit from the entomopathogen poor environment of ant nests. This could explain why natural selection may act in favour of this strategy. In the third chapter I......Myrmecophiles are animals which have evolved to live in the nests of ants. This life history strategy appears in animals as different as insects, spiders, snails, crustaceans and even snakes. Myrmecophiles are very speciose with estimates of up to 100'000 species, which raises the question why...... this strategy has evolved so frequently and is maintained by natural selection. The type of association between Myrmecophiles and ants ranges from mutualistic through to parasitic. These types of symbioses can also be found between and within species of ants. Ant associations can therefore be broadly...
Leadership and Strategies in the 21st Century
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Amos Avny
2015-12-01
Full Text Available The article defines and describes what are Strategy and leadership. It further explains that since the World configuration is uncertain and it changes even during these days, a new socio-economic strategy is required. The failure of both the traditional ideologies, Socialism and Capitalism, to provide a satisfactory prognosis induces, the Author to offer his Social-capitalism concept. The given prognosis combines the positive features of each of the two older views and offers a strategy working on a balanced and comprehensive mode of operation. Competent and proficient leadership are required from those who will be dedicated to establish, install and administer this strategy. Leaders are required to set an Example and should wish to become Role Models. Since they are very crucial and essential for moving people leaders should permanently improve and expand their personal communicating talent and their ability to inspire other people
Donche, Vincent; De Maeyer, Sven; Coertjens, Liesje; Van Daal, Tine; Van Petegem, Peter
2013-06-01
Although the evidence in support of the variability of students' learning strategies has expanded in recent years, less is known about the explanatory base of these individual differences in terms of the joint influences of personal and contextual characteristics. Previous studies have often investigated how student learning is associated with either personal or contextual factors. This study takes an integrative research perspective into account and examines the joint effects of personality, academic motivation, and teaching strategies on students' learning strategies in a same educational context in first-year higher education. In this study, 1,126 undergraduate students and 90 lecturers from eight professional bachelor programmes in a university college participated. Self-report measures were used to measure students' personality, academic motivation, and learning strategies. Students' processing and regulation strategies are mapped using the Inventory of Learning Styles. Key characteristics of more content-focused versus learning-focused teaching strategies were measured. Multivariate multi-level analysis was used to take the nested data structure and interrelatedness of learning strategies into account. Different personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) and academic motivation (amotivation, autonomous, and controlled motivation) were found to be independently associated with student learning strategies. Besides these student characteristics, also teaching strategies were found to be directly associated with learning strategies. The study makes clear that the impact of teaching strategies on learning strategies in first-year higher education cannot be overlooked nor overinterpreted, due to the importance of students' personality and academic motivation which also partly explain why students learn the way they do. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.
Information and Communication Technologies : A World Bank Group Strategy
World Bank
2002-01-01
Information and communication technologies provide the basis for increasing and applying knowledge in the private and public sectors. Countries with strong information infrastructures that employ innovative information technology applications, have many advantages for sustained economic growth and social development. This book is, primarily, a business strategy which explains the World Ban...
Na, Hyunjoo; Dancy, Barbara L; Park, Chang
2015-06-01
The study's purpose was to explore whether frequency of cyberbullying victimization, cognitive appraisals, and coping strategies were associated with psychological adjustments among college student cyberbullying victims. A convenience sample of 121 students completed questionnaires. Linear regression analyses found frequency of cyberbullying victimization, cognitive appraisals, and coping strategies respectively explained 30%, 30%, and 27% of the variance in depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Frequency of cyberbullying victimization and approach and avoidance coping strategies were associated with psychological adjustments, with avoidance coping strategies being associated with all three psychological adjustments. Interventions should focus on teaching cyberbullying victims to not use avoidance coping strategies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Do you get it? User-evaluated explainable BDI agents
Broekens, J.; Harbers, M.; Hindriks, K.; Bosch, K. van den; Jonker, C.; Meyer, J.J.C.
2010-01-01
In this paper we focus on explaining to humans the behavior of autonomous agents, i.e., explainable agents. Explainable agents are useful for many reasons including scenario-based training (e.g. disaster training), tutor and pedagogical systems, agent development and debugging, gaming, and
Thermally-assisted Magma Emplacement Explains Restless Calderas.
Amoruso, Antonella; Crescentini, Luca; D'Antonio, Massimo; Acocella, Valerio
2017-08-11
Many calderas show repeated unrest over centuries. Though probably induced by magma, this unique behaviour is not understood and its dynamics remains elusive. To better understand these restless calderas, we interpret deformation data and build thermal models of Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy. Campi Flegrei experienced at least 4 major unrest episodes in the last decades. Our results indicate that the inflation and deflation of magmatic sources at the same location explain most deformation, at least since the build-up of the last 1538 AD eruption. However, such a repeated magma emplacement requires a persistently hot crust. Our thermal models show that this repeated emplacement was assisted by the thermal anomaly created by magma that was intruded at shallow depth ~3 ka before the last eruption. This may explain the persistence of the magmatic sources promoting the restless behaviour of the Campi Flegrei caldera; moreover, it explains the crystallization, re-melting and mixing among compositionally distinct magmas recorded in young volcanic rocks. Our model of thermally-assisted unrest may have a wider applicability, possibly explaining also the dynamics of other restless calderas.
2017-03-31
core strengths to maintain a competitive advantage in their established field while exploring new opportunities and adopting strategies to overcome...Living in the Futures: How Scenario Planning Changed Corporate Strategy ,” Harvard Business Review (May 01, 2013): 119-127. The authors explain that the...EMPOWERING KNOWLEDGE WORKERS TO IMPROVE STRATEGY AND INTELLIGENCE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Mr
Sustainable development strategy formation for business corporations
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
L. A. Zaporozhtseva
2016-01-01
Full Text Available The article explains the concept of the company sustainable development strategy based on its economic security level, which includes the economic security concept loss threat control; and the concept of company sustainable development based on the fact, that the company in a developed market should not only "defend", but also ensure its development. After it implementation of decomposition is applied to the system of strategic economic security through a balanced scorecard, which allows translating the mission and vision into a set of operational goals and targets. The main components of strategic economic security provision are: business processes, finance, contractors and staff; based on the state which economic security level is determined as: high, normal, low or critical. After that, the strategic prospects are set, i.e. transition from the lowest to the highest economic security level takes place, passing the economic security fields. In order to do this, certain company development strategy is selected, the mechanism for its implementation is being worked out. At the same time, company sustainable development strategy is identified in the case of a growth strategy use, which implies a transition from endogenous development strategy to introductive or introspective development strategy with further access to multi-integral development strategy. If there is inverse relationship, one can not speak of any sustainable development strategy. Besides, development, implementation and use of monitoring for the design process of the company's development strategy taking into account its economic security level acquires great importance.
Lanthanide-Based Metal Organic Frameworks: Synthetic Strategies and Catalytic Applications
Pagis, C.; Ferbinteanu, M.; Rothenberg, G.; Grecea, S.
2016-01-01
This short critical review outlines the main synthetic strategies used in the designed synthesis of lanthanide-based metal organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs). It explains the impact of the choice of organic linker on the final network topology, and it highlights the applications of Ln-MOFs in the
Deep--deeper--deepest? Encoding strategies and the recognition of human faces.
Sporer, S L
1991-03-01
Various encoding strategies that supposedly promote deeper processing of human faces (e.g., character judgments) have led to better recognition than more shallow processing tasks (judging the width of the nose). However, does deeper processing actually lead to an improvement in recognition, or, conversely, does shallow processing lead to a deterioration in performance when compared with naturally employed encoding strategies? Three experiments systematically compared a total of 8 different encoding strategies manipulating depth of processing, amount of elaboration, and self-generation of judgmental categories. All strategies that required a scanning of the whole face were basically equivalent but no better than natural strategy controls. The consistently worst groups were the ones that rated faces along preselected physical dimensions. This can be explained by subjects' lesser task involvement as revealed by manipulation checks.
Menozzi, Davide; Sogari, Giovanni; Mora, Cristina
2015-09-10
Although fruit and vegetable consumption is highly recommended for a healthy and balanced daily diet, several European countries do not meet these recommendations. In Italy, only 45% of young people are consuming at least one portion of vegetables per day. Therefore, this paper aims to understand the main determinants of vegetables consumption among young adults to suggest possible intervention strategies. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a samples of Italian students (n = 751), using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a conceptual framework. A structural equation model (SEM) was developed to test the TPB predictors for vegetable consumption, and the role of background factors (socio-demographic and personal characteristics) in improving the TPB model's explaining power. Overall, 81% and 68%, respectively, of intentions and behaviour variance is explained by the TPB model. Socio-demographic and personal characteristics were found to influence intentions and behaviour indirectly by their effects on the theory's more proximal determinants. Interventions should be targeted to improve perceived behavioural control (PBC), attitudes and subjective norms that significantly affect intentions. Tailored interventions for male students, enrolled in courses other than food science, and doing less physical activity may have a larger effect on behavioural change.
Reachability and Real-Time Actuation Strategies for the Active SLIP Model
2015-06-01
time. In gen- eral, animals’ anatomy is far more complex than what the SLIP model captures, due to the presence of joints, ankles , knees, hips, leg...strategies for locomotion. These strategies can then be applied to an anchor , a more complex and realistic model to mimic the animal’s morphology and...model. As clearly explained in [1], the ideal SLIP model is a template that can then be ” anchored ” to systems with more complex dynamics. The prototype
Can inflation explain the second law of thermodynamics
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Page, D.N.; Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park
1984-01-01
The inflationary model of the universe can explain several of the cosmological conundra that are mysteries in the standard hot big bang model. Paul Davies has suggested that inflation can also explain the second law of thermodynamics, which describes the time asymmetry of the universe. Here several difficulties with this suggestion are noted showing how the present inflationary models must assume the arrow of time rather than explaining it. If the second law is formulated as a consequence of the hypothesis that there were no long-range spatial correlations in the initial state of the universe, it is shown how some of the cosmological conundra might be explained even without inflation. But if the ultimate explanation is to include inflation, three essential elements remain to be demonstrated which are listed. (author)
Coping Skills Help Explain How Future-Oriented Adolescents Accrue Greater Well-Being Over Time.
Chua, Li Wen; Milfont, Taciano L; Jose, Paul E
2015-11-01
Adolescents who endorse greater levels of future orientation report greater well-being over time, but we do not know the mechanism by which this happens. The present longitudinal study examined whether both adaptive as well as maladaptive coping strategies might explain how future orientation leads to ill-being and well-being over time in young New Zealanders. A sample of 1,774 preadolescents and early adolescents (51.9 % female) aged 10-15 years at Time 1 completed a self-report survey three times with 1 year intervals in between. Longitudinal mediation path models were constructed to determine whether and how maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies at Time 2 functioned as mediators between future orientation at Time 1 and ill-being and well-being at Time 3. Results showed that future orientation predicted lower maladaptive coping, which in turn predicted lower substance use and self-harming behavior. All three well-being outcomes (i.e., happiness with weight, vitality, and sleep) were consistently predicted by future orientation, and all three pathways were mediated by both lower maladaptive and higher adaptive coping strategies (with the exception of happiness with weight, which was mediated only by lower maladaptive coping). The results suggest that several pathways by which future orientation leads to greater well-being occurs through an increased use of adaptive coping, a decreased use of maladaptive coping, or both.
Developing A Strategy to Enact Lean
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nicola Morrey
2013-01-01
Full Text Available This paper explains the strategy employed by a case study company to implement lean across the business, and to reflect on the success of this approach so other companies may consider this learning and how it might be useful to them. The strategy to enact lean in the case study company was based on creating a number of standard tools/ways of working. These tools can be considered to be standardised work for key aspects of the construction process that the company undertakes. The aim of the tools was to ensure that critical tasks would be carried out to the correct standard (quality, time, cost, health and safety every time, across the business. Achievement of this is expected to lead to improved performance and elimination of variation (waste. To implement this strategy of using standardised work to eliminate variation and lead to improved performance, a step-by-step process was developed to create the tools/standardised work. The paper describes the process that was undertaken and how it aimed to not only produce a number of tools/standardised work, but also to involve people and managers from across the business such that lean philosophy and thinking might also begin to become embedded. The paper will firstly explain, with reference to the relevant literature, how and why the strategy to implement standardised work was chosen, the process that was defined to develop the standardised work, and what happened when that process was put into practice. The findings of the paper show that whilst the completed tools delivered business benefits, the development of the tools did not follow the planned process. The paper discusses how people within the business responded to this strategy and how the process had to be continuously adapted to cope with the current business environment and path dependencies, further evidencing that lean implementations need to be tailored to suit the needs of the individual firm, rather than there being a one size fits all
Schultz, Jon-Håkon; Langballe, Ase; Raundalen, Magne
2014-01-01
In the context of crisis and disasters, school-aged children are a vulnerable group with fewer coping resources than adults. The school is a key arena for preventive interventions; teachers can be given a key role in large-scale school-based interventions following a man-made or natural disaster. This paper describes a practical example of designing a school-based population-level intervention. The preventive measures were delivered as a national communication strategy between teachers and pupils aged 6-19 concerning the terror attack on 22 July 2011 in Norway. The strategy is based on principles from international research. The presentation contributes to the discussion of defining the teacher's role in school-based crisis interventions and dealing with high-intensity media coverage of war, terror, and catastrophes. THE PRESENTATION PROVIDES EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON HOW TEACHERS CAN TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN HELPING PUPILS TO DEAL WITH SUCH EVENTS THROUGH TWO APPROACHES: the therapeutic approach, to restore calm and feelings of safety; and the educational approach, to foster reflection and deeper understanding.
Cloud computing and ROI a new framework for it strategy
Mohapatra, Sanjay
2014-01-01
This book develops an IT strategy for cloud computing that helps businesses evaluate their readiness for cloud services and calculate the ROI. The framework provided helps reduce risks involved in transitioning from traditional "on site" IT strategy to virtual "cloud computing." Since the advent of cloud computing, many organizations have made substantial gains implementing this innovation. Cloud computing allows companies to focus more on their core competencies, as IT enablement is taken care of through cloud services. Cloud Computing and ROI includes case studies covering retail, automobile and food processing industries. Each of these case studies have successfully implemented the cloud computing framework and their strategies are explained. As cloud computing may not be ideal for all businesses, criteria?are also offered to help determine if this strategy should be adopt.
Easter School Guidance. The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies.
Department for Education and Skills, London (England).
This booklet explains the goals of Easter Schools, part of England's National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. Easter Schools should be planned to cover four half-days and include four literacy and four mathematics lessons each covering the equivalent of at least an hour. The booklet addresses the following issues: why funding has been made…
Bingo for Beginners: A Game Strategy for Facilitating Active Learning.
Coco, Angela; Woodward, Ian; Shaw, Kirstyn; Cody, Alex; Lupton, Gillian; Peake, Andrew
2001-01-01
Describes a bingo game that focuses on sociology of the body in which students answer questions with either a yes or no as opposed to the traditional way the game is played. Explains how to construct the game and addresses practical strategies to use after the game. (CMK)
STRATEGIES OF MAINTAINING PROFICIENCY BY TEACHERS OF ENGLISH IN INDONESIA
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Junaidi Mistar, Alfan Zuhairini
2011-10-01
Full Text Available The objectives of the present study are four-fold: (1 to identify the types of strategies to maintain proficiency used by teachers of English in Indonesia, (2 to know the intensity of use of the obtained strategy types, (3 to measure the inter-correlation in the use of the obtained strategy types, and (4 to investigate the effect of proficiency level on the use of maintaining strategies. The subjects were 93 teachers applying for S2 degree in 2010/2011 at the postgraduate program of the Islamic University of Malang. They were given two sets of instrument, a Likert-scale questionnaire of English proficiency maintaining strategies and a TOEFL test. Then, a factor analysis identified nine strategy categories, including language focusing, metacognitive and affective developing, reading and writing activating, language resource utilizing, cognitive processing, culture learning, social communicating, text analyzing, and radio listening strategies. These strategy types explained 63.84% of variances of maintaining strategies and they were used at high level of intensity. Moreover, the use of the nine strategy types were found to be inter-correlated with one another. Finally, no significant effect of proficiency level on strategy use was found, indicating that teachers with different level of proficiency reported using the same strategies of maintaining their proficiency.
Your Radiologist Explains Nuclear Medicine
Full Text Available ... Disorders Video: The Basketball Game: An MRI Story Radiology and You Sponsored by Image/Video Gallery Your Radiologist Explains Nuclear Medicine Transcript Welcome to Radiology Info dot org Hello! I’m Dr. Ramji ...
Djawadi, Behnud Mir; Fahr, René; Turk, Florian
2014-12-01
Medical nonpersistence is a worldwide problem of striking magnitude. Although many fields of studies including epidemiology, sociology, and psychology try to identify determinants for medical nonpersistence, comprehensive research to explain medical nonpersistence from an economics perspective is rather scarce. The aim of the study was to develop a conceptual framework that augments standard economic choice theory with psychological concepts of behavioral economics to understand how patients' preferences for discontinuing with therapy arise over the course of the medical treatment. The availability of such a framework allows the targeted design of mechanisms for intervention strategies. Our conceptual framework models the patient as an active economic agent who evaluates the benefits and costs for continuing with therapy. We argue that a combination of loss aversion and mental accounting operations explains why patients discontinue with therapy at a specific point in time. We designed a randomized laboratory economic experiment with a student subject pool to investigate the behavioral predictions. Subjects continue with therapy as long as experienced utility losses have to be compensated. As soon as previous losses are evened out, subjects perceive the marginal benefit of persistence lower than in the beginning of the treatment. Consequently, subjects start to discontinue with therapy. Our results highlight that concepts of behavioral economics capture the dynamic structure of medical nonpersistence better than does standard economic choice theory. We recommend that behavioral economics should be a mandatory part of the development of possible intervention strategies aimed at improving patients' compliance and persistence behavior. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Rossing, Christian Plesner
2013-01-01
This paper examines how a functional tax strategy impacts the management control system (MCS) in a multinational enterprise (MNE) facing transfer pricing tax risks. Based on case study findings it is argued that the MCS in a multinational setting is contingent upon the MNE's response to its tax...... environment. Moreover, the paper extends existing contingency-based theory on MCS by illustrating the role of inter-organisational network collaboration across MNE transfer pricing tax experts. This collaboration, caused by a widely dispersed tax knowledge base, fuels the formal interactive control system...... and reduces tax uncertainty. The paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach for explaining findings, using contingency-based theory and network theory at the inter-organisational level....
Mele, Valentina; Compagni, Amelia
2010-01-01
The approval (2003) and enforcement (2005) of a smoking ban in Italy have been viewed by many as an unexpectedly successful example of policy change. The present paper, by applying a processualist approach, concentrates on two policy cycles between 2000 and 2005. These had opposing outcomes: an incomplete decisional stage and an authoritative decision, enforced two years later. Through the analysis of the different phases of agenda setting, alternative specification and decision making, we have compared the quality of participation of policy entrepreneurs in the two cycles, their political strategies and, in these, the relevance of issue image. The case allows us to direct the attention of scholars and practitioners to an early phase of the policy implementation process – which we have named "transition to practice". This, managed with political strategy, might have strongly contributed to the final successful policy outcome.
Your Radiologist Explains Nuclear Medicine
Full Text Available ... by Image/Video Gallery Your Radiologist Explains Nuclear Medicine Transcript Welcome to Radiology Info dot org Hello! ... d like to talk to you about nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine offers the potential to identify disease ...
Your Radiologist Explains Nuclear Medicine
Full Text Available ... An MRI Story Radiology and You Sponsored by Image/Video Gallery Your Radiologist Explains Nuclear Medicine Transcript ... by a special camera and computer to create images of the inside of your body. If you’ ...
Your Radiologist Explains Nuclear Medicine
Full Text Available ... Sponsored by Image/Video Gallery Your Radiologist Explains Nuclear Medicine Transcript Welcome to Radiology Info dot org ... I’d like to talk to you about nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine offers the potential to identify ...
Explaining variation in nascent entrepreneurship
A.J. van Stel (André); A.R.M. Wennekers (Sander); P. Reynolds (Paul); A.R. Thurik (Roy)
2004-01-01
textabstractThis paper aims at explaining cross-country variation in nascent entrepreneurship. Regression analysis is applied using various explanatory variables derived from three different approaches. We make use of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor database, including nascent entrepreneurship
Explaining nascent entrepreneurship across countries
A.R. Thurik (Roy); A.J. van Stel (André); A.R.M. Wennekers (Sander); P. Reynolds (Paul)
2003-01-01
textabstractThis paper aims at explaining cross-country variation in nascent entrepreneurship. Regression analysis is applied using various explanatory variables derived from three different approaches. We make use of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor database, including nascent entrepreneurship
Ploem, Matthias
2017-01-01
The comparison of PepsiCos marketing strategy in the United States of America to the one applied in the Czech Republic is being analyzed in order to provide an answer to the following question: is PepsiCo as strong in the Czech Republic as in the United States of America? In a first part, critical terms related to marketing and brand will be explained, to provide the readers with a deeper understanding related to these terms. The second part provides an analysis of PepsiCos position in the US...
Behavioural strategy: Adaptability context
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Piórkowska Katarzyna
2016-05-01
Full Text Available The paper is embedded in the following fields: strategic management in terms of behavioural strategy concept, adaptability construct, and micro-foundations realm as well as organizational theory and psychology. Moreover, the paper concerns to some extent a multi-level approach in strategic management involving individual, team, and organizational level. The aim of the paper is to contribute to extend, on one hand, the ascertainment set in the field of behavioural strategy as behavioural strategy encompasses a mindboggling diversity of topics and methods and its conceptual unity has been hard to achieve (Powell, Lovallo, Fox 2011, p. 1371, and on the other hand, to order mixed approaches to adaptability especially to gain insights on micro-level adapting processes (individual adaptability and adaptive performance in terms of the multi-level approach. The method that has been used is literature studies and the interference is mostly deductive. The structure of the manuscript is four-fold. The first part involves the considerations in the field of adaptability and adaptive performance at the individual level. The issues of adaptability and adaptive performance at the team level have been presented in the second part. The third part encompasses the organizational adaptability assertions. Finally, the conclusion, limitations of the considerations highlighted as well as the future research directions have been emphasized. The overarching key finding is that the behavioural strategy concept may constitute the boundary spanner in exploring and explaining adaptability phenomenon at different levels of analysis.
van Bommel, H.W.M.; van Bommel, Henricus Wilhelmus Maria
2016-01-01
Many different theories are found to explain how industrial companies implement sustainability strategies in their supply networks. However, the question why companies in a similar position choose different strategies remains under discussed. It is this question the research of this study seeks to
Life history strategy of the honey bee, Apis mellifera.
Seeley, Thomas D
1978-01-01
The feral honey bee queens (colonies) of central New York State (USA) show a K-type life history strategy. Their demographic characteristics include low early life mortality, low reproductive rate, long lifespan, high population stability and repeated reproductions. Identifying the life history strategy of these bees reveals the general pattern of selection for competitive ability, rather than productivity, which has shaped their societies. Selection for competitive power explains the adaptiveness (compared with alternatives found in many other insect societies) of the large perennial colonies, infrequent but expensive offspring, and efficient foraging which characterize the social organization of these bees.
Marketingová strategie společnosti Camp Leaders s.r.o.
Švubová, Tereza
2014-01-01
The bachelor thesis deals with the marketing strategy of the company Camp Leaders s.r.o. in the Czech Republic. The main objective of the work is to analyse the marketing strategy. The first chapter explains some key concepts of marketing. The second chapter is dedicated to the introduction of the company Camp Leaders, part of the Smaller Earth. Then the second chapter analyses the marketing mix of this company and the main competitors of providing Work&Travel programmes are introduced. The m...
Management of the fuel-cycle back-end: The Electricite de France's strategy
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Esteve, B.
2001-01-01
Countries are following three options for management of spent fuel from nuclear power plants: reprocess-recycle, direct disposal, and ''wait and see''. France has adopted the reprocess-recycle strategy for managing its spent fuel, which has created a stable environment for Electricite de France to plan its spent fuel management. However, the French government is planning to debate its spent fuel management strategy and may choose a different direction. A number of factors affecting the choice of spent fuel management strategy are discussed and the benefits of maintaining the status quo from the point of view of the nuclear utility are explained. (author)
The Islamic State’s Global Propaganda Strategy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
2016-03-01
Full Text Available This Research Paper aims to analyse in depth the global propaganda strategy of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS by looking at the methods through which this grand strategy is carried out as well as the objectives that IS wants to achieve through it. The authors first discuss IS’ growth model, explaining why global expansion and recruitment of foreign fighters are pivotal to IS success. Having in mind this critical role, the authors then explore the narratives and themes used by the group to mobilise foreign fighters and jihadists groups. Third, the paper analyses how IS deploys its narratives in those territories where it has established a foothold. Fourth, it outlines IS’ direct engagement strategy and how it is used to facilitate allegiance of other jihadist groups. The final section of the paper offers a menu of policy options that stakeholders can implement to counter IS’ global propaganda efforts.
Strategy community development based on local resources
Meirinawati; Prabawati, I.; Pradana, G. W.
2018-01-01
The problem of progressing regions is not far from economic problems and is often caused by the inability of the regions in response to changes in economic conditions that occur, so the need for community development programs implemented to solve various problems. Improved community effort required with the real conditions and needs of each region. Community development based on local resources process is very important, because it is an increase in human resource capability in the optimal utilization of local resource potential. In this case a strategy is needed in community development based on local resources. The community development strategy are as follows:(1) “Eight Line Equalization Plus” which explains the urgency of rural industrialization, (2) the construction of the village will be more successful when combining strategies are tailored to regional conditions, (3) the escort are positioning themselves as the Planner, supervisor, information giver, motivator, facilitator, connecting at once evaluators.
Social media infleunce - a case study of LUSH's social media marketing strategy
Belowska, Martyna; Løyche, Tanja Blomgaard; Szewczykowska, Karolina; Shore, Jonna Ellinor; Krejci, Kamila
2017-01-01
This research project is a case study of LUSH Cosmetics which aims to understand theinfluence in social media on consumers through the social media marketing strategy ofLUSH. This is done by first, explaining the social media marketing strategy of LUSH throughThe Theory of Influence by Robert Cialdini (1984) which has formed the theoreticalframework in this project. Second, an online individual survey has been conducted to deeperunderstand how potential consumers perceive the influence from L...
Does the General Strain Theory Explain Gambling and Substance Use?
Greco, Romy; Curci, Antonietta
2017-09-01
General Strain Theory (GST: Agnew Criminology 30:47-87, 1992) posits that deviant behaviour results from adaptation to strain and the consequent negative emotions. Empirical research on GST has mainly focused on aggressive behaviours, while only few research studies have considered alternative manifestations of deviance, like substance use and gambling. The aim of the present study is to test the ability of GST to explain gambling behaviours and substance use. Also, the role of family in promoting the adoption of gambling and substance use as coping strategies was verified. Data from 266 families with in mean 8 observations for each group were collected. The multilevel nature of the data was verified before appropriate model construction. The clustered nature of gambling data was analysed by a two-level Hierarchical Linear Model while substance use was analysed by Multivariate Linear Model. Results confirmed the effect of strain on gambling and substance use while the positive effect of depressive emotions on these behaviours was not supported. Also, the impact of family on the individual tendency to engage in addictive behaviours was confirmed only for gambling.
U.S. Counterterrorism Landscape: An Examination of Policy and Strategy Using a Conceptual Approach
2015-06-12
areas of strategy, policy, and parochialism apply to the strategic security environment. The analysis concludes that the counterterrorism landscape and...and the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. In particular, several lessons in the areas of strategy, policy, and parochialism apply to the strategic...capacities, to the parochialisms inherent in their cultures.3 1 Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis
Factors Affecting Competitive Strategies in International Construction Companies
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tuğçe ERCAN
2013-02-01
Full Text Available Due to rising competition in the international construction market, competitive strategies are becoming ever more important. This study aims to identify the level of importance of a variety of competitive strategies in construction companies to create a theoretical framework for competitive strategies in international construction business. In the questionnaire titled: ‘Identifying the Parameters of Strategic Performance Comparison Tool in International Construction Companies’, professionals were asked the level of importance of parameters in acquiring a competitive edge in international markets for construction companies. 82 people who currently work for international construction companies responded the questionnaire. The Relative Importance Index (RII of competitive strategies in construction companies was calculated using the survey results. The construct was redesigned through the Pearson Correlation and principal components analysis (PCA. The results of the PCA denoted that the construct of competitive strategies in construction companies can be explained by three main factors in sync with Porter’s three generic competitive strategy types: F1 Cost Leadership in Construction, F2 Specialization and Focus and F3 Differentiation in Construction and Company Resources. The analysis results show that the competitive strategies related to “Differentiation in Construction and Company Resources” have a greater importance level, while the diversification strategies have a lower importance level. Which means specialization in some type of construction activity and focus on a specific group of customers is more effective than diversification strategies in gaining a competitive advantage in the market.
Dominant Advertisement Strategies in Iranian TV Commercials and their Cognitive Effect
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Parvaneh Khosravizadeh
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Advertising strategies are some factors in the content and form of advertisements which are intended to have certain effects on ad viewers or potential customers. These effects could be defined as the kind of cognitive responses they are expected to elicit in their audiences. This study examined 39 Iranian TV commercials in seven product categories to identify the most dominant strategies used by the advertisers and investigated the effect of product type on the selection and use of these strategies. The results showed that Iranian TV commercials used a mixture of analytic and effective cognitive strategies among which “elaborating on the reasons to buy”, “explaining the quality appeal” are the most favorite analytic based strategies and use of emotion and mood arising words is the most dominant affective based advertising method. The results also endorse significant effect of product type on types of strategies employed in the ads.
North, Gerald
Every year large numbers of people take up the study of astronomy, mostly at amateur level. There are plenty of elementary books on the market, full of colourful photographs, but lacking in proper explanations of how and why things are as they are. Many people eventually wish to go beyond the 'coffee-table book' stage and study this fascinating subject in greater depth. This book is written for them. In addition, many people sit for public examinations in this subject each year and this book is also intended to be of use to them. All the topics from the GCSE syllabus are covered here, with sample questions at the end of each chapter. Astronomy Explained provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject in more depth than is usually found in elementary works, and will be of interest to both amateur astronomers and students of astronomy.
Measuring Nurse Educators' Willingness to Adopt Inclusive Teaching Strategies.
Levey, Janet A
The purpose of the study was to examine the characteristics and relationships of nurse educators' teaching practices, knowledge, support, and willingness to adopt inclusive teaching strategies (WillAdITS). Adopting more inclusive teaching strategies based on universal design for instruction is an innovative way for educators to reach today's diverse student body. However, the pedagogy has not diffused into nursing education. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression were used for analyzing data from 311 nurse educators in prelicensure and RN to BSN programs. The model explained 44.8 percent of the variance in WillAdITS. The best indicators for this pedagogy were knowledge of universal design for instruction, social system support for inclusive teaching strategies, multiple instructional formats, and years of teaching. Knowing factors influencing the adoption of inclusive teaching strategies can inform schools of nursing of areas needing further development in the preparation of novice to experienced educators to teach diverse learners.
The Impromptu Gauntlet: An Experiential Strategy for Developing Lasting Communication Skills
Yale, Robert N.
2014-01-01
Typical business communication courses provide significantly more opportunities for students to hone their skills in writing compared with speaking. This article outlines an impromptu speech assignment and explains a course-level strategy for providing each student with more than 30 significant speaking opportunities during a term. This approach…
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Davide Menozzi
2015-09-01
Full Text Available Although fruit and vegetable consumption is highly recommended for a healthy and balanced daily diet, several European countries do not meet these recommendations. In Italy, only 45% of young people are consuming at least one portion of vegetables per day. Therefore, this paper aims to understand the main determinants of vegetables consumption among young adults to suggest possible intervention strategies. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a samples of Italian students (n = 751, using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB as a conceptual framework. A structural equation model (SEM was developed to test the TPB predictors for vegetable consumption, and the role of background factors (socio-demographic and personal characteristics in improving the TPB model’s explaining power. Overall, 81% and 68%, respectively, of intentions and behaviour variance is explained by the TPB model. Socio-demographic and personal characteristics were found to influence intentions and behaviour indirectly by their effects on the theory’s more proximal determinants. Interventions should be targeted to improve perceived behavioural control (PBC, attitudes and subjective norms that significantly affect intentions. Tailored interventions for male students, enrolled in courses other than food science, and doing less physical activity may have a larger effect on behavioural change.
Strategy for improved frequency response of electric double-layer capacitors
Wada, Yoshifumi; Pu, Jiang; Takenobu, Taishi
2015-10-01
We propose a strategy for improving the response speed of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and electric double-layer transistors (EDLTs), based on an asymmetric structure with differently sized active materials and gate electrodes. We validate the strategy analytically by a classical calculation and experimentally by fabricating EDLCs with asymmetric Au electrodes (1:50 area ratio and 7.5 μm gap distance). The performance of the EDLCs is compared with that of conventional symmetric EDLCs. Our strategy dramatically improved the cut-off frequency from 14 to 93 kHz and this improvement is explained by fast charging of smaller electrodes. Therefore, this approach is particularly suitable to EDLTs, potentially expanding the applicability to medium speed (kHz-MHz) devices.
Journalism and Explaining News Content
Albæk, E.; Skovsgaard, M.; de Vreese, C.H.; Nussbaum, J.F.
Three models are presented to explain variation in news content. In the first model the explanation is based on the individual journalist, in the second model on the professional journalist, and in the third model on the organized journalist. The individual journalist model focuses on how the
Anorexia: A "losing" strategy?
