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Success
Kinds of Success Terms modified by Success Selected AbstractsSURVIVE THEN THRIVE: DETERMINANTS OF SUCCESS IN THE ECONOMICS PH.D. PROGRAMECONOMIC INQUIRY, Issue 4 2007WAYNE A. GROVE This study investigates the completion of the Ph.D. in economics. We use ex ante information, based upon reviewing individual applications from former doctoral students. Students need different skills to succeed at each distinct stage of the doctoral program. Significant determinants for passing the comprehensive exams include Graduate Record Exam (GRE) verbal and quantitative scores, a Masters degree, and prior focus on economics. By contrast, research motivation and math preparation play significant roles in completing the dissertation. GRE scores become insignificant for completion in the generalized ordered logit estimates, which emphasize the sequential nature of the Economics Ph.D. program. (JEL I210) [source] European Monetary Union: the dark sides of a major successECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 46 2006Charles Wyplosz SUMMARY European monetary union THE DARK SIDES OF A MAJOR SUCCESS This paper revisits the debates that have surrounded the launch of a unique experience: the adoption of a common currency among developed countries. A striking aspect of this history is that, pressed by what they correctly identified as a window of opportunity, policy-makers crafted this complex project in a short period of time, largely eschewing inputs from the academic profession. Academic research, in turn, developed its own views, which turned out to be critical of some ley orientations, yet it generally recognizes that, in the end, the launch of the euro has been a major success. Over time, many of the academic criticisms have been taken on board, but not yet fully. The monetary strategy has been slightly amended, but it remains the subject of disagreements between the European Central Bank and monetary economists. Events have confirmed that the Stability and Growth Pact was ill-designed; its reformulation goes some way to address some of the concerns but not all of them. Its ability to deliver fiscal discipline is in doubt. Another look at the experiment highlights the gap between the principles laid out by those who designed the monetary union and the pragmatism that has prevailed thereafter. The resulting tension between principles and actions sometimes obscures the fact that the Eurosystem has acted wisely so far. The widespread perception that monetary policy is not as transparent as it should be and suffers from a lack of adequate democratic accountability is not just annoying. The general public, including politicians, sometimes blames the Eurosystem for Europe's poor growth performance since the adoption of the euro. This is unfair and could dangerously undermine the monetary union if the Eurosystem were to become the scapegoat for the slow and incomplete reforms that are needed to revigorate the euro area's economies. , Charles Wyplosz [source] EVOLUTIONARY REDUCTION IN TESTES SIZE AND COMPETITIVE FERTILIZATION SUCCESS IN RESPONSE TO THE EXPERIMENTAL REMOVAL OF SEXUAL SELECTION IN DUNG BEETLESEVOLUTION, Issue 10 2008Leigh W. Simmons Sexual selection is thought to favor the evolution of secondary sexual traits in males that contribute to mating success. In species where females mate with more than one male, sexual selection also continues after copulation in the form of sperm competition and cryptic female choice. Theory suggests that sperm competition should favor traits such as testes size and sperm production that increase a male's competitive fertilization success. Studies of experimental evolution offer a powerful approach for assessing evolutionary responses to variation in sexual selection pressures. Here we removed sexual selection by enforcing monogamy on replicate lines of a naturally polygamous horned beetle, Onthophagus taurus, and monitoring male investment in their testes for 21 generations. Testes size decreased in monogamous lines relative to lines in which sexual selection was allowed to continue. Differences in testes size were dependent on selection history and not breeding regime. Males from polygamous lines also had a competitive fertilization advantage when in sperm competition with males from monogamous lines. Females from polygamous lines produced sons in better condition, and those from monogamous lines increased their sons condition by mating polygamously. Rather than being costly for females, multiple mating appears to provide females with direct and/or indirect benefits. Neither body size nor horn size diverged between our monogamous and polygamous lines. Our data show that sperm competition does drive the evolution of testes size in onthophagine beetles, and provide general support for sperm competition theory. [source] EVOLUTION OF REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES IN THE SEXUALLY DECEPTIVE ORCHID OPHRYS SPHEGODES: HOW DOES FLOWER-SPECIFIC VARIATION OF ODOR SIGNALS INFLUENCE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS?EVOLUTION, Issue 6 2000Manfred Ayasse Abstract The orchid Ophrys sphegodes Miller is pollinated by sexually excited males of the solitary bee Andrena nigroaenea, which are lured to the flowers by visual cues and volatile semiochemicals. In O. sphegodes, visits by pollinators are rare. Because of this low frequency of pollination, one would expect the evolution of strategies that increase the chance that males will visit more than one flower on the same plant; this would increase the number of pollination events on a plant and therefore the number of seeds produced. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses, we identified more than 100 compounds in the odor bouquets of labellum extracts from O. sphegodes; 24 compounds were found to be biologically active in male olfactory receptors based on gas chromatography with electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD). Gas chromatography (GC) analyses of odors from individual flowers showed less intraspecific variation in the odor bouquets of the biologically active compounds as compared to nonactive compounds. This can be explained by a higher selective pressure on the pollinator-attracting communication signal. Furthermore, we found a characteristic variation in the GC-EAD active esters and aldehydes among flowers of different stem positions within an inflorescence and in the n-alkanes and n-alkenes among plants from different populations. In our behavioral field tests, we showed that male bees learn the odor bouquets of individual flowers during mating attempts and recognize them in later encounters. Bees thereby avoid trying to mate with flowers they have visited previously, but do not avoid other flowers either of a different or the same plant. By varying the relative proportions of saturated esters and aldehydes between flowers of different stem positions, we demonstrated that a plant may take advantage of the learning abilities of the pollinators and influence flower visitation behavior. Sixty-seven percent of the males that visited one flower in an inflorescence returned to visit a second flower of the same inflorescence. However, geitonogamy is prevented and the likelihood of cross-fertilization is enhanced by the time required for the pollinium deposited on the pollinator to complete its bending movement, which is necessary for pollination to occur. Cross-fertilization is furthermore enhanced by the high degree of odor variation between plants. This variation minimizes learned avoidance of the flowers and increases the likelihood that a given pollinator would visit several to many different plants within a population. [source] SUCCESS, TRUTH, AND MODERNISM IN HOLOCAUST HISTORIOGRAPHY: READING SAUL FRIEDLÄNDER THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF METAHISTORY,HISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 2 2009WULF KANSTEINER ABSTRACT This essay provides a close reading of Saul Friedländer's exceptionally successful comprehensive history of the Holocaust from the theoretical perspective of Hayden White's philosophy of history. Friedländer's The Years of Extermination has been celebrated as the first synthetic history of the "Final Solution" that acknowledges the experiences of the victims of Nazi genocide. But Friedländer has not simply added the voices of the victims to a conventional historical account of the Holocaust. Instead, by displacing linear notions of time and space and subtly deconstructing conventional concepts of causality, he has invented a new type of historical prose that performs rather than analyzes the victims' point of view. Friedländer's innovation has particularly radical consequences for the construction of historical explanations. On the one hand, Friedländer explicitly argues that anti-Semitism was the single most important cause of the Holocaust. On the other hand, his transnational, multifaceted history of the "Final Solution" provides a wealth of data that escapes the conceptual grasp of his explicit model of causation. Friedländer chooses this radically self-reflexive strategy of historical representation to impress on the reader the existential sense of disbelief with which the victims experienced Nazi persecution. To Friedländer, that sense of disbelief constitutes the most appropriate ethical response to the Holocaust. Thus the narratological analysis of The Years of Extermination reveals that the exceptional quality of the book, as well as presumably its success, is the result of an extraordinarily creative act of narrative imagination. Or, put into terms developed by White, who shares Friedländer's appreciation of modernist forms of writing, The Years of Extermination is the first modernist history of the Holocaust that captures, through literary figuration, an important and long neglected reality of the "Final Solution." [source] IN-HOME FAMILY THERAPY: INDICATORS OF SUCCESSJOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 4 2005Jeremy B. Yorgason In this study, we explore how specific individual, family, and family-within-community characteristics, as well as aspects of in-home family therapy, relate to responses to treatment. The Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale scores and Global Assessment of Functioning scores were used as outcome measures. Results revealed significant differences between pre- and post-scores for clients receiving in-home family therapy services, providing an initial indicator of treatment success. In addition, primary family caregiver social support, role performance in school/work, and self-harmful behavior were indicative of successful outcomes. Clients with higher problem levels had the greatest rates of change, and clients receiving more hours of services fared better in therapy. [source] Smoking Cessation Counseling for Pregnant Women Who Smoke: Scientific Basis for Practice for AWHONN's SUCCESS ProjectJOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 3 2004FAAN, Susan A. Albrecht PhD Objectives: To review the literature addressing smoking cessation in pregnant women. To develop the project protocol for the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurse's (AWHONN) 6th research-based practice project titled "Setting Universal Cessation Counseling, Education