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Constructing
Terms modified by Constructing Selected AbstractsCONSTRUCTING, VISUALIZING, AND ANALYZING A DIGITAL FOOTPRINT,GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2007STEPHEN D. WEAVER ABSTRACT. Herein, we discuss the desire for new technology, the need for security, and the right to privacy; in doing so, we argue that each of these concerns comprises an important, tripartite debate. To highlight the complexities in this problem, we define our notion of a "digital footprint" and introduce Big Foot,specialized software created for the research described here to facilitate visualization and exploration of the data that comprise Stephen Weaver's personal digital footprint. Using Big Foot we demonstrate how multiple digital personae can be created from the data that constitute one unique digital footprint and provide a methodology for understanding the good and bad impacts that new technologies may have on future societies. One of the primary arguments of this work is that the debate,though not formally recognized,is currently before contemporary society and must receive sufficient attention. [source] TOWARD CONSTRUCTING A DIALECTICS OF HARMONIZATION: HARMONY AND CONFLICT IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHYJOURNAL OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY, Issue 2006CHUNG-YING CHENG [source] Utility Functions for Ceteris Paribus PreferencesCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 2 2004Michael McGeachie Ceteris paribus (all-else equal) preference statements concisely represent preferences over outcomes or goals in a way natural to human thinking. Although deduction in a logic of such statements can compare the desirability of specific conditions or goals, many decision-making methods require numerical measures of degrees of desirability. To permit ceteris paribus specifications of preferences while providing quantitative comparisons, we present an algorithm that compiles a set of qualitative ceteris paribus preferences into an ordinal utility function. Our algorithm is complete for a finite universe of binary features. Constructing the utility function can, in the worst case, take time exponential in the number of features, but common independence conditions reduce the computational burden. We present heuristics using utility independence and constraint-based search to obtain efficient utility functions. [source] Constructing a Christian PolydoxyDIALOG, Issue 4 2001Gary Pence In another article in this issue of Dialogmy colleague Stephen Ellingson usefully summarizes social science findings about the character of spirituality and religious belief and practice among young adults in the United States today. Especially characteristic of their emerging consciousness, he notes, is the separation between personal spirituality and organized, official, institutionalized religion, on the one hand, and their "re,grounding of religious authority in experience and practice instead of in belief and doctrine," on the other. Although Ellingson sees both "problems and possibilities" in the new forms of spirituality that he describes, he focuses on "the theological and ecclesiological challenges posed by the new religious context." In this article I will explore their positive possibilities. [source] Constructing the Deviant Other: Mothering and Fathering at the WorkplaceGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 2 2006Clarissa Kugelberg Gender stereotyping is a widely described and documented process that permeates working life in western societies. It is characterized by ascribing greatly simplified attributes to women and men and forging a dualistic view of gender in which women and men are conceptualized as antipodes to each other. Through this ongoing reproduction of simplistic views; contradictions, variations and complexities are concealed, together with the richness of individuals' competence and experiences. Intimately related to this gender stereotyping are assumptions that distinct kinds of jobs and positions fit either men or women. In this article I investigate the constructions of motherhood and fatherhood as important elements in the processes of gender stereotyping. I argue that the production of stereotypes is part of an inter-discursive contest which has a significant impact on gender relations and women's opportunities. My discussion derives from an anthropological study of one workplace. [source] Recovering acoustic reflectivity using Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps and left- and right-operating adjoint propagatorsGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2005M. W. P. Dillen SUMMARY Constructing an image of the Earth subsurface from acoustic wave reflections has previously been described as a recursive downward redatuming of sources and receivers. Most of the methods that have been presented involve reflectivity and propagators associated with one-way wavefield components. In this paper, we consider the reflectivity relation between two-way wavefield components, each a solution of a Helmholtz equation. To construct forward and inverse propagators, and a reflection operator, the invariant-embedding technique is followed, using Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps. Employing bilinear and sesquilinear forms, the forward- and inverse-scattering problems, respectively, are treated analogously. Through these mathematical constructs, the relationship between a causality radiation condition and symmetry, with respect to a bilinear form, is associated with the requirement of an anticausality radiation condition with respect to a sesquilinear form. Using reciprocity, sources and receivers are redatumed recursively to the reflector, employing left- and right-operating adjoint propagators. The exposition of the proposed method is formal, that is numerical applications are not derived. The key to applications lies in the explicit representation, characterization and