Mealey, L
2000-03-01
Several theorists have tried to model anorexia on Wasser and Barash's (1983) "reproductive suppression model" (RSM). According to the RSM, individual females adaptively suppress their reproductive functioning under conditions of social or physiological stress. From this perspective, mild anorexia is viewed as an adaptive response to modern conditions; more severe anorexia is viewed as an adaptation gone awry. Previous models have not, however, examined the full richness of the RSM. Specifically, Wasser and Barash documented not only self-imposed reproductive suppression, but also manipulative reproductive suppression of subordinate females by dominants. I propose that the modern "epidemic" of anorexia is explained neither by adaptive self-suppression nor by environmental mismatch (an adaptation gone awry); I propose that the "epidemic" levels of anorexia seen in modern western society are a direct consequence of intrasexual competition, the scope of which has been enhanced by the power and reach of modern communications media. According to this perspective, anorexia, even in its mild forms, is a manipulative strategy imposed on subordinates by dominants. Anorexia is, in both senses, a "losing" strategy.
Mental Strategies Predict Performance and Satisfaction with Performance among Soccer Players.
Kruk, Magdalena; Blecharz, Jan; Boberska, Monika; Zarychta, Karolina; Luszczynska, Aleksandra
2017-10-01
This study investigated the changes in mental strategies across the season and their effects on performance and satisfaction with individual performance. Data were collected three times: at the pre-season at Time 1 (T1; baseline), in the mid-season at Time 2 (T2; two-month follow-up), and at the end-of-season at Time 3 (T3; nine-month follow-up) among male soccer players (N = 97) aged 16-27. Athletes completed the questionnaires assessing the use of nine psychological strategies in competition and the level of satisfaction with individual performance. Endurance performance was measured objectively with a 300 m run. A high level of relaxation (T1) explained better 300 m run performance (T3) and a high level of self-talk explained a higher satisfaction with individual performance (T3). A rare use of distractibility and emotional control (T1) predicted a higher level of satisfaction with individual performance (T3). No predictive role of other psychological strategies was found. The use of emotional control, relaxation, and distractibility increased over the season, whereas the use of imagery and negative thinking declined. Besides the roles of self-talk, imagery, relaxation and goal-setting, the effects of distractibility and emotional control should be taken into account when considering athletes' mental training programs.
Explaining Infinite Series--An Exploration of Students' Images
Champney, Danielle Dawn
2013-01-01
This study uses self-generated representations (SGR)--images produced in the act of explaining--as a means of uncovering what university calculus students understand about infinite series convergence. It makes use of student teaching episodes, in which students were asked to explain to a peer what that student might have missed had they been…
Emotional suppression explains the link between early life stress and plasma oxytocin.
Mohiyeddini, Changiz; Opacka-Juffry, Jolanta; Gross, James J
2014-01-01
Early life stress (ELS) has been found to be associated with lower concentrations of plasma oxytocin (OT) in adulthood. It is not yet clear, however, what mechanisms underlie this association. The goal of the present study was to test the role of emotional suppression as an intervening variable between ELS in childhood and plasma OT. In a nonclinical sample of 90 men, ELS, emotional suppression, and plasma OT were assessed. Emotional suppression was positively associated with ELS (r = 0.37, p emotion regulation strategy - was not correlated with ELS or plasma OT concentrations. Cross-sectional regression analyses revealed that the ELS explained variance in plasma OT via emotional suppression. Moderation analyses revealed that the combination of high ELS and high emotional suppression was associated with the lowest concentrations of plasma oxytocin. These findings are consistent with the view that emotional suppression may be one pathway linking ELS and OT.
Can human error theory explain non-adherence?
Barber, Nick; Safdar, A; Franklin, Bryoney D
2005-08-01
To apply human error theory to explain non-adherence and examine how well it fits. Patients who were taking chronic medication were telephoned and asked whether they had been adhering to their medicine, and if not the reasons were explored and analysed according to a human error theory. Of 105 patients, 87 were contacted by telephone and they took part in the study. Forty-two recalled being non-adherent, 17 of them in the last 7 days; 11 of the 42 were intentionally non-adherent. The errors could be described by human error theory, and it explained unintentional non-adherence well, however, the application of 'rules' was difficult when considering mistakes. The consideration of error producing conditions and latent failures also revealed useful contributing factors. Human error theory offers a new and valuable way of understanding non-adherence, and could inform interventions. However, the theory needs further development to explain intentional non-adherence.
Teachers mathematical communication profile in explaining subject matter
Umami, Rohmatul; Budayasa, I. Ketut; Suwarsono, St.
2017-12-01
This study aimed to see a teachers mathematical communication profile in explaining a subject matter. It is a qualitative research. A high-school junior teacher (i.e., a teacher with 1- to 5-year experience) teaching mathematics at X-Social Class was selected as the subject of this study. The data was collected by observing the teachers mathematical communication in explaining a given material (i.e., the rule of sine) in class and an in-depth interview would be organized respectively. The result showed that the junior teacher explained the subject matter in systematic, complete, fluent, and centered manner. In this case, she began with reminding students on the previous material related to the current material to be learned, informing the current learning objectives, and finally delivering the subject matter. To support her explanation, the teacher also provided some related information, led the students attention into the given material by asking them particular related questions, and did not use any confusing terms. However, the study found that some of high-school teachers still used less appropriate language in explaining materials.
Finfgeld-Connett, Deborah; Johnson, E Diane
2013-01-01
To report literature search strategies for the purpose of conducting knowledge-building and theory-generating qualitative systematic reviews. Qualitative systematic reviews lie on a continuum from knowledge-building and theory-generating to aggregating and summarizing. Different types of literature searches are needed to optimally support these dissimilar reviews. Articles published between 1989-Autumn 2011. These documents were identified using a hermeneutic approach and multiple literature search strategies. Redundancy is not the sole measure of validity when conducting knowledge-building and theory-generating systematic reviews. When conducting these types of reviews, literature searches should be consistent with the goal of fully explicating concepts and the interrelationships among them. To accomplish this objective, a 'berry picking' approach is recommended along with strategies for overcoming barriers to finding qualitative research reports. To enhance integrity of knowledge-building and theory-generating systematic reviews, reviewers are urged to make literature search processes as transparent as possible, despite their complexity. This includes fully explaining and rationalizing what databases were used and how they were searched. It also means describing how literature tracking was conducted and grey literature was searched. In the end, the decision to cease searching also needs to be fully explained and rationalized. Predetermined linear search strategies are unlikely to generate search results that are adequate for purposes of conducting knowledge-building and theory-generating qualitative systematic reviews. Instead, it is recommended that iterative search strategies take shape as reviews evolve. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Näitus, mis paneb külastajad minestama / Tiina Ansip
Ansip, Tiina
2007-01-01
Vt. ka Linnaleht : Pärnu, Linnaleht : Tartu 3. aug., lk. B4, Linnaleht : na russkom jazõke 15. aug., lk. 11. Tallinna Matkamajas nähtav vahakabineti Panoptikon anatoomianäitus pole mõeldud nõrganärvilistele - liigagi tõetruud vahakujud, mis kujutavad eri eas looteid, aborti ning suguhaigustest kahjustatud genitaale, on Eestiski inimesi minestama pannud
Kolm meest paadis (naisest rääkimata) / Karol Ansip
Ansip, Karol
2004-01-01
Eesti Kino Suvepäevade raames esilinastusid 3. juunil TPÜ filmi ja video õppetooli mängufilmi režissööride II kursuse (juhendaja Jüri Sillart) kursusetööd-lühimängufilmid : "2.68" (Tanel Toom), "Teispool vihma" (Margus Paju), "Sünnipäev" (Kaupo Kruusiauk) ja telerežii lõpetanud Anu Auna "Liivakellade parandaja"
Relationship between short-term sexual strategies and sexual jealousy.
Mathes, Eugene W
2005-02-01
In a classic study, Buss, Larson, Westen, and Semmelroth reported that men were more distressed by the thought of a partner's sexual infidelity (sexual jealousy) and women were more distressed by the thought of a partner's emotional infidelity (emotional jealousy). Initially, Buss and his associates explained these results by suggesting that men are concerned about uncertainty of paternity, that is, the possibility of raising another man's child while believing the child is their own. However, later they explained the results in terms of men's preference for short-term sexual strategies. The purpose of this research was to test the explanation of short-term sexual strategies. Men and women subjects were instructed to imagine themselves in a relationship which was either short-term (primarily sexual) or long-term (involving commitment) and then respond to Buss's jealousy items. It was hypothesized that, when both men and women imagined a short-term relationship, they would be more threatened by a partner's sexual infidelity, and, when they imagined a long-term relationship, they would be more threatened by a partner's emotional infidelity. Support was found for this hypothesis.
Biome-scale nitrogen fixation strategies selected by climatic constraints on nitrogen cycle.
Sheffer, Efrat; Batterman, Sarah A; Levin, Simon A; Hedin, Lars O
2015-11-23
Dinitrogen fixation by plants (in symbiosis with root bacteria) is a major source of new nitrogen for land ecosystems(1). A long-standing puzzle(2) is that trees capable of nitrogen fixation are abundant in nitrogen-rich tropical forests, but absent or restricted to early successional stages in nitrogen-poor extra-tropical forests. This biome-scale pattern presents an evolutionary paradox(3), given that the physiological cost(4) of nitrogen fixation predicts the opposite pattern: fixers should be out-competed by non-fixers in nitrogen-rich conditions, but competitively superior in nitrogen-poor soils. Here we evaluate whether this paradox can be explained by the existence of different fixation strategies in tropical versus extra-tropical trees: facultative fixers (capable of downregulating fixation(5,6) by sanctioning mutualistic bacteria(7)) are common in the tropics, whereas obligate fixers (less able to downregulate fixation) dominate at higher latitudes. Using a game-theoretic approach, we assess the ecological and evolutionary conditions under which these fixation strategies emerge, and examine their dependence on climate-driven differences in the nitrogen cycle. We show that in the tropics, transient soil nitrogen deficits following disturbance and rapid tree growth favour a facultative strategy and the coexistence of fixers and non-fixers. In contrast, sustained nitrogen deficits following disturbance in extra-tropical forests favour an obligate fixation strategy, and cause fixers to be excluded in late successional stages. We conclude that biome-scale differences in the abundance of nitrogen fixers can be explained by the interaction between individual plant strategies and climatic constraints on the nitrogen cycle over evolutionary time.
Can Marxism Explain America's Racism?
Willhelm, Sidney M.
1980-01-01
The Marxist interpretation of the Black experience in America has always had difficulty explaining various noneconomic aspects of racism. A perspective is needed that can blend racism as a variable in relationship with economic variables. To reach this perspective, the labor process within capitalism must be more fully understood. (Author/GC)
Does market competition explain fairness?
Descioli, Peter
2013-02-01
The target article by Baumard et al. uses their previous model of bargaining with outside options to explain fairness and other features of human sociality. This theory implies that fairness judgments are determined by supply and demand but humans often perceive prices (divisions of surplus) in competitive markets to be unfair.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Agustín Freiberg-Hoffmann
2017-02-01
Full Text Available Frequently, college students have issues to learn academic contents included in the subjects of their courses. Such low quality learning is reflected in failures and academic dropout, therefore being matters of concern for teachers and governments. Learning processes in college depend, in part, on the coincidence between teaching methods and students’ learning styles. They are defined as the preference of students when they have to deal with information, particularly the way to perceive it and process it. Learning styles can be trained by the repeated use of specific learning strategies. In such cases, when learning styles coincide with the learning context in order to facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge and its integration with previous information, academic success can be achieved more naturally. To get this match it is required from teachers to adapt their styles and strategies to their students’ learning preferences. Other alternative rests on the design of actions to train students in the use of the appropriate learning styles able to enhance learning. Focused on the second option, the present study aims at: 1 the description of the influence of different learning strategies on each learning style, and 2 the analysis of the way each style explains students’ academic achievement. A transversal, non-experimental, explicative design was employed. 763 college students from Buenos Aires with ages ranging from 17 to 36 years were included in the sample. Locally adapted versions of the Honey-Alonso Questionnaire of Learning Styles -CHAEA as its Spanish acronym-, and Learning and Study Strategies Inventory –LASSI- were used for data gathering. Results showed that the Accommodating style is explained positively and significantly by the Collaborative Learning, Resources for Learning and Information 2.0 Management Competence strategies. Besides, it is observed that the strategies Collaborative Learning, Resources for Learning and
A model for diagnosing and explaining multiple disorders.
Jamieson, P W
1991-08-01
The ability to diagnose multiple interacting disorders and explain them in a coherent causal framework has only partially been achieved in medical expert systems. This paper proposes a causal model for diagnosing and explaining multiple disorders whose key elements are: physician-directed hypotheses generation, object-oriented knowledge representation, and novel explanation heuristics. The heuristics modify and link the explanations to make the physician aware of diagnostic complexities. A computer program incorporating the model currently is in use for diagnosing peripheral nerve and muscle disorders. The program successfully diagnoses and explains interactions between diseases in terms of underlying pathophysiologic concepts. The model offers a new architecture for medical domains where reasoning from first principles is difficult but explanation of disease interactions is crucial for the system's operation.
Development and Assessment of Self-explaining Skills in College Chemistry Instruction
Villalta-Cerdas, Adrian
The prevalent trend in chemistry instruction relies on what has been described as the classroom game. In this model, students take a passive role and the instructor does all the explaining (thinking), and learning is trivialized to knowing the correct answers (memorizing) and being able to produce them when prompted (regurgitating). The generation of explanations is central to scientific and technological development. In the process of figuring out explanations, the generation of inferences relies on the application of skills associated with scientific behaviors (e.g., analytical reasoning and critical thinking). The process of explanation generation causes a deeper analysis and revision of the scientific models, thus impacting the conceptual understanding of such models. Although the process of generating authentic explanations is closer to the experience of doing science, this process is seldom replicated in science instruction. Self-explaining refers to the generation of inferences about causal connections between objects and events. In science, this may be summarized as making sense of how and why actual or hypothetical phenomena take place. Research findings in educational psychology show that implementing activities that elicit self-explaining improves learning in general and specifically enhances authentic learning in the sciences. Research also suggests that self-explaining influences many aspects of cognition, including acquisition of problem-solving skills and conceptual understanding. Although the evidence that links self-explaining and learning is substantial, most of the research has been conducted in experimental settings. The purpose of this work was to advance knowledge in this area by investigating the effect of different self-explaining tasks on self-explaining behavior and the effect of engaging in different levels of self-explaining on learning chemistry concepts. Unlike most of the research in the field, this work did not focus on advancing
Strategy approach for eLearning 2.0 deployment in Universities
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Oskar Casquero
2010-12-01
Full Text Available The institutionally powered Personal Learning Environment (iPLE constitutes our vision of how Web 2.0 technologies, people arrangement and data sharing could be applied for delivering open, flexible, distributed and learner-centred learning environments to university members. Based on the iPLE, this paper explores a strategy approach that universities could follow in order to deploy eLearning 2.0 tools and services. With that aim in mind, we review the patterns that Web 2.0 has successfully applied, and have been proved to encourage people to interact and to share information. Then, we present an eLearning 2.0 provisioning strategy based on iPLEs. Finally, we explain how this strategy can help translating Web 2.0 patterns to learning, and positioning universities as eLearning 2.0 providers.
The Effect of Queueing Strategy on Network Traffic
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zhang Xue-Jun; Guan Xiang-Min; Sun Deng-Feng; Tang Shao-Ting
2013-01-01
In recent years, the transportation system has been faced by increasing challenge in congestion and inefficiency, and research in traffic network has become a significant area of interest. In this paper, we introduce a dynamic-information-based (DIB) queueing strategy into network traffic model under the efficient routing strategy. DIB makes a packet with higher priority to be delivered if there are less packets travelling along its path from the current node to the destination. It is found that, compared with the traditional first-in-first-out (FIFO) queueing strategy, DIB can effectively balance the traffic load of the system via delaying packets to be delivered to congested nodes. Although the network capacity has no obvious changes, some other indexes which reflect transportation efficiency are efficiently improved in the congestion state. Besides, extensive simulation results and discussions are provided to explain the phenomena. The results may provide novel insights for research on traffic systems. (condensed matter: structural, mechanical, and thermal properties)
Uzer, Tugba
2016-02-01
Previous research has shown that memories cued by concrete concepts, such as objects, are retrieved faster than those cued by more abstract concepts, such as emotions. This effect has been explained by the fact that more memories are directly retrieved from object versus emotion cues. In the present study, we tested whether RT differences between memories cued by emotion versus object terms occur not only because object cues elicit direct retrieval of more memories (Uzer, Lee, & Brown, 2012), but also because of differences in memory generation in response to emotions versus objects. One hundred university students retrieved memories in response to basic-level (e.g. orange), superordinate-level (e.g. plant), and emotion (e.g. surprised) cues. Retrieval speed was measured and participants reported whether memories were directly retrieved or generated on each trial. Results showed that memories were retrieved faster in response to basic-level versus superordinate-level and emotion cues because a) basic-level cues elicited more directly retrieved memories, and b) generating memories was more difficult when cues were abstract versus concrete. These results suggest that generative retrieval is a cue generation process in which additional cues that provide contextual information including the target event are produced. Memories are retrieved more slowly in response to emotion cues in part because emotion labels are less effective cues of appropriate contextual information. This particular finding is inconsistent with the idea that emotion is a primary organizational unit for autobiographical memories. In contrast, the difficulty of emotional memory generation implies that emotions represent low-level event information in the organization of autobiographical memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Cognitive abilities, monitoring, and control explain individual differences in heuristics and biases
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Simon Anthony Jackson
2016-10-01
Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate whether individual differences in performance on heuristic and biases tasks can be explained by cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence and control thresholds. Current theories explain individual differences in these tasks by the ability to detect errors and override automatic but biased judgements, and deliberative cognitive abilities that help to construct the correct response. Here we retain cognitive abilities but disentangle error detection, proposing that lower monitoring confidence and higher control thresholds promote error checking. Participants (N = 250 completed tasks assessing their fluid reasoning abilities, stable monitoring confidence levels, and the control threshold they impose on their decisions. They also completed seven typical heuristic and biases tasks such as the cognitive reflection test and resistance to framing. Using structural equation modelling, we found that individuals with higher reasoning abilities, lower monitoring confidence and higher control threshold performed significantly and, at times, substantially better on the heuristic and biases tasks. Individuals with higher control thresholds also showed lower preferences for risky alternatives in a gambling task. Furthermore, residual correlations among the heuristic and biases tasks were reduced to null, indicating that cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence and control thresholds accounted for their shared variance. Implications include the proposal that the capacity to detect errors does not differ between individuals. Rather, individuals might adopt varied strategies that promote error checking to different degrees, regardless of whether they have made a mistake or not. The results support growing evidence that decision making involves cognitive abilities that construct actions and monitoring and control processes that manage their initiation.
Web related companies' strategies for attracting new customers
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bruno Marsigalia
2014-01-01
Full Text Available This paper provides a study on web related B2B (Business to Business, B2C (Business to Customer evaluation of strategy and methods for maximizing (expanding the number of customer among the people (i.e. internet population, using cycling process externally for internal process of strategy which explains business exploration and agility, and online consumers their compulsive buying behaviour with a new strategy to capture them in large number. The web based industries are web based companies and web related companies, we concentrated on web related company through new innovative method called B2P (Business to People/Public a schematic approach strategy diagram of B2P, and with external Process of strategy. The B2B and B2C (Business to Customer used by enterprises in peer to peer process is based on a qualitative approach, our sourcing of data has been carried out through secondary sources (papers, articles, open sources. The findings are the representation of new schematic diagrams that we developed with an idea and proposal and approach strategy for attaining people interest in the online industry specially concentrated as example on online book selling company. The originality of this paper called concept B2P is from different sources, examples, online articles and built on industry leaders advice through "linkedin.com" and web blogs.
Republic of Lithuania national energy strategy. Vol. 1: The strategy. Final report
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1993-11-01
The aim of the study was to determine the strategic goals needed for modernizing the Lithuanian energy system, to identify the actions which will attain those goals and to advise how the actions may be implemented. Key issues of Lithuania's energy sector are introduced and macro economic scenarios as well as projected energy demand scenarios are explained. Suggestions on energy demand and supply side options are presented and those options are examined in scenarios of possible future energy demand and supply developments. These scenarios differ according to various constrains relating to fuel import sources and prices, export potential, energy efficiency effects and fossils or nuclear/non-nuclear fuel choices. Finally, recommended strategy which is built on the evaluation of the scenarios is summarised.[Data
Republic of Lithuania national energy strategy. Vol. 1: The strategy. Final report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
IC Consult-ERM Energy Limited-COWI Consult-EC-PHARE Programme Collaboration
1993-11-01
The aim of the study was to determine the strategic goals needed for modernizing the Lithuanian energy system, to identify the actions which will attain those goals and to advise how the actions may be implemented. Key issues of Lithuania`s energy sector are introduced and macro economic scenarios as well as projected energy demand scenarios are explained. Suggestions on energy demand and supply side options are presented and those options are examined in scenarios of possible future energy demand and supply developments. These scenarios differ according to various constrains relating to fuel import sources and prices, export potential, energy efficiency effects and fossils or nuclear/non-nuclear fuel choices. Finally, recommended strategy which is built on the evaluation of the scenarios is summarised.[Data].
Linear Algebra Thoroughly Explained
Vujičić, Milan
2008-01-01
Linear Algebra Thoroughly Explained provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject suitable for adoption as a self-contained text for courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The clear and comprehensive presentation of the basic theory is illustrated throughout with an abundance of worked examples. The book is written for teachers and students of linear algebra at all levels and across mathematics and the applied sciences, particularly physics and engineering. It will also be an invaluable addition to research libraries as a comprehensive resource book for the subject.
Explaining Interaction Effects within and across Levels of Analysis
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersson, Ulf; Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro; Nielsen, Bo Bernhard
2014-01-01
Many manuscripts submitted to the Journal of International Business Studies propose an interaction effect in their models in an effort to explain the complexity and contingency of relationships across borders. In this article, we provide guidance on how best to explain the interaction effects...
Students Explaining Science—Assessment of Science Communication Competence
Kulgemeyer, Christoph; Schecker, Horst
2013-12-01
Science communication competence (SCC) is an important educational goal in the school science curricula of several countries. However, there is a lack of research about the structure and the assessment of SCC. This paper specifies the theoretical framework of SCC by a competence model. We developed a qualitative assessment method for SCC that is based on an expert-novice dialog: an older student (explainer, expert) explains a physics phenomenon to a younger peer (addressee, novice) in a controlled test setting. The explanations are video-recorded and analysed by qualitative content analysis. The method was applied in a study with 46 secondary school students as explainers. Our aims were (a) to evaluate whether our model covers the relevant features of SCC, (b) to validate the assessment method and (c) to find characteristics of addressee-adequate explanations. A performance index was calculated to quantify the explainers' levels of competence on an ordinal scale. We present qualitative and quantitative evidence that the index is adequate for assessment purposes. It correlates with results from a written SCC test and a perspective taking test (convergent validity). Addressee-adequate explanations can be characterized by use of graphical representations and deliberate switches between scientific and everyday language.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mardiyanti Mardiyanti
2016-08-01
Full Text Available Background: Meeting changes can be very problematic for children with AutismSpectrum Disorders (ASDs whereas other children may take it for granted. As a result,they may cry, get upset, scream, do hand flapping or even self-harming that shows their inability to cope with the changes and their preference of sameness and routine activities. To understand the issue of changes in children with autism, people should know the complexity of the disorders. Purpose: This article will explain further about the strategies for successful transition into mainstream schools for young children with autism as illustrated in Jack’s case study in the appendices. Methods: A case study was conducted to one respondent. Firstly, the article will explain ASDs and its atypical characteristics of 6-years old Jack. Then it will discuss strategies to help Jack’s transition process, as well as strategies to support his learning process during schooling which finally comes up with conclusion to support Jack and his family’s transition into mainstream primary education. Results: Strategies for successful transition into mainstream schools for young children with autism include using visual information and activity schedules, managing sensory overload, and building literacy skills. Conclusion: Attractive playing can be effective strategies to build skills for successful transition of young children with autism.
AECL's strategy for decommissioning Canadian nuclear facilities
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Joubert, W.M.; Pare, F.E.; Pratapagiri, G.
1992-01-01
The Canadian policy on decommissioning of nuclear facilities as defined in the Atomic Energy Control Act and Regulations is administered by the Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB), a Federal Government agency. It requires that these facilities be decommissioned according to approved plans which are to be developed by the owner of the nuclear facility during its early stages of design and to be refined during its operating life. In this regulatory environment, Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) has developed a decommissioning strategy for power stations which consists of three distinctive phases. After presenting AECL's decommissioning philosophy, its foundations are explained and it is described how it has and soon will be applied to various facilities. A brief summary is provided of the experience gained up to date on the implementation of this strategy. (author) 3 figs.; 1 tab
Doswell, Willa M; Braxter, Betty J; Cha, Eunseok; Kim, Kevin H
2011-12-01
This study tested the Theory of Reasoned Action to examine the prediction of early sexual behavior among African American young teen girls. Baseline data from a longitudinal randomized clinical trial were used. Between 2001 and 2005, 198 middle-school girls aged 11 to 14 years were recruited. As girls aged, they held more permissive attitudes toward engaging in early sexual behavior and had a higher intention to engage in early sexual behavior. Intention was a significant predictor to explain sexual behavior among the girls. There is a need to develop strategies that promote intention related to delay and prevention of early sexual behavior. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Prevention strategies for ureteral stricture following ureteroscopic lithotripsy
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Hao Dong
2018-04-01
Full Text Available Ureteral stricture formation after ureteroscopic lithotripsy is a late complication that can lead to hydronephrosis and a subsequent risk of renal deterioration. The specific incidence is unknown, and the mechanism of stricture formation has not been completely explained. In this review, we summarize the current evidence regarding the incidence of this condition and discuss its pathogenesis. We then list preventive strategies to reduce the morbidity of ureteral strictures. Keywords: Ureteroscopy, Ureteral stricture, Lithotripsy, Complications
Disciplinary Practices in Schools and Principles of Alternatives to Corporal Punishment Strategies
Moyo, George; Khewu, Noncedo P. D.; Bayaga, Anass
2014-01-01
The aim of the study was to determine the consistency prevailing between the disciplinary practices in the schools and the principles of the Alternatives-to-Corporal Punishment strategy. The three main research questions that guided the study were to determine (1) How much variance of offences can be explained by disciplinary measures of…
Tuned Normalization Explains the Size of Attention Modulations
Ni, Amy M.; Ray, Supratim; Maunsell, John H.R.
2012-01-01
The effect of attention on firing rates varies considerably within a single cortical area. The firing rate of some neurons is greatly modulated by attention while others are hardly affected. The reason for this variability across neurons is unknown. We found that the variability in attention modulation across neurons in area MT of macaques can be well explained by variability in the strength of tuned normalization across neurons. The presence of tuned normalization also explains a striking as...
The transnational strategies of migrants
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Christiansen, Connie Carøe
Certain activities among migrants take place in a social space spanning the sending and receiving societies. Migrants who e.g. take part in activities in hometown associations or in Islamic activism tend to do so in these social spaces, increasingly conceptualized as transnational. Our understand......Certain activities among migrants take place in a social space spanning the sending and receiving societies. Migrants who e.g. take part in activities in hometown associations or in Islamic activism tend to do so in these social spaces, increasingly conceptualized as transnational. Our...... to explain. It has been suggested that transnational strategies are applied as a safety net to substitute for prospects of a secure future in the receiving society. Solidarities or obligations, sometimes in the shape of a social contract between stayers and leavers of a family, are another suggestion. While...... both these suggestions obviously have some resonance, against them goes the observation that those who take up transnational strategies are active and most capable of succeeding and managing their lives in the receiving society. In other words, the transnational engagements of migrants...
Explaining Support Vector Machines: A Color Based Nomogram.
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Vanya Van Belle
Full Text Available Support vector machines (SVMs are very popular tools for classification, regression and other problems. Due to the large choice of kernels they can be applied with, a large variety of data can be analysed using these tools. Machine learning thanks its popularity to the good performance of the resulting models. However, interpreting the models is far from obvious, especially when non-linear kernels are used. Hence, the methods are used as black boxes. As a consequence, the use of SVMs is less supported in areas where interpretability is important and where people are held responsible for the decisions made by models.In this work, we investigate whether SVMs using linear, polynomial and RBF kernels can be explained such that interpretations for model-based decisions can be provided. We further indicate when SVMs can be explained and in which situations interpretation of SVMs is (hitherto not possible. Here, explainability is defined as the ability to produce the final decision based on a sum of contributions which depend on one single or at most two input variables.Our experiments on simulated and real-life data show that explainability of an SVM depends on the chosen parameter values (degree of polynomial kernel, width of RBF kernel and regularization constant. When several combinations of parameter values yield the same cross-validation performance, combinations with a lower polynomial degree or a larger kernel width have a higher chance of being explainable.This work summarizes SVM classifiers obtained with linear, polynomial and RBF kernels in a single plot. Linear and polynomial kernels up to the second degree are represented exactly. For other kernels an indication of the reliability of the approximation is presented. The complete methodology is available as an R package and two apps and a movie are provided to illustrate the possibilities offered by the method.
Measuring and explaining house price developments
De Vries, P.
2010-01-01
This study discusses ways of measuring and explaining the development of house prices. The goal of the research underpinning this dissertation was to develop a methodological framework for studying these developments. This framework relates, first, to correcting for changes in the composition of
Howard, Charla L; Perry, Bonnie; Chow, John W; Wallace, Chris; Stokic, Dobrivoje S
2017-11-01
Sensorimotor impairments after limb amputation impose a threat to stability. Commonly described strategies for maintaining stability are the posture first strategy (prioritization of balance) and posture second strategy (prioritization of concurrent tasks). The existence of these strategies was examined in 13 below-knee prosthesis users and 15 controls during dual-task standing under increasing postural and cognitive challenge by evaluating path length, 95% sway area, and anterior-posterior and medial-lateral amplitudes of the center of pressure. The subjects stood on two force platforms under usual (hard surface/eyes open) and difficult (soft surface/eyes closed) conditions, first alone and while performing a cognitive task without and then with instruction on cognitive prioritization. During standing alone, sway was not significantly different between groups. After adding the cognitive task without prioritization instruction, prosthesis users increased sway more under the dual-task than single-task standing (p ≤ 0.028) during both usual and difficult conditions, favoring the posture second strategy. Controls, however, reduced dual-task sway under a greater postural challenge (p ≤ 0.017), suggesting the posture first strategy. With prioritization of the cognitive task, sway was unchanged or reduced in prosthesis users, suggesting departure from the posture second strategy, whereas controls maintained the posture first strategy. Individual analysis of dual tasking revealed that greater postural demand in controls and greater cognitive challenge in prosthesis users led to both reduced sway and improved cognitive performance, suggesting cognitive-motor facilitation. Thus, activation of additional resources through increased alertness, rather than posture prioritization, may explain dual-task performance in both prosthesis users and controls under increasing postural and cognitive challenge.
Swick, Kevin J.
2009-01-01
Homeless parents of young children face many stressors that erode their self-esteem. This article articulates these stressors and how they negatively impact homeless parents and their children. Strategies for helping parents empower themselves and their children are explained.
An assessment of the expansion strategy followed by Avianca Airlines: Period 2008-2012
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Mauricio Emboaba Moreira
2017-04-01
Full Text Available Purpose: This article aims to apply to the case of Avianca Airlines the Analytical Model for the Assessment of Airline Expansion Strategies developed by Moreira (2014 in order to explain the rationale of the expansion strategy followed by this airline and indicate other possible expansion strategies. Design/methodology/approach: This article is a case study in the sense that it aims to arrive to broad generalizations based on the collected evidences, focusing on one of the most traditional airlines in the world. This article is a positivist case study, based in the positivist understanding; because it is supported by objective facts of the situation which are informed by the researcher’s interpretive understanding according to it is recommended for this type of study. Findings: The application of the Analytical Model for the Assessment of Airline Expansion Strategies above referred was successful, considering that the model was able to explain a wide range of complex aspects of the Avianca’s development. Thus, being one of the oldest airlines in continued operation in the world, the expansion process of this airline is connected to many political, sociological and economic facets - ie., its general environment - of its mother country, Colombia. The analytical model offered the opportunity to explore these issues in a detailed manner, adding a broader comprehension of this airline that goes beyond its operating and economic analysis. Originality/value: They reside on the fact that this is the first time that this analytical model is applied to study extensively an actual situation. Besides, airlines in Latin America have not been widely covered by the academia and this is an opportunity to begin to fill this gap. Furthermore, the referred analytical model is applicable to organizations or firms that operate in other industries if the proper adjustments are made. Implications: The implications for the academic research are to understand that
Explaining social class differences in depression and well-being.
Stansfeld, S A; Head, J; Marmot, M G
1998-01-01
Work characteristics, including skill discretion and decision authority, explain most of the socioeconomic status gradient in well-being and depression in middle-aged British civil servants from the Whitehall II Study, London. Social support explained about one-third of the gradient, life events and material difficulties less than one-third. Socioeconomic status was measured by employment grade. Work characteristics were based on the Karasek model, social support was measured by the Close Persons Questionnaire, depression by the General Health Questionnaire and well-being by the Affect Balance Scale. Despite a small contribution from social selective factors measured by upward mobility, the psychosocial work environment explained most of the cross-sectional socioeconomic status gradient in well-being and depression.
Do changes in connectivity explain desertification?
Desertification, broad-scale land degradation in drylands, is a major environmental hazard facing inhabitants of the world’s deserts as well as an important component of global change. There is no unifying framework that simply and effectively explains different forms of desertification. Here we arg...