and Screening Standards (SUCCESS): Nursing Care of Pregnant Women Who Smoke." To evaluate the potential of systematic integration of this protocol in primary care settings in which women seek care at the preconception, pregnant, or postpartum stages. Literature Sources: Computerized searches in MEDLINE and CINAHL, as well as references cited in articles reviewed. Key concepts in the searches included low-birth-weight infants and effects of prenatal smoking on the infant and the effects of preconception and prenatal smoking cessation intervention on premature labor and birth weight. Literature Selection: Comprehensive articles, reports, and guidelines relevant to key concepts and published after 1964 with an emphasis on new findings from 1996 through 2002. Ninety-eight citations were identified as useful to this review. Literature Synthesis: Tobacco use among pregnant women and children's exposure to tobacco use (secondhand smoke) are associated with pregnancy complications such as placental dysfunction (including previa or abruption), preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, spontaneous abortions, and decreased birth weight and infant stature. Neonates and children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for developing otitis media, asthma, other respiratory disorders later in childhood; dying from sudden infant death syndrome; and learning disorders. The "5 A's" intervention and use of descriptive statements for smoking status assessment were synthesized into the SUCCESS project protocol for AWHONN's 6th research-based practice project. Conclusions: The literature review generated evidence that brief, office-based assessment, client-specific tobacco counseling, skill development, and support programs serve as an effective practice guideline for clinicians. Implementation and evaluation of the guideline is under way at a total of 13 sites in the United States and Canada. [source] REVISITING BLACK ELECTORAL SUCCESS: OAKLAND (CA), 40 YEARS LATERJOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2009FRÉDÉRICK DOUZET ABSTRACT:,The city of Oakland, California, was one of the case studies Browning, Marshall and Tabb picked in their book,Protest Is not Enough,(1984) as a significant example of successful liberal black-and-white coalitions, leading to strong black incorporation. Yet over the past 40 years, the balance of power has dramatically changed in the city of Oakland. After several decades of experience with African-American mayors and changing demographics, we need to reflect on the adequacy of this paradigm in light of the contemporary situation. The city once governed by a black mayor with a majority black city council in a traditional white progressive-black coalition has now become intrinsically multicultural, leading to the election of former Governor Jerry Brown as a Mayor in 1998. Despite Ron Dellums's election in 2006, the black hold and control over the city seems to be more tenuous and fragile than it was 15 years ago. This article raises the question of the future of black urban political power in cities undergoing demographic and political changes. Our main findings are that black urban power in Oakland is still predominantly coalition-based but involves new coalition partners with the demographic growth and the electoral mobilization of Hispanics and Asians. While the black-led coalition still relies on white progressive support, this support has weakened, mostly because of the broadening of the progressives' agenda. Finally, the black community seems less likely to vote on pure identity grounds and seems increasingly inclined to vote along issues and interests. [source] THE REMARKABLE SUCCESS OF A MISNAMED JOURNAL: REFLECTIONS ON TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF MODERN THEOLOGYMODERN THEOLOGY, Issue 1 2010L. GREGORY JONES First page of article [source] COALITION FORMATION IN A GLOBAL WARMING GAME: HOW THE DESIGN OF PROTOCOLS AFFECTS THE SUCCESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TREATY-MAKINGNATURAL RESOURCE MODELING, Issue 3 2006JOHAN EYCKMANS ABSTRACT. We combine new concepts of noncooperative coalition theory with an integrated assessment model on climate change to analyze the impact of different protocol designs on the success of coalition formation. We analyze the role of "single versus multiple coalitions,""open versus exclusive membership,""no, weak and strong consensus about membership" and "no transfers versus transfers." First, we want to find out whether and how modifications of the standard assumptions affect results that are associated with the widely applied cartel formation game in the noncooperative game theoretic analysis of international environmental agreements. Second, we discuss normative policy conclusions that emerge from the various modifications. Third, we confront our results with evidence on past international environmental treaties and derive an agenda for future research. [source] The motivating opportunities model for performance SUCCESS: Design, development, and instructional implicationsPERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2009Patricia L. Hardré This article develops the motivating opportunities model from its previous conceptual framework to its design, development, and instructional implications. It includes building the utility of the model for implementation around the acronym SUCCESS, representing a systematic approach to analyzing and designing motivation for situational, utilization, competence, content, emotional, social, and systemic factors. Furthermore, it details the considerations and questions included in each of the seven components of a process of analysis