approximation of the relevant operators (symbols) and fundamental solutions (path integrals). Existing constructive work which could be applied to the proposed method are referred to in the text. [source] Vertically fractured transversely isotropic media: dimensionality and deconstructionGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 2 2009Michael A. Schoenberg ABSTRACT A vertically fractured transversely isotropic (VFTI) elastic medium is one in which any number of sets of vertical aligned fractures (each set has its normal lying in the horizontal x1, x2 -plane) pervade the medium and the sets of aligned fractures are the only features of the medium disturbing the axi-symmetry about the x3 -axis implying that in the absence of fractures, the background medium is transversely isotropic (TI). Under the assumptions of long wavelength equivalent medium theory, the compliance matrix of a fractured medium is the sum of the background medium's compliance matrix and a fracture compliance matrix. For sets of parallel rotationally symmetric fractures (on average), the fracture compliance matrix is dependent on 3 parameters , its normal and tangential compliance and its strike direction. When one fracture set is present, the medium is orthorhombic and the analysis is straightforward. When two (non-orthogonal) or more sets are present, the overall medium is in general elastically monoclinic; its compliance tensor components are subject to two equalities yielding an 11 parameter monoclinic medium. Constructing a monoclinic VFTI medium with n embedded vertical fracture sets, requires 5 TI parameters plus 3×n fracture set parameters. A deconstruction of such an 11 parameter monoclinic medium involves using its compliance tensor to find a background transversely isotropic medium and several sets of vertical fractures which, in the long wavelength limit, will behave exactly as the original 11 parameter monoclinic medium. A minimal deconstruction, would be to determine, from the 11 independent components, the transversely isotropic background (5 parameters) and two fracture sets (specified by 2 × 3 = 6 parameters). Two of the background TI medium's compliance matrix components are known immediately by inspection, leaving nine monoclinic components to be used in the minimal deconstruction of the VFTI medium. The use of the properties of a TI medium, which are linear relations on its compliance components, allows the deconstruction to be reduced to solving a pair of non-linear equations on the orientations of two fracture sets. A single root yielding a physically meaningful minimum deconstruction yields a unique minimal representation of the monoclinic medium as a VFTI medium. When no such root exists, deconstruction requires an additional fracture set and uniqueness is lost. The boundary between those monoclinic media that have a unique minimal representation and those that do not is yet to be determined. [source] Impairment and Disability: Constructing an Ethics of Care That Promotes Human RightsHYPATIA, Issue 4 2001JENNY MORRIS The social model of disability gives us the tools not only to challenge the discrimination and prejudice we face, but also to articulate the personal experience of impairment. Recognition of difference is therefore a key part of the assertion of our common humanity and of an ethics of care that promotes our human rights. [source] Constructing a non-linear relationship between the incoming solar radiation and bright sunshine durationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 12 2010Khil-Ha Lee Abstract This paper reports the application of a non-linear relationship between the incoming shortwave solar radiation and bright sunshine duration. The newly suggested equation is a modified form of the existing Angstrom equation. Measurements of solar radiation and sunshine radiation from 1997 to 2006 at 21 meteorological stations were used to calibrate and validate the suggested equation. The model parameters required to specify the nature of the relationship between solar radiation and sunshine duration were determined by automatically minimizing the difference between the modelled and measured solar radiation. At the 21 meteorological stations, the absolute error (AE) is in the range of ,0.126,0.158 MJm,2 day,1 for the original Angstrom equation, while it is in the range of ,0.089,0.154 MJm,2 day,1 for the modified equation. The root mean square error (RMSE) is also improved by 7,8% for the modified method. The results show that the newly suggested equation generally provides better performance than the existing Angstrom equation. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source] The Convergence of Civilizations: Constructing a Mediterranean Region , Edited by E. Adler, F. Bicchi, B. Crawford and R. Del SartoJCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 2 2007SHARON PARDO No abstract is available for this article. [source] Autoindexing with outlier rejection and identification of superimposed latticesJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2010Nicholas K. Sauter Constructing a model lattice to fit the observed Bragg diffraction pattern is straightforward for perfect samples, but indexing can be challenging when artifacts are present, such as poorly shaped spots, split crystals giving multiple closely aligned lattices and outright superposition of patterns from aggregated microcrystals. To optimize the lattice model against marginal data, refinement can be performed using a subset of the observations from which the poorly fitting spots have been discarded. Outliers are identified by assuming a Gaussian error distribution for the best-fitting spots and points diverging from this distribution are culled. The set of remaining observations produces a superior lattice model, while the rejected observations can be used to identify a second crystal lattice, if one is present. The prevalence of outliers provides a potentially useful measure of sample quality. The described procedures are