An introduction to capital markets products, strategies, participants
Chisholm, Andrew M
2002-01-01
This comprehensive resource provides a complete introduction to global capital markets by explaining key instruments used in markets and their practical applications. An Introduction to Capital Marketsassumes no starting knowledge of the subject and begins with a general overview of the structure of the capital markets industry. Readers will quickly learn about swaps applications, options trading strategies, and much more. This introduction to financial markets offer valuable insights for anyone interested in the theory, practice, products, and applications within this field.
A Unique Review Strategy that Motivates Student Learning
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Donald L. Williams, EdD
2007-08-01
Full Text Available The use of educational games such as crossword puzzles, word search puzzles, modified television game shows, or commercial board and card games are attempts to make learning more fun and motivational regardless of the level of educational experience. This article explains how I have employed the melding of many of these games into one motivational and educational strategy. Students who faithfully availed themselves of the activities consistently improved their test scores and their overall grades within the course.
A Unique Review Strategy that Motivates Student Learning
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Donald L. Williams
2007-01-01
Full Text Available The use of educational games such as crossword puzzles, word search puzzles, modified television game shows, or commercial board and card games are attempts to make learning more fun and motivational regardless of the level of educational experience. This article explains how I have employed the melding of many of these games into one motivational and educational strategy. Students who faithfully availed themselves of the activities consistently improved their test scores and their overall grades within the course.
Lifestyle-related attitudes: do they explain self-rated health and life-satisfaction?
Pickard, A Simon; Jalundhwala, Yash J; Bewsher, Helen; Sharp, Lisa K; Walton, Surrey M; Schumock, Glen T; Caskey, Rachel N
2018-05-01
Strategies to improve public health may benefit from targeting specific lifestyles associated with poor health behaviors and outcomes. The aim of this study was to characterize and examine the relationship between health and lifestyle-related attitudes (HLAs) and self-rated health and life-satisfaction. Secondary analyses were conducted on data from a 2012 community wellness survey in Kirklees, UK. Using a validated HLA tool, respondents (n = 9130) were categorized into five segments: health conscious realists (33%), balanced compensators (14%), live-for-todays (18%), hedonistic immortals (10%), and unconfident fatalists (25%). Multivariate regression was used to examine whether HLAs could explain self-rated health using the EQ-5D visual analog scale (EQ-VAS) and life-satisfaction. Health conscious realists served as the reference group. Self-rated health differed by HLA, with adjusted mean EQ-VAS scores being significantly higher (better) among balanced compensators (1.15, 95% CI 0.27, 2.03) and lower scores among unconfident fatalists (- 9.02, 95% CI - 9.85, - 8.21) and live-for-todays (- 1.96, 95% CI - 2.80, - 1.14). Balanced compensators were less likely to report low life-satisfaction (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.62, 0.90), while unconfident fatalists were most likely to have low life-satisfaction (OR 3.51, 95% CI 2.92, 4.23). Segmentation by HLA explained differences in self-rated health and life-satisfaction, with unconfident fatalists being a distinct segment with significantly worse health perceptions and life-satisfaction. Health promotion efforts may benefit from considering the HLA segment that predominates a patient group, especially unconfident fatalists.
Tech Prep Marketing Guide. The Complete Book of Strategies and Practical Experiences.
Williamson, Patty
This guide explains the concept of marketing tech prep and provides marketing principles and strategies to promote tech prep programs. The guide covers the following topics: (1) why it is necessary to market tech prep; (2) what a comprehensive tech prep marketing plan should include; (3) targeting the benefits message; (4) marketing tech prep to…
Junior High School Physics: Using a Qualitative Strategy for Successful Problem Solving
Mualem, Roni; Eylon, Bat Sheva
2010-01-01
Students at the junior high school (JHS) level often cannot use their knowledge of physics for explaining and predicting phenomena. We claim that this difficulty stems from the fact that explanations are multi-step reasoning tasks, and students often lack the qualitative problem-solving strategies needed to guide them. This article describes a new…
[Analysis of Sexual Strategies Theory in the Spanish population].
Yela, Carlos
2012-02-01
The aim of this study was to test some of the main hypotheses derived from Buss' Sexual Strategies Theory on a representative Spanish sample. These hypotheses refer to the different strategies men and woman seem to adopt when they want to engage in a short-term sexual relationship (fling), or in a long-term one (loving relationship). (The technical term "strategies", unlike its equivalent in everyday language, is not meant to imply something necessarily planned or conscious). Data was obtained by self-report from a representative sample of 1949 Spanish people. Almost all the results verify the working hypotheses, conferring some empirical support on the theory from which they were deduced, within an evolutionary Social Psychology paradigm. In any case, it is argued that socialization approaches ("double moral" and the social construction of gender role and sexual identity) can also explain most of the differences obtained, in perfect compatibility with biological perspectives.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yolanda Flores-Peña
2014-04-01
Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: to describe the maternal eating and physical activity strategies (monitoring, discipline, control, limits and reinforcement [MEES]; to determine the relation between MEES and the child's nutritional status [body mass index (BMI and body fat percentage (BFP]; to verify whether the MEES differ according to the child's nutritional status.METHOD: participants were 558 mothers and children (3 to 11 years of age who studied at public schools. The Parental Strategies for Eating and Activity Scale (PEAS was applied and the child's weight, height and BFP were measured. For analysis purposes, descriptive statistics were obtained, using multiple linear regression and the Kruskal-Wallis test.RESULTS: the highest mean score was found for reinforcement (62.72 and the lowest for control (50.07. Discipline, control and limits explained 12% of the BMI, while discipline and control explained 6% of the BFP. Greater control is found for obese children (χ2=38.36, p=0.001 and greater reinforcement for underweight children (χ2=7.19, p<0.05.CONCLUSIONS: the mothers exert greater control (pressure to eat over obese children and greater recognition (congratulating due to healthy eating in underweight children. Modifications in parental strategies are recommended with a view to strengthening healthy eating and physical activity habits.
Editorial: Sales Strategy (2010
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chris McPhee
2010-09-01
Full Text Available The editorial theme for this issue of the OSBR is Sales Strategy. While "marketing" is everything a company does to build interest in its offers, "sales" consists of converting these offers into cash. By "sales strategy," we refer to all sales planning and process development activities leading up to the actual selling of a product or service. In his recent blog post at MaRS Discovery District, Mark Zimmerman answered a question he is frequently asked by the founders of startups: "How do we find a good sales person?" In short, his answer is "Don't." This is not meant as a slight to sales professionals, but rather, Zimmerman is advocating that companies should not equate having sales professionals to having a sales strategy. Sales professionals have a critical role to play in a company's success, but they are being given an impossible task if asked to sell something that has not been validated with customers. Zimmerman explains that sales professionals should be hired only once a company has validated that the value proposition resonates with customers and that the sales model will be effective. This lesson also applies to established companies, where existing sales staff require this same foundation to be effective. So how does a company determine whether its value proposition resonates with customers? The answer, of course, is to talk to customers. In the OSBR and elsewhere, the need for early customer input is a dominant theme in recent discussions of product development, marketing, and now sales strategy. By talking to customers, listening to how they describe their needs, and interpreting how their needs could be met, a value proposition can tested and refined. It is far more efficient and effective to iteratively refine a value proposition before attempting to sell than to attempt a salvage operation in response to slumping sales. Customer input is also a critical ingredient in developing an effective sales strategy. In this issue of the
Explaining Disparities in Unemployment Dynamics
Karanassou, Marika; Snower, Dennis J.
1993-01-01
This paper attempts to explain disparities among the unemployment experiences of different OECD countries in terms of the `fragility' of the short-run unemployment equilibrium (the impact of labour market shocks on the short-run unemployment rate) and the lag structure of the employment determination, wage setting, and labour force participation decisions. The effects of this lag structure on unemployment dynamics are captured through two general measures of `unemployment persistence' (occurr...
Asthma Treatments for Children and Adolescents: Strategies for a Global Approach
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Robert L Thivierge
1995-01-01
Full Text Available Strategies for a global approach to the management of asthma in children and adolescents are described. Such an approach requires the physician to explain to the patient the pathophysiology of asthma, to evaluate and, whenever possible, change predisposing environmental factors, to establish a written plan of action and to maintain a close follow-up of the patient to ensure compliance.
Evaluating random search strategies in three mammals from distinct feeding guilds.
Auger-Méthé, Marie; Derocher, Andrew E; DeMars, Craig A; Plank, Michael J; Codling, Edward A; Lewis, Mark A
2016-09-01
Searching allows animals to find food, mates, shelter and other resources essential for survival and reproduction and is thus among the most important activities performed by animals. Theory predicts that animals will use random search strategies in highly variable and unpredictable environments. Two prominent models have been suggested for animals searching in sparse and heterogeneous environments: (i) the Lévy walk and (ii) the composite correlated random walk (CCRW) and its associated area-restricted search behaviour. Until recently, it was difficult to differentiate between the movement patterns of these two strategies. Using a new method that assesses whether movement patterns are consistent with these two strategies and two other common random search strategies, we investigated the movement behaviour of three species inhabiting sparse northern environments: woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), barren-ground grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) and polar bear (Ursus maritimus). These three species vary widely in their diets and thus allow us to contrast the movement patterns of animals from different feeding guilds. Our results showed that although more traditional methods would have found evidence for the Lévy walk for some individuals, a comparison of the Lévy walk to CCRWs showed stronger support for the latter. While a CCRW was the best model for most individuals, there was a range of support for its absolute fit. A CCRW was sufficient to explain the movement of nearly half of herbivorous caribou and a quarter of omnivorous grizzly bears, but was insufficient to explain the movement of all carnivorous polar bears. Strong evidence for CCRW movement patterns suggests that many individuals may use a multiphasic movement strategy rather than one-behaviour strategies such as the Lévy walk. The fact that the best model was insufficient to describe the movement paths of many individuals suggests that some animals living in sparse environments may use
Explaining convergence of oecd welfare states
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Schmitt, C.; Starke, Peter
2011-01-01
of conditional convergence helps to both better describe and explain the phenomenon. By applying error correction models, we examine conditional convergence of various types of social expenditure in 21 OECD countries between 1980 and 2005. Our empirical findings go beyond the existing literature in two respects...
Soviet Nuclear Strategy form Stalin to Gorbachev
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Catudal, H.M.
1989-01-01
This book examines the nature of the Soviet nuclear threat and how it has evolved over the years. Too often in the past U.S. officials, in shaping and directing plans for American nuclear forces, have tended to see Soviet military forces and strategy as a reflection of their own stance or simply as projecting the worst plausible case of Soviet intentions and capabilities. The result has been a distorted if not dangerous portrayal of the real threat. Soviet nuclear strategy, as explained in this detailed book, has evolved significantly since the days when the Soviets first possessed nuclear weapons under Joseph Stalin. Today there is in development a new Soviet military and strategic doctrine reflected in Gorbachev's words, We require a radical break with traditions of political thinking. This new doctrine promises to have a profound impact on European security and the overall East-West relationship
Race, genetics, and human reproductive strategies.
Rushton, J P
1996-02-01
The international literature on racial differences is reviewed, novel data are reported, and a distinct pattern is found. People of east Asian ancestry and people of African ancestry average at opposite ends of a continuum, with people of European ancestry averaging intermediately, albeit with much variability within each major race. The racial matrix emerges from measures taken of reproductive behavior, sex hormones, twinning rate, speed of physical maturation, personality, family stability, brain size, intelligence, law abidingness, and social organization. An evolutionary theory of human reproduction is proposed, familiar to biologists as the r-K scale of reproductive strategies. At one end of this scale are r-strategies, which emphasize high reproductive rates; at the other end are K-strategies, which emphasize high levels of parental investment. This scale is generally used to compare the life histories of widely disparate species, but here it is used to describe the immensely smaller variations among human races. It is hypothesized that, again on average, Mongoloid people are more K-selected than Caucasoids, who are more K-selected than Negroids. The r-K scale of reproductive strategies is also mapped on to human evolution. Genetic distances indicate that Africans emerged from the ancestral hominid line about 200,000 years ago, with an African/non-African split about 110,000 years ago, and a Caucasoid/Mongoloid split about 41,000 years ago. Such an ordering fits with and explains how and why the variables cluster.
Explaining money creation by commercial banks
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ravn, Ib
2015-01-01
Educators and economists concerned with monetary reform face the extraordinary challenge of explaining to the public and its elected representatives not only what a reformed system would look like, but also how the current system works. Centrally, the point that in a modern economy money is largely...... created by commercial banks, as explained by the Bank of England recently (McLeay, Radia & Thomas, 2014b), is often met with incredulity: “What do you mean, created?” This paper introduces five easy-to-grasp analogies that educators and reformers may use to convey key money-creation concepts to a lay...... audience. The analogies offered include (1) money as patches in an expandable patchwork quilt that covers a nation’s real assets, (2) the money supply as water in a bathtub with a faucet and a drain, (3) money understood as debt in a model economy run by schoolchildren, (4) the misleading concept of a bank...
Introducing the Methodology of Transplanting a New National Speed Management Strategy
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Török Árpád
2017-06-01
Full Text Available This paper explains the most important methodological steps of introducing a new speed management strategy. The development of a speed monitoring system with a long term effect on the progress of road safety, makes it necessary to identify its strategic goals, main functions and system components. The strategy should investigate current speed management methods, regulation framework of road signs, tendencies represented by statistics, enforcement campaigns, control equipment, and last but not least the penalty system. Assessment of the applied speed enforcement practices and framework should involve the revision of the recently operating institutional, legal and technical framework of speed enforcement structure.
Phenotypic variance explained by local ancestry in admixed African Americans.
Shriner, Daniel; Bentley, Amy R; Doumatey, Ayo P; Chen, Guanjie; Zhou, Jie; Adeyemo, Adebowale; Rotimi, Charles N
2015-01-01
We surveyed 26 quantitative traits and disease outcomes to understand the proportion of phenotypic variance explained by local ancestry in admixed African Americans. After inferring local ancestry as the number of African-ancestry chromosomes at hundreds of thousands of genotyped loci across all autosomes, we used a linear mixed effects model to estimate the variance explained by local ancestry in two large independent samples of unrelated African Americans. We found that local ancestry at major and polygenic effect genes can explain up to 20 and 8% of phenotypic variance, respectively. These findings provide evidence that most but not all additive genetic variance is explained by genetic markers undifferentiated by ancestry. These results also inform the proportion of health disparities due to genetic risk factors and the magnitude of error in association studies not controlling for local ancestry.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Linn Persson
2017-11-01
Full Text Available The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS is a system for classifying and labelling chemicals according to their intrinsic hazardous properties. The GHS is one of the cornerstones of sound chemicals management, an issue consistently on the international sustainable development agenda since 1992. In 2002, it was agreed under the United Nations that all countries should be encouraged to implement the GHS by 2008. However, to date, it is unclear where, how, and to what extent the GHS has been implemented and what factors best explain any differences in implementation coverage. The aim of this paper is to provide a global overview of current GHS implementation status in national legislation using primary and secondary data, and explain differences between countries based on theory on motivational and capacity-related factors for implementation of international standards. We conclude that there seems to be broad support from countries for enhanced international collaboration in the field of sound chemicals management. However, several drivers and barriers for national GHS implementation co-exist, and there is a clear positive correlation between the financial and regulatory capacities of a country and its GHS implementation status. At the same time, our data suggest that it is possible to increase the global implementation coverage by using a combination of motivational and capacity related strategies.
A model to explain human voice production
Vilas Bôas, C. S. N.; Gobara, S. T.
2018-05-01
This article presents a device constructed with low-cost material to demonstrate and explain voice production. It also provides a contextualized, interdisciplinary approach to introduce the study of sound waves.
Neoliberalization by Evaluation: Explaining the Making of Neoliberal Evaluative State
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Diego Giannone
2016-09-01
Full Text Available Starting from the late seventies neoliberalism has emerged as the new global hegemonic par-adigm. Several studies demonstrated that different factors facilitated the global spread of neoliberalism, but little attention has been paid to the role played by evaluation both in legitimizing the neoliberalization of the state and in explaining the resilience of neoliberalism. The article argues that evaluation is a strategy of action which is able to emphasize the adaptive capacity of neoliberalism to different socio-political con-texts and the neoliberal purpose to depoliticize public action. The contribution aims to illustrate how eval-uation works on a twofold level. On the one hand, evaluation is a tool of global governance that acts nor-matively to homogenize states’ action consistently with some neoliberal values, such as competitiveness and economic efficiency. On the other hand, to conform to such values, variegated forms of evaluation are implemented by each state in order to introduce market rationality in non-economic domains, such as ed-ucation and health system. Referring to some empirical cases, these two overlapping processes are termed as the "evaluated state" and "evaluative state". As a result, neoliberalization by evaluation is a process in-volving the elevation of market-based principles and techniques of evaluation to the level of state-endorsed norms
Explaining Teachers' Use of Textbooks
Reichenberg, Monica
2016-01-01
In educational systems without comprehensive systems for regulating textbooks, teachers can exert considerable influence on the use of textbooks. However, existing research has not yet identified the mechanisms of this use. Accordingly, the aim of this article is to examine and explain teachers' strategic use of textbooks. I administered a…
Bachelot, Benedicte; Lee, Charlotte T
2018-02-01
Evidence accumulates about the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in shaping plant communities, but little is known about the factors determining the biomass and coexistence of several types of AM fungi in a plant community. Here, using a consumer-resource framework that treats the relationship between plants and fungi as simultaneous, reciprocal exploitation, we investigated what patterns of dynamic preferential plant carbon allocation to empirically-defined fungal types (on-going partner choice) would be optimal for plants, and how these patterns depend on successional dynamics. We found that ruderal AM fungi can dominate under low steady-state nutrient availability, and competitor AM fungi can dominate at higher steady-state nutrient availability; these are conditions characteristic of early and late succession, respectively. We also found that dynamic preferential allocation alone can maintain a diversity of mutualists, suggesting that on-going partner choice is a new coexistence mechanism for mutualists. Our model can therefore explain both mutualist coexistence and successional strategy, providing a powerful tool to derive testable predictions. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.
Predictable and Predictive Emotions:Explaining Cheap Signals and Trust Re-Extension
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eric eSchniter
2014-11-01
Full Text Available Despite normative predictions from economics and biology, unrelated strangers will often develop the trust necessary to reap gains from one-shot economic exchange opportunities. This appears to be especially true when declared intentions and emotions can be cheaply communicated. Perhaps even more puzzling to economists and biologists is the observation that anonymous and unrelated individuals, known to have breached trust, often make effective use of cheap signals, such as promises and apologies, to encourage trust re-extension. We used a pair of trust games with one-way communication and emotion surveys to investigate the role of emotions in regulating the propensity to message, apologize, re-extend trust, and demonstrate trustworthiness. This design allowed us to observe the endogenous emergence and natural distribution of trust-relevant behaviors, remedial strategies used by promise-breakers, their effects on behavior, and subsequent outcomes. We found that emotions triggered by interaction outcomes are predictable and also predict subsequent apology and trust re-extension. The role of emotions in behavioral regulation helps explain why messages are produced, when they can be trusted, and when trust will be re-extended.
Predictable and predictive emotions: explaining cheap signals and trust re-extension.
Schniter, Eric; Sheremeta, Roman M
2014-01-01
Despite normative predictions from economics and biology, unrelated strangers will often develop the trust necessary to reap gains from one-shot economic exchange opportunities. This appears to be especially true when declared intentions and emotions can be cheaply communicated. Perhaps even more puzzling to economists and biologists is the observation that anonymous and unrelated individuals, known to have breached trust, often make effective use of cheap signals, such as promises and apologies, to encourage trust re-extension. We used a pair of trust games with one-way communication and an emotion survey to investigate the role of emotions in regulating the propensity to message, apologize, re-extend trust, and demonstrate trustworthiness. This design allowed us to observe the endogenous emergence and natural distribution of trust-relevant behaviors, remedial strategies used by promise-breakers, their effects on behavior, and subsequent outcomes. We found that emotions triggered by interaction outcomes are predictable and also predict subsequent apology and trust re-extension. The role of emotions in behavioral regulation helps explain why messages are produced, when they can be trusted, and when trust will be re-extended.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Crotty Yvonne
2017-12-01
Full Text Available The Erasmus + Play4Guidance (P4G project introduces an online business game, designed to help teach entrepreneurial, transversal and mathematical skills using a real-world business environment. This paper explains how the Business Model Canvas (BMC strategy tool facilitated student understanding of real life business development prior to playing the game. An initial mapping exercise was conducted to find out if the Business Model Canvas could transform the experience of playing the game by providing an overview of real life business strategy, and explain the crucial role that markets and customers play in business growth. As a result of the mapping exercise a workshop session was developed to ensure that students could enact the real life business scenarios presented in the game. Three different types of videos were produced and integrated into the workshop to demonstrate key entrepreneurial competencies and graphically illustrate the nine key building blocks of the BMC. Survey responses from a student cohort evidenced that the workshop was central in helping them to understand real life business strategy prior to playing the game.
Korea's nuclear public information experiences-target groups and communication strategies
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chung, J.K.
1996-01-01
Why public information activities in Korea are needed is first explained. There are three basic reasons; 1) to secure necessary sites for construction of large nuclear facilities; such as nuclear power plants, radwaste management facilities, and nuclear fuel-cycle related facilities 2) to maintain a friendly relationship between the local communities and the nuclear industries, 3) to promote better understanding about the nation's peaceful nuclear programs to the various target groups. Categorization of target groups and messages are reviewed. By whom the public information programs are implemented is also explained. An orchestrated effort together with the third communicators is stressed. Basic philosophy of nuclear public information programs is introduced. A high-profile information campaign and a low-profile information campaign are explained. Particular information strategies suitable to Korean situation as examined. In addition, the Korean general public perception on nuclear energy is briefly introduced. Also, some real insights of anti-nuclear movement in Korea together with the arguments are reviewed. In conclusion, the paper stresses that nuclear arguments became no more technical matters but almost socio-political issues. (author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Cecchi, P.; Garrido, M.; Collos, Y.; Pasqualini, V.
2016-01-01
Dinoflagellate proliferation is common in coastal waters, and trophic strategies are often advanced to explain the success of these organisms. The Biguglia lagoon is a Mediterranean brackish ecosystem where eutrophication has long been an issue, and where dominance of dinoflagellates has persisted for several years. Monthly monitoring of fluorescence-based properties of phytoplankton communities carried out in 2010 suggested that photosynthesis alone could not support the observed situation all year round. Contrasting food webs developed depending on the hydrological season, with a gradual shift from autotrophy to heterotrophy. Progressively, microphytoplankton assemblages became unequivocally dominated by a Prorocentrum minimum bloom, which exhibited very weak effective photosynthetic performance, whereas paradoxically its theoretical capacities remained fully operational. Different environmental hypotheses explaining this discrepancy were examined, but rejected. We conclude that P. minimum bloom persistence is sustained by mixotrophic strategies, with complex compromises between phototrophy and phagotrophy, as evidenced by fluorescence-based observations. - Highlights: •Dinoflagellate proliferation is now common in Mediterranean coastal waters. •Trophic strategies are advanced to explain the success of these organisms. •Prorocentrum minimum exhaustively dominated in the Biguglia lagoon (Corsica) in 2010. •Photosynthesis alone did not sustain the observed situation all year round. •Mixotrophy is hypothesized as an alternative driver of the process.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Adel Zahed
2009-10-01
Full Text Available Introduction: Individuals with substance abuse show signs of negative emotion regulation strategies and impaired interpersonal behaviors. The aim of the present research was to determine the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and interpersonal behavior among substance abusers. Method: The research design was a correlation study. The research sample consisted of 100 who were selected of the substance abusers that referred to clinical of addiction withdrawal by random sample method in Ardabil city. To collect the data, Emotion regulation Scale and Interpersonal Reactivity Index were used. Results: The results showed that positive and negative emotion regulation strategies were correlated to interpersonal behavior in substance abusers. The results of multiple regression analysis showed positive and negative emotion regulation strategies explained 16 percent of interpersonal behavior variance. Also the results showed that “putting into perspective“ was found to be the best predictor for interpersonal behavior. Conclusion: These results have important implications in psychopathological of substance abuse. On the basis of these results, clinicians can use emotion regulation strategies in order to cope substance abuse.
Risk Perception and Management Strategies in Dairy Farming: A Case of Adana Province of Turkey
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Seyit Hayran
2015-12-01
Full Text Available This study aims to determine and analyse farmers’ risk perceptions and risk management strategies in dairy farming. Data were obtained in 2014 (December and 2015 (February and March from face-to-face interviews with 96 dairy farmers in Yüregir and Saricam district of Adana province of Turkey. Factor analysis was used in data reduction to identify a small number of factors related to risk sources and risk strategies in this study. Then, multiple regression model was used to evaluate the influence of socio-economic characteristics and communication behaviour on the farmers’ risk perceptions and risk management strategies using factor loadings. The results of this study show that the most important risk source that the farmers' perceive is variability in feed prices and risk management strategy that the farmers' perceive is take precautions to prevent disease. The results of factor analysis show that the risk scale consists of 8 factors explaining 70.24% of total variance. The internal consistency coefficient Cronbach Alfa of the scale is 0.808 and KMO is 0.732. The risk management scale consists of 6 factors explaining 67.78% of total variance. The internal consistency coefficient Cronbach Alfa of the scale is 0.775 and KMO is 0.746. According to the results, perceptions were farmer-specific, a number of socio-economic variables and communication behaviour are found to be related to risk and risk management. To improve risk management strategies is useful for farmers as well and might help them to avoid many risks and reduce losses.
Machine learning and deep analytics for biocomputing: call for better explainability.
Petkovic, Dragutin; Kobzik, Lester; Re, Christopher
2018-01-01
The goals of this workshop are to discuss challenges in explainability of current Machine Leaning and Deep Analytics (MLDA) used in biocomputing and to start the discussion on ways to improve it. We define explainability in MLDA as easy to use information explaining why and how the MLDA approach made its decisions. We believe that much greater effort is needed to address the issue of MLDA explainability because of: 1) the ever increasing use and dependence on MLDA in biocomputing including the need for increased adoption by non-MLD experts; 2) the diversity, complexity and scale of biocomputing data and MLDA algorithms; 3) the emerging importance of MLDA-based decisions in patient care, in daily research, as well as in the development of new costly medical procedures and drugs. This workshop aims to: a) analyze and challenge the current level of explainability of MLDA methods and practices in biocomputing; b) explore benefits of improvements in this area; and c) provide useful and practical guidance to the biocomputing community on how to address these challenges and how to develop improvements. The workshop format is designed to encourage a lively discussion with panelists to first motivate and understand the problem and then to define next steps and solutions needed to improve MLDA explainability.
Hanegraaff, M.; Beyers, J.; De Bruycker, I.
2016-01-01
This article seeks to explain the use of inside and outside lobbying by organised interests at global diplomatic conferences. At first sight, the lobbying at these venues is puzzling as it does not seem to be a very fruitful way to acquire influence. The use of outside strategies especially is
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Simona Zgaga
2013-02-01
Full Text Available Relationship termination happens relatively often in emerging adulthood but is nevertheless as distressing then as it is later in life. We examined the relationship between coping strategies and posttraumatic growth in a sample of 260 emerging adults whose heterosexual romantic relationships were terminated at most two years before participating in the study. Participants completed The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, The COPE Inventory and Emotion Approach Coping scale. For the purposes of the study we also conceptualized a new coping inventory, related specifically to coping with relationship termination. While controlling for gender and age the coping strategies explained 34 % of variability in posttraumatic growth. Statistically significant predictors of posttraumatic growth were problem-oriented coping strategies, coping strategies, oriented towards emotions and other people, acceptance and positive self-motivation as well as coping strategies that allow some distancing from the stressor. Results indicate that posttraumatic growth is related to problem-oriented and also to emotion-oriented coping strategies, which is reasonable since relationship termination is a stressor that cannot be eliminated. It is important that an individual who is facing it can cope well with the unpleasant emotions deriving from relationship termination.
Possible strategies in development of highly productive underground coal mining
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Djoric, M
1980-01-01
This paper explains the basic strategies which may be applied in the exploitation of coal deposits by underground mining. It outlines the importance of combinations of extensive (non-mechanized) and intensive (mechanized) exploitation and their dependence on coal demand, available financial means, requirements concerning the protection of environment, unemployment of the population, availability of mechanical and electrical equipment, technical staff, etc. It is suggested that the applied strategy be revised and adapted to the current situation. Postponement of exploitation until the future when the demand and price of coal may be higher is criticized. The possibility of applying extensive underground mining in areas where unemployment and lack of capital speak against the application of fully mechanized working methods is also dealt with. (In Serbo-Croatian)
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ivan S Menshikov
Full Text Available In this research, the social behavior of the participants in a Prisoner's Dilemma laboratory game is explained on the basis of the quantal response equilibrium concept and the representation of the game in Markov strategies. In previous research, we demonstrated that social interaction during the experiment has a positive influence on cooperation, trust, and gratefulness. This research shows that the quantal response equilibrium concept agrees only with the results of experiments on cooperation in Prisoner's Dilemma prior to social interaction. However, quantal response equilibrium does not explain of participants' behavior after social interaction. As an alternative theoretical approach, an examination was conducted of iterated Prisoner's Dilemma game in Markov strategies. We built a totally mixed Nash equilibrium in this game; the equilibrium agrees with the results of the experiments both before and after social interaction.
Students' Development and Use of Models to Explain Electrostatic Interactions
Mayer, Kristin Elizabeth
The National Research Council (2012) recently published A Framework for K-12 Science Education that describes a vision for science classrooms where students engage in three dimensions--scientific and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas--to explain phenomena or observations they can make about the universe around them. This vision of science instruction is a significant shift from current classroom instruction. This dissertation provides detailed examples of how students developed and used models to build causal explanations of phenomena. I co-taught classes that focused on having students develop and revise models of electric fields and atomic structure using a curriculum that was designed to align with the three-dimensional vision of learning. I developed case studies of eleven students from these classes. I analyzed the students' responses and interviewed the students throughout the school year. By comparing and contrasting the analysis across the analysis of students' interviews, I identified four themes: 1) students could apply their ideas to explain novel and abstract phenomena; 2) students struggled to connect changes in their atomic models to evidence, but ended up with dynamic models of atomic structure that they could apply to explain phenomena; 3) students developed models of atomic structure that they applied to explain phenomena, but they did not use models of electric fields in this way; and 4) too much focus on details interfered with students' ability to apply their models to explain new phenomena. This dissertation highlights the importance of focusing on phenomena in classrooms that aim at aligning with three-dimensional learning. Students struggled to focus on specific content and apply their ideas to explain phenomena at the same time. In order to apply ideas to new context, students had to shift their focus from recalling ideas to applying the ideas they do have. A focus on phenomena allowed students to show
Critical Factors Explaining the Leadership Performance of High-Performing Principals
Hutton, Disraeli M.
2018-01-01
The study explored critical factors that explain leadership performance of high-performing principals and examined the relationship between these factors based on the ratings of school constituents in the public school system. The principal component analysis with the use of Varimax Rotation revealed that four components explain 51.1% of the…
Comparative Study of Aircraft Boarding Strategies Using Cellular Discrete Event Simulation
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shafagh Jafer
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Time is crucial in the airlines industry. Among all factors contributing to an aircraft turnaround time; passenger boarding delays is the most challenging one. Airlines do not have control over the behavior of passengers; thus, focusing their effort on reducing passenger boarding time through implementing efficient boarding strategies. In this work, we attempt to use cellular Discrete-Event System Specification (Cell-DEVS modeling and simulation to provide a comprehensive evaluation of aircraft boarding strategies. We have developed a simulation benchmark consisting of eight boarding strategies including Back-to-Front; Window Middle Aisle; Random; Zone Rotate; Reverse Pyramid; Optimal; Optimal Practical; and Efficient. Our simulation models are scalable and adaptive; providing a powerful analysis apparatus for investigating any existing or yet to be discovered boarding strategy. We explain the details of our models and present the results both visually and numerically to evaluate the eight implemented boarding strategies. We also compare our results with other studies that have used different modeling techniques; reporting nearly identical performance results. The simulations revealed that Window Middle Aisle provides the least boarding delay; with a small fraction of time difference compared to the optimal strategy. The results of this work could highly benefit the commercial airlines industry by optimizing and reducing passenger boarding delays.
Your Radiologist Explains Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA)
Full Text Available ... Disorders Video: The Basketball Game: An MRI Story Radiology and You Sponsored by Image/Video Gallery Your ... Explains Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) Transcript Welcome to Radiology Info dot org Hello, I’m Dr. Elliot ...
Your Radiologist Explains Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA)
Full Text Available ... An MRI Story Radiology and You Sponsored by Image/Video Gallery Your Radiologist Explains Magnetic Resonance Angiography ( ... posted: How to Obtain and Share Your Medical Images Movement Disorders Video: The Basketball Game: An MRI ...
Using Expectancy Theory to Explain Performance Appraisal ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
pc
2018-03-05
Mar 5, 2018 ... appraisal conducting style, the relation between the performance appraisal system and task ... the article first explains the theory model which is based expectancy theory. II. ... which in return lead to rewards. According to [12],.