and design using SUCCESS as a tool and procedural guide. Accompanying each component are specific strategies that support implementation by generating the motivating opportunities that the model supports using, with examples to illustrate cases of use. Following the development and strategies of the model are research questions that may illuminate motivation in instructional design and human performance technology, and the utilization of the model. [source] PREDICTORS OF OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE CAREER SUCCESS: A META-ANALYSISPERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2005THOMAS W. H. NG Using the contest- and sponsored-mobility perspectives as theoretical guides, this meta-analysis reviewed 4 categories of predictors of objective and subjective career success: human capital, organizational sponsorship, sociodemographic status, and stable individual differences. Salary level and promotion served as dependent measures of objective career success, and subjective career success was represented by career satisfaction. Results demonstrated that both objective and subjective career success were related to a wide range of predictors. As a group, human capital and sociodemographic predictors generally displayed stronger relationships with objective career success, and organizational sponsorship and stable individual differences were generally more strongly related to subjective career success. Gender and time (date of the study) moderated several of the relationships examined. [source] WORK VALUE CONGRUENCE AND INTRINSIC CAREER SUCCESS: THE COMPENSATORY ROLES OF LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE AND PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORTPERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2004BERRIN ERDOGAN We hypothesized that leader-member exchange (LMX) and perceived organizational support (POS) would each interact with work value congruence in relation to intrinsic career success. In a sample of 520 teachers from 30 high schools in Turkey, we found that work value congruence was positively related to job and career satisfaction when POS was low but not related to job and career satisfaction when POS was high. Similarly, work value congruence was positively related to career satisfaction when LMX was low but not related when LMX was high. The results contribute to the POS, LMX, and person-organization fit literatures by demonstrating the compensatory nature of LMX and POS for low value congruence in its relation to job and career satisfaction. [source] CIVIL SERVICE REFORM IN THE UK, 1999,2005: REVOLUTIONARY FAILURE OR EVOLUTIONARY SUCCESS?PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2007TONY BOVAIRD In December 1999, the UK Civil Service Management Board agreed an internal reform programme, complementing the more externally-oriented ,modernizing government' programme, to bring about major changes in the functioning of the civil service ,,step change' rather than continuous improvement. This paper suggests that the aims of the reform programme were only partially achieved. While some step changes did indeed occur, even such central elements of reform as ,joined-up' working with other public organizations were still only at an initial stage some three years later and others , for example, business planning and performance management systems , have taken 20 years to achieve acceptance within the civil service. It appears that examples of meteoric change are rare in the civil service , the reality of the changes are better characterized as ,evolution' and ,continuous improvement' than ,revolution' and ,step change'. [source] THE MARRIAGE OF ART AND COMMERCE: PHILIPPE DE LASALLE'S SUCCESS IN SILKART HISTORY, Issue 2 2005Lesley Ellis Miller Since the eighteenth century Philippe Lasalle (1723,1804) has enjoyed a reputation as the most successful designer,manufacturer,inventor in the world-renowned silk manufacturing centre of Lyons during the ancien régime. This essay proposes that it was through the conscious marriage of art and commerce that Lasalle made his fortune and arrived at his technological inventions, that his efforts at turning painterly drawings into textiles acted as the springboard for his major commercial commissions and afforded him access to the taste leaders of eighteenth-century Europe. Armed with a clear understanding of contemporary institutions and practices in academic art and textile manufacture , the Académie Royale, the Manufacture Royale des Gobelins, and the Grande Fabrique at Lyons , Lasalle drew fully on state incentives to expand upon and market ranges of French luxury goods. This proposal problematizes existing views of Lasalle who has remained largely a local hero, nicely contextualized relative to Lyons and Lyonnais activities but somewhat underestimated relative to his manipulation of other worlds. The thesis derives from detailed examination of Lasalle's known textile output from when he formed his first partnership in 1751 until he fled from Lyons at the beginning of the French Revolution. [source] Landscape Context Moderates Edge Effects: Nesting Success of Wood Thrushes in Central New YorkCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2004MELANIE J. L. DRISCOLL We studied abundance and nesting success in Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) breeding across a heterogeneous landscape in central New York from 1998 to 2000 to test the hypothesis that edge effects on nesting passerines are stronger in fragmented than contiguous landscapes. We monitored nests to estimate nesting success in edge and interior habitats in both fragmented and contiguously forested