implemented for macromolecular crystallography within the autoindexing program labelit.index (http://cci.lbl.gov/labelit). [source] Constructing a Universal Scale of High School Course DifficultyJOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, Issue 2 2003Dina Bassiri This study examined the usefulness of applying the Rasch rating scale model (Andrich, 1978) to high school grade data. ACT Assessment test scores (English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Reasoning) were used as "common items" to adjust for different grading standards in individual high school courses both within and across schools. This scaling approach yielded an ACT Assessment-adjusted high school grade point average (AA-HSGPA) on a common scale across high schools and cohorts within a large public university. AA-HSGPA was a better predictor of first-year college grade point average (CGPA) than the regular high school grade point average. The best model for predicting CGPA included both the ACT composite score and AA-HSGPA. [source] View planning and automated data acquisition for three-dimensional modeling of complex sitesJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 11-12 2009Paul S. Blaer Constructing highly detailed three-dimensional (3-D) models of large complex sites using range scanners can be a time-consuming manual process. One of the main drawbacks is determining where to place the scanner to obtain complete coverage of a site. We have developed a system for automatic view planning called VuePlan. When combined with our mobile robot, AVENUE, we have a system that is capable of modeling large-scale environments with minimal human intervention throughout both the planning and acquisition phases. The system proceeds in two distinct stages. In the initial phase, the system is given a two-dimensional site footprint with which it plans a minimal set of sufficient and properly constrained covering views. We then use a 3-D laser scanner to take scans at each of these views. When this planning system is combined with our mobile robot it automatically computes and executes a tour of these viewing locations and acquires them with the robot's onboard laser scanner. These initial scans serve as an approximate 3-D model of the site. The planning software then enters a second phase in which it updates this model by using a voxel-based occupancy procedure to plan the next best view (NBV). This NBV is acquired, and further NBVs are sequentially computed and acquired until an accurate and complete 3-D model is obtained. A simulator tool that we developed has allowed us to test our entire view planning algorithm on simulated sites. We have also successfully used our two-phase system to construct precise 3-D models of real-world sites located in New York City: Uris Hall on the campus of Columbia University and Fort Jay on Governors Island. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] On Thanksgiving and Collective Memory: Constructing the American TraditionJOURNAL OF HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2002Amy Adamczyk Relying on the approach by Maurice Halbwachs who argued that collective memory is based on contemporary interests and concerns, this article shows how Thanksgiving has changed over time in accordance with the ideas of the day. Aspects of the analysis support Barry Schwartz's theory that commemoration reflects the historical past. Similar to the pilgrims' celebration, many people commemorate Thanksgiving by, for example, feasting and praying. But in contrast to Schwartz's thought, this paper also shows that there are other elements of traditions that have minimal connection with the original event. Forms of commemoration like the Macy's Day Parade challenge the idea that commemoration and celebration contain some connection to the initial occasion. In general, the findings lend support to historical research and theories that implement social constructionist approaches. [source] We're Decent People: Constructing and Managing Family Identity in Rural Working-Class CommunitiesJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 2 2004Margie L. Kiter Edwards Using grounded theory methodology, I establish family identity management as an important type of invisible work that connects women's household-based domestic activities with community members' perceptions and treatment of them and their family members. Detailed observations of household routines and family interactions, as well as in-depth interviews with working-class women living in two rural trailer park communities, provide insight into the meanings women assign to this labor, and their motivations for performing this work. I describe the strategies that women use to accomplish the work, examine how the work supports family life and child development, and explain how the residential environment influences the organization and accomplishment of this work. [source] Constructing a cognition map of alternative fuel vehicles using the DEMATEL methodJOURNAL OF MULTI CRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS, Issue 1-2 2009Cheng-Wei Lin Abstract Environmental protection has taken serious notice of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has proved that CO2 is one of the factors for global warming. Furthermore, the majority of this emission comes from the vehicles using petroleum fuels. For this reason, alternative fuels become a very popular issue. There are many automakers and researchers endeavoring to develop alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). There already have been many types of alternative fuels used in vehicles, such as electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), fuel cell (hydrogen) vehicles, natural gas vehicles (CNG), methanol vehicles, ethanol vehicles, and bio-diesel vehicles, etc. Different types of the alternative fuels have different characteristics to which attention should be paid. It is difficult for users to identify which one is the best choice for them to use. This problem