522 research outputs found
Marketing communications plan for L.E. Jones company Menominee, Michigan
No full textThe author researched the feasibility of improving marketing communications for L.E. Jones Company of Menominee, Michigan. Based on career experience and scholarship gained through the Cardinal Stritch Master of Business Administration program, the author was able to identify the problems facing the firm, analyze the marketing communications needs, recommend various alternatives, assist in the selection of alternatives, and create the actual advertising and sales support materials. These improvements in marketing communications will permit the firm to more confidently pursue new business in an increasingly competitive market
The effect of stocking density and a blind on the behavior of Holstein dairy cows in group maternity pens. Part II: Labor length, lying behavior, and social behavior
No full textIn natural settings, dairy cows separate from the herd to give birth. When kept indoors, seeking isolation before calving may be restricted and may depend on space and resources provided in maternity housing. The effect of group maternity pens on behavior around calving and labor progress is unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of stocking density and provision of a blind in group bedded pack maternity pens on lying and social behavior as well as length of labor of preparturient dairy animals. The study was conducted as a complete randomized block design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments including stocking density and presence or absence of a blind, resulting in a total of 4 treatments: (1) high stocking density (7.7–12.9 m2 lying space/cow) with a blind, (2) low stocking density (15.4–25.8 m2) with a blind, (3) high stocking density without a blind, and (4) low stocking density without a blind. A total of 127 primiparous heifers and 247 multiparous cows were housed in mixed-parity groups from approximately 3 wk before and immediately after calving. During the 4 h before calving, lying behavior (lying time and bouts) was collected automatically using accelerometers, and social behavior (agonistic interactions, allogrooming, and attention from other cows), stage II labor duration, and frequency of position change during stage II labor were collected using video. Lying behavior was collected with accelerometers. Regardless of treatment, lying time and bouts increased as calving approached. Cows and heifers performed more lying bouts in low stocking density pens compared with high stocking density pens. Agonistic interactions and allogrooming were not different between treatments. Other cows spent more time paying attention to focal animals regardless of stocking density as calving approached, but time spent paying attention was reduced by the presence of a blind during h −2 before calving. The hazard of calving unassisted was greater for cows and heifers in low stocking density pens with a blind compared with all other treatments. Further, animals in pens with a blind tended to change positions fewer times during stage II labor. These results suggest that providing a blind in group maternity pens may improve the calving environment for cows and heifers and, in combination with low stocking density, may reduce the amount of time spent in labor
Great Expectatrics: Great Papers, Great Journals, Great Econometrics
No full textThe paper discusses alternative Research Assessment Measures (RAM), with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The various ISI RAM that are calculated annually or updated daily are defined and analysed, including the classic 2-year impact factor (2YIF), 5-year impact factor (5YIF), Immediacy (or zero-year impact factor (0YIF)), Eigenfactor score, Article Influence, C3PO (Citation Performance Per Paper Online), h-index, Zinfluence, and PI-BETA (Papers Ignored - By Even The Authors). The ISI RAM data are analysed for 8 leading econometrics journals and 4 leading statistics journals. The application to econometrics can be used as a template for other areas in economics, for other scientific disciplines, and as a benchmark for newer journals in a range of disciplines. In addition to evaluating high quality research in leading econometrics journals, the paper also compares econometrics and statistics, alternative RAM, highlights the similarities and differences in alternative RAM criteria, finds that several ISI RAM capture similar performance characteristics for the leading econometrics and statistics journals while the new PI-BETA criterion is not highly correlated with any of the other ISI RAM, and hence conveys additional information regarding ISI RAM, highlights major research areas in leading journals in econometrics, and discusses some likely future uses of RAM.Research assessment measures, impact factors, Immediacy, Eigenfactor score, Article influence, h-index, C3PO, Zinfluence, PI-BETA
Great Expectatrics: Great Papers, Great Journals, Great Econometrics
No full textThe paper discusses alternative Research Assessment Measures (RAM), with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The various ISI RAM that are calculated annually or updated daily are defined and analysed, including the classic 2-year impact factor (2YIF), 5-year impact factor (5YIF), Immediacy (or zero-year impact factor (0YIF)), Eigenfactor score, Article Influence, C3PO (Citation Performance Per Paper Online), h-index, Zinfluence, and PI-BETA (Papers Ignored - By Even The Authors). The ISI RAM data are analysed for 8 leading econometrics journals and 4 leading statistics journals. The application to econometrics can be used as a template for other areas in economics, for other scientific disciplines, and as a benchmark for newer journals in a range of disciplines. In addition to evaluating high quality research in leading econometrics journals, the paper also compares econometrics and statistics, alternative RAM, highlights the similarities and differences in alternative RAM criteria, finds that several ISI RAM capture similar performance characteristics for the leading econometrics and statistics journals while the new PI-BETA criterion is not highly correlated with any of the other ISI RAM, and hence conveys additional information regarding ISI RAM, highlights major research areas in leading journals in econometrics, and discusses some likely future uses of RAM.Research assessment measures; impact factors; Immediacy; Eigenfactor score; Article influence; h-index; C3PO; Zinfluence; PI-BETA
Using and evaluating CASE tools : from software engineering to phenomenology
No full textCASE (Computer-Aided Systems Engineering) is a recent addition to the long line of
"silver bullets" that promise to transform information systems development, delivering
new levels of quality and productivity. CASE is particularly intriguing because
information systems (IS) practitioners spend their working lives applying information
technology (IT) to other people's work, and now they are applying it to themselves.