landscapes. In contiguous landscapes, daily survival rate did not differ between edge nests (0.963) and interior nests (0.968) (,2= 0.19, p = 0.66). In contrast, in fragmented landscapes, daily survival estimates were higher in interior (0.971) than edge (0.953) nests (,2= 3.1, p = 0.08). Our study supports the hypothesis that landscape composition moderates edge effects on actual nests of birds but does not determine the mechanisms causing these patterns. Resumen:,No obstante dos décadas de investigación sobre fragmentación de hábitat y efecto de borde sobre aves anidantes, aun se carece de información sobre el efecto de borde sobre el éxito de nidos naturales de aves migratorias neotropicales que se reproducen en pasajes heterogéneos. Estudiamos la abundancia y éxito de anidación de Hylocichla mustelina en un paisaje heterogéneo en el centro de New York de 1998 , 2000 para probar la hipótesis de que el efecto de borde sobre paserinas anidantes eran mayores en paisajes fragmentados que en continuos. Monitoreamos nidos para estimar el éxito en hábitats de borde y de interior en paisajes tanto con bosques continuos como discontinuos. En paisajes continuos, la tasa de supervivencia diaria no difirió entre nidos de borde (0.963) y nidos de interior (0.968) (,2= 0.19, p = 0.66). En contraste, en paisajes fragmentados, las estimaciones de supervivencia diaria fueron mayores en nidos del interior (0.971) que del borde (0.953) (,2= 3.1, p = 0.08). Nuestro estudio soporta la hipótesis de que la composición del paisaje modera los efectos de borde sobre nidos de aves, pero no determina los mecanismos que causan estos patrones. [source] Population Size, Genetic Variation, and Reproductive Success in a Rapidly Declining, Self-Incompatible Perennial (Arnica montana) in The NetherlandsCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2000Sheila H. Luijten In 26 populations in The Netherlands we investigated the relationship between population size and genetic variation using allozyme markers. Genetic variation was low in A. montana ( He = 0.088). There were positive correlations between population size and the proportion of polymorphic loci, the number of effective alleles, and expected heterozygosity, but not with observed heterozygosity. There was a significantly positive correlation between population size and the inbreeding coefficient. Generally, small populations showed heterozygote excess, which decreased with increasing population size. Possibly, the heterozygous individuals in small populations are survivors from the formerly larger populations with relatively high fitness. The F statistics showed a moderately high level of differentiation among populations ( FST = 0.140 ± 0.02), implying a low level of gene flow. For three out of four allozyme loci, we found significant inbreeding ( FIS = 0.104 ± 0.03). Only 14 of 26 populations were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium at all four polymorphic loci. In a subset of 14 populations of various size, we investigated natural seed production and offspring fitness. Population size was positively correlated with seed set, seedling size, number of flowering stems and flowerheads, adult survival, and total relative fitness, but not with the number of florets per flowerhead, germination rate, or the proportion of germination. Offspring performance in the greenhouse was not associated with genetic diversity measured on their mothers in the field. We conclude that the fitness of small populations is significantly reduced, but that there is as yet no evidence that this was caused by inbreeding. Possibly, the self-incompatibility system of A. montana has been effective in reducing selfing rates and inbreeding depression. Resumen:Arnica montana es una especie de planta rara, en declinación rápida y autoincompatible. En 26 poblaciones de los Países Bajos investigamos la relación entre el tamaño poblacional y la variación genética mediante el uso de alozimas marcadoras. La variación genética fue baja en A. montana ( He = 0.088). Existió una correlación positiva entre el tamaño poblacional y la proporción de emplazamientos polimórficos, el número de alelos efectivos y la heterocigocidad esperada, pero no con la heterocigocidad observada. Existió una correlación positiva significativa entre el tamaño poblacional y el coeficiente de endogamia. Generalmente, las poblaciones pequeñas mostraron una heterocigocidad excesiva con disminuciones en el tamaño poblacional. Posiblemente, los individuos heterocigóticos de poblaciones pequeñas son sobrevivientes de poblaciones anteriormente grandes con una adaptabilidad relativamente alta. Las pruebas de F mostraron un nivel de diferenciación moderadamente alto entre poblaciones ( FST = 0.140 ± 0.02) lo que implica un nivel bajo de flujo de genes. Para tres de cuatro de los emplazamientos de alozimas encontramos una endogamia significativa ( FIS = 0.104 ± 0.03). Solamente 14 de las 26 poblaciones estuvieron en equilibrio Hardy-Weinberg para los cuatro emplazamientos polimórficos. En un subconjunto de 14 poblaciones de varios tamaños, investigamos la producción natural de semillas y la adaptabilidad de la descendencia. El tamaño poblacional estuvo positivamente correlacionado con el juego de semillas, el tamaño del almácigo, el número de tallos en flor y de inflorescencias, la supervivencia de adultos y la adaptabilidad total relativa, pero no con el número de flores por inflorescencia, la tasa de germinación ni la proporción de la germinación. El rendimiento de la descendencia en invernaderos no estuvo asociado con la diversidad genética medida en sus madres en el campo. Concluimos que la adaptabilidad de poblaciones pequeñas