Uus sünagoog pani juudid tantsima / Peeter Kuimet, Kaia Otti
Kuimet, Peeter
2007-01-01
Tallinnas Karu tänaval avati 16. mail 2007 uus juudi sünagoog, avamistseremoonial viibisid Iisraeli asepeaminister Shimon Peres, Eesti president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, peaminister Andrus Ansip, Venemaa pearabi Berl Lazar, Iisraeli pearabi Yona Metzger ja sünagoogi suurrahastaja Aleksander Bronshtein. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves viitas oma kõnes paralleelidele eestlaste ja juutide ajaloos. Vt. samas: Juutide usk, kombed ja toit; Sünagoogi avamist kommenteerivad meediaõppejõud Hagi Shein, dirigent Eri Klas. Vt. samas: Peres: elevantide keskel on väikestel raske magada. Ilmunud ka: Postimees : na russkom jazõke 17. mai 2007, lk. 2; Narvskaja Gazeta, 19. mai 2007, lk. 6 (autor Ksenia Repson)
Orasanu, Judith
1991-01-01
Aircrew effectiveness in coping with emergencies has been linked to captain's personality profile. The present study analyzed cockpit communication during simulated flight to examine the relation between captains' discourse strategies, personality profiles, and crew performance. Positive Instrumental/Expressive captains and Instrumental-Negative captains used very similar communication strategies and their crews made few errors. Their talk was distinguished by high levels of planning and strategizing, gathering information, predicting/alerting, and explaining, especially during the emergency flight phase. Negative-Expressive captains talked less overall, and engaged in little problem solving talk, even during emergencies. Their crews made many errors. Findings support the theory that high crew performance results when captains use language to build shared mental models for problem situations.
Luque Salas, Bárbara; Yáñez Rodríguez, Virginia; Tabernero Urbieta, Carmen; Cuadrado, Esther
2017-02-01
This research aims to understand the role of coping strategies and self-efficacy expectations as predictors of life satisfaction in a sample of parents of boys and girls diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. A total of 129 parents (64 men and 65 women) answered a questionnaire on life-satisfaction, coping strategies and self-efficacy scales. Using a regression model, results show that the age of the child is associated with a lower level of satisfaction in parents. The results show that self-efficacy is the variable that best explains the level of satisfaction in mothers, while the use of problem solving explains a higher level of satisfaction in fathers. Men and women show similar levels of life satisfaction; however significant differences were found in coping strategies where women demonstrated higher expressing emotions and social support strategies than men. The development of functional coping strategies and of a high level of self-efficacy represents a key tool for adapting to caring for children with autism. Our results indicated the necessity of early intervention with parents to promote coping strategies, self-efficacy and high level of life satisfaction.
Reforma veřejné správy: analýza Strategie realizace Smart Administration
Hurychová, Tereza
2016-01-01
This diploma thesis is mainly to explain the significance of the document Efektivní veřejná správa a přátelské služby: Strategie realizace Smart Administration 2007 - 2015 2015 (Efficient public administration and friendly service: Smart Administration Strategy 2007 - 2015) in the context of the reform process of public administration in the Czech republic. The author′s point of view is based of the theory of change, strategic managment and modern managment methods in public administration. A...
Explorers Presentation: Explaining the Tides to Children
Institute, Marine
2015-01-01
Explaining the tides to children Presentation includes information about: Orbits of the Earth, Moon and Sun; Moon phases and the lunar cycle; Gravity; Gravity and the tide; Types of tides; The tides and me!; Tide tables; Extra insight
Pisanti, R
2012-01-01
Nursing is generally considered to be a stressful profession. The purpose of the present study was to test the core hypotheses of the job demands-control-social support model (JDCS) of Karasek & Theorell (1990). In order to refine and extend the JDCS model, we also analyzed the direct and interactive role of three coping strategies: task- oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented coping. Questionnaire data from 1383 nurses (77%female) were collected. Controlling for demographic variables and non-linearity of the associations between job characteristics and outcomes (job satisfaction; burnout dimensions, psychological distress, and somatic complaints), hierarchical regression analyses indicated that job control and social support combined additively (p < 0.001) with job demands to explain the wellbeing outcomes (explained variance between 6% and 28%). Coping strategies accounted for additional variance (p < 0.001; explained variance between 4% and 15%) in all outcomes except in job satisfaction. Support was found for main effects of coping. Coping strategies did not moderate the impact of job characteristics on burnout and wellbeing. Emotion-oriented coping emerged as the most important predictor and was consistently associated with higher burnout levels and lower wellbeing levels. The results demonstrated the need to include the role of individual variables in the JDCS model. The limitations of the study, and theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Defense transuranic waste program strategy document
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1982-07-01
This document summarizes the strategy for managing transuranic (TRU) wastes generated in defense and research activities regulated by the US Department of Energy. It supercedes a document issued in July 1980. In addition to showing how current strategies of the Defense Transuranic Waste Program (DTWP) are consistent with the national objective of isolating radioactive wastes from the biosphere, this document includes information about the activities of the Transuranic Lead Organization (TLO). To explain how the DTWP strategy is implemented, this document also discusses how the TLO coordinates and integrates the six separate elements of the DTWP: (1) Waste Generation Site Activities, (2) Storage Site Activities, (3) Burial Site Activities, (4) Technology Development, (5) Transportation Development, and (6) Permanent Disposal. Storage practices for TRU wastes do not pose short-term hazards to public health and safety or to the environment. Isolation of TRU wastes in a deep-mined geologic repository is considered the most promising of the waste disposal alternatives available. This assessment is supported by the DOE Record of Decision to proceed with research and development work at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in southeastern New Mexico - a deep-mined geologic research and development project. In support of the WIPP research project and the permanent disposal of TRU waste, the DTWP strategy for the near term will concentrate on completion of procedures and the design and construction of all facilities necessary to certify newly-generated (NG) and stored TRU wastes for emplacement in the WIPP. In addition, the strategy involves evaluating alternatives for disposing of some transuranic wastes by methods which may allow for on-site disposal of these wastes and yet preserve adequate margins of safety to protect public health and the environment
Explaining Match Outcome During The Men’s Basketball Tournament at The Olympic Games
Leicht, Anthony S.; Gómez, Miguel A.; Woods, Carl T.
2017-01-01
In preparation for the Olympics, there is a limited opportunity for coaches and athletes to interact regularly with team performance indicators providing important guidance to coaches for enhanced match success at the elite level. This study examined the relationship between match outcome and team performance indicators during men’s basketball tournaments at the Olympic Games. Twelve team performance indicators were collated from all men’s teams and matches during the basketball tournament of the 2004-2016 Olympic Games (n = 156). Linear and non-linear analyses examined the relationship between match outcome and team performance indicator characteristics; namely, binary logistic regression and a conditional interference (CI) classification tree. The most parsimonious logistic regression model retained ‘assists’, ‘defensive rebounds’, ‘field-goal percentage’, ‘fouls’, ‘fouls against’, ‘steals’ and ‘turnovers’ (delta AIC winning (93.2%). Match outcome during the men’s basketball tournaments at the Olympic Games was identified by a unique combination of performance indicators. Despite the average model accuracy being marginally higher for the logistic regression analysis, the CI classification tree offered a greater practical utility for coaches through its resolution of non-linear phenomena to guide team success. Key points A unique combination of team performance indicators explained 93.2% of winning observations in men’s basketball at the Olympics. Monitoring of these team performance indicators may provide coaches with the capability to devise multiple game plans or strategies to enhance their likelihood of winning. Incorporation of machine learning techniques with team performance indicators may provide a valuable and strategic approach to explain patterns within multivariate datasets in sport science. PMID:29238245
Explaining the Allocation of Regional Structural Funds
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Charron, Nicholas
2016-01-01
What regional factors can explain the heterogeneity in Structural Funds distribution to European Union regions? Past studies have shown that aside from the level of economic development and rates of unemployment, other political, and economic factors systematically explain why certain European...... Union regions receive greater funding than others, in particular where there is room for bargaining. In this article, a novel theory is posited which argues that the determination of Structural Funds is based on an interaction between a region’s formal institutions (the level of a regional autonomy......) and informal institutions (its level of quality of government). In cases of low regional autonomy, member states and European Union level actors prefer to allocate greater levels of Funds to regions with lower quality of government in order to increase cohesion. Yet in cases of high regional autonomy, risks...
The role of social factors in explaining crime
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Siti Nur Zahara HAMZAH
2013-06-01
Full Text Available Utilizing Malaysia data from 1973 to 2008, the study reveals that crime can be influenced by population, fertility, unemployment, and GDP in either the long-run or short-run period. This study also further analysed beyond sample estimations of the variables involved and found that although violent crime can be explained in the short-run only from the VECM analysis, it is found to be explained by other explanatory variables in the long-run of beyond sample for at least 50 years ahead. It is important for policy makers to focus in both social structure and economic conditions to help prevent crime in the long-run.
Topology Explains Why Automobile Sunshades Fold Oddly
Feist, Curtis; Naimi, Ramin
2009-01-01
Automobile sunshades always fold into an "odd" number of loops. The explanation why involves elementary topology (braid theory and linking number, both explained in detail here with definitions and examples), and an elementary fact from algebra about symmetric group.
Girdler, Sonya J.
2016-01-01
Increasingly, women simultaneously balance the roles of mother, parental carer and worker. However, individual role balance strategies among these working ‘sandwich’ generation women have not been thoroughly explored. Eighteen women combining these three roles were interviewed about their individual role balance strategies. Findings were identified through the framework analysis technique, underpinned by the Model of Juggling Occupations. Achieving and maintaining role balance was explained as a complex process accomplished through a range of strategies. Findings revealed the women used six within-role balance strategies: living with integrity, being the best you can, doing what you love, loving what you do, remembering why and searching for signs of success. The women also described six between-role balance strategies: maintaining health and wellbeing, repressing perfectionism, managing time and energy, releasing responsibility, nurturing social connection and reciprocating. These findings provide a basis for health care providers to understand and potentially support working ‘sandwich’ generation women. PMID:27305074
Freemium strategies and tactics for online digital firms
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Holm, Anna B.
in an online digital business. The findings indicate that successful freemium business models derive from the execution of a ‘prospector’ strategy. The common denominator for all case companies is the constant build-up and maintenance of a user base that can in turn support further innovation and market......The freemium business model has recently become one of the most dominant business models in online markets. However, there is still a limited understanding of why some online digital companies are able to build sustainable freemium business models while others are not. The purpose of this article...... is explain the success of freemium firms from a strategic point of view. Four case studies of successful online digital firms were conducted. Based on the findings, the paper categorizes and describes the strategy and a set of common tactics that enable and support a freemium business model execution...
Breeding Young as a Survival Strategy during Earth’s Greatest Mass Extinction
Botha-Brink, Jennifer; Codron, Daryl; Huttenlocker, Adam K.; Angielczyk, Kenneth D.; Ruta, Marcello
2016-04-01
Studies of the effects of mass extinctions on ancient ecosystems have focused on changes in taxic diversity, morphological disparity, abundance, behaviour and resource availability as key determinants of group survival. Crucially, the contribution of life history traits to survival during terrestrial mass extinctions has not been investigated, despite the critical role of such traits for population viability. We use bone microstructure and body size data to investigate the palaeoecological implications of changes in life history strategies in the therapsid forerunners of mammals before and after the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction (PTME), the most catastrophic crisis in Phanerozoic history. Our results are consistent with truncated development, shortened life expectancies, elevated mortality rates and higher extinction risks amongst post-extinction species. Various simulations of ecological dynamics indicate that an earlier onset of reproduction leading to shortened generation times could explain the persistence of therapsids in the unpredictable, resource-limited Early Triassic environments, and help explain observed body size distributions of some disaster taxa (e.g., Lystrosaurus). Our study accounts for differential survival in mammal ancestors after the PTME and provides a methodological framework for quantifying survival strategies in other vertebrates during major biotic crises.
Disciplinary practices in schools and principles of alternatives to corporal punishment strategies
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
George Moyo
2014-01-01
Full Text Available The aim of the study was to determine the consistency prevailing between the disciplinary practices in the schools and the principles of the Alternatives-to-Corporal Punishment strategy. The three main research questions that guided the study were to determine (1 How much variance of offences can be explained by disciplinary measures of alternative corporal punishment? (2 How well do the different measures of alternative corporal punishment predict offences? (3 Which is the best predictor of offences given a set of alternative measures? Twenty-nine schools participated in the survey andfive schools participated in the case study, so the achieved sample was 34 schools. From the 29 survey schools, one principal and one Life Orientation (LO teacher participated. All in all 58 people participated. The results revealed that 66.60% of the variation in the offence of vandalism was explained by the predictors. When vandalism was predicted it was found that School identification (p = .693, p .05. The results reveal that there was no established consistency between the disciplinary practices in the schools and the principles of the alternatives-to-corporal punishment strategy.
Does Asset Allocation Policy Explain 40, 90, 100 Percent of Performance?
Roger G. Ibbotson; Paul D. Kaplan
2001-01-01
Does asset allocation policy explain 40 percent, 90 percent, or 100 percent of performance? According to some well-known studies, more than 90 percent of the variability of a typical plan sponsor's performance over time is attributable to asset allocation. However, few people want to explain variability over time. Instead, an analyst might want to know how important it is in explaining the differences in return from one fund to another, or what percentage of the level of a typical fund's retu...
Jackson, Simon A; Kleitman, Sabina; Howie, Pauline; Stankov, Lazar
2016-01-01
In this paper, we investigate whether individual differences in performance on heuristic and biases tasks can be explained by cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, and control thresholds. Current theories explain individual differences in these tasks by the ability to detect errors and override automatic but biased judgments, and deliberative cognitive abilities that help to construct the correct response. Here we retain cognitive abilities but disentangle error detection, proposing that lower monitoring confidence and higher control thresholds promote error checking. Participants ( N = 250) completed tasks assessing their fluid reasoning abilities, stable monitoring confidence levels, and the control threshold they impose on their decisions. They also completed seven typical heuristic and biases tasks such as the cognitive reflection test and Resistance to Framing. Using structural equation modeling, we found that individuals with higher reasoning abilities, lower monitoring confidence, and higher control threshold performed significantly and, at times, substantially better on the heuristic and biases tasks. Individuals with higher control thresholds also showed lower preferences for risky alternatives in a gambling task. Furthermore, residual correlations among the heuristic and biases tasks were reduced to null, indicating that cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, and control thresholds accounted for their shared variance. Implications include the proposal that the capacity to detect errors does not differ between individuals. Rather, individuals might adopt varied strategies that promote error checking to different degrees, regardless of whether they have made a mistake or not. The results support growing evidence that decision-making involves cognitive abilities that construct actions and monitoring and control processes that manage their initiation.
Your Radiologist Explains Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA)
Full Text Available ... Sponsored by Image/Video Gallery Your Radiologist Explains Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) Transcript Welcome to Radiology Info dot ... I’d like to talk with you about magnetic resonance angiography, or as it’s commonly known, MRA. MRA ...
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
DOE
1998-01-01
The updated Strategy to Protect Public Health and Safety explains the roles that the natural and engineered systems are expected to play in achieving the objectives of a potential repository system at Yucca Mountain. These objectives are to contain the radionuclides within the waste packages for thousands of years, and to ensure that annual doses to a person living near the site will be acceptably low. This strategy maintains the key assumption of the Site Characterization Plan (DOE 1988) strategy that the potential repository level (horizon) will remain unsaturated. Thus, the strategy continues to rely on the natural attributes of the unsaturated zone for primary protection by providing a setting where waste packages assisted by other engineered barriers are expected to contain wastes for thousands of years. As in the Site Characterization Plan (DOE 1988) strategy, the natural system from the walls of the underground openings (drifts) to the human environment is expected to provide additional defense by reducing the concentrations of any radionuclides released from the waste packages. The updated Strategy to Protect Public Health and Safety is the framework for the integration of site information, repository design and assessment of postclosure performance to develop a safety case for the viability assessment and a subsequent license application. Current site information and a reference design are used to develop a quantitative assessment of performance to be compared with a performance measure. Four key attributes of an unsaturated repository system that are critical to meeting the objectives: (1) Limited water contacting the waste packages; (2) Long waste package lifetime; (3) Slow rate of release of radionuclides from the waste form; and (4) Concentration reduction during transport through engineered and natural barriers.
Empowered? Evaluating Japan's national energy strategy under the DPJ administration
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Valentine, Scott; Sovacool, Benjamin K.; Matsuura, Masahiro
2011-01-01
In August 2009, after 54 years of virtually unbroken rule, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was ousted from power by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The DPJ's campaign platform included a pledge to facilitate extreme reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, at the COP16 meeting in Cancun, Japan announced that it would not accept further emission reduction targets without broader commitment from all nations. This paper seeks to explain this dichotomy by employing a targeted stakeholder evaluation based on surveys with 321 Japanese citizens to assess the extent to which influential stakeholder groups in Japan supports a potentially costly transition to a low-carbon energy infrastructure amidst severe economic challenges that the nation faces. Findings help explain Japan's adversarial role in COP16 negotiations in Cancun, despite the stated GHG reduction ambitions of Japan's current ruling party. The analysis concludes that if the DPJ does embrace aggressive CO 2 reduction targets in the future, the strategic focus will likely mirror the former ruling party's energy policy of bolstering nuclear power generation capacity and promoting energy efficiency improvements while exhibiting lukewarm commitment to supporting capacity development in alternative sources of energy supply such as solar panels and wind turbines. - Research highlights: → Public consensus exists regarding which energy policy goals are important in Japan. → Minor perceptual differences are not of a catalytic nature. → Public consensus does not deviate significantly from past LDP energy policy. → Unlikely that the DPJ will pursue costly energy transition initiatives. → Likely that the DPJ energy strategy will be substantively similar to LDP strategy. → Any differences in strategy will focus on CO 2 reduction magnitude not substance.
Tinsley, C H
2001-08-01
Individualism, hierarchy, polychronicity, and explicit-contracting values explain why managers from Germany, Japan, and the United States use a different mix of strategies to negotiate workplace conflict. Hypotheses extend prior research in showing that conflict behavior is multiply determined and that each culture uses a variety of interests, regulations, and power-based conflict management strategies. Results of actual (rather than survey-based) conflict resolution behavior suggest several fruitful avenues for future research, including examining the inferred meaning of negotiation arguments, analyzing interaction effects of cultural value dimensions, studying the effectiveness of different strategies across cultures, and examining whether strategic adjustments are made during intercultural conflict management.
Applying Synectics Strategy in teaching Arabic Rhetoric
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Atta Abu Jabeen
2015-09-01
Full Text Available This research aimed at knowing the ability of applying Synectics strategy in teaching rhetoric in Arabic language at secondary schools and universities Synectics is identifying as a process of joining elements that has no obvious relationship using the rhetoric arts, especially “metaphor” in addition to logical arts especially “analogy,” within a methodology aims to reach creative solutions to problems. This definition is completely similar to Arabic rhetoric such as analogy and metaphor. When metaphor in language contains aesthetic and rhetorical values in expression, it carries explanatory connotations in philosophy and science which is the using of a specific experience to shed the light on another one. It also helps us to comprehend, insight and clarifying and explaining the concepts. And what we mean with analogy in Arabic language is nearer to simile which is one of the rhetoric arts. This research will review the Synectics strategy, how the western scientists applied it to develop creativity, and to what extent it is suitable to teach Arabic rhetoric subject in the university and secondary stage. In addition, It will provide application forms about applying Synectics strategy which will at the same time increase creativity of the students in all fields.
Strategy switching in the stabilization of unstable dynamics.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jacopo Zenzeri
Full Text Available In order to understand mechanisms of strategy switching in the stabilization of unstable dynamics, this work investigates how human subjects learn to become skilled users of an underactuated bimanual tool in an unstable environment. The tool, which consists of a mass and two hand-held non-linear springs, is affected by a saddle-like force-field. The non-linearity of the springs allows the users to determine size and orientation of the tool stiffness ellipse, by using different patterns of bimanual coordination: minimal stiffness occurs when the two spring terminals are aligned and stiffness size grows by stretching them apart. Tool parameters were set such that minimal stiffness is insufficient to provide stable equilibrium whereas asymptotic stability can be achieved with sufficient stretching, although at the expense of greater effort. As a consequence, tool users have two possible strategies for stabilizing the mass in different regions of the workspace: 1 high stiffness feedforward strategy, aiming at asymptotic stability and 2 low stiffness positional feedback strategy aiming at bounded stability. The tool was simulated by a bimanual haptic robot with direct torque control of the motors. In a previous study we analyzed the behavior of naïve users and we found that they spontaneously clustered into two groups of approximately equal size. In this study we trained subjects to become expert users of both strategies in a discrete reaching task. Then we tested generalization capabilities and mechanism of strategy-switching by means of stabilization tasks which consist of tracking moving targets in the workspace. The uniqueness of the experimental setup is that it addresses the general problem of strategy-switching in an unstable environment, suggesting that complex behaviors cannot be explained in terms of a global optimization criterion but rather require the ability to switch between different sub-optimal mechanisms.
The sustainable company: new challenges and strategies for more sustainability
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Victor DANCIU
2013-09-01
Full Text Available The sustainability becomes a model of development only if countries, industries, businesses and citizens become sustainable. The contribution of the business to a promising future should come from a fully integrated sustainability in its DNA and strategies.This paper focuses on the needed sustainable strategies for scaling up the contribution of the companies to sustainable development in the future. At the beginning, we analyze the main theoretical points of view on sustainability. Then, we explain how companies could achieve the sustainability by following the steps of a difficult process and the present performances in sustainability of large companies around the world. Finally, we suggest four strategies that businesses could design and implement in order to scaling up their sustainability in the future.The research has two important conclusions on sustainability in business. One is that the sustainability pays off if it is integrated in the DNA of the companies. The other conclusion says that the companies will succeed to make the needed transformation for achieving a better sustainability in the future only if they design and perform strategies focused on improving sustainability.
Okamoto, Scott K.; Pel, Suzanne; Helm, Susana; Valdez, Jessica
2013-01-01
This study examines gender differences in the use of drug resistance strategies for rural Asian/Pacific Islander youth. Multi-ethnic Asian/Pacific Islander youth (N = 213) from 6 middle/intermediate schools on the Island of Hawai’i participated in the study, and gender differences in their real-world use of specific strategies (e.g., refuse, explain, avoid, leave) were examined. Despite similar levels of exposure to situations where drugs and/or alcohol were offered, girls indicated significa...
Increasing the Sustainability of Museums through International Strategy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Izabela Luiza POP
2014-12-01
Full Text Available Museums use resources in order to provide public goods and services. The most important sources of income for many museums are budgetary subsidies. Unfortunately, these grants are limited and shrinking. In this context, during the last years the need for sustainable development of museums was stressed. In order to continue to operate, museums were forced to find ways of increasing their own income and keeping their costs under control. Thus museums have begun to use management and marketing strategies similar to those used by private companies. This paper examines the positive effects of international strategy implementation on museums’ sustainability. The first part of the paper explains why it is necessary to reform the traditional management of museums, which its main development directions are, what the sustainable development of museums is and why they should become sustainable. In the second part our research conducted on three museums (Guggenheim, Louvre, Hermitage shows that international expansion helps museums to increase their sustainability. The international strategy enables museums to increase their revenue, through licensing agreements, reduce their storage costs, highlight their heritage, improve their market image and be closer to consumers. Thus, through a strategy applied until recently only in the private sector, museums can improve their sustainability, but also better fulfill their purpose of serving the society.
Explaining the Evolution of Poverty
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Arndt, Channing; Hussain, Azhar; Jones, Edward Samuel
2012-01-01
We provide a comprehensive approach for analyzing the evolution of poverty using Mozambique as a case study. Bringing together data from disparate sources, we develop a novel “back-casting” framework that links a dynamic computable general equilibrium model to a micro-simulation poverty module....... This framework provides a new approach to explaining and decomposing the evolution of poverty, as well as to examining rigorously the coherence between poverty, economic growth, and inequality outcomes. Finally, various simple but useful and rarely-applied approaches to considering regional changes in poverty...
Manual on restoration strategies for radioactive-contaminated sites. RESTRAT-TD 14
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zeevaert, T.; Brendler, V.; Nordlinder, S.; Hedemann Jensen, P.; Bousher, A.
1999-06-01
This report is submitted as Technical Deliverable No. 14 against the requirements of the RESTRAT (Restoration Strategies for radioactively contaminated Sites and their Close Surroundings) Project. In this manual the methodology for ranking restoration options is explained and applied to example sites that are representative for major categories of contaminated sites. Potentially relevant techniques for restoration of contaminated sites are identified and characterised and the data collected included on a CD-ROM. For the ranking of the restoration options, a multi-attribute utility (MAU) type of analysis has been chosen with a view to the various categories of attributes that are being taken into account: radiological health detriment; economic costs; social factors. The methods of assessing the attributes and converting the attribute values into utility values for the scoring of the options are explained. The models applied for assessing the collective dose to the population and for the ranking of the remediation options (MAU analysis) are explained and the software included on two CD-ROMs added to the manual
Manual on restoration strategies for radioactive-contaminated sites. RESTRAT-TD 14
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Zeevaert, T.; Brendler, V.; Nordlinder, S.; Hedemann Jensen, P.; Bousher, A
1999-06-01
This report is submitted as Technical Deliverable No. 14 against the requirements of the RESTRAT (Restoration Strategies for radioactively contaminated Sites and their Close Surroundings) Project. In this manual the methodology for ranking restoration options is explained and applied to example sites that are representative for major categories of contaminated sites. Potentially relevant techniques for restoration of contaminated sites are identified and characterised and the data collected included on a CD-ROM. For the ranking of the restoration options, a multi-attribute utility (MAU) type of analysis has been chosen with a view to the various categories of attributes that are being taken into account: radiological health detriment; economic costs; social factors. The methods of assessing the attributes and converting the attribute values into utility values for the scoring of the options are explained. The models applied for assessing the collective dose to the population and for the ranking of the remediation options (MAU analysis) are explained and the software included on two CD-ROMs added to the manual.
Explaining subsidiaries' knowledge-diffusion behaviours within MNEs
Ho, H.C.
2007-01-01
This study explores how subsidiaries can contribute their advantages for the whole MNE in knowledge diffusion processes. The research model includes both organisational factors and local resources in a host country to explain subsidiaries' diffusion behaviours. We carried out an online survey for
Athenian fiscal expansionary policy and peace versus war strategy
Economou, Emmanouel/Marios/Lazaros; Kyriazis, Nicholas
2015-01-01
In the present essay, we develop at first a model of choice by actors to show how a society can take decisions on specific issues according to how flexible or rigid it is in new ideas and trends. Then, by utilizing game theory we explain how the Athenian society abandoned war in favour of a peace grand strategy during the second half of the 4th century BCE. To achieve this, two visionary Athenian policymakers Eubulus and Lycurgus introduced fiscal expansionary policy programs which proved ben...
Novel Symbol Learning-Induced Stroop Effect: Evidence for a Strategy-Based, Utility Learning Model
Wang, Jin; Tang, Huijun; Deng, Yuan
2016-01-01
The automaticity level and attention priority/strategy are two major theories that have attempted to explain the mechanism underlying the Stroop effect. Training is an effective way to manipulate the experience with the two dimensions (ink color and color word) in the Stroop task. In order to distinguish the above two factors (the automaticity or…
Ingenbleek, Paul T.M.; van Trijp, Hans C.M.; van der Veen, Gerrita
2017-01-01
Simple Summary Modern production systems aimed at improving animal welfare are more costly than traditional systems. Animal-friendly products are therefore typically more expensive than mainstream products, which presents one of the main barriers to consumer animal-friendly product choice. To overcome this barrier, marketing strategies that associate animal welfare with different types of value, such as taste, healthiness or good feeling, may be useful. This article presents a theoretical framework with marketing strategies using various types of value, suitable for animal-friendly products to encourage consumers to buy animal-friendly instead of mainstream products. We also explain why some consumers, such as those with a rational or an intuitive thinking style, may be more sensitive to some strategies over others, giving directions to marketing managers on how to approach different types of consumers. Because the credibility of animal welfare claims is a critical issue in marketing animal-friendly products, we address this issue as well. Specifically, we propose that, to gain consumer trust, companies selling animal-friendly products need to take into account the impact of their overall strategy on the effectiveness of marketing strategies for individual products and that they may need to collaborate with relevant stakeholders, such as media or animal-interest organizations. Abstract This article presents a conceptual framework that aims to encourage consumer animal-friendly product choice by introducing positioning strategies for animal-friendly products. These strategies reinforce the animal welfare with different types of consumption values and can therefore reduce consumers’ social dilemma, which is a major barrier to animal-friendly consumer choices. The article suggests how animal-friendly products can use various types of consumption values (functional, sensory, emotional, social, epistemic and situational) to create an attractive position relative to
How brain and neuronal networks explain human reality
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Javier Monserrat
2017-02-01
Full Text Available How is human reality presented to us in phenomenological experience? It is the one we see daily in our personal and social life. We are made of matter, we are part of the evolutionary universe. In addition, a psychic life is formed in us: sensation, a system of perceptions, an integrated consciousness, a condition of psychological subject; We produce knowledge, emotions, motivations; But, above all, we have a mind that rationally moves and installs us into a world of human emotions; This emotional reason lies at the base of the search for the truth of the universe, the meaning of life and the moral responsibility, in personal and social life. Our human reality is, therefore, a personal reality. We are persons. Now, how does science, neurology, explain today the fact that our human reality possesses these properties that give us the personal condition? This should be able to be explained (this is the initial assumption from the physical-biological world. Now, in particular, how does science make it possible to explain that evolution has produced us in our condition of ratio-emotional persons? That is, what is the physical support that makes intelligible the psycho-bio-physical ontology that evolutionarily produces our personal phenomenological experience? This is, ultimately, still the fundamental question of human sciences. What science, namely neurology, must explain (that is, know the causes that have produced it is obvious: the fact of our sensibility-consciousness, our condition of psychic subjects, knowledge and emotional reason that have emerged in the universe; In such a way that, once the emotional reason emerges, it leads by itself to constitute the rational activity and the emotions of the human person aimed at building the meaning of his life. These are the issues we address in this article.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shala Jangi Goujeh Biglou
2014-03-01
Full Text Available Background: It seems that individual differences in personality characteristics are implicated in the incidence and progress of physical diseases and socio-psychological consequences. However, there are a few studies about the role of personality in the prediction of socio-psychological consequences of cancer. The aim of this research was to survey the role of personality in the prediction of socio-psychosocial factors: quality of life and coping strategies. Methods: This research was a descriptive-correlational study in which the sample included fifty cancer patients who were selected through convenience sampling method. To assess the personality differences, quality of life and coping strategies, the Carver and White (1994 BIS/BAS Scales, SF-12 Health Survey and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation (CISS were used, respectively. The data were analysed by SPSS software using Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression. Results: The findings showed that Both BIS and BAS systems could predict the quality of life (P<0.001, BIS system could explain the emotion-oriented coping strategy (P<0.05 and avoidance-oriented coping stratesy (P<0.01 and BAS system could explain the problem-oriented coping strategy (P<0.001. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that brain/behavioural systems can predict the quality of life and coping strategies in cancer patients. The identification of these systems in cancer patients can help recognize the persons that are under the risk of poor quality of life or have a higher chance of using inconsistent coping strategies, and execute preventive measures about them.
Demerouti, Evangelia; Bakker, Arnold B; Leiter, Michael
2014-01-01
The present study aims to explain why research thus far has found only low to moderate associations between burnout and performance. We argue that employees use adaptive strategies that help them to maintain their performance (i.e., task performance, adaptivity to change) at acceptable levels despite experiencing burnout (i.e., exhaustion, disengagement). We focus on the strategies included in the selective optimization with compensation model. Using a sample of 294 employees and their supervisors, we found that compensation is the most successful strategy in buffering the negative associations of disengagement with supervisor-rated task performance and both disengagement and exhaustion with supervisor-rated adaptivity to change. In contrast, selection exacerbates the negative relationship of exhaustion with supervisor-rated adaptivity to change. In total, 42% of the hypothesized interactions proved to be significant. Our study uncovers successful and unsuccessful strategies that people use to deal with their burnout symptoms in order to achieve satisfactory job performance. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.
Miñano Pérez, Pablo; Castejón Costa, Juan-Luis; Gilar Corbí, Raquel
2012-03-01
As a result of studies examining factors involved in the learning process, various structural models have been developed to explain the direct and indirect effects that occur between the variables in these models. The objective was to evaluate a structural model of cognitive and motivational variables predicting academic achievement, including general intelligence, academic self-concept, goal orientations, effort and learning strategies. The sample comprised of 341 Spanish students in the first year of compulsory secondary education. Different tests and questionnaires were used to evaluate each variable, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied to contrast the relationships of the initial model. The model proposed had a satisfactory fit, and all the hypothesised relationships were significant. General intelligence was the variable most able to explain academic achievement. Also important was the direct influence of academic self-concept on achievement, goal orientations and effort, as well as the mediating ability of effort and learning strategies between academic goals and final achievement.
Coping with stress and types of burnout: explanatory power of different coping strategies.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jesus Montero-Marin
Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Burnout occurs when professionals use ineffective coping strategies to try to protect themselves from work-related stress. The dimensions of 'overload', 'lack of development' and 'neglect', belonging to the 'frenetic', 'under-challenged' and 'worn-out' subtypes, respectively, comprise a brief typological definition of burnout. The aim of the present study was to estimate the explanatory power of the different coping strategies on the development of burnout subtypes. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey with a random sample of university employees, stratified by occupation (n = 429. Multivariate linear regression models were constructed between the 'Burnout Clinical Subtypes Questionnaire', with its three dimensions -overload, lack of development and neglect- as dependent variables, and the 'Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences', with its fifteen dimensions, as independent variables. Adjusted multiple determination coefficients and beta coefficients were calculated to evaluate and compare the explanatory capacity of the different coping strategies. RESULTS: The 'Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences' subscales together explained 15% of the 'overload' (p<0.001, 9% of the 'lack of development' (p<0.001, and 21% of the 'neglect' (p<0.001. 'Overload' was mainly explained by 'venting of emotions' (Beta = 0.34; p<0.001; 'lack of development' by 'cognitive avoidance' (Beta = 0.21; p<0.001; and 'neglect' by 'behavioural disengagement' (Beta = 0.40; p<0.001. Other interesting associations were observed. CONCLUSIONS: These findings further our understanding of the way in which the effectiveness of interventions for burnout may be improved, by influencing new treatments and preventive programmes using features of the strategies for handling stress in the workplace.
