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Different Drivers (different + drivers)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	50%

Selected Abstracts

A Behavioral Component Analysis of Route Guidance Systems Using Neural Networks

COMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2003
Khaled Hamad
This article focuses on the behavioral component, one of the three components (the other two being dynamic traffic component and information supply strategy component) of a practical RGS developed through a 4-year project at the University of Delaware. Development of the behavioral model is based on the premise that different drivers perceive and behave differently in response to the information provided. Understanding the behavior of RGS-equipped drivers' acceptance or nonacceptance of provided information is essential for understanding the reliability of the system. Backpropagation neural network with its ability to map complex input,output relationships has been used to structure the model. This model was tested on two networks under both recurring and nonrecurring congestion. A comparative analysis of the measures of effectiveness revealed that the performance of the developed RGS is significantly better than the performance under existing non-RGS conditions. [source]

Evidence that viral abundance across oceans and lakes is driven by different biological factors

FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2008
JESSICA L. CLASEN
Summary 1. Samples from 16 lakes in central (n = 145) and western (n = 12) North America, the coastal northeast Pacific (n = 302) and the western Canadian Arctic Oceans (n = 142) were collected and analysed for viral, bacterial and cyanobacterial abundances and chlorophyll- a concentration. 2. Viral abundance was significantly different among the environments. It was highest in the coastal Pacific Ocean and lowest in the coastal Arctic Ocean. The abundances of bacteria and cyanobacteria as well as chlorophyll- a concentrations also differed significantly among the environments, with both bacterial abundance and chlorophyll- a concentration highest in lakes. As a consequence, the association of these variables with viral abundance varied among the environments. 3. Discriminant analyses with the abundance data indicated that the marine and freshwater environments were predictably different from each other. Multiple-regression analysis included bacterial and cyanobacterial abundances, and chlorophyll- a concentration as significant variables in explaining viral abundance in lakes. In regression models for the coastal Pacific Ocean, bacterial and cyanobacterial abundances were significant variables, and for the coastal Arctic Ocean viral abundance was predicted by bacterial abundance and chlorophyll- a concentration. 4. The relationship of viral and bacterial abundance differed between the investigated freshwater and marine environments, probably because of differences in viral production and loss rates. However, freshwaters had fewer viruses compared to bacteria, despite previously documented higher burst sizes and frequencies of infected cells, suggesting that loss rates may be more important in lakes. 5. Together, these findings suggest that there are different drivers of viral abundance in different aquatic environments, including lakes and oceans. [source]

Bilateral Import Protection, Free Trade Agreements, and Other Factors Influencing Trade Flows in Agriculture and Clothing

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2009
Thomas L. Vollrath
F1; F13; F14 Abstract Many factors shape the global network of bilateral trade including fundamental forces of supply and demand factors and government policies. This study uses the generalised gravity framework to distinguish among the different drivers that either deter or aid partner trade in land-intensive agriculture and labour-intensive clothing. The dataset used in the analysis includes bilateral trade among 70 countries in 1995, 2000 and 2005. Collectively, the 70 countries account for 85% of the world's trade in agriculture and 96% of its GDP. Empirical results lend support to the Heckscher,Ohlin explanation of trade, namely that relative factor endowments motivate cross-border trade. Results also show that tariffs are not always binding and bilateral free-trade agreements more often divert rather than create trade. [source]

Full absorption: The good, the bad, and the ugly

JOURNAL OF CORPORATE ACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 3 2008
Alan Vercio
There are good, bad, and ugly uses associated with full absorption costing. Good characteristics include ensuring that all dollars are accounted for. Bad characteristics include combining costs that do not have similar cost driver patterns. Ugly characteristics include decisions made with fully absorbed cost data that combines different drivers. Financial accounting inventory valuation forces us to combine unlike drivers of cost. But there is a relatively easy way to manage around this for internal reporting. An unfortunate outcome of letting the bad and the ugly creep into the full-absorption costing process is that the value of full absorption has been undermined, and consultants often recommend not using full absorption for decision making (a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater). This article provides insight and recommendations for getting the full value from full-absorption costing. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Quantifying patterns and controls of mire vegetation succession in a southern boreal bog in Finland using partial ordinations

JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 6 2007
E.-S. Tuittila
Abstract Question: How do we distinguish between concurrent allogenic and autogenic forcings behind changing patterns in plant community structures during mire development? Location: Lakkasuo raised bog, southern Finland. Methods: Two radiometrically dated peat profiles were studied using high resolution plant macrofossil analysis. A combination of partial direct and indirect gradient analyses (CCA and DCA) was applied to quantify the role of different drivers of vegetation changes. Results: Autogenic hydroseral succession explained 16% of the compositional variation in the vegetation. Disturbance successions initiated by fire explained 15% of the variation in the hummock, but only 9% in the wetter lawn. The early post-disturbance successional stages were characterized by Eriophorum vaginatum. After partialling out the effects of peat depth and time since fire, a moisture gradient explained 29% of variation in the hummock core and 26% in the lawn. The analyses also indicated alternation between species with a similar niche. This interaction gradient explained 26% and 31% of the compositional variation in the hummock and lawn, respectively. The similar order of species replacement from both cores supported the existence of general directional succession in mire vegetation, both during the mire development and after fire events. The autogenic succession was slow and gradual while the disturbance successions were episodic and fast. Conclusion: Our results support the paradigm of the complex nature of mire vegetation dynamics where several interlinked agents have simultaneous effects. The approach of combining partial ordinations developed here appeared to be a useful tool to assess the role of different environmental factors in controlling the vegetation succession. [source]

Public Management Reform: Competing Drivers of Change

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 5 2002
Lois Recascino Wise
Public management reforms often are portrayed as part of a global wave of change, and all organizational change is interpreted within a single reform paradigm that is rooted in economics and market,based principles. Reforms outside this paradigm go unnoticed. This article examines the assertion that different drivers of change competing with the dominant focus of management discourse remain present and influence the direction of reform. It presents three alternative drivers of change rooted in normative values and provides evidence of their relevance from three national cases. Normative influences are reflected in a stream of activities occurring within the same time period in different civil service systems. The direction of public management practice cannot be seen as fully determined by any one approach to government reform or as traveling in only one direction. Understanding the balance among competing drivers of change is a key to interpreting both contemporary and future administrative reform. [source]