está significativamente reducida, pero no existe aún evidencia de que esto sea ocasionado por endogamia. Es posible que el sistema de autoincompatibilidad de A. montana haya sido efectivo en la reducción de tasas de autofecundación y depresión de la endogamia. [source] Making a Difference in the Lives of Youth: Mapping Success with the "Six Cs"CURATOR THE MUSEUM JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007Jessica J. Luke Many museums offer specialized programs for young people during out-of-school time, yet the consequences of such programs are not well documented. This article explores the potential utility of borrowing a conceptual framework from the youth development literature as a tool for assessment. The authors map findings from three studies of museum youth programs onto the youth development framework as an exercise in understanding the extent to which this model may be useful in developing museum youth programs. Results from this preliminary analysis demonstrate that the framework could serve as a viable tool for program design, and could offer a clear, grounded framework with common language for articulating program impacts often known intuitively and/or anecdotally but not formalized. [source] Framing French Success in Elementary Mathematics: Policy, Curriculum, and PedagogyCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 3 2004FRANCES C. FOWLER ABSTRACT For many decades Americans have been concerned about the effective teaching of mathematics, and educational and political leaders have often advocated reforms such as a return to the basics and strict accountability systems as the way to improve mathematical achievement. International studies, however, suggest that such reforms may not be the best path to successful mathematics education. Through this qualitative case study, the authors explore in depth the French approach to teaching elementary mathematics, using interviews, classroom observations, and documents as their data sets. They apply three theoretical frameworks to their data and find that the French use large-group instruction and a visible pedagogy, focusing on the discussion of mathematical concepts rather than on the completion of practice exercises. The national curriculum is relatively nonprescriptive, and teachers are somewhat empowered through site-based management. The authors conclude that the keys to French success with mathematics education are ongoing formative assessment, mathematically competent teachers, policies and practices that help disadvantaged children, and the use of constructivist methods. They urge comparative education researchers to look beyond international test scores to deeper issues of policy and practice. [source] CO2 Laser Treatment of Epidermal Nevi: Long-Term SuccessDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 7 2002Sarah Boyce MD background. Epidermal nevi have been notoriously difficult to treat due to their large size and often conspicuous location. Variable results have been obtained with different laser treatments, and scarring and/or incomplete removal is typical after excisional or other destructive modalities. objective. To outline the successful use of a short-pulsed CO2 laser in the long-term eradication of epidermal nevi in three patients. methods. Three females (ages 15,19) presented with extensive grouped verrucous papules and plaques on the face, trunk, and extremities. A pulsed CO2 laser was used to vaporize the lesions using a 500 mJ pulse energy, 3 mm spotsize, and 7 watts of power. results. All lesions healed without incident. No lesional recurrence was observed 10 to 13 months after treatment except in one small area on the ankle in one patient. conclusions. Carbon dioxide laser vaporization of epidermal nevi provides good clinical effect and offers unique advantages for the treatment of these lesions, including effective intraoperative hemostasis with excellent lesional visualization. It is also possible to treat widespread areas in one laser treatment session. While the results of this series clearly show the benefit of CO2 laser treatment, epidermal nevi may not always respond so favorably, due in part to the variability in their depths of involvement. [source] Achieving Brand-Driven Business SuccessDESIGN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2008Connie Birdsall Creative Director First page of article [source] Success in Kashmir: a positive trend in civil,military integration during humanitarian assistance operationsDISASTERS, Issue 1 2010Wiley C. Thompson The modern cast of disaster relief actors includes host nations, non-governmental organisations, private volunteer organisations, military organisations and others. Each group, civilian or military, has valuable skills and experiences critical to disaster relief work. The goal of this paper is to supplement the study of civil,military relief efforts with contemporary anecdotal experience. The paper examines the interaction between US military forces and other disaster relief actors during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake relief effort. The author uses direct observations made while working in Pakistan to contrast the relationships and activities from that effort with other accounts in prevailing scholarly disaster literature and military doctrine. Finally, this paper suggests that the Kashmir model of integration, coordination and transparency of intent creates a framework in which future humanitarian assistance operations could be successfully executed. Recommendations to improve civil,military interaction in future relief efforts will also be addressed. [source] Viral proteinases: targets of opportunityDRUG DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, Issue 6 2006Chelsea M. Byrd Abstract During antiviral drug development, any essential stage of the viral life cycle can serve as a potential drug target. Since most viruses encode specific proteases whose cleavage activity is required for viral replication, and whose structure and activity are unique to the virus and not the host cell, these enzymes make excellent targets for drug development. Success using this approach has been demonstrated with the plethora of protease inhibitors approved for use against HIV. This discussion is designed to review the field of antiviral drug development, focusing on the search for protease inhibitors, while highlighting some of the challenges encountered along the way. Protease inhibitor drug discovery efforts highlighting progress made with HIV, HCV, HRV, and vaccinia virus as a model system are included. Drug Dev. Res. 67:501,510, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Testing a model for predicting the timing and location of shallow landslide initiation in soil-mantled landscapesEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 9 2003M. Casadei Abstract The growing availability of digital topographic data and the increased reliability of precipitation forecasts invite modelling efforts to predict the timing and location of shallow landslides in hilly and mountainous areas in order to reduce risk to an ever-expanding human population. Here, we exploit a rare data set to develop and test such a model. In a 1·7 km2 catchment a near-annual aerial photographic coverage records just three single storm events over a 45 year period that produced multiple landslides. Such data enable us to test model performance by running the entire rainfall time series and determine whether just those three storms are correctly detected. To do this, we link a dynamic and spatially distributed shallow subsurface runoff model (similar to TOPMODEL) to an in,nite slope model to predict the spatial distribution of shallow landsliding. The spatial distribution of soil depth, a strong control on local landsliding, is predicted from a process-based model. Because of its common availability, daily rainfall data were used to drive the model. Topographic data were derived from digitized 1 : 24 000 US Geological Survey contour maps. Analysis of the landslides shows that 97 occurred in 1955, 37 in 1982 and ,ve in 1998, although the heaviest rainfall was in 1982. Furthermore, intensity,duration analysis of available daily and hourly rainfall from the closest raingauges does not discriminate those three storms from others that did not generate failures. We explore the question of whether a mechanistic modelling approach is better able to identify landslide-producing storms. Landslide and soil production parameters were ,xed from studies elsewhere. Four hydrologic parameters characterizing the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil and underlying bedrock and its decline with depth were ,rst calibrated on the 1955 landslide record. Success was characterized as the most number of actual landslides predicted with the least amount of total area predicted to be unstable. Because landslide area was consistently overpredicted, a threshold catchment area of predicted slope instability was used to de,ne whether a rainstorm was a signi,cant landslide producer. Many combinations of the four hydrological parameters performed equally well for the 1955 event, but only one combination successfully identi,ed the 1982 storm as the only landslide-producing storm during the period 1980,86. Application of this parameter combination to the entire 45 year record successfully identi,ed the three events, but also predicted that two other landslide-producing events should have occurred. This performance is signi,cantly better than the empirical intensity,duration threshold approach, but requires considerable calibration effort. Overprediction of instability, both for storms that produced landslides and for non-producing storms, appears to arise from at least four causes: (1) coarse rainfall data time scale and inability to document short rainfall bursts and predict pressure wave response; (2) absence of local rainfall data; (3) legacy effect of previous landslides; and (4) inaccurate topographic and soil property data. Greater resolution of spatial and rainfall data, as well as topographic data, coupled with systematic documentation of landslides to create time series to test models, should lead to signi,cant improvements in shallow landslides forecasting. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Do Firms Share their Success with Workers?ECONOMICA, Issue 280 2003The Response of Wages to Product Market Conditions We provide new evidence that industry financial conditions help determine wages in the US manufacturing sector. Ordinary least squares estimates of the effect of rents per worker on wages are significantly positive, but quite small. We show that this may stem from econometric difficulties that plague the OLS estimates. Using the US input,output tables to isolate demand shocks, we overcome these issues and identify the effects of the industry financial situation on wages. Our IV estimates reveal substantial rent sharing,much more than is consistent with a purely competitive labour market. [source] Legislation to institutionalize resources for tobacco control: the 1987 Victorian Tobacco ActADDICTION, Issue 10 2009Ron Borland ABSTRACT Aim To describe the process surrounding the creation of the first organization in the world to be funded from an earmarked tax on tobacco products, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), and