CASE research to date has been dominated by accounts of tool development,
normative writings (for example practitioner success stories) and surveys recording
IT specialists' perceptions. There have been very few in-depth studies of tool use,
and very few attempts to quantify benefits, therefore the essence of the CASE process
remains largely unexplored, and the views of stakeholders other than the IT specialists
have yet to be heard.
The research presented here addresses these concerns by adopting a hybrid research
approach combining action research, grounded theory and phenoinenology and using
both qualitative and quantitative data in order to tell the story of a system developer's
experience in using CASE tools in three information systems projects for a major UK
car manufacturer over a four year period. The author was the lead developer on all
three projects. Action research is a learning process, the researcher is an explorer.
At the start of this project it was assumed that the tools would be the focus of the
work. As the research progressed it became evident that the tools were but part of
a richer organisational context in which culture, politics, history, external initiatives
and cognitive limitations played important roles. The author continued to record
experiences and impressions of tool use in the project diary together with quality and
productivity metrics. But the diary also became home to a story of organisational
developments that had not originally been foreseen.
The principal contribution made by the work is to identity the narrow positivistic
nature of CASE knowledge, and to show via the research stories the overwhelming
importance of organisational context to systems development success and how the
exploration of context is poorly supported by the tools. Sixteen further contributions
are listed in the Conclusions to the thesis, including a major extension to Wynekoop
and Conger's CASE research taxonomy, an identification of the potentially
misleading nature of quantitative IS assessment and further evidence of the limitations
of the "scientific" approach to systems development.
The thesis is completed by two proposals for further work. The first seeks to
advance IS theory by developing further a number of emerging process models of IS
development. The second seeks to advance IS practice by asking the question "How
can CASE tools be used to stimulate awareness and debate about the effects of
organisational context?", and outlines a programme of research in this area
Negotiated settlements and peace referendums
No full textInstitutional innovations in conflict management have received considerable academic attention in the past decades. Yet few studies have considered the design of referendums in peace processes and the role of popular mandates in catalysing negotiated settlements. Drawing evidence from divided societies, particularly the contrasting cases of South Africa and Cyprus, the article points to the importance of ratification sequence and early mandate referendums. Specifically, it demonstrates how mandate referendums focusing initially on domestic constituencies enable leaders to pre‐empt ethnic outbidding challenges while concluding a peace agreement. An early ratification process could safeguard the peace process from unavoidable reversals in public opinion, increase flexibility as to the timing of critical decisions and maximise the credibility of leaders aiming for a negotiated settlement. The study of mandate referendums has important implications for broader research on international mediations since it suggests mechanisms by which political actors could ensure the ratification of significant treaties in global or regional politics
Book Review
No full textBook Review 1Book Title: British PharmacopoeiaBook Author: Published under the direction of the General Medical CouncilPp. xxvi + 1012. 63s. net. London: The Pharmaceutical Press. 1958.Book Review 2Book Title: Radiological PhysicsBook Author: M.E.J. YoungPp. x + 365. 184 Illustrations. £22. net. London: H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd. 1957.Book Review 3Book Title: Textbook of Medical Treatment. 7th EditionBook Authors: D.M. Dunlop, Stanley Davidson & S. Alstead (Eds.)Pp. xix + 924. IV Plates. 27 Figures. 55s. net + 3s. Postage Abroad. Edinburgh and London: E. & S. Livingstone Ltd. 1958.Book Review 4Book Title: Animal Diseases in South Africa. Third EditionBook Author: Michiel W. HenningPp. xv +1,239. 152 Illustrations. £5 10s. Od. Johannesburg: Central News Agency Ltd. 1956.Book Review 5Book Title: Cortisone TherapyBook Author: J.H. GlynPp. x+162. 4 Figures. 21s. net. London: William Heinemann -Medical Books-Ltd. 1957.Book Review 6Book Title: High Arterial PressureBook Author: F.H. SmirkPp. xxxvi+764. lllustrated by figures and plates. 75s. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. 1957.Book Review 7Book Title: Studies on the Exo-Erythrocytic Cycle in the Genus PlasmodiumBook Author: R.S. BrayPp. viii 292. 24 Illustrations. 215. net. London: H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd. 1957.Book Review 8Book Title: Heredo-Retinopathia Congenitalis, Monohybrida Recessiva Auto-somalisBook Authors: Carl Henry Alstrom & Olof OlsonPp. 178. 9 Figure. Lund: Lund University. 1957.Book Review 9Book Title: Handbook of Treatment of Acute Poisoning. 2nd EditionBook Authors: E.H. Benley & G.E. JoronPp. xii+212. 15s. net+ 1s. Id. Postage Abroad. Edinburgh and London: E. & S. Livingstone Ltd. 1958.Book Review 10Book Title: The Mammalian Cerebral CortexBook Authors: B. Delisle Burns, H. Barcroft, L.E. Bayliss & A.L. Hodgkin (Eds.)Pp. vii+119. 25 Figures. 21 s. net. London: Edward Arnold (publishers) Ltd. 1958.Book Review 11Book Title: NewsletterBook Author: E.D. Wittkower (Ed.)Section of Transcultural Psychiatric Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. December 1957. o. 3.Book Review 12Book Title: Aids to Medical Diagnosis. 8th EditionBook Author: G.E. Frederick SuttonPp. viii+400. 115. 6d. London: Bailliere, TindaU & Cox Ltd. 1958