Ho, Henry C Y; Yeung, Dannii Y
2017-06-01
With the upsurge of older adults still working, the labour force is becoming increasingly diverse in age. Age diversity in an organisation can increase the likelihood of intergenerational conflict. The present study aims to integrate the dual concern model and social identity theory to explain the underlying mechanisms of intergenerational conflict by examining the effects of social identity salience on motivational orientation and conflict strategies. A 2 (subgroup identity salience: low vs. high younger/older group membership) × 2 (superordinate identity salience: low vs. high organisational group membership) factorial design with a structured questionnaire on motivational orientation and conflict strategies in relation to a hypothetical work conflict scenario was implemented among 220 postgraduate university students in Hong Kong. Results revealed that subgroup and superordinate identities had a combined influence on conflict strategies but not in motivational orientation. Subgroup and superordinate identification promoted integrating and compromising strategies, superordinate identification promoted obliging strategy, subgroup identification promoted dominating strategy and no identification promoted avoiding strategy. Age did not moderate these relationships. This study contributes to the development of the integrated model of conflict. © 2017 International Union of Psychological Science.
Zhang, Ding-kun; Yang, Ming; Han, Xue; Lin, Jun-zhi; Wang, Jia-bo; Xiao, Xiao-he
2015-08-01
The stable and controllable quality of decoction pieces is an important factor to ensure the efficacy of clinical medicine. Considering the dilemma that the existing standardization of processing mode cannot effectively eliminate the variability of quality raw ingredients, and ensure the stability between different batches, we first propose a new strategy for Chinese medicine processing technologies that coupled with individuation processed and cybernetics. In order to explain this thinking, an individual study case about different grades aconite is provided. We hope this strategy could better serve for clinical medicine, and promote the inheritance and innovation of Chinese medicine processing skills and theories.
Identification of animal behavioral strategies by inverse reinforcement learning.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shoichiro Yamaguchi
2018-05-01
Full Text Available Animals are able to reach a desired state in an environment by controlling various behavioral patterns. Identification of the behavioral strategy used for this control is important for understanding animals' decision-making and is fundamental to dissect information processing done by the nervous system. However, methods for quantifying such behavioral strategies have not been fully established. In this study, we developed an inverse reinforcement-learning (IRL framework to identify an animal's behavioral strategy from behavioral time-series data. We applied this framework to C. elegans thermotactic behavior; after cultivation at a constant temperature with or without food, fed worms prefer, while starved worms avoid the cultivation temperature on a thermal gradient. Our IRL approach revealed that the fed worms used both the absolute temperature and its temporal derivative and that their behavior involved two strategies: directed migration (DM and isothermal migration (IM. With DM, worms efficiently reached specific temperatures, which explains their thermotactic behavior when fed. With IM, worms moved along a constant temperature, which reflects isothermal tracking, well-observed in previous studies. In contrast to fed animals, starved worms escaped the cultivation temperature using only the absolute, but not the temporal derivative of temperature. We also investigated the neural basis underlying these strategies, by applying our method to thermosensory neuron-deficient worms. Thus, our IRL-based approach is useful in identifying animal strategies from behavioral time-series data and could be applied to a wide range of behavioral studies, including decision-making, in other organisms.
Kamiran, Faisal; Žliobaite, Indre; Calders, Toon
2012-01-01
discrimination and do not take into account that part of the discrimination may be explainable by other attributes. For example, in a job application, the education level of a job candidate could be such an explainable attribute. If the data contain many highly
Effects of fundamentals acquisition and strategy switch on stock price dynamics
Wu, Songtao; He, Jianmin; Li, Shouwei
2018-02-01
An agent-based artificial stock market is developed to simulate trading behavior of investors. In the market, acquisition and employment of information about fundamentals and strategy switch are investigated to explain stock price dynamics. Investors could obtain the information from both market and neighbors resided on their social networks. Depending on information status and performances of different strategies, an informed investor may switch to the strategy of fundamentalist. This in turn affects the information acquisition process, since fundamentalists are more inclined to search and spread the information than chartists. Further investigation into price dynamics generated from three typical networks, i.e. regular lattice, small-world network and random graph, are conducted after general relation between network structures and price dynamics is revealed. In each network, integrated effects of different combinations of information efficiency and switch intensity are investigated. Results have shown that, along with increasing switch intensity, market and social information efficiency play different roles in the formation of price distortion, standard deviation and kurtosis of returns.
Brus, D.J.; Gruijter, de J.J.
1997-01-01
Classical sampling theory has been repeatedly identified with classical statistics which assumes that data are identically and independently distributed. This explains the switch of many soil scientists from design-based sampling strategies, based on classical sampling theory, to the model-based
Breeds of risk-adjusted fundamentalist strategies in an order-driven market
LiCalzi, Marco; Pellizzari, Paolo
2006-01-01
This paper studies an order-driven stock market where agents have heterogeneous estimates of the fundamental value of the risky asset. The agents are budget-constrained and follow a value-based trading strategy which buys or sells depending on whether the price of the asset is below or above its risk-adjusted fundamental value. This environment generates returns that are remarkably leptokurtic and fat-tailed. By extending the study over a grid of different parameters for the fundamentalist trading strategy, we exhibit the existence of monotone relationships between the bid-ask spread demanded by the agents and several statistics of the returns. We conjecture that this effect, coupled with positive dependence of the risk premium on the volatility, generates positive feedbacks that might explain volatility bursts.
Children's Theories and the Drive to Explain
Schwitzgebel, Eric
Debate has been growing in developmental psychology over how much the cognitive development of children is like theory change in science. Useful debate on this topic requires a clear understanding of what it would be for a child to have a theory. I argue that existing accounts of theories within philosophy of science and developmental psychology either are less precise than is ideal for the task or cannot capture everyday theorizing of the sort that children, if they theorize, must do. I then propose an account of theories that ties theories and explanation very closely together, treating theories primarily as products of a drive to explain. I clarify some of the positions people have taken regarding the theory theory of development, and I conclude by proposing that psychologists interested in the ''theory theory'' look for patterns of affect and arousal in development that would accompany the existence of a drive to explain.
HIV As Trojan Exosome: Immunological Paradox Explained?
Hildreth, James E K
2017-01-01
The HIV pandemic is still a major global challenge, despite the widespread availability of antiretroviral drugs. An effective vaccine would be the ideal approach to bringing the pandemic to an end. However, developing an effective HIV vaccine has proven to be an elusive goal. Three major human HIV vaccine trials revealed a strong trend toward greater risk of infection among vaccine recipients versus controls. A similar observation was made in a macaque SIV vaccine study. The mechanism explaining this phenomenon is not known. Here, a model is presented that may explain the troubling results of vaccine studies and an immunological paradox of HIV pathogenesis: preferential infection of HIV-specific T cells. The central hypothesis of this perspective is that as "Trojan exosomes" HIV particles can directly activate HIV-specific T cells enhancing their susceptibility to infection. Understanding the biology of HIV as an exosome may provide insights that enable novel approaches to vaccine development.
Enrico Chiaveri: The dialogue in the HR Strategy
2009-01-01
Enrico Chiaveri has been Head of the Human Resources Department since 2005. A core part of his department’s mission with the new Management is to develop and implement a strategic HR approach for our forward-looking Organization. He explained key aspects of the HR strategy to the Bulletin. For the first time in CERN’s history, a head of the HR Department and his deputy - Anne-Sylvie Catherin - invited the staff to a general information meeting on 23 February 2009. The scope of the meeting was to present the status of a number of current initiatives that will improve and tailor CERN’s HR strategy to the needs of the Organization and its staff, and also open up dialogue. Presented for the first time in an integrated way, the initiatives include contract policy, MARS, a staff survey, CERN’s values, a performance model, recruitment & outreach, learning & development, internal mobility and the development of a code of condu...
Profiles of Psychological Well-being and Coping Strategies among University Students
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carlos Freire
2016-10-01
Full Text Available In the transactional model of stress, coping responses are the key to preventing the stress response. In this study, the possible role of psychological well-being as a personal determinant of coping strategies in the academic context was analyzed. Specifically, the study has two objectives: (a to identify different profiles of students according to their level of psychological well-being; and (b to analyze the differences between these profiles in the use of three coping strategies (positive reappraisal, support-seeking, and planning. Age, gender, and degree were estimated as covariables. A total of 1,072 university students participated in the study. Latent profile analysis was applied to four indices of psychological well-being: self-acceptance, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. An optimal four-profile solution, reflecting significant incremental shifts from low to very high psychological well-being, was obtained. As predicted, the profile membership distinguished between participants in positive reappraisal, support-seeking, and planning. Importantly, the higher the profile of psychological well-being was, the higher the use of the three coping strategies. Gender differences in coping strategies were observed, but no interaction effects with psychological well-being were found. Age and degree were not relevant in explaining the use of coping strategies. These results suggest that psychological well-being stands as an important personal resource to favor adaptive coping strategies for academic stress.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Laker, M.; Nigge, K.M.; Wuebker, G. [Simon, Kucher und Partner Strategy and Marketing Consultants GmbH, Berlin (Germany)
2002-04-01
The article explains essential aspects of successful multi-utility management strategies for local utilities. Product bundling and the creation of incentives for enhancing the consumers' propensity to conclude multi-utility contracts, as e.g. pricing policy and the range of services that can be offered in a package are discussed. (orig./CB) [German] Das Thema Multi Utility, d.h. die Integration von Strom, Erdgas, Wasser, Entsorgung und Dienstleistungen wird ausfuehrlich diskutiert. Es muessen vielmehr Anreize dafuer geschaffen werden, dass die Kunden die Komplettangebote auch wahrnehmen. Dies ist eine Frage der Produkt- und Preisgestaltung. Buendelung ist das ideale Instrument zur Schaffung solcher Anreize. (orig./CB)
Changes in hospital competitive strategy: a new medical arms race?
Devers, Kelly J; Brewster, Linda R; Casalino, Lawrence P
2003-02-01
To describe changes in hospitals' competitive strategies, specifically the relative emphasis placed on strategies for competing along price and nonprice (i.e., service, amenities, perceived quality) dimensions, and the reasons for any observed shifts. This study uses data gathered through the Community Tracking Study site visits, a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of 12 U.S. communities. Research teams visited each of these communities every two years since 1996 and conducted between 50 to 90 semistructured interviews. Additional information on hospital competition and strategy was gathered from secondary data. We found that hospitals' strategic emphasis changed significantly between 1996-1997 and 2000-2001. In the mid-1990s, hospitals primarily competed on price through "wholesale" strategies (i.e., providing services attractive to managed care plans). By 2000-2001, nonprice competition was becoming increasingly important and hospitals were reviving "retail" strategies (i.e., providing services attractive to individual physicians and the patients they serve). Three major factors explain this shift in hospital strategy: less than anticipated selective contracting and capitated payment; the freeing up of hospital resources previously devoted to horizontal and vertical integration strategies; and, the emergence and growth of new competitors. Renewed emphasis on nonprice competition and retail strategies, and the service mimicking and one-upmanship that result, suggest that a new medical arms race is emerging. However, there are important differences between the medical arms race today and the one that occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s: the hospital market is more concentrated and price competition remains relatively important. The development of a new medical arms race has significant research and policy implications.
Murayama, Kou; Pekrun, Reinhard; Lichtenfeld, Stephanie; Vom Hofe, Rudolf
2013-01-01
This research examined how motivation (perceived control, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation), cognitive learning strategies (deep and surface strategies), and intelligence jointly predict long-term growth in students' mathematics achievement over 5 years. Using longitudinal data from six annual waves (Grades 5 through 10; Mage = 11.7 years at baseline; N = 3,530), latent growth curve modeling was employed to analyze growth in achievement. Results showed that the initial level of achievement was strongly related to intelligence, with motivation and cognitive strategies explaining additional variance. In contrast, intelligence had no relation with the growth of achievement over years, whereas motivation and learning strategies were predictors of growth. These findings highlight the importance of motivation and learning strategies in facilitating adolescents' development of mathematical competencies. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nicodemus, Kristin K; Hargreaves, April; Morris, Derek
2014-01-01
disorder, major depressive disorder, and other psychosis). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Participants completed a neuropsychological assessment battery designed to target the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia including general cognitive function, episodic memory, working memory, attentional control......, and social cognition. RESULTS: Higher polygenic scores were associated with poorer performance among patients on IQ, memory, and social cognition, explaining 1% to 3% of variation on these scores (range, P = .01 to .03). Using a narrow psychosis training set and independent test sets of narrow phenotype...... psychosis (schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder), broad psychosis, and control participants (n = 89), the addition of 2 interaction terms containing 2 SNPs each increased the R2 for spatial working memory strategy in the independent psychosis test sets from 1.2% using the polygenic score only to 4...
Explaining the VET Applied Research Developmental Framework
Simon, Linda; Beddie, Francesca M.
2017-01-01
This document explains the VET Applied Research Developmental Framework, created as part of a project that explored how the vocational education and training (VET) sector could broaden its engagement in Australia's research and development (R&D) and innovation systems. Achieving this engagement will rely significantly on building the…
Diagnosis and Tolerant Strategy of an Open-Switch Fault for T-type Three-Level Inverter Systems
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Choi, Uimin; Lee, Kyo Beum; Blaabjerg, Frede
2014-01-01
This paper proposes a new diagnosis method of an open-switch fault and fault-tolerant control strategy for T-type three-level inverter systems. The location of faulty switch can be identified by the average of normalized phase current and the change of the neutral-point voltage. The proposed fault......-tolerant strategy is explained by dividing into two cases: the faulty condition of half-bridge switches and the neutral-point switches. The performance of the T-type inverter system improves considerably by the proposed fault tolerant algorithm when a switch fails. The roposed method does not require additional...... components and complex calculations. Simulation and experimental results verify the feasibility of the proposed fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control strategy....
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cecep Hidayat
2014-05-01
Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the interdependence between the variables of marketing strategy and organizational performance of insurance companies using canonical correlation analysis with multiple multivariate analysis approach. The interdependent correlation value may explain the subgroup which the dominant variable affects other subgroups on the company based on the value of redundancy index. The study population was 9 go public insurance companies when the study was conducted in 2013. Given two exogenous variables, i.e. variables Effectiveness Strategy (STRAEFEK and Efficiency Strategy (STRATEFIS. Endogenous variable is the Debt to Asset Ratio (DAR, Debt to Eqiity Ratio (DER, Return on Assets (ROA, Return on Equity (ROE, Operating Profit Margin (OPM and Net Profit Margin (NPM.
Kamiran, Faisal
2012-11-18
Recently, the following discrimination-aware classification problem was introduced. Historical data used for supervised learning may contain discrimination, for instance, with respect to gender. The question addressed by discrimination-aware techniques is, given sensitive attribute, how to train discrimination-free classifiers on such historical data that are discriminative, with respect to the given sensitive attribute. Existing techniques that deal with this problem aim at removing all discrimination and do not take into account that part of the discrimination may be explainable by other attributes. For example, in a job application, the education level of a job candidate could be such an explainable attribute. If the data contain many highly educated male candidates and only few highly educated women, a difference in acceptance rates between woman and man does not necessarily reflect gender discrimination, as it could be explained by the different levels of education. Even though selecting on education level would result in more males being accepted, a difference with respect to such a criterion would not be considered to be undesirable, nor illegal. Current state-of-the-art techniques, however, do not take such gender-neutral explanations into account and tend to overreact and actually start reverse discriminating, as we will show in this paper. Therefore, we introduce and analyze the refined notion of conditional non-discrimination in classifier design. We show that some of the differences in decisions across the sensitive groups can be explainable and are hence tolerable. Therefore, we develop methodology for quantifying the explainable discrimination and algorithmic techniques for removing the illegal discrimination when one or more attributes are considered as explanatory. Experimental evaluation on synthetic and real-world classification datasets demonstrates that the new techniques are superior to the old ones in this new context, as they succeed in
Towards explaining the speed of k-means
Manthey, Bodo; van de Pol, Jan Cornelis; Raamsdonk, F.; Stoelinga, Mariëlle Ida Antoinette
2011-01-01
The $k$-means method is a popular algorithm for clustering, known for its speed in practice. This stands in contrast to its exponential worst-case running-time. To explain the speed of the $k$-means method, a smoothed analysis has been conducted. We sketch this smoothed analysis and a generalization
Interactive Control System, Intended Strategy, Implemented Strategy dan Emergent Strategy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tubagus Ismail
2012-09-01
Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between management control system (MCS and strategy formation processes, namely: intended strategy, emergent strategy and impelemented strategy. The focus of MCS in this study was interactive control system. The study was based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM as its multivariate analyses instrument. The samples were upper middle managers of manufacturing company in Banten Province, DKI Jakarta Province and West Java Province. AMOS Software 16 program is used as an additional instrument to resolve the problem in SEM modeling. The study found that interactive control system brought a positive and significant influence on Intended strategy; interactive control system brought a positive and significant influence on implemented strategy; interactive control system brought a positive and significant influence on emergent strategy. The limitation of this study is that our empirical model only used one way relationship between the process of strategy formation and interactive control system.
Porter, M E
2001-03-01
Many of the pioneers of Internet business, both dot-coms and established companies, have competed in ways that violate nearly every precept of good strategy. Rather than focus on profits, they have chased customers indiscriminately through discounting, channel incentives, and advertising. Rather than concentrate on delivering value that earns an attractive price from customers, they have pursued indirect revenues such as advertising and click-through fees. Rather than make trade-offs, they have rushed to offer every conceivable product or service. It did not have to be this way--and it does not have to be in the future. When it comes to reinforcing a distinctive strategy, Michael Porter argues, the Internet provides a better technological platform than previous generations of IT. Gaining competitive advantage does not require a radically new approach to business; it requires building on the proven principles of effective strategy. Porter argues that, contrary to recent thought, the Internet is not disruptive to most existing industries and established companies. It rarely nullifies important sources of competitive advantage in an industry; it often makes them even more valuable. And as all companies embrace Internet technology, the Internet itself will be neutralized as a source of advantage. Robust competitive advantages will arise instead from traditional strengths such as unique products, proprietary content, and distinctive physical activities. Internet technology may be able to fortify those advantages, but it is unlikely to supplant them. Porter debunks such Internet myths as first-mover advantage, the power of virtual companies, and the multiplying rewards of network effects. He disentangles the distorted signals from the marketplace, explains why the Internet complements rather than cannibalizes existing ways of doing business, and outlines strategic imperatives for dot-coms and traditional companies.
Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies that Change Student Attitudes and Get Results
Willis, Judy
2010-01-01
Has it ever seemed to you that some students are hardwired to dislike math? If so, then here's a book that explains how negative attitudes toward math get established in the brain and what you can do to turn those attitudes around. Math teacher and neurologist Judy Willis gives you over 50 strategies you can use right away in any grade level to:…
Firm Performance and Comply or Explain Disclosure in Corporate Governance
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Rose, Caspar
2016-01-01
This study investigates the degree of Danish firm adherence to the Danish Code of Corporate Governance and analyzes if a higher degree of comply or explain disclosure is related to firm performance. This article formulates a methodology for quantifying the degree of comply or explain disclosure...... there is no impact on performance when increasing compliance with the recommendations on risk management and internal controls. This article demonstrates that these three areas are the ones where Danish firms show the lowest degree of comply or explain disclosure, although the overall adherence to the Danish code...... that soft law may be an efficient way of increasing the quality of corporate governance among listed firms. However, in order to strengthen investor confidence, national code authorities/committees should be more active in penalizing poor explanations as well as cases where firms wrongfully state...
The five competitive forces that shape strategy.
Porter, Michael E
2008-01-01
In 1979, a young associate professor at Harvard Business School published his first article for HBR, "How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy." In the years that followed, Michael Porter's explication of the five forces that determine the long-run profitability of any industry has shaped a generation of academic research and business practice. In this article, Porter undertakes a thorough reaffirmation and extension of his classic work of strategy formulation, which includes substantial new sections showing how to put the five forces analysis into practice. The five forces govern the profit structure of an industry by determining how the economic value it creates is apportioned. That value may be drained away through the rivalry among existing competitors, of course, but it can also be bargained away through the power of suppliers or the power of customers or be constrained by the threat of new entrants or the threat of substitutes. Strategy can be viewed as building defenses against the competitive forces or as finding a position in an industry where the forces are weaker. Changes in the strength of the forces signal changes in the competitive landscape critical to ongoing strategy formulation. In exploring the implications of the five forces framework, Porter explains why a fast-growing industry is not always a profitable one, how eliminating today's competitors through mergers and acquisitions can reduce an industry's profit potential, how government policies play a role by changing the relative strength of the forces, and how to use the forces to understand complements. He then shows how a company can influence the key forces in its industry to create a more favorable structure for itself or to expand the pie altogether. The five forces reveal why industry profitability is what it is. Only by understanding them can a company incorporate industry conditions into strategy.
House, J Daniel
2007-04-01
Recent findings concerning mathematics assessment indicate that students in Japan consistently score above international averages. Researchers have examined specific mathematics beliefs and instructional strategies associated with mathematics achievement for students in Japan. This study examined relationships among self-beliefs, classroom instructional strategies, and mathematics achievement for a large national sample of students (N=4,207) from the TIMSS 2003 international sample of fourth graders in Japan. Several significant relationships between mathematics beliefs and test scores were found; a number of classroom teaching strategies were also significantly associated with test scores. However, multiple regression using the complete set of five mathematics beliefs and five instructional strategies explained only 25.1% of the variance in mathematics achievement test scores.
Venterea, R. T.; Sadowsky, M.; Breuillin-Sessoms, F.; Wang, P.; Clough, T. J.; Coulter, J. A.
2015-12-01
Better understanding of process controls over nitrous oxide (N2O) production in urine-impacted 'hot spots' and fertilizer bands is needed to improve mitigation strategies and emission models. Following amendment with bovine (Bos taurus) urine (Bu) or urea (Ur), we measured inorganic N, pH, N2O, and genes associated with nitrification in two soils ('L' and 'W') having similar texture, pH, C, and C/N ratio. Solution-phase ammonia (slNH3) was also calculated accounting for non-linear ammonium (NH4+) sorption capacities (ASC). Soil W displayed greater nitrification rates and nitrate (NO3-) levels than soil L, but was more resistant to nitrite (NO2-) accumulation and produced two to ten times less N2O than soil L. Genes associated with NO2- oxidation (nxrA) increased substantially in soil W but remained static in soil L. Soil NO2- was strongly correlated with N2O production, and cumulative (c-) slNH3 explained 87% of the variance in c-NO2-. Differences between soils were explained by greater slNH3 in soil L which inhibited NO2- oxidization leading to greater NO2- levels and N2O production. This is the first study to correlate the dynamics of soil slNH3, NO2-, N2O and nitrifier genes, and the first to show how ASC can regulate NO2- levels and N2O production.
Budde, Björn; Alkemade, Floortje; Weber, K Matthias
2012-07-01
Due to its environmental impact, the mobility system is increasingly under pressure. The challenges to cope with climate change, air quality, depleting fossil resources imply the need for a transition of the current mobility system towards a more sustainable one. Expectations and visions have been identified as crucial in the guidance of such transitions, and more specifically of actor strategies. Still, it remained unclear why the actors involved in transition activities appear to change their strategies frequently and suddenly. The empirical analysis of the expectations and strategies of three actors in the field of hydrogen and fuel cell technology indicates that changing actor strategies can be explained by rather volatile expectations related to different levels. Our case studies of the strategies of two large car manufacturers and the German government demonstrate that the car manufacturers refer strongly to expectations about the future regime, while expectations related to the socio-technical landscape level appear to be crucial for the strategy of the German government.
Altwegg, Res; De Klerk, Helen M; Midgley, Guy F
2015-02-01
Crown fire is a key selective pressure in Mediterranean-type plant communities. Adaptive responses to fire regimes involve trade-offs between investment for persistence (fire survival and resprouting) and reproduction (fire mortality, fast growth to reproductive maturity, and reseeding) as investments that enhance adult survival lower growth and reproductive rates. Southern hemisphere Mediterranean-type ecosystems are dominated by species with either endogenous regeneration from adult resprouting or fire-triggered seedling recruitment. Specifically, on nutrient-poor soils, these are either resprouting or reseeding life histories, with few intermediate forms, despite the fact that the transition between strategies is evolutionarily labile. How did this strong dichotomy evolve? We address this question by developing a stochastic demographic model to assess determinants of relative fitness of reseeders, resprouters and hypothetical intermediate forms. The model was parameterised using published demographic data from South African protea species and run over various relevant fire regime parameters facets. At intermediate fire return intervals, trade-offs between investment in growth versus fire resilience can cause fitness to peak at either of the extremes of the reseeder-resprouter continuum, especially when assuming realistic non-linear shapes for these trade-offs. Under these circumstances, the fitness landscape exhibits a saddle which could lead to disruptive selection. The fitness gradient between the peaks was shallow, which may explain why this life-history trait is phylogenetically labile. Resprouters had maximum fitness at shorter fire-return intervals than reseeders. The model suggests that a strong dichotomy in fire survival strategy depends on a non-linear trade-off between growth and fire persistence traits.
Adaptive hatching hypotheses do not explain asynchronous ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
At the core of the suite of adaptive hatching hypotheses advanced to explain asynchronous hatching in birds is the assumption that if food is not limited then all the hatchlings will develop normally to adulthood. In this study Brown-headed Parrot Poicephalus cryptoxanthus chicks were hand fed and weighed on a daily basis.
Effect of vaccination strategies on the dynamic behavior of epidemic spreading and vaccine coverage
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Cai, Chao-Ran; Wu, Zhi-Xi; Guan, Jian-Yue
2014-01-01
The transmission of infectious, yet vaccine-preventable, diseases is a typical complex social phenomenon, where the increasing level of vaccine update in the population helps to inhibit the epidemic spreading, which in turn, however, discourages more people to participate in vaccination campaigns, due to the “externality effect” raised by vaccination. We herein study the impact of vaccination strategies, pure, continuous (rather than adopt vaccination definitely, the individuals choose to taking vaccine with some probabilities), or continuous with randomly mutation, on the vaccination dynamics with a spatial susceptible-vaccinated-infected-recovered (SVIR) epidemiological model. By means of extensive Monte-Carlo simulations, we show that there is a crossover behavior of the final vaccine coverage between the pure-strategy case and the continuous-strategy case, and remarkably, both the final vaccination level and epidemic size in the continuous-strategy case are less than them in the pure-strategy case when vaccination is cheap. We explain this phenomenon by analyzing the organization process of the individuals in the continuous-strategy case in the equilibrium. Our results are robust to the SVIR dynamics defined on other spatial networks, like the Erdős–Rényi and Barabási–Albert networks
A Single-Degree-of-Freedom Energy Optimization Strategy for Power-Split Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chaoying Xia
2017-07-01
Full Text Available This paper presents a single-degree-of-freedom energy optimization strategy to solve the energy management problem existing in power-split hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs. The proposed strategy is based on a quadratic performance index, which is innovatively designed to simultaneously restrict the fluctuation of battery state of charge (SOC and reduce fuel consumption. An extended quadratic optimal control problem is formulated by approximating the fuel consumption rate as a quadratic polynomial of engine power. The approximated optimal control law is obtained by utilizing the solution properties of the Riccati equation and adjoint equation. It is easy to implement in real-time and the engineering significance is explained in details. In order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, the forward-facing vehicle simulation model is established based on the ADVISOR software (Version 2002, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA. The simulation results show that there is only a little fuel consumption difference between the proposed strategy and the Pontryagin’s minimum principle (PMP-based global optimal strategy, and the proposed strategy also exhibits good adaptability under different initial battery SOC, cargo mass and road slope conditions.
What Explains Consciousness? Or…What Consciousness Explains?
Dulany, Donelson E.
2014-01-01
In this invited commentary I focus on the topic addressed in three papers: De Sousa's (2013[1617]) Toward an Integrative Theory of Consciousness, a monograph with Parts 1 & 2, as well as commentaries by Pereira (2013a[59]) and Hirstein (2013[42]). All three are impressively scholarly and can stand—and shout—on their own. But theory of consciousness? My aim is to slice that topic into the two fundamentally different kinds of theories of consciousness, say what appears to be an ideology, out of behaviourism into cognitivism, now also influencing the quest for an “explanation of consciousness” in cognitive neuroscience. I will then say what can be expected given what we know of the complexity of brain structure, the richness of a conscious “vocabulary”, and current technological limits of brain imaging. This will then turn to the strategy for examining “what consciousness explains”—metatheory, theories, mappings, and a methodology of competitive support, a methodology especially important where there are competing commitments. There are also increasingly common identifications of methodological bias in, along with failures to replicate, studies reporting unconscious controls in decision, social priming—as there have been in perception, learning, problem solving, etc. The literature critique has provided evidence taken as reducing, and in some cases eliminating, a role for conscious controls—a position consistent with that ideology out of behaviourism into cognitivism. It is an ideological position that fails to recognize the fundamental distinction between theoretical and metaphysical assertions. PMID:24891796
Lesmerises, Rémi; Rebouillat, Lucie; Dussault, Claude; St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues
2015-01-01
Studying diet is fundamental to animal ecology and scat analysis, a widespread approach, is considered a reliable dietary proxy. Nonetheless, this method has weaknesses such as non-random sampling of habitats and individuals, inaccurate evaluation of excretion date, and lack of assessment of inter-individual dietary variability. We coupled GPS telemetry and scat analyses of black bears Ursus americanus Pallas to relate diet to individual characteristics and habitat use patterns while foraging. We captured 20 black bears (6 males and 14 females) and fitted them with GPS/Argos collars. We then surveyed GPS locations shortly after individual bear visits and collected 139 feces in 71 different locations. Fecal content (relative dry matter biomass of ingested items) was subsequently linked to individual characteristics (sex, age, reproductive status) and to habitats visited during foraging bouts using Brownian bridges based on GPS locations prior to feces excretion. At the population level, diet composition was similar to what was previously described in studies on black bears. However, our individual-based method allowed us to highlight different intra-population patterns, showing that sex and female reproductive status had significant influence on individual diet. For example, in the same habitats, females with cubs did not use the same food sources as lone bears. Linking fecal content (i.e., food sources) to habitat previously visited by different individuals, we demonstrated a potential differential use of similar habitats dependent on individual characteristics. Females with cubs-of-the-year tended to use old forest clearcuts (6-20 years old) to feed on bunchberry, whereas females with yearling foraged for blueberry and lone bears for ants. Coupling GPS telemetry and scat analyses allows for efficient detection of inter-individual or inter-group variations in foraging strategies and of linkages between previous habitat use and food consumption, even for cryptic
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rémi Lesmerises
Full Text Available Studying diet is fundamental to animal ecology and scat analysis, a widespread approach, is considered a reliable dietary proxy. Nonetheless, this method has weaknesses such as non-random sampling of habitats and individuals, inaccurate evaluation of excretion date, and lack of assessment of inter-individual dietary variability. We coupled GPS telemetry and scat analyses of black bears Ursus americanus Pallas to relate diet to individual characteristics and habitat use patterns while foraging. We captured 20 black bears (6 males and 14 females and fitted them with GPS/Argos collars. We then surveyed GPS locations shortly after individual bear visits and collected 139 feces in 71 different locations. Fecal content (relative dry matter biomass of ingested items was subsequently linked to individual characteristics (sex, age, reproductive status and to habitats visited during foraging bouts using Brownian bridges based on GPS locations prior to feces excretion. At the population level, diet composition was similar to what was previously described in studies on black bears. However, our individual-based method allowed us to highlight different intra-population patterns, showing that sex and female reproductive status had significant influence on individual diet. For example, in the same habitats, females with cubs did not use the same food sources as lone bears. Linking fecal content (i.e., food sources to habitat previously visited by different individuals, we demonstrated a potential differential use of similar habitats dependent on individual characteristics. Females with cubs-of-the-year tended to use old forest clearcuts (6-20 years old to feed on bunchberry, whereas females with yearling foraged for blueberry and lone bears for ants. Coupling GPS telemetry and scat analyses allows for efficient detection of inter-individual or inter-group variations in foraging strategies and of linkages between previous habitat use and food consumption, even
Shodagor Family Strategies : Balancing Work and Family on the Water.
Starkweather, Kathrine E
2017-06-01
The Shodagor of Matlab, Bangladesh, are a seminomadic community of people who live and work on small wooden boats, within the extensive system of rivers and canals that traverse the country. This unique ecology places particular constraints on family and economic life and leads to Shodagor parents employing one of four distinct strategies to balance childcare and provisioning needs. The purpose of this paper is to understand the conditions that lead a family to choose one strategy over another by testing predictions about socioecological factors that impact the sexual division of labor, including a family's stage in the domestic cycle, aspects of the local ecology, and the availability of alloparents. Results show that although each factor has an impact on the division of labor individually, a confluence of these factors best explains within-group, between-family differences in how mothers and fathers divide subsistence and childcare labor. These factors also interact in particular ways for Shodagor families, and it appears that families choose their economic strategies based on the constellation of constraints that they face. The results of these analyses have implications for theory regarding the sexual division of labor across cultures and inform how Shodagor family economic and parenting strategies should be contextualized in future studies.