to outline briefly its subsequent history. Description The genesis of VicHealth came from an interest of the Minister for Health in the Victorian State Government to address the tobacco problem, and the strategic capacity of Dr Nigel Gray from the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria to provide a vehicle and help the government to muster support for its implementation. Success involved working with government to construct a Bill it was happy with and then working with the community to support the implementation and to counter industry attempts to derail it. The successful Bill led to the creation of VicHealth. VicHealth has played a creative and important role in promoting health not only in Victoria (Australia), but has been a stimulus for similar initiatives in other parts of the world. Conclusions Enacting novel advances in public policy is made easier when there is a creative alliance between advocates outside government working closely with governments to develop a proposal that is politically achievable and then to work together to sell it. Health promotion agencies, once established, can play an important role in advancing issues like tobacco control. [source] A Comparison of Trauma Intubations Managed by Anesthesiologists and Emergency PhysiciansACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 1 2004Joseph S. Bushra MD Although airway management by emergency physicians has become standard for general emergency department (ED) patients, many believe that anesthesiologists should manage the airways of trauma victims. Objectives: To compare the success and failure rates of trauma intubations performed under the supervision of anesthesiologists and emergency physicians. Methods: This was a prospective, observational study of consecutive endotracheal intubations (ETIs) of adult trauma patients in a single ED over a 46-month period. All ETIs before November 26, 2000, were supervised by anesthesiologists (34 months), and all ETIs from November 26, 2000, onward were supervised by emergency physicians (12 months). Data regarding clinical presentation, personnel involved, medications used, number of attempts required, and need for cricothyrotomy were collected. Study outcomes were: 1) successful intubation within two attempts, and 2) failure of intubation. Failure was defined as inability to intubate, resulting in successful intubation by another specialist, or cricothyrotomy. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to compare results between groups. Results: There were 673 intubations during the study period. Intubation within two attempts was accomplished in 442 of 467 patients (94.6%) managed by anesthesiologists, and in 196 of 206 of patients (95.2%) managed by emergency physicians (OR = 1.109, 95% CI = 0.498 to 2.522). Failure of intubation occurred in 16 of 467 (3.4%) patients managed by anesthesiologists, and in four of 206 (1.9%) patients managed by emergency physicians (OR = 0.558, 95% CI = 0.156 to 1.806). Conclusions: Emergency physicians can safely manage the airways of trauma patients. Success and failure rates are similar to those of anesthesiologists. [source] Transnational Entrepreneurship: Determinants of Firm Type and Owner Attributions of SuccessENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, Issue 5 2009Jennifer M. Sequeira Building on a typology of transnational firm types, developed by Landolt, Autler, and Baires in 1999, we examine whether immigrant attitudes toward the host country and their degree of embeddedness in the home country can predict the specific type of transnational enterprise that an immigrant is likely to begin. We also investigate whether the determinants of success of transnational enterprises vary by firm type. Based on a sample of 1,202 transnational business owners drawn from the Comparative Immigrant Entrepreneurship Project database, our analyses indicate general support for our hypotheses. More specifically, we found that transnational entrepreneurs' positive perceptions of host country opportunities and greater embeddedness in home country activities helped predict the specific type of ventures they would undertake. Further, the degree of embeddedness in the home country may influence the determinants of success for these types of firms. Depending on firm type, owners attributed their primary success to either personal characteristics, social support, or to the quality of their products and services. [source] The Collaborative Network Orientation: Achieving Business Success through Collaborative RelationshipsENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2008Ritch L. Sorenson This study presents a theoretical concept called the collaborative network orientation (CNO) and tests it using a sample of male and female small business owners. The CNO is based on (1) research that indicates female managers prefer to organize in cooperative network relationships and (2) conflict theory that indicates collaboration is preferred for both building relationships and achieving goals. Empirical tests revealed that female owners had a stronger preference for a CNO. A CNO was associated with business success for all owners, but it was significantly more positively associated with success for male business owners. [source] Texas Nameplate Company: A Profile of Environmental SuccessENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2001Kirsten Koepsel An initially ignored customer request started a small Texas company on the road to environmental excellence. Ten years later, it offers an example of solid accomplishment,with more achievements sure to come. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||