Size effect of PLGA spheres on drug loading efficiency and release profiles
No full textDrug delivery systems (DDS) based on poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres and nanospheres have been separately studied in previous works as a means of delivering bioactive compounds over an extended period of time. In the present study, two DDS having different sizes of the PLGA spheres were compared in morphology, drug (dexamethasone) loading efficiency and drug release kinetics in order to investigate their feasibility with regard to production of medical combination devices for orthopedic applications. The loaded PLGA spheres have been produced by the oil-in-water emulsion/solvent evaporation method following two different schemes. Their morphology was assessed by scanning electron microscopy and the drug release was monitored in phosphate buffer saline solution at 37°C for 550 h using high performance liquid chromatography. The synthesis schemes used produced spheres with two different and reproducible size ranges (20 ± 10 and 1.0 ± 0.4 ?m) having a smooth outer surface and regular shape. The drug loading efficiency of the 1.0 ?m spheres was found to be 11% as compared to just 1% for the 20 ?m spheres. Over the 550 h release period, the larger spheres (diameter 20 ± 10 ?m) released 90% of the encapsulated dexamethasone in an approximately linear fashion whilst the relatively small spheres (diameter 1.0 ± 0.4 ?m) released only 30% of the initially loaded dexamethasone, from which 20% within the first 25 h. The changes observed were mainly attributed to the difference in surface area between the two types of spheres as the surface texture of both systems was visibly similar. As the surface area per unit volume increases in the synthesis mixture, as is the case for the 1.0 ?m spheres formulation, the amount of polymer-water interfaces increases allowing more dexamethasone to be encapsulated by the emerging polymer spheres. Similarly, during the release phase, as the surface area per unit volume increases, the rate of inclusion of water into the polymer increases, permitting faster diffusion of dexamethasone.Materials Science and EngineeringMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin
AN ANALYSIS OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF INTERSTELLAR GAS CLOUDS USING FORMALDEHYDE ABSORPTION SPECTRA.
No full textNational Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by Associated Universities, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation. Present address of L.E. Snyder: Center for Advanced Studies and Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22903. Lewis E. Snyder, David Buhl, B. Zuckerman and Patrick Palmer, Phys. Rev. Letters 22, 679 (1969). David Buhl, Lewis E. Snyder, B. Zuckerman and Patrick Palmer, Paper presented at the 129th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 30-April 2, 1969. T. Shigenari, J. Phys. Soc. Japan 23, 404 (1967). Present address of L.E. Snyder: Center for Advanced Studies and Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22903.Author Institution: National Radio, Astronomy Observatory Green Bank; National Radio, University of Maryland; National Radio, University of ChicagoAbsorption spectra of the recently 4830 MHz transition of interstellar formaldehyde have been compared with spectra of other atomic and molecular constituents of the interstellar medium. Radial velocity correlations have given some new insight into the chemical composition of interstellar gas clouds and the astronomically determined rest frequency is found to be in excellent agreement with laboratory Evidence of hyperfine splitting due to the spin rotation interaction has been observed in several interstellar clouds
Joseph Klausner on Why Israel Rejected Jesus
No full textThis thesis explores Joseph Klausner on a central historical issue: why Israel rejected Jesus. Klausner's views, compiled from Jesus of Nazareth, Messianic Idea in Israel, and From Jesus to Paul, are compared to selected modern scholars, whose works in part or in whole attempt to answer a similar question. It is notable that two of the finest New Testament scholars, C. "H. Dodd and W. D. Davies, have drawn on Klausner in their own formulations of the answer to this difficult question. It is evident, however, from the brief survey of modern scholars' views, that the basic information on Jesus, his aims and rejection, are as yet unsolved issues. Thus Klausner, far from being outdated, still has significant relevance for modern life-of Jesus research. The author shows that Klausner's obvious bias for the Jewish national imperative, aided rather than prevented him from acute insights into the nature of the messianic idea and the possible reasons for Israel's rejection of Jesus. In the final analysis a brief look at Klausner's background illuminates the ideological theme that steered his historical argument.Master of Arts (MA
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