A Typology of International Strategies for Hungarian Professional Sports Clubs
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Miklos Kozma
2016-03-01
Full Text Available The objective of our research project was to examine how league strength explains the observed differences between the international strategies of professional sports clubs in Hungary. Three case studies were made primarily based on the content analysis of management interviews, cross-checked with data from sports databases and corporate documentation. Through our analysis we identified three types of international strategy followed by professional sports clubs in Hungary. The typology highlights the importance of having a competitive product professional clubs may bring to the international marketplace. Hence, governments and local municipalities are advised to focus their support on sports where there is a team with reasonable chance to win trophies at international level. For club managers, the implication is that strategic focus on improving service provision and sales is critical even if they receive windfall support from government.
Corporate social responsibility as a business strategy: Stora Enso-WWF partnership project
Tysiachniouk, M.S.
2009-01-01
The paper analyzes the strategic partnership between transnational corporation Stora-Enso and international nongovernmental organization NGO WWF as a business strategy that helps the company to adopt its business to the turbulent environment of the economy in transition. In this paper I draw from the theory of institutional sociology to explain complex interaction between transnational actors and actors in localities that jointly form a governance generating network in order to implement the ...
Al Nima, Ali; Garcia, Danilo
2015-01-01
Background. Previous research (Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006) shows that there are eight general happiness-increasing strategies: social affiliation, partying, mental control, goal pursuit, passive leisure, active leisure, religion, and direct attempts. The present study investigates the factor structure of the happiness-increasing strategies scales (H-ISS) and their relationship to positive and negative affect. Method. The present study used participants' (N = 1,050 and age mean = 34.21 sd = 12.73) responses to the H-ISS in structural equation modeling analyses. Affect was measured using the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule. Results. After small modifications we obtained a good model that contains the original eight factors/scales. Moreover, we found that women tend to use social affiliation, mental control, passive leisure, religion, and direct attempts more than men, while men preferred to engage in partying and clubbing more than women. The H-ISS explained significantly the variance of positive affect (R (2) = .41) and the variance of negative affect (R (2) = .27). Conclusions. Our study is an addition to previous research showing that the factor structure of the happiness-increasing strategies is valid and reliable. However, due to the model fitting issues that arise in the present study, we give some suggestions for improving the instrument.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ali Al Nima
2015-07-01
Full Text Available Background. Previous research (Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006 shows that there are eight general happiness-increasing strategies: social affiliation, partying, mental control, goal pursuit, passive leisure, active leisure, religion, and direct attempts. The present study investigates the factor structure of the happiness-increasing strategies scales (H-ISS and their relationship to positive and negative affect.Method. The present study used participants’ (N = 1,050 and age mean = 34.21 sd = 12.73 responses to the H-ISS in structural equation modeling analyses. Affect was measured using the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule.Results. After small modifications we obtained a good model that contains the original eight factors/scales. Moreover, we found that women tend to use social affiliation, mental control, passive leisure, religion, and direct attempts more than men, while men preferred to engage in partying and clubbing more than women. The H-ISS explained significantly the variance of positive affect (R2 = .41 and the variance of negative affect (R2 = .27.Conclusions. Our study is an addition to previous research showing that the factor structure of the happiness-increasing strategies is valid and reliable. However, due to the model fitting issues that arise in the present study, we give some suggestions for improving the instrument.
Spatially tuned normalization explains attention modulation variance within neurons.
Ni, Amy M; Maunsell, John H R
2017-09-01
Spatial attention improves perception of attended parts of a scene, a behavioral enhancement accompanied by modulations of neuronal firing rates. These modulations vary in size across neurons in the same brain area. Models of normalization explain much of this variance in attention modulation with differences in tuned normalization across neurons (Lee J, Maunsell JHR. PLoS One 4: e4651, 2009; Ni AM, Ray S, Maunsell JHR. Neuron 73: 803-813, 2012). However, recent studies suggest that normalization tuning varies with spatial location both across and within neurons (Ruff DA, Alberts JJ, Cohen MR. J Neurophysiol 116: 1375-1386, 2016; Verhoef BE, Maunsell JHR. eLife 5: e17256, 2016). Here we show directly that attention modulation and normalization tuning do in fact covary within individual neurons, in addition to across neurons as previously demonstrated. We recorded the activity of isolated neurons in the middle temporal area of two rhesus monkeys as they performed a change-detection task that controlled the focus of spatial attention. Using the same two drifting Gabor stimuli and the same two receptive field locations for each neuron, we found that switching which stimulus was presented at which location affected both attention modulation and normalization in a correlated way within neurons. We present an equal-maximum-suppression spatially tuned normalization model that explains this covariance both across and within neurons: each stimulus generates equally strong suppression of its own excitatory drive, but its suppression of distant stimuli is typically less. This new model specifies how the tuned normalization associated with each stimulus location varies across space both within and across neurons, changing our understanding of the normalization mechanism and how attention modulations depend on this mechanism. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Tuned normalization studies have demonstrated that the variance in attention modulation size seen across neurons from the same cortical
van Riemsdijk, Lenka; Ingenbleek, Paul T M; van Trijp, Hans C M; van der Veen, Gerrita
2017-12-14
This article presents a conceptual framework that aims to encourage consumer animal-friendly product choice by introducing positioning strategies for animal-friendly products. These strategies reinforce the animal welfare with different types of consumption values and can therefore reduce consumers' social dilemma, which is a major barrier to animal-friendly consumer choices. The article suggests how animal-friendly products can use various types of consumption values (functional, sensory, emotional, social, epistemic and situational) to create an attractive position relative to their competitors. It also explains why some consumer segments, such as those with a specific thinking style, may experience a stronger effect of some strategies, giving directions on how to approach different types of consumers. Finally, building on research asserting that animal welfare is a credence product attribute, the article proposes moderating effects of two factors that help consumers to evaluate the credibility of animal welfare claims, namely corporate social responsibility strategy and the role of stakeholders. Here it concludes that companies selling animal-friendly products need to be aware of the impact of their overall strategy on the effectiveness of positioning strategies for individual products and that, to gain consumer trust, they may need to collaborate with relevant stakeholders, such as media or animal-interest organizations.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lenka van Riemsdijk
2017-12-01
Full Text Available This article presents a conceptual framework that aims to encourage consumer animal-friendly product choice by introducing positioning strategies for animal-friendly products. These strategies reinforce the animal welfare with different types of consumption values and can therefore reduce consumers’ social dilemma, which is a major barrier to animal-friendly consumer choices. The article suggests how animal-friendly products can use various types of consumption values (functional, sensory, emotional, social, epistemic and situational to create an attractive position relative to their competitors. It also explains why some consumer segments, such as those with a specific thinking style, may experience a stronger effect of some strategies, giving directions on how to approach different types of consumers. Finally, building on research asserting that animal welfare is a credence product attribute, the article proposes moderating effects of two factors that help consumers to evaluate the credibility of animal welfare claims, namely corporate social responsibility strategy and the role of stakeholders. Here it concludes that companies selling animal-friendly products need to be aware of the impact of their overall strategy on the effectiveness of positioning strategies for individual products and that, to gain consumer trust, they may need to collaborate with relevant stakeholders, such as media or animal-interest organizations.
Do sector-specific shocks explain aggregate fluctuations?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Busato, Francesco; Girardi, Alessandro; Argentiero, Amedeo
-sector productivity fluctuations.(ii) Cross-sector technology shocks have very little explanatory power on productivity andemployment, while cross-sector non-technology shocks explain more than 60 percent of employmentthat is reallocated across sector; this suggests that the shocks’ transmission mechanism....... Thenon-durable sector may follow a standard RBC model, while the durable sector should incorporateconsumption habit formation....
Explaining probalistic risk assessment in common language
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wong, J.W.
1994-01-01
Probabilistic human health risk assessment is explained in ordinary language using a hypothetical example and the ingestion equation from EPA's Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund. A section on understanding probabilities and probability distributions used in a Monte Carlo simulation is included as well as an appendix showing the computer run and the technical assumptions behind it
Can the inherence heuristic explain vitalistic reasoning?
Bastian, Brock
2014-10-01
Inherence is an important component of psychological essentialism. By drawing on vitalism as a way in which to explain this link, however, the authors appear to conflate causal explanations based on fixed features with those based on general causal forces. The disjuncture between these two types of explanatory principles highlights potential new avenues for the inherence heuristic.
Explaining Violence in Sierra Leone's Civil War
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Explaining the violence of civil war is never a simple task for the scholar. In the case of the Sierra Leone, paradoxically, the task has in some ways been rendered more difficult by the sheer variety of compelling scholarship on the question. This paper seeks to identify the most useful of the explanations offered thus far, and ...
Planning strategies for the Ambler walking robot
Wettergreen, David; Thomas, Hans; Thorpe, Chuck
1990-01-01
A hierarchy of planning strategies is proposed and explained for a walking robot called the Ambler. The hierarchy decomposes planning into levels of trajectory, gait, and footfall. An abstraction of feasible traversability allows the Ambler's trajectory planner to identify acceptable trajectories by finding paths that guarantee footfalls without specifying exactly which footfalls. Leg and body moves that achieve this trajectory can be generated by the Ambler's gait planner, which incorporates pattern constraints and measures of utility to search for the best next move. By combining constraints from the quality and details of the terrain, the Ambler's footfall planner can select footfalls that insure stability and remain within the tolerances of the gait.
Structure-based feeding strategies: A key component of child nutrition.
Taylor, Maija B; Emley, Elizabeth; Pratt, Mercedes; Musher-Eizenman, Dara R
2017-07-01
This study examined the relationship between structure, autonomy promotion, and control feeding strategies and parent-reported child diet. Participants (N = 497) were parents of children ages 2.5 to 7.5 recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. This sample was a Caucasian (79%), educated sample (61% college graduates) with most reports from mothers (76%). Online survey including measures of parent feeding strategies and child dietary intake. Use of structure-based feeding strategies explained 21% of the variance in child consumption of added sugar, 12% of the variance in child intake of added sugar from sugar-sweetened beverages, and 16% of the variance in child consumption of fruits and vegetables. Higher unhealthy food availability and permissive feeding uniquely predicted higher child added sugar intake and child consumption of added sugar from sugar-sweetened beverages. Greater healthy food availability uniquely predicted higher child fruit and vegetable intake. and Future Directions: In Caucasian educated families, structure-based feeding strategies appear to be a relatively stronger correlate of parent-reported child intake of added sugar and fruits and vegetables as compared to autonomy promotion and control feeding strategies. Longitudinal research may be needed in order to reveal the relationships between autonomy promotion and control feeding strategies with child diet. If future studies have similar findings to this study's results, researchers may want to focus more heavily on investigating the impact of teaching parents stimulus-control techniques and feeding-related assertiveness skills on child dietary intake. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kaiser, M.J.; Pulsipher, A.G.
2004-01-01
The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) is a federal block grant program administered by all 50 states and the District of Columbia through community action agencies, state energy offices, local government, and other nonprofit organizations to provide weatherization services to eligible households. The WAP was established in 1976 to increase the energy efficiency, reduce the energy expenditures, and improve the health and safety of low-income households, especially those households that are particularly vulnerable such as families with children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. The manner in which WAP funds have been allocated to states, however, has been a contentious issue since the inception of the program. Southern states have argued that too much of the federal funding goes to cold-climate and rural states. Northern states disagree. In 1990, Congress amended the Energy Conservation and Production Act and required the Department of Energy to develop a new funding formula. The Department of Energy currently uses a three-factor formula developed in 1995 in conjunction with a two-factor formula developed in 1977 and a hold-harmless provision to allocate WAP funding. The purpose of this paper is to explain the WAP allocation mechanism and the assumptions associated with the 1977 and the 1995 funding formula. The factors that compose each funding formula are critically assessed and various implementation issues are reviewed, including the selection of the trigger point and program capacity levels. It is not possible to define the need for weatherization assistance objectively and in a unique manner, and this ambiguity is the main reason why the WAP allocation mechanism is expected to remain a lively topic of debate and contention
A model of extracellular enzymes in free-living microbes: which strategy pays off?
Traving, Sachia J; Thygesen, Uffe H; Riemann, Lasse; Stedmon, Colin A
2015-11-01
An initial modeling approach was applied to analyze how a single, nonmotile, free-living, heterotrophic bacterial cell may optimize the deployment of its extracellular enzymes. Free-living cells live in a dilute and complex substrate field, and to gain enough substrate, their extracellular enzymes must be utilized efficiently. The model revealed that surface-attached and free enzymes generate unique enzyme and substrate fields, and each deployment strategy has distinctive advantages. For a solitary cell, surface-attached enzymes are suggested to be the most cost-efficient strategy. This strategy entails potential substrates being reduced to very low concentrations. Free enzymes, on the other hand, generate a radically different substrate field, which suggests significant benefits for the strategy if free cells engage in social foraging or experience high substrate concentrations. Swimming has a slight positive effect for the attached-enzyme strategy, while the effect is negative for the free-enzyme strategy. The results of this study suggest that specific dissolved organic compounds in the ocean likely persist below a threshold concentration impervious to biological utilization. This could help explain the persistence and apparent refractory state of oceanic dissolved organic matter (DOM). Microbial extracellular enzyme strategies, therefore, have important implications for larger-scale processes, such as shaping the role of DOM in ocean carbon sequestration. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
IEE wiring regulations explained and illustrated
Scaddan, Brian
2013-01-01
The IEE Wiring Regulations Explained and Illustrated, Second Edition discusses the recommendations of the IEE Regulations for the Electrical Equipment of Buildings for the safe selection or erection of wiring installations. The book emphasizes earthing, bonding, protection, and circuit design of electrical wirings. The text reviews the fundamental requirements for safety, earthing systems, the earth fault loop impedance, and supplementary bonding. The book also describes the different types of protection, such as protection against mechanical damage, overcurrent, under voltage (which prevents
Sex Ratio Elasticity Influences the Selection of Sex Ratio Strategy
Wang, Yaqiang; Wang, Ruiwu; Li, Yaotang; (Sam) Ma, Zhanshan
2016-12-01
There are three sex ratio strategies (SRS) in nature—male-biased sex ratio, female-biased sex ratio and, equal sex ratio. It was R. A. Fisher who first explained why most species in nature display a sex ratio of ½. Consequent SRS theories such as Hamilton’s local mate competition (LMC) and Clark’s local resource competition (LRC) separately explained the observed deviations from the seemingly universal 1:1 ratio. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is not yet a unified theory that accounts for the mechanisms of the three SRS. Here, we introduce the price elasticity theory in economics to define sex ratio elasticity (SRE), and present an analytical model that derives three SRSs based on the following assumption: simultaneously existing competitions for both resources A and resources B influence the level of SRE in both sexes differently. Consequently, it is the difference (between two sexes) in the level of their sex ratio elasticity that leads to three different SRS. Our analytical results demonstrate that the elasticity-based model not only reveals a highly plausible mechanism that explains the evolution of SRS in nature, but also offers a novel framework for unifying two major classical theories (i.e., LMC & LRC) in the field of SRS research.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Toshihira, Hara [Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd (Japan); Yoshihisa, Shimizu [Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd (Japan); Takashi, Imagawa [Toho Gas Co., Ltd (Japan)
2000-07-01
Japan's gas companies have wide-ranging experience of earthquakes and other disasters and have for long put the lessons learned from these disasters to good use through regular reviews of their emergency gas operation strategies. However, the Great Hanshin Earthquake disaster of January 1995 made them acutely aware of the need for a more radical review of this strategy. Japan's big gas companies are currently devoting maximum resources to reviewing their emergency strategies and constructing the sorts of systems needed to deal with major disasters. In the first half of the present paper, we discuss the experience of Toho Gas, which has just finished work on a comprehensive group of systems, and explain the 'thinking behind the systems'. In the second half of the paper, we discuss some of the ways in which Tokyo Gas has been endeavoring to further refine and enhance its systems and introduce the reader to the latest emergency strategy support systems in the shape of the 'sub-center concept, training system construction, and damage estimation systems'. These should also make useful references for gas companies from other countries. (authors)
Swords into ploughshares? China's Soft Power strategy in Southeast Asia and its challenges1
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tony Tai-Ting Liu
2014-01-01
Full Text Available Since the 1990s, alongside China's economic growth, the international community has fostered a general anxiety towards a "China threat." In order to relieve itself from suspicion, China adopted the dual strategies of "harmonious worldview" and "good neighbor policy." The strategies led to the use of soft power in China's foreign policy. China aimed to reduce security concerns implied by the threat theory by supporting an image that caters to international peace and development. This article seeks to explain how China achieves its interests in Southeast Asia through the use of soft power. The authors address the concepts of "harmonious worldview" and "good neighbor policy" and how the twin strategies and soft power have shaped China's foreign policy in recent years. This article aims to provide insights into China's policy options in Southeast Asia in the near future.
Chow, Gary C C; Fong, Shirley S M; Chung, Joanne W Y; Chung, Louisa M Y; Ma, Ada W W; Macfarlane, Duncan J
2016-11-01
Postural control strategy and balance performance of rugby players are important yet under-examined issues. This study aimed to examine the differences in balance strategy and balance performance between amateur rugby players and non-players, and to explore training- and injury-related factors that may affect rugby players' balance outcomes. Cross-sectional and exploratory study. Forty-five amateur rugby players and 41 healthy active individuals participated in the study. Balance performance and balance strategies were assessed using the sensory organization test (SOT) of the Smart Equitest computerized dynamic posturography machine. Rugby training history and injury history were solicited from the participants. The SOT strategy scores were 1.99-54.90% lower in the rugby group than in the control group (prugby group than in the control group (prugby training (in years) was independently associated with the SOT condition 6 strategy score, explaining 15.7% of its variance (p=0.006). There was no association between SOT condition 6 strategy/equilibrium scores and injury history among the rugby players (p>0.05). Amateur rugby players demonstrated inferior balance strategy and balance performance compared to their non-training counterparts. Their suboptimal balance strategy was associated with insufficient training experience but not with history of injury. Copyright © 2016 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Math in plain english literacy strategies for the mathematics classroom
Benjamin, Amy
2013-01-01
Do word problems and math vocabulary confuse students in your mathematics classes? Do simple keywords like ""value"" and ""portion"" seem to mislead them? Many words that students already know can have a different meaning in mathematics. To grasp that difference, students need to connect English literacy skills to math. Successful students speak, read, write, and listen to each other so they can understand, retain, and apply mathematics concepts. This book explains how to use 10 classroom-ready literacy strategies in concert with your mathematics instruction. You'll learn how to develop stude
Ruffing, Stephanie; Wach, F-Sophie; Spinath, Frank M; Brünken, Roland; Karbach, Julia
2015-01-01
Recent research has revealed that learning behavior is associated with academic achievement at the college level, but the impact of specific learning strategies on academic success as well as gender differences therein are still not clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the incremental contribution of learning strategies over general cognitive ability in the prediction of academic achievement. The relationship between these variables was examined by correlation analyses. A set of t-tests was used to test for gender differences in learning strategies, whereas structural equation modeling as well as multi-group analyses were applied to investigate the incremental contribution of learning strategies for male and female students' academic performance. The sample consisted of 461 students (mean age = 21.2 years, SD = 3.2). Correlation analyses revealed that general cognitive ability as well as the learning strategies effort, attention, and learning environment were positively correlated with academic achievement. Gender differences were found in the reported application of many learning strategies. Importantly, the prediction of achievement in structural equation modeling revealed that only effort explained incremental variance (10%) over general cognitive ability. Results of multi-group analyses showed no gender differences in this prediction model. This finding provides further knowledge regarding gender differences in learning research and the specific role of learning strategies for academic achievement. The incremental assessment of learning strategy use as well as gender-differences in their predictive value contributes to the understanding and improvement of successful academic development.
k-essence explains a Lorentz violation experiment
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Li Miao; Pang Yi; Wang Yi
2009-01-01
Recently, a state of the art experiment shows evidence for Lorentz violation in the gravitational sector. To explain this experiment, we investigate a spontaneous Lorentz violation scenario with a generalized scalar field. We find that when the scalar field is nonminimally coupled to gravity, the Lorentz violation induces a deformation in the Newtonian potential along the direction of Lorentz violation.
The natural selection of metabolism explains curvature in allometric scaling
Witting, Lars
2016-01-01
I simulate the evolution of metabolism and mass to explain the curvature in the metabolic allometry for placental and marsupial mammals. I assume that the release of inter-specific competition by the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago made it possible for each clade to diversity into a multitude of species across a wide range of niches. The natural selection of metabolism and mass was then fitted to explain the maximum observed body masses over time, as well as the current inter-spe...
Explaining the judicial independence of international courts: a comparative analysis
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Beach, Derek
What factors allow some international courts (ICs) to rule against the express preferences of powerful member states, whereas others routinely defer to governments? While judicial independence is not the only factor explaining the strength of a given international institution, it is a necessary...... condition. The paper first develops three sets of competing explanatory variables that potentially can explain variations in the judicial independence of ICs. The causal effects of these explanatory variables upon variance in judicial independence are investigated in a comparative analysis of the ACJ, ECJ...
Explaining the choice of accounting standards in municipal corporations
Collin, Sven-Olof; Tagesson, Torbjörn; Andersson, Anette; Cato, Josefine; Hansson, Karin
2004-01-01
Positive accounting theory (PAT) tries to explain corporations’ choices of accounting standards. Empirical research in this field has been focused on the choices made by large, listed corporations. We challenge this grounding through extending the empirical domain by testing PAT on Swedish municipal corporations. In order to be able to explain the choice of accounting standards in municipal corporations, PAT has to be complemented by institutional factors that can consider the fo...
Interactive Control System, Intended Strategy, Implemented Strategy dan Emergent Strategy
Tubagus Ismail; Darjat Sudrajat
2012-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between management control system (MCS) and strategy formation processes, namely: intended strategy, emergent strategy and impelemented strategy. The focus of MCS in this study was interactive control system. The study was based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as its multivariate analyses instrument. The samples were upper middle managers of manufacturing company in Banten Province, DKI Jakarta Province and West Java Province. AM...
Metabolic Responses and Pacing Strategies during Successive Sprint Skiing Time Trials
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersson, Erik; Holmberg, Hans-Christer; Ørtenblad, Niels
2016-01-01
PURPOSE: To examine the metabolic responses and pacing strategies during the performance of successive sprint time trials (STTs) in cross-country skiing. METHODS: Ten well-trained male cross-country skiers performed four self-paced 1300-m STTs on a treadmill, each separated by 45 min of recovery...... to estimate the anaerobic energy supply. RESULTS: The individual trial-to-trial variability in STT performance time was 1.3%, where variations in O2 deficit and V˙O2 explained 69% (P 0.05) of the variation in performance. The first and last STTs were equally fast (228 ± 10 s), and ~ 1...... on the first than second course half. In addition, metabolic rates were substantially higher (~_30%) for uphill than for flat skiing, indicating that pacing was regulated to the terrain. CONCLUSIONS: The fastest STTs were characterized primarily by a greater anaerobic energy production, which also explained 69...
Arnold, Denis G; Oakley, James L
2013-06-01
As the pharmaceutical industry lobbies European regulators to permit direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs in the European Union, we found that five leading companies violated industry-developed and -promulgated standards for ethical advertising in the United States. Utilizing multiple data sources and methods, we demonstrate a consistent failure by companies that market erectile dysfunction drugs to comply with the industry's guiding principles for ethical DTCA over a four-year period despite pledges of compliance by company leaders. Noncompliance resulted in children being exposed to sexually themed promotional messages more than 100 billion times. We argue that the guidelines are a coordinated effort by the industry to prevent unwanted federal regulation, and we introduce the concept of a blocking strategy to explain company behavior and to advance theoretical understanding of firms' public affairs strategies. We recommend policy responses to prevent deceptive practices, protect children from adult content, and promote genuine health care education.
Cultural values: can they explain self-reported health?
Roudijk, B.; Donders, R.; Stalmeier, P.F.
2017-01-01
PURPOSE: Self-reported health (SRH) is a measure widely used in health research and population studies. Differences in SRH have been observed between countries and cultural values have been hypothesized to partly explain such differences. Cultural values can be operationalized by two cultural
From laggard to leader: Explaining offshore wind developments in the UK
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kern, Florian; Smith, Adrian; Shaw, Chris; Raven, Rob; Verhees, Bram
2014-01-01
Offshore wind technology has recently undergone rapid deployment in the UK. And yet, up until recently, the UK was considered a laggard in terms of deploying renewable energy. How can this burst of offshore wind activity be explained? An economic analysis would seek signs for newfound competitiveness for offshore wind in energy markets. A policy analysis would highlight renewable energy policy developments and assess their contribution to economic prospects of offshore wind. However, neither perspective sheds sufficient light on the advocacy of the actors involved in the development and deployment of the technology. Without an account of technology politics it is hard to explain continuing policy support despite rising costs. By analysing the actor networks and narratives underpinning policy support for offshore wind, we explain how a fairly effective protective space was constructed through the enroling of key political and economic interests. - Highlights: • UK is world leader in offshore wind deployment. • Article explains boom in deployment by looking at the politics of renewable energy policy. • Offshore wind is supported by a variety of actors with aligned political and economic interests. • Analysis highlights the importance of a system builder
Matlab for engineers explained
Gustafsson, Fredrik
2003-01-01
This book is written for students at bachelor and master programs and has four different purposes, which split the book into four parts: 1. To teach first or early year undergraduate engineering students basic knowledge in technical computations and programming using MATLAB. The first part starts from first principles and is therefore well suited both for readers with prior exposure to MATLAB but lacking a solid foundational knowledge of the capabilities of the system and readers not having any previous experience with MATLAB. The foundational knowledge gained from these interactive guided tours of the system will hopefully be sufficient for an effective utilization of MATLAB in the engineering profession, in education and in research. 2. To explain the foundations of more advanced use of MATLAB using the facilities added the last couple of years, such as extended data structures, object orientation and advanced graphics. 3. To give an introduction to the use of MATLAB in typical undergraduate courses in elec...
Explaining labor wedge trends: An equilibrium search approach
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Coralia A. Quintero Rojas
2016-06-01
Full Text Available In this paper, we present a search and matching model of the labor market and use this as a device to explain the long-run variation in the aggregate hours worked in several OECD countries over the period 1980-2013. The model distinguishes between hours worked per employee (intensive margin and the employment rate (extensive margin and includes a tax/benefit system. This allows us to assess the impact of the observed time-varying heterogeneity of taxes, unemployment benefits, and workers’ bargaining power on the two margins. Our method is based on an accounting procedure. Once it has been calibrated, we find that, for the ten countries of the sample, our search economy is able to explain the patterns of the two margins of aggregate hours worked over the 1980-2013 period, when it includes the cross-country heterogeneity of the labor market institutions.
Defense styles explain psychiatric symptoms: an empirical study.
Holi, M M; Sammallahti, P R; Aalberg, V A
1999-11-01
To examine the relation between psychiatric symptoms and defense mechanisms, we administered two questionnaires, the Symptom Check-list 90 (SCL-90) and the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) to 122 psychiatric out-patients and to a community sample of 337 subjects. Using regression analysis, we found that 51.8% of the variation in subject's Global Severity Index value could be explained by his defense style. Of the three defense styles, the immature style explained most of the variation in the symptoms. We found little overall evidence for specific connections between particular defenses and symptoms. Projection and dissociation were central in most of the symptom dimensions. We compared patients and controls with the same level of general symptom severity and found that patients used significantly more devaluation and splitting, and controls used significantly more altruism and idealization. Whether defenses predispose to certain symptomatology or are one of its aspects is discussed.
Woods, Steven Paul; Weber, Erica; Cameron, Marizela V; Dawson, Matthew S; Delano-Wood, Lisa; Bondi, Mark W; Grant, Igor
2010-12-01
Recent studies suggest that older human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults are at particular risk for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), including dementia. Deficits in attention/working memory are posited to play a central role in the development of HAND among older adults. The aim of the present study was to examine the possible protective benefits of spontaneous strategy use during a visual working memory task in 46 older and 42 younger adults infected with HIV. Results revealed a significant interaction between age and strategy use, with older adults who used a meta-cognitive strategy demonstrating superior working memory performance versus non-strategy users. This effect was not observed in the younger HIV-infected sample and was not better explained by possible confounding factors, such as education, comorbid medical conditions, or HIV disease severity. Within the older group, strategy use was associated with better executive functions and higher estimated verbal intelligence. Findings from this study suggest that working memory declines in older HIV-infected adults are moderated by the use of higher-level mnemonic strategies and may inform cognitive neurorehabilitation efforts to improve cognitive and everyday functioning outcomes in older persons living with HIV infection.
de Barros, Fábio Cury; de Carvalho, José Eduardo; Abe, Augusto Shinya; Kohlsdorf, Tiana
2016-06-01
Anti-predatory behaviour evolves under the strong action of natural selection because the success of individuals avoiding predation essentially defines their fitness. Choice of anti-predatory strategies is defined by prey characteristics as well as environmental temperature. An additional dimension often relegated in this multilevel equation is the ontogenetic component. In the tegu Salvator merianae, adults run away from predators at high temperatures but prefer fighting when it is cold, whereas juveniles exhibit the same flight strategy within a wide thermal range. Here, we integrate physiology and morphology to understand ontogenetic variation in the temperature-dependent shift of anti-predatory behaviour in these lizards. We compiled data for body shape and size, and quantified enzyme activity in hindlimb and head muscles, testing the hypothesis that morphophysiological models explain ontogenetic variation in behavioural associations. Our prediction is that juveniles exhibit body shape and muscle biochemistry that enhance flight strategies. We identified biochemical differences between muscles mainly in the LDH:CS ratio, whereby hindlimb muscles were more glycolytic than the jaw musculature. Juveniles, which often use evasive strategies to avoid predation, have more glycolytic hindlimb muscles and are much smaller when compared with adults 1-2 years old. Ontogenetic differences in body shape were identified but marginally contributed to behavioural variation between juvenile and adult tegus, and variation in anti-predatory behaviour in these lizards resides mainly in associations between body size and muscle biochemistry. Our results are discussed in the ecological context of predator avoidance by individuals differing in body size living at temperature-variable environments, where restrictions imposed by the cold could be compensated by specific phenotypes. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.
Fundamental volatility and stock returns : does fundamental volatility explain stock returns?
Selboe, Guner K.; Virdee, Jaspal Singh
2017-01-01
In this thesis, we investigate whether the fundamental uncertainty can explain the crosssection of stock returns. To measure the fundamental uncertainty, we estimate rolling standard deviations and accounting betas of four different fundamentals: revenues, gross profit, earnings and cash flows. The standard deviation and the beta of revenues significantly explain returns in the Fama-Macbeth procedure, but only appears significant among smaller stocks in the portfolio formation ...
EXPLAINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCARCERATION AND DIVORCE*
Siennick, Sonja E.; Stewart, Eric A.; Staff, Jeremy
2014-01-01
Recent studies have suggested that incarceration dramatically increases the odds of divorce, but we know little about the mechanisms that explain the association. This study uses prospective longitudinal data from a subset of married young adults in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 1,919) to examine whether incarceration is associated with divorce indirectly via low marital love, economic strain, relationship violence, and extramarital sex. The findings confirmed that incarcerations occurring during, but not before, a marriage were associated with an increased hazard of divorce. Incarcerations occurring during marriage also were associated with less marital love, more relationship violence, more economic strain, and greater odds of extramarital sex. Above-average levels of economic strain were visible among respondents observed preincarceration, but only respondents observed postincarceration showed less marital love, more relationship violence, and higher odds of extramarital sex than did respondents who were not incarcerated during marriage. These relationship problems explained approximately 40 percent of the association between incarceration and marital dissolution. These findings are consistent with theoretical predictions that a spouse’s incarceration alters the rewards and costs of the marriage and the relative attractiveness of alternative partners. PMID:25598544
Possibilities and Strategies for Simulations and Compensation for Springback
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Roll, K.; Lemke, T.; Wiegand, K.
2005-01-01
Simulating the forming process for sheet metal parts is currently the standard for guaranteeing feasible manufacturing at the time of tool design. In contrast simulating springback and its computer-supported compensation is still under development. The status of the technology for simulating springback will be illustrated and demonstrated using examples. Various strategies related to compensation of shape deviations due to springback will be discussed and explained using examples. The necessary steps for the use of computer-aided simulation and compensation of springback are illustrated for an inner part. The example shows how the simulation of springback can be integrated into the development process of a deep-drawing tool to determine the compensation of the tool surfaces - based on the springback results - before tool production. Another example demonstrates how a new draw die design, that minimizes or eliminates the shape deviation, can be quickly determined from the springback-related shape deviations using special software. The principle of the procedure for compensating for shape deviation and problems that could still occur are explained. The possibilities and limits of the 'springforward' compensation procedure are also discussed
Explaining the Origins and Expansion of Mass Education.
Boli, John; And Others
1985-01-01
Theories of mass education that emphasize processes of differentiation or the reproduction of inequalities ignore the universal and institutional character of mass education. A theoretical framework emphasizing individualism and the rationalization of individual and collective authority better explains the relationship of mass education to…
Sexual imprinting: what strategies should we expect to see in nature?
Chaffee, Dalton W; Griffin, Hayes; Gilman, R Tucker
2013-12-01
Sexual imprinting occurs when juveniles learn mate preferences by observing the phenotypes of other members of their populations, and it is ubiquitous in nature. Imprinting strategies, that is which individuals and phenotypes are observed and how strong preferences become, vary among species. Imprinting can affect trait evolution and the probability of speciation, and different imprinting strategies are expected to have different effects. However, little is known about how and why different imprinting strategies evolve, or which strategies we should expect to see in nature. We used a mathematical model to study how the evolution of sexual imprinting depends on (1) imprinting costs and (2) the sex-specific fitness effects of the phenotype on which individuals imprint. We found that even small fixed costs prevent the evolution of sexual imprinting, but small relative costs do not. When imprinting does evolve, we identified the conditions under which females should evolve to imprint on their fathers, their mothers, or on other members of their populations. Our results provide testable hypotheses for empirical work and help to explain the conditions under which sexual imprinting might evolve to promote speciation. © 2013 The Author(s). Evolution © 2013 The Society for the Study of Evolution.