concerns the characteristics of each alternative fuel. A lot of criteria and aspects related to the alternative fuels should be considered at the same time. In this study, we try to apply the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method to deal with the importance and causal relationships among the evaluation factors of AFVs. Results show the top three critical evaluation criteria are ,new car cost', ,cruising range', and ,fuel efficiency'; ,air pollution' is the key cause factor influencing others; and ,cruising range' is the key effect factor influenced by others. It is no accident that cost is the most critical factor for users. Consequently, it is suggested to automakers and researchers to carefully analyze the characteristics of each alternative fuel. Fuel efficiency is not only focused on by users, but also it will affect the cruising range. Air pollution is what users care about, so even zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), which cost more but have lower emission and higher fuel efficiency, could be accepted. There seems to be no perfect AFV, but to endeavor on ZEVs will reduce some disadvantages. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Constructing an Interdisciplinary Flow Regime Recommendation,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 5 2010John M. Bartholow Bartholow, John M., 2010. Constructing an Interdisciplinary Flow Regime Recommendation. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1-15. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00461.x Abstract:, It is generally agreed that river rehabilitation most often relies on restoring a more natural flow regime, but credibly defining the desired regime can be problematic. I combined four distinct methods to develop and refine month-by-month and event-based flow recommendations to protect and partially restore the ecological integrity of the Cache la Poudre River through Fort Collins, Colorado. A statistical hydrologic approach was used to summarize the river's natural flow regime and set provisional monthly flow targets at levels that were historically exceeded 75% of the time. These preliminary monthly targets were supplemented using results from three Poudre-specific disciplinary studies. A substrate maintenance flow model was used to better define the high flows needed to flush accumulated sediment from the river's channel and help sustain the riparian zone in this snowmelt-dominated river. A hydraulic/habitat model and a water temperature model were both used to better define the minimum flows necessary to maintain a thriving cool water fishery. The result is a range of recommended monthly flows and daily flow guidance illustrating the advantage of combining a wide range of available disciplinary information, supplemented by judgment based on ecological principles and a general understanding of river ecosystems, in a highly altered, working river. [source] Groundwater Banking in Aquifers that Interact With Surface Water: Aquifer Response Functions and Double-Entry Accounting,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 6 2009Bryce A. Contor Contor, Bryce A., 2009. Groundwater Banking in Aquifers That Interact With Surface Water: Aquifer Response Functions and Double-Entry Accounting. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 45(6):1465-1474. Abstract:, Increasing worldwide demands for water call for mechanisms to facilitate storage of seasonal supplies and mechanisms to facilitate reallocation of water. Markets are economically efficient reallocation and incentive mechanisms when market conditions prevail, but special hydrologic and administrative conditions of water use and allocation interfere with required market conditions. Water banking in general can bring market forces to bear on water storage and reallocation, improving economic efficiency and therefore the welfare of society as a whole. Groundwater banking can utilize advantages of aquifers as storage vessels with vast capacity, low construction cost, and protection of stored water. For groundwater banking in aquifers that interact with surface water, an accounting system is needed that addresses the depletion of stored volumes of water as water migrates to surface water. Constructing such a system requires integration of hydrologic, economic, and legal principles with principles of financial accounting. Simple mass-balance accounting, even with allowances for depletion, is not adequate in these aquifers. Aquifer response functions are mathematical descriptions of the impact that aquifer pumping or recharge events have upon hydraulically connected surface water bodies. Double-entry accounting is a financial accounting methodology for tracking asset inventories and ownership claims upon assets. The powerful innovation of linking aquifer response functions with double-entry accounting technologies allows application of groundwater banking to aquifers where deposits can be depleted by migration to hydraulically connected surface water. It honors the hydrologic realities of groundwater/surface water interaction, the legal requirements of prior appropriation water law, and the economic requirements for equitable and efficient allocation of resources. [source] Constructing Reform Coalitions: The Politics of Compensations in Argentina's Economic LiberalizationLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2001Sebastián Etchemendy ABSTRACT It is frequently argued that the key to "successful" economic liberalization is to marginalize interest groups that profit from existing regulatory regimes. This paper contends that some established interests can craft public policies to protect their rents in the new market setting. The state may shape the interests of social actors and create proreform constituencies out of old populist and interventionist groups. In Argentina, this coalition building was achieved by constructing reform policies that granted rents in new markets to business and organized labor and by deliberately