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Selected AbstractsTHE ORGANIZATIONAL AND TERRITORIAL CHANGES OF SERVICES IN A GLOBALIZED WORLDGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2007Brita Hermelin ABSTRACT. Research on the service industries has changed radically over the past few decades. Not only has work proliferated, but service research has further developed towards a deeper and more nuanced understanding of particular categories of services activities. However, as most research has focused on large and often densely populated economies, and on large multinational corporations, there is a risk that processes and phenomena relevant to more peripheral or smaller economies, perhaps with a more dispersed pattern of settlements and economic activities, are left unaccounted for. Drawing on contributions to the Inaugural Nordic Geographers Meeting held in Lund in 2005, this article introduces a special issue containing a selection of papers that set out to fill some of the gaps. [source] The Menopause Experience: A Woman's PerspectiveJOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 1 2002Sharon A. George PhD Objective: To understand the complexities of the experience of menopause in American women from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The specific aims of this phenomenologic study were to (a) examine and interpret the reality of the menopausal transition as experienced by American women and (b) identify common elements and themes that occur as a result of the complexities of this experience. Design: Data for this qualitative study were gathered through semistructured interviews with 15 women who experienced natural menopause. Participants: A multiethnic sample of 15 menopausal American women in Massachusetts was selected from a pool of voluntary participants from the Boston area. Data Analysis: The interviews were analyzed to identify themes pertinent to the personal experience of menopause. Those themes, extracted from the similarities and differences described, represent broad aspects of these women's experiences. Results: Three major themes or phases were identified: expectations and realization, sorting things out, and a new life phase. Although some women expressed similar thoughts in particular categories, no two women had the same experience of menopause. Conclusions: The data support the premise that the experience of menopause in American women is unique to each individual and that the meaning or perspective differs among women. The data revealed the complexities of this human experience by explicating personal meanings related to experiences, expectations, attitudes, and beliefs about menopause. [source] How do APIs evolve?JOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 2 2006A story of refactoring Abstract Frameworks and libraries change their APIs. Migrating an application to the new API is tedious and disrupts the development process. Although some tools and ideas have been proposed to solve the evolution of APIs, most updates are done manually. To better understand the requirements for migration tools, we studied the API changes of four frameworks and one library. We discovered that the changes that break existing applications are not random, but tend to fall into particular categories. Over 80% of these changes are refactorings. This suggests that refactoring-based migration tools should be used to update applications. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Computational form-finding of tension membrane structures,Non-finite element approaches: Part 1.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2003Use of cubic splines in finding minimal surface membranes Abstract This paper, presented in three parts, discusses a computational methodology for form-finding of tension membrane structures (TMS), or fabric structures, used as roofing forms. The term ,form-finding' describes a process of finding the shape of a TMS under its initial tension. Such a shape is neither known a priori, nor can it be described by a simple mathematical function. The work is motivated by the need to provide an efficient numerical tool, which will allow a better integration of the design/analysis/manufacture of TMS. A particular category of structural forms is considered, known as minimal surface membranes (such as can be reproduced by soap films). The numerical method adopted throughout is dynamic relaxation (DR) with kinetic damping. Part 1 describes a new form-finding approach, based on the Laplace,Young equation and cubic spline fitting to give a full, piecewise, analytical description of a minimal surface. The advantages arising from the approach, particularly with regard to manufacture of cutting patterns for a membrane, are highlighted. Part 2 describes an alternative and novel form-finding approach, based on a constant tension field and faceted (triangular mesh) representation of the minimal surface. It presents techniques for controlling mesh distortion and discusses effects of mesh control on the accuracy and computational efficiency of the solution, as well as on the subsequent stages in design. Part 3 gives a comparison of the performance of the initial method (Part 1) and the faceted approximations (Part 2). Functional relations, which encapsulate the numerical efficiency of each method, are presented. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Computational form-finding of tension membrane structures,Non-finite element approaches: Part 2.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2003Triangular mesh discretization, control of mesh distortion in modelling minimal surface membranes Abstract This paper, presented in three parts, discusses a computational methodology for form-finding of tension membrane structures (TMS), or fabric structures, used as roofing forms. The term ,form-finding' describes a process of finding the shape of a TMS under its initial tension. Such a shape is neither known a priori, nor can it be described by a simple mathematical function. The work is motivated by the need to provide an efficient numerical tool, which will allow a better integration of the design/analysis/manufacture of TMS. A particular category of structural forms is considered, known as minimal surface membranes (such as can be reproduced by soap films). The numerical method adopted throughout is dynamic relaxation (DR) with kinetic damping. Part 1 gave a background to the problem of TMS design, described the DR method, and presented a new form-finding methodology, based on the Laplace,Young equation and cubic spline fitting to give a full, piecewise, analytical description of the surface. Part 2 describes an alternative and novel form-finding method, based on a constant tension field and faceted (triangular mesh) representation of the minimal surface. Techniques for controlling mesh distortion are presented, and their effects on the accuracy and computational efficiency of the solution, as well as on the subsequent stages in design, are examined. Part 3 gives a comparison of the performance of the initial method (Part 1) and the faceted approximations (Part 2). Functional relations, which encapsulate the numerical efficiency of each method, are presented. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The analysis of motor vehicle crash clusters using the vector quantization techniqueJOURNAL OF ADVANCED TRANSPORTATION, Issue 3 2010Lorenzo Mussone Abstract In this paper, a powerful tool for analyzing motor vehicle data based on the vector quantization (VQ) technique is demonstrated. The technique uses an approximation of a probability density function for a stochastic vector without assuming an "a priori" distribution. A self-organizing map (SOM) is used to transform accident data from an N-dimensional space into a two-dimensional plane. The SOM retains all the original data yet provides an effective visual tool for describing patterns such as the frequency at which a particular category of events occurs. This enables new relationships to be identified. Accident data from three cities in Italy (Turin, Milan, and Legnano) are used to illustrate the usefulness of the technique. Crashes are aggregated and clustered crashes by type, severity, and along other dimensions. The paper includes discussion as to how this method can be utilized to further improve safety analysis. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sales by multi-product retailersMANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2006Timothy J. Richards This paper examines the rationale underlying periodic price promotions, or sales, for perishable food products by supermarket retailers. Whereas previous studies explain sales in a single-product context as arising from informational, storage cost, or demand heterogeneity, this study focuses on the central role of retailers as multi-product sellers of complementary goods. By offering a larger number of discounted products within a particular category, retailers are able to attract a sufficient number of customers to offset the effect of lower margins on sale items by selling more high-margin items. The implications that emerge from the resulting mixed-strategy equilibrium are tested in a product-level, retail-scanner data set of fresh fruit sales. Hypotheses regarding the rationale and effectiveness of sales are tested by estimating econometric models that describe (1) the number of sales items per store, (2) the depth of a given sale, and (3) promotion effectiveness on store-level demand. The results of this econometric analysis support the hypothesis that the breadth and depth of price promotions are complementary marketing tools, thus explaining how EDLP and HI-LO store formats can exist in the same monopolistically competitive market equilibrium. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] How price increases affect future purchases: The role of mental budgeting, income, and framingPSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 1 2010Christian Homburg This article suggests that mental budgeting processes provide afurther understanding of how and to what degree price increases negatively affect a customer's future purchase behavior in a particular category of expenses. Furthermore, the authors analyze how customer income and different price presentation tactics alter this reaction. Results of two experimental studies using both students and non-students show that customer income attenuates the negative effect of a price increase on the likelihood of a future purchase in a particular expense category. As an underlying mechanism, the influence of customer income on future purchase behavior is partially mediated by the degree to which customers engage in mental budgeting. Moreover, mental budgeting strengthens the negative effect of a price increase on a future purchase in the same category of expenses, whereas it does not alter the effect of a price increase on a future purchase in another category. Finally, the framing of a price increase as a percentage versus in absolute terms leads to a lower likelihood of a future category purchase. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Set in stone: monumental altar frames in Renaissance FlorenceRENAISSANCE STUDIES, Issue 1 2010Meghan Callahan In 1864 the V&A (then the South Kensington Museum) purchased a large marble altar frame from a dealer in Florence. The quality of the frame identifies it as the product of a leading Florentine sculpture workshop, possibly that of Giuliano da Sangallo at the end of the fifteenth century. Its dimensions indicate that it would have housed a large altarpiece in one of the city's churches. The frame's provenance remains obscure, but this article offers the first critical evaluation of the object based on first-hand examination. Comparisons with similar frames in Florentine churches (surviving and documented) suggest that the V&A frame can be identified as an example of a particular category of monumental altar that was popular in the city in the decades around 1500. This type combined painted panel altarpieces with sculpture, integrating both within impressive architectural superstructures comprising lateral columns, elaborate entablatures, and arched lunettes. Identifiable examples housed altarpieces by Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi, Piero di Cosimo, and Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, each juxtaposed with tin-glazed terracotta reliefs by the Della Robbia shop. The popularity of these arched frames was relatively short-lived, but their brief heyday provides important evidence for the gathering appreciation of aesthetic integration, formal order and spatial symmetry within Italian church interiors in the years around 1500. [source] Connecting the gendered door: women, violence and doorwork*THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Issue 1 2007Dick Hobbs Abstract This paper explores the emerging role of women who work as ,bouncers', or doorstaff, in the night-time economy and examines how the cultural capital of the female bouncer is connected to the methods utilized to control licensed premises. It is drawn from a study that combined ethnographic observations and interviews in five major UK cities which explored a diverse range of issues such as gendered bodies, femininities and violence; the changing needs of the night-time economy in the UK and the experiences of women engaged in ,non-traditional' occupations. In this paper, we draw on interview data with one particular category of female door staff; women who share similar histories of exposure to violence and violent cultures, and we examine how their experiential knowledge of violence equips them with the resources to ,work the doors'. Our attention focuses on this group of women, who we refer to as ,The Connected', and examine how they are ,doing gender' when they negotiate violence ,on the door' [source] Methodology for drawing up a Red List of threatened freshwater fish in FranceAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 2 2002P. Keith Abstract 1.In 1995, the IUCN implemented new definitions to be used when drawing up red lists. However, in addition to being imprecise for fish species, these remain difficult to apply. 2.This paper describes a more exhaustive method under the IUCN (1995) definitions based on six quantitative and qualitative criteria where scientific data are given the greatest possible weight, as compared with ,expert opinion'. This dual system makes it possible both to allocate an IUCN category to each species, and to rank each species within a particular category according to given scores, so that priorities can be determined. 3.The new Red List for French Freshwater Fish drawn up with this method contains 27 species, or 54% of the French native fauna. Three species are extinct (EX), four are critically endangered (CR), two are endangered (EN), 14 are vulnerable (VU), and four are at lower risk (LR). 4.Based on sounder scientific grounds, this list modifies and replaces the one drawn up in 1992. In effect, it makes it easier to argue for the presence of one species in one category rather than in another. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||