Thermally-assisted Magma Emplacement Explains Restless Calderas
Amoruso, A.; Crescentini, L.; D'Antonio, M.; Acocella, V.
2017-12-01
Many calderas show repeated unrest over centuries. Though probably induced by magma, this unique behaviour is not understood and its dynamics remains elusive. To better understand these restless calderas, we interpret deformation data and build thermal models of Campi Flegrei, Italy, which is the best-known, yet most dangerous calderas, lying to the west of Naples and restless since the 1950s at least.Our elaboration of the geodetic data indicates that the inflation and deflation of magmatic sources at the same location explain most deformation, at least since the build-up of the last 1538 AD eruption. However, such a repeated magma emplacement requires a persistently hot crust.Our thermal models show that the repeated emplacement was assisted by the thermal anomaly created by magma that was intruded at shallow depth 3 ka before the last eruption and, in turn, contributed to maintain the thermal anomaly itself. This may explain the persistence of the magmatic sources promoting the restless behaviour of the Campi Flegrei caldera; moreover, it explains the crystallization, re-melting and mixing among compositionally distinct magmas recorded in young volcanic rocks.Available information at other calderas highlights similarities to Campi Flegrei, in the pattern and cause of unrest. All monitored restless calderas have either geodetically (Yellowstone, Aira Iwo-Jima, Askja, Fernandina and, partly, Long Valley) or geophysically (Rabaul, Okmok) detected sill-like intrusions inducing repeated unrest. Some calderas (Yellowstone, Long Valley) also show stable deformation pattern, where inflation insists on and mimics the resurgence uplift. The common existence of sill-like sources, also responsible for stable deformation patterns, in restless calderas suggests close similarities to Campi Flegrei. This suggests a wider applicability of our model of thermally-assisted sill emplacement, to be tested by future studies to better understand not only the dynamics of restless
Scrubbers: A popular Phase I compliance strategy
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fink, C.E.; Bissell, P.E.; Koch, B.J.; Rutledge, G.D.
1992-01-01
As utilities commit to compliance plans to meet the Phase I requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, there are indications that scrubbing may account for up to 50 percent of the total SO 2 reductions in Phase I. This paper presents and analyzes the critical reasons that explain how and why scrubber-based compliance strategies have developed into the least-cost option in Phase I for many utilities. A hypothetical utility system was simulated to study the impacts of various technological, legislative, and regulatory issues on compliance decisions and costs. Issues evaluated using the hypothetical system include the emissions cap, Clean Air Act and state incentives to scrub, improvements in scrubber technology and costs, and the integration of Phase I and II compliance strategies by the phased installation of scrubbers. In combination, these considerations increase the attractiveness of scrubbers during the 1995-1999 Phase I period. Other considerations that will ultimately influence the amount of Phase I scrubbing capacity include the additional power generation costs associated with fuel switching, the uncertainty of low-sulfur coal price projections, fuel supply flexibility, scrubber market aspects, and socioeconomic considerations
Current strategy for the imaging of neuroblastoma
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Brisse, H.; Neuenschwander, S.; Edeline, V.; Michon, J.; Zucker, J.M.; Couanet, D.
2001-01-01
Advances in the management of neuroblastoma lead radiologists and nuclear medicine specialists to optimize their procedures in order to propose a rational use of their techniques, adjusted to the various clinical presentations and to therapeutic management. The aim of this paper is to assess the imaging procedures for the diagnosis and follow-up of neuroblastoma in children according to current therapeutic European protocols. An imaging strategy at diagnosis is first proposed: optimal assessment of local extension of the primary tumour is made with MRI, or spiral-CT when MRI is not available, for all locations except for abdominal tumours for which CT remains the best imaging modality. Metastatic extension is assessed with mlBG scan and liver sonography. Indications for bone metastasis evaluation with either radiological or radionuclide techniques are detailed. Imaging follow-up during treatment for metastatic or unresectable tumours is described. A check-list of radiological main points to be evaluated before surgery is proposed for localized neuroblastoma. The imaging strategy for the diagnosis of 'occult' neuroblastoma is considered. Finally, we explain the management of neuroblastoma detected during the prenatal or neonatal period. (authors)
Gothland, M.; Dauvin, J. C.; Denis, L.; Dufossé, F.; Jobert, S.; Ovaert, J.; Pezy, J. P.; Tous Rius, A.; Spilmont, N.
2014-04-01
Comprehending marine invasions requires a better knowledge of the biological traits of invasive species, and the future spread of invasive species may be predicted through comprehensive overviews of their distribution. This study thus presents the current distribution of a non-indigenous species, the Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus takanoi, as well as the species population characteristics (size distribution and cohorts), based on a five-year survey (2008-2012) along the French coast of the English Channel. Two large populations were found near harbours: one on the Opal Coast (where density reached 61 ± 22 ind.m-2, mean ± s.d., in Dunkirk harbour) and one on the Calvados coast (density up to 26 ± 6 ind.m-2, mean ± s.d, in Honfleur harbour). H. takanoi exhibited a short life cycle, a rapid growth, an early sexual maturity and a high adult mortality. These features, combined with previously described high fecundity and high dispersal ability, endow this species with an 'r-selected strategy'. This strategy, which usually characterises species with a high colonisation ability, would explain the success of H. takanoi for colonising the French coast of the Channel. However, the species was found only in harbours and their vicinity; H. takanoi thus exhibited a discontinuous distribution along the 700 km of coastline. These results are discussed regarding sediment preference and potential introduction vectors. Hemigrapsus takanoi is now considered as established on the French coast and further studies are needed to evaluate the consequences of its introduction on the structure and functioning of the impacted shores.
Implications of life-history strategies for obesity.
Maner, Jon K; Dittmann, Andrea; Meltzer, Andrea L; McNulty, James K
2017-08-08
The association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity is well documented. In the current research, a life history theory (LHT) framework provided an explanation for this association. Derived from evolutionary behavioral science, LHT emphasizes how variability in exposure to unpredictability during childhood gives rise to individual differences in a range of social psychological processes across the life course. Consistent with previous LHT research, the current findings suggest that exposure to unpredictability during childhood (a characteristic common to low SES environments) is associated with the adoption of a fast life-history strategy, one marked by impulsivity and a focus on short-term goals. We demonstrate that a fast life-history strategy, in turn, was associated with dysregulated weight-management behaviors (i.e., eating even in the absence of hunger), which were predictive of having a high body mass index (BMI) and being obese. In both studies, findings held while controlling for participants' current socioeconomic status, suggesting that obesity is rooted in childhood experiences. A serial mediation model in study 2 confirmed that effects of childhood SES on adult BMI and obesity can be explained in part by exposure to unpredictability, the adoption of a fast life-history strategy, and dysregulated-eating behaviors. These findings suggest that weight problems in adulthood may be rooted partially in early childhood exposure to unpredictable events and environments. LHT provides a valuable explanatory framework for understanding the root causes of obesity.
Life history strategy and young adult substance use.
Richardson, George B; Chen, Ching-Chen; Dai, Chia-Liang; Swoboda, Christopher M
2014-11-03
This study tested whether life history strategy (LHS) and its intergenerational transmission could explain young adult use of common psychoactive substances. We tested a sequential structural equation model using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. During young adulthood, fast LHS explained 61% of the variance in overall liability for substance use. Faster parent LHS predicted poorer health and lesser alcohol use, greater neuroticism and cigarette smoking, but did not predict fast LHS or overall liability for substance use among young adults. Young adult neuroticism was independent of substance use controlling for fast LHS. The surprising finding of independence between parent and child LHS casts some uncertainty upon the identity of the parent and child LHS variables. Fast LHS may be the primary driver of young adult use of common psychoactive substances. However, it is possible that the young adult fast LHS variable is better defined as young adult mating competition. We discuss our findings in depth, chart out some intriguing new directions for life history research that may clarify the dimensionality of LHS and its mediation of the intergenerational transmission of substance use, and discuss implications for substance abuse prevention and treatment.
Life History Strategy and Young Adult Substance Use
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
George B. Richardson
2014-04-01
Full Text Available This study tested whether life history strategy (LHS and its intergenerational transmission could explain young adult use of common psychoactive substances. We tested a sequential structural equation model using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. During young adulthood, fast LHS explained 61% of the variance in overall liability for substance use. Faster parent LHS predicted poorer health and lesser alcohol use, greater neuroticism and cigarette smoking, but did not predict fast LHS or overall liability for substance use among young adults. Young adult neuroticism was independent of substance use controlling for fast LHS. The surprising finding of independence between parent and child LHS casts some uncertainty upon the identity of the parent and child LHS variables. Fast LHS may be the primary driver of young adult use of common psychoactive substances. However, it is possible that the young adult fast LHS variable is better defined as young adult mating competition. We discuss our findings in depth, chart out some intriguing new directions for life history research that may clarify the dimensionality of LHS and its mediation of the intergenerational transmission of substance use, and discuss implications for substance abuse prevention and treatment.
The Role of Secondary Education in Explaining Competitiveness
Baumann, Chris; Winzar, Hume
2016-01-01
The literature establishes that education drives economic performance, but the extent that education is associated with a country's competitiveness is empirically untested. Our study analyses Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data from 63 countries to ascertain education's role in explaining the competitiveness of a country.…
Juvenile Delinquency Explained? A Test of Containment Theory.
Thompson, William E.; Dodder, Richard A.
1983-01-01
Examines the extent to which variation in self-reported delinquency is explained by the seven containment variables (favorable self-concept, goal orientation, frustration tolerance, retention of norms, internalization of rules, availability of meaningful roles, and group reinforcement), and focuses on racial and sex differences in self-reported…
Functional traits explain ecosystem function through opposing mechanisms.
Cadotte, Marc W
2017-08-01
The ability to explain why multispecies assemblages produce greater biomass compared to monocultures, has been a central goal in the quest to understand biodiversity effects on ecosystem function. Species contributions to ecosystem function can be driven by two processes: niche complementarity and a selection effect that is influenced by fitness (competitive) differences, and both can be approximated with measures of species' traits. It has been hypothesised that fitness differences are associated with few, singular traits while complementarity requires multidimensional trait measures. Here, using experimental data from plant assemblages, I show that the selection effect was strongest when trait dissimilarity was low, while complementarity was greatest with high trait dissimilarity. Selection effects were best explained by a single trait, plant height. Complementarity was correlated with dissimilarity across multiple traits, representing above and below ground processes. By identifying the relevant traits linked to ecosystem function, we obtain the ability to predict combinations of species that will maximise ecosystem function. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.
Tuned Normalization Explains the Size of Attention Modulations
Ni, Amy M.; Ray, Supratim; Maunsell, John H. R.
2012-01-01
SUMMARY The effect of attention on firing rates varies considerably within a single cortical area. The firing rate of some neurons is greatly modulated by attention while others are hardly affected. The reason for this variability across neurons is unknown. We found that the variability in attention modulation across neurons in area MT of macaques can be well explained by variability in the strength of tuned normalization across neurons. The presence of tuned normalization also explains a striking asymmetry in attention effects within neurons: when two stimuli are in a neuron’s receptive field, directing attention to the preferred stimulus modulates firing rates more than directing attention to the non-preferred stimulus. These findings show that much of the neuron-to-neuron variability in modulation of responses by attention depends on variability in the way the neurons process multiple stimuli, rather than differences in the influence of top-down signals related to attention. PMID:22365552
[Pay for performance explained by transaction costs theory].
Gorbaneff, Yuri; Cortes, Ariel; Torres, Sergio; Yepes, Francisco
2011-01-01
To evaluate the ability of transaction costs theory to explain incentives in the health care chain. We performed a case study of CPS, a health insurance company in Bogota (Colombia), which preferred not to publish its name. CPS moves in the environment of high transaction costs and uses the hybrid form of governance at the outpatient level. Incentive intensity, administrative control and the contract all agree with the theory. At the hospital level, the market is used, despite greater uncertainty. Because of the discrete form (1.0) of the incentives and the absence of administrative control, it is difficult for CPS to relate payment to hospital performance. Transaction costs theory explains the configuration of incentives. Another contribution made by this theory to the literature is the criterion to differentiate between the market and the hybrid. We propose that the market uses discrete-type (1.0) incentives, while the hybrid uses continuous, commission-like incentives. Copyright © 2011 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.
Tuned normalization explains the size of attention modulations.
Ni, Amy M; Ray, Supratim; Maunsell, John H R
2012-02-23
The effect of attention on firing rates varies considerably within a single cortical area. The firing rate of some neurons is greatly modulated by attention while others are hardly affected. The reason for this variability across neurons is unknown. We found that the variability in attention modulation across neurons in area MT of macaques can be well explained by variability in the strength of tuned normalization across neurons. The presence of tuned normalization also explains a striking asymmetry in attention effects within neurons: when two stimuli are in a neuron's receptive field, directing attention to the preferred stimulus modulates firing rates more than directing attention to the nonpreferred stimulus. These findings show that much of the neuron-to-neuron variability in modulation of responses by attention depends on variability in the way the neurons process multiple stimuli, rather than differences in the influence of top-down signals related to attention. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PREDICTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: THE ROLE OF MOTIVATION AND LEARNING STRATEGIES
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Juliana Beatriz Stover
2014-04-01
Full Text Available The aim of this study consists in testing a predictive model of academic achievement including motivation and learning strategies as predictors. Motivation is defined as the energy and the direction of behaviors; it is categorized in three types of motivation –intrinsic, extrinsic and amotivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985. Learning strategies are deliberate operations oriented towards information processing in academic activities (Valle, Barca, González & Núñez, 1999. Several studies analysed the relationship between motivation and learning strategies in high school and college environments. Students with higher academic achievement were intrinsically motivated and used a wider variety of learning strategies more frequently. A non-experimental predictive design was developed. The sample was composed by 459 students (55.2% high-schoolers; 44.8% college students. Data were gathered by means of sociodemographic and academic surveys, and also by the local versions of the Academic Motivation Scale –EMA, Echelle de Motivation en Éducation (Stover, de la Iglesia, Rial Boubeta & Fernández Liporace, 2012; Vallerand, Blais, Briere & Pelletier, 1989 and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory –LASSI (Stover, Uriel & Fernández Liporace, 2012; Weinstein, Schulte & Palmer, 1987. Several path analyses were carried out to test a hypothetical model to predict academic achievement (Kline, 1998. Results indicated that self-determined motivation explained academic achievement through the use of learning strategies. The final model obtained an excellent fit (χ2=16.523, df= 6, p=0.011; GFI=0.987; AGFI=0.955; SRMR=0.0320; NFI=0.913; IFI=0.943; CFI=0.940. Results are discussed considering Self Determination Theory and previous research.
Explaining outliers by subspace separability
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Micenková, Barbora; Ng, Raymond T.; Dang, Xuan-Hong
2013-01-01
Outliers are extraordinary objects in a data collection. Depending on the domain, they may represent errors, fraudulent activities or rare events that are subject of our interest. Existing approaches focus on detection of outliers or degrees of outlierness (ranking), but do not provide a possible...... with any existing outlier detection algorithm and it also includes a heuristic that gives a substantial speedup over the baseline strategy....
Content-Free Computer Supports for Self-Explaining: Modifiable Typing Interface and Prompting
Chou, Chih-Yueh; Liang, Hung-Ta
2009-01-01
Self-explaining, which asks students to generate explanations while reading a text, is a self-constructive activity and is helpful for students' learning. Studies have revealed that prompts by a human tutor promote students' self-explanations. However, most studies on self-explaining focus on spoken self-explanations. This study investigates the…
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Julia Sevy
2016-09-01
Full Text Available Many challenges face English language teachers today, but two common problems in Ecuador specifically in universities are large class sizes and multi-level students. These problems can create boredom, anxiety, and over all lack of interest in English language learning. It is shown in this article how to combat these particular problems through various strategies utilized to teach to the students’ needs, help them work together and intrinsically motivate them to learn different English language skills, specifically grammar and sentence structure. These strategies include group work, task-based learning, the inverted or flipped classroom, role-play and intrinsic learning. The author explains how these strategies work in a specific group of university pupils in Ecuador to overcome these specific problems in a classroom, but without student participation they can be flawed.
STRATEGIES OF EXPRESSING WRITTEN APOLOGIES IN THE ONLINE NEWSPAPERS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cipto Wardoyo
2015-12-01
Full Text Available Expressing apology is a universal activity although people have different strategies or ways to express the apology based on the culture, situation, and context. An apology has played a vital role in verbal politeness; it is certainly impolite when someone does not express an apology when he or she has commited an offence to the others. Apologies in the Pragmatic study is classified under speech act theory. An apology based on Searle (1969 is classified as expressive speech acts because it expresses speaker’s physiological attitude. An apology expresses speaker’s sorrow and regret because he/she has offended hearers or readers. This paper tries to discuss strategies of editors in expressing written apologies in the online newspaper. The objective of this paper is to explain what the strategies of written apologies are in the online newspaper. This study uses qualitative method; the writer chooses descriptive interpretative technique for analyzing data. There are four written apologies in the online neswpapers as data sources in this paper, the data are taken from The Jakarta Post, The Daily Express, The Sun, and Brisbane Times. The writer tries to describe and analyzes utterances in the data sources based on Olshtain & Cohen theory (1986. There are five main strategies in expressing apologies according to Olshtain & Cohen (1986; they are Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (IFID, expression responsibility, explanation/justification, offer repairs, and promise forbearance. The writer found that all of the written apologies used combination strategies, they used IFID by using performative verb: apologize and be sorry then followed by expression resposbility, explanation, offer repairs, and promise forbearance. Keywords: apologies, speech acts, politeness, pragmatics
On the explaining-away phenomenon in multivariate latent variable models.
van Rijn, Peter; Rijmen, Frank
2015-02-01
Many probabilistic models for psychological and educational measurements contain latent variables. Well-known examples are factor analysis, item response theory, and latent class model families. We discuss what is referred to as the 'explaining-away' phenomenon in the context of such latent variable models. This phenomenon can occur when multiple latent variables are related to the same observed variable, and can elicit seemingly counterintuitive conditional dependencies between latent variables given observed variables. We illustrate the implications of explaining away for a number of well-known latent variable models by using both theoretical and real data examples. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.
How Life Experience Shapes Cognitive Control Strategies: The Case of Air Traffic Control Training.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sandra Arbula
Full Text Available Although human flexible behavior relies on cognitive control, it would be implausible to assume that there is only one, general mode of cognitive control strategy adopted by all individuals. For instance, different reliance on proactive versus reactive control strategies could explain inter-individual variability. In particular, specific life experiences, like a highly demanding training for future Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs, could modulate cognitive control functions. A group of ATC trainees and a matched group of university students were tested longitudinally on task-switching and Stroop paradigms that allowed us to measure indices of cognitive control. The results showed that the ATCs, with respect to the control group, had substantially smaller mixing costs during long cue-target intervals (CTI and a reduced Stroop interference effect. However, this advantage was present also prior to the training phase. Being more capable in managing multiple task sets and less distracted by interfering events suggests a more efficient selection and maintenance of task relevant information as an inherent characteristic of the ATC group, associated with proactive control. Critically, the training that the ATCs underwent improved their accuracy in general and reduced response time switching costs during short CTIs only. These results indicate a training-induced change in reactive control, which is described as a transient process in charge of stimulus-driven task detection and resolution. This experience-based enhancement of reactive control strategy denotes how cognitive control and executive functions in general can be shaped by real-life training and underlines the importance of experience in explaining inter-individual variability in cognitive functioning.
How Life Experience Shapes Cognitive Control Strategies: The Case of Air Traffic Control Training.
Arbula, Sandra; Capizzi, Mariagrazia; Lombardo, Nicoletta; Vallesi, Antonino
2016-01-01
Although human flexible behavior relies on cognitive control, it would be implausible to assume that there is only one, general mode of cognitive control strategy adopted by all individuals. For instance, different reliance on proactive versus reactive control strategies could explain inter-individual variability. In particular, specific life experiences, like a highly demanding training for future Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), could modulate cognitive control functions. A group of ATC trainees and a matched group of university students were tested longitudinally on task-switching and Stroop paradigms that allowed us to measure indices of cognitive control. The results showed that the ATCs, with respect to the control group, had substantially smaller mixing costs during long cue-target intervals (CTI) and a reduced Stroop interference effect. However, this advantage was present also prior to the training phase. Being more capable in managing multiple task sets and less distracted by interfering events suggests a more efficient selection and maintenance of task relevant information as an inherent characteristic of the ATC group, associated with proactive control. Critically, the training that the ATCs underwent improved their accuracy in general and reduced response time switching costs during short CTIs only. These results indicate a training-induced change in reactive control, which is described as a transient process in charge of stimulus-driven task detection and resolution. This experience-based enhancement of reactive control strategy denotes how cognitive control and executive functions in general can be shaped by real-life training and underlines the importance of experience in explaining inter-individual variability in cognitive functioning.
Explaining formation of Astronomical Jets using Dynamic Universe Model
Naga Parameswara Gupta, Satyavarapu
2016-07-01
Astronomical jets are observed from the centres of many Galaxies including our own Milkyway. The formation of such jet is explained using SITA simulations of Dynamic Universe Model. For this purpose the path traced by a test neutron is calculated and depicted using a set up of one densemass of the mass equivalent to mass of Galaxy center, 90 stars with similar masses of stars near Galaxy center, mass equivalents of 23 Globular Cluster groups, 16 Milkyway parts, Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies at appropriate distances. Five different kinds of theoretical simulations gave positive results The path travelled by this test neutron was found to be an astronomical jet emerging from Galaxy center. This is another result from Dynamic Universe Model. It solves new problems like a. Variable Mass Rocket Trajectory Problem b. Explaining Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations c. Astronomical jets observed from Milkyway Center d. Prediction of Blue shifted Galaxies e. Explaining Pioneer Anomaly f. Prediction of New Horizons satellite trajectory etc. Dynamic Universe Model never reduces to General relativity on any condition. It uses a different type of mathematics based on Newtonian physics. This mathematics used here is simple and straightforward. As there are no differential equations present in Dynamic Universe Model, the set of equations give single solution in x y z Cartesian coordinates for every point mass for every time step
Cautious strategy update promotes cooperation in spatial prisoner’s dilemma game
Liu, Yongkui; Zhang, Lin; Chen, Xiaojie; Ren, Lei; Wang, Long
2013-09-01
In the realistic world, individual cautiousness can be often involved or observed when a rational individual makes a decision. However, it remains unclear how such individual cautiousness influences the evolution of cooperative behavior. To this end, we consider a Fermi strategy updating rule, where each individual is assigned a cautiousness index that controls its learning activity, and then study the evolution of cooperation in the spatial prisoner’s dilemma game. Interestingly, it is found that cooperation can be significantly promoted when individuals’ cautiousness is considered. In particular, there exists an optimal range of the degree of cautiousness resulting in the highest cooperation level. The remarkable promotion of cooperation, as well as the emerging phase transition is explained by configurational analysis. The sensitivity of cooperation to initial states with different fractions of cooperators is also discussed. The result illustrates that high densities of cooperators can be established at small initial fractions of cooperators. The detailed mechanism for such phenomenon is explained by analyzing the typical initial configurations.
Strategies for Introducing Outpatient Specialty Palliative Care in Gynecologic Oncology.
Hay, Casey M; Lefkowits, Carolyn; Crowley-Matoka, Megan; Bakitas, Marie A; Clark, Leslie H; Duska, Linda R; Urban, Renata R; Creasy, Stephanie L; Schenker, Yael
2017-09-01
Concern that patients will react negatively to the idea of palliative care is cited as a barrier to timely referral. Strategies to successfully introduce specialty palliative care to patients have not been well described. We sought to understand how gynecologic oncologists introduce outpatient specialty palliative care. We conducted a national qualitative interview study at six geographically diverse academic cancer centers with well-established palliative care clinics between September 2015 and March 2016. Thirty-four gynecologic oncologists participated in semistructured telephone interviews focusing on attitudes, experiences, and practices related to outpatient palliative care. A multidisciplinary team analyzed interview transcripts using constant comparative methods to inductively develop and refine a coding framework. This analysis focuses on practices for introducing palliative care. Mean participant age was 47 years (standard deviation, 10 years). Mean interview length was 25 minutes (standard deviation, 7 minutes). Gynecologic oncologists described the following three main strategies for introducing outpatient specialty palliative care: focus initial palliative care referral on symptom management to dissociate palliative care from end-of-life care and facilitate early relationship building with palliative care clinicians; use a strong physician-patient relationship and patient trust to increase acceptance of referral; and explain and normalize palliative care referral to address negative associations and decrease patient fear of abandonment. These strategies aim to decrease negative patient associations and encourage acceptance of early referral to palliative care specialists. Gynecologic oncologists have developed strategies for introducing palliative care services to alleviate patient concerns. These strategies provide groundwork for developing system-wide best practice approaches to the presentation of palliative care referral.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
José G. VARGAS-HERNÁNDEZ
2011-09-01
Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze the exogenous and endogenous factors that determine the strategy of de-internationalization of SMEs in the sector of the footwear in the Metropolitan Zone of Guadalajara (ZMG. A model is proposed that explains the adoption of the strategy of de-internationalization from studies of comparative case in SMEs in the footwear sector of the ZMG. In-depth interviews were applied to managers and staff involved during the time that the company was exporting. Analysis points out that lack of strategic planning and the instability in the foreign currency exchange rate are major factors that determine the strategy of de-internationalization in SMEs in the ZMG. Also, it is evident that the strategic imbalance during the de-internationalization strategy is not considered as a failure, but rather as an opportunity to redirect it and thus grow in the local market
Use of environmental parameters to explain the variability in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Abstract. This study attempts to explain the variability in recruitment of sardine in the northern Benguela and to develop potential models by including environmental information to predict recruitment. ... AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO ...
Persistent villi hypoperfusion explains intramucosal acidosis in sheep endotoxemia
Dubin, Arnaldo; Edul, Vanina Siham Kanoore; Pozo, Mario Omar; Murias, Gastón; Canullán, Carlos Manuel; Martins, Enrique Francisco; Ferrara, Gonzalo; Canales, Héctor Saul; Laporte, Mercedes; Estenssoro, Elisa; Ince, Can
2008-01-01
OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that persistent villi hypoperfusion explains intramucosal acidosis after endotoxemic shock resuscitation. DESIGN: Controlled experimental study. SETTING: University-based research laboratory. SUBJECTS: A total of 14 anesthetized, mechanically ventilated sheep.
iPhone application development strategies for efficient mobile design and delivery
Hahn, Jim
2011-01-01
iPhone application development is explained here in an accessible treatment for the generalist Library and Information Science (LIS) practitioner. Future information-seeking practices by users will take place across a diverse array of ubiquitous computing devices. iPhone applications represent one of the most compelling new platforms for which to remediate and re-engineer library service. Strategies of efficient mobile design and delivery include adapting computing best practices of data independence and adhering to web standards as articulated by the W3C. These best practices apply across the
Plate-wide stress relaxation explains European Palaeocene basin inversions
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nielsen, S.B.; Thomsen, Erik; Hansen, D.L.
2005-01-01
of the in-plane tectonic stress. The onset of relaxation inversions was plate-wide and simultaneous, and may have been triggered by stress changes caused by elevation of the North Atlantic lithosphere by the Iceland plume or the drop in NS convergence rate between Africa and Europe.......During Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic times many Paleozoic and Mesozoic rifts and basin structures in the interior of the European continent underwent several phases of inversion. The main phases occurred during the Late Cretaceous and Middle Paleocene, and have been explained by pulses...... Paleocene phase was characterized by domal uplift of a wider area with only mild fault movements, and formation of more distal and shallow marginal troughs. A simple flexural model explains how domal, secondary inversion follows inevitably from primary, convergence related inversion upon relaxation...
Explaining the harmonic sequence paradox.
Schmidt, Ulrich; Zimper, Alexander
2012-05-01
According to the harmonic sequence paradox, an expected utility decision maker's willingness to pay for a gamble whose expected payoffs evolve according to the harmonic series is finite if and only if his marginal utility of additional income becomes zero for rather low payoff levels. Since the assumption of zero marginal utility is implausible for finite payoff levels, expected utility theory - as well as its standard generalizations such as cumulative prospect theory - are apparently unable to explain a finite willingness to pay. This paper presents first an experimental study of the harmonic sequence paradox. Additionally, it demonstrates that the theoretical argument of the harmonic sequence paradox only applies to time-patient decision makers, whereas the paradox is easily avoided if time-impatience is introduced. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.
Deep supervised, but not unsupervised, models may explain IT cortical representation.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Seyed-Mahdi Khaligh-Razavi
2014-11-01
Full Text Available Inferior temporal (IT cortex in human and nonhuman primates serves visual object recognition. Computational object-vision models, although continually improving, do not yet reach human performance. It is unclear to what extent the internal representations of computational models can explain the IT representation. Here we investigate a wide range of computational model representations (37 in total, testing their categorization performance and their ability to account for the IT representational geometry. The models include well-known neuroscientific object-recognition models (e.g. HMAX, VisNet along with several models from computer vision (e.g. SIFT, GIST, self-similarity features, and a deep convolutional neural network. We compared the representational dissimilarity matrices (RDMs of the model representations with the RDMs obtained from human IT (measured with fMRI and monkey IT (measured with cell recording for the same set of stimuli (not used in training the models. Better performing models were more similar to IT in that they showed greater clustering of representational patterns by category. In addition, better performing models also more strongly resembled IT in terms of their within-category representational dissimilarities. Representational geometries were significantly correlated between IT and many of the models. However, the categorical clustering observed in IT was largely unexplained by the unsupervised models. The deep convolutional network, which was trained by supervision with over a million category-labeled images, reached the highest categorization performance and also best explained IT, although it did not fully explain the IT data. Combining the features of this model with appropriate weights and adding linear combinations that maximize the margin between animate and inanimate objects and between faces and other objects yielded a representation that fully explained our IT data. Overall, our results suggest that explaining
Richardson, Anne E.
The urgent environmental issues of today require science-literate adults to engage in business and political decisions to create solutions. Despite the need, few adults have the knowledge and skills of science literacy. This doctoral dissertation is an analytical case study examining the science-learner identity development of Exploratorium Field Trip Explainers. Located in San Francisco, CA, the Exploratorium is a museum of science, art, and human perception dedicated to nurturing curiosity and exploration. Data collected included semi-structured interviews with sixteen former Field Trip Explainers, participant observation of the current Field Trip Explainer Program, and review of relevant documentation. Data analysis employed constant comparative analysis, guided by the communities of practice theoretical framework (Wenger, 1998) and the National Research Council's (2009) Six Strands of Science Learning. Findings of this research indicate that Exploratorium Field Trip Explainers participate in a community of practice made up of a diverse group of people that values curiosity and openness to multiple ways of learning. Many participants entered the Field Trip Explainer Program with an understanding of science learning as a rigid process reserved for a select group of people; through participation in the Field Trip Explainer community of practice, participants developed an understanding of science learning as accessible and a part of everyday life. The findings of this case study have implications for research, theory, and practice in informal adult science learning, access of non-dominant groups to science learning, and adult workplace learning in communities of practice.
Strategy for a transparent, accessible, and sustainable national claims database.
Gelburd, Robin
2015-03-01
The article outlines the strategy employed by FAIR Health, Inc, an independent nonprofit, to maintain a national database of over 18 billion private health insurance claims to support consumer education, payer and provider operations, policy makers, and researchers with standard and customized data sets on an economically self-sufficient basis. It explains how FAIR Health conducts all operations in-house, including data collection, security, validation, information organization, product creation, and transmission, with a commitment to objectivity and reliability in data and data products. It also describes the data elements available to researchers and the diverse studies that FAIR Health data facilitate.
"Explaining the Gender Wage Gap in Georgia"
Tamar Khitarishvili
2009-01-01
This paper evaluates gender wage differentials in Georgia between 2000 and 2004. Using ordinary least squares, we find that the gender wage gap in Georgia is substantially higher than in other transition countries. Correcting for sample selection bias using the Heckman approach further increases the gender wage gap. The Blinder Oaxaca decomposition results suggest that most of the wage gap remains unexplained. The explained portion of the gap is almost entirely attributed to industrial variab...
Review of yield gap explaining factors and opportunities for alternative data collection approaches
Beza, E.A.; Vasco Silva, João; Kooistra, Lammert; Reidsma, Pytrik
2017-01-01
Yield gap analysis is gaining increased scientific attention, as estimating and explaining yield gaps shows the potential for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems. Explaining yield gaps requires detailed information about the biophysical environment, crop management as well as
Empowered? Evaluating Japan's national energy strategy under the DPJ administration
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Valentine, Scott, E-mail: valentine@pp.u-tokyo.ac.j [Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), University of Tokyo, 620 Administration Bureau Building No. 2, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan); Sovacool, Benjamin K., E-mail: bsovacool@nus.edu.s [Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, 02-03J Oei Tiong Ham Building, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772 (Singapore); Matsuura, Masahiro, E-mail: matsuura@pp.u-tokyo.ac.j [Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), University of Tokyo, 620 Administration Bureau Building No. 2, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)
2011-03-15
In August 2009, after 54 years of virtually unbroken rule, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was ousted from power by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The DPJ's campaign platform included a pledge to facilitate extreme reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, at the COP16 meeting in Cancun, Japan announced that it would not accept further emission reduction targets without broader commitment from all nations. This paper seeks to explain this dichotomy by employing a targeted stakeholder evaluation based on surveys with 321 Japanese citizens to assess the extent to which influential stakeholder groups in Japan supports a potentially costly transition to a low-carbon energy infrastructure amidst severe economic challenges that the nation faces. Findings help explain Japan's adversarial role in COP16 negotiations in Cancun, despite the stated GHG reduction ambitions of Japan's current ruling party. The analysis concludes that if the DPJ does embrace aggressive CO{sub 2} reduction targets in the future, the strategic focus will likely mirror the former ruling party's energy policy of bolstering nuclear power generation capacity and promoting energy efficiency improvements while exhibiting lukewarm commitment to supporting capacity development in alternative sources of energy supply such as solar panels and wind turbines. - Research highlights: {yields} Public consensus exists regarding which energy policy goals are important in Japan. {yields} Minor perceptual differences are not of a catalytic nature. {yields} Public consensus does not deviate significantly from past LDP energy policy. {yields} Unlikely that the DPJ will pursue costly energy transition initiatives. {yields} Likely that the DPJ energy strategy will be substantively similar to LDP strategy. {yields} Any differences in strategy will focus on CO{sub 2} reduction magnitude not substance.