avoiding unilateral deregulation in sectors where reform would hurt traditionally powerful actors. This argument is developed through a comparative analysis of policy reform in the labor market institutions and protected industrial sectors, areas where the costs of deregulation are said to be unavoidable for the established actors. [source] Constructing a shared Bible Land: Jewish Israeli guiding performances for Protestant pilgrimsAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 2 2007JACKIE FELDMAN During biblical tours, Jewish Israeli guides and Protestant pastors become coproducers of a mutually satisfying performance that transforms the often-contested terrain of Israel,Palestine into Bible Land. Guides' emplaced performances of the Bible grant a significance to visitors' movement that constitutes the visitors as pilgrims. The professional authority of the guide is increased by his or her position as "reluctant witness" to scriptural truth and facilitated by historically transmitted practices of viewing, classifying history, and orientalizing shared by Protestants and Zionists. By examining guiding performances of orientation to biblical sites, I demonstrate how Zionist and Protestant understandings become naturalized while marginalizing Palestinian Arabs. [source] Empathic understanding: Constructing an evaluation scale from the microcounseling approachNURSING & HEALTH SCIENCES, Issue 1 2000Hiroko Nagano RN Abstract The Empathic Understanding Scale measures the depth of the nurse,patient relationship. As a nurse cares for a patient it is necessary to first establish a relationship. The author identified empathic understanding as the key concept for this study. The primary theme was to develop a scale to measure the nurse's level of empathic understanding of the patient. The purpose of the study was to examine a 23-item questionnaire using the microcounseling model to prove whether empathy is an effective tool in establishing a nurse,patient relationship. Using these results, factors were extracted to measure the level of the nurse's empathic understanding of the patient. Eighteen subjects participated in the pilot study: eight nurses employed by the psychiatric ward of one of Shizuoka's prefectural hospitals, Yoshinso, and 10 students learning to be public health workers. All 18 subjects verbally agreed to participate in the study. Data collection was through experimental interviews according to microtraining models and through questionnaires comprising four elements: moral, emotional, cognitive and communication action. The results were analyzed by principle factor analysis, two-way analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis of variance. Analysis resulted in four factors being extracted. Using the Emotional Empathy Scale for comparison, the content validity of those factors was confirmed. In the second study, these four factors were used as an evaluation instrument in the form of a list of 20 items of evaluation. Measurements were derived by evaluating the 327 nursing students who were the subjects for this study. The subjects performed pseudo-counseling role plays based on the microcounseling method. Five evaluators studied the counselor's behavior and attitude by observing the interaction between the client and counselor roles as the subjects performed role plays. A Likert scale was used to collect data and the data were analyzed by principle factor analysis. The Empathic Understanding Scale consists of four factors: ,acceptance attitude', ,cognitive awareness attitude', ,reflective attitude regarding emotions and meaning' and ,verbalization prompting attitude'. These four factor structure groups that were extracted were found to be the same in both the pilot study and the second study. In the second study, however, a more valid and reliable Empathic Understanding Scale was established. [source] Constructing a ,plausible narrative of progress' for nursing: a neopragmatist suggestionNURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2009Walter H. Mason MSN RN PMHCNS-BC CNL Abstract Identity, difference, and the associated subject of cultural diversity pose challenges for nursing. As the demographics of the world change, demands are rising for nurses to provide sensitive, individualized care to people living in our ever-changing global community. Issues concerning gender, sexuality, disability, age, language, economic and occupational status, multiculturalism, and ethnicity are made more complex because many of these topics strike a personal chord for individual nurses. In order for nursing to provide appropriate care to the world's people and to meet future challenges, nursing must define itself in new ways. Kikuchi and Simmons have stated that the best way for nursing to approach this task is through the development of a ,sound' philosophy of nursing that will ,accommodate diversity in nursing thought'. They contend that before we can establish a philosophy of nursing, nurses will have to agree upon the nature of reality, human beings, truth, and knowledge. This paper will suggest that neopragmatism, as described by Richard Rorty, is a way to assure diversity of thought in nursing. However, I will argue against the requirement for this philosophy to be ,sound' in the sense that Kikuchi and Simmons use this term. In place of their call for ,truth and unity in nursing thought'. I will attempt to demonstrate how neopragmatic ideas relate to the construction of what Rorty called a unifying ,plausible narrative of progress'. This change will allow nursing to abandon the dead end debate over epistemologies and instead focus on more important issues related to improving nursing practice. [source] Constructing a patient education system: A performance technology projectPERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, Issue 4 2009Edith E. Bell The purpose of the patient education system described here was to distribute patient education material to and within medical practices managed by a small medical practice management company. The belief was that patient education opportunities improved health care outcomes and increased patient participation in health care decisions and compliance with health care plans. This tool reinforced medical practices' commitment to having patients participate actively in their treatment, differentiated them from other practices, and contributed to the generation of new patients. [source] Presidential Rhetoric and the Public Agenda: Constructing the War on Drugs , By Andrew B. Whitford and Jeff YatesPRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2010Brian Anse Patrick No abstract is available for this article. [source] Constructing ,God': a Contemporary Interpretation of ReligionTHE HEYTHROP JOURNAL, Issue 1 2000George Karuvelil To discuss the rationality of religious beliefs of the meaning of those beliefs must be made intelligible, sometimes to those who do not share our presuppositions. Is it possible to explain the meaning of such basic concepts as ,Religion', and ,God' without presupposing other religious concepts? The present paper is an attempt at such a radical interpretation of religion. This is done by wedding a full-fledged constructivist epistemology with insights from the mystical traditions of the East and the West. How such an epistemology can account for both the unity and plurality of religions is also indicated. In the process I give not only a new interpretation of ,God' but also suggest the reasons for the failure of the "proofs" for the existence of God. Thus, a new way is opened up for discussing the rationality of religious beliefs. [source] PRODUCTIVITY AND BUSINESS CYCLES IN JAPAN: EVIDENCE FROM JAPANESE INDUSTRY DATA,THE JAPANESE ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2006T. MIYAGAWA Constructing a database of 37 industries, we examine whether the measured productivity in Japan is pro-cyclical and investigate the sources of this pro-cyclicality by using the production function approach employed by Hall (1990) and Basu and Fernald (1995). The aggregate Solow residual displays pro-cyclicality. A large number of industries show constant returns to scale. No significant evidence for the presence of thick-market externalities is found. Our results also hold when we consider labour hoarding, part-time employment, and the adjustment cost of investment. The results indicate that policies to revitalize the Japanese economy should concentrate on promoting productivity growth. [source] Constructing A Model of Espiritista Healing in the PhilippinesANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 1 2004Stanley Krippner Ph.D. A conference sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in 1995 proposed 13 categories by which alternative and complementary medical systems could be described. This model was applied to Filipino Christian Spiritist (Espiritista) Healing, a folk healing system that dates back hundred of years. This system was found to match each of the model's categories, providing a framework in which future research projects could be designed. The utility of this model speaks well for the sophistication of Espiritista healing, even though its effectiveness is still an open question. [source] "We have a little bit more finesse, as a nation": Constructing the Polish Worker in London's Building SitesANTIPODE, Issue 3 2009Ayona Datta Abstract:, This paper examines how male Polish builders in London construct themselves relationally to English builders as they negotiate their place within the labour hierarchies of the building site and in the London labour market. This is based on semi-structured interviews and participant photographs taken by Polish migrants arriving in the aftermath of the European Union expansion in May 2004, and now working in building sites across London. These buildings sites are mundane elements of a global city which employ transnational labour, and where differences between Polish and English builders become significant discursive tools of survival in a competitive labour market. The paper illustrates how Polish workers mark themselves as "superior" to English builders through the versatility of their embodied skills, work ethic, artistic qualities, and finesse in their social interactions on the building site. This paper thus provides new ways of understanding the meanings of work and the complexity of identity politics within the spaces of low-paid manual work in a global city. [source] (De)Constructing the Geography of America's Surge in IraqANTIPODE, Issue 2 2009Andrew Shears First page of article [source] Women of Steel: Constructing and Contesting New Gendered Geographies of Work in the Australian Steel IndustryANTIPODE, Issue 2 2000Liza Tonkin The article argues that although structuralist-inspired approaches to steel restructuring have provided significant insights and recognised the role of "labour" in sectoral change, such studies have predominantly equated labour politics with unionism, downplaying the impact of other forms of workers' politics. This has created a problematic disjunction between "real world" events and academic research, with ensuing issues for policy development and delivery. In response to this difficulty, the paper builds on Herod's concept of a labour geography to develop multiple labour geographies of power, an approach that describes different forms of workers' politics. To illustrate this approach, the paper presents female steelworkers' politics of restructuring. It details the Jobs for Women Campaign in Wollongong, Australia, a 1980s place-based initiative that sought to gain blue-collar employment for women in the local steelworks. The study demonstrates how female steelworkers developed restructuring politics addressing gender and employment discrimination, issues not normally associated with labour politics. The paper concludes that such workers' struggles need to be analysed as they affect restructuring impacts and processes. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||