Kraft, Richard H.P., Ed.
Eight papers focus on strategies for educational planning. In "Policy Formulation and Policy Implementation Relationships in an Educational System," Donald Miller asserts that performance relationships can be explained in terms of an educational system and its environment. Arnold Reisman and Martin Taft present "A Systems Approach…
Kumagai, Yohei; Yoshizawa, Susumu; Nakajima, Yu; Watanabe, Mai; Fukunaga, Tsukasa; Ogura, Yoshitoshi; Hayashi, Tetsuya; Oshima, Kenshiro; Hattori, Masahira; Ikeuchi, Masahiko; Kogure, Kazuhiro; DeLong, Edward F; Iwasaki, Wataru
2018-05-01
Proteorhodopsin (PR) is a light-driven proton pump that is found in diverse bacteria and archaea species, and is widespread in marine microbial ecosystems. To date, many studies have suggested the advantage of PR for microorganisms in sunlit environments. The ecophysiological significance of PR is still not fully understood however, including the drivers of PR gene gain, retention, and loss in different marine microbial species. To explore this question we sequenced 21 marine Flavobacteriia genomes of polyphyletic origin, which encompassed both PR-possessing as well as PR-lacking strains. Here, we show that the possession or alternatively the lack of PR genes reflects one of two fundamental adaptive strategies in marine bacteria. Specifically, while PR-possessing bacteria utilize light energy ("solar-panel strategy"), PR-lacking bacteria exclusively possess UV-screening pigment synthesis genes to avoid UV damage and would adapt to microaerobic environment ("parasol strategy"), which also helps explain why PR-possessing bacteria have smaller genomes than those of PR-lacking bacteria. Collectively, our results highlight the different strategies of dealing with light, DNA repair, and oxygen availability that relate to the presence or absence of PR phototrophy.
Pre-service primary school teachers’ abilities in explaining water and air pollution scientifically
Lukmannudin; Sopandi, W.; Sujana, A.; Sukardi, R.
2018-05-01
The purpose of this study is to determine the ability of pre-service primary school teachers (PSPST) in explaining the phenomenon of water and air pollution scientifically. The research method used descriptive method of analysis with qualitative approach. The respondents were PSPTP at 4th semester. This study used a four-tier instrument diagnostic test. The number of subjects was 84 PSPTP at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Kampus Daerah Sumedang. The results demonstrate the ability of PSPST in explaining water and air pollution scientifically. The results show that only 6% of PSPST who are able to explain the phenomenon of water pollution and only 4% of PSPST who are able to explain the phenomenon of air pollution. The fact should be attention for PSPST because these understanding are crucial in the process of learning activities in the classroom.
Why Compositional Convection Cannot Explain Substellar Objects’ Sharp Spectral-type Transitions
Leconte, Jérémy
2018-02-01
As brown dwarfs and young giant planets cool down, they are known to experience various chemical transitions—for example, from {CO} rich L-dwarfs to methane rich T-dwarfs. Those chemical transitions are accompanied by spectral transitions with sharpness that cannot be explained by chemistry alone. In a series of articles, Tremblin et al. proposed that some of the yet-unexplained features associated with these transitions could be explained by a reduction of the thermal gradient near the photosphere. To explain, in turn, this more isothermal profile, they invoke the presence of an instability analogous to fingering convection—compositional convection—triggered by the change in mean molecular weight of the gas due to the chemical transitions mentioned above. In this Letter, we use existing arguments to demonstrate that any turbulent transport, if present, would in fact increase the thermal gradient. This misinterpretation comes from the fact that turbulence mixes/homogenizes entropy (potential temperature) instead of temperature. So, while increasing transport, turbulence in an initially stratified atmosphere actually carries energy downward, whether it is due to fingering or any other type of compositional convection. These processes therefore cannot explain the features observed along the aforementioned transitions by reducing the thermal gradient in the atmosphere of substellar objects. Understanding the microphysical and dynamical properties of clouds at these transitions thus probably remains our best way forward.
EXPLAINING THE MOTHERHOOD WAGE PENALTY DURING THE EARLY OCCUPATIONAL CAREER
STAFF, JEREMY; MORTIMER, JEYLAN T.
2011-01-01
Prior research shows that mothers earn lower hourly wages than women without children, and that this maternal wage penalty cannot be fully explained by differences between mothers and other women in work experience and job characteristics. This research examines whether the residual motherhood wage penalty results from differences between mothers and other women in the accumulation of work interruptions and breaks in schooling. Using longitudinal data for 486 women followed from ages 19 to 31 in the Youth Development Study, we find that accumulated months not in the labor force and not enrolled in school explain the residual pay gap between mothers and other women. PMID:22037996
Thomas, David A
2004-09-01
IBM's turnaround in the last decade is an impressive and well-documented business story. But behind that success is a less told people story, which explains how the corporation dramatically altered its already diverse composition and created millions of dollars in new business. By the time Lou Gerstner took the helm in 1993, IBM had a long history of progressive management when it came to civil rights and equal-opportunity employment. But Gerstner felt IBM wasn't taking full advantage of a diverse market for talent, nor was it maximizing the potential of its diverse customer and employee base. So in 1995, he launched a diversity task force initiative to uncover and understand differences among people within the organization and find ways to appeal to an even broader set of employees and customers. Gerstner established a task force for each of eight constituencies: Asians; blacks; the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered community; Hispanics; white men; Native Americans; people with disabilities; and women. He asked the task forces to research four questions: What does your constituency need to feel welcome and valued at IBM? What can the corporation do, in partnership with your group, to maximize your constituency's productivity? What can the corporation do to influence your constituency's buying decisions so that IBM is seen as a preferred solution provider? And with which external organizations should IBM form relationships to better understand the needs of your constituency? The answers to these questions became the basis for IBM's diversity strategy. Thomas stresses that four factors are key to implementing any major change initiative: strong support from company leaders, an employee base that is fully engaged with the initiative, management practices that are integrated and aligned with the effort, and a strong and well-articulated business case for action. All four elements have helped IBM make diversity a key corporate strategy tied to real growth.
Explaining Tevatron leptons photons missing- T events with ...
Indian Academy of Sciences (India)
Abstract. The CDF experiment reported a lepton photon missing transverse energy. (/ET) signal 3σ in excess of the standard model prediction in Tevatron Run I data. The excess can be explained by the resonant production of a smuon, which subsequently decays to a muon, a photon and a gravitino. Here, we perform ...
Connecting Representations: Using Predict, Check, Explain
Roy, George J.; Fueyo, Vivian; Vahey, Philip; Knudsen, Jennifer; Rafanan, Ken; Lara-Meloy, Teresa
2016-01-01
Although educators agree that making connections with the real world, as advocated by "Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All" (NCTM 2014), is important, making such connections while addressing important mathematics is elusive. The authors have found that math content coupled with the instructional strategy of…
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Neuheimer, Anna; Hartvig, Martin; Heuschele, Jan
2015-01-01
is observed along with variability in physical and biological forcing factors in space and time. We compiled adult and offspring size for 407 pelagic marine species covering more than 17 orders of magnitude in body mass including Cephalopoda, Cnidaria, Crustaceans, Ctenophora, Elasmobranchii, Mammalia...... discuss where these two strategies occur and how these patterns (along with the relative size of the offspring) may be shaped by physical and biological constraints in the organism’s environment. This adaptive environment along with the evolutionary history of the different groups shape observed life......Explaining variability in offspring vs. adult size among groups is a necessary step to determine the evolutionary and environmental constraints shaping variability in life history strategies. This is of particular interest for life in the ocean where a diversity of offspring development strategies...
Epstein-Ngo, Quyen; Maurizi, Laura K; Bregman, Allyson; Ceballo, Rosario
2013-01-01
Among poor, urban adolescents, high rates of community violence are a pressing public health concern. This study relies on a contextual framework of stress and coping to investigate how coping strategies and involuntary stress responses may both mediate and moderate the relation between exposure to community violence and psychological well-being. Our sample consists of 223 ninth grade Latino adolescents from poor, urban families. In response to community violence, these adolescents reported using an array of coping strategies as well as experiencing a number of involuntary stress responses; the most frequent coping responses were turning to religion and seeking social support. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that involuntary stress responses mediated the relations between both witnessing or being victimized by violence and poorer psychological functioning, while coping strategies moderated these relations. These findings suggest that the negative psychological effects of exposure to community violence may, in part, be explained by involuntary stress responses, while religious-based coping may serve as a protective factor.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Abraham Magendzo-Kolstrein
2015-09-01
Full Text Available The purpose of this article, which can be envision as an essay, is to present a pedagogical-didactic strategy for human rights education focusing on the controversy. Advancements and setbacks faced by human rights education in Latin America are exposed in order to support this strategy. Therefore, it indicates that education has denied the conflict and explains the need for its inclusion under the idea of ‘controversial issue’. Additionally, the existence of conflicts in the interpretation, violation and/or respect for human rights is pointed out. The principal tensions that cross human rights are displayed. Based on the above, the need to support the existence of a human rights education focusing on the conflict and central components of its teaching strategy are described, and it ends by referring to its didactic approach and the role which should be assumed by faculty when teaching human rights including the conflict.
A More Practical Method for Explaining Equilibrium
Yi-Jang Yu
2014-01-01
The aim of this study is to suggest a more practical method for explaining market equilibrium in a two-dimensional risk-return world. Its main difference from textbook contents is to define, in both qualitative and quantitative ways, the environment or the system factor and treat it as an endogenous variable. Once the two-dimensional framework that is capable of managing uncertainty and environmental relationship can be reasonably established, a greater number of economic issues can be effect...
Explaining seeing? Disentangling qualia from perceptual organization.
Ibáñez, Agustin; Bekinschtein, Tristan
2010-09-01
Abstract Visual perception and integration seem to play an essential role in our conscious phenomenology. Relatively local neural processing of reentrant nature may explain several visual integration processes (feature binding or figure-ground segregation, object recognition, inference, competition), even without attention or cognitive control. Based on the above statements, should the neural signatures of visual integration (via reentrant process) be non-reportable phenomenological qualia? We argue that qualia are not required to understand this perceptual organization.
How Much of Language Acquisition Does Operant Conditioning Explain?
Sturdy, Christopher B; Nicoladis, Elena
2017-01-01
Since the 1950s, when Chomsky argued that Skinner's arguments could not explain syntactic acquisition, psychologists have generally avoided explicitly invoking operant or instrumental conditioning as a learning mechanism for language among human children. In this article, we argue that this is a mistake. We focus on research that has been done on language learning in human infants and toddlers in order to illustrate our points. Researchers have ended up inventing learning mechanisms that, in actual practice, not only resemble but also in fact are examples of operant conditioning (OC) by any other name they select. We argue that language acquisition researchers should proceed by first ruling out OC before invoking alternative learning mechanisms. While it is possible that OC cannot explain all of the language acquisition, simple learning mechanisms that work across species may have some explanatory power in children's language learning.
The Models of Applying Online Privacy Literacy Strategies: A Case Study of Instagram Girl Users
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Abdollah Bicharanlou
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Social networks affect remarkably in the lives of virtual space users. These networks like most human relations involve compromising between self-disclosure and privacy protection. A process which is realized through improving privacy and empowering the user at the personal level. This study aimed to assess strategies based on online privacy literacy. In particular, strategies that Instagram young girls users should employ to achieve the optimum level of privacy. For this purpose, firstly the paradox of privacy, benefits and risks of self-disclosure are explained, then according to online privacy literacy, some social and technological strategies are introduced by which users can solve the “paradox of privacy.” In the result section, after describing the main benefits and risks of self-disclosure by girl users, the current models of using these social and technological strategies to solve the mentioned paradox are discussed. The research method is ethnography based on non-collaborative observation of Instagram pages and semi-structured interviews with 20 girl users of social networks.
Asset pricing puzzles explained by incomplete Brownian equilibria
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Christensen, Peter Ove; Larsen, Kasper
We examine a class of Brownian based models which produce tractable incomplete equilibria. The models are based on finitely many investors with heterogeneous exponential utilities over intermediate consumption who receive partially unspanned income. The investors can trade continuously on a finit...... markets. Consequently, our model can simultaneously help explaining the risk-free rate and equity premium puzzles....
Díaz-Muñoz, Samuel L
2016-03-01
The influence of ecology on social behavior and mating strategies is one of the central questions in behavioral ecology and primatology. Callitrichines are New World primates that exhibit high behavioral variability, which is widely acknowledged, but not always systematically researched. Here, I examine the hypothesis that differences in the cost of infant care among genera help explain variation in reproductive traits. I present an integrative approach to generate and evaluate predictions from this hypothesis. I first identify callitrichine traits that vary minimally and traits that are more flexible (e.g., have greater variance or norm of reaction), including the number of males that mate with a breeding female, mechanisms of male reproductive competition, number of natal young retained, and the extent of female reproductive suppression. I outline how these more labile traits should vary along a continuum of infant care costs according to individual reproductive strategies. At one end of the spectrum, I predict that groups with higher infant care costs will show multiple adult males mating and providing infant care, high subordinate female reproductive suppression, few natal individuals delaying dispersal, and increased reproductive output by the dominant female -with opposite predictions under low infant costs. I derive an estimate of the differences in ecological and physiological infant care costs that suggest an order of ascending costs in the wild: Cebuella, Callithrix, Mico, Callimico, Saguinus, and Leontopithecus. I examine the literature on each genus for the most variable traits and evaluate a) where they fall along the continuum of infant care costs according to their reproductive strategies, and b) whether these costs correspond to the ecophysiological estimates of infant care costs. I conclude that infant care costs can provide a unifying explanation for the most variable reproductive traits among callitrichine genera. The approach presented can be
Martin, Thomas E; Oteyza, Juan C; Mitchell, Adam E; Potticary, Ahva L; Lloyd, Penn
2015-03-01
Growth and development rates may result from genetic programming of intrinsic processes that yield correlated rates between life stages. These intrinsic rates are thought to affect adult mortality probability and longevity. However, if proximate extrinsic factors (e.g., temperature, food) influence development rates differently between stages and yield low covariance between stages, then development rates may not explain adult mortality probability. We examined these issues based on study of 90 songbird species on four continents to capture the diverse life-history strategies observed across geographic space. The length of the embryonic period explained little variation (ca. 13%) in nestling periods and growth rates among species. This low covariance suggests that the relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic influences on growth and development rates differs between stages. Consequently, nestling period durations and nestling growth rates were not related to annual adult mortality probability among diverse songbird species within or among sites. The absence of a clear effect of faster growth on adult mortality when examined in an evolutionary framework across species may indicate that species that evolve faster growth also evolve physiological mechanisms for ameliorating costs on adult mortality. Instead, adult mortality rates of species in the wild may be determined more strongly by extrinsic environmental causes.
What Makes Capitalisms andCorporate Strategies Differ?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Colclough, Christina Jayne
This research paper presents and critically discusses on a theoretical level two approaches within comparative political economy that aim at explaining the contemporary diversity of capitalists systems and corporate strategies - the regulation approach, and the varieties of capitalism approach...... combine micro-economic and extra-economic practices (in particular labour-management relations) at the level of the firm to macro-economic and political institutional forms at the level of the national political economy. It does so by pointing at the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches...... and by suggesting ways in which to bring them together. Specific attention is given to how the relation between management and employees is strategically defined and implemented in practice. The overall objective is to create a combined approach that can grasp under what conditions multinational corporations...
Explaining adherence success in sub-Saharan Africa: an ethnographic study.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Norma C Ware
2009-01-01
Full Text Available Individuals living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa generally take more than 90% of prescribed doses of antiretroviral therapy (ART. This number exceeds the levels of adherence observed in North America and dispels early scale-up concerns that adherence would be inadequate in settings of extreme poverty. This paper offers an explanation and theoretical model of ART adherence success based on the results of an ethnographic study in three sub-Saharan African countries.Determinants of ART adherence for HIV-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa were examined with ethnographic research methods. 414 in-person interviews were carried out with 252 persons taking ART, their treatment partners, and health care professionals at HIV treatment sites in Jos, Nigeria; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Mbarara, Uganda. 136 field observations of clinic activities were also conducted. Data were examined using category construction and interpretive approaches to analysis. Findings indicate that individuals taking ART routinely overcome economic obstacles to ART adherence through a number of deliberate strategies aimed at prioritizing adherence: borrowing and "begging" transport funds, making "impossible choices" to allocate resources in favor of treatment, and "doing without." Prioritization of adherence is accomplished through resources and help made available by treatment partners, other family members and friends, and health care providers. Helpers expect adherence and make their expectations known, creating a responsibility on the part of patients to adhere. Patients adhere to promote good will on the part of helpers, thereby ensuring help will be available when future needs arise.Adherence success in sub-Saharan Africa can be explained as a means of fulfilling social responsibilities and thus preserving social capital in essential relationships.
Weaker dental enamel explains dental decay.
Vieira, Alexandre R; Gibson, Carolyn W; Deeley, Kathleen; Xue, Hui; Li, Yong
2015-01-01
Dental caries continues to be the most prevalent bacteria-mediated non-contagious disease of humankind. Dental professionals assert the disease can be explained by poor oral hygiene and a diet rich in sugars but this does not account for caries free individuals exposed to the same risk factors. In order to test the hypothesis that amount of amelogenin during enamel development can influence caries susceptibility, we generated multiple strains of mice with varying levels of available amelogenin during dental development. Mechanical tests showed that dental enamel developed with less amelogenin is "weaker" while the dental enamel of animals over-expressing amelogenin appears to be more resistant to acid dissolution.
Development of Operation Strategy for Hybrid-SIT in SBO
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jeon, In Seop; Kang, Hyun Gook
2015-01-01
The Fukushima accident was not managed properly due to a lack of effective mitigation systems against Station Black Out (SBO) accident. For this reason, development of passive system is suggested as an alternative way for active system because passive system doesn't need external energy source and passive system can also increase the diversity of mitigation technique of Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). H-SIT is a passive injection system that is newly planned to adjust into the Advanced Power Reactor plus (APR+). This system is specialized for mitigation of SBO scenarios because it is passive system and it can inject coolant even in high pressure condition. Main function of H-SIT is injection of coolant to the Reactor Coolant System (RCS) in a passive way. The H-SIT system can inject water using the pressure from nitrogen gas as a normal SIT in low pressure accidents such as large and medium break loss-of-coolant accidents. This operation strategy is divided according to numbers of PAFS which can be used. When one H-SIT is used, H-SIT is recommended to use operation strategy which is explained as follow. In case of operation number, 1+1+1+1 strategy is the best and first operation timing, the time when upper plenum level is 5% is the best and next operation timing, the time when water level of H-SIT which is operated in previous round is 5% and operation order, 4-3-2-1 is the best. Even if one PAFS can be used, the minimum flow of H-SIT can maintain core in normal condition before H-SIT dried out thus if two PAFS can be used, the strategy which is used in the condition one PAFS can be operated is also used as a best operation strategy
Explaining socio-demographic differences in disengagement from sports in adolescence.
Prins, Richard G; Kamphuis, Carlijn B M; van Empelen, Pepijn; Beenackers, Mariëlle A; Brug, Johannes; Mackenbach, Johan P; Oenema, Anke
2013-10-01
The purpose of this longitudinal study is to identify risk groups for disengagement from sports during adolescence. In addition, it will be explored whether cognitive and environmental factors can explain socio-demographic differences in disengagement from sports. Data were obtained from the Environmental Determinants of Obesity in Rotterdam Schoolchildren study, and 357 adolescents were eligible for analysis. Socio-demographics (gender, ethnicity, education), individual cognitions and neighbourhood perceptions were assessed at baseline (2005/2006), and sports participation at baseline and at follow-up (2007/2008). Two dichotomous outcome variables were constructed: (i) disengagement from sports (yes/no) and (ii) ceased compliance with the fitnorm (i.e. cease engaging in sports ≥3 times/wk) (yes/no). In logistic regression and mediation analyses, we identified socio-demographic differences in the two outcomes. Subsequently, we applied mediation analyses to identify the contribution of cognitive and environmental explanatory factors of the socio-demographic differences. Girls [odds ratio (OR): 2.5, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.5-4.5] were more likely than boys to disengage from sports. Girls (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.4-4.2), adolescents of non-Western background (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.0-3.0) and those in lower educational levels (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.0-2.9) were more likely to cease compliance with the fitnorm. Perceived neighbourhood safety partly explained gender differences in disengagement from sports (8%). Intention partly explained ethnical (32%) and educational differences (37%) in ceasing compliance with the fitnorm. Girls, lower-educated adolescents and those with a non-Western background showed more pronounced reductions in sports participation and compliance with the fitnorm. Intention and perceived neighbourhood safety could partially explain these differences.
Best control strategy for unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) based on simulation
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Shayanfar, H.A. [Iran Univ. of Science and Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Dept. of Electrical Engineering; Tabatabaei, N.M. [Azarbaijan Univ. of Tarbiat Moallem, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Dept. of Electrical Engineering; Mokhtarpour, A. [Islamic Azad Univ., Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Dept. of Electrical Engineering
2007-07-01
Electronic devices used in both industry and residences need high-quality energy to work properly. Unified Power Quality Conditioners (UPQC) solve any power quality problems faced by these devices. Three new control strategies for UPQCs were presented and their operation was investigated and compared using the MATLAB Simulink simulation software package. A UPQC consists of a Shunt-Active Filter and a Series Active Filter with a common direct current link to compensate for any source currents and delivered voltage to the load. As such, it isolates the utility from current quality problems associated with load. It also isolates the load from the voltage quality problems of the utility. In the first control strategy, the Parallel Active Filter (PAF) and Series Active Filter (SAF) are based on the Fourier transform theory. In the second control strategy, the Parallel Active Filter is based on the power quality theory and the Series Active Filter is based on the Fourier transform theory. In the third control strategy, the Parallel Active Filter is based on Fourier transform theory and the Series Active Filter is based on positive sequence detection. Operating the PAF using these methods compensates for reactive power and current harmonics, while operating the SAF compensates for imbalances, voltage harmonics and positive and zero sequences of utility voltages. MATLAB simulation software was used to explain the compensation resolution and speed of the 3 new control strategies. According to simulation test results, it was concluded that the best compensation speed and resolution can be obtained using the third control strategy. 7 refs., 2 tabs., 24 figs.
Jansen, J; van den Borne, B H P; Renes, R J; van Schaik, G; Lam, T J G M; Leeuwis, C
2009-11-15
When mastitis incidence increases, either infection pressure has increased or cows' resistance has decreased. This usually indicates that farm management is not optimal. Numerous quantitative studies have demonstrated the effect of management practices on mastitis. In most of these studies, the identified risk factors could explain only part of the variance in mastitis incidence on farms. Several studies suggest that the unexplained variance is caused by farmers' attitudes towards different aspects of mastitis treatment and preventive behaviour. This study aims to determine, to quantify and to specify the extent to which farmers' attitudes, over and above farmers' behaviour, are factors that explain the variation in mastitis incidence, measured in terms of the quantifiable effect of management factors. An extensive survey on self-reported attitudes, behaviour and mastitis incidence was conducted on 336 Dutch dairy farms. Results of multiple linear regression analyses show that farmers' self-reported behaviour and attitudes together explain 48%, 31% and 23% of the variation within, respectively, the average farm bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC), the clinical mastitis incidence and the combined clinical and subclinical mastitis incidence. Both behaviour and attitudes explain part of the variance. However, most of the variance in all three dependant measures is explained solely by the attitude variables. The variation in BMSCC value is best explained by (1) farmers' normative frame of reference about mastitis, (2) farmers' perceptions about the control of mastitis and (3) the perceived effect of a BMSCC penalty level. The variation in clinical mastitis is best explained by farmers' perceptions about mastitis control. The variation in the combined clinical and subclinical mastitis incidence rate is best explained by the perceived effect of a BMSCC penalty level and the frequency of contact with others. The results of this study show that farmers' attitudes are a
Ren, Yaxuan; Lin, Min-Pei; Liu, Yin-Han; Zhang, Xu; Wu, Jo Yung-Wei; Hu, Wei-Hsuan; Xu, Sian; You, Jianing
2018-01-22
Nock's (2009) integrated theoretical model suggests that both intrapersonal and interpersonal factors contribute to the development of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Based on this model, the present study examined the roles of family functioning and coping strategy in predicting NSSI, as well as the mediating effect of coping strategy in the relationship between family functioning and NSSI. Gender differences on the associations of these variables were also examined. A sample of 1,989 secondary school students (52.0% females) in Taiwan was assessed by self-report measures of perceived family functioning, coping strategy, and NSSI. Results showed that both family functioning and avoidance/emotion-focused coping strategy predicted NSSI. Additionally, the association between family functioning and NSSI was mediated by avoidance/emotion-focused coping strategy. Gender differences were not found on the associations among these study variables. These data provided evidences that the Nock's (2009) integrated theoretical model may help to explain how coping strategy mediates the effect of family functioning on NSSI. The implications of the findings for future research and intervention were discussed. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Explaining ecological clusters of maternal depression in South Western Sydney
2014-01-01
Background The aim of the qualitative study reported here was to: 1) explain the observed clustering of postnatal depressive symptoms in South Western Sydney; and 2) identify group-level mechanisms that would add to our understanding of the social determinants of maternal depression. Methods Critical realism provided the methodological underpinning for the study. The setting was four local government areas in South Western Sydney, Australia. Child and Family practitioners and mothers in naturally occurring mothers groups were interviewed. Results Using an open coding approach to maximise emergence of patterns and relationships we have identified seven theoretical concepts that might explain the observed spatial clustering of maternal depression. The theoretical concepts identified were: Community-level social networks; Social Capital and Social Cohesion; "Depressed community"; Access to services at the group level; Ethnic segregation and diversity; Supportive social policy; and Big business. Conclusions We postulate that these regional structural, economic, social and cultural mechanisms partially explain the pattern of maternal depression observed in families and communities within South Western Sydney. We further observe that powerful global economic and political forces are having an impact on the local situation. The challenge for policy and practice is to support mothers and their families within this adverse regional and global-economic context. PMID:24460690
Genetic pleiotropy explains associations between musical auditory discrimination and intelligence.
Mosing, Miriam A; Pedersen, Nancy L; Madison, Guy; Ullén, Fredrik
2014-01-01
Musical aptitude is commonly measured using tasks that involve discrimination of different types of musical auditory stimuli. Performance on such different discrimination tasks correlates positively with each other and with intelligence. However, no study to date has explored these associations using a genetically informative sample to estimate underlying genetic and environmental influences. In the present study, a large sample of Swedish twins (N = 10,500) was used to investigate the genetic architecture of the associations between intelligence and performance on three musical auditory discrimination tasks (rhythm, melody and pitch). Phenotypic correlations between the tasks ranged between 0.23 and 0.42 (Pearson r values). Genetic modelling showed that the covariation between the variables could be explained by shared genetic influences. Neither shared, nor non-shared environment had a significant effect on the associations. Good fit was obtained with a two-factor model where one underlying shared genetic factor explained all the covariation between the musical discrimination tasks and IQ, and a second genetic factor explained variance exclusively shared among the discrimination tasks. The results suggest that positive correlations among musical aptitudes result from both genes with broad effects on cognition, and genes with potentially more specific influences on auditory functions.
What Explains Patterns of Diversification and Richness among Animal Phyla?
Jezkova, Tereza; Wiens, John J
2017-03-01
Animal phyla vary dramatically in species richness (from one species to >1.2 million), but the causes of this variation remain largely unknown. Animals have also evolved striking variation in morphology and ecology, including sessile marine taxa lacking heads, eyes, limbs, and complex organs (e.g., sponges), parasitic worms (e.g., nematodes, platyhelminths), and taxa with eyes, skeletons, limbs, and complex organs that dominate terrestrial ecosystems (arthropods, chordates). Relating this remarkable variation in traits to the diversification and richness of animal phyla is a fundamental yet unresolved problem in biology. Here, we test the impacts of 18 traits (including morphology, ecology, reproduction, and development) on diversification and richness of extant animal phyla. Using phylogenetic multiple regression, the best-fitting model includes five traits that explain ∼74% of the variation in diversification rates (dioecy, parasitism, eyes/photoreceptors, a skeleton, nonmarine habitat). However, a model including just three (skeleton, parasitism, habitat) explains nearly as much variation (∼67%). Diversification rates then largely explain richness patterns. Our results also identify many striking traits that have surprisingly little impact on diversification (e.g., head, limbs, and complex circulatory and digestive systems). Overall, our results reveal the key factors that shape large-scale patterns of diversification and richness across >80% of all extant, described species.
Explaining ecological clusters of maternal depression in South Western Sydney.
Eastwood ED, John; Kemp, Lynn; Jalaludin, Bin
2014-01-24
The aim of the qualitative study reported here was to: 1) explain the observed clustering of postnatal depressive symptoms in South Western Sydney; and 2) identify group-level mechanisms that would add to our understanding of the social determinants of maternal depression. Critical realism provided the methodological underpinning for the study. The setting was four local government areas in South Western Sydney, Australia. Child and Family practitioners and mothers in naturally occurring mothers groups were interviewed. Using an open coding approach to maximise emergence of patterns and relationships we have identified seven theoretical concepts that might explain the observed spatial clustering of maternal depression. The theoretical concepts identified were: Community-level social networks; Social Capital and Social Cohesion; "Depressed community"; Access to services at the group level; Ethnic segregation and diversity; Supportive social policy; and Big business. We postulate that these regional structural, economic, social and cultural mechanisms partially explain the pattern of maternal depression observed in families and communities within South Western Sydney. We further observe that powerful global economic and political forces are having an impact on the local situation. The challenge for policy and practice is to support mothers and their families within this adverse regional and global-economic context.
Psychological flexibility and mindfulness explain intuitive eating in overweight adults.
Sairanen, Essi; Tolvanen, Asko; Karhunen, Leila; Kolehmainen, Marjukka; Järvelä, Elina; Rantala, Sanni; Peuhkuri, Katri; Korpela, Riitta; Lappalainen, Raimo
2015-07-01
The current study investigated whether mindfulness and psychological flexibility, independently and together, explain intuitive eating. The participants were overweight or obese persons (N = 306) reporting symptoms of perceived stress and enrolled in a psychological lifestyle intervention study. Participants completed self-report measures of psychological flexibility; mindfulness including the subscales observe, describe, act with awareness, non-react, and non-judgment; and intuitive eating including the subscales unconditional permission to eat, eating for physical reasons, and reliance on hunger/satiety cues. Psychological flexibility and mindfulness were positively associated with intuitive eating factors. The results suggest that mindfulness and psychological flexibility are related constructs that not only account for some of the same variance in intuitive eating, but they also account for significant unique variances in intuitive eating. The present results indicate that non-judgment can explain the relationship between general psychological flexibility and unconditional permission to eat as well as eating for physical reasons. However, mindfulness skills-acting with awareness, observing, and non-reacting-explained reliance on hunger/satiety cues independently from general psychological flexibility. These findings suggest that mindfulness and psychological flexibility are interrelated but not redundant constructs and that both may be important for understanding regulation processes underlying eating behavior. © The Author(s) 2015.
Do plant traits explain tree seedling survival in bogs?
Limpens, J.; Egmond, van E.; Li, B.; Holmgren, M.
2013-01-01
Moss-dominated peat bogs store approximately 30% of global soil carbon. A climate induced shift from current moss-dominated conditions to tree-dominated states is expected to strongly affect their functioning and carbon sequestration capacity. Consequently, unraveling the mechanisms that may explain
Do occupational demands explain the educational gradient in health?
Meyer, S.C.; Künn-Nelen, A.C.
2014-01-01
The aim of this paper is to investigate to what extent occupation-specific demands explain the relationship between education and health. We concentrate on ergonomic, environmental, psychical, social and time demands. Merging the German Microcensus 2009 data with a dataset including detailed
How Much of Language Acquisition Does Operant Conditioning Explain?
Sturdy, Christopher B.; Nicoladis, Elena
2017-01-01
Since the 1950s, when Chomsky argued that Skinner’s arguments could not explain syntactic acquisition, psychologists have generally avoided explicitly invoking operant or instrumental conditioning as a learning mechanism for language among human children. In this article, we argue that this is a mistake. We focus on research that has been done on language learning in human infants and toddlers in order to illustrate our points. Researchers have ended up inventing learning mechanisms that, in actual practice, not only resemble but also in fact are examples of operant conditioning (OC) by any other name they select. We argue that language acquisition researchers should proceed by first ruling out OC before invoking alternative learning mechanisms. While it is possible that OC cannot explain all of the language acquisition, simple learning mechanisms that work across species may have some explanatory power in children’s language learning. PMID:29163295